Cyborg soldier Jacob Sicarius awakens early from stasis to find the crew of his multi-generational colony ship entrenched in civil war. Can he win the war against the mutineers and the malfunctioning AI implant fighting for control over his brain?
Meet Sarovek. Knight. Monitor. A hunter. A killer. A noble daughter of a powerful house of Corvidia, the kingdom of sky-dwellers. If you’ve read chapter one of “The Animal in Man” then you know Sarovek leads the attack against the hyena the story’s hero Maxan had been shadowing through the streets and alleyways of Crosswall. 
“A Corvidian knight in plates of polished armor plunged from the skies. Her legs and lower talons led her way, the tips of her hawk wings trailing high behind her, a long spear gripped tight, angled at the clustered hyenas. She fell like a meteor, inches from where the fox crouched on the walkway, then flapped her wings outward at the last possible instant to break her fall. The blast of air sent immense clouds of dirt rolling away. The knight’s spear sank through a hyena’s back and deep into the ground, an explosion of blood changed the dirt to mud.”
Sarovek is quite the badass. I believe she perfectly embodies the type of book I wanted to write. Her character, her choices, her choices all provide the type of experience I wanted to craft for my readers. I grew up reading action-packed stories of warriors gritting their teeth and swinging swords and narrowly escaping grave dangers with their lives. Sarovek may not be a barbarian, but she’s just as ferocious a fighter as Conan. She may not be a drow ranger, but she’s just as stoic as Drizzt.
If you haven’t heard of “The Animal in Man”... If you haven’t had the chance to really dive in and see what makes it so special, then go check it out. Spend a little time in my world.
I have some very, very exciting news to share with everyone coming up in the next update. Stay tuned, My Dear Animals! And as always, thank you for your support and patience!
(Immense thanks to artist Ellinsworth for his amazing sketch of Sarovek! Visit his portfolio for more awesome artwork!)
WE DID IT! I AM WALTZ has officially released EVERYWHERE!
Thank you to everyone who supported me in making this book a possibility. I hope everyone is enjoying the book.
Making the book exist is one thing, letting everyone else know about it is another, and I still need your help.
Once you finish the book, I’d be very grateful to you if you leave a honest review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. We currently have 7 reviews on Amazon, but lets get this into the hundreds ASAP! The more reviews, the easier getting I Am Waltz 2 out will be!
To review click the links for Amazon - Goodreads, or click the image below!
Also, be sure to tell your friends about the book, lend it to them, encourage them to pick up a copy. Share on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, real life, your blog, etc.
Thank you all so much, and stay tuned for updates on I Am Waltz 2 which I am working on now, through the working title I Am Waltz: Project Monarch.
Blessings to you all,
Matthew D. Dho
THE MANUSCRIPT IS IN!!!
After two months of rewriting and revising, with the help of my friends Peter Ryan and Cari Dubiel, and. of course, my wife, I’ve turned in a fine tuned 76,900-word manuscript after the first round of developmental editing. That’s nearly 10,000 darlings killed. It was probably closer to 15,000 of the original words that suffered their terrible fate, but I changed a couple of scenes and added about 5,000 words back in. It was all for the better, and I’m proud of what this book has become.
I know I promised mid-January for turning in this manuscript, but I’m going to play the sympathy card, because I was hospitalized in January for acute abdominal pain and had my gallbladder removed and subsequently stolen. They wouldn’t bronze it and let me keep it, the jerks, they just took it God only knows where. But, I’m glad it’s out. The good news is that I got my author bio picture in the process:
That’ll sell a lot of books on its own. Might even make it the cover of the book. Not sure my publisher would go for that, though.
Speaking about the cover, design will start happening in a few months, but I already know one thing will be remarkably different when it’s done: the title.
Yup, I am almost sure I’m changing the title. The book is in two parts now, and I’ve named part one "The Madness of Mr. Butler," while part two is "The Courage of Mr. Butler." As much as I love the title as it has been, it doesn’t really sound like a science fiction book, which it mostly is. I’m changing the title of the book to "The Man Who Stole the World," which, for those of you who are in need of improving your musical tastes, is a play on the title of a David Bowie song. (And David Bowie might have a cameo in the story, but I’m not at liberty to say at this point).
wink
So, what’s next?
Right now, we wait. Matt Harry, my editor, already got back to me that he’s currently working on a few manuscripts and plans on starting on mine in a few weeks. So, it’s probably going to be a while before I can report on further progress. But, this means that this year will begin the next levels of edits on a manuscript that is actively in production. I feel great about it all. I’ve had a wonderful experience with Inkshares.
