I’m still on a bit of a high after Mission 51 was honored with the July selection of the GREAT SCIFI for the 21st CENTURY and BEYOND SYNDICATE! Now there is an extra badge on my project page, to go along with the Inkshares "Staff Pick" badge. Wow!

But really, this is not the time for celebration. There are only 27 days left for Mission 51 to get to 250 pre-orders before it can be published. Time is running short!

Mission 51 has 167 awesome followers. Of those, 109 have pre-ordered their copy of the book, some ordering multiple copies. Thank you very much!

This update is actually a request to the 58 others who have yet to place their pre-order. If you have been waiting for some reason, the time to act is now! Please, take a moment and click the green button below to place your pre-order. And remember, I will match it dollar for dollar with a donation to the Ronald McDonald House Charities, who do an absolutely awesome job helping families with sick kids.

Thank you in advance for your kind support! And thank you for liking and sharing my endless posts, and for promoting to your friends. The Mission 51 family has grown because of you! Thank you! :-)

Hendrix and I started the SQUIDS IN campaign like this...

But today I feel a bit like this...

There has been massive movement at the top of the leaderboard which now means that finish Top 3 is now out of reach. I have no plan for achieving 46 unique pre-orders over the next 5 days. That’s what is required as of today in order to finish in the Top 3 and get published.

What does this mean for you guys? Well it means that, if I choose not to chase the target of achieving 250 pre-orders within the next 2 months, you guys will all get your money back and this project will be put to bed.

I have a difficult decision to make.

In the meantime, please check out the current leaderboard and support one of the books still in with a chance of finishing in the Top 3 - https://www.inkshares.com/contests/nerdist-video-game-contest

Throughout this contest I have been supporting Peter Ryan and his book "Destiny Imperfect" as well as Prescott Harvey and his book "In Beta". If you have yet to order either of these books, please do so. It’s so close at the top, your order may make a huge difference.

Onwards and upwards!

Matthew

 A bit late with this week’s vlog, but here it is at last!
This time I discuss the idea of the rogue AI in science fiction and try to dig a bit deeper into what it is that makes an evil artificial intelligence so unsettling.  
 

If you like stories featuring deranged artificial intelligences pursuing goals and agendas well outside their prescribed boundaries, you’re sure to enjoy Tantalus Depths. On this impossible world at the edge of explored space, a murderous all-seeing AI may actually be the least of our worries...