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Fernando Crôtte liked an update for Sorcery for Beginners
Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

We are officially one month away from the publication day for Sorcery for Beginners! I know it seems like forever since I first started bugging you about this project, but we’re almost to the finish line. As we head into the home stretch, I have a few more updates for you. 

First, Sorcery for Beginners was selected as a Booklist Notable YA Book for Fall 2017. Since there are literally thousands of YA books publishing this fall, it’s very humbling that we were included among the likes of Philip Pullman (!), Patrick Ness, and Rick Riordan. 

Secondly, we have another book event confirmed! This one is in our beloved San Francisco, so we’ll be bringing the whole family and making a weekend trip of it. If you live in the Bay Area, it would be great to see you!

18 November, 2017, 2 pm - 5pm 
Sorcery for Beginners Book Signing
Books, Inc. SF Opera Plaza

Finally, Inkshares made a little video of me talking about the book. You can check it out below. Feel free to share on various social media platforms. This is a grassroots campaign we’re running, so any exposure is huge for us. Thanks again for all your support!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/228882356

mh
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    Fernando Crôtte liked an update for The Madness of Mr. Butler

    WE’RE ROUNDING THE CORNER TO THE NEXT PHASE OF EDITING!!!

    Oh my patient readers, supporters, and followers...it is an exciting time in the world of this book. The first phase of developmental editing is coming to a close, and the complete structure of the book is receiving its finishing touches. This means that phase 2: rewrite will begin this week!

    That’s not as bad as it sounds, perhaps. The writing is the best part! The planning and research, now that is some difficult stuff, indeed. My editor, the incredible Matt Harry, has assisted me in restructuring the book into a story that is great fun. Have things changed a lot? Yes, indeed they have. But all of it is for the better. The story is fairly, well, unrecognizable when compared with previous sketches, but all is improved. I am proud of this story, its characters, its themes, and its presentation. 

    And this is why I’m updating you. I’ve put the new and improved synopsis up on the homepage, and I’d love for you to check it out. Click here to see everything. I’m going with what Matt said about the book. He called it "a really fun space adventure that reminds me of Guardians of the Galaxy and Rick and Morty." Yup. That’s just about exactly what I was looking for. Perhaps with a little Hitchhiker’s Guide thrown in, but I think we all want to say that about our books. 

    If you have trouble seeing the page or if you’d rather not click on a new link, I’ve pasted the pitch and summary below. I would love your feedback. 

    So, writing/rewriting begins this week! 

    Thanks for hanging in there, and thanks for your support of this little dream of mine. 

    -Michael



    The Madness of Mr. Butler

    Preorder here: https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-madness-of-mr-butler

    Comparisons: 

    Guardians of the Galaxy meets Rick and Morty

    Pitch: 

    After helping a psychiatric patient escape the hospital, a burned out ER nurse and his girlfriend are swept away on an intergalactic thrill ride to save Earth from annihilation at the hands of a blood thirsty space pirate.

    About: 

    The Voyager probes were sent out into the universe to give any alien life an idea of what things are like on Earth, and they were built under the assumption that any intelligent life they encountered would be curious and peaceful. In the past week, one of the probes has gone AWOL and the other seems to be headed straight back to Earth with some sort of alien megastructure attached. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it’s really a shame the probes included coordinates to Earth. Now, the world is panicking as an alien force is bounding toward our pale blue dot, making it difficult to assume anything other than destruction is on its agenda.

    This general feeling of impending doom by the general public is not helping George Butler feel any better about his life. He is a burned out nurse at the busiest ER in the greater Cleveland area, and this "end is near" vibe sweeping the world has only quadrupled his patient load. On top of this, his girlfriend Eliza has been increasingly nervous and distant recently, and George fears that she is thinking of ending the relationship. All George wants to do is finish out his shift and spend some time with Eliza, hopefully convincing her to stay with him.

    The last patient George sees is the cherry on top of a shit sundae of a workday. The man claims to be from another planet (the fifth patient that day to claim such a thing) and will only go by "Mr. Butler" after stealing George’s last name from his ID badge. The patient goes on and on and won’t let George leave the room, claiming ridiculous things such as flying a spaceship shaped like a Victorian-style home with a lovely wraparound porch, and landing said ship directly on top of George’s own house. After finally cutting off the conversation and dodging every manipulative attempt by his charge nurse to convince him to stay and work, George finally gets to go on his date with Eliza.

