"I’m trying to imagine the thought process that begins with I need to pick up a few things from the store and ends with I should probably stop in the bathroom real quick and snort a shit ton of oxycodone. Maybe if we can wake this gentleman up I can make some inquiries but right now his respiratory drive has gone night night. Which is just a fancy way of saying his body gives no fucks about breathing. That’s why Tommy is on his knees in the pharmacy section of Publix bagging this dude... "

... that is an excerpt from Don’t Stop Believing. Or Breathing a new chapter from Black Cloud.

Hey Everybody! I know it’s been a long time since I sent an update. My bad. I kind of put this project on hold for a while because my life outside of writing got really busy. I do have a new job and a new tiny human to show for it though, so I wasn’t slacking.

Some of you may know that Black Cloud made the top 5% of the Scott Free Launchpad competition. That means I didn’t make it into the Inkshares contest but did make the top 100. That is a very encouraging start for a book still in its infancy.

If you have a few minutes please check out the new chapter. It’s a quick read and I’m sure it will amuse you at least a little bit. Especially if you’re a fan of Journey’s rock classic, "Don’t Stop Believing." 

If you have a few moments please share this project on Inkshares, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, or wherever it is that you share things. I plan to wait until after the new year to launch but as most of you know, building a following before launch is critical. If you can help out that would be the coolest. You’d be the coolest.

Thank you folks for the early support. Oh and here’s a gross amusing video of me being tortured on behalf of this book.

~ Landon

It’s been 9 days since I sent my last update, and a lot has happened since then. Remember Nico Rosberg, the F1 driver who trounced Lewis Hamilton in the final race of the season?

HE RETIRED!

TOTAL PLOT TWIST! (I called it, by the way.) (Just ask Michael, my husband. He knows that I predict the future.) A new world champion was crowned, he got his cake, and then ate it for all the world to see. Cheers to you, Nico Rosberg. Because I’m eating cake this December, too. 

Allow me to explain. 

For those of you that don’t already know: I’m sentimental. With pretty much everything. Case in point, I carry a personal museum of baubles and trinkets with me everywhere I go. Peeking out from my closet is a vast collection of drawings and scraps of paper that people gave me in preschool. Preschool. Which makes be a bona fide sentimental hoarder because I’ve moved a gagillion times since preschool. So it shouldn’t come as a shock that my favourite stories are the ones that have some special, hidden meaning. 

Where the Sun Sets is one such special story. And a special story needs a special cover. So I decided to launch a contest to find one. I put the book cover contest to my network (not many artists, few professional designers, lots of family that can’t de-friend me) and told myself to be patient. "Draw up a plan, pull the trigger, and trust in the process." Right?

Sort of. 

For the past few weeks I’ve been biting my nails, wondering if what I did was the right thing. I am trying to create a product that needs to sell, after all. Worries haunted. What if no one submits a thing? What if I detest them all? (I was more concerned with the first looming question because I’m generally easy to please, and I love a funny story.) 

The submission period closed on Sunday, December 4. I got 19 submissions, and I love them all! (In fact, I love some them so much that I suspect I’ll soon have dreams of eating cake off of them.) More importantly, knowing that the cover of Where the Sun Sets has been crafted by someone special to me is a huge relief. It’s an incredible feeling. And the reasons each of the entrants shared about why they entered are equally touching. 

So now it’s Show Time. Literally. I’m showing them to you, and asking that you help me select the one that best fits Where the Sun Sets. Because, frankly speaking, if it were left up to me, I’d choose them all. Which just isn’t practical. 

You can view the entries and pick one here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3LXR6CC I believe you’ll find them all to be unique and delightful in their own way. 

See what I mean?

Absolutely delightful!

The voting period ends this Sunday, and I can’t wait to reveal the final cover. That said, the cover will only make it onto a book if I hit my pre-order target. 

I’m at 180 as I type this, which means I’m 70 pre-orders short! 

You’re receiving this update because you’ve already put yourself out there for me, and I thank you for it. But I’m not quite there yet. So I ask that you please continue to send me well wishes, and consider recommending or sharing my story with those people you think would find it meaningful. I know it’s a lot to ask (and to keep asking) but every little bit helps and I won’t get there without you. 

Thank you for your consideration. Thank you for your time. And thank you for your continued support.

Donna
(I want to use #ALLTHEBOOKCOVERS!!!)

A year ago yesterday we started this Campaign. Its been a long uphill battle but in the last year we completely rewrote and edited this story, hit our sales goal and shipped the manuscript off to Inkshares. While we wait to hear of a release date I just wanted to thank everyone whose been a part of this since last year. thank you all so much and check out the Inkshares page. We’ve go ahead and thrown a few new Art piece up there!

Inkshares has had problems with refunds on other campaigns and I wanted to make sure everyone who bought Illegal has received their money back. The refund should have gone out on October 24th and reached your account a few days later. If you were not refunded please reach out to hello@inkshares.com and let them know. Also let me know and I’ll stay on their case.

On a related note, many of you have been asking if they should re-order. The answer is no. The team has done a very poor job handling their mass-refund mistake, and there are refund issues with at least one other campaign so I would not trust them with money at this point. I’ve lost a lot of trust in the platform and the team running it and at this point they would really have to go above and beyond for me to change my mind and still let them publish my book. That seems unlikely to happen at this point. Save your money.

I’m going to push them to give me a real answer next week about how they plan to resolve this. If they can’t tell me or it doesn’t include them going above and beyond, I’ll walk away and seek better options.