As promised, I recorded my raffle video late last night, when I was at 63 readers. I have since gained two more readers, so the two of you will be included in the next raffle when I hit 70.

Check it out to see if you've won:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cq3DmueyA4

I will contact the winner directly later to hammer out details. Congrats to that person!

Meanwhile, the Sword & Laser Contest wraps up in about two and a half hours. I mentioned a little bit about it in the raffle video, but I will send out a definitive post-contest update later when everything has officially ended.

As always, thanks for your support, and enjoy your Friday!

There are twenty one days left before my original original? funding date ends. For all those reading that are also sprites of inkshares, a lot of deadlines were extended with the whole credits system snafu. Right now, I would like to thank Janna Grace for the kind and empowering words.

And of course, there is her book, which I reviewed as well.

Now, back to this update. Yes, this very one. I am not close to my goal of 750 books, not by an expert marksman's long shot. I do believe I did make Quill's goal, which would mean light publishing, but also light editing. I feel my book needs a lot more than light in the dark forest of edits and context layout so that it can be properly enjoyed, but Quill may be the answer, or...

We can get this book to 750 in a record of 21 days. Can it be done? Of course, but how? Now with every single one of you reading this... "But I already ordered my copy and frankly I am getting sick of your e-mails, and Facebook posts, and enough with the Instagram. Make the book or don't damnit!" you say. A bit harsh, but how bout to spread the word? Tell one coworker, one family member, a neighbor, even a share of my page is a monumental source when it comes to lending a hand. One post by everyone causes a bit of a stir , as simple as turning around a single stirrer in a Venti Mocha, or me alone, which is better summarized as the gravity of the moon pulling at the waves of a turbulent ocean. I'd rather have coffee.

21 days. 479 copies to go. 245 of you that are possibly going to or have read this. Some of you have purchased multiple copies while some have subscribed and followed me with some interest. I thank you all, truly and from the bottom of my lonely heart as of late, so very very much for sitting in the cockpit with me as I take on this great epic adventure. To my family, my friends, my colleagues, my fellow inkshares, and most importantly to the ones who have doubted me and laid my book down and or ripped up my flyers over the year(s), you have given me the drive to prove you all that I have a story to tell and a damn good one at that. 

- Checkmate and Rummy my dear Gladiators

Knights assemble! Gravewalkers gather before us! (and Untoten crawl/lurch/stumble forth, no, we didn’t forget you)

 Yes, it’s still a few hours away, but we think it’s duly time to raise a toast and congratulate authors Joseph Asphahani, Matthew Isaac Sobin and Craig Munro for winning the Sword and Laser Contest and also to the rest of authors participating – it’s worth your time in checking out their books and throwing them a pre-order or two!

 We also wanted to thank all of our supporters for pre-ordering THE KNIGHT PROPER in the last three weeks or so – we have nothing but great things to say about our Inkshares experience and we’re also happy to say that the book should be in your hands, sooner rather than later. We’ll keep you posted in the weeks to come and again, we truly appreciate you picking up your swords and following us into battle...

 Cheers,

 Adam and Matt  

Hey there wonderful people

I just wanted to spread my geedines in the fact that I made it past 50 pre-orders! WOOOOOOT! I know it's not that much but you take your jollies where you can. I'm 1/5 of the way there and climbing. But we need to keep up the pace. If you like this fast paced, action packed, round house kick to your imagination give me a chance to entertain you and preorder please. And if you like it, you really really like it recommend it. Tell your family. Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Tell everyone. We can do this!! 

...maybe I should lay off the coffee and candy before I do this updates. Thanks for your time. 

Kelsey Rae Barthel

Thank you. No matter what happens in the hours that follow, this campaign has transformed my life.

The Animal in Man has just under 400 pre-orders, but well over 400 followers. If you’ve seen my raffle videos, you know my troubles with simple math, but my logic is pretty solid on this one: there are still so many who follow, who read this right now, who still haven’t committed to a pre-order.

It is to you I address this update.

On day one of every new school year, one of the first ideas the young men and women in my high school English class would hear me say as we read aloud the syllabus was “words are magic.” They are. They can build something out of nothing. Writing is Magic. Words are its power, and sentences its spells.

