Greetings, Faoii

This has nothing to do with the book.

Yesterday was suicide prevention day. I just wanted to say that if you’ve ever considered or attempted suicide-- you’re not alone. I’m glad you’re still here. I’m glad I’m still here. I’m glad that we have each other. I’m glad that people and society are breaking down the stigma of depression. I’m glad there’s light at the end of the tunnel even when we can’t see it.

The suicide hotline number is 1-800-273-8255. There are good people on the other side of it. You matter. I matter. Life has the potential to be good. And you are loved. 
I promise to return to my regular updates tomorrow. But... statistically speaking, a lot of writers suffer from depression. So I thought it couldn’t hurt to reach out here.

Take care of yourselves. Shields up.

T

Hi,

So, as you probably noticed, First on Mars did not make its funding goal and so everyone has been refunded. Some of you have contacted me wanting to know more, so I felt I should update everyone.

This campaign has always been a long shot – getting 250 pre-orders for a book from an unknown author using primarily free publicity in this world is a hard thing to do. I had hoped to get a lot more exposure, but it mostly didn’t pan out.

It’s been a great run. I’ve learned a lot in this process and met some really great people. I’ve been impressed by the support from people in my circle, and I am so grateful for any assistance you gave – I’ll never forget it – and I’ve also been impressed by support from complete strangers, which is a great feeling. If you need anything let me know.

I especially want to thank those people that reached out to me to offer encouragement and editing help, you know who you are – thank you!

As promised, and just because, I’ve given $100 to the AFSP (I promised $1/order, so I rounded up a little). It’s a four star charity and supports a great cause. It also happens to be national suicide prevention week this week. Check out the site if you want to know more.

This project is not over for me, but not meeting the goal has forced me to rethink my plans. In retrospect I underestimated how much work it is to run a campaign like this. (Not surprising, I’m constantly underestimating how much time something takes). So, regardless of which direction I go, I’m going to focus on getting the story in good shape first. If you would like to help me out by beta reading, please let me know!

Thank you again!

ICYMI: Mars Mission Crew Emerges from Yearlong Simulation

Rise is in the wild!  Many of you have already received your copy and have sent images of the book to me.  Thanks for that.  I was in the throes of Post Con Depression following Dragoncon when these images began rolling in.  Instant boost to the happiness scale.

Hey there, readers!

My TimeHop app on my phone just informed me that today marks two anniversaries...

1) Today is one year to the day since I joined Inkshares and started my book campaign.
2) 26 years since the classic Disney cartoon TaleSpin premiered in 1990.

Anyone around my age probably has the theme song stuck in their head now. You’re welcome. (If not, here you go)

They really just don’t make them like they used to. Seriously though, bush pilots and air pirates in 1930s-40s style serial adventures? This is the kind of stuff that fuels me. Granted, Dax takes place in the far future, but the spirit is the same.

Speaking of which, I hope you all are enjoying the early ebook! I am both excited and terrified to hear your reviews. :) In the meantime, I’m continuing to occupy myself with a few things on my to-do list.

1) A proper book trailer
2) Scraping together all my notes and carving out an outline for Dax 2. Ooooh I want to talk about it so bad but I don’t want to spoil anything!

I’ve also updated the synopsis on the book project page to better reflect what I think might be the back cover copy. Again, I’ll keep you all posted on the publishing date.

Until next time!

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since my last update and I have lots of news!

First, the developmental edits are done. This was a massive job I’ve been tackling for the last 5 weeks that even involved me taking two weeks off work and doing nothing else for the entire time. I’m happy to say the time was well spent and the book has improved in leaps and bounds. My amazing developmental editor gave me lots of work that mostly involved adding in more of pretty much everything and making sure the story and wording were clear. Usually editors recommend cutting chapters, characters or even entire story arcs at this stage, so being asked to do the opposite was a very positive sign!

I’ve uploaded the most recent versions of the sample chapters onto my Inkshares page for anyone who’s curious about the changes. We still have copy editing to get through and then proofreading so these samples will get polished up a little more yet before going to print.

Second, the publication date has been pushed back to May 30th, 2017. There were a number of production and marketing reasons for the change. But the positive side of it is I got a couple extra weeks to work on developmental editing and a slightly more relaxed schedule for the following stages.

And finally, I should have a couple early versions of my book cover back from the cover designer around September 15th which I will be sure to send out to gauge everyone’s opinion!

Thank you all for your continued patience and support! The Bones of the Past is well on its way and it’s going to be awesome!

 Cheers!

Hi everyone! Here’s another quick update:

1. First of all, please join me in congratulating Jaye Milius, author of the crazy cool "Terminus," on achieving Quill status! To me, this is what Inkshares is all about, outstanding new authors able to showcase their work, crowdfunding readers like us confirming its value with our pre-orders, resulting in a publication deal by a real publishing company. Really, how awesome is that! - A huge congrats, Jaye, on a completely well-deserved achievement!

2. On a more egotistical note, I noticed Inkshares has me listed as the "#98 Most Influential Reader!" Ha! Who knows how that works! I guess I’ll just keep being who I am and doing what I do, and we’ll see how high that will go! :-)

3. Chris Pyke and I are in the last stages of finalizing another cool illustration. We went back to one of Mission 51’s earlier chapters, "The Press Conference," and picked out not one but two essential moments in that short scene. We’ll present them in a two-pane, comic-book style illustration. I’m pretty excited about that!

4. Mission 51 will continue in draft mode while it is entered in the Launch Pad Manuscript Competition. The competition is now closed, and we are waiting on judging, etc. I have no idea how many people have entered, but I’m sure the competition is fierce. At the very least, I will get comprehensive feedback from a panel of judges who are all important players in the entertainment industry. That’s sure to be valuable. But please, cross fingers and toes for me that Mission 51 is well-received and at least makes the first cut in late September.

5. Last but certainly not least, I extend a very warm welcome to all the new Mission 51 followers. I am truly grateful that you are part of our fantastic family of mutually supportive authors and readers!

Peace and love, y’all!  :-)