So it’s come to this... publication day.

To be honest, it snuck up on me. I thought the actual pub date was June 15th. Needless to say, I’m unprepared. 

I could bore you with a long text about how important your support has been, but instead, let’s take a quick look at what you were a part of accomplishing, shall we?

• We published a book. "Wasn’t that the goal?" Absolutely. But publishing a book is a huge deal, especially for the author. Of all the things we’ve done, 
  
• That book got great early reviews from CriptTV, Fangoria, the creator of Bates Motel and a few others who I had never dreamed of getting the attention of.
• Our book got optioned by Skydance to be produced by Akiva Goldsman. This is huge! (not automatic-tv-show-huge, but huge nonetheless) I’ve never even considered television as a medium for A God in the Shed, but obviously, others disagree.
• A God in the Shed is going to be an audiobook too.

All of that, and probably more in the future, because of Inkshares’ tireless work and your support. I know some of you had even forgotten you’d pre-ordered this book. That’s how long the road has been. Yet, here we are.

So what’s next?

• Well, hopefully you read and enjoy A God in the Shed. Perhaps even to review it on Amazon, Goodreads and wherever you can leave a review. Write one and copy/paste it everywhere.
  
• Get in touch with me on Twitter @jfdubeau and let me know what you thought.
• Or get on the mailing list for my newsletter at jfdubeau.com/books
• Brace yourself for my next projects. The Sequel to A God in the Shed is already being written, but in the meantime, why not follow the page for the sequel to The Life Engineered? I’ll be having some announcements regarding that one sooner than you might think.

So that’s it. You guys are amazing and you’ve done something amazing for me. Hopefully there will be so much more in the future and I’d be thrilled if every one of you were there for the ride.

Thank you. So much.

JF

I was taken completely by surprise this morning with some wonderful news and I am still reeling in the excitement of it! Mission 51 is the June 2017 selection of the Rite of Passage Syndicate!

I want to thank the Syndicate Lead, Christopher Lee Eichenauer, and the entire syndicate membership for this incredible honor! I humbly join a remarkable group of authors and works and I am greatly encouraged by their faith in me and Mission 51. Please check out the Rites of Passage Syndicate and consider becoming a member of this supportive group of amazing human beings.

This boost gives further momentum to the Mission 51 campaign in the current Nerdist Science Fiction Contest on Inkshares. We remain in 1st place out of more than 160 contestants. But the contest is far from over. There are many remarkable books by talented authors in the competition. We need to keep pressing on!

I am eternally grateful to everyone who has pre-ordered a copy of Mission 51! If you have yet to pre-order, I ask that you click on the green pre-order button below. It is through your kind and generous pre-orders that Mission 51 will become a published reality. Be a part of it!  :-)

Thank you again to Christopher Lee, the Rite of Passage Syndicate, and everyone who supports Mission 51. You have all touched my heart more than you can know!

Peace!

Ferd

It’s our fourth day in the contest and Proteus is in FOURTH PLACE!!! Actually, just kidding, we’re tied for sixth, but for some reason we’re showing up on the leaderboard as being in fourth place when we technically aren’t. Still, though. We are VERY close to breaking the top three. In fact, we’re only SIX pre-orders away from tying with that coveted third place position.

We can do this, guys. This is real.

We can make this happen, and I’m confident we will. If you haven’t pre-ordered yet, now is the time! Competition is neck and neck at the moment, and just a little bit of support could tip us over the edge. 

Today’s story update gives us a look under the hood of our protagonist. This sophisticated targeting AI is designed to help turn a soldier into a literal killing machine in the field by boosting his lethality and survivability in any combat scenario. This may come with a few trade-offs, however...

Jacob Sicarius’s implant served him well on the battlefield, but his days of war should have ended a long time ago. Now on the embattled decks of The Somnambule he must take up arms once again. But can a soldier ever really retire anyway? Can you take the fire of battle out of a warrior’s blood? When that warrior has a machine in his head that automatically evaluates everyone he sees in terms of threat level, it would seem unlikely...especially when that machine develops a bloodlust of its own...

When a battle of wills between man and machine rages within a shared brain, who will triumph? Moreover...who should?

Find out when you order Proteus today!

Hi everyone,

I know not everyone receiving this is a writer, but many of you are, and I wanted to let you know about a great and truly unique opportunity to create/submit original horror work. It’s called DEATHSCRIBE: The International Festival of Horror Radio Plays.

Deathscribe is a live horror theatre/radio event produced each December by WildClaw Theatre in Chicago. I was a WildClaw company member for 8 years, it was my artistic home during my years in Chicago. Trust me when I say they are people you want to work with.

Deathscribe is five original 10-minute horror radio plays, curated from open submissions from around the world, performed by live foley artists, a stellar band, and incredibly talented actors on the mic. There are special guests. Everyone dresses up. It’s one awesome unlike-anything-else-you’ll-see scary spooky night. And this year, one of the plays could be yours.

Go to http://www.wildclawtheatre.com/deathscribe/ for submission guidelines. You can submit up to two plays, and there’s no submission fee.

