Hi all, I get so many updates and recommendations it can be overwhelming, so I try not to write many myself.

Sometimes I am just a bit too despondent to read them anyway. Sorry if I missed any of yours. (I'm not bi-polar as far as I know but I have ups and downs)

Currently my "tail is up and wagging", and I'm reading updates and following recommendations like crazy. 

I'm pestering my closest friends to help me out, with some success, and I have some credits to spend. There are a few books that have caught my eye and without wishing to sound mercenary, I'll buy yours if you'll buy mine. 

I am also going to do what Kelsey Rae Barthel has done and remove all but the opening chapters of my book to concentrate properly on editing and refining. Cut out some of the description and slip it into the action instead, eradicate a few adverbs (not sure why they are so hated but must go with the flow) and generally tidy up the details. 

 Hello Everyone! 

I have some great news! RUNE's schedule and publication date has just been finalized! Although there are many deliverables on RUNE's production timeline (publishing and marketing a book is a MASSIVE undertaking), the one readers will be most interested in is:

RUNE OF THE APPRENTICE will be published on November 1st, 2016!

Additional good news is that YOU will be getting your copies before this date AND we will also be able to have special early release copies for New York Comic-Con, too! We don’t know the exact date books will be shipped to you, but I’ll keep you posted!

Even though you will be getting you books before November, I know this is still a long way out. Reading this, I’m sure you are feeling the same emotion I initially felt upon hearing the news: disappointment that RUNE will not be published sooner like originally planned. Despite that initial feeling, as I work more closely with both Inkshares and Girl Friday Productions, and see the tremendous amount of work being put into RUNE, that disappointment has been transformed into appreciation and gratitude. While I know you do not see this hard work first hand, I will do my best to keep you updated on our progress so you can see all we are doing to polish RUNE into printed perfection—which will hopefully help curb your disappointment, even if only a little.

I can go on and on about this and am happy to answer any questions over at @StoneJamison, or down below in the comments, however, I want to keep this update quick so as to not fill up your inbox. Although there are MANY milestones ahead, the next important steps are Cover Design and Developmental Edits!

Cover: I have a call later today where the RUNE team will be solidifying our collective vision for the cover so the designer can begin to move forward with samples for review and selection. There are usually three rounds to this process. The early samples will focus on options of several different directions and the later rounds will polish that vision, bringing it into a finalized physical form. The designer’s previous work is fantastic and I am very excited to see what he produces. I will keep you all updated as we progress!

Developmental Edits: Editing a 500+ page Fantasy/Sci-Fi epic is no small feat. Although RUNE has already had several rounds of professional editing, there is always ways to make a novel of this magnitude more engaging, engrossing, and awe-inspiring! I have been tremendously pleased with the pre- Girl Friday Productions edits, and am now very excited to see their continued polish added to RUNE. The next round of Developmental edits should be done by the end of next month, and then wrapped up by the end of March with copy editing and proofreading to follow in the months to come.

As I said, there are many more milestones after that (I have not even gotten started on marketing!) but for now I’ll end this update. The road to publication is a long one, however, I am so very excited to have you all along for the ride. RUNE OF THE APPRENTICE is going to enliven the hearts and minds of readers across the globe, and it warms MY heart knowing that you all are here to partake in this EPIC journey!

Sunday recommendation time. Since I've stepped back to only every other Sunday, I'm going to try to post up at least 4 or 5 book recommendations each time. I'll also be including video trailers(if available) for the books after each recommendation. It is definitely a mixed bag today, jumping between genres and general feels. Without further delay, here they are.

“Good Intentions: A Supervillain Story” by Michael Crider: I've always been a fan of super-powered fiction, especially when its done it at least a semi-realistic fashion. Judging from the excerpt that is up this book does that well while also adding in a dash of humor as it tells us the tale of a well-meaning superhero turned accidental supervillain. Definitely something you should check out if you're at all interested in the super-genre.

“The Amaranth Chronicles: Deviant Rising” by Alexander Barnes and Christopher Preiman:  Running from fond yet sorrowful reminiscence, to the stresses of starship maintenance, and finally to a good bit of fast paced sci-fi action, this book definitely has a good range. Well written throughout the chapters presented here give me just enough to really want to know more about these characters, the universe they live in, and the events that are unfolding.

