Last week I fought dragons.

 

And we will always fight them. It doesn’t matter how well you plan, or how much you;ve organized yourself, a dragon will always rise. The dragon might be a massive creature, casting a shadow that devours all light. The dragons might be tiny, fearsome beasts, nipping and snarling as they clutter around your path. There will always be dragons, and we will always fight them.

Last week I fought dragons. I knew they were coming; that their approach was only a matter of time. I felt them out there, looming where the light ends. I know my dragons well, after all, that’s a big reason why I write humor. For now the dragons are gone, and though I am a little wearier, I will continue to push forward. A Beast Requires lives, and so do I.

Dearest Readers,

  Register for #DragonAwards here: http://tiny.cc/pd3zdy 

I know. I know! You heard me the first time. And the second.

But!

Register for #DragonAwards here: http://tiny.cc/pd3zdy 

I have no way of knowing how many people will vote for this thing - the 2016 Hugo for Best Fantasy Novel had 2903 voters - but that required membership (money) and, shall we say, there were some other factors in play there. This contest could have WAY more. Or WAY less. No one knows! But if all 614 of you voted - that seems like it could move the needle.

Vote for me. And THE LIFE ENGINEERED and AN UNATTRACTIVE VAMPIRE if you want to share the love with the rest of the Sword & Laser shelf.

And ...exhale. 

There, this’ll be my last salvo on this! The window to register closes this weekend - so it’ll all be over soon and I can focus on what really matters at DragonCon: consuming alcohol responsibly and talking about Ravenloft.

I usually try to do very short updates that only really pertain to Monkey Business but today I wanted to write you about something completely different.

If you have a few minutes to spare over the weekend, please, please, please consider voting for these fine novels in the DragonCon; Dragon Awards. These are all Inkshares, novels, they’re all freaking great and they all deserve to win.

So here’s what you do. Go to this link and register to vote (takes about a minute.)

Then go vote for the following awesome books!

Asteroid Made of Dragons by G. Derek Adams is a supremely enjoyable mashup of sci fi and fantasy. I mean, this book has long dead ancient technologies in the same world as wild mages, dragons, knights, gnomes, half-dead pirates, goblins... and it’s funny. I really can’t say enough, this book is awesome.

The Life Engineered by J.F. Dubeau is an beautifully realized exploration of artificial intelligence, civilization, and the implications of what it means to exist. If you’re a fan of smart science fiction, do yourself a favor and check this book out. Also if you just like robots this shit is rad.

An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel is a wonderfully fun read that really turns some vampire tropes on their ear. Light-heated, fun reads are always a favorite of mine, if you feel the same way, you’ll really enjoy this book.

That’s all folks. Please take a few minutes to do this for all of us who choose to publish at Inkshares. A win for any of us is a win for all of us. And a Dragon Award is a super cool thing to win.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh and if you’re really bored, click here and leave a review of Monkey Business.

Firm handshakes, kisses on the cheek and Top Gun style "feel the need for speed" high fives,

- Landon

DAX FANS! ...Hey, does my forehead look huge in this photo? Stupid phone cameras. Grrr...

I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! As always, I must thank my backers for your continued patience and apologize for the delays.

For those not in the know, I handed in my completed manuscript at the beginning of July. Unfortunately, it was roughly around this same time that Inkshares began going through some organizational changes.

DON’T BE ALARMED! I have been assured that my book will in fact be published as promised, and you will eventually have your copy in your hands and/or on your e-reading devices of choice. What I still don’t know is WHEN.

To make a long story short, Inkshares has been going through some growing pains, and they have quite a backlog of books waiting to be published. I have not been informed where I stand in this long line exactly, but I understand the Inkshares team is hard at work squeezing everyone in on their production calendar. I thank the Inkshares staff for their service, and I do not envy their herculean task at hand.

Now, let me get to the point. I have a story, and I want to share it with you awesome folks who were gracious enough to buy it. And I know some of you are itching to read it, judging by my daily encounters of "HEY, TONY! WHERE’S THE BOOK?!"

So, if you have purchased a copy of Dax Harrison, you can expect an email from me soon. Check you inbox over the next day or so for the subject line "DAX HARRISON - The Early Ebook Edition".

If you choose to read the story at this time, here’s a couple things to keep in mind:

First, the book has not yet been professionally copyedited. Meaning, you may run into the occasional grammatical error, weird sentence structure, etc. I’d like to think I was thorough, but it happens.

Second, I would love your feedback! If you like my silly little sci-fi tale, please leave a review on Inkshares! I would love to direct you to leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads as well, but those pages won’t exist until we get closer to publishing.

Reviews = more eyes on the book = more books sold = Tony gets to write more books!

I will keep you all informed on the publishing news as soon as I have it. For those of you that prefer to wait for the official ebook/paperback of Dax, I hope I won’t have to keep you waiting too much longer.

Thanks again! You’re the best. Now I’m off to outline some more of Dax 2: Space Boogaloo. (No, that is not the actual title)

-Tony