BANE OF ALL THINGS, DEBUT NOVEL LAUNCH

Tuesday, Dec. 7 is launch day for Bane of All Things! I will be hosting a launch event on Zoom at 7 pm EST. Here is the link: https://bit.ly/3nZuswz So, mark your calendar!

Join me for a relaxed and casual hour (or more), in which this humble author will sport stylish new headwear and wield his pointy sword (within the constraints of his living room ceiling, of course).

We will have readings! You can quiz me about the book, about being an author and about what’s next. There will be refreshments of your choice … because it’s a virtual event, so drink’em if you’ve got’em.

AND … we will have prize draws for those who have correctly answered, IN ADVANCE, any or all the following questions:

LET’S PLAY JEOPARDY!

Please submit your answers to me BEFORE Dec. 7. I will then draw winners during the event.

Your questions in the form of an answer are:

·      >;;;;;;;;;>;;;;;;;;;>;;;;;;;;; This European castle stands in for Dragon’s Claw Abbey – the “fictional” locale that is featured on the cover of Bane of All Things. 

·      >;;;;;;;;;>;;;;;;;;;>;;;;;;;;; This recessed cupboard for storing sacred vessels in a Christian church inspired the last name of my heroine, Josalind Aumbrae.

·      >;;;;;;;;;>;;;;;;;;;>;;;;;;;;; This is the title of Book 2 in the series (the answer is out there!)

Becoming a bona fide published author has been a looong time in coming, and I really look forward to celebrating it together with you on Dec. 7.

Cheers

Leo

Good day! Here we are—less than three weeks from Bane of All Things’ release on Dec. 7.

It’s been a heck of a ride to get here. The pandemic delayed BoAT’s publication date by about eight months, while my ongoing contest with cancer has added fresh twists since August.

Despite all these speed bumps, it’s onward and upward!

None of it would have been possible without your patience and support. Thank you again for going on this adventure with me.

Unboxing pending 

Before Dec. 7, I will receive a box of books from my publisher, Inkshares. It will be my first time seeing the final product in its physical form. My wife, Natalie, is intent on filming this “unboxing” so that I can share it on social media. So, stay tuned for that. 

Save the date! Virtual launch event on Dec. 7

I had hoped to have a live launch event at a local bookstore or a pub. But given the continued concerns with the pandemic (and my own health), I will be foregoing that. Instead, I will host an hour-long virtual event on YouTube, at 7 p.m. EST on Dec. 7.

This event will feature me reading from BoAT, drawing for some prizes, and taking comments and questions from attendees. Details will soon follow.

Book giveaways

If you are reading this, odds are you already pre-ordered BoAT many moons ago and will have a copy or copies soon coming your way. But just so you know, my publisher is currently running a Book Giveaway on Goodreads.com with AmazonKindle.

This Giveaway runs until Nov. 29 and is open only to U.S. residents. I will, however, be doing other giveaways for my  Canadian (and overseas) supporters (also as part of the Virtual Launch Event on Dec. 7). Please stand by for more details.

Making sure you receive your print copies

Again, if you did pre-order print copies of BoAT, it was many moons ago. If you have had any change of address in the past couple of years, please log into your Inkshares account to verify the mailing address you provided with your original pre-order is still current. This may require a password reset.

If you have any issues with account access or a password reset, please contact hello@inkshares.com. And if you aren’t sure what email address you have associated with your Inkshares account, let me know and I can quickly look it up for you.

My health

Just yesterday, I had the first of my tri-weekly immunotherapy treatments, which are intended to bolster my body’s ability to target and destroy cancer cells on its own. This comes after my radiation therapy three weeks ago and follows the surgery for tumor removal that took place at the beginning of October.

Other than experiencing the same kind of fever response you may get following a flu or COVID shot, I am so far handling the immunotherapy meds well. My recovery overall continues to move along.  

That’s all for now. Stay safe and keep reading!

Cheers

Leo

Dear Supporters, Readers and Followers of Wild Conviction,

Great news! 

The Inkshares Publishing Operations Manager notified me today that the editorial team has finished reading the other two winners of the 2020 All-Genre Manuscript Contest and will begin reading Wild Conviction soon, most likely this week, and hope to have editorial notes to me by mid December.

                As you know — 

because many of you have read and commented on passages from Wild Conviction on the novel’s Inkshares page, or you have heard me read passages at my pre-order campaign launches, invitations to your events or classes, open mics, and my writing group, and a few of you have been beta readers — 

               I have worked long and hard crafting this story so that it is engaging,                     well-written, sensitive and significant to historical and current issues                   of human rights, equality and freedom.

