If you haven’t seen my latest Facebook update, Inkshares has officially OK’ed an extension for Showtime’s pre-order campaign with the new end date being May 17th!

Over the next month, it’s more important than ever to show that Showtime was worthy of the extension. If you haven’t yet, now would be a great time to read my sample chapters (1-4 available now) and leave a review. And, as always, pre-ordering additional copies and sharing with friends and family would also be helpful.

Remember that 750 copies is only the ideal. Showtime still has a shot at publication based on our pre-order totals, reviews, followers, and time spent reading chapters. So if you’ve done one but not the other, would you consider checking it off your list? :)

Those of you who know me well enough know that I don’t as for things (favors, help, money, etc.)--must be the stubborn Italian in me--but this is the one time I am. So if you’re feeling extra-generous or extra-supportive or extra-really-wanting-to-help-someone-you-like-get-this-baby-published, I’d appreciate any additional help you’re willing to offer.

Thanks to everyone for sticking around with me a little longer. :)

Ricky

I am overwhelmed at the financial support you’ve all given to GOING, GOING, GONE! Last night we reached our pre-funding mark of 750. You might be relieved to know that I will no longer be requesting that you dust off your credit card and type in your numbers. 

Instead I ask that you mention GOING, GOING, GONE! to your baseball-loving friends. If you feel comfortable, bring up the topic in conversation, in email, or social media. PLEASE give out my email address. Mention that I’m on Facebook and Instagram. People can always order the book on Inkshares.

For now we celebrate as if we’ve resoundingly won our division in the regular season. Various levels of playoffs loom (7,500, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 sales), and the World Series (which is a significant book contract for the next novel in the GOING, GOING, GONE! series). But for now, we celebrate, and I say THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!

Please email me your street address so I can say thank you with a real letter! SteveHermanos@yahoo.com / www.SteveHermanos.com

We are now down to the wire, everyone, as only 3 more days remain in Showtime’s pre-order campaign!

If you know anyone who said they were going to order—or if you know someone you could persuade to order—now is the time! Remember, anyone who orders an additional copy within the next three days is entered into the Dunkin’ Donuts gift card giveaway.

We’re currently at 260 copies pre-ordered in almost three months. That’s a lot (and is extra amazing to think about since we started at 0)! I have roughly 25 additional verbal yeses, but so far those orders haven’t been placed.

I’m planning on asking Inkshares for an extension and the higher the order total by Tuesday (the end of the campaign), the higher the chance that they’ll be willing to give it. Additional pre-orders and/or writing a review of what you’ve read in the sample chapters would be more than welcome. :)

Many people have said to me (either online or in person) over the last few months that they would really like to read the whole book. I want that, too, but it can’t happen without you!

Thanks for your continued support,

Ricky

P.S. A special thank-you to some awesome people who have recently gone above and beyond to show their support with their positive words and additional orders: Leo V., Liberty G., Debbie P., Charlie W., Rusty R., Pam R., Irene P., and Amanda H. You guys rock. :)

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Howdy, folks. Only a day remains in that 72-Hour Challenge I announced on Saturday afternoon. So far, the response has been rather light. Please help me nudge that pre-order total a little higher. It will influence the editors’ decision whether or not to publish Bane of All Things.

Consider this:

“If half the people in the world who are trying to publish a novel disappeared tomorrow, publishers and agents probably wouldn’t notice.”

No, that’s not a twist on Thanos and his finger snap in Avengers. This is the hard truth spoken by a friend of mine in one of his writer workshops. As someone who is a published author and also works in the industry, he knows what he’s talking about.

His point is that publishers are overwhelmed by hopeful authors in waiting. There are more great manuscripts on their doorstep than they have the capacity to publish. Making the hard choice between this great manuscript or that one often comes down to the author – are they reliable, professional and not an a-hole?

If this sounds like an interview for that dream job everyone wants, you’re right.

Inkshares is different than a traditional publisher. Here, it is the potential of the manuscript, the character of the author AND that pre-order total. A strong pre-order total shows there is a community willing to support the author and their work. This grass-roots validation influences the Inkshares editors’ opinion about the potential of the manuscript to do well.

It’s fair to say that 400+ is a strong pre-order total, but we have the opportunity to make it even stronger as we wait for the editors to complete their review of BoAT.

So, I am asking you, hat humbly in hand, to help me nudge that pre-order total just a little higher by placing another pre-order or recruiting a friend/family member to the cause.

Cheers

Leo

To my incredibly patient followers and readers,

Let me begin by thanking you profusely. Thank you for your continued support and interest, for messaging me, stopping me in the office, or spotting me randomly in a store and asking me when the Hell After Death is going to come out.

