The Man from Mittelwerk has been translated into French and German in addition to being available in English in print, ebook and audiobook format. The French and German editions are on sale now at Amazon.

I want to thank everyone who has posted an Amazon review. If you haven’t done so, remember there’s no time like the present! Posting a short review, even two sentences, has a big impact in how Amazon and Audible promote books. So it is much appreciated. 

Also, If you ordered the book and did not received it because you moved, please send email to our publisher at hello@inkshares.com. 

Also shoot me email at ZUrlocker@hotmail.com if you’d like to read the excellent short story Michael wrote called The Perfect Setup. I’ve got a new short story in beta called Franky Junior and the Idlewild Aces, which I expect should be finished in the coming weeks. You can stay up to date with new short stories, book signings and other news at www.mzurlocker.com.
—Zack
 PS. The book was nominated for Best First Crime Novel by the Crime Writers of Canada. 
How cool is that, eh?   

Great news! We hit our 750 pre-order goal and are off to the races with Inkshares. We couldn’t have achieved this incredible feat without the help of everyone single one of you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! 

If you’re reading this and haven’t yet purchased a copy of SHADOW OF THE ETERNAL WATCHER, it’s not too late. The goal is always to sell more copies and find more readers. So please, follow, buy and share with any of your friends. The support truly means a lot.

Onward,
Josh Mendoza

I woke up this morning with nowhere to be, and that felt weird as heck.

The last four weekends in a row have been dominated by back-to-back conventions and book fairs all over Ohio, from the shores of Lake Eerie to the West Virginia state border. Let me tell you, it was a rush!

We kicked things off at the Akron Book Fest on March 11th, where I had the great honor of sitting between my friends and fellow authors Cari Dubiel and Kalynn Applewhite. We had a great time and sold a ton of books considering it was only a half day event, and I definitely hope to return next year. 

(Incidentally, Kalynn is currently absolutely crushing a Kickstarter for her upcoming novel, Awakening Anne. I’d like to embarrass her with a surplus of support, so if you’re into paranormal historical fiction, go show her some love and back her Kickstarter.)

The next weekend was Cleveland ConCoction, and I have to say, I think this was the most fun for me, even though I sold the fewest books there. ConCoction was unique in that I didn’t have to man my own table for the event; convention staff sold my books for me, giving me total freedom to explore the convention and participate in the event programming. I had the great privilege to sit on three panels with some absolutely brilliant fellow authors, and pretty much any time I wasn’t in an author’s panel, I was watching one. Even though my sales were pretty slim for this event, the networking I was able to do was absolutely invaluable. I built some great new friendships with fellow authors from all over the Midwest, and had the great privilege to learn from their experiences and share my own in kind.

The following weekend was The Big One: the Cleveland Fan Expo. This one rivalled Galaxycon in scale, and probably surpassed it in turnout this year. Once again I had the chance to participate in a panel with a bunch of fellow authors, discussing our writing and answering audience questions. This was part of a pilot program Cleveland Fan Expo just started this year, so attendance and organization was a bit wanting, but that’s to be expected from something like that coming together for the first time at the last minute. I’m still glad I got to participate, and I’m optimistic to see how it goes next year. And yes, I will be back next year, because my sales were quite good at this one! I beat my record for most books sold in one day here, and you really can’t go wrong with that!

The last convention in this stretch was Ratha Con, and let me tell you, that was an endurance test for me. Four conventions in a row is rough under the best of circumstances, but Athens is a three and a half hour drive away, and it started at 10:00 AM. I got up at 4:00 in the morning and hit the road with my soul still asleep, and didn’t get home that night until midnight. But it was worth it! Even though Ratha Con was much smaller than any of the other cons I’ve gon to this year, I sold just as many in that one day as I would expect to sell at any other event, which really goes to show that you should not dismiss the value of smaller venues. I also had a really awesome fan interaction here that I won’t soon forget. Someone bought a copy of Tantalus Depths in the morning, and came back to my table around noon to let me know they had already made it eleven chapters in, and loved it so much they bought two of my short story collections as well! By the end of the day they were 24 chapters in and still loving it. That one interaction would have made the whole event worthwhile even if those were the only three books I sold.

