Today is the 20th of November. In the original scheme of things, the Inkshares Mystery & Thriller contest would have ended on the 24th of November, four days from now; however, the deadline was extended some time back to the 14th of December, which means we have a little more breathing room.

Or, it means other people have the breathing room to catch up to us....

Well, we passed the Hundred Reader mark a few days ago, and just yesterday, we received the backing of the Staff Syndicate. That’s great news. If we can reach 250 readers by the 14th of December, it’s publication and no questions asked. It seems like a big hurdle, but hope springs eternal, and an honest effort could still count for much.

Remember to check your online Inkshares bookshelf, especially if you’ve not received a personal thank you email from me. It would be terrible to miss out on things simply due to "technical difficulties".

For now, though, I have a novel to write. You’re going to love it.

Good day, everyone. Now that this campaign has finally crossed the century mark in pre-sales, it’s time to announce something near and dear to my heart.

For those of you who don’t know, I am Canadian and live in our nation’s most populous province, Ontario.

One dollar (in Canadian dollars) from each copy of Bane of All Things sold during this campaign will be donated to Autism Ontario (www.autismontario.com). This registered charitable organization is the leading source of information and referral on autism in the province and one of the largest collective voices representing the autism community in Canada.

Why am I doing this? Simple. His name is William. He’s 13 years old and he’s my son. And he has two cousins, Aidan and Tristan. All three are autistic. 

I will make this donation whether or not my Inkshares campaign is successful. That’s right – even if we fail to reach the target, that gift will be given, on behalf of all of you who kindly offered your support.

But, the more books sold, the larger that donation will be. 

In closing, I want to give a special thanks to all of you who came on board to support this campaign since my last update. It doesn’t matter what level of support you have provided, you matter. My deepest thanks. Please continue to spread the word if you have any friends or family whom you think will also enjoy this gritty, fantastical tale.

I do want to give a shout out to Linda Simpson. Not only did she come on board as a Super-Reader last week, she promptly recruited two other Super-Readers.

(Linda runs Performance Plus Rehabilitative Care Inc. (www.PPRC.ca), which specializes in providing personal employment counseling services to Ontario residents with physical, psychological or developmental disabilities looking to enter the workforce.)

That’s all for now, happy reading.

Cheers

Leo

Is everyone having a lovely Friday!?

Unlike most of my recent updates, this one is just going out to the backers and followers of The Seclusion on Inkshares. I just wanted to send a brief check-in message to all of you, my original support team!

The book has now been out for two months, and a one pretty major thing happened recently that I wanted to share with everyone. The Seclusion received an official ’Starred Review’ from Kirkus Reviews! This is in addition to being named as one of the Best Sci-Fi releases back in September.  These are both wonderful benchmarks for a new book from a first-time author. It wouldn’t have happened without all of you, and we hope to have more exciting news in the coming weeks and months.

Reviews continue to climb on Amazon and Goodreads. We are at a 4.26 star average with 111 reviews on Goodreads, and a 4.9 average with 39 reviews on Amazon! If you have had a chance to read the book, and have not left a review yet, it would mean the world to me if you could take a moment to leave a review. It is absolutely vital to the continued success of the book now that the ’new release’ energy is wavering. Especially on Amazon. Once we pass 50 on Amazon (only 11 more reviews!) the book will receive a bit more recommendation love from the sites algorithms.

I hope those of you that have had a chance to read the book, have enjoyed it! I appreciate all of you, and if you ever want to reach out with any comments or questions, I would love to hear from you -  JacquiCastle@gmail.com

Hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!

-Jacqui

The 100th anniversary of anything happens only once, ever, and never again; and today was the 100th anniversary of Armistice, the end of the First World War. Here in Montreal, the event was marked by a ceremony at Place du Canada.

The haze you see is drifting smoke from the artillery guns, fired periodically as punctuation to the ceremony.

To all the veterans out there: Thank you for your service.

Hello everyone,

I am about to set up my book ’The Secrets We Keep’ for pre-orders. It would mean a lot if you could go over and follow the novel, and help me get the word out about the book. Thanks!

