Thomas J. Arnold liked an update for The Knightmares

Hello Knightmares!

My campaign ends in 24 hours! If you still want to grab a book before all the perks end, do so today! They’ll be gone tomorrow!

Updates to come as I enter into the next phase of publishing The Knightmares. 

In the meantime, check out my other project, VEXED!

Thanks again to everyone who helped me reach my goal. I can’t thank you enough!


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    Thomas J. Arnold
    A bumbling madman in an unholy relationship with the written language. Author of Exile, Magus; Exi...
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    Thomas J. Arnold liked an update for Ghosts of War

    Okay, ladies and gentle men, time for an update on all things Ghost-y.

    You may have noticed last time I said a thing about having the book done and submitted by the end of July. Well, that didn’t happen, but there are reasons, some good, some less so. Let’s begin.

    I was talking to Inkshares around the time of the last update and mentioned my intention to submit at the end of July. Inkshares have a lot on their plate at the moment with a bunch of books in production and some behind the scenes changes, and they felt it would be in the best interests for my book if I took a bit more time to work on things, and not rush it so that when it came time to submit they could give it the appropriate attention. 

    So what this essentially means is the book is about 95% certain to not be coming out in 2016 which, while disappointing, is best for the books future. Rest assured though, it will be coming as soon as humanly possible in 2017.

    One side effect of this "take your time" directive was that my brain went into "oh you can put this off for a while" mode (among many other unhelpful modes)...and here we are: three months later and no finished draft.

    This is a problem. For me. For you. For Inkshares. 

    It is not, however, a problem without a solution and that solutions name is accountability. It’s all well and good to give myself deadlines, but if I’m the only one I’m beholden to, then I tend to fall between the cracks. So I figure having near on 400 people on my case should be a good motivator.

    So, starting next Friday I’ll be sending out weekly updates that will include the daily word totals for the previous week. They’ll continue until the first draft is done (which is close mind you) and then I’ll reassess the schedule as things head into beta reading and revisions and such.

    Current Stats

    Word Count: 94,203

    Chapters Finished: 27 of 32 

    What’s Left: 23, 26 & 30 need to be finished and I have yet to start on 31 & 32 (though they are fully outlined)

    Estimated Final Word Count: somewhere around 110,000

    I’ll see you all next week. 

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      Thomas J. Arnold liked an update for The Remains Of Civilization

      Hello readers,

      So...sorry for accidentally maintaining a radio silence for three months. I had meant to post an update on how the Remains is going and keep the good folks here up to date on these things. But I guess being bad at keeping up with self-made promises is one of the reasons I’m slightly overweight and are writing a novel instead being a blogger. Well...I’m not gonna make any promises here that I think I will accidentally break, so let’s move on.

      The Remains is chugging along at a steady pace...and I shall now unveil The Remains of Civilization V2.0! 

      Here’s a slightly more typo-free, 200% more humorous, and punchier chapters of the book! I promise this time the revision I made to the chapter will make rereading them be like adding sprinkles on a vanilla-flavored ice-cream on a hot, sunny day instead of a reptitive task. I would be interested in hearing your feedback on the story so far and your opinions on it. The reader’s voice is essentially the lifeblood of writers, we REALLY can’t live without ’em.

      Chapter 0

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Other than that, I can now also officially announce that I will finish this draft before or during NaNoWriMo and also had finished planning and writing down the ending for the story. Funny how the ending was almost completely different from how I had finished the first draft, but that was never meant to be the real ending anyway, the ending to the first draft served as a placeholder for when I thought of a better ending and a reminder that if you don’t plan...eh things can really become a mess really quickly. At the end, the current draft is more a rewrite than an edit, really.

      Well, that’s unfortunately all. I’ll probably post another update next month. Until then.

      -Yicheng Liu

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        Thomas J. Arnold liked an update for Murder at the Veterans’ Club

        Dear friends and followers,

        I don’t like to send these out more than once a week. However, I do have an announcement, which I would rather not keep for the weekend:

        The third Peterkin Investigates game is out! In "Labour’s Letters Lost", a packet of letters--highly sensitive information, apparently, and potential for scandal--has been lifted from a private safe during a dinner party. Eric Peterkin is called in by his club’s secretary, Jacob Bradshaw, to deal with the matter as discreetly as possible, and you get to investigate the mystery in Eric’s shoes.

        Enjoy!

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          Thomas J. Arnold sent an update for Exile, Magus

          Happy Wednesday everyone!  Time for another update.

          We’re only a few orders away from a new chapter release, and I’m hoping to get there soon, both because I really want to release another chapter and because we’ll really need to pick up the pace in order to get to funded status by the end of the campaign in about a month’s time.

          Since I’ve finished talking about the different dwarven ethnic groups in my world, as well as the single elven ethnic group which is appears in Magus(but is certainly not the only one in its world), I decided today I want to talk a bit about my world’s wizards, the magi(magus is the singular form).

