Four Months To Publication of Going, Going, Gone!

 PLEASE UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS TO ENSURE BOOK DELIVERY

Hey everyone. A quick update on THE GHOST TRACKS. The release date has been pushed back one week, to October 26th.  A VERY important note. If you ordered a physical book from Inkshares, and have since moved, please update your address on the Inkshares website. Otherwise, your book will be sent to the old address on file.

To update your address, sign into your Inkshares account. Then click the circle icon on upper right corner of the screen. In the dropdown menu, select  "Shipping Address." From there, click the "Change Address" box and input your current one.

Also excited to announce that there will be an audiobook version of THE GHOST TRACKS, produced by Audible Studios. We recently cast the actor who will be narrating the book, and the recording should be completed soon. I’ll be sure to send out an update once the pre-order page is live on Audible.

Thanks again for all of your patience and support!

CANCER UPDATE AND PENDING SURGERY

As most of you know, I have been living with metastasized melanoma for almost two years. Since my second surgery in March 2020 to remove affected lymph nodes under my left arm, I appear to have been cancer free. To remain that way, I underwent a year of targeted gene therapy that ended in May of this year.

I now have periodic CT scans and brain MRIs. My last brain MRI seven months ago was clear. But since then, I have developed a tumor in my brain that would suggest the gene therapy was a failure. Plan B now will be to remove all evidence of this growth with a combination of surgery and perhaps radiation and then proceed with immunotherapy.

The kicker in all this is that I was on the gurney with the surgeon outside the operating room, ready to go under the knife, on Thursday afternoon this past week. Then word came down that a shortage of post-op recovery beds meant they had to bump my surgery. Because of other scheduling issues, I am still waiting to confirm a new date this coming week. In the meantime, all I can do is manage symptoms with medication.

It’s a tough time all around with scheduling in hospitals with all the pressures that are on the healthcare system because of COVID (I have zero sympathy and zero patience for anyone who refuses to get vaccinated without a legitimate medical reason, but that’s another story). I live in Canada with a public healthcare system and the there are still dire challenges right now.

All we can do is just wait and see and hopefully I will get a new surgery date confirmed on Monday and then take it from there.  

TREATMENT OPTIONS

Where gene therapy tries to attack the cancer directly, immunotherapy boosts your own immune system’s ability to identify, target and destroy cancer itself. So, you could say my first treatment with gene therapy was giving a man a fish to eat, and Plan B with the immunotherapy will be teaching him to fish for himself. 

THE GOOD NEWS

The good news is that the tumor is easily accessed and easily removed … relatively speaking. There are of course risks with any kind of surgery like this, but I am assured in this case that a positive outcome is the most likely outcome.

AND … Bane of All Things is still releasing, come hell or high water!

Again, due to COVID disruptions (this time, impacting book publishing supply chains) the release date has shifted back three weeks to Dec. 07 – but it will still be out in time for Christmas, so chill that egg nog!

Thanks again for all your love and support.

Cheers
Leo

Dear Henderson House supporters,

It’s official!! The team at Inkshares is reading my manuscript and I can expect to receive my editorial letter around October 18th. "What the heck is an editorial letter?" you may be asking. 

Friends:

If you’re hungry for a strange, twisted Southern gothic tale, a pre-order now means that apatite will be filled in a few weeks. Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or of course right here on Inkshares. Click over at least to look at the amazing cover art. Trust me, the inside of the book is just as beautifully designed. 

Dear readers,

I hope you have not forgotten me. It has been quite a while, and I admit that things have progressed far slower than I’d hoped. I feel that much of that is my own fault, and that has made me reluctant to post any updates. However, it looks like we’re finally over the slump, and have something real to report.

The book went into copy edits just last month, and should be moving on to the next step within the next week or so. Apparently we have a publication date set for February 2022, so here’s hoping things go according to schedule.

As I’m writing this, the International Agatha Christie Festival is just entering its last day. I was invited to say a little something about Christie’s post-WW1 world, though the ongoing plague means my contribution has had to be online only. Rather a shame not to be there in person, but being "online only" means the video is now available on YouTube. Check it out here: Agatha Christie: Clues to the Post-War World. While you’re there, why not check out some of the other online talks and events for the festival?

Cheers to everyone; stay healthy, and happy reading.

Hello Friends! 

It has been a good long while since I sent out an update but, finally, I have some news! 

Inkshares is planning on a Spring/Summer 2022 release for Eudaimonia! 