Greetings, adventurers!

A happy #MushAnch Monday to you all! 

I’d like to start by wishing good luck to everyone currently participating in NaNoWriMo. Mushroom and Anchovy actually started off as three separate NaNoWriMo books ten years ago, and now it’s in the process of becoming an actual physical book for you all to read. 

I may not have any news, but I wanted to check in and let you all know that my next project is well underway. I won’t go into too much detail, but its name is Mossheart. I will be sure to post updates as I go through my various channels. I am typically posting mostly through my website, the Practical Escapist, my Facebook page, as well as my Patreon page. 

Things remain busy here as we try to sell our house before Christmas (eep!), but I’m still managing to get some work done. I hope everyone’s enjoyed a fantastic Halloween--we certainly did.

See you next time, adventurers. Until then, may your adventure be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

Remembrance Day, 11 November, is a week away now. I believe I mentioned last week that this will mark the 100th anniversary of the WW1 armistice. I don’t know if there’s much I could say in an update that hasn’t already been said better in an editorial, so here’s a picture from my last visit to Bristol:

This was taken in May this year. And that’s how it should be. Whatever we remember on 11 November, I hope we do not forget on 12 November.

For those of you who are in the Montreal area, I will be joining five other mystery writers next Saturday, 10 November, from 10am to 6pm, at the Chapters Pointe Claire (6321 Transcanadienne) for a day of readings, signings, Q&A, and general discussions of all things fictionally criminal. Come join us: Michael Kent, Katherine Prairie, Jim Napier, Barbara Fradkin, Robin Harlick, and me.

Meanwhile, on Inkshares news, consider checking out "Ruining Boise" and "Ripe for Execution", two very strong and dedicated contenders in the Mystery & Thriller contest. The first concerns a single father who turns to burglary in a desperate bid to keep his family going; a grim situation, yet I get the idea that it’ll be thoroughly laced with black humour. The second concerns the hunt for a terrorist who demands the reinstatement of the death penalty in the UK; check out the author’s reading of the first chapter, here, for a better idea of what it’s all about.

And finally, of course, is a reminder to check out "Cat’s Paw", my second novel, which is still in its Inkshares funding campaign. Your support is always appreciated. Thank you.

The first draft of “Gumshoe Rules” was written in 30 days last November during National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.  Right now there are hundreds of thousands of novelists working eagerly to create their first 50,000 word draft. For anyone interested in NaNoWriMo, I wrote an article with 13 tips for authors on how to breakthrough this month-long writing marathon. To commemorate this event, during November I’m donating $5 of every order to the NaNoWriMo.org non-profit.

Meanwhile I’m on my third draft, knee-deep in edits to continue to make “Gumshoe Rules” as good as it can be. I’m fortunate to have been able to tap into some world-class editors both locally and around the world through a web site called Reedsy. For those who might have their own novel in the works, I strong recommend taking a look at Reedsy in order to hire experienced professional editors and cover designers. They also have a wealth of information on structuring a novel, building suspense, character development and more. 

One slight complication has been reported to me by backers of this project. Somewhere between 3-4% of all orders placed on Inkshares did not make it through, due to some quirks in the Inkshares system. (The problem has now been corrected.) However, even if you are getting this update, it doesn’t mean your order was placed. Please check and if you didn’t receive an email confirmation from hello@inkshares.com with the subject Gumshoe Rules Confirmation, then you’ll need to place your order again. Be sure to click on the final green “Confirm” button to make sure your order goes through. Please go to https://www.inkshares.com/books/gumshoe-rules  to place your order. 

I am grateful to all who have helped support this creative project. I’m confident that with your help, we’ll finish November strong and raise some money for NaNoWriMo! If you can encourage just one other person to buy the book, that would help immensely. 

Thank you for all of your support!
--Z.Z. Traver
PS. At Bouchercon this year, I met Martin Edwards, whose most recent book "Gallows Court" has just been released to great acclaim. Edwards is a bestselling novelist, Chair of the Crime Writers Association, editor of the British Library’s classic crime series and an all around nice guy.