          I’ve actually talked a bit about my magic system for a post on John Robin’s Epic Fantasy Writer blog back in June (click here if you wanna read it), so I’ll keep it brief in this update.  At the most fundamental level a magus uses the energy of their own soul to manipulate the natural occurring magical energies of the world to alter the laws of nature.  As such they must have at least a basic understanding of what those laws are to begin with.  This leads to most magi being rather studious and tending to focus on a single field or related group of fields.  They are also able to create greater effects or alter laws that they do not understand by drawing on more of their souls energy, a process referred to in Exile, Magus as wrenching free a pinning of the soul, and which risks the death of the magus doing it.

          I’ll leave my explanation there so as not to take up more of your time.  If you want to read a bit more about it, then go read the blog entry above(and check out some of the other great posts by other authors there as well).  For any fellow D&D  5e players out there I’ll be posting a very early, very rough version of a Magus archetype for the Wizard class at the bottom.  For everyone else, as always thank you for your time and support.  Keep reading and enjoying!


          Magus Archetype
          Primary Focus:  At 2nd level you choose 1 school of magic.  Alternatively you can choose an alternate focus such as an Element type (fire, water, earth, air), spirit-based spells, healing, or similar grouping which the DM approves.  The gold and time you must spend to copy a spell of that focus is halved.

          Sense Magic:  At 2nd level you gain the ability to cast Detect Magic 1/day without expending a spell slot.  You do not need to have the spell memorized or in your spellbook to cast it in this way.
          At 6th level you can cast it 3/day.
          At 10th level you can cast it at will.

          Wrench Pinning:  As a bonus action you can spend HD to gain a spell slot of a level equal to the number of HD spent, up to your highest level spell slot.  This spell slot must be used by the end of your next turn, and is lost if not used.
          At 6th level you can also choose to suffer 1 or 2 points of Constitution damage in order to increase the slot gained by an amount equal to the damage dealt.  A slot gained in this way can give you access to a spell slot higher than your highest level spell slot.
          At 10th level, the slot gained is 1 higher than the amount of HD spent to gain it.  This has a maximum of your highest level spell slot unless you also suffer Constitution damage as described above.
          At 14th level, you can use the spell slot gained from this to cast a spell which is not in your spellbook, but is on your class spell list.  If you use this ability to cast a spell of a level higher than your caster level would normally allow, then you must suffer 1 extra Constitution damage per level of the spell slot above what you can normally cast.

          Analyze Magic:  At 6th level your understanding of the laws of magic and reality have increased to a point that allows you to cast Identify as a ritual spell without use of a material component 1/day.  You do not need to have the spell memorized or in your spellbook to cast it in this way.
          At 10th level you can cast it in this way 3/day.
          At 14th level you can cast it in this way at will.
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            Thomas J. Arnold liked an update for Sunshine is Forever

            Hey Campers!

            Right now Sunshine is Forever is sitting at 690/750 preorders. You’re probably thinking, "That’s awesome! He is for sure going to make it!" And you’re probably right, but I won’t make it without your help! If every single one of you convinces one person to buy the book this week, I will be done! There are also some of you out there who are still just following the book, and haven’t preordered yet. What are you waiting for?Preorder! https://www.inkshares.com/books/sunshine-is-forever

            So what happens when I hit 750? First, I’ll send the manuscript to Inkshares’ assigned editor. We will rework whatever needs to be reworked. Once it is ready, a cover designer will redesign the cover. After that, the book with be printed and shipped directly to you. The faster I get to 750, the faster I can start working on getting the book into your hands. Help me reach my goal!

            I came across this awesome explanation of Inkshares as a company: "Recently called ’The future of publishing’ by The Wall Street Journal, Inkshares is a book publisher that uses a crowdfunding model instead of agents and acquisitions editors to decide what to publish. Their community of readers can pre-order a book project on Inkshares.com, and if the project hits its funding limit, Inkshares brings the book to life by providing editorial services, design, production, national distribution, and marketing."

            And in case you missed it, here are links to all of the interviews I have done about the book.

            Interview 1: http://apotheosisstudios.com/blog/2016/8/24/sunshine-is-forever-guest-post-by-kyle-t-cowan

            Interview 2: http://www.foxforcefivenews.com/kyle-t-cowan-tackles-depression-with-sunshine-is-forever-talks-preacher-interview/

            Interview 3: https://eyesandearsbooks.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/author-interview-kyle-t-cowan/

            Interview 4: http://www.alastairluft.com/blog/author-interview-kyle-t-cowan

            You’ve helped me get this far, now please help me finish this campaign this week! You are all the best!

            And remember, you can’t have a rainbow without sunshine!

            Kyle T. Cowan

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              Thomas J. Arnold liked an update for Man’s Damnation - Lore of the Aos Sí

              Greetings Bards! Quick Update!

