Greetings Readers, Followers, Human Beings, and Advertising Algorithms,

I promised you this day would come. You didn't believe me. I didn't believe me. But it's here at last...

That's right! I finally figured out how to work the internet. No more free AOL homepages and half-hearted Tumblrs for me. www.jimmcdoniel.com is a thing. A thing that both exists and works. Go there now and behold the wonder and glory of me copy and pasting pictures onto Squarespace. Marvel at my ability to link you back here to Inkshares. Thrill as you view my Twitter account while not on Twitter. Ooooo. Aaaaah.

In other news, the Sword and Laser contest two is wrapping up this week. On Friday at noon (West Coast time, two o'clock here) three more authors will receive the full publishing treatment and one will join G. Derek Adams, J.F. Dubeau, and myself in the Sword and Laser collection. There are plenty of good books in the mix with plenty of time to make the jump so please, consider visiting the contest page and checking a few out like:

For dystopic cyberpunk, click Deus Hex Machina.
For epic demonic fantasy, click Bones of the Past.
For sci-fi action/adventure, click The Amaranth Chronicles: Deviant Rising.

  Is our universe real?
 
"This the classic Cartesian question. It essentially asks, how do we know that what we see around us is the real deal, and not some grand illusion perpetuated by an unseen force (who René Descartes referred to as the hypothesized ‘evil demon')? More recently, the question has been reframed as the "brain in a vat" problem, or the Simulation Argument. And it could very well be that we're the products of an elaborate simulation. A deeper question to ask, therefore, is whether the civilization running the simulation is also in a simulation — a kind of supercomputer regression (or simulationception). Moreover, we may not be who we think we are. Assuming that the people running the simulation are also taking part in it, our true identities may be temporarily suppressed, to heighten the realness of the experience. This philosophical conundrum also forces us to re-evaluate what we mean by "real." Modal realists argue that if the universe around us seems rational (as opposed to it being dreamy, incoherent, or lawless), then we have no choice but to declare it as being real and genuine. Or maybe, as Cipher said after eating a piece of "simulated" steak in The Matrix, "Ignorance is bliss."
-http://io9.gizmodo.com/

50 readers means another raffle!

Come see me ramble through another raffle drawing with a slight case of bed head. I recorded this late last night (I'm a bit of a night owl -- pun slightly intended), but am posting this now since not many people would see an update e-mail late on a Sunday night.

Are you a winner? Well, anyone who pre-orders my book is technically a winner to me, but if you want to know the raffle results, you'll just have to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV2qhv81A8Y

I will contact the winner later with the details. Thanks, happy dreams, good night, good luck, etc.

 99 copies of DHM on the wall, 99 copies of DHM! Share the book, pass it around, 100 copies of DHM on the wall!

Sorry, I'm a little loopy right now having only gotten an hour of sleep last night (Yay insomnia).  

Despite my best efforts, I am starting to see the end of the contest and really understanding the likelihood of me ending up not anywhere near the top three. I was hoping for 2nd, eager for 4th, but at this point even the numbers between 7th and 5th are pretty insurmountable.  And I think I am coming to peace with that. 

I am going to make a few more pleas with friends for orders, and this one is to those who are following DHM but haven't backed it yet.  There are 125 followers for DHM but 86 backers.  If each of you 39 people backed the book today, we would be back in the race, at least the race for 4th place. My son is sitting at my shoulder reading this, saying "I want to be in the race." Yeah, me too, kid. Me too.

So if you have been waiting to order DHM, now is the time. Please preorder the book today!

Incentive wise, we are four people away from our next raffle, 1 order away from 100 books ordered today, and six orders away from sixth place. 

Psst. Isn't that pic of Cri-Lux awesome? I bet you'd love to know who she is! How about another incentive. If we get to 125 backers, then I'll release chapter 2, and you'll meet not only Cri-Lux but also Daxas Piers, our street wise mech racer. Now I have to go race with my toddler. He says "we have to get all the way to the finish line." Wise words.

Greetings once again fellow scifi/fantasy/adventure enthusiasts!

I'm sitting here writing this update whilst listening to Yoko Kanno's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST and reminded of two things. One, just how talented a composer she is. And two, how amazing of a series GITS is. I hope the big budget production isn't a let down.

Onward....

What a weekend Transilience has had! Ten preorders in the span of about 48 hours. I have a few people to thank and what a wonderful burden it is! So a hearty THANK YOU to Tim Merchant, Gareth Fernie, Joseph Asphahani, Mr R W H Bray, Amanda Orneck, Billy O'Keefe, Steven Davies and Tony Valdez.

Transilience has also received some fantastic reviews. That complete strangers would write such kind things about something I have created is humbling. So please allow me to use this polite expression to the compliment received. Mr. Ryan, Mr. Cargnan, Mr. Sobin and Mr. Asphahani, Thank You!

A quick aside: Mr. R W H Bray has written a book, himself, which is currently in the midst of a funding campaign of its own on a UK site called Unbound. Rich is a friend of mine and he really knows how to spin a yarn. His novel, In Cathedral's Shadow, is about love and loss and murder and the dark places of the mind and heart. All set in a small university town on the east coast of Scotland. You can check it out here.

Back to my stuff. Check this space tomorrow where I offer an insight as to why I set Transilience on Mars.

Until that moment, during that moment and after, if you haven't already, please consider supporting Transilience. And tell your friends about it! Your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, coworkers, acquaintances, people whose lives you think will be enriched by good literature! 

Publication date is listed as December 2016. What better way to get some early Christmas shopping done than to order Transilience? Wait! So we are clear, that's a rhetorical question unless you happen to agree with it. Then I say, "I know! Pure genius, right?!?"

Let's keep the momentum going as the Sword and Laser contest deadline fast approaches. You know what they say about a rolling stone. It's probably set off by a tiny golden statue that looks like my grandpa, and will either crush under its enormous weight or seal you into a spider infested temple forever. So GO GO GO!!!

Cheers!

Kev

So, this update is a day late...but there's a pretty great reason for that.

We did it. We got there. Ghosts of War's funding campaign is finished and it is now a part of the Quill Collection at Inkshares.

I couldn't have gotten Ghosts to this point without the help of those who backed it during it's run, and for that I'll be forever grateful. I really can't thank you all enough.

In closing, I think this sums up my feelings about today...

Sunday update time.

Hello there wonderful people. 

Finally came through and have a polished chapter 1 posted. I've fixed alot of the issues that some of you have brought up so take a gander and let me know what you think. Thank you all soo much for all the support, advice, and kind words. The pre-orders didn't hurt either. 

As always I'm working my hardest to bring you the best product I can give and I hope you all like the results. To all my followers who are liking what they see please don't forget to pre-order so we can make the coffee infused dream of publishing Beyond the Code a reality. 

All the best

Kelsey Rae Barthel