Good news everyone! Proteus has received the honor of its very first syndicate selection!

The Fantasy Syndicate has selected Proteus as their pick for the month of July. Why the Fantasy Syndicate? I...have no idea. Proteus is definitely science fiction, through and through. But I’m not going to question it! It’s a good thing! Plus, Proteus is an adaptation of Shakespeare, and Shakespeare goes hand in hand with fantasy, so...there. I found a connection!

Regardless of the reasoning, I am incredibly grateful and honored that the Fantasy Syndicate would consider Proteus a worthy selection, even from across genres. With the contribution of their support, we are within arms’ reach of the coveted 250 pre-order milestone: the one-third marker towards full funding.

More will come soon as I make more progress with Proteus, both in writing and campaigning. Stay tuned, and remember to keep telling everyone you know about Proteus. We’ve got a lot of ground yet to cover!

Glorious news! The Walls are Closing In has begun developmental edits.

I received a thorough twelve-page document with insights, as well as several notes within the body of my manuscript, from the Head of Story Development at Inkshares, Matt Harry.

I was so pleased to read Matt’s feedback and suggestions, as he certainly seems to understand what I am striving to accomplish with this novel. I know that he and the rest of the team at Inkshares will guide me in strengthening the story, ensuring that all of you receive the best version possible.

Matt has worked on Tal Klein’s Punch Escrow, which recently signed a deal with Lion’s Gate, and JF Dubeau’s recently released A God in the Shed, optioned by Skydance. Matt’s own book, Sorcery for Beginners, will be out in October.

Check out a recent video with Matt Harry, discussing the development of A God in the Shed.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/224256631

Over the next several weeks I will be hard at work incorporating Matt’s suggestions, and then I will send the revised manuscript to him for round two. It also sounds like Inkshares has started kicking around some ideas for the cover. I will keep you posted on all fronts.

Until next time,

Jacqui

Yes, finally there’s news from the realm! And it’s short and sweet:

1. KOD in Developmental Editing. 
2. New Books in the Making...

1.) Developmental Edits have begun on Kingdom of Dreams! I’m hoping my editor can help me take this project to the next level. It needs a ceiling and a finish, my great hope is that we will achieve both. We are looking at the end of September or very early October as our end date, meaning: I will have a polished complete manuscript. When will it be in your hands as a physical novel? That depends, but the honest answer is sometime in 2018--my gut says closer to the end of the year. The publishing world is a slow monkey. That said, I should be able to set some semblance of a timeline when the book will hit actual publication. 

2.) I’ve started writing 4 new books. I know, I know. Let’s just say there’s a lot going on, and my mood swings need 4 new books to deal with my ever challenged attention span, sliver of available time, and my need to get book #2 and other subsequent novels out there rapido. I try to write 1,000 words a day--by the way I’ve fallen in love with the writing tool for the Mac, Ulysses. I choose which novel I work on based on mood, but one has worked it’s way into my full attention zone, so it will be my focus until I have the horrible, terrible, very bad first draft completed. I will not stop, no matter what. Scout’s honor. ;-)

I hope everyone is having a safe, fantastic summer. I’ll keep you posted!

Best Wishes,

Kevin

Wow... what a month it’s been.

Since the launch of A God in the Shed, it’s been a bit of a wild ride. Did a couple of local signing events, went to a convention in Utah... started writing the sequel.

While I’d love to bore you with the nitty gritty details however, this isn’t my diary. There’s new I need to share with you. News you want to know about.

Let’s start with this:

Gorgeous isn’t it? Joseph Gates of Gates of Imagination is making six of these for me. Each will have a hand written, unique secret about the story inside. You want one? Well, good news.

When I reach 100 reviews on Amazon, I’ll be raffling off one of these beautiful leather-bound copies of the book. I’ll randomly pick one of the first 100 reviewers as the winner. If I can’t get in touch with them after 48hrs, I’ll pick another. Until I have an address where to mail this beauty. So if you read the book and have a few moments, might be worth writing a short review. It doesn’t even matter if you rate it 1 star. You’re still eligible. And if you have a few extra seconds, copy and paste that review to Goodreads.

What else? Oh yeah!

You want an audiobook of A God in the Shed? If Amazon isn’t lying to me, you’ll be able to get one on July 18th. So if you’re less of an eye-person and more of an ear-person, this might be up your alley. I know you can already pre-order, so there you go.

Finally, why not take a moment to check out my other project currently funding on Inkshares? The sequel to my debut novel, The Life Engineered, is taking pre-orders. You don’t even need to have read The Life Engineered to enjoy it (though it adds that extra layer, and The Life Engineered is only 99 cents on Inkshares right now). Check it out!

As always and forever, thank you friends. You absolutely rule.

JF

Quick update to all of the many early and generous supporters of Skavenger’s Hunt.

An interesting thing is happening with these initial pre-sales. Teachers, especially middle and high school educators, are ordering it. As a writer, that’s incredibly gratifying. A key part of the foundation of Skavenger’s Hunt is that it’s packed with colorful, charismatic historical figures and landmarks from more than a century ago; all part of an adventurous time-travel origin story surrounding the first, and greatest, scavenger hunt ever held. 

Do me a favor...if you know a teacher, send this info along to them, and have them do the same once they’ve had a chance to find out what the story’s all about. Let’s see what happens.

Also, we’re into production! Plenty of updates to come throughout the summer as we head toward our November release. And, as always, thank you for being the first onboard. 

https://www.inkshares.com/books/skavenger

To all of you who offered your amazingly strong support to my upcoming novel, Skavenger’s Hunt, a heartfelt thank you this morning. Last night, we hit our pre-order goal of 750 copies, which means we are now a full go for production and publication by November of this year. Thanks to each one of you, we hit that mark much quicker than I could have ever imagined. 

No matter where the journey leads from here, I will always consider you to be the early trailblazers that made it all possible. Please continue to spread the word about our little story (and it is OURS) as we head into these next few all-important months. 

Today, though, I’m celebrating. Celebrating the overwhelming backing you’ve given to Henry Babbitt, Hunter S. Skavenger, Jack, Matilda and Ernie (all characters you’ll get to know this November). 

In the meantime, for now, I’ll wrap up with where I started. I’m so very grateful to each one of you.

Let the Hunt begin...

Mike

Dear Readers,