It makes me feel terrible for the long wait, but it also makes me feel good that so many people are excited to read this novel on which I’ve now spent ten years of my life.

I apologize for the delay. Much of that is simply out of my hands, as I’m merely one of many talented authors whose work is being developed and published by Inkshares, and each of them are as anxious and as deserving of attention as I. 

That said, my number has been called. And over several conversations with Inkshares CEO Adam Gomolin — over email, phone, text, and in person — a plan has been hatched to, yes, once again restructure the novel, this time sharpening its focus on the characters of Cara Lindley and her grandmother Meryem Nurzhan. 

The character of Icara Lightfeather and her entire storyline is going to be cut from the book. (Boy am I glad I didn’t pull the trigger on that tattoo of the compass from the map of Icara’s planet!)

Let’s please take a moment to admire the incredible work of artist Andy Gouveia, who created the map for me.

To those beta-readers who considered this aspect of the book their favorite part, I can say only that Icara and her world will most certainly one day see the light of day in some other shape or form (these things almost always eventually do), and that I have every intention of cannibalizing the crucial plot elements from her storyline in service of this more honed concept.

Meryem’s backstory will be expanded even further, going into deeper detail regarding the previous outbreak of the plague in Kazakhstan and her life in the years between then and her emergence as the world’s preeminent expert on the Fever. 

Some of the novel’s trippier aspects will survive, but will be made far less prominent, and the book will center more on how three generations of one family were affected by a disease, becoming less Cloud Atlas and more Sharp Objects, which — you know what? — is going to be pretty cool and a lot more accessible.

This will take time, of course. Adam’s hope is that further developmental editing will take eight months or so, with our eyes set on a potential July 2020 release date. Whether that comes to pass obviously depends on a number of factors, not the least of which is my own ability to pull it off. 

But I am eternally humbled and grateful to all of you who have stuck by me through this, and who continue to anticipate this novel’s eventual publication. It means so much more to me than you can possibly know, particularly at this moment in my life.

In the meantime, please consider picking up a copy of Writing Bloc’s ESCAPE! An Anthology. It’s packed with twenty gripping tales of escape, including my short story "The Grave Ordeal of Jawbone John South," about an 1885 bank robbery gone very wrong when an outlaw attempts to evade the authorities by ordering his gang to bury him alive with the stolen loot.

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If you are so inclined, you can also pick up a copy of my short story "The Equestrian," the slim tale of a jockey and his horse, and the night of horror that would bestow upon both an incredible ability and a terrible curse.

I’ve also gone and uploaded a bunch of my poetry, essays, and film criticism to my website, Dan-Lee.net, including my poem "Ode," which was previously published in the Santa Clara Review literary journal, "Incidents in a Traffic Jam," the piece that made me a California state finalist for the National Poetry Slam, and my critique of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which went unexpectedly viral a couple of years ago. 

If you have some free time, please do check that stuff out!

You are all so wonderful. And I can’t say enough how much I appreciate not only your support and patience, but that of the friends I’ve made through being part of the Inkshares community. I’ve never met a more supportive group of writers.

I’ll try to do a better job of updating more frequently, but if you don’t hear from me, please be assured that I am hunkered down, doing the work. And that one day in the not-too-distant future, you will find out what happens After Death.

Bill Forrest, Albuquerque Isotopes, CF
Patrick T. Sr., Sausalito Brain Mixers, Captain
Ben Kn., New Orleans Flatboaters, 2B / New Orleans Fanboaters (football), RB
Jacob Kn., NYC Grandmasters, 3B
Tom Sk., Sausalito Crooners, SS
Mike Hart., Atlanta Slicers, 1B
Eivor T., Sausalito Sense Diviners, P
Victoria H-M., Mill Valley Educators, Positive Attitude Coach
Gabby Ch., Marin County Child Wranglers, P
Leon Silv., Sausalito Mets, SS
Patrick T. Jr., Wisconsin Fate Deciders, P
Rob Taylor, Brooklyn Vibemakers, RF
Phil Taylor, Portland River Rafters, LF
Grace C., Wisconsin Sensemakers, Mgr.
Katie Z., Albuquerque Isotopes, RF
Julie Ov., NYC Tech Crunchers, CF
Veronica P., Mill Valley Supermoms, P
Tim U., Tam Junction Fogcutters, C
Regan U., Tam Junction Linchpins, SS
Mark Humphries, San Francisco Connoisseurs, RP
Gail Stark, S.F. Property Flippers, 2B
Liz L., Santa Fe Solons, P

