I’m just going to open with the final cover for The Seventh Age:

I want to thank all of you, the people who have supported me, in helping pick directions, refine options and taking the time to vote. 

Ashley Marie Witter, the Illustrator, who crammed me into her intensely busy schedule of Squarriors. You can check out more of her artwork and rabid apocalyptic rodents by clicking HERE.

Scott over at Cyantype Covers. They did a fantastic job making different options and helping pull everything together for the final version you see today. My finest metal (\m/ >;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;. salute goes to the work that they have done. 

Lastly, to Emily, Avalon, and everyone at the joint Girl Friday / Inkshares production team for helping take the very nebulous concept of a cover into something this badass. 

My sincerest thank you to everyone involved,

~Rick Heinz. 

I’ve got a quick update this week for everyone. First news of important dates: 

• I’ll be at Wizard World in Chicago on August 18th thru 21st. You can find updates and follow me on twitter @CrankyBolt. I’ll have signed Advanced Reader Copies to give away, art prints, and preorders ready to go. Plus, a contest will be afoot to "spot the signs of the Illuminati". I’ll have to come up with a better name for that.
  
• The book gets officially published on 11/1/2016. If you are in the Naperville area, that weekend on 11/5/2016 will have events! Either from bookstore launches to a special 1 night Seventh Age live action game. 
• Midwinter Gaming Convention in Milwaukee is the next convention after that. January 19th is the date for that!

Besides dates and places to meet up! What would an update of mine be without pictures?! I bring you the final cover illustration for the Front Cover!

Greetings! Continuing in the theme of my vampire post a few weeks back, I’m going to bring you some Western Esotericism today.

Magical occultism that was highly popular during the early nineteenth century and the driving force behind the magical rules system in the world of The Seventh Age. 

Don’t worry. I’m only going to give you 3 fun facts about it. 

1. L.W. Delaurence (1868-1938) was one of the great tricksters who preyed on the rich. Conning publishing houses into printing books with his name listed as the author and selling door to door pamphlets on hypnotism. Curiously, he founded a Chicago occult society called "The Order of the Black Rose" which worshiped a cigar store Indian.  This allowed him to smuggle in occult supplies for US shipping from Jamaica. Without tax evasion, many hoodoo and other poor occult sects would of died off. 
2. If you want a masters degree in Hermetisicm, regarded as one of the highest arcane spell casting and sorceries in the world, you need only go to the University of Amsterdamn. As of 2008 they offer official programs.
3. Occultism and the rich have always had a love affair. Their parties and association with Freemasons, The Order of the Golden Dawn, and other bodies continue to this day. But one of the most infamous is the 1972 Rothschild Party. I’ve attached some pictures for you. 

Illuminati Ball 1

Illuminati Ball 2

Illuminati Ball 3.... this is the table setting!?

Inspiration for The Seventh Age is taken heavily from these occult societies and their oddities in the shadows. A future update will focus on the other side of the fence: The anarchists. 

The final manuscript has been approved with Girl Friday Productions!

I even learned what a Flueron is recently. 

     *    *    *  

I choose the Illuminati Eye triangle... because they area always watching. 

Tinfoil hat aside: I’ll be at Wizard World in Chicago August 18th thru 21 with a booth. More details on that coming soon. 

I have more art from Lizzy Perez! This one is a bit more laid back, Mike and the crew playing some games after a night of demon hunting

This scene directly ties into an Anthology I am part of with the character Akira. You can learn more about the Too Many Controllers in the current Nerdist contest by clicking right: Here

Lastly, there is one final... final thing: If you are following this book and haven’t dived in yet. Here it is. The last chance to be entered into one of 7 raffles for a demon hunter kits, tarot cards, and artwork. We need... 8 more people!

So call your friends! The Angels are coming! The end is nigh!!!

Greetings...

Since everyone liked my update where I shined a light on the JPL. Here are some quick tidbits about the Vampire Legend: While vampires had been around in legend and even part of mass hysteria in eastern Europe very early on. It was the novel The Vampyre written in 1819 that got the ball rolling. Bram Stroker’s Dracula came about in 1897. 

In some legends, creating a vampire was as simple as having an animal jump over a corpse. In others, it was curse from God or Russian Witches. Still, to this day, my favorite method of destroying a vampire from legend:

Iron Nails ran through the chest followed by a Hawethorne stake through each leg. Bits of steel placed in the mouth, over the eyes, and in between the fingernails before burial. Then decapitation of the head, turn it around, fill the coffin with rosepedals and bury the damn thing. This wouldn’t actually kill the vampire mind you, only keep it trapped. As of 2006, they are still finding corpses being dug up with this treatment. 

Which in my head just means they set the vampires free right?

Oh right! Artwork! Speaking of being set free.... here is a scene painted by Lizzy Perez of The Seventh Age:

We are so close to 1000 orders guys. If you are following this campaign and haven’t jumped in yet: 27 spots left. I’m collecting more art such as what’s above for prize raffles when we hit the magic number. Hop in, follow the updates for more bite-sized facts about strange occult legends... and a kick-ass book about what happens when they all come crashing back. 

Readers and followers of The Seventh Age! I bring you:

                                                    ART!

Check out how the cover is coming along. This is a higher resolution image than I’ve usually been sharing. The final artwork for this and the back cover should be done before the end of June. 

After the cover, the first character sketch has come in from my prior request looking for art commissions. The talented artist Lizzy Perez has read the Seventh Age and deemed the character Akira her favorite one. She nailed it! Stay tuned for future updates as Lizzy also has some more artwork and scenes coming in as well. 

The final part of this quick update is: I’m 38 readers / copies away from clearing the major benchmark of 1000. If you know anyone who is interested in urban fantasy, conspiracy, and street-tacos, send them over. I’ll be holding a series of 7 raffles after I hit 1000 for all readers on my dashboard. From reader #1 all the way to the final order. Everyone will be eligible. So if you want to be in: you’ve got 38 spots left. 

Prizes will range from artwork, tarot-decks, occult books, and some other Seventh-Age themed works. More info on that stuff as we get closer to 1k!

38 more! We can do this.