Time to check in with an update, like it or not.

We’re down to the last 19 days in Proteus’s funding period, and we’re just shy of the 600 pre-order mark at 592. In the past ten days, we’ve brought in 34 pre-orders. Which is impressive, and I could not be thankful for every single one of them. You guys rock.

I have to be honest, though. At this rate, it won’t be enough.

We need to get 158 new pre-orders in the next 19 days, or Proteus won’t happen. Averaging that out, that’s a bit over eight pre-orders a day. That’s more than I can handle on my own. I’ve gone to everyone I know and explored as many other avenues as I’ve been able to find, but the well is running dry. This is where I start getting truly desperate for help.

If any of you are on the fence about ordering, or have friends or family who said they’d be interested but haven’t yet come through, now is absolutely the time. If any of you can manage to support Proteus directly with a second pre-order of your own, I’d be forever grateful.

We CAN do this. I know we can. We’ve done it before. But the key word there is “we.” Proteus will be written thanks to me, but it will only exist as a published novel thanks to you. It’s going to take an army to get this thing done. So it’s time to rally the troops.

I have SO MANY updates this week, Faoii! Listen up!

First off. Let’s see how we’ve done this month. Status report incoming:

But I know a lot of you out there are fighting. And I want to welcome our newest soldiers to the field. Faoii Betrayer has, like its predecessor, been graced with the amazing and esteemed honor of being chosen by the Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters Syndicate. I cannot tell you what this means to me or how honored I am to be placed in their ranks again.  Look at the new medal in our barracks, my warriors! Let me hear your warcry!

Also--Did you see the new cover for Faoii Betrayer, once again put together by the incredibly talented Evan Graham? 

That’s it for now, Faoii. You have your orders. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and FOR THE LOVE OF ILLINDRIA ORDER YOUR COPY OF FAOII BETRAYER. It’s going to take all of us to make this book real. Some people might say it’s impossible... but they don’t have an army on their side. Do not fail me.

Shields up.

It’s August and it’s still as hot as ever here in Southern California. Our AC was out for a couple days but thankfully it’s up and running again. I hope you are all staying cool and enjoying your summers. 

Some exciting news! After three letters back and forth, I got the green light from my editor to move forward with the rewrite so that’s what I’m doing! I’ve been trying to write a chapter a day, but I’m starting to realize that isn’t sustainable, so I’m scaling back to 1000 words a day. One of the editor’s other suggestions was to immerse myself in comparable books. I’ve been listening to audiobooks nonstop and I really can see an improvement in my writing! I’m so excited to share it with you all.

As far as other projects, I’m about 26,000 words into a new novel, which is on the back burner now that I’m working on Rock of Ages again, the Writing Bloc short story anthology is still set for a fall release, and I have a couple guest spots lined up-- an Instagram takeover, a guest post on crowdfunding, and a workshop on NaNoWriMo! I’ll be sure to share once everything is official.

If you’d like more frequent (weekly-ish) updates on Rock of Ages, events, other writing projects, and blog posts, sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dBsQdP

Otherwise, I’ll catch up in September! Thank you all for your ongoing support! 

Alright friends, the grand finale is approaching.

Technically, it’s more like 28.5, since the campaign actually ends in the afternoon on the 29th, but close enough.

We are now officially in the final month of the Proteus campaign: a campaign that has been running for well over a year now and gathered an astonishing 558 orders already. We have less than 200 left to acquire, then Proteus will receive the same full publication deal that Tantalus Depths has already earned.

Can we do it? 192 orders in one month is no small thing, after all. Even so, the answer is a firm yes. Not only can we do it in that time, but we can likely do it sooner. On Tantalus Depths’ last day campaigning, we gathered more than 80 orders. 80 orders in one day. Granted, two syndicates boosted us that day as well, but my point stands, we could hit that goal in just one or two days of real, solid support.

I don’t expect to reach our goal in two days, obviously. But my point is, we could. Our final goal is absolutely within our reach. My personal goal is to finish the Proteus campaign before Tantalus Depths goes into copy edits, which is likely to happen in the next two weeks. This is an extremely doable goal, provided we really rally for it.

Now more than ever, I need your support. If you haven’t yet ordered Proteus, order a copy. Order two copies. If you have ordered a copy, order a second copy. Get your friends to order a copy, get your family to order copies. Ask anyone you can think of to order a copy. If you can’t afford to buy a copy, please tell everyone you know about this book, share these posts on your social media platforms, be as obnoxious about it as I’ve been this entire past year.

It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be stressful and exhausting. But it will be so worth it.

Let’s do this thing.