I sat down to write, with a fresh cup of coffee and a real desire to see what happens to Isidore next. Then I saw that we got another order (#265), and now I might be too happy to write. I mean, I will write, but as it stands I am in a good mood filled with good coffee with a lovely Spring afternoon tempting me to just run through the wildflowers outside. It’s hard to write about people in dire situations when you just want to twirl on a mountainside like Maria.
SO CLOSE!
Order number 700 was just made meaning we’re only 50 preorders away from hitting the full publishing goal.
Dammit. @iamsteadman just ordered one as I was writing this.
Meaning we’re only 49 pre-orders away from hitting the publishing goal. (Thanks Mark!! Happy Eurovision!)
As a huge thank you for being in before the end here’s a little snippet from the book I won’t be putting up on the general page.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
LESSONS
“It’s so easy to teach you since I always know what you learned exactly four years before,” the Secretary had crowed. He instructed each version of Ambassador X in order each day so he would move from least experienced to most experienced.
The lessons usually came during physical labor.
Ambassador X would be digging up dirt to cart over for the building’s walls. The Secretary would come up and start drilling him.
“What are the four major types of Sensaurians?”
“Overmind, Command, Soldier, Worker.”
What is the name of the Progon homeworld?”
“Tiel”
What are the Sensaurian eating habits.
“We do not know as they refuse to dine in diplomatic situations.”
“Should you ever offer Progons food?”
“It is not necessary but they appreciate the courtesy. Only offer once as they see the insistence as an insult to their machine nature.”
“What are the Sensaurian wheeled containers properly called?”
“Buckets. They really are buckets even in translation. Hilarious.”
“Focus. What is unique about Progon evolution?”
“They are non-corporeal and had the lowest probability of reaching sentience of any known sentient species.”
And on and on, day after day, until the day before Ambassador X’s original arrival.
Hello there all you wonderful people!!
Well I said that if we made 260 orders before the campaign ended I would hold another 50 Point Raffle. Guess what!! You amazing people blew that goal right out of the water so here it is. The winner of the final 50 Point Raffle is...
Sarah Bryant!! Congratulations!! You are the last winner of the 50 Point Raffle. Your super soft Beyond the Code blanket will be sent to you as soon as possible.
Again thank you all so much for bring this campaign to a successful end. Beyond the Code is going to be published. It still give me goosebumps saying that.
Thank you all.
Kelsey Rae Barthel
Hi all,
Quick one (sorry for the two-days-in-a-row mail & in the middle of Eurovision, the nerve!)
I was lucky to feature on The Warbler, Elan Samuel’s great blog.
Good night! Go Israel! Go UK! Go Australia! (come-on their song was good)
What’s the good word Pirates!!
Soooo, the Geek & Sundry contest is almost over! Honestly, I’m a bit relieved. Its been a fun, nail-biting experience for us in the trenches, and I’m looking forward to the next stage. Because of your support, we are #3!!! But, I’m not one to rest until its over, so here is my pitch:
For all those who have pre-ordered, THANK YOU! You are rock stars and we here at Team Pirates appreciate your support!!
For those on the fence, please help us get to and past QUILL!! We’re only a few copies away, and we’re so excited to meet this benchmark!
For everyone that buys today, SATURDAY MAY 14, we will donate 100% of our take to the American Cancer Society.

My mother died of cancer when I was 22. I know she would have loved that Pirates of Montana exists today. This book, this story, exists because of her. #fcukcancer (not sure if Inkshares censures this sort of thing, so yes, it is misspelled ;-))
Anyway here is a hilarious meme to lighten the mood!

As a thank you to all your support during the campaign to bring Rise to publication, Inkshares sent out a gift of $10 credits to use in another contest. I’ve contacted many of you through the Book of Faces, but just in case I missed people, I’m sending this little announcement out. They expire on Monday, 16 May 2016. Most of those I have talked to did receive the credits but there are a few who did not and I’m not sure why. Still, it doesn’t hurt for you to look. And, if you have them, I could think of at least one way you could use them by Monday night.
In other news related to Rise itself, I’ve seen the final copy sent to the proofreader and it looks amazing. This thing is so close to happening yet still so many months away. Stay tuned for news regarding a small release party at or around DragonCon in Atlanta, GA the week leading up to the convention.
Finally, many of you have been asking about the sequel to Rise, Fall. Some of you have noticed on my author page it lists a certain draft named Fall and asked why you couldn’t go follow or preorder it yet. The reason is I haven’t quite finished prepping the page for public viewing so you can follow it. It will not be available for preorder until closer to Rise’s release date of 13 Sept 2016. Stay tuned.
We’re down to 15 pre-orders left before we get published!!! As we get down to the last few copies I’ve decided to share some alternative concept art for our story that either didn’t make the cut or are really early versions of some of the final work. Enjoy!
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