We won!!!!

 I can’t seem to make myself fully believe it, still so I have to keep saying it! :)

I am incredibly grateful to each and every one of you for all the help and support getting word out about my book. The last month has been one of the most exhausting experiences I can remember – Sleep? No time for that, I have to message people in other time zones! Writing? After work, there’s only time for promoting the book!

I would like to take a moment to thank my family who went above and beyond in getting me through this contest, in particular - my sisters Kirsty and Laura, my brother Keith and my brother-in-law Cyril who each worked at least as hard as I did promoting the book; my parents Scott and Elaine who reached out to more people than I can count; and of course my lovely wife Margo who not only worked tirelessly alongside me, but also somehow managed to keep me sane.

I was also greatly helped in my efforts by a number of great friends including Sebastien Genest, Mathieu Pralus, Sara Hernandez, Isabelle Pottier, Eddy Lesert and so many others that I just can’t list everyone. Again, I am grateful beyond words.

And I can’t leave out the amazing authors who helped me out and made (and continue to make) the Inkshares experience as amazing as it is – John Robin the author of Blood Dawn and backbone of the whole author community, Julian Green the co-author of Suffrage – the First World Key, Cara Weston the author of She is the End, Billy O’Keefe author of These Are My Friends on Politics, Michal Sebby author of The Inhabitants: An Unremembered Life, and Janna Grace author of the Talkers are Talking, not to mention my co-winners Joseph Asphahani author of The Animal in Man, and Matthew Sobin the author of the Last Machine in the Solar System. All of their books are amazing and well worth checking out if you’re looking for something else to read!

 And now, I’d like to make my small gesture of thanks to my supporters: here is the video link of the 4X50$ gift card draws, and the draw for a themed cake by Lolai’s Yummies. Congratulations to the winners!

 I’m looking forward to a little break - picking up Fallout 4, maybe even making it in to see the new Star Wars movie, and most importantly getting back to my writing! I’ve started to miss my characters and wonder what they’ve gotten up to in my absence! There are also still some edits and rewrites I need to finish before the manuscript is ready to be turned over to Inkshares so that the process of getting it published can get under way :)

 Thank you all!!!!

Dear royals,

A congratulations is in order. To Joseph Asphahani, Matthew Isaac Sobin, and Craig Munro, congratulations on winning the Sword & Laser Collection Contest! I wish you a great success in the publication of your book and may it be the nitro to your authoring dreams :)

To all the royals who have claimed a title, thank you so much for showing support during the duration of this contest. I might not have won, but I'm a winner already - having you backing me (as cliche as it sounds, it's true). So thank you! 

Now, what happens to The Slave Prince? Being that it was launched for the Sword & Laser Collection Contest, and being that the contest is now over, this book will return to being a draft project. The crowd-funding will be briefly put on hold, hence all your funds will be returned to you. As to when the project will go live again, I'm still considering the best time to do so. 

Crowd-funding is much more difficult this time around (and I thought the first time was tough already). Gathering support from readers is harder than from family and friends. But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up. Based on my 'findings' during the Sword & Laser Collection Contest, I discovered that less than 50% of followers of this project pre-ordered. So in order for me to reach the minimum publishing level of 250 pre-orders, I'll need 500 or more followers. Should I reach that number of followers, it's a guarantee I'll launch the project. But should I not, I'll have to think of something else.

If you'd like to lend an extra hand, please share this project with your bookish family and friends. Share it with lovers of adaptations and retellings. Share it with your book club over some tea. And share it with your cat-lady neighbour with the enviable book collection. Help bring the follower count to 500 so I wouldn't have to think of something else. I'm really hoping to have another book published this year, and I would really love for The Slave Prince to be it. Having your support would mean a great deal to me.

With all that said, I'll still be adding new chapters to The Slave Prince (should it be permitted in the project draft stage). And I'll be sure to let you know prior to relaunching the project too. If you have any suggestion or feedback, feel free to send me an email at jeynagrace[at]gmail.com. I'll be more than happy to hear from you :)

Once again, congrats to the winners! And to the rest, have a wonderful weekend!

I won.

When you read that, how do you hear it? If it’s something in your mind like a soft, shocked whisper, the kind of sound you hear when someone speaks in the stillness of a slow snowfall, then you’re pretty close to how I’m hearing myself say it. I won. I won… I won? ...I WON!?! 

Whether it’s the Sword and Laser’s Tom and Veronica, journalist Alicia Smock, or other authors mentioning my name in their own reader updates or raffle videos, the experience of being exposed and showered with praise for my story has really validated all this hard work I’ve done.

And, …. wow… this campaign has been some hard work.

Somewhere in an article or something I said to somebody that I was back on what I call “The Skyrim Sleeping Schedule.” (I’m sure some former students of mine will recall EXACTLY how loopy I got soon after 11/11/11.) Basically 4 to 5 hours of fitful sleep every night for the past month has really racked my body. Even as I type this, my mind’s eye glances over its shoulder and sees my body tapping its watch, shaking its head. I hear it say “Joe, it’s time, man.” And I’m like, “Hey, wait! I got a raffle video to do! Six new winners, six more $20 giftcard giveaways, six titles gone from my priceless video game collection!” But in this vision, my body wraps its arm warmly around me and escorts me from the premises of health, and it says, “Maybe this weekend, pal.” So I’m about to give in and just get sick…

I am utterly exhausted. ...and I’m kind of numb. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m typing this all right now secretly from my work cubicle, clicking back to the work window whene….. …. …. …. ver someone walks by. But right at this moment, I can’t celebrate. I’m happy. I’m BEYOND EUPHORIA, in fact, but I can’t jump for joy just yet.

I haven’t yet mastered the art of embedding gifs or whatever the cool kids are doing these days - so this little graphic here will have to do to express my current state of existence:

(!!!!)

(What? I’m a man of letters, I tell ya!)

“Thank you all so much.” I know that track’s been on repeat for quite some time, but there’s no other phrase that can contain all of my feelings and gratitude toward your support. Thank you.

I want to write something deep and meaningful but in truth I can barely see straight. I can't stop smiling and I want jump up and down and yell at the top of my lungs!!! 

It's been an amazing ride, hasn't it?