11/12/17

Hello, everyone. 

Wanted to just give you all a quick update on what’s going on with "Devil You Don’t." After Launchpad wrapped up, I confess I paused my campaign. My brain needed a break, and you all probably needed a break from me. :-)

Right now, we are 84 copies away from "The Devil You Don’t" qualifying for Inkshares’ Quill publishing level.

I’ve asked for (and received) an extension on my funding window until the end of this year. So at midnight on December 31, the funding window will close. At that point, either I’ll be qualified for Quill--or, I won’t be and you’ll all receive a refund for your pre-ordered copies.

I’m going to start digging up more intrepid readers. Of course, I’d love to have everyone’s continued support so if you know anyone who might be interested, please share my page: https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-devil-you-don-t.

If you’ve ordered, consider ordering a second copy--anyone who orders a copy that they’re planning to give as a gift, please let me know once you’ve ordered. If you’d like, i’ll send you a certificate you can give while the book is in production!

That’s it for now -- thank you as always for your continued support. I’ll send an update as we get into the start of December to let you know how everything is unfolding.

Best,
Susan

Hello, readers! Thank you so much for following me and showing interest during my initial move to Inkshares. I’m excited to let you know I just put HOW TO REMEMBER into funding status.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and there’s nothing I’d love more than a pre-order! I’ll be sending out the news of the launch on social media, and I’ll also be uploading Chapter Two. I’m not quite ready for this, but it’s now or never! If you’ve got any sage wisdom for me, I’d love to hear it!!

Cheers,

Cari

One third of the way through NaNoWriMo and I’ve come to a revelation about myself: I don’t like editing.

It’s a whole different world from writing, and trying to pick apart a story you’ve written already and piece it back together in a way that works better is a phenomenally headache-inducing process. It’s necessary, and the results of the process will speak for themselves in the end, but gosh is it exhausting.

I wish I could say I’ve made a lot of progress on Tantalus Depths already, but it’s been very slow going. Most of the editing I’ve done so far has been in the form of outlining rewrites on problem scenes and trying to boil the entire story down to specific thematic elements so I can increase the consistency in theme and tone throughout. It’s slow but crucial work, and hopefully it’ll make the remainder of the process move much more smoothly.

To keep myself creatively inspired while working through the frustrating and tiresome work of editing, I’ve been doing a decent amount of work writing Proteus as well. Since the beginning of NaNoWriMo, I’ve managed to work through about a bit over a dozen pages in Proteus, and about two full chapters. I’m definitely not up to the recommended word count for NaNoWriMo, but since I’m dividing my attention between writing and editing, I feel like it’s a fair bit of progress.

My plan is to try and get the first half of Tantalus Depths edited by the 20th of the month, finishing it by the end of November. Somewhere in there I’d like to knock out another half-dozen chapters of Proteus if possible, but that remains a secondary priority.

Hopefully my next update will be an encouraging one. Back to work I go!

It’s not often write-in votes amount to anything when it comes to awards and elections. The most popular victor of such an outcome is Boaty McBoatface, but maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. I was going to send a follow-on email thanking you all for your write-in efforts, except YOU TOTALLY DID IT! The Punch Escrow is now a semifinalist for the best science fiction book of the year in the Goodreads Choice awards. Thanks to each of you for donating 4.8 seconds of your time and writing in the name of my book. As you can see, we made it into the semi-finals. That means The Punch Escrow is already recognized as one of the 20 top sci-fi books of the year! 

Now, I have but one last favor to ask of you. As you can see, we’re in the semifinals, which means I need your vote again. BUT—I only need 1 second this time. You see that vote button under The Punch Escrow? Just click it, and you’ve done your part. It’s so easy to make such a big difference!

Thank you so much—this whole journey has surpassed my wildest dreams. I have no idea what happens next!

Well...here we are: already speeding through November with what once seemed like a distant publishing release date for Skavenger’s Hunt now here. 

First of all, to those of you who ordered paperback copies of my first-ever novel, thank you! The shipment emails should have landed in your inbox by now, with the actual “hold in your hands and turn the pages” edition of the book on its way. To say I’m excited (along with honored, and humbled, and a laundry list of other descriptions) would be an understatement.

Early Thursday morning of this week, I flew down from Portland to Inkshares in Oakland, where the production team had stacked almost a thousand copies of the Hunt on a table, awaiting my signature. It was a task I was thrilled to tackle, even if my pen-grasping fingers got a little wobbly a few hours in. 

To our Grand Patrons of the book (those who received personalized inscriptions) please don’t hesitate to let me know if I got anything wrong. There’s certainly a chance, given the number of books signed, though I hope that’s not the case. 

And one more thing. Every time I finished signing a book, I’d pause for a second to let the ink dry...but I think I was also pausing for another reason. It was to remember how lucky I was that someone, perhaps a close friend, perhaps someone I didn’t even know, had decided to buy my book. 

Thanks for that. 

 I truly hope you enjoy the story that’s tucked in-between Will Staehle’s amazing cover. If you do, I’d be so appreciative of a short, quick review on key sites such as Amazon and GoodReads. And if you’re planning on giving the book as a gift to a middle-grade or YA reader, please extend them a special word from me. 

Enjoy!