Greetings hexers,

I’m happy to say I was able to finish chapter 3 yesterday. I didn’t know it was finished yesterday, but I realized it this morning sitting down looking at how I’m planning things out. This means I will post this up for you today.  I’m sure you’re going to LOVE it.  

Chapter 3 sees the introduction of another major character that certain readers will be very interested in *cough* A.C. Weston *cough*. I am having a TON of fun destroying Orange County and rebuilding it. I only regret not being able to do my research in person. Instead I’m working from memory and from consultations with Professor Google. If anyone lives in Orange County and finds inconsistencies, please let me know. It’s best to change these things now before we get further down the story road.

Have fun learning more about Dax and Isidore!

Cheers, Amanda

  PS: Remember I’m still giving out prizes for referrals on my quest to get to #DHM750. Right now Joe Terzieva and Billy O’Keefe are leading the pack, and I know either one would look amazing in a Church of Technology pendant. I can’t wait to start giving these away! Join my Mech Crew today and start winning!

I still can’t believe it. I’m trying and failing to process the fact that I won the Space Opera contest. Incredible.

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge all of the other wonderful entries. I’m not going to be as bold as others have been to name favorites, but I want to summarize it all very simply:

EVERY BOOK IN THE CONTEST IS AMAZING. Take the time to peruse the entries. if there’s nothing that strikes your fancy, then you are entirely too picky and weird to be here...GO HOME!

Seriously...there are some incredible ideas out there, and I hope everyone puts all of their effort and love into taking them as far as they can. I know I have. I’ve had a few people email me directly to ask about the "secret to my success," and my answer is simply this:

Do you know anyone who doesn’t know you’re a writer? Do you know anyone who doesn’t know you have a book that could be published unless it doesn’t reach a certain number of pre-orders? 

If your answer is "no" to either question, then you aren’t doing enough. This is your life, your story, your career as an author. Nearly all of my neighbors and every single one of my wonderful friends on Facebook and Twitter bought a copy of my book. Why? Because I asked them very nicely and directly, and I am a good person and a good writer. I believe in myself, and I told everyone I possibly could that I do. Have you done that yet? If you haven’t, you should. 

That is all for now, as far as advice goes. I hope I didn’t come off as cocky; I only want the best for all of our stories, and that is seriously what has worked for me thus far.

Otherwise, my week has been exceptionally amazing in that I have also been invited to be a writer for Renderosity Magazine! Renderosity is a site that mostly focuses on computer-generated animation and art, but the magazine branches out and includes many subjects, including an article featuring yours truly. I will be starting an arts forum on their website, so look out for that...

Also worth noting is another amazing happenstance of this week in receiving a shipment of other Inkshares published books:

If you haven’t, then please go and get these works:

"An Unattractive Vampire" by Jim McDoniel

"The Life Engineered" by J.F. Dubeau

"Abomination" by Gary Whitta

"Asteroid Made Of Dragons" by G. Derek Adams

These books represent our future, and if they aren’t well received, then what should you expect? Get as many Inkshares published books as you can, and then please review them on Amazon and wherever they appear. Why? Because Inkshares is a label, and the more sales and the better reputation Inkshares gets, the better off everyone who gets published by them is!!! Do it! Got extra credits? Buy a book you’ll get in your own hands in a few days! 

Oh wow, such a long time between updates, huh? Was I dying?

Not really. Certainly felt like it at times. Next year: flu shot. Nothing like severe, body-shaking chills, fatigue, fever and medication induced hallucinations, and a throat so ravaged by coughs it took a month and about 150 cough drops to heal. So here I am, several weeks later, updating.

Right now? I’d say my life going swell. That’s not sarcasm, either. Holy cow, I feel good! I won’t say why here, let’s just say a massive ball of stress is gone, and a couple of smaller nodules are slowly being chipped away at.

Moving on to Blurred Weaponry stuff. Because I was so sick and stressed out, I haven’t done much writing recently. My current attitude means I’ll be back on track soon and will finally be able to send this thing to my editor. The new First Five – chapters, of course – are solid. Not sure if I need to spice them up, though, as 3, 4, and 5 are mostly conversational and exploratory, with a focus on tension, accusations, establishing who does and doesn’t trust whoever else, and so on.

That being said, my main page is updated with the latest version of Chapter 1 (the one my editor will see), which is now split into two named parts to be a little more attractive for readers. Chapter 2 has been added and I’ll be sending that separately to followers later today (something I’ve never done before, so why not). These shorter, punchier chapters have been a ton of fun to make, and I’m pretty happy with them and look forward to [FINALLY!] running through the remainder of the manuscript for whatever minor additions / changes are needed to match the new material.

Thanks for being a part of me slowly-creeping-back-into-pre-orders campaign, and I’ll have more to talk about soon!

Peace out,

MAV