DAX FANS! ...Hey, does my forehead look huge in this photo? Stupid phone cameras. Grrr...

I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! As always, I must thank my backers for your continued patience and apologize for the delays.

For those not in the know, I handed in my completed manuscript at the beginning of July. Unfortunately, it was roughly around this same time that Inkshares began going through some organizational changes.

DON’T BE ALARMED! I have been assured that my book will in fact be published as promised, and you will eventually have your copy in your hands and/or on your e-reading devices of choice. What I still don’t know is WHEN.

To make a long story short, Inkshares has been going through some growing pains, and they have quite a backlog of books waiting to be published. I have not been informed where I stand in this long line exactly, but I understand the Inkshares team is hard at work squeezing everyone in on their production calendar. I thank the Inkshares staff for their service, and I do not envy their herculean task at hand.

Now, let me get to the point. I have a story, and I want to share it with you awesome folks who were gracious enough to buy it. And I know some of you are itching to read it, judging by my daily encounters of "HEY, TONY! WHERE’S THE BOOK?!"

So, if you have purchased a copy of Dax Harrison, you can expect an email from me soon. Check you inbox over the next day or so for the subject line "DAX HARRISON - The Early Ebook Edition".

If you choose to read the story at this time, here’s a couple things to keep in mind:

First, the book has not yet been professionally copyedited. Meaning, you may run into the occasional grammatical error, weird sentence structure, etc. I’d like to think I was thorough, but it happens.

Second, I would love your feedback! If you like my silly little sci-fi tale, please leave a review on Inkshares! I would love to direct you to leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads as well, but those pages won’t exist until we get closer to publishing.

Reviews = more eyes on the book = more books sold = Tony gets to write more books!

I will keep you all informed on the publishing news as soon as I have it. For those of you that prefer to wait for the official ebook/paperback of Dax, I hope I won’t have to keep you waiting too much longer.

Thanks again! You’re the best. Now I’m off to outline some more of Dax 2: Space Boogaloo. (No, that is not the actual title)

-Tony

Dear Readers,

Or should I say...Listeners? For behold, thanks to the magic of Inkshares and Drew Campbell’s British accent...

An Unattractive Vampire is on Audible!!! 

Thank you to everyone at Inkshares, Audible, and Mr. Campbell for making this happen. 

So I know you’re all thinking: "Jim, I need this for my sound holes, but money has decided (literally) to see other people right now." Well, here’s a thing: Audible sponsors just about every podcast in existence. They offer so many deals and promos, it’s kind of ridiculous. For example: Lore podcast, Hardcore History, and Blurry Photos all offer trial codes. So yes, listen to awesome inspiring podcasts and when you’re done, listen to my book as well.

Also, just a reminder that the Dragon Awards are quickly approaching, so time is running out to VOTE for Inkshares/Sword and Laser books including The Life Engineered, Asteroid Made of Dragons, and, of course, An Unattractive Vampire which also all happen to be available in e-book for the special low-low price of 99 cents until the end of the month. (Completely coincidental, I assure you. *WINK*) So please, vote for An Unattractive Vampire because what could be better than mixing vampires and dragons?

The time has come!

We have until August 28th to get our votes in for my debut book, The Life Engineered, to maybe-perhaps-but-probably-not win a Dragon Award at Dragon Con!

The Life Engineered was, alongside books by Ann Leckie and Kim Stanley Robinson, in the science fiction category of the very first Dragon Awards. It’s a public vote so I ask of you; please vote for my robot book.

Sign up here and fill out the form. You’ll get a confirmation email and a few days after you prove you’re not a robot (discrimination, I know) you’ll get a survey ballot. Make sure you vote for The Life Engineered (and also my fellow Sword & Laser Collection authors’ books Asteroid Made of Dragons and Unattractive Vampire) and we’ll be all set.

Haven’t read The Life Engineered? Well, click on the name of the book and get yourself a digital copy for 0.99$.

I have some incredible news coming for A God in the Shed, so don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten what you all came here for. For now though: vote vote vote!

Cheers,

JF

Hi Everybody! We reached 50 reviews on Amazon! That’s amazing!

You guys are amazing! At least, 50 of you are amazing, the rest of you have SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO BE AMAZING! Do you want to live up to your potential today? Do you want to be a part of the miracle? Do you want to stand up and cast your vote for the funniest book on Inkshares?

If you do, click on this little linky here and leave your own review of Monkey Business!

And once you’re done with that, share the book with someone. Share the laughter, share the joy, share the monkeys! Do you know we’ve sold over 400 hundred copies? I don’t know exactly how many because the Amazon reporting isn’t in yet but it’s definitely over 400. I have all of you to thank for that. You’re the best!

So thank you, from the bottom of my silly, monkey-filled heart.

- Landon

You know how in Parks and Rec when they’re in city council meetings, and Jeremy Jamm says something like,

"Let the record show, there was a standing ovation," and there wasn’t?

Well... let the record show, I sent out my manuscript to my beta readers on the 1-year anniversary of my joining Inkshares!

Haha jk no I didn’t, I sent the first half of it out LAST NIGHT!



I’m so excited, you guys. SO. EXCITED. And nervous. But mostly excited. I really think there are at least a few people out there who will end up truly loving my story and characters, and my brilliant and generous beta readers will increase my book’s chance of reaching those people.

The first half of my book is 82K words long, so it’s plenty for them to chew on. (My book is long, okay? It is full of wonder and emotion and excitement, so I’m hoping it is the good kind of long - the kind where you don’t want it to end, even after 150K words.)

