Hello all,

First, thank you all for your patience. Writing, editing, and then finalizing a project that you care about takes a lot of work, and a lot of time. It’s important to bring justice to the project by being patient, which at times was difficult as I had all of you—my backers—on my mind. I can’t wait to get this novel into your hands. But, I took my time, worked it through thoroughly, hired a reputable editor, Caroline Tolley, and turned my early drafts of Under The Rug into something I’m very proud of. And, the process is now moving forward as I’ve just submitted my manuscript to Inkshares. 

Now, Inkshares will still have their editors take a look at it. But because I’ve had a professional editor already work on this with me, the process will move much faster than normal. The next few things I will be submitting to the Inksahres team are things like book cover, layout, author bio, etc. Soon Inkshares will communicate to me a realistic date for the release of the book. Rest assured however, that you, my backers, will receive your copies before it hits the bookshelves. That’s it for now. Will let you know something when I know something. 

I have some complicated news regarding my Inkshares project, which I’ve decided to cancel.

I’m going to ask all who planned to pre-order to hold off for now.

Everyone who did place an order: Inkshares FAQ says you will receive a full refund either sometime in next couple weeks (I sent an email to Inkshares, I don’t know how fast these things are) or after the campaign-window runs its course on November 14.

A NY based publisher I submitted the manuscript to over a year ago reached out to me last week and offered a contract. Three days after I started asking people for pre-orders. Go figure, right? Of course that was going to happen. Of course it was.

Me and a law-student buddy reviewed it -- everything looks good and fair, we’ve added our stipulations, I’ve reached out to a number of their listed authors to vet experiences, and everyone had good things to say -- and I plan to sign.

When faced with the choice between continuing the Inkshares campaign -- which had a very small chance of success anyway -- and taking a for-sure deal RIGHT NOW, I thought it’d be silly to pass up this opportunity. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being a little curious to know if we could’ve pulled it off. . . that woulda been pretty badass.

So, it’s no longer a toss up.

After one dropped agent, one dropped contract with another publisher and roughly a hundred rejections and near-offers, this godforsaken novel WILL be published.

Although we didn’t achieve our objective in the manner that we intended, the objective WAS achieved.

People who followed and ordered through Inkshares: I have your email address, and I will let you know when this thing hits the shelves. I sincerely hope you’re still interested in reading the rest. Much love to you -- ALL THE LOVE TO YOU!

I would also like to take this opportunity to give a couple signal-boosts to other Inkshares projects that I think are phenomenal and deserve a bit more attention: 

Spacebreaker: A New Threat, by John Novak only has eight followers, AND HE NEEDS MORE -- his project is basically lampooning Star Wars in the same manner as Space Balls. It’s really funny stuff, and you should definitely check it out.  https://www.inkshares.com/books/spacebreaker-a-new-threat

Ereshk, by Frederick Street is sitting at 36 followers and could definitely use the bump. It’s this really, really creepy cosmic-horror-noir genre blend with a lot of promise. Do check it out. https://www.inkshares.com/books/ereshk

Strays, by William Keaton is being pitched as 28 Days meets Cujo, and, friends, this is hands-down the coolest draft I stumbled across on here. Very, very well written and it had me hooked on page-one. Strays has 19 followers, and that is simply a shame. This is the kind of thing that ya’ll should be reading. 

Grayson, by Michael Sobers is sitting at 28 followers and it deserves some regard -- a hard-sci-fi yarn about space-miners stuck in interplanetary trade-drama. Think equal parts Dune, The Martian and James Clavell’s The Asian Saga. https://www.inkshares.com/books/grayson

The Burden of Choice, by Mason Force. It’s well-written sci-fi about a society run by powerful sociobioneering AI. Sitting at only 8 followers, and it definitely deserves more. 

There are so many more projects worth mentioning, but these in particular looked especially in need of a boost. 

Also: PrOOF -- Preservation Of Occult Figures, by Micheal James Welch, which was successfully funded and is taking orders -- sounds rad, like something Charlie Stross might have on his bookshelf. 

Again, many thanks to all who followed my project and pre-ordered. You’re all amazing, and if you ever need anything from me, never hesitate to shoot me an email and ask. Find me on facebook and send me a friend-request! 

And please let me know if there are questions about project: BREATHLESS. 

Best regards, and remember

LIVE SLOW

LIVE WELL

KEEP CREATING

KEEP READING

--Shane

Readers, thank you all for your continued interest.  I’ve posted several chapters since the last time you heard from me.  I keep forgetting to click that "Notify followers" button.  But the story is moving along, and even gaining momentum now that our anti-heroes are finally off of Tanix.  Big fun ahead!