February is almost over — I’m not quite sure how that happened. Human Resources is with the team at Inkshares, waiting for a developmental editor to tear it apart. I await the first structural edit notes with equal amounts excitement and trepidation. Having someone dissect my work will likely be challenging at times, but it will ensure the final product is the best it can be, and I’m confident I’ll learn a great deal from the experience. I don’t have a detailed production schedule yet, but the tentative release date remains Jan/Feb 2018. As soon as the schedule firms up I’ll let everyone know.

ISBNs, Goodreads and Stores
While waiting for my developmental edits, other activities have been progressing. The novel now has a registered ISBN (978-1942645788) and can be found on major sites such as Goodreads, Amazon, and Book Depository. I also now have recognised author profiles on both Goodreads and Amazon, which is an exciting development.

If you use Goodreads, it would be great if you hopped onto the book page here and added it to your "to-read" shelf. Doing so helps make the book more discoverable on the platform, adding it to feeds, improving search results, and highlighting interest in the book. If you feel inclined, you can also follow me as an author on Goodreads, or Amazon here.

The Jian
I’ve added a new bonus feature to my website — there’s now a new page looking at the Chinese Jian. This traditional short sword is the preferred weapon of my protagonist in Human Resources, and it’s a fitting weapon.

Event Update
AICon is Tasmania’s premier popular culture convention, celebrating TV, movies, anime, comics, and books. This year it will be held during the first weekend in March (4-5 March) at the Wrest Point Convention Centre. If you come along, you’ll find me in the Fan Trader area — I’ll have a table with some give-aways, and will be chatting to anyone who’s interested about my novel. If you’re in Hobart, come along and say hello!

Dear friends and followers,

I’m still around. Things are quiet with "Murder at the Veterans’ Club" right now: we’re still waiting for an editor. In the meantime, my current project with Choice Of Games is keeping me occupied.

I’d like to draw your attention, though, to a couple of other projects currently funding on Inkshares:

1) "Love, Derric", by Jason Pomerance. I’m currently about 80% of the way through Pomerance’s first novel with Inkshares, "Women Like Us", and I’d say he has a pretty good feel for the nuances of human relationships and the humour therein. "Love, Derric" is a true story about a rescued beagle, and I expect to see the same sort of humour and nuance in the relationships developing around the dog and his new owners/rescuers. Anyone who’s had a dog or loved a dog is certain to indentify with the story.

2) "Wake Up Call", by J.T.R. Russell. This one presents a world in which the deities of ancient mythologies are still knocking around; our protagonist is a normal human being working in an antique shop owned by one of these mythical deities, though we’re not sure which one. The tone is very humorous, and I expect to come out of this laughing.

There are a lot of projects happening on Inkshares, always. So, until next time: keep reading, and have fun.

Hi! It’s me, Studious Derric! Stay tuned for some updating from Dad about the book.

Hey! Jason here. First, apologies for the delay in updating but between marketing chores on Women Like Us, putting the finishing touches on a follow-up novel and hatching the plot to get it published (more traditional route on this one), other work duties and, well, life, finding time for Derric’s book has been a little challenging. But the good news is most of the writing work on Novel 2 is just about done and now I can focus on helping Derric get his story out. 

One thing I’ll have to do, however, is request an extension from Inkshares for the campaign. I just didn’t leave enough time for this. Hopefully that won’t be an issue. Do always keep in mind that if for whatever reason the book doesn’t hit it’s funding goal, you’re pre-order will be refunded. So thanks for your patience, early supporters, and more to come soon! 

 Love, Derric (and Jason)