Happy Tuesday, y’all!

Recently, Rick Heinz, the author of The Seventh Age: Dawn and all around mensch, wrote an article  highlighting five of the underdogs in the Geek & Sundry Fantasy Contest. Yesterday, A Beast Requires returned to the top ten list, with 95 backers and 117 pre-orders, putting the book 45% of the way to that elusive Quill goal. With 57 days left, doubling the number of pre-orders is totally doable, so let that specific type of hustle begin.

I like underdogs. Hells, I write about underdogs, seeing as I am one. When I told people I wanted to be a writer when I was a kid, they laughed. There was no way the kid who couldn’t spell, let alone write, would ever string more than five words together in a coherent thought. I’m a stubborn one. Tell me I can’t do something and I will bust my ass to prove you wrong, then send you a postcard with a crudely drawn middle finger. 

I’ve been an underdog most of my life. I lost a lot when I came out, especially my family, and survived for almost two years living out of my car and on people’s couches. When I got sick, they told me it was terminal, and this month now marks my 6th year in remission. Yea, I’m so stubborn I told cancer to fuck off. When I lost my job of ten years, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever recover, I wrote a book. A Beast Requires has taken me four years of blood, sweat, and tears. When you tell people you’re writing a book, they think you’re a fool, that you’ll never finish it, and that there is no way in hell that it will be any good. Well, fuck those people.

Don’t ignore the underdogs. While they face incredible odds, eventually they will be victorious, and they will have done it their way.

57 days. Yea, we’ve got this.

Happy Monday, Sailors! 

Guess what? We’ve officially hit over 250 copies ordered!! How exciting! There are 230 of you who have purchased Storm Song, who want to see this book become a real, tangible thing out in the world. I can’t thank you guys enough for order and promoting. More than that, I want to thank everyone for taking a chance on me. I promise you won’t regret it. 

The one shot D&D session was a lot of fun! Putting the characters and the elements of Elysia back into a d20 system was a wild, nostalgic trip for me. I hope to have the opportunity to do more of those! 

Also! Storm Song was featured in this Geek & Sundry article which is a sentence I never imagined myself typing. Check it out! There are four other amazing stories also featured!

So far, we’re holding onto 3rd place, which means we’re still in the top 3- but I don’t know about you, but I would feel way more comfortable in 2nd place. Or heck- let’s shoot for 1st. It’s possible! But if I’m going to manage it, I need help from you guys .There are about 100 of you who are following that haven’t ordered. That would be huge! And if you’ve already ordered, try to convince someone in your life to throw $10 at the project as well! 

I think we can pull out some amazing things in October if we all work together, gang. I’m ready to get to work. What about you?

- Allison

Science Fiction isn’t about Spaceships or fancy Technology. Its about people and the effect the future has on them.