Hey everyone,

I’m absolutely swamped with work today, so this update will be very short. I just wanted to send out one of my finished works, which will available to backers who purchased enough copies to qualify for "Wolf-Rider" or "Alethian" status. 

~ Silas Des’tra is the princess  of the Men’kai tribes, and one of the primary protagonists within "The Children of the Forest." Driven by her fierce loyalty to her people, and her fear of Alethia’s encroachment upon their lands, Silas turns to ancient and forbidden magic to save her world. ~

I’ve really enjoyed developing her character so far, and it’s a real treat to be able to see a finished product of the character I’ve envisioned for so long. That’s all for now, but I promise there will be a more extensive (and substantial) update on the near-horizon. Look for more chapters, additional artwork, and even a surprise or two within the next couple days! 

So something pretty cool happened last night ~ "The Children of the Forest" hit its funding goal to qualify for Inkshare’s Quill! I’ve been completely blown away by the last-minute rally of fans, and I’m floored that in less than 7 days we managed to move over 50 copies of the book! 

Looking ahead, I’m still somewhat processing the fact that the book will be made. It’s been a long road to reach this point and I couldn’t have come this far without everyone in the Inkshares community who put their time, money, and opinions to use in helping me craft what has become "The Children of the Forest." 

I just wanted to offer a quick look at what to expect in the next few weeks, regarding the schedule for the novel.

1. As mentioned in another update, I’ll be releasing a companion booklet (Free) to all backers. Men’kai will only receive this as a digital copy, while Alethian+Wolf-Riders will be given soft-cover books.
2. I’ll be updating the Inkshares page during production on the rest of the novel. I hope to have at least 2-3 more sample chapters made available, along with a refined introduction, video, and more. 
3. I also have a short-story in the works that will be made available to all backers within the next few weeks. 

Most likely there will be more, but those are the major beats for now. Again, a huge thanks to everyone who backed my novel and made it a reality! I can’t wait to have the finished version in your hands  ~

Dear Readers,

I am happy to say that we are doing VERY well - this week saw a decent jump in pre-orders and LUCKY’s location on the Nerdist Space Opera contest position. As of this update, she’s sitting at #3 and praying for a lucky break (sorry, I couldn’t resist!) to stay in the top three until March 16.

Of interest this week: LUCKY and I were featured on the Inkshares blog as part of the top ten authors. The link is here: http://blog.inkshares.com/post/139990528800/what-inspires-the-top-contestants-in-the-nerdist Check it out!

Unfortunately I still haven’t fixed the chapter order issue yet. My real-life job kept me swamped ALL WEEK and I have house guests until Monday. I’ll get there, but feel free to still leave feedback. I love hearing from y’all and I read each comment carefully.

Stay tuned for more updates coming hopefully early next week! Please continue to share LUCKY around with your friends, families, random strangers...you know the drill. Sharing is caring, my friends!

- Webster

Hey all, 

Hello Champions!

Just did this really fun interview with A Fantastical Librarian, a blog about middle grade sci-fi and fantasy books -- you can check it out here:http://www.afantasticallibrarian.com/2016/02/author-query-christopher-leone.html

--Chris

We’ve broke 100 pre-orders and you know what that means...50 POINT RAFFLE TIME!!!

That’s right! We’ve finally made it to 100 book orders. I’m super excited that you’ve all taken the time to help back my work. Now time for the raffle. And the winner is...  JASON POMERANCE!!!!!

Congratulations!!! Your super soft blanket will be in the mail soon. 

If you want to see pictures posted of me being silly on camera doing the raffle follow the link below to Beyond the Code’s facebook page. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/138300049868157/

This campaign has been an real joyous and at the same time frightening experience so far but it’s not over yet. The road is a little less than half way done and we are just shy of half way there. If you like my hard work please don’t forget to pre-order. Not only will you get good karma for helping a dream come true and have a good book to read, also in another 50 orders you’ll have a chance to win a nice, soft fleece blanket. 

Thank you all so much for your continuing support and feedback and I hope you have a great weekend. 

Chapter 2 is now UP! YAY!

Dr. Anita Baxter awakes to find that human beings long abandoned Earth after it was razed by alien terrorists and Penny’s bedside manner is not exactly helping matters much. Imagine waking up on a spaceship to find that everything and everyone you ever knew no longer existed. Yeah, she doesn’t take it very well... 

Oh, and they also almost get blown to smithereens by the bad guys...because that’s what bad guys do. I read that in a book somewhere.

-J