What I love most about Maria’s drawing technique is the balance she strikes between stylistic interpretation and realistic detail. Her innate sense of what’s too little and what’s too much resonates with me, it always has, which is why I’m so excited to be partnering with her in this way. Like me, she’s learning as she goes (or, as my partner Michael would say, she’s building the plane while flying it). Maria’s making great progress, and her illustrations look fantastic!

For those of you who missed Maria’s introduction in my last update, you can catch the video here.

Other news

I’ll be receiving my editor’s comments on May 3, which basically makes me this owl, right now, and for every second until then.

(Photo credit: Naldz Graphics)

(Very exciting. Blink blink. I might puke I’m so nervous.)

Also exciting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid Kitchener a visit yesterday. The folks at Vidyard hosted him. They took him on a tour of the office and chatted about many things.

I had the pleasure of tuning in to watch the livestream of the chat, which was fantastic (full recording here: http://demos.vidyard.com/watch/7VRMFw6CbkSfmFfPTsaaRH).

To everyone who pitched in to make yesterday seem so dreamy from the stands: Congratulations on doing an incredible job of hosting our country’s leader. Thank you for making such a lasting and positive impression. I’m proud to be part of a community where members push themselves to be compassionate and thoughtful, take risks, and behave transparently. 

End of news.

You can probably surmise that the phrase ’Your book is in the mail’ is my dearest haunt. I can’t wait for the moment when I get to call you up (email or text, more likely) and say those words. So I thank you for your continued patience and understanding. Most of all, I want to thank you for reading! 

Donna

Now for some fun bits... ;)

Maria’s creative process has been fascinating to observe. I mentioned how, like me, she’s figuring things out as she goes. Maria’s had to stretch her limits to overcome challenges, and in doing so, has developed her own techniques (read: hacked solutions together and I love it). 

It’s my pleasure to be sharing with you some of her midstream work.

(^ ERMAGHERD!)

I hope you’re tantalized by these small flashes. Stay tuned for more detail in updates to come!

Hey fans and friends! 

I want to give everyone who preordered my book in the funding stage something special. I really appreciate the support. Publishing with Inkshares has been a dream. So, if you were one of the first 750 people to preorder a paperback of my book, you will also get this limited bookmark with your shipment. (E-book preorders will not get this perk, mostly because you don’t need a bookmark for an e-book haha)

 Thanks again!

Also, I was in Better Call Saul last night. Lines got cut, but you still see me, and I still got credited. Check it out!

Thanks for the continued support!

Kyle T. Cowan

Hey, everybody. It’s been about a month since I submitted the manuscript and wanted to dash off a quick note. I’ve yet to hear from the publisher, but when Disintegration’s moment comes up in the production queue, they’ll surely be in touch.

In the meantime, please check out Integration. Spend a little time in utopia before it all goes to hell. ;)

Dear Readerly Friends:

Here is a truly humbling and wonderful review of my memoir, "Nowhere Else I Want to Be".

It’s from Authors Talk About It, April 15, 2017. A 5-star review!

(Link to original article HERE.)

Nowhere Else I Want to Be is Carol Marsh’s heart-wrenching memoir of her time living and working at Miriam’s House in Washington, D.C. She founded Miriam’s House in 1996, as a place for homeless women suffering with AIDS and addiction to receive the care, shelter, and safety that they so desperately needed. In providing for these women, who came from backgrounds incredibly different than her own, Carol had to learn to face her own shortcomings: privilege, discrimination, poor leadership skills, and an overwhelming, yet often denied, desire to be liked. In doing so, she, along with the staff and residents of Miriam’s House, transformed it into a safe haven for victims of AIDS and their families, saving dozens of lives in more ways than one.  

In terms of content, Nowhere Else I Want to Be is certainly not the easiest book to read. It is rife with tragedy, from abandonment to parental neglect, devastating illness to inevitable death. It weighs on the heartstrings in a manner that most books cannot achieve, largely because the stories Carol Marsh shares are all real. These “characters,” who often seem larger than life in some respects, existed once, and now, do not. It’s an awful feeling, to fall in love with each quirky, lovable woman as Carol did, only to be forced to face their eventual demise. However, the tender tone in which each woman is described is admirable and honorable, shining a spotlight of love and acceptance on an otherwise horrific life. It’s devastating, but profound, in all the best ways.   

Nowhere Else I Want to Be is not a book easily defined, as it balances perfectly the qualities of humor, love, sadness, disdain, and acceptance, combined into one spectacular memoir. Carol Marsh takes her readers on the same journey she once walked, alongside society’s forgotten as they struggle to better themselves, contribute to communities who continuously reject them, and just survive, at any cost. It wasn’t, and still isn’t, easy, but it is forever worth it. Nowhere Else I Want to Be is a treasure as much as it is a tragedy, if for nothing else, for Carol’s bold, dignified, and honest approach to a truth best not left forgotten. 

Originally critiqued by a member of the Authors Talk About It team.

Campers!