In October it will have been 4 years since you helped me get this thing in production. Without your help it would have never stood a chance. So, again, thank you. We are getting there! 

Recently, I had to spend some time on a plane. I knew that I would be stuck for multiple hours with little to do. So, I uploaded the most recent draft of Eudaimonia (this makes 4, I think) to my Kindle. Everything inside of me cringed as I started on page one. 

I think when you create something and refine it over, and over, and over all you really see is what is wrong with it. That’s all you are focused on. Why is this terrible and how do I fix it? The decent parts you disregard because they don’t need attention. Hours are spent hunched over sections dickering around with the way a sentance sounds. And you are never reading it as a whole piece of work. Never. Throw in the insecurity of never having done this before and the doubt that it will ever get better, argh. 

This is what prompted the dread when I opened that Kindle thousands of feet above the ground. I didn’t want to, yet again, face all the rough and ugly parts of this book and all of my shortcomings as an amateur. Atrocious, right? Plus, it was impossible to correct anything on a Kindle in an airplane. So, as I read, imagine my suprise when I thought to myself, "I don’t hate this." 

That may not sound like a ringing endorsement to you, for me, that is progress. 

I hope you are having a wonderful summer, 

Your friend, 

Meghan Godwin 

Hey readers,

I hope by now you have read (and enjoyed) IN BETA. The buzz on Amazon and Goodreads has been strong (4.7 and 4.2 stars, respectively). 

Inkshares is running a $0.99 Kindle promotion through end of the weekend in an effort to get the book on Amazon’s #1 bestseller list. We’re close to summiting the "Humorous Sci-Fi" category (#8 and climbing), so if you know anyone who would enjoy the book feel free to post something like the below to your social:

Check out my buddy Prescott’s first novel, he got crazy endorsements from JJ Abrams and Felicia Day and its $.99 through the end of the day: https://tinyurl.com/h4dtjfzp. 

And here’s a nice photo:

Thanks everyone!

“Visceral and vivid, Bane of All Things is a gorgeously imagined ride. I enjoyed getting to know these characters and the world of monsters and magic they inhabit. A terrific read.”

These heartwarming words came just this morning from fellow Ottawa-area scribe Kate Heartfield. She is the author of Armed in Her Fashion, Alice Payne Rides, and, coming early next year from HarperVoyager UK, The Embroidered Book. 

It’s hard to believe we are just two months from Bane of All Things’ release day on Nov. 16. Even more unbelievable (and affirming) is that I have fellow authors like Kate, whom I have admired for years, sharing their enthusiasm for my work.

My publisher continues to make the rounds with the bloggers and the magazines and e-zines that might post a book review or agree to interview yours truly. In a few weeks I will be launching a giveaway on Goodreads to also drive attention to BoAT. 

World Fantasy Con

Coming up on Nov. 4 to 7 is the 2021 World Fantasy Convention. As the “World” in the name suggests, this is a big deal. The Con is hosted by a different city in Canada, the U.S. or the U.K. each year. This time, it’s in Montreal – only a few hours down the road from my house. I bought my ticket way back in 2019. It will be my first time at this event and, as a debut author to boot, it should be memorable. There will be mandatory vaccinations and masks for all.

Would you like to join my Street Team?

The call is now open for volunteers to join my “Street Team” and help spread the word about BoAT. As a Street Team member, you are agreeing to be a positive and supportive cheerleader, because any debut needs all the positive press it can get!

Your participation could take any of several forms:

• Read and post a positive review before Nov. 16: I can hook you up (today) with a digital advance reader copy (ARC). Your mission, once accepted, is to read and post a 4- or 5-star review on Amazon, Goodreads and wherever else you might normally review books.

• (If after reading the ARC you honestly don’t feel that BoAT warrants 4 or 5 stars, that’s OK. An author can only expect to please some of the people, some of the time. I would only ask in that case that you let me know privately and hold off on posting your honest review/rating until after release date.)

• Take to social media: I can help set you up with social media posts/links you can publish to your social media channels of choice come November, to promote the release of the book.

• Hit up your local library, bookstore or book club: For any author, getting your book in the library is a big deal, too. In Canada, there is even a program that gets authors paid when their books are in public libraries. And as you heard me say many times way back during the pre-order campaign for BoAT, word of mouth to friends and family is gold!

If you are interested in taking part in any way with the Street Team, or if you have other ideas for how you might like to help, don’t hesitate to email me: leo@leovaliquette.com

That’s all for now. Stay safe and keep reading! 

Happy September!