;;

“Scribbles: A Collection of Words” by Tabi Card: This one is a collection of 10 short stories, with excerpts from 3 of them listed here. Each does a wonderful job of painting the scenes presented, both through physical descriptions and characterization, so that you will find yourself quickly pulled into each. Such masterful execution leaves me impatient to read the full stories.

“Blood Dawn” by John Robin: In our real world its not unheard of to hear music and other artforms referred to as magical, which is obviously meant in a symbolic fashion. A look back into the real-world practice of mystical arts will also show a tendecy to fetishize art, mainly music and dance in this case. This connection has always fascinated me despite my awareness that it is merely a symbological practice in the real world, instead of being truly magical. One of the things which really drew me into Blood Dawn was its exploration of this connection in a world where true magic exists. A world where the magic in art was used in such a destructive way so as to cause the powers that be to outlaw art altogether.

Thanks to John Robin's skill at the craft of writing this book is more than just an interesting idea though. His words weave vivid scenes, evocative characters, and deeply layered cultures/societies. I wish I could describe it in better critical words, but to be perfectly honest I find myself being so drawn into the story every time I read the chapters currently posted that critical thinking shuts down in favor of the pure pleasure of reading an excellent story.

;;

Again my math may be wrong, but if its not then the funding period for Good Intentions ends 3/6, The Amaranth Chronicles ends 3/8, Scribbles ends 3/31, and Blood Dawn ends 4/2. Don't delay in checking these projects out and ordering them if they are the type of book you enjoy.  As always, links to each are embedded in the titles, and links to the authors in the authors' names.  Enjoy what little is left of the weekend, and see you back here in two weeks time.

Hello there wonderful people

I've decided to do something rash!! 

I've taken off every chapter from Chapter 2 on down from the page and have dedicated myself to do some mad melon editing. I'm taking all the advice of experience gained from this journey and using it to re-edit the chapters posted and will repost them as I finish. I'm doing this due to the restructuring of a couple of them. It would be a bit difficult to do the reposting piece meal so I'm whipping the board and starting over. I have already re-posted chapters 1 and 2 so feel free to take a look and give me some feedback. I would really appreciate it, 

Don't forget to get your pre-order in and get a chance to win a super cozy blanket with Beyond the Code cover art on it. You'll get good karma points for helping little old me make my dream come true and you can snuggle up with a good read and a super soft blanket. 

Thank you all for your continuing support. 

Kelsey Rae Barthel

Ladies and gentlemen.

It is now the first week since I set up shop with Inkshares ... well, the first week since I've been serious about it; my account's been around for I don't know how long now. Some of you might be interested in the general state of affairs as we begin, so here we go.

The manuscript for "Murder at the Vet" is essentially complete.  It has been "essentially complete" for a while now, but every revision makes things better. Some of you may have noticed the rather major changes made to the opening chapters posted on the site. I think the new Prologue (unnecessary though it may be in terms of telling the story) adds a bit of suspense to the mood, and the revisions to Chapter One reduce the sense of it being an Expository Info-Dump. There will probably be revisions to the unposted chapters as well.

I'm impatient to begin the pre-order sales campaign, but perhaps some caution is called for. I know that I personally would probably not put down money on something that failed the first time around, and so I imagine that everyone else is the same. As such, I very much want the first push to be a successful one.

So, when that happens, I'm going to need everyone's support. I'm going to need as much support as I can get. If I can get your grandmother's support and your dog's support and your grandmother's dog's support, I'd take it and no questions asked.

BUT, that hasn't happened yet. Right now, it's about building up a following in various places. I will be applying for membership both at the Quebec Writers Federation and at Crime Writers of Canada. I will be testing the waters at Goodreads. I probably will not move on to pre-order sales until I have established my footing with the QWF and the CWC.

Now, most of you may be familiar with Faith (hi Faith!) who is the author of "Death of an Archaeologist". I expect that most of you are already following that book; and if you're not, please do. The two of us appear to be the only people writing in our setting and genre (1920s "golden age" detective fiction) and we expect to have near-identical readerships. So anyone interested enough to back "Murder at the Vet" will probably be interested in backing "Death of an Archaeologist", and vice-versa. Any support I get should consider supporting her; and I hope that the reverse will hold true.