I look forward to the editorial comments and am so excited that we are on the path to having the novel published and in your hands.

Thank you for all of your ongoing support and well-wishes! Wild Conviction being published by Inkshares could not have happened without you!

Best wishes to you!!
Mary

Dear Henderson House supporters,

Happy Halloween! I’m pleased to announce that on Friday, I received my Editorial Letter from the Inkshares team:) Can you believe it’s been eight months since Henderson House won the Inkshares 2020 All-Genre Contest? I know eight months seems like a long wait, but given everything in our world that has been slowed down or discontinued due to COVID, I think Inkshares is doing a wonderful job. I’m incredibly grateful and honored to be publishing with them.  I’m also thrilled with the insightful comments and specific suggestions in the Editorial Letter and can’t wait to dive back into the manuscript and take it to the next level.

"But when is the book coming out?" everyone keeps asking. The answer is: I still don’t know, but I do know a little more about what lies ahead.

The minimum time Inkshares gives an author to respond to the Editorial Letter is two months. The recommendations in the letter are not extensive, but they’re really good and they require soak time as they are developmental. My goal is to get my revisions to the team by early January. 

Once I send the revised manuscript, the Editorial Team will read it again and we’ll see if the book needs more development or if we’re ready to move into copy editing.

When the copy-editing phase begins, Inkshares might be ready to start talking about a target publication date. Sorry, I can’t be more specific, but getting a book to press is an iterative process. If the team thinks the manuscript needs more work in January, we will continue the read-through, editorial letter, and revision cycle until we all feel the book is ready for publication.

Trust me, I’m going to do everything in my power to completely knock it out of the park on the next draft and be ready to move forward. In the meantime, I probably won’t have much news to report on Henderson House until after the holidays.

You can follow the ups and downs of my writing adventures on my professional Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CarenSimpsonMcVickerWriter/ 

Truly, I would not have a novel at this stage of publication if it were not for all of you, your pre-orders, your comments, and your engagement. We will get to hold this book in our hands and I am as excited about it as ever. Thank you again.

Cheers,

Caren

Dear Henderson House Supporters,

The team at Inkshares asked for another week before delivering my Editorial Letter. Noah assured me that the extra week is in no way a reflection on the manuscript, they are just super busy. So, what is there to do but wait and keep writing. 

In sadder news, we had to say goodbye to our amazing rescue dog, Lola, over the weekend. We had thirteen incredible years with her and I’m not sure I ever would have finished Henderson House without her. We called her "Coach Lola" because once she learned a workout routine, she was brutal about making you stick to it. The same held true in her later years when I began my writing routine. Any morning I was puttering in the kitchen instead of heading up to my office to write, Coach Lola would start up the stairs and give me a little growl. "Let’s get going!" she would grumble. I can only hope she had time to instill the same work ethic in little June Bug. Rest in peace, Coach Lola.

B

CANCER UPDATE, OCT. 07, ‘21

Good day, everyone. Yesterday, I returned home from a surgery to remove the Melanoma tumor from my head. Surgery went well and the prognosis is good. Now, I face a couple of months of recovery at home and treatments with radiation and immunotherapy.

Bottom line: This is the first day of the rest of my life, and life is good.

The dark irony in all this is that my two main characters, Ryn and Josalind, each have “demons” of a sort in their heads. And it turned out that I did, too. But different than them, I can say at this stage that mine is easier to excise.

Thank you for all your support and good wishes.

Cheers

Leo

 PLEASE UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS TO ENSURE BOOK DELIVERY

Hey everyone. A quick update on THE GHOST TRACKS. The release date has been pushed back one week, to October 26th.  A VERY important note. If you ordered a physical book from Inkshares, and have since moved, please update your address on the Inkshares website. Otherwise, your book will be sent to the old address on file.

To update your address, sign into your Inkshares account. Then click the circle icon on upper right corner of the screen. In the dropdown menu, select  "Shipping Address." From there, click the "Change Address" box and input your current one.

Also excited to announce that there will be an audiobook version of THE GHOST TRACKS, produced by Audible Studios. We recently cast the actor who will be narrating the book, and the recording should be completed soon. I’ll be sure to send out an update once the pre-order page is live on Audible.

Thanks again for all of your patience and support!