As promised, I've started posting up Book 2 as a draft.  Going slow with it though so as not to have too many spoilers, so for now its only Section 1 of Chapter 1(though I suppose it does have at least 1 or 2 major spoilers in and of itself).  Careful readers will notice the complete absence of at least 1 of Book 1's major characters, and hopefully will also be wondering what the reason for that absence is.  Anyway, check out Book 2, currently titled "Exile, Hunted" and feel free to give me your thoughts, or even editing notes.  I've not gone through it nearly as many times with my editing pen as I have Book 1, so I'm sure there's still far too many errors.

So, it's officially official of the officialness. (I'm a writer! I use words!) I have turned everything into Inkshares. Now I do the waiting game and see what the Girl Friday Productions team thinks of the manuscript and prep myself for editing. 

If anyone wants a copy of the manuscript I sent in, (since backers are totally able to get access to author drafts) just send me an email over to Crankybolt@gmail.com and I'll gladly share it with you. Maybe you can offer feedback as well before the final product. 

My next step is to start tackling the creation of a website, look into starting my own Inskhares Syndicate with some author friends and start emailing conventions about tablespace. 

Although, I secretly kinda just want to binge watch my guilty pleasure of iZombie and Gotham Season 2 for a day and feast upon the sweet smell of chilli being slow cooked today 10' away from me. 

It's kinda like torture actually. I'm going to start gnawing on human flesh I'm so damn hungry. 

They're here! My custom Dax Harrison coffee mugs have been delivered to my doorstep (finally), and a new giveaway video is live! Plus, a quick update on the book campaign. CLICK HERE TO WATCH!

As always, thanks to everyone supporting the book. Keep spreading the word! You all rock my socks.

-Tony

You thought I died, didn't you? I think I died, too.

But somehow I'm still going to be at the Holiday Geek Expo tomorrow! Look at these nerd-tastic graphic things Leah made:

As you can see, I'm giving away some of my colored Ladies of Scifi postcards if people order my book right then and there. Come say hi, if you can!

Leah also made THIS for me to hand out at the expo (using a logo made by the fantastic Paul Robinson, author of Ghosts of War):




:)

If you can't come to the expo, you should definitely check out all the new books entering into the Sword & Laser Contest: Part Deux! I'm pretty excited. New authors are coming into the fold and we'll be here for them. Right? RIGHT?

The first book in the contest I ordered is The Last Machine in the Solar System by Matthew Isaac Sobin. Check it out!

And have a wonderful weekend!

Big news everyone!

I've entered the Sword and Laser Contest, with my entry The Darkest Places! Go check it out at https://www.inkshares.com/projects/the-darkest-places  and pre-order a copy! 

Back onto The Children of the Forest, I'm putting the final touches on the remaining sample chapters, which will be uploaded over the weekend. I am currently at 184(!!) sales, and nearing the Quill publishing option. To help reach my goal, I'm going to be creating incentives for the final stretch of sales.

These will be fleshed out in a weekend update, but will include various rewards and prizes, including the option of becoming a character in my story! 

~Until next time.

If someone offered you a $100 bill or the chance to keep everything you might find on a sunken treasure hunt, which would you choose?

ENHANCED finished 12th out of 335 in the Nerdist/Inkshares Contest, and we celebrated that achievement knowing we did so well because of you. Because our families and friends have generous spirits and a staunch belief in us and our book. Because total strangers -- many of them authors on Inkshares -- saw something worthwhile in our story and our writing.

Thanks to the author-friendly mission the Inkshares team promotes, we've even earned the right to Quill publication. We could put at least 315 copies of ENHANCED in our supporters' hands. On demand. Under a non-exclusive rights agreement.

Sounds like a golden opportunity, right?

But our favorite agent in the publishing industry informed us, "If the book is under contract with anyone, the agent will not represent it, unless it's self-published and selling really well."

So we had to choose between the $100 bill and the sunken treasure hunt.

What's life without risk and uncertainty? We're grabbing our scuba gear and heading for the Caribbean.

Three things before we go:

1. ENHANCED is currently being evaluated for its adaptability to film and television in the Book Pipeline Competition. The best part is that you don't have to do anything. But we hope you'll wish us well and follow our progress on Facebook  and Twitter.

2. Please support these worthwhile projects from the Nerdist/Inkshares Contest:

Single Version by Scott Barsotti -- so much more than just an extremely well-written Roach Punk story with an utterly original take and style.

Disintegration by Steve Soldwedel -- gritty and cinematic, diverse and multi-layered, with tyrannical aliens, never-say-die warriors, and spaceships. It's like old school scifi, but better. 

Ghosts of War by Paul Robinson -- fast-paced action + memorable characters + classic scifi dialog with a twist of now = an exciting story.

Presenting Complaints by Jamie Brindle -- a laugh-out-loud skewering of England's National Health Service, which Jamie just released on Amazon, iBooks, and Smashwords.

Current by Thomas A. Fowler -- reminiscent of Michael Crichton’s work, it promises tense adventure/mystery based on environmental progress. Fowler is currently querying agents.

And maybe most important,

3. Thank you, Inkshares for the possibilities you offer and the lessons you provide about marketing, competing with class, and how to persevere. Your entire team is a bright light showing aspiring authors hope and how to make it real. Special thanks to Avalon. What would we have done without you? You're warm, patient, knowledgeable, and encouraging -- the best kind of human being. We'll keep coming back to our Inkshares family to discover new authors and new favorite books. And who knows? Maybe we'll present something new of our own right here to see how the world feels about it.