12/21/17

Hello everyone.

I wanted to send one quick update out before the end of the year. First, I’d like to wish each and every one of you a very happy holiday, and a wonderful, safe and happy New Year! After tonight the days start getting longer again!

In my last update, I mentioned that I turned the updated, post-development-edit "Shadow King" manuscript back in to Inkshares. I don’t have a kick-off date yet but did hear a whisper of February. Now, that’s not set in stone, so I’m trying to keep my expectations grounded. As soon as I know something about a kick-off, I’ll be sure to let all of you know.

Also, my funding campaign for "The Devil You Don’t" is starting to wind down (December 31 is the last day for pre-orders), and many of you have thrown your support behind that effort as well -- thank you for that! It definitely gets you on Santa’s Nice List!

I’m really hopeful we’ll make the goal... after taking into consideration several orders that are pending but haven’t been put in the system yet, realistically I only need about 10 orders to get Devil over the finish line. If you haven’t checked it out yet, please visit "The Devil You Don’t" Inkshares page!

Have a happy, happy, merry, merry!

All the best,
Susan

Greetings wonderful followers, 

I have some good news. I have received the final approval for the full cover and now Beyond the Code is finally going to the printers. It’s been a long road and now we are closer then ever to making Beyond the Code a real book. Thank you all for sticking with me on the journey. I hope you all love the finished product. 

Kelsey Rae Barthel

As promised, I have information and news for you:

NEWS — 31 Days of Narratemes: a guided journal for questing the crap out of your daily life is now in Draft mode here on Inkshares. As soon as it has 3 followers, I will launch the funding campaign. The welcome/intro chapter is up now, tomorrow I will post the first proper lesson.

INFO — My plan is to campaign for this guided journal (which is purely in the editing stage at this point) while writing a memoir in the abecadło style (a Polish literary genre of ABC book). After the campaign for 31 Days of Narratemes is complete, I will draft-and-campaign for The ABCs of Hoarding Like a Dragon while working to complete Puttin’ the Puss in Boots (the memoir acting as a sort of palate-cleansing project). Then, I will campaign for the Master Cat method.

So, proper/public progress on this project is slated for 6 months from now.

Also, as part of staying accountable to myself and you, I have begun livestreaming my day-to-day. It’s one of the least interesting things ever. Who wants to watch a writer sit and write all day and take time out to eat and read and prevent brain-fry? But, I just want the info out there.

Good journey, my friends.

Now that we’re one month into release for "Skavenger’s Hunt," I wanted to send you all a quick update. Following the incredible amount of support both this summer and fall, along with the strong word of mouth from early readers, I’m happy to say the book’s debut has exceeded my most hopeful expectations.

Most gratifying, of course, has been the notes and reviews from you, the reader. When I set out to write this book, it was with the intent of telling a story I’d be proud to share with my grandchildren (like Harper and Jack below, apparently Hunter was off in the Cars 3 section). But seeing it receive such strong response not only from the middle reader and YA crowd, while also spreading its wings to adult readers, has been the very best holiday gift I could have imagined. 

So again...thank you! If you’ve read the book and enjoyed it, please take a moment to write a one or two sentence review on both amazon.com and goodreads.com. As a best-selling author told me a few months ago, "the only thing harder than writing a book is getting someone to read it."

Happy Holidays everyone!

Supporters of Crow’s Gambit the time has come. 

Everyone who has made a Pre-Order was just sent a survey link where you can help determine Santa’s fate. Does he get shot down by the alien Sylph? Or are his reindeer and sleigh somehow immune?

Voting is open until 5pm (Central) Wednesday Dec. 20th. Anyone who makes a Pre-Order during the next day will also receive the link and a chance to vote.

PT

12/18/17

Hello everyone!

Believe it or not, there are only 12 days left in my funding window for "The Devil You Don’t." Quite a few orders have come in since the last update, so a special thank you (and welcome) to the new readers who have joined our little posse.

Right now, Devil is right at 200 pre-orders... and I have verbal commitments for another 25, which should be in just after the holiday. That means I only need 25 more orders before 12/31/17, and I’ll hit the Quill goal.

And don’t forget: if I hit the goal, I’ll be doing another raffle for an Amazon card and some other swag.

Please consider ordering a copy if you have not already, and if you have... a) THANK YOU and b) if you have one or two friends who would be interested, please share my information. A personal recommendation goes a long way.

Thank you all for your support!

Best,
Susan

Hear, ye! Hear, ye!

My apologies for the delay in getting this update to you. 

As I began writing Puttin’ the Puss in Boots I was still testing many of the principles it contains (which are golden, in my opinion, obviously). But the process of iterating through each of those principles lead me down a sort of rabbit-hole to see what sort of Foundation of Focus was underlying it all.

You see, while it’s all well and good to discover the principles of productivity in order to meet external goals, you won’t find satisfaction in any of your achievements if you’re unable to marry them to your internal goals. That’s right! In order to be really and truly and satisfyingly productive, you’re gonna need a framework of self-help/self-care.

"Oh, no," you may be thinking, "she’s gone off the woo-end."

You’re probably right. But, we all know that we are our own worst enemies, and we need a way to quest through that nonsense. Specifically, we need to:

1. put a name to that enemy (SPOILER: it’s your subconscious mind); 
   
2. learn how to communicate effectively with the enemy; and,
3. negotiate our way towards a long term alliance that will help to steer you clear of future self-sabotage.

Since this particular questing framework is foundational to the MASTER CAT method of Puttin’ the Puss in Boots, I’ll be making a new project for it here on Inkshares. As soon as it’s live, I’ll let you know PLUS I’ll give you certain intel to help you keep me honest.

Good journey, my friends — Rose