About two hours remain in the Nerdist contest. This is it, guys. Though I’d be ecstatic to jump into third in that time, the realist in me is already onto our next steps (but go ahead and spam your friends in the name of space dragons). 

Tonight I’ll send a full newsletter with any news and what we can do to make sure The Traveller’s Cup succeeds. 

You guys have been the best space crew a captain could ask for, and one way or another this book is going to end up in your hands. 

Your Overbearing Overlord, 

-Captain AC

My wonderful readers and followers...the day is upon us! The final day of the contest!

And, here’s the funny part...despite being a writer, I’ve read this entire time that the contest ends at midnight, whereas the fine print states that it ends at 12pm PST, or...3pm this afternoon for those of us on the east coast...which means...

LESS THAN FOUR HOURS LEFT IN THIS CONTEST!!!

This contest has been a marathon of love and labor...blood, sweat, and tears...

Thank you all for your support and love and, well, EVERYTHING throughout this contest. I still can’t believe that’s the finish line I see on the horizon. 

I wish everyone in the contest the very best, no matter the outcome. This cup runneth over with outstanding talent. Let us all support each other. We can all get published.

With such little time left in this contest, I’m certain that everyone’s efforts to place will be ramped up appropriately...as should mine. It’s only appropriate, as I love my book and want the absolute best for it. 

Nothing is guaranteed until 3pm EST. Until then, if you haven’t ordered a copy of Mr. Butler, please consider doing so now. If you have, please take these next couple of hours to get just one other person interested enough to pre-order. 

Thank you all for your unwavering support. I really can’t believe it’s all coming to a close today.

Take care, everybody.

Have a wonderful day.

-Michael

Dear Readers,

By my count (using my fingers...I’m a writer, not a mathematician), we have SIXTEEN HOURS left in the Nerdist Space Opera contest. That’s 16 hours to get the 70 more unique readers that we need to win the contest. If you’re following this novel, but haven’t purchased a copy yet (and you know who you are), do so now so your contribution will count towards the contest!

Also, some exciting news: Lucky was chosen by the Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters Syndicate to be their March nomination. This nomination came in late last night and I only saw the email this morning, but I feel truly honored as an author to have my work chosen by this Syndicate for support.

That’s all for now (and I need to refill my coffee mug too). I’ll be back later this afternoon/evening with an update and maybe even a plan for the future!

Thanks to all of you for your support and your faith in this novel.

- Webster

Greetings friends,

Orders are trickling in, slowly crawling towards the ultimate goal of 750 and full publication on Inkshares. Now, we don’t need these to come flowing in. That would be greedy. However it would be better if they were streaming in.

We’ll get there, I’m sure. Making noise about this project is an ongoing effort and I’m nowhere near done ramping up.

But I’ve been asking a lot of my supporters and backers without offering much in return. The time has come to give back a little.

MAGIC!

If you’re hyper-sensitive to spoilers, you might want to skip what comes next. Go bully a friend into pre-ordering instead. However, if you don’t mind knowing a little more about the world in which A God in the Shed takes place, here’s your chance to learn about how magic works. I like to think that the backdrop of the world is just the set on which the play unfolds and it’s the story and characters who make the novel, so knowing how magic works won’t ruin your experience but instead might enhance it. That’s not for me to decide though, so consider yourself warned.

Reality

Before explaining how magic works, you need to understand something about reality in A God in the Shed. The greater world in which the story takes place is more than what we perceive it to be. Reality is infinitely complex and layered. So much so in fact that one could almost consider it sentient and self-aware. Reality is also composed of an unfathomably long list of rules. The laws of physics, causality, and so forth.

The three types of magic

Tricks: So named because of their very nature, Tricks are the closest to traditional magic found in A God in the Shed but in a very important way they are the least magical of activity. Reality, like any complex system, has gaps and loopholes. Errors in the code and flaws in the pattern. Through luck and experimentation over thousands of years, these gaps have been discovered and documented. There is no practical reason why they work and most of the effects are subtle but they all rely on a glitch in the fabric of reality. Like using cheat codes in an arcade game. The downside is that, like toying with a bug in some software, there are occasional side effects to exploiting errors in the code.

Divine Magic: Here’s a bit of a real spoiler; the god in A God in the Shed is an extra-dimensional entity. This means that it exists outside the laws of Reality. What is perceived as god-like power is in fact an immunity to the laws that regulate how the world works. This doesn’t mean the god is omnipotent. It has it’s own rules to follow, some of which might seem arbitrary to us. However, the god is powerful, so much in fact that simply interacting with it will change someone on a fundamental level. You can’t expect to stare into the eyes of a creature from outside reality and remain unchanged, to touch their skin without consequence. These ‘gifts’ are random and while occasionally powerful they may also come at a cost.