    It’s mostly a nice date, but the fact that the date was to celebrate their dating anniversary slips George’s mind. That makes things a little awkward.

    That, and the fact that George’s plans to bring Eliza to his house to cuddle up in front of a movie are ruined by the fact that there’s an enormous Victorian-style house sitting right where George’s house once stood.

    And is that one of the Voyager probes lodged in its lovely wraparound porch?

    About the book

    This book is meant to be taken seriously. At all costs. If you are offended by comedy or ridiculous situations, then you’ve come to the right place, because I’ve taken great care in my research to design The Madness of Mr. Butlerto be as scientifically accurate as possible. I’ve performed all feats in this book, or at least had a friend try them and tell me what it was like, and what I couldn’t accomplish I Googled, so it’s all factual as hell.

    Think planets can’t be miniaturized? They can be. I’ve met a guy who said he did it once. He was playing the saxophone on the side of the street and only charged me a dollar and a ham salad sandwich for the information. That’s a bargain.

    Think space pirates don’t exist? Well, tell that to a space pirate. They might not call themselves space pirates, per se, but they will exist nevertheless.

    Think throwing a reaction bomb into the sun and then riding the resulting supernova away from danger is a silly idea? Then you obviously haven’t tried it. I’ll admit it’s a difficult thing to do, but with enough Googling, anything is possible.

    The Madness of Mr. Butler is mostly biography. Sure, there are some embellishments, as biographies are mostly boring without a little flair mixed in. But the facts are factual, and the science is so hard, you won’t believe it. Trust me.

    You should order this book if you care about the reason the Earth is safe from one of the greatest threats it has ever faced and learning about the people who stepped up to face the threat we faced to its face.

    What are you waiting for? Harder science? More operatic space?

    The Madness of Mr. Butler is a hard space opera so hard with facts the book doubles as a weapon because of its hardness.

    I’d say more, but I know you’ve already bought a copy. Thanks for caring about facts.

    And no laughing, unless you laugh hard.

    Preorder here: https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-madness-of-mr-butler
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      Fernando Crôtte liked an update for Mushroom and Anchovy

      Greetings, adventurers!

      I’d be remiss if I didn’t update in the wake of exciting news! 

      Guys... we did it. With just 2 days left in the campaign, we hit the 250 mark. Mushroom and Anchovy is FUNDED at the Quill level!

      I’m at a loss for words, but the only two that come to mind are THANK YOU. I couldn’t have done this without everyone reading this e-mail. I’m so grateful for everything. 

      Can I just say that I’m really feeling the Inkshares community love right now? You guys are awesome. Even if I don’t do another crowdfunding campaign in the near future, I’m gonna be sticking around. What a supportive group of fellow authors--a group of very talented people. I’ve learned so much from you all. 

      If you want the chance at a $50 Amazon gift card, you still have time! I’m not closing the contest until the official end of the campaign--which is Monday. So, I will not count any preorders after 11:59 PM on Sunday (Sept. 10th) in the Amazon gift card draw. You’re automatically entered by preordering, but you can pick up some bonus entries. Take a look at the pinned post on my Facebook page for more details. 

      Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to be taking the next couple days off! I’ll get back to you all with the winner of the draw next week. I’m throwing in two ebook copies of my first book, novella Hub City Survival. It’s nothing like Mushroom and Anchovy, but hopefully the winners will enjoy it anyway!

      That’s it from me for now, guys. This has been a real adventure. Thank you all for helping my biggest goal of this year come to fruition!

      May your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

      K. M. Cooper

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        Fernando Crôtte liked an update for To Live and Die in Avalon

        Hello faithful followers and readers!

        I know I haven’t updated you all in quite a while and there are various reason for that, including finishing my first degree, starting a new job and generally being busy. But, I have not stopped writing!

