Mary Dezember sent an update for WILD CONVICTION
A year ago today, I learned my novel WILD CONVICTION was a winner of the Inkshares 2020 All-Genre Manuscript Contest!

WILD CONVICTION is a winner thanks to you, Awesome Supporters, through your engagement with comments, reviews, nominations and pre-orders supporting this novel and my journey to publication of my first novel!!

So, where are we one year later on the publication and release of WILD CONVICTION?

I am currently writing some edits based on suggestions from publisher Inkshares that I received in mid-January 2022.

After these edits are read by the Inkshares editorial board, the next step should be the final polish edits, then onto the actual production for publishing!

When will you have the finished novel to read? I don’t know exactly, but my heart is hoping for less than a year from now.

In the meantime, I have posted the first 8 slightly-edited chapters on

https://www.inkshares.com/books/wild-conviction

(Well, Chapter 3 isn’t posted, as it is the mysterious letter from GrandMama to Twilight. But remember, those who have pre-ordered or who still pre-order can received that “actual” letter with “magical” gifts tucked inside if you want it, so you receive Chapter 3 in that way.)

I also have a contest going on now based on these posted chapters to win gifts related to the novel.

Be sure to read my newsletter or subscribe to my newsletter if you don’t already receive it to find out more about the contests. You can subscribe at the bottom of any page of my website:

https://www.marydezember.com/

I hope you enjoy reading those posted chapters!

And I hope that by reading them you continue to be intrigued to have this novel in your hands to discover the twists and turns of this story and its significance concerning our society past and present.


(Photo by Alex Iby on Unsplash, seen here only as a placeholder cover photo. Placeholder cover design by Mary Dezember. Actual cover to be designed by Inkshares.)

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    Mary Dezember liked an update for Bane of All Things

    Howdy! I hope this finds you well. If you are also connected with me on Facebook or LinkedIn, you may have seen my recent cancer updates. If not, here is the latest recap. 

    It’s been four months (early October) since my surgery to remove the cancerous tumor (metastasized melanoma) from inside my head. This was then followed by the initial treatments with targeted radiation therapy. My recovery has been gradual, now also aided by immunotherapy treatment.

    But when you are dealing with something such as this, there are inevitably going to be further speedbumps.

    Case in point – two weeks ago, my first MRI since the fall revealed the presence of a number of new spots in my head. These required another round of targeted radiation therapy with that good old CyberKnife machine (completed on Thursday). These new spots may in fact have already been there in October, but still been too small at that time to be detected by an MRI.

    The trade-off with targeted therapy is that it targets only known cancerous tissue, as spotted on an MRI. The advantage is that it can be aggressive with the dosage, with minimal harm to surrounding healthy tissue. Before the CyberKnife, the only option was to bathe the entire brain in radiation. (It may be more complicated than this, but that’s how my radiologist explains it to this layman.)

    That old method had the disadvantage that, well, you’re baking the whole brain, including all the healthy parts that don’t need treatment. This can result in unwelcome side effects related to memory and cognitive function. On the other hand, by hitting the whole brain, you may also be treating by default any cancer spots that remain too small to show up on an MRI. 

    For me, targeted therapy remains the ideal way to go. My next MRI in six weeks or so will hopefully reveal that we are getting the upper hand on this game of “Whac-a-Mole” with targeted therapy and the cancer will be in retreat. 

    Meanwhile, life goes on

    There remains a certain book to tell the world about. Please post those reviews when you have had a chance to read Bane of All Things!

    FYI, you don’t have to purchase from Amazon to post a review there. You just need an active Amazon account. And then there is Goodreads.com and your favourite bookseller (the more the merrier). Thank you very much if you have already done so.

    Also, I took the leap and registered to attend, in person, this year’s World Fantasy Convention – taking place in November in New Orleans. And I don’t mean for it to be the last time, either. Who knows where the world will be by then – virtual attendance may still be the wisest course, regardless of my health, but still I plan to be there in some form.

    Stay safe and keep reading!

     

     

     

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      Mary Dezember liked an update for Tantalus Depths
      It’s been a long, long time coming, but it’s finally here. This is the big one, folks. THE big announcement. It’s actually two big announcements, and each would be huge news  on its own. Buckle in, my friends. There’s a lot heading your way. 
      First bit of news: we have a cover! Tantalus Depths now has a full, professionally designed book cover. I could gush about it endlessly with words, but you know what they say about the word-picture value conversion rate, so let me just show it to you instead: 
       

      LOOK at that beautiful thing. That is an image that belongs on a bookshelf. It belongs on MY bookshelf. I want it in my hands right now, and I know you do too. Fortunately, neither of us will have to wait much longer for that.
      That brings us to our other big news: the answer to the question we have all been asking for the past six long years. That’s right, my friends: we have our launch date. 
      May 10th, 2022. 
      Mark it on your calendars. Put in your vacation requests. Make a reservation for a nice weekend getaway in a cabin in the woods so you can put everything down and curl up with a nice book. MY nice book, because after all this waiting, it will finally be in your hands. 
      It’s crazy to think after all this time waiting that the big day is just three months away. If I’m honest, it suddenly feels way too close to me. I’ve got a lot to do in the next couple of weeks to make that launch as successful as possible and I plan to spend the entire time panicking. But it’s an excited panic. I truly can’t wait to share this book with you all, and take the next huge step into the future as a fully-published author. 
      Thank you all for sticking with me this long. It’s been a crazy ride, and it’s only going to get wilder from here.  
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        Mary Dezember liked an update for Henderson House

        REVISED MANUSCRIPT SENT TO INKSHARES!!

        Dear Henderson House Supporters,

        I hope your 2022 is off to a great start! Yesterday, I submitted the revised manuscript for Henderson House to the Inkshares Editorial Team. I read the novel from start to finish on Sunday and I’m very excited about the depth and clarity the developmental edits add to the story. Heartfelt thanks go out to a few trusted readers for helping me get this draft across the finish line!

        The revised first four chapters are up on Inkshares, so if you’d like to read them, I’d love to hear what you think. Most of the meat of the editing came later in the novel, but there are some subtle differences in the first four chapters you might pick up on :)

        What’s next? The Inkshares Team will re-read Henderson House and decide if the manuscript is ready to move to the next step (copy editing) OR they will send me a second editorial letter and request additional developmental edits and we will go through this process again.

        When will you know? Well, that depends on when the Inkshares Team starts reading. Once the team begins reading, it will be at least a month before I hear anything. I will keep you posted.

        What are you going to do now? I am going to drink less coffee and get back to working on the sequel Sequoya Road! I’m looking forward to having more time in the day to read other people’s books—just started reading the draft of a friend’s new novel this morning! So fun!

        Also, I’m going to get serious about developing my own marketing plan. I will get great support through Inkshares, but I know most of the heavy lifting will be up to me.

        If you’re not already following my business page on Facebook, please do. I’m at:
        https://www.facebook.com/CarenSimpsonMcVickerWriter

        Many thanks for your continued support. We’re gonna hold this book in our hands soon, well, soon in publishing terms :)

        With gratitude,

        Caren

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