Today has been a momentous day. Early this morning (Australian time) the latest round of finalists in The Launchpad Manuscript Competition were announced — The Judges’ Top 25.

I am ecstatic to confirm Human Resources has been included in this exclusive list! This competition started out with thousands of entries from twenty-four countries. To have HR selected by industry judges as being in the twenty-five best manuscripts from such an impressive cohort has me lost for words.

Moving forward, the judges will continue to whittle the finalists down. In a few short weeks they will announce the Top 10 and the judges’ winners! In parallel to that, the crowdfunding competition will continue until 16 December (PST). The three winners of the crowdfunding competition are guaranteed publication, regardless of the results of the main judging process, so if you are following the novel but haven’t pre-ordered yet, please consider putting in an order now.

The competition has been fierce, and even with the amazing support I have received, the pack is slowly reeling me in. If you are able to spread the word, to help me get HR in front of new eyes, it would be an enormous help.

Thank you, and fingers crossed,

Robert

Greetings Hexers and Machina Riders:

Editing is in process on the second draft of Deus Hex Machina (my spreadsheet of many colors is about 60% blue now to indicate finished scenes), and although I had to push into November, I am expecting to be done soon.

But that’s not what I’m here to talk to you about. Today I will be joining forces with Extra Life and starting the first of four gaming sessions where I will stream for charity -- specifically Children’s Hospital of Alabama. My goal is to raise $100 to help kids at the hospital get the treatment they need, and I will be streaming every Sunday evening throughout the month of November over on my Twitch channel. I’ll be starting at 8PM Central, and am thinking it might be fun to let the audience help make my choices as I start a new character in Stardew Valley. If you like watching gaming, stop by and say hi, and if you like what you see, please consider donating to a good cause.

TL;DR:

WHO: Well, me, actually.

WHAT: A Charity Gaming Stream for Extra Life

WHEN: 8PM Central every Sunday evening throughout November

WHERE: http://www.twitch.tv/mandifesto

WHY: To raise a minimum of $100 for Children’s of Alabama. Donate here if you want to jump the line and just give money to kids without having to watch me make a fool of myself online. Although, I think that’s half the fun.

See you tonight!

Greetings! 

 

Just a quick update today. I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween and engaged in the acquisition of wine and treats! I couldn’t post it last week, so, even if it’s a bit late... here is an article I wrote for Geek & Sundry about Legends of Halloween. 

As for me, activities over the past week netted me this picture: (Painting by Eric Vernor)

 

As for Seventh Age news:

• Today we are hosting The Second City Shuffle, a one-night Live Action game set in the world of the Seventh Age. I’ll be posting pictures in the next update. 
  
• We’ve got all our early blurbs and endorsements in, and the cover is being finalized. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read this early! I’m saving the actual quotes until we get closer to launch date.
• NanoWrimo is underway, and I’m working on the creation of a cyberpunk world for a game. It’s pretty damn neat!
• My sequel, Seventh Age: Dystopia is fully outlined with scene by scene, chapter, and character guides. I’m applying new techniques that I learned over the course of writing the first book!

Alright. That’s it! I’m off to go be a massive geek and roleplay Patrick O’Neil for a night!

Greetings Jackolytes,

Sync City continues to wend its way through the editorial process, and the spotlight of reality is becoming brighter and brighter. I just went through the proofread copy of the manuscript, and it’s looking squeaky clean. Next it’s off to the cold reader who checks for any glaring errors that may have been missed.

In the not too distant future, Jack and his ride are going to head off and get printed. If you want a first edition paperback copy, then time is running out. Follow this link and hit the pre-order button if you want to snare your chunk of Sync City history! You’ll be glad you did.

Cheers,

Peter

Copy edits are done, and we have a cover!

Thank you all for your comments and feedback! I am really grateful to everyone who took the time to voice their opinion. This final version has been tweaked to make it a little lighter, and I think will be really eye-catching both on store shelves and as an online thumbnail!

Next step is trying to secure cover blurbs from prominent authors or reviewers, then final proofreads, spine and back cover design, and final interior layout for both the ebook and hardcopy versions! It’s all coming together!

Thank you all yet again!