So that brings me to today: my first weekend off in over a month. I definitely needed the rest, and I’m hoping I’ll make some significant progress writing Proteus this weekend. You know, being an actual author, and all. But this is only a brief interlude, because I am jumping back into the convention world right away. Like, literally, next weekend.

That’s right. I wasn’t overcommitted enough with the events I’d already signed up for, so I’ve added five new ones, starting next weekend with Operation Fandom in Wooster! Add these bad boys to the list of coming attractions:

Operation Fandom
April 16, 10-6:00, Wayne County Fair Event Center, Wooster, OH

Local Author Fair
April 22, 1-3:00, Chardon Public Library, Chardon, OH

MARcon
May 26-28, Hyatt Regency, Columbus, OH

50 Book Challenge Author Fair
June 11, 1-3:00, Twinsburg Public Library, Twinsburg, OH

Columbus Book Festival
July 15-16, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH

That brings my 2023 convention schedule up to 12 events, and I’m probably still going to add more later in the year. You’re probably saying "Even, that is too many events." Yes. Yes it is. I have an underdeveloped preservation instinct, and I’m capitalizing on it. I regret nothing.

Since I have so many events now, it’s getting hard for even me to keep track, so I’ve set up a page on my website conveniently listing all of my upcoming events and linking to their respective websites. I’ll update it as often as possible, so stay tuned for a lot more stuff in the future!

Hi all you fantastic supporters!

Wait, you’re probably like, new number, who this?

Well, it’s me, dear friends, Erin S. Evan. That book writer you pre-ordered from all those years ago. Let me refresh your memory....

The Spring of 2016. My son Jack wasn’t even a year old, the sky was blue, the earth was filled with fossils, and you preordered a book called The Pirates of Montana. 

So much has happened then, amirite? Moving (for me, a total of three times), new babies (my daughter Sara says hi), new jobs, a global pandemic. I’m sure you all have new updates and stories to tell. I hope they are all wonderful and bring you joy! Except for that pandemic. That can go to hell.

But the most important part of this update- THE BOOK COMES OUT ON APRIL 11! 

A HUGE thank you for your patience all these years. For those that preordered a copy years ago, you’ll get it sent to you around April 11. For those that didn’t, check out Amazon or, better yet, ask your local bookstore to order a copy.

In fact, for those that preordered, you should have gotten an email from Inkshares asking for your updated address, if needed. Definitely fill that out! I wouldn’t want the book going to an old address you haven’t lived in for years (I’ve updated mine)

Now, the hard question- why did it take so long? Because Inkshares is a small publishing house, I had to wait in line. Plus I needed to become a better writer. I went into this never writing fiction before. I’ve always made up stories, often spinning my yarns to my kiddos during their bedtimes, but I’d never put anything on paper.

Now I kinda claim I’m not too bad at it. What is that saying? You need 10,000 to master a skill? Well, I’m probably about a third of that way along. Not kidding- I’ve got lots of drafts of this book on my hard drive, plus tons of notes, treatments, summaries, etc.  Over the years, Inkshares set me up with several amazing editors who challenged me to become a better writer. For that, I’ll forever be thankful.

When you read the book, check out the acknowledgements- there are many individuals that have impacted this book and your name might be in there. 

And, just when we finally were about to publish, Covid hit. The closures of bookstores was brutal for the industry, to say the least. E-books did okay, but Inkshares, like many indie publishing houses, makes money through the sale of physical books. So we decided to wait till people could go back into stores.

So we waited.

And waited...

And waited….

Until now!

Now the fun stuff. 

I’ve changed the title, as you probably noticed. It’s now called The Bone Wars. This is a nod to the greatest paleontological race in American history, the rivalry of O.C. Marsh and E.D. Cope. You’ll learn more about it when you read the book (along with a ton of other cool paleontologists). However, the book is now apart of a series called The Pirates of Montana. So keep your eyes peeled for more info in the future on that.