The Art: Have you ever listened to a piece of music and had your mood altered? Or looked at a painting and seen ideas blossom in your mind that you didn’t know the seeds were there to begin with? That’s art. It influences who we are and how we perceive the world. Now imagine that power pushed to its extreme expression. Music so perfect that it changes the world. A drawing so flawless that it become real. That, is Art, with a capital ‘A’. It is the more subtle magic in A God in the Shed but it’s the most powerful. Difficult to achieve, it depends on making something so perfect that Reality itself can’t distinguish that it’s artificial and starts treating it as real. Cooking a meal so good that it heals wounds or a dance so enthralling that gravity starts to forget to hold onto the performer. Art is almost impossible to perform and some will spend their entire lives trying to make it work without even flirting with success.

So there you have it; magic in the world of A God in the Shed. It’s simple and elegant, at least I think so. More importantly, it’s not a super-power. Magic is hard work and dedication. It’s knowing the right secrets and how to apply them. The only shortcut to magic is to literally touch the face of a god, an act that can have repercussion of biblical proportions. A God in the Shed is the story of how fragile humans, everyday people with their real, human problems, deal with a universe that is more vast and deep in it’s complexity while being utterly uncaring about their petty problems and lives. It’s terrible and beautiful and only the first part of a trilogy that I want to share with you guys.

Thanks for your support. Without you I’d have a very hard time getting this story out there.

Cheers,

JF

Hey, folks. We’ve come to the the last day of the Nerdist Space Opera Book Contest. As of this writing, my book PIPERVERSE has an iron grip on ranking #23. Unless the folks at Nerdist.com suddenly go crazy and change the rules of the contest to award their publishing deals to the top 23 spots, my little space book will not be crowned a champion at this time. 

This is not the end! This contest was a shortcut to greatness, but greatness is still achievable. I will still be pushing PIPERVERSE here on Inkshares for the next few months and hope to reach the goals that will get it published. Please keep recommending it to all the bookworms in your social circles.

I want to thank all of you who have pre-ordered the book so far...and I must say I was blown away by all of you who bought the book this past week! That sudden surge of support was a true delight!

So...onward! More sample chapters to come. More strange Character Cards to see. More shameless nagging directed at all of you who HAVEN’T bought the book yet. More, more, more...

Thanks again, everyone! I’ll end this update with a new Piperverse Character Card (#5 - The Mindworm)...with a quote that just might serve as a fortune cookie message for the future.   

Dear Readers,

TIME IS RUNNING OUT. This is it. The final 24 hours of the Nerdist Space Opera contest is upon us. I am sad to report that LUCKY is still trapped at number 5 and a very solid 75 UNIQUE READERS behind where it needs to be to win the book deal. We’ve had a good run, but I don’t see us making any Hail Mary plays in the next 24 hours to get us across that finish line.

Chin up, though. I have a plan. If nothing else, we are only 25 copies from our Quill goal of 250. This is damn amazing, if you ask me. Your support and your faith in this novel are heartwarming and have kept me smiling over the past month and a half. 

If we do not win tomorrow, the funding deadline for LUCKY will most likely be extended until May 2. We will take maybe a day to regroup, drink some more coffee and maybe eat a donut...then it will be 100 miles a minute back on this marketing stuff. Stay tuned for updates as we go along!

As always, a thousand thank-yous for your support and faith!

- Webster

PS: Please forgive any typos...this message is being relayed from a mobile communications platform.  

Dear Machiners!

Time has come and gone since we last spoke. Much has happened and there are many things to update you on. 

First, I want to begin with the Nerdist contest which is CONCLUDING tomorrow. This contest was hosted by Inkshares following the Sword & Laser: The Sequel contest (which we co-won, in case anybody forgot :-) and many thanks to you!). 

This Nerdist contest’s theme is SPACE OPERA. So that’s really fun and there are many fantastic entries in the competition. I have backed about five or six myself. 

I’m not going to pick favorites, especially at this late stage. But I will emphasize that as a past contest participant I very much appreciate the drive, love, dedication, passion, and ultimately sometimes, pain, that goes with these six week emotional sprints. I tip my cap to these authors, fighting for discovery because their words need to breath. The battle doesn’t end here. So even for those disappointed come tomorrow, it’s so critical to remember that if your words deserve to be heard you must never stop fighting for them. This is also part pep talk for myself - just because my story will be published, it remains difficult to stay focused on writing, and write on we must. 