Thank you all for your support. Your investment in me is something I think about and appreciate daily. I’m working my tail off to get you the best version of the book. Thank you for the opportunity. This is all because of you. I hug you.
In the meantime, if you wanna interact outside of email, you can find me on Twitter and Facebook, and fairly soon I’m getting my blog back up after some reconstruction.
Hang in there, it’s all coming together!
Love always,
-Michael
Hey, kids.
Today’s the day!!
Yes, today is PUBLICATION DAY!!
That’s right. Now you can go into most major book stores and ask for Beyond the Code. You can go to Amazon and order it right now. It’s AVAILABLE!!!! The long wait it finally over!
I am officially a published author and it feels amazing, but I’m not done yet. Now I have the task of making Beyond the Code a success and you can help. If you haven’t pre-ordered Beyond the Code, you can go to any major book like Indigo, Chapters, or Coles, and ask for Beyond the Code. If enough people show interest, they might think that Beyond the Code deserves a place on their shelves. Not only would that make it more accessible to people out of the loop, it would make a dream of mine a reality.
If you already have a copy and you still want to help out in building the books success. You can go to Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, or Goodreads and leave a review or rating to let me know what you thought. The more reviews Beyond the Code gets, especially through Amazon, the more exposure it will receive. Reviews are an authors best friend.
Thank you all for following me clear to the finish line and I hope you love this little slice of my imagination.
Kelsey Rae Barthel
Isidore RAM steps into the Font, sweeping the cables connected to her Shroud behind her like a train. She flips a switch, connecting her synapses to the Circuit and sighs one whispered phrase, like a prayer "July 10, 2018."
Hey. Hi there.
I have news. A couple of bits actually. I shall save the best for last though.
New book title
Ghosts of War is now.....Ghosts of War: Retribution. The change was made by me to help the title stand out a little more, and it gels better with what the story is actually about (and with the titles of the series going forward). I’m quite pleased with the change.
With that change though, means something else...
A new cover
Production Status
Very good news on this front. This last Monday, Ghosts of War: Retribution winged it’s way across the interwebs into the hands of it’s copy editor. That means it is getting a thorough going over as it moves ever closer to release later in the year. Typically the time frame is 6 months from kickoff to publication, so it should land somewhere around the middle of the year.
I should be hearing back from Inkshares soon with some more solid dates related to the production schedule and release, and I’ll keep you guys updated where I can.
Praise for the book
I’ve been getting the first lots of feedback on Ghosts of War: Retribution in the last few weeks, here’s a few blurbs that’ll be showing up in various promo materials going forward.
"Imagine that bastard you hate. Got it? Now imagine yourself gut punching them then throwing them down the stairs, and stealing their last donut. Robinson’s debut novel takes arch-rivalvary up a notch while giving that oh-so-satisfying desire to chew bubblegum and kick ass." - Rick Heinz, Author of The Seventh Age: Dawn
"Sci-Fi action-adventure at its very, very best. Paul Robinson gives us complex characters facing complex conflict in a futuristic world that, although dystopian, always carries the ring of truth. There’s revenge, retribution, heroism and, sprinkled throughout, satisfying bits of wry humor. A winning combination, and a debut author worth watching." - Jason Pomerance, Author of Women Like Us
“Ghosts of War: Retribution is an adrenaline-fueled adventure perfect for fans of fast-paced action sci-fi.” - Robert Batten, Author of Blood Capital
"Paul Robinson thrills his readers in the style of James Rollins and John Grisham, and then brings them to another world in the style of Robert Heinlein. You should pick up Ghosts of War: Retribution, though be warned: it’s hard to put down. ★★★★★" - Jonathan Maas, Author of Flare
What now?
As production finally ramps up on Ghosts of War: Retribution, I’ll be working hard with Inkshares to get it into your hands and I’ll also be continuing to work on the sequels which are now called Ghosts of War: Reprisal and Ghosts of War: Reckoning.
As always, stay tuned for updates.
Dear readers and friends of Nowhere Else I Want to Be: A Memoir -
Hello again my wonderful followers,
BIG NEWS!! The ebook for Beyond the Code is READY!!!! That means that anyone who pre-ordered the digital copy or the physical/digital combo can read the book RIGHT NOW!!! And if you have yet to join the club and want to see what all the fuss is about, you can order a digital copy of Beyond the Code for only $6.99 and download it right away. No more waiting!
And remember, once you have read Beyond the Code, make sure to give it a review on amazon, goodreads, or the Indigo website. Reviews are an authors best friend and I am eager to know what you think of my first published novel.
Thank you all for staying with me on this journey to publication and I hope you all enjoy reading Beyond the Code as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
Kelsey Rae Barthel