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.

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.

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“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.

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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.