Welcome Squad! 

The Video Game Contest is on and I’m overjoyed to have you on my team. This story is a fun, nostalgic, labor of love. I challenge you to search through each chapter to find all of the references to classic video games and the history behind them. The story is more than that though. It’s my attempt to bring together all the best video games of the past in one coherent story. A story with characters you can believe in who have real challenges. 

I really hope you enjoy it. And I REALLY would appreciate it if you could make a Pre-Order and spread the word. We are in a contest and every order helps. 

The first chapter you might have recognized as based on Spacewars. The second chapter just went live on Inkshares (I know, isn’t that great?). This chapter gives some background into the nature of the 2600 and sets the stage for our next classic video game…but you’ll have to read it to find out which one that is. 

So, as I announced earlier today, I’m planning on structuring my reader updates in such a way as to deliver more interesting content in a more regular fashion. So, I’ve decided to take up a sort of content schedule going forward. Here’s what I’m thinking for now (highly subject to change)

• Mondays: Character update. In these updates, I’ll focus specifically on one of the eight characters in Tantalus Depths and tell you a bit more about him/her/it.
  

• Tuesdays: Story update. For these updates, I’ll share a bit more each week about the story itself, shedding light on some of the aspects of Tantalus Depths that don’t give too much away.
  

• Wednesdays: Recommendation update. These updates will have nothing to do with Tantalus Depths at all, but will instead focus on books being funded by other authors on inkshares that I’d like to shine a spotlight on.
  

• Thursdays: Lore update. These mini-updates will focus on elements of the world-building I’ve done for the universe of Tantalus Depths. The things I discuss in these updates may be barely glimpsed in the book itself, and may only even be mentioned, but they nonetheless play an important role in the way this universe functions. 
  

• Fridays: Vlog update. I plan to do a weekly vlog during this campaign where I’ll sit down and talk with my supporters face-to-screen about how things are going with the book, how I’m doing personally, and whatever else should strike me as relevant at the time.
  

• Saturdays and Sundays will be the days when I get the half hour or so of sleep I allow myself every week or two. Other than that, I’ll likely spend them mainly putting together the content I’ll be delivering in the coming week.
  

On top of this regular schedule, I’ll definitely be sending updates about any important news (like I will when we hit that EXTREMELY CLOSE QUILL GOAL).

Hopefully this’ll be fun and engaging for you all. Feel free to share your thoughts on the idea!

Greetings Followers of the Space Sloth, 

I’m sorry for the long silence. We took a quick vacation to Chicago and have been dealing with a moth infestation in our garage (any suggestions on that topic are appreciated). 

For this update I wanted to take a minute to talk about communication. All the sarcasm and adventure aside communication plays a really big role in the story. Our intrepid, but reluctant, crew does have to interact with a few other species during their journeys. I spent a fair amount of time considering how this inter-species communication would occur. Universal translators are great but didn’t seem to meet the tone of the story. I settled on using associations. 

Our memory works by forming associations, between images, sounds, smells, feelings, concepts… In the story the aliens communicate by searching for mental constructs that approximate the association they are trying to make. Two of the alien races are therefore given names we (i.e. humans) already know because they convey the same associations. The Krell and the Nephilim. 

I’ll leave it to you to ponder what those associations could be...:)

And hey, quick reminders. There is one more day for the Draftfest. If you haven’t already have a look at some of the drafts up and give some feedback. And the next contest is underway, the Nerdist Video Game Contest.