Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

We’re coming down to the wire. I spoke with the team at Inkshares yesterday and they are aiming to have galley proofs for Sorcery for Beginners in four weeks time. "Galleys", for those who don’t know, are the final print-outs of the book’s pages before it’s sent to the printer. So we are getting close to the final version. Even as I write this, I’m reading through the manuscript and making a few last tweaks.

But for now, I want to show you what the actual Codex Arcanum looks like. This is the bookstore where Owen first meets Euphemia Whitmore and gets his copy of Sorcery for Beginners. The store has entrances at 10 different spots all over the globe, which is why it’s made up of all these different architectural styles. It serves a few other functions as well, but to learn what those are you’ll have to read the book. 

Hope everyone is well, and I’ll send out more illustrations and updates soon!

mh

n

March is winding up and significant work is progressing on Human Resources. During the past month, my developmental editor was assigned and read the manuscript. Since then, we’ve been working furiously on the planned edits to whip the book into shape. Matt, my editor, is brilliant. He’s been deconstructing the manuscript with insightful observations, making great suggestions, and generally keeping me working hard. With his support, a new outline for the novel is emerging, that trims away unnecessary distractions, crystallises the themes, and adds extra punch to the plot. The unfortunate outcome of this effort is more work, but I’m excited by the improvements. Human Resources will be dramatically improved by the time it reaches your hands. On a related note: feel free to send me all your caffeine, I’m going to need it :).

If you haven’t already done so, it would be great for everyone to follow my various online accounts — it feeds my ego, staving off the crushing self-doubt of a writer!

• Follow my Facebook page.
  
• Follow me on Goodreads.
  
• Follow me on Amazon.
  
• Sign up to my newsletter (covers more than these HR updates).
  

Finally, I wanted to point your attention towards two particular projects on Inkshares:

Sorcery for Beginners

A 13-year-old boy finds an easy-to-read, how-to manual for magic. Now he just has to prevent everyone else from stealing it.

Sorcery for Beginners is in production and written by my talented editor. It’s a fun premise and is going to be a great read.

Rule Britannia 

A female airship Captain and her crew work to prevent a despotic Queen Victoria expanding her empire.

This new project is by a fellow Tasmanian and now funding. There isn’t enough steampunk in my life, and Rule Britannia will fill that void in an epic manner. The excerpts have me bouncing up and down for more.   

Yesterday Inkshares finished the final layout of The Punch Escrow and sent it off for galley printing (that’s book biz talk for advance reader copies). The book’s gotten some AMAZING blurbs from some AMAZING people. I wanted to share my favorites with you:

"An alt-futuristic hard-science thriller with twists and turns you’ll never see coming. I couldn’t put it down." - Felicia Day, author of the bestselling You’re Never Weird On The Internet (Almost), Geek & Sundry founder, and soon to be Kinga Forrester in Mystery Science Theatre 3000!

"This book angered me to my core, because it’s based on an idea that should have occurred to me. The fact that Tal executed it so well, and made such a page-turner out of it, just adds insult to injury." - Scott Meyer, author of the Magic 2.0 series

"The Punch Escrow will have you rooting for its plucky, sarcastic hero as he bounces between religious fanatics, secret agents, corporate hacks and megalomaniacs in a quest to get his life back." - Robert Kroese, author of the Mercury Falls series, Starship Grifters series

More news soon!

-Tal

Hello everybody!

Apologies for the radio silence.  I owe you all an update on KILL CREEK, so...here it is!  The editing process is going well and I couldn’t be happier with the experience.  The Inkshares team has been insanely encouraging but also willing to push me to make this book as strong as it can be.  Their notes are smart and specific and always in the interest of making my story better.  I love the changes and feel you’re going to end up with a very cool, very scary, very satisfying horror novel, a book I hope you’ll enjoy and feel confident recommending to others.

Which brings me to my next bit of news: KILL CREEK will be published in October of this year!  That means paperbacks and/or ebooks will be shipped to those who pre-ordered during my fundraising campaign (a million thanks to you).  And my book will be available to the entire world via on-line booksellers and actual holy-crap-they-still-exist bookstores like Barnes & Noble.  Inkshares is backing this baby 100%, and I’m very excited to be a part of the team.

I also wanted to share the new cover art with you.  I think it perfectly captures the creepy, elevated haunted house story I’ve written.

Thank you SO MUCH for your support and your patience during this process.  October will be here before we know it!

Best,

Scott Thomas

Hello friends!

When was the last time I updated you on things? A while ago I guess. We had the new cover and I might have bragged about being done with the editing at some point. Since then, we’ve had developments, but nothing I can share right away. Soon, I hope.

In the meantime, I have a favour to ask. I didn’t think A God in the Shed would be eligible for nomination for the Dragon Awards in 2017, but it turns out that the release date slips in just under the wire. Last year, my readers managed to get The Life Engineered nominated. It was an incredible honour and it gently convinced me to go to DragonCon in Atlanta. Well, I’m doing the same deal: help get A God in the Shed nominated in the Horror Novel category and I’ll once more drag myself to Atlanta, brave the crowds, and be present as someone else wins the Dragon Award.

All you have to do is click this link, follow the instructions and fill in the information, and you’ll be part of a potentially huge change in my life.

Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it.

JF

P.S.: There are other great books from Inkshares that you can nominate too! Pilot X, Rise, Rune of the Apprentice and several others. Make sure you enter all of the books you can and give as many authors a chance at being recognized.

Squirrelfriends , glamazons and beautiful people in general

It has been a while. Actually, it has been a long, long time, but I have a good excuse. I’ve been dedicating every minute to finishing Bad Medicine: Slay it queen!

I have to admit, this book took me on an unexpected ride. I know how to write horror, I know how to scare people, however, mixing horror and comedy resulted harder than I expected.

This project means a lot to me. As a gay man, I was raised by drag queens. Life was rough after I came out and my friends became my family and my lifeline. Many of them were too fabulous to live within the constrictions of one gender, so they became drag queens. I saw them go from timid performers to fierce queens and their journey is what inspires me. That is why I want to get it right. I want to show the soul of a culture that is rich in history and struggle.

Of course, I am a twisted horror writer, so I threw zombies into the mix. I am a huge zombie fan and writing the frightening scenes in which the monsters lurk in the allies of a post-apocalyptic New York is just great.

I am happy to report that the final manuscript is almost done. I will go over it one more time, just to make sure all ends are tied and then I will send it to my friend and editor extraordinaire, Koleen, who also happens to be a drag-culture expert.

I am excited. I know the wait has been long and we still have a while to go until you can read Bad Medicine. I promise you, the wait will be worth it.

That is it for now. Have a wonderful, glamorous and gorgeous rest of your week.