              I wasn’t sure if I had shared this with my readers on Inkshares yet. I had previously shared this on the Facebook Page for the Lore of the Aos Sí series. It is a cross section of the species, creatures, style, and culture of the inhabitants of Tír na nÓg. I do hope you enjoy!The Top Row features the Tuatha Dé - Fairy Culture :
              From Left to Right you see the Tuatha Dé High Born (Gentleman and Lady),  the OakWatch Elite Guard, and the Low Born. 

              The Second Row features the Dweörg - Dwarven Culture :
              From Left to Right you see the Dweörgen High Born (Lady Fegna Baermond), the Low Born ( Steam Train Conductor and a deep cavern crawler ), a StoneSkein enchanted warrior, and one of the Sunskein farmers of Zaragzar.

              The Third Row features the Aélfar, Kentaros, and Jotun :
              From Left to Right you see the Aélfaren High Born  (Lantir Ereastar )and Moon Priestess, the Aélfaren Mistwalkers (Erialda Nohari), a Kentaros Horse Lord (Chiron), and a Jotun Blood Blathed (Anbar the Grim).

              The Fourth Row features the Merfolk, Seraephym, and Faunus :
              From Left to Right you see the Merfolk in humanoid form, their corresponding beast form, a Seraephym (Samsara), and the city Faun (Jemresh).

              The Fifth Row features the Empyrean Culture :
              From Left to Right you see an Empyrean Overlord, Elite Burugaz Shadow Warrior, Standard Infantry, Slave Scribe, halfbreed Aélfman (Phaero), and the Ensí Ubara Tutu. 

              The Last Row features the BanalFolk (Human Culture) : 
              From Left to Right you see a Sirothell Slum Lord, Gypsy, Air Captain, Noble Lord of House Sirothell, Yaegar of the Ironwood, and Renwick Waveborne of Waver’s Harbor in the Western Reaches. 

              This is but a small cross section of the breadth of this world. I hope you enjoy!

              Cheers!

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                Thomas J. Arnold liked an update for These are my Friends on Politics

                 

                Hey everyone. Friendly helpful PSA time.

                I ordered a physical book but was just told my ebook is ready to download. What happened? 

                Don’t worry. If you backed These Are My Friends on Politics, you’ll either have received or soon will receive an email informing you your ebook download is ready. That’s not a goof — every physical book comes with a complimentary ebook version you can load onto your preferred e-reader of choice. So you’re getting that right now while the physical books are being prepared for shipment. If you ordered a physical book (or three, or ten), that package will be heading your way before long. This is just a pre-order bonus.

                Sounds good. So what’s a .mobi file? 

                If your experience with getting ebooks comes from buying them straight from Amazon’s or Apple’s store, you might be a little thrown by seeing two different formats presented for your consumption. The download page has all the instructions you’ll need, but here’s a bonus quick cheat sheet. 

                ePub version: This is the .mp3 of ebooks, and it works on anything not called a Kindle. So if you’re using iBooks for iOS/Mac, Google Books for Android, or a Sony Reader/Nook/Kobo/basically any e-reader ever made that isn’t a Kindle, this is the format for you. 

                Kindle (.mobi) version: This one is for anyone using a tablet made by Amazon -- be it a Kindle Fire, the regular monochrome Kindles (Paperwhite, whatever weird name that new one is called) or anything else that has the word "Kindle" stamped on it. It also will display nicely on the Kindle desktop app for PC and Mac. The one place it won’t load: the Kindle app for iOS, which uses a different file format that’s laden with DRM and requires purchase through Amazon’s own store to display books properly. Fortunately, if you’re an iOS person, the ePub version plays perfectly with iBooks. 

                So should I read this ebook now or wait for the physical book if I ordered one of those? 

                Honestly? If I’m being candid, I’d wait, because I think the physical book is the best experience. I love ebooks, but I don’t think heavily-illustrated books are best served by that format. I also hope this is the kind of book people open up and enjoy together, which is something the physical book better allows to happen. It’s up to you, of course, but if you’re waiting on a physical book and choose to ignore the email about the ebook as result, you’ll get no argument from me. 

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                  Thomas J. Arnold liked an update for Illegal

                  Less than 100 orders to go!!! We are still just on pace to get those 750 preorders by the Oct 20th deadline. I’m confident we will make it and get a full publishing deal but it’s going to come down to the wire and every order is significant. Please do continue to share with friends; conversing in person or sending a personal email is always great and if you have Facebook you can invite friends to this nifty event I created that gives a pitch for the book: https://www.facebook.com/events/336202026717097/

                  As always, thanks for making all of this possible for me. I’ll leave you with a photo from Illegal; I took this from my front door in Latacunga, Ecuador at the start of what is now referred to as the ’citizens revolution.’ The entire city had been cut off from the rest of the country for three days and every intersection downtown burned. Within the week the government would agree to the protester’s demands and abruptly stop all trade negotiations with the United States. 

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