While the book is now defined as a Young Adult book, I’ve written it so that adults will enjoy it too (think Hunger Games).

Booklist, one of the literary trade publications, has reviewed the book and given it a fantastic review. To quote: it "is a remarkable combination of incredible scientific detail and convincing fabrication." What does that mean? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out (muahhahaha).

Professor Charles Marshall, Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology, wrote a really awesome blurb for the book. It’s on the back cover. I’m really proud of his review. I haven’t been in "the game" for a while now, and to have a professional paleontologist read my book and not find any glaring errors was a fantastic feeling. His email was so nice, just a suggestion or two (which I incorporated). Additionally, he really enjoyed it! 

Another science fiction author, Tal Klein, also wrote a nice blurb for the book. For those that have been on Inkshares for a while, you’ll definitely remember his book, The Punch Escrow. If you haven’t read that one, stop reading this update and go order it. It’s fantastic. 

The Bone Wars will be on Audible! I met with the voice actors last year, and they are amazing. More on that to come!

Finally, the book was also selected by the Junior Library Guild as one of their Gold Standard Books, which is also very cool. The Guild helps Libraries choose books for their students. Fun fact: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was on its editorial board for decades! I’m incredibly honored to have been selected.

We’re at the finish line. Thank you all for the support and encouragement over the years. It took longer than I would have liked, but thankfully it meant a stronger, more fun book with an awesome cover (by the fantastic M.S. Corley! Check out his work at www.corleyms.com!) 

Best, 

Erin S. Evan

Greetings, adventurers,

Congratulations to those of you who correctly correlated yesterday’s cover reveal with the date! Those of you who know me well believed it anyway and I love that about you. Regardless, yes, yesterday’s cover reveal was absolutely an April Fool’s Day joke, but so many of you were so warm about it nevertheless that it made me smile. Thanks for understanding me!

That being said, if you really do want to read about adventuring anthropomorphic animals, you might be interested in the next series I’m writing... but that won’t see the light of day for a few years, yet. Definitely do keep an eye out, though, through my Substack and my website, as I’ll be trickling out information as it comes--probably starting as early as next year. The first book is written, but I’ll likely release them together. Stay tuned.

Now... that being said, you may be wondering about the future of Mushroom and Anchovy. A few things.

1. I am not actually rewriting them as ducks. I am slow because implementing the edits has taken me considerably longer with my current work schedules. That said, I am making good progress and we are still looking at a 2023 release for this book.

2. As for the cover, I actually have hired somebody. I am very excited, because this artist was always my first choice and I know they’re going to do an incredible job. They have been VERY busy these past few years and neither of us had thought we could make it work, but here we are. They are hard at work right now and have shared some details with me, and I am hoping to do the actual cover reveal this week. 

3. I’m going to keep the joke cover on this site until the actual cover reveal, because I think it’s funny.

4. Because the reception was so warm about the joke cover, I kind of want to do SOMETHING with it. Maybe a bookmark, a poster, or a journal... or something. I’m thinking about it. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Thanks for having a laugh with me yesterday. I really cannot wait to get this book into your hands this year--and that’s no joke!

May your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

**SORRY IF THIS SENDS TWICE! The first one wouldn’t send the picture!

Greetings, adventurers!

It’s been awhile but I have finally come to you today with something very exciting: a brand new cover reveal. I have been planning the new cover for some time and waffling over who to hire, what design to have, etc., and I was struck with inspiration earlier this year. I decided to just bite the bullet and do it myself. Without further ado, here is the brand new cover for Mushroom and Anchovy, hopefully gracing your bookshelves later on this year…

What do you think? It’s really something, isn’t it? I want to add that part of the delay is that I’ve been rewriting our titular heroes as ducks. It has taken quite some time to go through the entire book and make sure every instance of human facial features is replaced with duck bills, and that I throw a handful of scattered feathers into the narration from time to time. I think that, ultimately, this will make for a much better book, because who doesn’t love ducks going on adventures?

I will have more news in a couple of days, but for now, I hope you’ll bask in the glory of this new cover and really take it in properly.

Woo-oo!

K. M. Cooper