Hey guys. Sorry for the delay. Today marks the beginning of a regular release schedule for the chapters of the story. You may notice excerpt and chapters disappearing from the preview and that is because we’re now releasing the story linearly. That being said i’m going to start hiding Art Pieces at the end of each chapter, you know, as like a kind of reward. :)

Hey everyone! What a warm welcome on my first day on Inkshares! The book is coming along swimmingly* with Penny’s adventures coming closer to reality! I should have another writing sample up soon and am also working on a groovy promo video for my project page, so keep your eyes, antannae and/or optical receptors open for that! Also, updated the project page with direct links to my Twitter and Facebook author page, so hit those up, share and all that fun stuff. Thank you, I love you all! (especially you...no, you right there. Yeah, you). *DISCLAIMER: No part of the book was written while actually submerged in water (yet).

Hello everyone!
Just wanted to let you know that I am in full writing mode! I have been able to devote 2 to 3 full days a week to writing and am looking to get my final draft to Inkshares and Girl Friday Production by June 1st latest. According to average production time from there, the publish date would be somewhere in September or October! Thank you so much again for making this possible.

Next, I would love to send you all along to a project that a friend is spearheading and I will be contributing to. I am reaching out to all of my writer/reader friends and thought many people on Inkshares might be interested too. Here’s a brief synopsis:

Thanks again and I hope you are all well!

I MADE A VIDEO! Starring me and my dog explaining CHAMPIONS OF THE THIRD PLANET in a little more detail than you’ve heard before, especially as it relates to my childhood obsession with STAR WARS. The video is up now on my page, I hope you’ll check it out.

Making the video took me away from the book and Inkshares for a couple of days, but now I’m back. I’m currently writing chapter 12 of the book -- Milo and the other kids are already dealing with some freaked-out aliens on a far-off planet where I am. Meanwhile, I don’t want to get stuck revising when I still have BLANK PAGES ahead of me but I wanted to jump back and clean up chapters 2 & 3 before I post. Also because I had a really cool idea for something that I’m guessing will happen around chapter 20 and need to set it up in the beginning of the book. 

Fun fact I’ve discovered: I’m bad with alien names. It takes a long time for me to come up with ones I like and then I have to brew on them for a while to see if they stick. I guess you can’t learn that about yourself until you start writing a book with a LOT of alien names.

I also have some pitches to catch up on -- sorry if you’re waiting for a response from me, I promise I haven’t forgotten! 

If you haven’t pre-ordered a copy of CHAMPIONS OF THE THIRD PLANET, please order one. It’s technically a middle grade novel, so it’s aimed first at kids 8-12, so if you know one of those, you should get it for him or her if you want to be considered a "cool" grownup.

But REALLY I’m really writing this book for me. I’d read this book and I’m a grown man!  I mean, I’m going to bow to STAR WARS again here -- George Lucas thought of STAR WARS as a kids’ movie (!) but grown-ups loved it just as much. In fact, most of my favorite movies appeal to everybody at any age: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, GHOSTBUSTERS, BACK TO THE FUTURE. So that’s what I’m aiming for.

Thanks, hope you enjoy the video!

--Chris

People have been sending me screenshots of their shipping information for The Life Engineered.

The backer copies are shipping.

I’ve also seen a few Amazon email confirmations with expected dates of delivery.

It’s a very humbling moment in the life cycle of this book. It feels very much like that moment when the wind picks up a little but everything feels more quiet and the smell of rain is in the air but the downpour is still a few hours away. It’s that second when the wave is cresting too high for it to roll back peacefully but not quite enough to break yet. It would be easy for me to sit back and look on in awe at the impending spectacle, but I can’t.

This is the time when I need to turn you, my awesome supporters, into an active militia once more. The gears of the machine must be brought to turn once again to offer one more shove. You’ve supported me so far and it feels demanding to ask for more, but I must.

What you can do:

1. Leave reviews. Whether it’s on Amazon or Goodreads or both, please leave a review of The Life Engineered. I want to know what you think of my story and good reviews help promote visibility.
2. Post pictures of the book. Take a photo of you copy of the book and Tweet it to @jfdubeau or post it on my Facebook page. I want to make an album. It’s one of the rare times I indulge in narcissism.
3. Share your copy. If you bought extra copies and don’t know what to do with them, give them to friends. Lend yours out. I want people to read and enjoy my story. It’s one of the joys of physical books that they can be shared. Take advantage.

As a parting note, I want to thank you all for your support. This is an incredible ride and I couldn’t have done it without you all. That’s why I thought it was worth flying out to San Francisco this past weekend to sign your copies of the book and just knowing that people appreciate that makes it all worthwhile.

(Find out more about my San Francisco trip here)

Cheers,

JF