Hey! Long time no update. But happy new year to all, and I thought I’d give thanks one more time to everybody who helped make a scene like this happen (this was at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena shortly after the book was published. Pasadena is largely where the novel is set, so pretty appropriate, huh?)
The book often sells nicely when it’s promoted on one or another book-buying site (especially eBooks) and I’m so grateful to be able to hold it in my hands. That feeling never seems to wear off. If you have read the book -- whether you liked it or not but preferably you liked it! -- please leave an Amazon review. The more reviews there are, the more the book gets promoted on Amazon. Here’s a link to the page. Just scroll down to Write a Customer Review. It can be as brief as a sentence.
Also in 2016 my novella Falconer was published in four parts on Nikki Finke’s Hollywood Dementia, with amazing artwork by John Donald Carlucci. In case you missed it, here’s a link. Nikki recently made a deal with HBO to develop properties that were published on the site, so keep fingers crossed!
http://hollywooddementia.com/nikki-finke-fiction-falconer-part-one-by-jason-pomerance/
But it’s a new year and on to the new. Two things to report on the book front. I’m in the process of finishing up edits and revisions on Celia at 39, a new novel, one that falls more into the Chick-Lit category. Here’s a little blurb about it:
Celia Bernhart thought she had her life all figured out. She should, right, because she’s turning 39 in a week. She’s a success in her career. She’s about to marry her longtime boyfriend Barry. But then a package gets mis-delivered to the house she and Barry share -- Actually, it’s the right address, but it’s nearly forty years late! Celia becomes determined to deliver the package to its rightful owner, but when she does it turns her very well-ordered life completely upside down.
We’ll most likely be trying to go down the more traditional publishing route on this book since it falls more neatly into a genre. Stay tuned for more -- hopefully good news -- about this.
But if you’re interested in supporting another Inkshares book, read on. Many of you know that we have not one but two beagles, George and Derric. George was adopted as a puppy from some folks who couldn’t handle him, but Derric’s adoption story is very, very different and, frankly, a little more disturbing. We came to Derric from a wonderful organization called the Beagle Freedom Project, which negotiates to get animals being subjected to laboratory tests freed. Until we had stumbled on the Beagle Freedom Project, we did not know that thousands of beagles were spending their lives in cages in labs all over the world. There are some who think these animals can’t make the transition from lab life to freedom, but Derric has a different story to tell, and that’s what this book is about. In fact he’s helping me write it. Click the link below to read more about this new book, and please follow its progress. Even better pick up a pre-order if you can.
https://www.inkshares.com/books/love-derric-my-journey-from-laboratory-experiment-to-freagle-who
So that’s it for now. Thanks again, and I hope everybody has a happy and healthy 2017.
One last quick thank you
It was exactly one year ago today (at about this time) when I opened up These Are My Friends on Politics for funding. I immediately regretted that decision, and would momentarily regret it from time to time in the months to follow, but if you’re reading this, you’re responsible not only for taking that regret away, but also for scenes like these...
(Curious Iguana in Frederick, Md., sharing a table with the likes of The Underground Railroad)
(The Skokie, Ill., Barnes and Noble, which also happens to be the place I bought my first copies of The Writer’s Market and The Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market many many years ago)
...so thank you for that, and if I can return the favor in 2017, message me and let me know how, because I gladly will.
If you want to get a glimpse of what I’m up to next, read on. But if this is your stop, I just wanted to say thank you again.
One last quick favor
If you enjoyed the book and/or it helped spare you from a family blowout over the holidays, a review on Amazon is most appreciated (and a bigger deal than I would ever have assumed it was until I experienced the Amazon bookselling experience from the other side).
Here’s a link to take you straight there (and you need not have purchased the book from Amazon to leave a review there): http://amzn.to/2ivmSIC#customerReviews
One last quick update (until the next one) on what’s next
Books: I’m currently drafting this note in my de facto writing app (Ulysses, if you’re curious), and when I look at the notes library in the sidebar, I see large pieces of four new books staring back at me. Two represent a completely different direction, one is a similar approach to a new topic, and one is a book that will follow up on this one without being a retread no one needs. Publishing plans haven’t been finalized on any of them yet, but I don’t envision funding them similarly to how I funded this first one. Nevertheless, I’ll use this channel to announce them when ready. (If you aren’t interested in any of that, there’s an "unfollow" link at the bottom of this email, and I take no offense if this is your stop and you click it.)
Art: I’d started getting into selling art and showing in galleries before I decided to momentarily upend that by publishing a book, but those plans will resume at some point soon. If you attend a show or festival in the Chicago area this summer, maybe you’ll run into me. But if not, I’ll be maintaining on online gallery here and here. (If you see anything you love, you’re privy to a friend discount on the Etsy side using the altogether fitting coupon code THISISMYFRIEND.)
One last batch of Nina photos for no reason
Enjoy, happy 2017, and thank you again.


As of today, we have just 14 DAYS REMAINING in the funding campaign for Phantom Forest! 87 orders still need to be fulfilled to reach the Quill publishing goal, which SOUNDS like a big number but I’ve done crazier things in far less time! Keep those recommendations rolling in. Every little bit goes a long way!
I’d probably be getting in right under the wire for this, but I’m once again asking anyone who’s a member of a syndicate here on Inkshares to nominate the book! We got a couple nods last month, so this time around it would be AMAZING to be the January pick (especially because there are oh-so-few days left and we’re oh-so-close!).
Hope everyone had a fantastic New Years and is ready to show 2017 who’s the big bad boss. I KNOW I AM.
Liz
Happy 2017 to all of my supportive followers out there!
I have a few exciting developments regarding The Walls are Closing In.
News headlines in recent weeks have provided no shortage of headaches, but also no shortage of ideas, and several new scenes have been added to a manuscript that I had originally thought was, for the most part, complete.
My husband, Artist Bart Castle, has worked up the national emblem that will be ever so prominent throughout the story. A new version of the map has also been uploaded to the book’s page.
The official pre-order campaign will begin next Friday, the 13th, and will run for three months. I am going to throw myself into this campaign completely, and am aiming for the gold, 750 pre-orders and a full publishing contract, which will place The Walls are Closing In on bookstore shelves across the country. Ideas from my fellow authors, friends, family, and followers are more than welcome!
Conversations are in the works regarding blog interviews and You-Tube channel features. Stay tuned.
The book has received several new reviews and recommendations, and for that I am incredibly grateful. I will share a selection of them here in closing.



