Whoa... what a trip it’s been.
Before I get into that though, let me give you some good news. Better news than whatever I’ll be prattling on about.
So, have you pre-ordered A God in the Shed from Inkshares? You did? You’re awesome. In fact, you might have already received an email notification that your physical copy has shipped (if you ordered a physical copy that is. And you should have, because ooooh boy. Such lovely books. So, so lovely.). But let’s say you’re not into this ’waiting’ thing? What if you want to start digging into this tale of horror in a small down over this very coming weekend?
Well, you can. By the end of the day, the eBook version of A God in the Shed will be available to download from the site. .mobi and .epub will be available, as always. I sincerely hope you enjoy the book and that if you do, you’ll let me know. Review it on Amazon, on Goodreads. Send me a Tweet @jfdubeau. I want to hear from you guys.
You’re my very favourite readers.
Which is why I put myself through Hell in order to sign all your copies of A God in the Shed. As promised, I flew myself to San Francisco on a plane leaving Montreal at 5:30AM, signed a bunch of copies as they were being packaged and shipped by the amazing Elena Stofle (with an assist from the dedicated Avalon Radys). Hung out and had dinner with Adam and then, at 11:30PM on the same day, was on a plane back to Montreal.
When I say I’d go to the ends of the Earth for my readers, I do not kid around.
Now please, enjoy the book. We’ve come this far, it’d be ashamed if you didn’t.
JF
Such a pretty book... (note: Inkshares fed me cheese. They have won my heart once more)
It is just past the end of the second full week of the Inkshares/Nerdist science fiction novel contest, and my entry, Mutants: Uprising, is tied for second (so technically in 2nd, alphabetically). I spent a good part of the week in third, and then yesterday was TIED FOR THIRD with two other books, but a surge of support put me up, and here we are today.
Needless to say, without continued support from YOU (and you, and you too) we won’t be able to stay in the running. Mutants: Uprising was nominated in a couple Inkshares Syndicates this month, and I am hopeful that I might get at least one to back me. It would be an immense boost to my campaign!
Less than four weeks to go. Never give up, never surrender!
I’ve had some questions about the Lovecraft connection in my novel, and while I’m wary of giving away too much, I’m going to let you, my followers, in on part of it. The Cthulhu/Lovecraft connection is a surprise for Jane, who has a lot on her plate already, so it isn’t present except as foreshadowing in the early parts of the novel.
Lovecraft exists in my universe, only he was a mutant - a psychic who managed to contact a much stronger psychic Presence in another dimension...and It wants to come here. My main character (you) stumbles into this information the further she goes, as the conflict escalates from local gangs to shadowy organizations who may or may not want the world as we know it to end.
Order your copy today!
~ Jane-Holly
(before you start reading, there is a surprise at the end)
Friends, it has been a while
You may have heard that my absence in the hallways of Inkshares is due to my adventures around the world gathering material for my memoir: Eat, Drink and Pass Out. You may have also heard that I got a job at NASA and I’ll be the first rainbow flag waving queen to put foot on Mars. All lies, friends. All fabrications from one of my multiple personalities.
The truth is I’ve been ridiculously busy juggling a new job, a cranky brain that insists on not working properly and writing Bad Medicine, a novel that I think you will love.
A couple of things have happened since the last time we talked:
1. I finished the manuscript, but then I read it again and decided it needed a lot of work. Characters needed to be stronger, motivations had to be clearer, and villains needed more evil running through their veins.
2. I changed the name of the novel. I thought the tagline “Slay it Queen!” didn’t convey clearly what the novel is about, so I changed it to Bad Medicine: Zombie Slaying Queen! Sometimes straight to the point is best.
3. I started practicing meditation and mindfulness (I won’t be offended if you roll your eyes now) and had an epiphany (roll them again) the goal of this journey is not publishing a novel, the goal is creating art. Taking the ideas bubbling in my chest, shaping them and then surrendering them to you.
Yes, I want to see my book on bookstores but more than anything I want to feel confident that every drop of creativity inside of me labeled Bad Medicine, is out of my system and ready for the world to love, hate, ignored or adored.
In the large puzzle of the publishing process, I have only one job, and I am planning to do it well. I have to write a great novel.
I guess I am asking you for patience and trust. Your novel is coming. I don’t know when, but Inkshares and I will work hard to make sure you feel great about the investment you made six months ago.
In the meantime, since you have some waiting to do, I created a playlist called “Essential Drag” below are songs and videos where I find inspiration for Bad Medicine. Even if you are not writing a novel about a zombie slaying drag queen, these are just fun songs to listen to.
Until the next time...
Dear Readers and Followers,
Updates, Faoii! Listen up!
As we get closer to publication day, I’ve noticed more excitement in the ranks. People are beginning to spread the word again, and more soldiers are coming to pick up their blades. As such, I’ve decided we need a minute to go back to the beginning.
For those of you who don’t already know this story, let me tell you how The Last Faoii came to be. I woke up from a dead sleep one night in 2012, wandered out to my living room, and typed out about 25 pages on my laptop. I didn’t know then how common this midnight writing would become as I worked to tell Faoii-Kaiya’s tale. But, even from the beginning, I knew this story wanted to be told.
Today, those original 25 pages have been cleaned up and tweaked, but they, for the most part, remain true to the original story that sparked Faoii five years ago. Now separated into three chapters, I’ve uploaded the beginning of Kaiya’s journey to Inkshares, (alongside the excerpts that are already there).
Since The Last Faoii manuscript is currently with its new editor, I cannot guarantee that these chapters will not change in the future, but you deserve to see them as they were when The Last Faoii was just a spark of inspiration in the middle of the night. I hope you enjoy.
Shields up
Faoii-Tahani
Today is Publication Day for the Bones of the Past!
It has been a very, very long road to get to this point: I started writing what would eventually become the Books of Dust and Bone in January 2010. I made my way to Inkshares in late 2015 and launched my funding campaign on December 18. With support from you, my readers, I managed to place in the top 3 of the Sword and Laser contest (The Sequel) and on January 15, 2016 won a publication deal. Today, the book is available in hundreds of brick and mortar stores across North America, not to mention a number of online retailers worldwide.
I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you, and I sincerely hope you enjoy the final product!
Once you have had a chance to read The Bones of the Past, I would really appreciate a review! Reviews are the single most important factor in the continued success of a book. Just a short note (a sentence or 2 is all it takes!) to tell other people what you thought really can make all the difference. Those who would like to help even more – please copy and paste your review to all of the sites listed below!
Thank you all yet again!!!
How exciting! I have just added a video book trailer to the Mission 51 home page. When you have a moment, please check it out! :D