Aloha All,

I wish everyone and their families & friends safety and good health during these bizarre and uncertain times.  Hopefully you all are sheltering from the microscopic storm and are not going stir-crazy.  This too shall pass. 

Health and safety are the top priorities now, and other than essential services everything else in the world is pretty much hitting the pause button.  That of course includes my publisher Inkshares, and Lost in the Fog, like most other books scheduled for release, is now on hold.  It’s a huge bummer since my long awaited new novel is so close to the finish line, but there are more important things for people to focus on now.

As soon as I get an update on the new release date I will share the info.  I’m so incredibly excited to finally get Lost in the Fog into your hands and/or screens at some point in the near future.  

In the meantime, if you’d like to read some of my work, I invite you follow along in the 550 mile adventure across Spain on foot I undertook last September and October.  The Camino de Santiago was an incredible physical and spiritual journey, and I’ve been chronicling it with lots of photos on my blog.  

 You can check it out at www.getlostinthefog.com.  Thank you all and be well!!

-Michael

“Where’s my book?”

I still hear the question frequently, though less than last year, which was less than the year before. Will own the fact that I held a mistaken belief that my earlier drafts had more potential for publishing than they did. Also, I can write copious amounts but figuring that minimum 75% of that is drivel, it’s going to take a lot more copious drivel to get the job done. The good news is as an amateur writer, I can see my writing muscle getting…wait for it…stronger. Ha! what did you think I was going to say?

Saw a comment on FB from a friend, another writer, which I found interesting. We seem to have the opposite challenge about writing. I need to write everyday, obsessively, even just a little if possible, but have a demanding day job and other obligations that get in my way. I’ve been writing and rewriting this one project for close to 20 years now (along with a few others) and believe I’m finally learning how to tell the story. We’ll see how that works out for me—and for you my patient supporters—but I don’t think I’ll stop writing until I’m dead. It’s my drug.

I admit the quiet isolation of sheltering in place and social distancing is heavenly for an introverted extrovert who’s re-writing a novel for the umpteenth time. Good news is a solid draft for the 1st Act has been written and compiled. Now engaged in outlining Act 2. The end is a moving target which makes it fun. The process feels like yoga. Surrender, breath and wherever you are is where you are. I promise there will be a book at the end of this process, death be damned.

Here’s some more good news: Ozark Season 3 starts next Friday, March 27th. Stay safe and mind your manners. Coronageddon is upon us. If you’re a writer, make the most of it. Just effing write. And remember to always cough into your elbow. *hack, hack*

The new draft I mentioned in January was short-lived. Within a week, I was working on another new draft based on more feedback from the publisher. While the latest draft is not complete, the first third or more is finished and this addresses the bulk of the concerns that were raised. (Or so I hope!) I’ll be making these first 100 pages available to a couple of beta readers to get their input. 

A lot has been going on this past month with the coronavirus, emergency shutdowns etc. It’s a pretty stressful time for everyone. So with that in mind, I offer a few pieces of advice for those who are so inclined:
    ▪ Practice gratitude. Let’s not mince words, we are in a shitty situation. Possibly the worst the world has faced in generations. Nonetheless, every day I find things for which I am grateful and I write those down. Today I am grateful that I finished revising a major scene in the book, that I’m back home in Michigan with my wife and that my father (who’s 89 and living in Florida) is in good health. Also, I had some leftover Taco Bell. To each his own, right?
    ▪ Get outside. No matter where you are, if you can get outside in nature for fifteen minutes, that helps. If you can exercise, so much the better.
    ▪ Go on a news diet. Today I skipped the NY Times, WSJ and all other news. I feel much calmer.
    ▪ Reach out and stay connected. You may be under a lockdown situation, so are others. So reach out to friends and family over email, phone, text, slack etc. (Hence, my excuse for sending this update.) 

As always, thank you for your support of this project. If you want to drop me a line and tell me what’s going on your world, how you’re coping, what you’re reading etc, I would love to hear from you. Don’t hit reply, instead add a comment to this web page or send email to me at ZUrlocker@hotmail.com or whatever email address you have on file for me. 
--Zack 
PS. Here’s a picture of our dog Roxie who passed away last fall, but can still cheer us up. This was taken on the first day of spring in Michigan last year.  

Hey everyone,

I fully expect all of you to be reading this from your throne of toilet paper and canned goods, scrolling through this update with fingers slick with Purell.

While the world is losing its mind, I wanted to share that I recently received Round 2 of editorial feedback much quicker than expected. In short, things are moving in the right direction! It seems that Sarah, my editor, was overall pleased with the new draft. Her annotated copy of this draft had 196 margin notes, feedback, and comments, while the first one had 545. It’s a decrease that I’m incredibly pleased with. It means that while there is still work to be done, there’s considerably less of it.

Some of the “big picture” things I’ll be working on in this next draft are further strengthening characters and the relationships between them, as well as strengthening the dramatic tension in the novel’s climax (since more excitement is never a bad thing). Some of the smaller, easier stuff this time around includes fixing logical and continuity errors, eliminating run-on sentences, fixing confusing/”odd” sentences and phrasing, and improving the pace by removing repetitive narration and unnecessary scenes.

My work announced that it’ll be closed for the next two weeks, so receiving this most recent round of editorial feedback couldn’t have been timed more perfectly, as I’ll have a nice chunk of time to work on (and maybe even finish) the new draft. The last one took about a month to complete, so I’m anticipating to finish this one a little earlier. When it’s done and submitted, I’ll be sure to let you know. Hopefully the world will still be standing by then—you know, no rivers of blood or swarms of locusts like the media seems to think is on the horizon. Until then, try not to lick any doorknobs. 

Thanks again for your continued support! 

Ricky

Feb. 19, 2020

Hello everyone! I know it has been a long time since I’ve updated through Inkshares while The Devil Inside was waiting to enter production -- but I have great news! I received word on Valentine’s Day that The Devil Inside has been assigned an editor and is officially moving into production. I don’t have a specific release date yet but it will be sometime this summer (I’m guessing August).

For all of you who were so awesome during my funding period and pre-ordered a copy, that means the wait is almost over. As we get closer to the release date, I’ll get in touch with each of you to remind you what you ordered (and when) so that you know what to expect when the book releases. (And if you haven’t ordered yet, now’s a great time to get your pre-order in and be one of the first to get a copy!)

I will be sending other updates as production progresses but will likely send them via my e-newsletter because I have a number of contacts outside the Inkshares platform as well and I want to streamline my messages. If you would like to be on that mailing list -- and I promise, I don’t spam! -- please go to my website: www.susankhamilton.com and fill out the form. Once I get that notification, I’ll add you!

Thanks again for your patience. I can’t wait for all of you to have your official copy of Devil to finally read!

Best,

Susan

Hi everyone,

I’m happy to say that, as of last night, Showtime re-writes have been completed and sent back to my editor for review. From there she’ll let me know her thoughts and we’ll see if anything else needs additional work. I’m anticipating another round, but this current revision (aside from actually writing and successfully crowdfunding the book) is undoubtedly the biggest hoop to jump through before getting Showtime to publication and finally into your hands. Even if there’s additionally work to be done, I doubt it’ll be as much as this round.

With this revision, I ended up adding about 17,000 additional words to the manuscript—meatier descriptions, more dialogue, enhanced backstory and character relationships, among others—for a total of 126,000 words and roughly 490 pages. I anticipate a little being cut, but overall I’m pretty excited with the changes and really think the book is even better than before.

The next step is getting some feedback from my editor about the new draft (hopefully within the next couple months) and we’ll take it from there. I’ll be sure to send out new information when I have it, but for now, thanks again for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Ricky