Tracy Dutt., Virginia Satellites, P
Sundude, Kitty Hawk Flyers, C
Ted Hall., Albany Bookgrinders, CF
Leo Valiquette, Bane Of All Things, Writer
Charlie Denby, Mill Valley Educators, P
John S., California Helmar Collectors, 1B
Kris & C. Gas., Del Ray Ray-Rays, Owners
Scott Jamp., Sausalito Oyster Shuckers, P
Stefano Scali, Sausalito Floating Homers, C
Joe Burns, Sausalito Oyster Shuckers, Mayor
Linzy Coll., Iowa Soul Redeemers, SS
Paul Winst., New York Cosmos, Goalie
Jennifer F., New York Stockflippers, Mgr.
Joanna P., New York Stockflippers, Owner
Miles R., New York Stockflippers, P
Jeff Holl., Sausalito Lumber Reclaimers, P
Doug Simon, New York Frisbee Flingers, 3B
Dan Fost, Mill Valley Millers, Coach
Gerry R., Sausalito Boatriders, Cpt.
Mike Hood, Greenbrae Houseflippers, P
Bradford P., New York Dealmakers, SS
Arthur O., New York Lookouts, P
Ronald Grels., New York Kneecappers, P
Ariana C., Da Vino Coffeeslingers, P
Yovani Cast., Da Vino Coffeeslingers, Chef
Elizabeth C., Da Vino Coffeeslingers, Manager
Gordon H., Sausalito Picture Framers, SS
Lia M. & Carter J., Night Cafe Hall of Fame 
Chris Ryan, New York Cineastes, Film Crew 
Peter Gelf., New York Prop Dusters, SS
Kerry B., Mill Valley Millers, SS
Alistair G., Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, RF
Charles Mandel, Helmar Antiquifyers, Owner
Laura M., Brattleboro Yankees, Mgr.
Mike Knapp, Green River Yankees, DH
David B., East River Fishsnaggers, P/Captain
Charlie Craw., Toll Bros. Demolition, SS
Ed B., SF Team Brothers ’N Sisters, CF 
Beth B., SF Team Brothers ’N Sisters, LF

D. Krasnoff, Team Navy, Coach
E. Krasnoff, Team Navy, G.M.
Elizabeth C., Team DiVino, Nutritionist
Brian S., Prudential All-Stars, CF
Barnaby C., Washington Absinthe Sippers, P/2B
Charles G., New York Limo Hailers, CF
Jacqui L-W., Mill Valley Visionaries, SS-2B
James R., Marin County Muckrakers, P
Stefan Smith, Sports Massage Marin, 3rd base coach
Devin Crowley, Amsterdam Guffawmeisters, P
Robert H., New York Skiiers, CF
Susan H., New York Museum Researchers, Mgr.
T. Wexler, L.A. Dealmakers, SS
Adam K., Ithaca Royal Palmists, CF
Bennett, J., Mill Valley Millers, 3B
Jonathan W., Mitzi Potted Parrot Fan Club, P
Jon R., Mill Valley Troubadors, P
David B., East Hampton Fly Casters, 1B 
Joe P., Sausalito Voiceovers, P
Jason A., Dalton Tigers, 2B
Stephanie A., Dalton Tigers, 1B
Jim C., San Francisco Dealmakers, P
Helen Y., Tiburon Sharks, SS
Karin T., Sausalito Winemakers, Mgr.
Adam T., Dalton Tigers, 2B
Duncan Plex., L.A. Guitar Riffers, P/OF
Ellen H., Sibling Hall of Fame, CF
Robert & Susan H., New York Giants, Owners
Kirk Davis, Arizona Blacktop Melters, LF
Adam K., Ontario Seal Pups, CF
Beth B., San Francisco Elites, RF
Kenneth Palmer, Houston Stan Keys, Team Doctor
Douglas Z., Santa Fe Steakmakers, C 
John Bad., San Juan All-Stars, P
Leila S., Sausalito Sartajians, Mental Health Coach

HIT A HOMER AND HELP US CLIMB TO THE TOP!!!!

Barry Bonds 762

Hank Aaron 755

Babe Ruth 714

Alex Rodriguez 696

G O I N G , G O I N G , G O N E ! 6 7 8

Willie Mays 660

Albert Pujols 633

Ken Griffey, Jr 630

Jim Thome 612

Sammy Sosa 609

Frank Robinson 586

Mark McGwire 583

Harmon Killebrew 573

Rafael Palmeiro 569

Reggie Jackson 563

Manny Ramirez 555

Mike Schmidt 548

David Ortiz 541

Mickey Mantle 536

Jimmie Foxx 534

Willie McCovey 521

Frank Thomas 521

Ted Williams 521

Ernie Banks 512

Ernie Banks said, "Let’s play two!"