Hey there friends,

Yesterday was the last day of funding for Arch-Android. As you can easily guess, we’ve not met our funding goal. To be honest, as excited as I am for this book, I could never find the time and energy to put into the campaign. I’ve never been comfortable asking people to buy things, especially if I’m going in for seconds, which I felt was the case.

There was also a lot of work to be put into marketing and promoting A God in the Shed along with writing the sequel, Song of the Sandman. All while keeping a nine-to-five job and a somewhat normal life.

Essentially, Arch-Android became the victim of my success and lack of success at the same time. Doing well enough to consume my time, but not quite to the point where I can free myself of the 40 hours a week I spend at my day job.

So what does that mean for Arch-Android?

1. Including Arch-Android I am currently sitting on three unpublished manuscripts that have no attached publishing future. I plan on finding a place for all of them by the end of 2018.
   
2. My focus is currently on making Song of the Sandman the best version of itself as it can be. I’m learning a lot about how to best structure a sequel, mostly through trial and error. I intend to apply these lessons to Arch-Android as I re-edit it.
3. Then, depending on where my publishing career stands I will either commission all the necessary work (editing, cover design, etc.) and self-publish Arch-Android. I’m also toying with the idea of giving out the story for free or, if I feel that it is something I can accomplish without sacrificing too much, I may very well attempt to fund through Inkshares again.
4. Unfortunately, this leaves you, the reader, in a place where all you can do is wait and I’m sorry for that. There are characters and events in Arch-Android that I hunger to share with you all. Hopefully, I’ll get the chance to do so in 2019 or 2020.

I can’t thank you enough for the support you’ve provided me. It stings that this very support that many of you have supplied is the reason I’m tied up in other projects to the point where I can’t do justice to Arch-Android with a proper campaign. I hope that, if I do come back asking for help again, you’ll be willing to give it one more time.

Cheers,

JF Dubeau

Hello, everyone! Just a quick update, since I haven’t been on in a while. I was sick for nearly two weeks - ugh!! 

I’ve received feedback from Andi, the amazing editor who worked with me on the manuscript review, and I’m currently revising to incorporate her thoughts. I’ve also received the information from Inkshares about what I need to submit to them. I expect to have everything packaged up and sent off by mid-March. Then, we wait for the release date!

I’ll continue to update here and to my social media with news, although I’m currently taking a bit of a social media break. Gotta put the mind to work revising. Tell your friends they can still pre-order if they’d like :-) Also, check out my calendar at www.caridubiel.com/calendar. I’ve got three speaking engagements coming up, and any new events will be added here as well.

Have a great one, readers!!

Great news everyone. Thanks to tremendous support Crow’s Gambit has hit 251 Pre-Orders. That means it will get published under the Quill imprint!

;

There are still about 34 hours left in the campaign. That means there is still time to lock in some of those Pre-Order perks if you haven’t ordered yet (or you have a friend how hasn’t).

• Crow Research Investor ($10) - Supporter will receive a copy of the Crow Research company Prospectus.
  
• Crow Research Employee ($20) - Supporter will receive a copy of the Crow Research Employee Manual and the Prospectus.
• Crow Works Access ($60) - Supporter will receive the Employee Manual, Prospectus, and an identification badge allowing access to the top secret Crow Works (you also get your name on the patron page of the book too).

Thank you everyone for helping make this happen. I will continue to keep you updated as we shift into full editing and production mode.

More will come...

PT

Congratulations we have hit 220 Pre-Orders on Crow’s Gambit! I really (enormously) appreciate the support you have all provided.  But...when everything is said and done I still need 30 more Pre-Orders and there are only two days left in the campaign. 

I need some of you to purchase an additional copy of the book...soon...tonight if possible. Several of you have already purchased multiple copies of the book and I think you. Some of you haven’t purchased any yet. However, I’m betting there are at least 30 of you who will be willing to help me out. 

To help wet your appetite I’m including the following snippet from later in the book.

“Who are you?” she finally asked. 

“You can call me Mr. Smith.” She gave him a patronizing look. “You could also call me a dirty son of a bitch. I could really care less.” His smiling expression never shifted. “You could say I’m with the opposition.” 

“You mean the people who tried to have me killed? Two, three times now?” 

“It was actually four.” He turned and smiled broadly. “You might not have noticed one. Dale and Gloria are actually quite good.” He returned to watching the crowd. 

“And is that why you’re here now? Attempt five?” 

“No. My specialty isn’t in that area. It’s in negotiation. The previous attempts on your life were made by overzealous members of our group that I must apologize for. I believe the best course of action would have simply been to talk to you and explain what was at stake, instead of driving you into the arms of Darrow.” 

Happy weekend Supporters of Crow’s Gambit.

The good news is you should have just received a short narrative titled Prologue Version #2. Taking advice from some of the writers over at the Listeners of the Dead Robot Society I’m reworking my original info dump of a Prologue. This draft also gives a little bit of the background for one of the later characters in the story, Tish.

I have an announcement:

That’s right. The titles of all three parts of The Animal in Man saga have at last been decided. I painstakingly pondered all the meanings of all the words that reflect the style, atmosphere, and experience I’ve created with the story. And then, suddenly, I had it. What is a [hu]man? What are we, really? We are a mind, a body, and - perhaps - a soul.

What if we created a world where we could play at our most violent fantasies? What if we shaped the creatures there in our image? Would they not also be those three things? I asked myself these questions a lot while I was writing The Animal in Man, and when I dug up the old journal entries I’d made about it, I knew I’d found the titles I needed.

You can follow the Draft page for The Animal in Man II: Ferocious Heart RIGHT HERE! The second book is already 100% complete, minus the professional-grade editing and services Inkshares provides upon my successful future campaign. That’s where you, my dear animals, can play a part. Please please please click the link and follow the project now so you’ll be ready for the day it starts taking preorders. And of course, as always, thank you so much for your continued support.

THIS IS IT. This is Launch Day for Mechcraft! 4+ years ago I never dreamed my idea would become a published book. With hard work, perseverance, massive support from friends, family, and strangers, and truck loads of hope, Mechcraft is finally released. I cannot thank you all for believing in and supporting this project. Without you, none of this is possible.
If you haven’t already, please join us on the Mechcraft Facebook community.

With deepest gratitude,
Brian

Dear all,

This is the final pre-publication update about " Everything is Normal: The Life and Times of a Soviet Kid"

·      The book is now being printed in the US and various ebook versions are being finalised.

·      Ebooks will be sent to pre-orderers ahead of the official publication date – on March 16th.

·      Printed copies will be mailed to pre-orderers on March 16th too and should reach you within a week or so, depending of the speed of mail in different countries.

·      IMPORTANT: If you have moved address since you ordered books in April-May 2017, please log into Inkshares and update your shipping address.  https://www.inkshares.com/

·      On a separate note, I’m happy that the book is getting positive reviews from the advanced readers and some interest from the media. Got a great blurb two days ago. Will show-off a bit now:

"Everything is normal" is a wonderful, funny and evocative account of growing up in the Soviet Union. It brings vividly to life the stodgy food, the dead hand of the state, and the lure of the west, all told through family life in late communist Leningrad. Some of the gags are hilarious. Who knew that that The Empire Strikes Back was released to USSR audiences as The Empire Returns the Blow? Sergey Grechishkin is a major new talent and a writer of humour and verve." Luke Harding, author of  #1 New York Times best-seller "Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win"  

The long journey is finally over. Thank you again for all of your support!

Regards,

Sergey