Here are the episode titles for the entire book, for your intrigue:

Episode I: Wake
Episode II: Ally
Episode III: Foe
Episode IV: Earth
Episode V: Consequences
Episode VI: Tower
Episode VII: Prophecy
Episode VIII: Rest
Episode IX: Rescue
Episode X: Whole
Episode XI: Dock
Episode XII: Wake

***

Alex and I will be finishing up the second half of She Is the End in the next few weeks and sending them out to betas, as well. Then... while we wait... I will be doing the illustrations for the book! I think I’ll do one illustration per episode, maybe two here and there, and it’s going to be a lot of work. I’ll keep you updated on my progress and probably give away a few more of the originals as a prize.

Stay tuned!

Map!!!

Okay, maybe my initial excitement was overblown as I’m clearly not the best cartographer.  I hope that one day my topographical sketching/watercoloring skills improve, but that is not today.  At least this time its a map that none of you have seen before.

The bulk of this map covers the western half of the Zaltruscan empire.  They control most of the Sea of Serpents, the exception being the Isle of Karpa which is controlled(mostly) by Pentaz’ home country - Thierdenvolgenlund.  Pentaz’ journey first takes him south along this sea and onto the plains near the river.  During an ordeal on these plans he meets Buscidia who guides him safely around the swamp and to the city of Jacirst(you can read more about these events starting at this collection of chapters).  She continues acting as his guide and bodyguard afterwards, doing her best to improve his knowledge of the mainland and its languages on their way to Llanchland.

Llanchland(near the left edge) is also not part of the Zaltruscan empire, being an independent city-state ruled by Llargas Llanch II, son of the city’s founder Llargas Llanch and one of a long line of Llargas Llanch’s who will rule over a city which has a far larger part to play in the future of the world than one may suspect from such a seemingly insignificant city-state.  Buscidia and Pentaz go through another ordeal while under the employ of Llargas Llanch II, growing closer to one another in the process(you can read more about Llanchland and the ordeal starting at this collection of chapters).

From here they sail around the unnaturally circular island(which you can find out more about in this collection of chapters), and south off of this particular map.  They eventually find their way back to this map, heading north along the purple road you see winding through the mountains to the Calden barony, home to the Magus Baron Caldus whose family crest graces the book’s cover.  Pentaz makes his way north out of the Calden barony, into the foothills then mountains of the Frozen North, eventually reaching the tip of the Dragon’s Head Peninsula for the book’s conclusion.  The Zaltruscan empire also claims the Frozen North as their territory, but this is an entirely unenforced claim as the landscape is too treacherous and the environment a bit too hostile to easily field/garrison an army with which to truly hold the area.

Beyond this you may be able to make out the circles drawn on some of the coastlines, these being some of the more significant port towns.  There are certainly more settlements than I’ve marked on the map, but I tend to only mark those which are included in my books in an important manner.  Naming some of the unnamed features(rivers, lakes, bays, forests, etc) is among the list of "wild card" rewards that I would be willing to honor for anyone winning the referral giveaway or the preorder giveaway.  Hopefully by next week’s update I will have made a more reader friendly, bullet pointed list of rewards and how to win them.

I hope you enjoyed the map and my very abbreviated textual trek through it with you.  Keep reading, enjoying, and recommending!

Hello friends

It has been a while, I know!

Here is a recent picture of me so you know I’m still alive.

There is a lot going on but let’s start with what you signed up for, The Catcher’s Trap. This week we are putting the final touches on the cover so the book can, finally, go to the printer on August 30th. Just writing that gives me chills.

You will receive an e-mail with access to the e-version of The Catcher’s Trap on October 8th and the actual book around November 8th. Then we’ll embark on a new quest: reaching 100 reviews on Amazon! (I’ll let you know more about that when the time comes)

On other equally fun fronts. This weekend I’ll be at the Connecticut HorrorFest, so if you are in the area come and visit me. The legendary George Romero will be there, plus many other horror icons. And… talking about horror. I’m writing a campy horror novel called Bad Medicine: Slay it Queen.

Bad Medicine is the story of an up-and-coming New York drag-queen faced with a poorly timed zombie apocalypse. If the idea of a zombie-slaying-machete-wielding drag queen sounds interesting to you, please check out here. You can read the funny and scary first chapter. You can also follow the project for updates.

Finally, I want to bring your attention to another author’s project. Through the video game writing contest that just ended I made a new friend, the talented Jamison Stone. Jamison not only have given me great advice to promote my book, but he also wrote a very kind blurb that will go on the back cover of  The Catcher’s Trap.

“I don’t normally read horror, but could not resist Henriquez’s debut novel. Upon reading, I was reminded why I normally shy away from this genre—The Catchers Trap is truly terrifying. However, what kept me coming back, despite my palpable fear, was the profoundly deep inner journey of Andres, the main character, and his personal transformation during the course of the novel. I have to admit, however, that in-between reading sessions I did have to hide The Catchers Trap in the freezer. So, my one suggestion, before you start reading, make sure you have plenty of room in YOUR freezer. While I cannot promise this will keep you safe from Henriquez’s truly terrifying writing when it is time to close your eyes and go to sleep—you will at least be safer.” —Jamison Stone, author of Rune of the Apprentice

Don’t we all love the Friends reference?

I was lucky enough to read his book Rune of The Apprentice, and I can tell you that if epic fantasy is your thing, this is a must read. The book is available on Amazon so go and get your copy.

That’s it for now, folks. Have a fantastic week and remember:

“The universe is big. It’s vast and complicated and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen, and we call them miracles.” The Doctor.