Hey, everyone!

  It’s been a crazy couple of days at my college, and the heat is relentless as always in my state at this time of year. There was so much I didn’t take into account when I moved into my dorm house and got my classes settled. I never properly prepared for the amount of time I would be away from my home daily, and usually, I’ll be gone from the morning to the evening, and even then, I will most likely go out for a bit to get some free food somewhere, attend an event, or workout. As much as I love writing and such, I believe going through with my current campaigns with the load that’s starting to settle in, I’ll get crushed by the responsibility. I hope you all who have ordered and thought about doing it in the future can understand my position, ’cause my current attention span is solely on my studies and finding a suitable job. Everyone who have ordered will get a refund. Still, that doesn’t mean Scarlet will just die. Just going back to the draft phase, but hiatus mode, and probably every now I’ll consider making an update to let you guys know about any changes. It isn’t easy getting published, which I’m sure you all know from being here, and it’s definitely not easy getting orders--marketing yourself comes into play and when I originally stumbled upon Inkshares, I believed many naive things swarming inside my head that it wouldn’t be a hard road, but in truth, it is hard. So, I’ll step away from this campaign stuff and focus on my important priorities rather than fighting an uphill battle at the moment with these orders. I don’t know when I’ll be able to continue this again, for it may take a semester, or my whole freshman year before I feel comfortable again. Detective Diaries will get the same treatment as Scarlet, so on both sides, there will be nothing new. However, don’t believe I won’t be writing still on the side and such, it’s just that I don’t have the confidence to juggle everything because I don’t want to fail. While the project is in a hiatus state, I will be having writing classes and there’s a possibility that I can work for the radio station on campus--they need writers, and that’s just another way for me to learn new things from actual professionals and advertise. Thanks for reading like always. :)

  Until next time,

  -A.J.III.

  Hey, everyone!

  It’s been a crazy couple of days at my college, and the heat is relentless as always in my state at this time of year. There was so much I didn’t take into account when I moved into my dorm house and got my classes settled. I never properly prepared for the amount of time I would be away from my home daily, and usually, I’ll be gone from the morning to the evening, and even then, I will most likely go out for a bit to get some free food somewhere, attend an event, or workout. As much as I love writing and such, I believe going through with my current campaigns with the load that’s starting to settle in, I’ll get crushed by the responsibility. I hope you all who have ordered and thought about doing it in the future can understand my position, ’cause my current attention span is solely on my studies and finding a suitable job. Still, that doesn’t mean Detective Diaries will just die. Just going back to the draft phase, but hiatus mode, and probably every now and then I’ll do the video update thing I would do on Wednesdays to speak about the long path of the project. It isn’t easy getting published, which I’m sure you all know from being here, and it’s definitely not easy getting orders--marketing yourself comes into play and when I originally stumbled upon Inkshares, I believed many naive things swarming inside my head that it wouldn’t be a hard road, but in truth, it is hard. So, I’ll step away from this campaign stuff and focus on my important priorities rather than fighting an uphill battle at the moment with these orders. I don’t know when I’ll be able to continue this again, for it may take a semester, or my whole freshman year before I feel comfortable again. Scarlet will get the same treatment as Detective Diaries, so on both sides, there will be nothing new. However, don’t believe I won’t be writing still on the side and such, it’s just that I don’t have the confidence to juggle everything because I don’t want to fail. While the project is in a hiatus state, I will be having writing classes and there’s a possibility that I can work for the radio station on campus--they need writers, and that’s just another way for me to learn new things from actual professionals. Thanks for reading like always. :)

  Until next time,

  -A.J.III.

Hello Cape’s Side Bayers!

 Hope you’re having a wonderful day!

 Yesterday I was greeted with some wonderful news! Cape’s Side Bay has been selected for the GREAT SCI FI syndicate pick for August! It always means a lot when your fellow authors, and people you respect, support your work, and believe in what you are doing. A big BIG thank you to the Great Sci Fi Syndicate, you’ve given me and Cape’s Side Bay a huge boost, and I am extremely grateful! I’ve attached below the reasoning and the shiny new button you can see on Cape’s Side Bay’s main page!

Also, if you are into science fiction I definitely recommend you check out this syndicate! Matthew Isaac Sobin does a great job as the head of it, he finds fantastic science fiction books each month, and it was a pleasant surprise when he informed me that Cape’s Side Bay would be August’s selection.

Just over 100 orders to go! The home stretch continues. 