Don’t have a 10-minute horror radio play hiding in the drawer? Fear not, the deadline isn’t until July 31, which gives you plenty of time to write something NEW.

Do it. You could win $100, and of course...THE BLOODY AXE.

And, as always, if you’re so inclined, please RATE AND REVIEW Single Version over at Amazon and here on Inkshares.

Thanks so much! Happy reading (and scribing)!

Scott

Day three in the Nerdist Science Fiction contest, and Proteus is still climbing the ranks, sitting solidly in the top ten. The support you’ve been showing has been amazing, and I cannot thank you enough for it. As promised here comes a story-focused update. Introducing the city-sized marvel of deep space travel, The Somnambule:

The Somnambule is a home to thousands, many of which will live their entire lives on its vast decks. It is an ark. A refuge. A prison. A tomb.

Thousands of lightyears away from the home they left and the home that awaits them, the inhabitants of The Somnambule are well and truly on their own. When conflict erupts in the chambers of this colossal monolith, more than 50,000 lives hang in the balance. One man will take it upon himself to save them from destruction. But the question must be asked...who will save them from him?

Order Proteus, and find out!

p.s.: It’s pronounced "SAHM-nam-BYOOL" I know someone’s gonna ask. ;)

Good morning, Readers and Followers! 

Two days into our campaign for Proteus, and we’ve already worked our way to tenth place in the contest, out of 150 entrants. The support we’ve seen already is phenomenal, and it personally warms my heart to see how much faith so many of you have in me that you’d be willing to rally for me a second time even though the first book is still in production. I promise you, I won’t let you down.

We’ve made it to the top ten in record time, but now we have to climb through them. At the time of writing, 17 pre-orders stand between Proteus and the coveted third place position, and I fully expect those numbers to rise significantly by the end of the contest. We mustn’t lose momentum!

Only 18 days remain in this contest, and after that, we’ve either won or we’re done. There will be no long pre-order campaign this time; it’s total victory or defeat. We’ll be getting Tantalus Depths no matter what, but with this contest won, we’ll have the beginning of a franchise rather than a single novel. If you can spare as little as ten dollars, please lend Proteus your support, and tell all your family and friends about it. I’m passionate about this story, and I am so eager to share it with you.

Expect to see some new story content updates in the next coming days. We’re exploring a completely different side of the galaxy that we were introduced to in Tantalus Depths so expect to see some brand new story elements with a familiar feel to them. For now, I leave you with this new promotional video for Proteus. Please feel free to share it with anyone, anywhere!

Six orders stand between 1000 Faces and the top 3 of the Nerdist contest

https://www.inkshares.com/books/1000-faces

If you’re following this project because you enjoy the concept, because you enjoy my writing, please consider preordering today. If you haven’t checked out the sample content from 1000 Faces yet, you can find them under the ’Read’ tab on the project page - or at the links below!

https://www.inkshares.com/books/1000-faces/book_segments/excerpt-1-

 https://www.inkshares.com/books/1000-faces/book_segments/excerpt-2-

~ Jenny

This update is about a part of Mission 51 that I did not anticipate when I first put "pencil to paper."

There came a moment during the writing of Mission 51 when I thought a real picture would be a fun way to describe a part of the story. I made a very brief effort to draw something on my own, but I quickly realized my drawing skills were not good enough. So I began to look elsewhere. My search for a compatible artist eventually took me to DeviantArt, where I proceeded to look at the work of hundreds of artists. I found two who I believed could interpret moments in Mission 51 in a way that would be compatible with the spirit of the story: Idan Carré and Chris Pyke. It has been a sheer pleasure working with these two talented individuals.

The process of creating the images in Mission 51 starts with countless emails back and forth. Chris lives in England, so there is also the matter of working around time zones. I takes a lot of planning and time to get the moment of the story, the important elements, the framing, the angle of view, the expressions, and the feeling just right. Idan and Chris have an amazing ability to capture those kinds of things in their painting and drawing.

By way of example, I’ll share this portrait of Dr. Linda Deltare, an important character in Mission 51. The time period would be in the late 1950s or early 1960s, so she appears much younger than the old lady who approaches me in the Preface of the book. In fact, at that time she was close in age to the story’s protagonist, Mat. Deltare has a PhD in linguistics. She is a crossdresser and a chain smoker. But most importantly, she was Mat’s best, and perhaps only friend during those early years. In this phenomenal pen and ink drawing, Chris Pyke has captured Deltare in her office in Area 51, right down the hall from Mat’s cell. Awesome detail!

A last step that I have added more recently is expert digital colorization by a young colorist in Israel. Lea is able to add color and life to these drawings without taking anything away. The subtle shading, the hash lines, everything in the original drawing is still there. Magical!

I am fortunate beyond words to have the chance to work with such talented people, and I cannot wait to share the rest of their work with you. Please help me make Mission 51 a reality. I need your pre-order to stay in the top three of the Nerdist contest. That will get the book published.

Thank you in advance for your kind consideration and support!

Peace!

Ferd