Greetings, Faoii!

Did you notice the date? The Last Faoii came out one month ago today! Raise your mugs, Faoii. We’ve create something amazing together!

We’re still sitting pretty at 20 reviews on Amazon. This is good, Faoii. This is very good for a debut novel that didn’t even qualify for full funding. However, I want to look forward to the holidays that are coming up in a few months. The Last Faoii would make a great gift for people of various ages and backgrounds, and I want it to be available to those who might want to give it. But that will only happen if we can trigger the Amazon algorithm and thus get it to show up when people browse. So I’m beseeching you again, Faoii, to leave a review. It takes a few seconds. You can leave a one-word review if that’s what you want. But please help me. The army can only grow if everyone helps to push the line.

Shields up

Faoii-Tahani

Happy Halloween everyone!

In honor of the scariest of holidays, I’ve prepared a special gift for you that I hope you’ll enjoy.

I’ve felt bad about the fact that, just over a year after the end of my Tantalus Depths campaign, my many incredibly loyal supporters haven’t yet seen any return on their investments. The editing process moves much more slowly than I’d realized it would, and although I think taking the extra time will make for a much better book, I easily empathize with those of you who are growing impatient waiting for the book you paid for to materialize.

So, to tide you over while the development edits continue, I’m releasing a special treat: a new horror short story, written by yours truly, now available for you to read in its entirety for free right here. I first wrote The House of Chaos in 2012, and after a bit of polishing I feel it’s finally worth reading. As a traditional horror story, it’s very different from Tantalus Depths and Proteus in style and setting, but I’m confident some of you will enjoy it nonetheless.

This is NOT the Tantalus Depths prologue that I promised I’d write last year. That is still coming (believe it or not), it’s simply taken a back seat to the editing process for Tantalus Depths.

And in other news, as most of you know, next month is National Novel Writer’s Month! Many Inkshares authors will be working on different projects for NaNoWriMo, and I’ll be among them. For my purposes, though, I’m only working on existing projects this time. My first priority will be editing Tantalus Depths, and I plan to have the full development draft finished by the end of the month. Any time I have left after that’s done will be spent on Proteus.

I plan to send updates once a week during NaNoWriMo to keep you up to date on my progress. I hope to get a great deal accomplished next month, so prepare to be impressed.

Also, best of luck to my fellow authors who are working on their own projects next month. You can do it! We’re all in the same boat, so let’s do it together!

Dear Readers,

Sorry it’s been awhile since my last update! To be honest, I haven’t been able to write for the past week.  Up until that point, however, I was able to rework about 22,000 words, I interviewed eleven kind volunteers about their reading habits and engagement with social media, and I got my web designer (Mary Ann Aschenbrenner of WaterlinkWeb.com) started on my author page. So, progress is being made!

I expect my website, Instagram, Twitter, blog, and Facebook pages will all launch in a couple to three weeks. I also intend to compile my research on how to build an effective social media presence into an interesting and informative article so that other authors can use it to increase exposure for their creative work. Many, many thanks to my volunteers! I gathered so many valuable insights into effective marketing from you, both what works and what doesn’t. I’m now motivated to implement my ideas and see how it goes.

This week, I’m traveling for work, but my evenings are free, so I hope to get back into writing and prepare some content for my social media presence, write my research article, and finish up APEX. Next month is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month for those unfamiliar), and I’d like to use it for launching a new piece of writing, but if I need to use it to finish up APEX, so be it. It’s all good.

Cheers and stay tuned! Big things are underway!

Debbie

Updates, Faoii! Listen up!

I want to show you a picture. Look at it very carefully, Faoii. Something has changed in the last 24 hours. Take a look: 

Do you see it? Here. Let me make it a bit more obvious:




That’s right, Faoii. We’ve surpassed our previous goal of 350 pre-orders and shot right up to 365! That’s amazing! You should be proud of yourselves and the army you’ve helped build.

However, we still only have 15 reviews on Amazon. That means that 4% of people that have purchased this book have rated it. 4%. We can do better than that, Faoii. Kicking over on Amazon’s algorithm is our next major goal in this campaign. It is the only way we can move forward from here. You’ve stood behind me this long-- don’t put down that blade yet.

Shields up.

Faoii-Tahani

Quick update, Faoii! Listen up!

I had the honor of being invited to participate in a panel for Virtual Fantasy Con. The topic was "Gender Issues in Fantasy" and we touched on a lot of really important and encouraging topics. Obviously, there’s a lot to talk about when discussing gender in literature and publishing, and there were five of us on the panel, so it’s rather long, but definitely worth watching. Here’s the link to the panel on youtube. It’s also posted on The Last Faoii’s Facebook page and on my event page for Virtual Fantasy Con! This was my first time EVER being on a webcam (I am almost ashamed at how hard I worked to make myself look presentable) and talking in a panel, so I would love some advice on how to better present myself through that particular medium. More importantly, I want to know your thoughts on the topics we discussed and about anything you wish we’d touched on that we didn’t get a chance to.

Other than that, you still have your orders: We have 13 reviews on Amazon. We need 100. So I’m calling on your blade. I need you to leave a review and help make this book visible. Do not fail me, Faoii.

That’s all for now. Keep those shields up.

Faoii-Tahani