Right now I wish I knew exactly what to type in this little box. I’m pressuring myself to find the perfect utterance, to strike the right style, to speak with the precise tone. I want to build in you that need to read “The Animal in Man” out of nothing but words. That’s the truth. These are the words of my heart laid bare. I don’t know what else to give you besides these two promises: I will finish The Animal in Man, and The Animal in Man will be an incredible book.

I, Joe Asphahani, don’t know what else to say. But my story does. I believe in its power to captivate you, all you have to do is believe it too. Please pre-order “The Animal in Man.”

By the end of the school year, the power of my writing, the force of my personality, the warmth in my heart and the smile on my face all made believers out of the skeptics. Give my book a chance.

Just over 24 hours to go! We are almost there!!!

We even made it into 2nd place for a while again last night (Sorry Matt!)

Just one more little push and we can do it! Any of you who are following but haven’t pre-ordered, I would be extremely grateful if you could do so before the end of the contest! Any fellow inkshares authors, I will be more than happy to reciprocate (if I’ve missed anyone so far please pitch me and I’ll fix that).

Also, if any of you haven’t yet, I have to ask once more – please recommend the book to a friend, family member or acquaintance. We are soooooo close to a full publishing deal!!! I think I am excited and terrified in equal measure!

I also wanted to thank Cedrick Lui for this amazing blog post he recently posted about The Bones of the Past: http://www.cedricklui.com/blog/2016/1/8/bones-of-the-past-fantasy-novel

Cedrick is the man behind the Son of God Digital Comic which you should all check out as well!

 Thank you, thank you, thank you yet again for all your help and support!

  Do we have free will?

Also called the dilemma of determinism, we do not know if our actions are controlled by a causal chain of preceding events (or by some other external influence), or if we're truly free agents making decisions of our own volition. Philosophers (and now some scientists) have been debating this for millennia, and with no apparent end in sight. If our decision making is influenced by an endless chain of causality, then determinism is true and we don't have free will. But if the opposite is true, what's called indeterminism, then our actions must be random — what some argue is still not free will. Conversely, libertarians (no, not political libertarians, those are other people), make the case for compatibilism — the idea that free will is logically compatible with deterministic views of the universe. Compounding the problem are advances in neuroscience showing that our brains make decisions before we're even conscious of them. But if we don't have free will, then why did we evolve consciousness instead of zombie-minds? Quantum mechanics makes this problem even more complicated by suggesting that we live in a universe of probability, and that determinism of any sort is impossible. And as Linas Vepstas has said, "Consciousness seems to be intimately and inescapably tied to the perception of the passage of time, and indeed, the idea that the past is fixed and perfectly deterministic, and that the future is unknowable. This fits well, because if the future were predetermined, then there'd be no free will, and no point in the participation of the passage of time." 
-http://io9.gizmodo.com/

Hi everyone!

Very quick update:

I realize I've passed the 60-reader mark (62, to be exact), and that means it's time for another raffle! That happened much sooner than I thought, thanks to you generous people. So I will draw a name later tonight.

But let me sweeten the deal. If I reach 70 readers before I make the video, I will draw THREE names. This will perhaps take the sting out of everyone who didn't win the Powerball last night.

Those mugs are a hot item (especially when they contain hot things), so there are more chances to get your hands on one of them. Or, if drinking devices are not your thing, I still have t-shirts, stickers, and playing cards for the winner to choose from.

So please direct people to my book. Share, recommend, or do whatever it is you can do to get the word out. Or, if you're following and haven't pre-ordered yet, please consider hitting that magical button. Getting to 70 readers today would really be pretty swell!

Thanks, and I'll talk to you all soon!

Followers of Blood Dawn, I hope you're all having a great New Year. To kick off 2016, I've renovated the Blood Dawn page. Please come and check out some of the surprises there now, including the map.

Check out the infographic below for some of the great reviews Blood Dawn has received -- I'm humbled by the high praise.

If you haven't purchased your copy of Blood Dawn yet, click on the image to visit the Blood Dawn page on Inkshares to pre-order your copy today!