Another review from a real kid!

I love this book! Milo made me think to myself -"What would I do in his situation?"- I loved the character descriptions, and the orb’s effect on not only the main characters, but the settting and animals themeselves. Keep writing, I would love to read MORE! -----Payton 11 yrs. old

We are now at 7 DAYS REMAINING and currently 208 sales towards our goal of 250 ~

As the final week looms over my head, I’ve decided to do something a little different. This week I will be uploading 2 new chapters, both of which develop the various nations that surround Yggdrassil. Alethia, the Bad-Lands, and Nin will all receive their fair share of exploration and more. 

Within the lands of Alethia, necromancy and other forms of fel-sorcery have become the norm as the kingdom’s population continues to dwindle while its needs to defend its threatened borders persist. 

But these locations and their respective cultures are not all there is within the lands of Dearean. To the East there are the Imartii - fierce and proud warriors, with each city its own nation - while to the South live the mysterious and nomadic Picts. A strange and little-understood culture, the Picts are elf-like in appearance, and attuned to the magical quantities of the world in a way few other races possess the capabilities to be. 

Artwork rights belong to Blood Rage - will hopefully have official work done soon of these groups. In the meantime this offers a work-concept of what I’m considering for these two cultures.

As funding continues for "The Children of the Forest" I’m looking to have *2* backers receive a special reward. In two random drawings, I will select two different customers of my novel to be featured as characters hailing from either the Imartii or Picts. The winners will have the ability to pick their character’s sex, have input on their origin, and even help choose their name and appearance! More still, once official artwork is scheduled, your character will feature prominently and you will receive a free and highly detailed print!

For this reward I will only be selecting from the pool of backers who have achieved either Alethian or Wolf-Rider status - but there’s still time to get your name in the drawing. All you need to do is upgrade your purchase to the 2nd or 3rd level, and that’s it - you’re in!

This is a really awesome and unique prize that will offer two lucky individuals the chance to personalize their experience with the opening novel in the series. Winners will be selected only on the basis that the book reaches its goal of 250 sales, so act quickly, and make sure you recommend and push the book to everyone you can. 

Well, hello there...

Wait...what are those words in the corner?

Yes, what you see is really there. It isn’t a figment of your imagination. We have a cover blurb! For those of you that can’t quite see it, here it is in its full glory:

We are gearing up for the promotional/marketing push for the book as well. Hopefully we will be soon locating a great local venue to have an awesome launch party/signing, if you’re into that sort of thing.

For those of you that don’t remember the books publication date is slated for May 3, 2016. But the good news is that the backers will be getting it a bit before that (barring some unfortunate catastrophe). Why is that important, you may be asking yourself... Well, it’s important because that gives us plenty of time to jump start the reviews! In this crowded world of publishing reviews can make or break your book. I will be at your mercy one last time, in desperate need your help. In order for this book to dig its roots in and take hold we must a have a lot of great reviews. What’s a lot? Let’s shoot for a 3 digit number like 100 positive reviews. So that means, about 10% of the people who will be getting a copy. That seems totally doable.

Please, please, please don’t feel obligated to review (especially if you end up less than loving it; email me and tell me how to do better if you feel so inclined). I cannot thank you enough for all you have done to make this a reality. 

I’ll leave you with the following (slightly edited) infograph about the importance of reviews borrowed from my fellow Inkshares author, G. Derek Adams, author of Asteroid Made of Dragons.

Got my first review from a real kid yesterday! It’s from 7-year-old Sam Berg, posted by his mom and fellow Inkshares writer Melissa Berg. Getting a thumbs-up from an actual kid made me extremely happy:

 ;’I really liked the descriptions, I could imagine everything clearly. I especially liked the part when he gets trapped in the orb, that was my favorite part. During the flashback of the bullying scenes, I understood how Milo felt and I was worried for him. I wanted to get back to the orb, but I still wanted to learn about the backstory. I didn’t think the orb was creepy, just mysterious. I had some relief when the boys didn’t find Milo, but I was eager to find out how they all get in the orb together. I liked the bully aspect in chapter 2, and I liked when Milo got trapped in the orb in chapter 3. I can’t wait to read more!’ ;

By the way, if you haven’t already picked up a copy, check out Melissa Berg’s book ;Prophecy of the Stars;, which was one of the first books I picked up when I signed up for Inkshares. She had me at ;Game of Thrones; meets ;Lord of the Rings;.