Please, as always, recommend, share, and order! Cape’s Side Bay is oh so close to becoming a reality. Let’s get it there!

https://www.inkshares.com/books/cape-s-side-bay

All the best,

James

Hey everyone! So some exciting news today--we’ve passed the first goal of 25 pre-orders!

The numbers (at the time of writing this update):
1) 27 pre-orders
2) #17/256 in the Geek and Sundry Fantasy Contest
3) 23 pre-orders away from our second "From the Exercitus Files" goal, where you’ll learn more about James and indie magic.
4) 81 days left to fund

According to the ideal rate of funding chart, we should hit 200 pre-orders by August 26th, which also happens to be my birthday. I’m considering, in addition to the 7 update goals between now and 200, maybe having some kind of special prize/reward. I’m still working out the logistics, but if you have some suggestions, let me know! We’re still two weeks out, so let me know if there’s some special video or something that you’d like me to do if we reach 200 pre-orders by 8/26. All suggestions welcome if you’d like to private message me!

And now, without further delay, here are the two rewards for us getting to 25 pre-orders--a profile of Amber, and a little bit on talismans. Hope you enjoy it!

---

From the Exercitus Files: Amber

Name: Amber Margaret Reed

Appearance: Long dark curly hair; short; light brown skin tone

Age: 20

Years with Exercitus: 2

Actress I’d cast: Erinn Westbrook

Hometown: Queens, NY

Special Skills: Linguistic Knowledge; Demon combat experience

College Major: Linguistics

Known Languages: English, Latin, German, Runes

Myers-Briggs Personality Type: INTJ, “The Strategist”

Perception: Realist

Family: Lena Kovac (mother); Walter Reed (father, deceased); Robbie Reed (brother); Maggie Kovac (aunt, deceased); Sheila Reed (aunt, deceased)

What she hates most: When people don’t think of the bigger picture; bad grades

What’s most important to her: Rules; doing the right thing; protecting people

Long-term Goal: Work linguistics for Exercitus after college, translating magic texts

Job: Full time college student; teaches yoga at Champion’s Fitness Center

---

From the Exercitus Files: Talismans

Talismans are used by Exercitus witches. Witches are given their talisman at the start of their work with Exercitus, and they must return their talisman when they leave Exercitus for any reason. Each talisman is constructed the same way: a silver medallion with Runes carved around a citrine stone at its center. These specific talismans were developed during the late 1700s, and are the result of a blending of cultural knowledge and global supplies. They are carved with Runes that are meant to protect the wearer, including prevention of possession by demons. Talismans weaken but stabilize the power of an individual witch. Their power is channeled into and then amplified by the citrine stone at the talisman’s center. (Fun fact: Citrine is near impossible to find in nature at this point because of excessive early mining by Exercitus.) Magic can be used without a talisman, and this type of magic is called “indie magic” by Exercitus. This kind of magic can be extremely dangerous. It is not sanctioned by Exercitus, and discovery of an Exercitus member using it leads to their immediate dismissal from the organization.

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  Hey, rebels.

  I wasn’t aware of where the "Update Readers" button was, but now that I have found it, I have to speak about the upcoming days and updates. The project will go through a small hiatus until the next week because I’m moving into my dorm room and need to just focus on school at the moment. My writing schedule will be unstable from the move, so once I find a suitable time gap where I can be in peace to write and feel confident about my status at school, I’ll start up again next week. Also, because of the fact that I’m a freshman, I want to experience some of the fun college has to offer first before locking myself away for hours like I usually do. Hopefully, by meeting people and getting familiar with the campus, I can spread my books around in the process, and even meet someone with a dream like mine. So, I apologize if you were expected the Forgotten Story. I promise to deliver next week. Well, thanks for reading, and have a good weekend. :)

  From yours truly, A.J.III.  

  Hello, detectives.

  Hello, detectives!

  Today is a great day for improvement! This update is our "Progress Update", and it’s basically to keep hope alive for the project and to make a comeback with a new air. As I stated, these updates would come with a video, and I actually just got done tweaking the video on Youtube. I’m still an amatuer at this type of stuff, and I didn’t have a script ready for you guys, but it will be alright! You can check it out here--it’s short and casual. Also, subscribe or follow me on Twitter to know when they go live exactly, that is if you’re interested.                    

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

  If you’ve already seen the short video, you will know now that I’m releasing yet another chapter, but this will be coming from the final draft. It will be in 3rd-person rather than being swapped around between all the characters, a more direct message towards crime, a bit more realistic, a better presentation of Acel and the powers of the detectives, and just all around better! From the position I am in now, I’m hoping to get the chapter out tomorrow morning or late afternoon. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day.

  Sincerely, A.J.III.