Howdy, folks. As things continue to move along with Bane of All Things (BoAT), I have something new for you – the first look at the next book in the series, The Crucible Tree (TCT).

Please check it out at https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-crucible-tree and be sure to click that FOLLOW button!

Now, this second book is in “Draft Mode.” I am not yet taking pre-orders. That will come later – like when BoAT is actually available and headed your way. And as I said in my last update, that is likely next summer as we wait for the world of book retail and promotion to return to some semblance of normal.

In the meantime, I continue to work away and keep the dream alive, eager to share more of this story. At the link above, you will find sample chapters to read. These have been carefully selected to A) avoid spoilers for Bane of All Things, and, B) avoid as much as possible dropping you into the middle of something with no clue what’s going on. 

So, please check it out, give it a comment on the REVIEWS tab, and click that FOLLOW button. The more reviews and followers TCT has, even in Draft Mode, the more attention it will draw from other users on the Inkshares platform.

Accessing your log-in

Now, it may have been many moons since you last logged into your Inkshares account, and you have to be logged in to follow or post a review. If you have any issue, it can usually be fixed with a password reset – click the FORGOT PASSWORD link.

This is obvious and easy to do on a desktop. But if you are visiting on a mobile device – tablet or smartphone – you may have log-in issues such as being told your password is wrong or your email is already in use. Even if it’s not obvious, the real issue, and the fix, is again to request a password reset.

If you still have a problem, you can contact hello@inkshares.com for support.

That’s all for now. As always, thank you again for your continued patience and support!

Stay safe and be kind.

-       Leo 

Hello,

A quick update about The Ghost Tracks. While the original plan for the novel was to release it in the fall of 2020, the COVID19 pandemic has caused some delays.

Inkshares feels the best course of action is to push the release of The Ghost Tracks to the fall of 2021, and I agree with them. In the meantime, the book is available for pre-order at Wal-Mart and Books-A-Million, with more retailers to follow. I also hope to have a finalized cover to share soon.

Thank you for all of your patience and support. I hope that everyone is doing well and staying safe.

Celso

Apologies that I have been out of touch for a while. I think I can find some reason to blame 2020, but the reality is over the last six months, I’ve gone through three more major drafts of the book. Each stage involved putting the manuscript aside for a few weeks and then reading it objectively and thinking hard about what was working in the story and what wasn’t. A lot of effort was spent beefing up the characters to make sure the story felt authentic and modern, rather than just some ’50s noir pastiche. 

There was also a major improvement a few months ago which involved changing who the killer is. That took a lot of thinking but surprisingly it did not require that much rewriting, impacting only the last quarter of the book. Nonetheless, it greatly strengthened the theme of the story which centers around the relationship between two brothers, one of whom dies in World War II while the surviving brother deals with the loss. 

 This is a good segue to let people know that this has not been a solo effort. My brother Mike has been my uncredited co-author for quite some time now. He’s forced me to give up some of the early writing that I’d clung to for too long, sometimes expressed by writers as “Kill your darlings.” Having a co-author meant I could finally let that happen but I didn’t have to witness the gruesome deed myself. 

 The book is now called “The Man from Mittelwerk,” which puts the story’s historical context front and center. I’ll be sending it to the publisher Monday. No doubt there be a few weeks before we get his feedback and then hopefully only light editing will be required. Given the impact that Covid has had on the publishing industry, I suspect the publication date will be some time next year. 

 As always, thank you for your support of this project. If you want to drop me a line and tell me what you’re up to, I would love to hear from you. Don’t hit reply to this email. Instead email me at ZUrlocker@hotmail.com. With that, I’m gonna have a beer. Cheers!
--Zack
PS. Here’s a picture from last year’s Bouchercon writer’s conference where I met a favorite author Max Allan Collins. He has a terrific series that features a writer / detective named Mallory. One of his books in this series is appropriately enough called “Kill Your Darlings” and is set at an earlier Bouchercon conference.