My piece for the Washington Post re: the election
Dear All,
Today I wrote this for the Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2016/11/09/why-this-frenchman-plans-to-resist-president-trump-by-becoming-a-u-s-citizen/
Peace and long life,
Manu
Alright, the deadline for funding and the contest date have passed, and a couple people have asked directly how it went. I expected Inkshares to send out a status update automatically, but I’ll have to write it out myself, instead.
We did not reach the preorder numbers needed to get the book into circulation. Sigh.
According to the Inkshares FAQ, your purchases should have been automatically refunded. Please notify them if you don’t get refunded.
Still, thanks for pitching in and helping me get as far as I did! Inkshares is a very new thing, and the concept of crowdsourcing art is still in its infancy. I know that a lot of people didn’t quite understand the process going into it. As for me, I am new to site myself and didn’t have much pull or inroads into the community to draw on. Dragonford was in 14th place pretty much throughout the contest. While I am disappointed to lose out on a publishing opportunity, that’s just the nature of trying to be an author.
I encourage you all to go to the contest page and check out the three winning projects. They are still taking preorders, and will be very happy to continue getting support for their projects. Also, I have gone ahead and put up a project page for The Long Highway’s sequel: Dragonford- Wilderness. There’s a sample chapter up. See how our platoon of veterans does when they face the Thral on their home turf, the savanna of the Western Wilderland. Follow that page, as there will be more sample chapters to come. Cheers!
So...that was a week wasn’t it?
Work this week has mostly been focused in three general areas:
NaNoWriMo is also a thing that’s currently happening, and while I’m not officially participating (like I did in 2014 when I wrote the first 50k of Ghosts) I am at least trying to write every day. As such, here’s a new spreadsheet...
I haven’t quite hit my internal ’1000-words-a-day’ goal, but there’s still plenty of time left in the month to get back on track. Plans for the week include:
So, until next time...
PS: If you want to check out LandFall, it’s over here: https://www.inkshares.com/books/landfall . There’s not much there at the moment, but that’ll change.
Yesterday was... well yesterday was yesterday and that’s all I’ll say on that.
Friends
The Catcher is knocking at your doors!
The official publication day is tomorrow, but many of you received today your copy of The Catcher’s Trap! Those of you who have not receive your book yet will get it this week.
I truly hope that you enjoy the book. The Catcher’s Trap is a dark tale of struggle and inner strength. I believe that beyond the supernatural aspects we can all relate to the journey these characters experience.
Some critics are loving it, some critics not so much, but they all agree on one thing, The Catcher’s Trap is entertaining and a fast pace quick read. Please add your voice to those critics. Once you are finished reading the book, leave an honest review on Amazon, Goodreads and Barnes and Noble.
Reviews are key to the success of the book. (my husband Tom, checking out a great book)
I want to leave you with a fun story. I spent this past weekend in New York and, of course, I had to stop by at Union Square’s Barnes and Noble. Guess what I found on the third floor, in a display called “New Sci-Fi,” of course The Catcher’s Trap.
It was so surreal and so empowering. Just seeing my book on the shelves of one of the biggest bookstores in New York made every single sacrifice and struggle to publish this book worth it.
And for that, I thank you.
Have a fantastic week!
Greetings Hexers and Machina Riders:
Editing is in process on the second draft of Deus Hex Machina (my spreadsheet of many colors is about 60% blue now to indicate finished scenes), and although I had to push into November, I am expecting to be done soon.
But that’s not what I’m here to talk to you about. Today I will be joining forces with Extra Life and starting the first of four gaming sessions where I will stream for charity -- specifically Children’s Hospital of Alabama. My goal is to raise $100 to help kids at the hospital get the treatment they need, and I will be streaming every Sunday evening throughout the month of November over on my Twitch channel. I’ll be starting at 8PM Central, and am thinking it might be fun to let the audience help make my choices as I start a new character in Stardew Valley. If you like watching gaming, stop by and say hi, and if you like what you see, please consider donating to a good cause.
TL;DR:
WHO: Well, me, actually.
WHAT: A Charity Gaming Stream for Extra Life
WHEN: 8PM Central every Sunday evening throughout November
WHERE: http://www.twitch.tv/mandifesto
WHY: To raise a minimum of $100 for Children’s of Alabama. Donate here if you want to jump the line and just give money to kids without having to watch me make a fool of myself online. Although, I think that’s half the fun.
See you tonight!
Hey, everyone. It’s a rainy day in Bilbao, which makes it a perfect morning to get some writing done. I leave for Barcelona in a few hours.
I’ve excised 19 pages worth of over-exposition. The manuscript is getting leaner, the pacing is much improved. I’m trusting myself that I’ve imparted the important bits and I’m trusting that you can infer my intentions, rather than explaining every minute detail to death.
Again, it’s a little hard to buckle down and work each day when I’m constantly on the move, but I’m chipping away. I expect this to be either the final or penultimate edit and I’m over 2/3 of the way through.
Today is Extra Life! We cleared my second goal and are closing in on $1000 raised for the year. The entire event is above $6 million for the year. We’re live and fundraising and you can watch here http://www.twitch.tv/guthron or here http://www.twitch.tv/pixel_sharks. You can donate here.
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