Thomas J. Arnold liked an update for THE BONES OF THE PAST

Hello everyone!!

We're in the final stretch! There are only 6 DAYS LEFT (and 2 hours and 20 minutes)! We are still in 3rd position and up to 207 readers! Your support is humbling and very, very much appreciated. I can’t thank each and every one of you enough!

In other amazing news - I’ve been invited to take part in the Sword and Laser podcast (yes, the people behind the Sword and Laser contest we’re trying to win!). I’m really excited about being on the show and having an opportunity to share a little more about The Bones of the Past! You can keep an eye out for the broadcast here: http://swordandlaser.com/

We still have a few days to go, and as we’ve already seen in this competition, everything can change in a matter of hours. So we need to keep the momentum going right up until the end; please, if you haven’t hit that pre-order button yet, do it now! (if you’re unsure it will say “order again” if you’ve already ordered). Also, please ask a friend, family member or acquaintance to join in! Every single pre-order is incredibly important!

Remember I’ll be drawing 2 names (or hopefully 4 if we finish in the top 3) from all of those who have pre-ordered my book to win a 50$ gift card each. The draw will take place on January 16th!

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/the-bones-of-the-past

 Thank you all yet again for your continued help and support! 


Looking forward to some downtime after the contest is finally over :)




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    Thomas J. Arnold liked a comment in the forum thread, Soft Launch Invitation Thread
    When Facebook added nested replies to comments on posts I realized how much they help keep a thread organized. It would be nice to have that.

    Also, @Tony Valdez , @Tabi Card , @Steve Soldwedel , and @Jeyna Grace , come check out the new forum!
    like · liked by Thomas and 5 others

    People who have liked this comment in the forum thread, Soft Launch Invitation Thread

      Thomas J. Arnold liked a comment in the forum thread, Soft Launch Invitation Thread
      my number one suggestion would be to have the threads read from oldest to newest going down the page. It seems counterintuitive to have to scroll to the bottom of the page and read it backwards to catch up.
      like · liked by Thomas and 2 others

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        Thomas J. Arnold liked a comment in the forum thread, Soft Launch Invitation Thread
        If someone lurks on a forum that doesn't even technically exist yet, having superspy-ed his way in, does this mean he's the world's greatest detective?
        like · liked by Thomas and 5 others

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          Thomas J. Arnold liked a comment in the forum thread, Soft Launch Invitation Thread
          If you find your way here, you belong here.
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            Thomas J. Arnold liked a comment in the forum thread, Deus Hex Machina
            No sorries, just let me clean up this random moisture that's accumulate in my eyes somehow...

            Honestly I was just talking with my husband about how I think I've stalled on all the possible channels for funding on this project.  I've reached out to the last 20 prospects on my list and will keep pinging until I get a definitive answer, but all we can come up with is posting fliers in libraries, but that's more of a passive shot in the dark.  I was just saying to him this might be my funding limit -- 43 copies.  I mean that's more than Shadow of the Owl got, so that's a success in itself.

            I tried to leverage a massive facebook group I'm in called Mamageeks, but they must have seen through my proxy self-promotion through a friend because there was no response, like at all to the post.  These wre the people that bout like 400 copies of SotO the first weekend, but that might have been because they were free and I was complaining about how my mother wouldn't read the book so they were jumping to my defense.

            I did post on reddit, but self-promotion has never been successful in my book (or for my book even): https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/3vqqam/check_in_selfpromotion_and_off_topic_discussion/cxzwe0s

            I thought of using a Twitch stream -- I did this during my last day of nanowrimo and although the quality of the writing suffered a bit since I had an audience, it was kinda fun to stream and write at the same time.

            But ultimately all these avenues are passive.  The person who I wish I could emulate in terms of preorder strategies is @Jamison Stone .  He managed to reach out into the community and pull hundreds of preorders in just days.  It's a real shame that this contest ends mid January, because I have a table at Chattacon where I could have sold preorders, but that's the last week in January.  

            @A.C. Weston Your page keeps coming up because Art really wants to collaborate on the graphic novel with you. He asks me like daily about this hehe that's how excited he is about the idea.  

            Mylanta, I'm just so darn HONORED that you all think this much of the book! 
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            People who have liked this comment in the forum thread, Deus Hex Machina

              Thomas J. Arnold liked a comment in the forum thread, She Is The End
              (I ended up deleting my joke answer and writing a real one. Sorry, @JF Dubeau!)

              Writing is one of the ways I interpret life. I need it to help me figure out how to exist in a world filled with horrible things and still feel hope. I had your garden-variety shitty childhood, and stories were always an escape - both reading and writing them helped me make it to adulthood.

              I'm not interested in convincing comfortable people how "dark and gritty" life can really be. Those kinds of stories are fine for whoever wants to read and write them, but a lot of us already know. We need to know whether or not the darkness and grit are worth it.

              Stories help me survive, and I like to think maybe someday something I write could help someone else survive, too.

              As for this book, I like adventure and angst and love and heroics, and I don't just want to consume these kinds of stories; I want to create them.

              In the most general sense, I'm working out my understanding of how justice and mercy might exist in tension in a world where everyone is flawed, and everyone wants forgiveness. My faith as a Christian informs my exploration of justice and mercy, but I'm not writing an allegory or trying to indoctrinate anyone. (Unless you count writing multiple complex, realistic women as feminist indoctrination, in which case... yeah.)

              I'm interested in exploring service, humility, and self-sacrifice as the foundations of leadership.

              I'm interested in exploring power and injustice, recovery from trauma, and the meaning of beauty.

              I'm interested in exploring community versus the individual, identity formation, and the definition of family.

              Also, I want to make spaceships explode!
              like · liked by Reader and 4 others

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                Thomas J. Arnold liked a comment in the forum thread, She Is The End
                I was inspired by science. And an angel. A science-angel. With robots.
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                  Thomas J. Arnold liked a comment in the forum thread, Captain America
                  The REAL question is: where is my Captain Marvel movie, damn it? 
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                    Thomas J. Arnold liked a comment in the forum thread, Captain America
                    Obviously, I am team Captain America for CA: Civil War. This shouldn't even be an argument... I mean, I get that Tony is spooked after all he's been through, but is the US government really, in his experience, the one to judge about a lack of accountability?? Seriously? Who watches the Watchmen??? Maybe the US military needs some oversight from some superheroes, HUH?

                    I know, the story is specifically about Bucky Barnes - accused of a crime he didn't commit, I suspect. Well, he DIDN'T DO IT FIRST OF ALL. Second of all, if you're so worried about the superheroes, let the superheroes police themselves! The Avengers are, in essence, a judicial council anyway. Maybe they need a few regular-joe members, so they can have an ombudsman or livestream their discussions or whatever. The point is, PROTECT BUCKY BARNES AT ALL COSTS.

                    #VICTIMNOTAVILLAIN
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