Remember, the contest is not over yet. So keep pushing authors! The last full day was the best day for us in the S&L - I think I had exactly 50 new readers.… 

And to all my supporters: Some of you may even have stray Inkshares’ credits hanging around on your accounts. Go take a look at the entrants and pick a favorite to support:

https://www.inkshares.com/contests/nerdist-space-opera-contest 

To update you on THE LAST MACHINE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM: 

I really cannot tell you how excited I am for you to hold this story in your hands, to read the words and to enjoy the truly unbelievable illustrations by Jack Katz. I have completed the manuscript and it is ready to hand into Inkshares, and then all the real fun shall begin! I am wrapping up a few straggler pieces that Inkshares requires to begin the process and will be handing things over in the next couple of days. I am not sure yet of a publication date, but expect to know soon. Whether it is late this year or early next, I know that the wait will be worth the ultimate reward. Thanks again for being along for the ride!

At the bottom is a brand new illustration from the man himself, Jack Katz. I don’t know how he does it or where it comes from. He takes inspiration from my writing it seems. The value I draw in turn from him bringing my story to life is the best part of all. 

As a fan of my story, I have an important favor to ask on behalf of Jack, the greatest creator I know. Jack is 88 years old and his vitality and creativity, as evidenced by his illustrations, has not waned. With that said, after a seven decades long career, illustrating such famed works as Popeye and Bulletman, money remains a hardship. In addition to working with me on The Last Machine, Jack is working diligently on the epic sequel to The First Kingdom, called Beyond the Beyond. Please consider supporting Jack, one of America’s great living artists from the gold and silver age of comics via Patreon. I very much appreciate your support for my friend! 

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=2830339&ty=c 

This update is becoming long-winded, which probably shouldn’t be surprising as I took too long to update (nearly 2 months). However, I have a couple more quick hits which are important!

There is an absolutely spectacular epic fantasy project which everyone who supports me, Inkshares, and flat-out awesome writing, should back. The book is Blood Dawn by John Robin. I could write an elaborate explanation of why, but it’s actually not necessary because a number of John’s super fans (including yours truly) made a sweet video. Here’s the awesome fan video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdDc8B-dL7o 

And here’s my uncut endorsement of Blood Dawn! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqLl2njZbTw 

Last but certainly not least, I have started a syndicate on Inkshares! This is basically a monthly subscription book club. Inkshares is the real deal everybody and as one of their authors I want to support Inkshares and the wonderful projects that they help bring to light. The syndicate is called GREAT SCIFI for the 21st CENTURY and BEYOND SYNDICATE! 

As indicated by the name, we are backing books that explore complex issues in the realm of SciFi. Books in the same genre as The Last Machine. So if you like my novella, you will hopefully enjoy the work we support. Feel free to check out our syndicate and sign-up today to support other authors. You can also read more about syndicates in general here.

Annnnd, drumroll, I’m thrilled to announce that The Inhabitants: An Unremembered Life is our first backed book! Congratulations to author Mike Sebby. His book is amazing and perfect for our syndicate. I love it as our first selection; it sets a great tone for us going forward. Check it out today as Mike is still funding his book and needs your support. Also, Mike sent out a hysterical video update today. I suggest you watch. You also may hear mention of a certain machine in said video! 

I will do my best to update more frequently so I don’t have soooo much to mention per update. It’s all important, and I hope none of the individual items get overlooked because of the length of this message! 

 -Matthew 

Ladies & Gents-

So I surpassed 100 unique readers! That’s splendid. I mean, seriously. Absolutely splendid.

This means it’s time to raffle off a $50 Amazon gift card! So I made a video. Or at least I thought I made a video.

Thanks to human error (in the IT biz, we refer to it as PEBKAC -- Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair), I kinda messed up my raffle video. Look, it’s been a very tiring week after moving to a new house, and I’m going to use Daylight Savings as a cop-out excuse like the rest of your co-workers inevitably will today, even though one hour shouldn’t make that big of a difference in our basic functioning. But hey, I’m not above playing that card if it gives me a pass for making fundamental technical mistakes.

Fear not, though. I still have something to present, and all prizes were still awarded!

If you want to know more about that and who won, you’ll just have to click this link to find out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoRvK8Pv0v4

Phew, okay. Congrats to the winners, and let’s hope the next one is less bungled.

Toodles.