And here we have what (may) wind up being the final cover for The Children of the Forest. There are two other pieces en route, but I’m especially in love with this one. 

What are the haps, Space Crew?

I wish I had more news. If I had to choose a highlight of the week, it would be that I came up with a twist for this novel that has left me cackling uncontrollably. So that’s fun. I mean, of course I planned and plotted every detail and had an extremely polished draft already. What?

The only thing I want to talk to you about this week is getting the expletive to 300 orders. (I’ve chosen to omit actual expletives from the newsletters  in favour of expanding our Crew.) We’re currently at 281, so it’s extremely close. But I need to push it over the edge; and when I do, I’ll be sending you the theme song!

I’ve already asked my 300 closest friends for support, and most of them came through. Some came through with a passion rivaling your puppy who hasn’t seen you for an hour. But what I’m really saying is that I’m out of people to ask. 

If you’re getting this newsletter, you’re (on top of being a fabulous and unique individual) in one of two categories: those who have ordered this book, and those who have hit ’follow’ to show support or interact with me in some way. 

Space Crew, my orderers, you’re what has kept me going. I’m going to keep leaning on you between now and our deadline in September because you’ve proven yourselves to be amazing people who can do amazing things. Please, keep sharing this story. 

Space...Standbys? I’m uncomfortable with the plural form of this word. But you guys could easily set this book over the 300 mark. You could push it over 400. I’m dying to know what it would take to get you in my official Crew. You can connect with me on Inkshares or Twitter; I’m always up for a chat!

Your Stewing and Sinister Space Captain,
-AC

Hi Everybody!

Today is a sad day because unless Squids In finishes in the Top 3 of the Nerdist Video-Game contest, the illustration below might well be the last time you guys get to see Hendrix the octopus. Luckily the final illustration for Chapter 3 is a great one. It shows the burgeoning friendship between Toby and Hendrix, when Toby finally realises that the octopus has been without food for a good few days and so finds some crab meat with which to feed him.

Once again, this illustration was done by Eugene Karasz who I found over on DeviantArt. If any of you guys need an artist for any of your projects, let me know and I can put the two of you in touch.

For a brief period yesterday, Squids In surged up the leaderboard to 4th place! Sadly the book has dropped back to 5th today. It seems that the books sudden surge has pushed our competitors into action. 

If you have yet to commit to ordering this silly book about a video-game playing octopus, please give some consideration to doing so and have a read (or listen) to the chapters I have uploaded. 

It’s gonna be a fun few weeks. Remember, the contest ends on 15th July at 7am in the UK (which probably means I will be up all night trying to scrap the last few orders I can from some Australian supporters)!

Matthew

Hello all! It’s been a rather exciting and busy week for me and due to that I am still working on editing Chapter One. However, I did post a snippet of the edited chapter for you to enjoy. The edited chapter one will see the light of day but it is slow going, for which I apologize. My work has me on an over night shift which I have yet to adjust to and this weekend was a wee bit busy, my boyfriend of 2 1/2 years proposed on Saturday and there were numerous family things to do after that as you can imagine. But! This is the dawning of a new week and more time to chip away at chapter one. As always recommendations, reviews, and general critique are welcome! Hope everyone has a great week!