Yesterday I got the clearance from editing master extraordinaire Matt Harry to start writing my final draft of Deus Hex Machina. Today I built my new editing scene list to help as a roadmap for what I’ll be doing for the next month. As you can see, most of the book is changing in some way, although a lot of the changes are going to be minor.  I love this part of the process: Getting to dive into the book, polish up the rough edges and round out the wonky corners. It’s like falling in love with the story in a completely new way.

I’m unsure what happens once I’m done with this draft, so for the moment I’m going to assume that I go into an edit phase like the rest of my cohort. My guess is that such an edit will be very brief because we spent so much time upfront preparing for the 4th draft writing phase. 

I can’t help but smile to think how far Isidore RAM has come. I am so proud of this little book, I can’t wait for you to get a chance to read it.

Cheers,

Amanda

Dear Sweethearts,

I hope that you are doing well and that you’re having a wonderful Tuesday, and that your summer has been nothing short of glorious! I wanted to write you a quick note to tell you a few really exciting things about How to Get Run Over by a Truck! (I know, it’s the little book that just.wont.quit.)

Last week the team at Audible reached out to me to let me know that my the audiobook of How to Get Run Over by a Truck is going to go on sale today for the gloriously low price of $2.95! So, if you have ever wanted to hear what my sweet, sweet voice sounds like - this is your chance! This is a great gift to get for someone who is about to go on a long road trip, or someone who is ill and reading isn’t a tangible possibility because the pain from their illness is too distracting (I was in that camp, and I know I would have loved an audiobook!) or for the older people in your life (who don’t mind a couple of well placed curse words…) If you do get one, please let me know! I would LOVE to hear what you thought about it!

In some other amazing news, How to Get Run Over by a Truck was featured in 3 different news magazines this past week!  Including, Shape Magazine, Reader’s Digest, and (most surprisingly!!) The Daily Mail in the UK! To see that almost a year after the book was published that there is still a such a huge interest in the story is SO incredibly moving!  

I hope that when you see these articles you are reminded of what a huge gift that you gave to me and to these reader by being an early supporter of this work! The messages from perfect strangers about how much they needed this story of hope, amazingly, continue to roll in, and they have you to thank for that!

I am so grateful to you for believing in this story, for believing in me and for your support in bringing this story to thousands of people around the world!! You are amazing 

Heart,

Katie

At ease, Faoii. This is a short update. But an exciting one!

We just hit 300 pre-orders!! 

If you haven’t yet, there’s still time to pre-order your copy, as well. You can do so through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Inkshares. For all those warriors out there who use paypal as their weapon of choice, here’s your chance to get in on the fight!

Also, if you haven’t yet, make sure you like The Last Faoii on Facebook. I update there WAY more often than here, because it facilitates conversation, and I’m constantly looking for feedback on design changes and little updates. You’ve been part of every single step in the war up until now, make sure you’re part of every battle from here until the end. I want your opinion, and I, as always, appreciate your support.

I just sent the final few changes to Inkshares a few minutes ago. Next step is the printer. I can hardly believe it myself. 

Shields up. Victory draws near.

Faoii-Tahani

Hello everyone, 

I have big news today, both good and bad. For the good, Storm of Fury has finally entered production! While I still don’t have an official publishing date, the wheels are now in motion to make that happen, and I’m looking forward to working with Inkshares to finally bring this book to you! Thank you for your patience.

Now for the bad news...unfortunately, Inkshares is unwilling to publish Storm of Fury in its full form. Because of this, I’ve actually had to split my book into three separate novels, each around 100k words. So, the book I’m publishing now is Storm of Fury: Winds of Legend, part one of this trilogy. However, because you readers invested in a massive, epic fantasy book, I will make sure that you get the next two parts either free, or at a heavy discount, because you deserve to get the story you paid for. 

I do not know if I will be publishing the next two parts through Inkshares, but considering that they were part of a larger whole, they are basically ready to go. The next to novels will come out not long after SoF:WoL, so you won’t have to wait long.

The next time I’m here, I hope to have a publishing date for you, at last!

Thank you all for your continued support and patience,

Andrew Wood

The first transport is away...

As promised, the manuscript is in. I still have to finish polishing up the summary that’s required for the editors, but everything that’s actually going to be content in the book has been handed over.

I think I might go watch that Game of Thrones finale again now...

Greetings Supporters of Crow’s Gambit! 

I’m past due to give an update and I’m getting some questions on the book, so today we’re doing a quick reset to get everyone on the same page. 

Did the book get published? Not yet. To get an automatic publishing deal we needed to finish in the top three of the Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest. We finished in a strong 5th place. And that was great, I am seriously proud of that accomplishment. 

Then what happens now? I’ve taken the option of trying to sell enough Pre-Orders to get a publishing deal anyway. While the contest was all about unique people ordering the goal is now about shear number of orders. If we can get to 250 the book gets a basic publishing deal. 

If you want people to Pre-Order why haven’t we heard from you? Well there’s this other thing called being a university professor. We just finished the first week of classes. The last two weeks of trying to resolve student and faculty issues has been chaos (I know some of you receiving this will understand). I’m also training to do a 100k (that’s 62 miles)…so there’s that little bit of insanity to deal with too. 

What has been happening with the book then? There are these things on Inkshares called Syndicates. Syndicates are groups of people that pool their money and support books focused on a common theme. During the summer Crow’s Gambit was selected as a pick by both the “Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters Syndicate” and the “Staff Syndicate”. This support really does mean a lot to me. 

So what do we need to do? As of today Crow’s Gambit has 178 Pre-Orders. We need 72 more to hit the Quill publishing goal. Tell your friends. Ask me for some book business cards to hand out. Post a Review of the book on Inkshares. Share the information with your friends on Facebook. Pledge to buy another copy if I finish the 100k? 

Anything else I should know? Yes. Don’t forget that part of the Crow’s Gambit proceeds will go to support the Le Sueur Public Library. For every order $1 will be donated. 

So there you go. Other questions, comments, or discussion on the book is always welcome. Stay tuned. 

PT 

I have a tendency to disappear sometimes. Actually, to escape. And at times escape so thoroughly that it’s like I can feel the whole Earth turning beneath me, forgetting it’s left me behind. ...but then I snap out of it, and I realize it’s really just my fault. I’ve been quiet a little too long. This reader update is long, long overdue.

As of this writing, The Animal in Man has sold 495 copies. As of months and months ago, that number was practically the same. I realized today I would very much like to see 500, and I’m asking all of those who have followed the novel recently to make a pre-order and help me achieve that goal. Of course, I’ve also been working on my sales pitch:

The Animal in Man is like Lord of the Flies, but instead of asking whether young men beguiled by the beast inside can ever be human again, the story asks if there’s something human already in every beast. Instead of stumbling, terrified, through a jungle of fear, they are born in a world of constant violence, perhaps designed that way by its creator. Are we so very different, I wonder. 

The original description I typed years ago when I first launched the inkshares page are still true, perhaps more than ever before: The Animal in Man “is our story. The story of mankind." But if words alone aren’t enough to earn your pre-order, then consider these images.

When you read The Animal in Man, what you’ll see first is this:

But it’s really all about this:

It’s about why anyone would ever think violence could be the answer. It’s about my belief that all of us at some point in our life have heard that whisper inside our hearts that says this it might just be. 

Is it?