        To Live and Die in Avalon has a finished manuscript that has me pretty proud. I have occasionally gone back to tweak it whenever I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat saying "wait...that is a HUGE plot hole! Why did I not see that?!" But, for the most part, it is as done as I can get before being put into the hands of a skilled professional editor. I have also began putting aside notes for the SEQUEL, but it is far too early to even talk about that in great detail. If (and when) Avalon gets a publishing deal, the edits I may have to make with an editor may impact what happens in the sequel. I have written one little scene that I just had to get off my chest and I hope it makes it into the as yet not-fully-formed follow up. I am still considering another campaign, but they require a lot of time and energy that I can’t quite commit to right now. I’m in a very transitional and busy period of life right now and once I get into a steady groove I can perhaps dedicate the proper time needed for a campaign and the other creative endeavors (including my music) that I’ve been wanting to indulge. 

        The rest of my writing energy has been put toward the epic fantasy novel I have been wanting to make some headway on. The story has changed so significantly, that I will have to update the details on the draft page at some point. You can check out the very early, rough version of an opening chapter at https://www.inkshares.com/books/aurasong-blue-sword

        Finally, a shout out to a couple  of my colleagues and friends here at Inkshares that need the love:

        Andre Brun’s Arcadia is currently in first place in the Horror Contest! Support him here:

        https://www.inkshares.com/books/arcadia

        Ferd Crotte’s Mission 51 finished in one of the top spots of the last Nerdist Sci-Fi contest!

        https://www.inkshares.com/books/mission-51

        Also, I can’t possibly name every single author I think you should support here, so just go through my follows and followers and check out their work. Every. Single. One of them. Inkshares is bursting at the seams with talent and they are only going to make it with your support. 

        Thanks again and if you live in Florida, gather up your books to read and stay safe!

        Jason

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          Fernando Crôtte liked an update for Sorcery for Beginners

          Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

          A short update this week, but a big one: 

          Behold, the finished cover (front, back, and flaps)! Special thanks to Mike Rich for the amazing blurb, Mike Corley for the cover design, and Juliane Crump for the author illustrations/back cover layout. I’m really pleased with how this turned out. If I had seen this in a bookstore when I was 10, I would have freaked out. I hope you all are as excited as I am. 

          Secondly, I have a favor to ask. SORCERY FOR BEGINNERS was nominated as the October pick for a YA Readers Group on Goodreads. The two titles with the most votes will be exposed to nearly 10,000 readers, which would be huge for a debut title like ours. If you could take a moment to go here and vote for SORCERY FOR BEGINNERS, we’d greatly appreciate it!

          https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/84810.Indie_Author_Group_Buddy_Reads_at_YA_Buddy_Readers_Corner

          More updates coming soon. Thanks again for all your support!

          mh

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            Fernando Crôtte liked an update for Deus Hex Machina

            Yesterday I got the clearance from editing master extraordinaire Matt Harry to start writing my final draft of Deus Hex Machina. Today I built my new editing scene list to help as a roadmap for what I’ll be doing for the next month. As you can see, most of the book is changing in some way, although a lot of the changes are going to be minor.  I love this part of the process: Getting to dive into the book, polish up the rough edges and round out the wonky corners. It’s like falling in love with the story in a completely new way.

            I’m unsure what happens once I’m done with this draft, so for the moment I’m going to assume that I go into an edit phase like the rest of my cohort. My guess is that such an edit will be very brief because we spent so much time upfront preparing for the 4th draft writing phase. 

            I can’t help but smile to think how far Isidore RAM has come. I am so proud of this little book, I can’t wait for you to get a chance to read it.

            Cheers,

            Amanda

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              Fernando Crôtte liked an update for Fortunes of the Space Sloth

              Greetings Followers of the Space Sloth, 

              *drum roll please* 

              Fortunes of the Space Sloth is in the Top 50 of the Launch Pad Manuscript Contest! I’m very happy with its performance and the apparent interest in the story. 

              The story was originally finished as part of the Nerdist Space Opera competition nearly 18 months ago. In the time since then I’ve added a couple short stories to the universe. Now that it’s in the Launch Pad competition I’ve been spending more time work on the draft and doing some mental world building. I have to admit I’ve missed the story and characters. It’s fun getting back into it. 

              As part of Inkshares’ partnership with Launch Pad the story is now back in funding mode. However, the timing isn’t great. I’m in the process of trying to wrap up the Quill goal on a separate story. So this will be a completely stress free have fun with the story campaign. Post a review or ask a question about the story. Is there something about the Space Sloth world you’re wondering about? Maybe I’ll post a short story on that topic… 

              PT 

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