Happy 2017!

I know it has been a long long time since any of you have heard anything from me. 2016 and Cape’s Side Bay got interesting.

At one point I thought we had hit full publishing, then it turned out we hadn’t, and the book was in limbo. I spoke with Inkshares and they were great, but I still wasn’t sure about the future of the book. Then, randomly, in November I received an email informing me that Cape’s Side Bay would be a participant in THE LIST contest. The final Inkshares contest of 2016. It was a contest were the participants were selected by Inkshares staff and peers. It meant a lot to me to see Cape’s Side Bay get a nomination. I, however, was exhausted and still not sure if participating in the list was something I had the energy to do. 
Ultimiately I decided it was worth a shot, and someone we were able to come out on top!

Cape’s Side Bay is getting published! It took a little longer than anticipated, but we did it. I could not have done it without all of you.

Thanks especially to my wife Erin for putting up with me and obsessing over the orders! And to my family and friends! It was quite an experience, one that has only just started.

A special congratulations to the other two books, Murder at the Veterans Club by Christopher Huang. When I first started thinking about my campaign I spoke to Christopher several times and he was a great help. I am extremely pleased to see his book reach full publishing!

Sorcery for Beginners by Matt Harry. He came up strong towards the end of the campaign and manage to bump up in the list and finish top 3!

I look forward to reading these books, and I look forward to all of you reading Cape’s Side Bay.

Happy 2017!

James

Also, please check out the Inkshares blog to fully understand the timeline in which you can expect Cape’s Side Bay. It will take around a year, but it will be worth it!

And if you haven’t ordered Cape’s Side Bay yet you STILL CAN! And at a discounted price! SAY WHHAAAATT?

https://www.inkshares.com/books/cape-s-side-bay

Happy New Year friends.

First let’s take a look at 2016.

1- Lies and Deception got funded.

2- We have helped the amazing : A God in the Shed  by the talented JF Dubeau. 

3- The Anthology, which include my short story Hardcore  : Too Many Controllers won the Nerdist Video game contest.

4- I launched the campaign for Arcadia.

Now for 2017

1- After some major changes to Lies and Deception, the book  will be in the hands of the 2nd set of Beta readers in one week.

2- ARCADIA : we have 33 days left to the campaign and 107 copies to go before reaching Quill level. 

This is where I , once again ask for your support friends,

a-If you follow Arcadia and didn’t ordered it  yet this is be the perfect timing do to so

b-If you already ordered Arcadia, please find one person who will enjoy horror short stories.

Don’t forget I still have copies of A God in The Shed, each order = 1 chance to win a physical copy of this awesome book :)

Once again thank you my friends, and I hope 2017 will be as good as 2016 was for me :-)

Happy New Year!

Dear friends and followers,

Happy new year! By now, you should all have gotten the news that we’ve made our goal, a month early. Or, more precisely, that we’ve made the top three on The List, which means the same result without having to actually hit the full 750 orders. This is pretty awesome, and it’s all thanks to you. Every one of you who pre-ordered, who spread the word, who got your friends to pre-order or even just to look at the book: thank you. Thank you so much.

So, now that we’re "in production", what does that mean? When will you get your books?

I know I’ve been saying that books will probably be out around November 2017, and that was a conservative estimate back in March when I started. But the volume of books going through Inkshares of late means that the production process is longer now than it used to be. Here is what Inkshares has to say about the production process. According to this, it could be twelve to eighteen months from the moment I submit my manuscript before the book comes out. In short: between January and June 2018.

I know. I’m a little dismayed too. But it’s still miles better than not getting it out at all, so it’s still a cause for celebration.

Again, thank you for everything. Let’s party like it’s 1925!

Well, 2016 is on its deathbed.  Appropriate analogy all things considered.  We’ve said goodbye to many this year, although to be honest the famous deaths of this year didn’t really register in my ecosystem until the very end.  Seeing as I don’t remember a world that didn’t have Princess Leia or Singing in the Rain in it, I definitely felt something when those two passed.  To have them do so within days of my grandmother passing away definitely put a more subdued end on a year filled with frustration and stress.  That said, there were some things I enjoyed about this year.  Here are some highlights.

• Highlight moment of the year: Holding my very own book in my hands for the first time on Sept 13.
• Highlight moment runner-ups: 15th wedding anniversary (such a fun evening Michelle), Finishing the manuscript for Fall on Jan 18, appearing on the Current Geek podcast with Scott Johnson (I’ve been listening to him since 2009; yeah that mattered); winning two more contests on Inkshares; Publishers Weekly review; Audible book deals for Rise and Fall
• Best Movie: Toss-up between Civil War and Rogue One for me. honorable mention to Zootopia
• Best TV Series (started this year): Toss up here between Stranger Things and Orphan Black. Honorable mention to the new Muppets and Voltron
• Best Book I read: not touching that with a 39-and-a-half-foot pole.  Too many friends published books this year.  So instead:

1. Most Surprising Book: Unattractive Vampire (did not see myself enjoying this)
2. Most Difficult to read: tie between Ageless and Rune of the Apprentice for entirely different reasons (Note: I still enjoyed them ;-))
3. Most Inspiring: Push

• Best Game played: I’d have to say Munchkin (adventure time or Cthulu versions); yes I hadn’t played it before
• Best Video Game played: I spend a lot of time in Civilization VI so that is a good answer.  Stellaris is another really good one.  That said, I think I’ll choose Crashlands.  My daughter and I have spent hours playing concurrent games (no multi-player) throughout this year
• Highlight Verse I read: Psalm 27:14 - Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (ESV)
  

 So, yeah it’s been an interesting year.  Rounding out the year watching the entire Harry Potter series with my daughter was another moment, including giving her book one in both German and English for Christmas.  I’m so proud of her development as a linguist.  Watching her interact with those in need on Christmas Eve, seeing the smiles on their faces when she spoke with them.  It warmed the heart.

2017.

Looking straight at you now.  What’s coming?  Well, I don’t know.  2016 definitely did not go according to plan (except the release of Rise.  That did happen as planned.)  So, who knows what will happen but here’s what I intend on doing.

1. By the end of 2017, the first drafts of Shatter and Unite will be done.  
2. I will be able to lead discussions and do live translations without fear in Arabic.  
3. And I’ll be able to hold my own in a conversation in German.
   

Onward!

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” – Ronald E. Osborn

I’ve been here before, sitting in the quiet before the end, wondering what lies on the other side of the storm. I am the crazy person who has entered four contests on Inkshares, one of which I won with a group of amazing talents much larger than mine.  Four contests in a year. I can mark them like seasons in my life on Inkshares.

The first contest was my introduction to Inkshares as a whole. The Nerdist contest came along at a time when I was waiting for my final edit to return on Shadow of the Owl, when I had already written a book, created a cover, bought my ISBNs and prepared to self-publish. I hit submit assuming many things, not the least of which was that it would easy (not unlike self-publishing on its own).

Next I tossed Deus Hex Machina into the Sword & Laser the Sequel contest, largely because I already had a funding campaign for Shadow of the Panther up on the site and didn’t want to resubmit. I’m glad I made that choice, because while I didn’t win that contest, I did get far enough to grab interest in the project from outside and even eventually get the book a light publishing contract. The outside interest ended up pushing me to write a book while I was funding it (something I highly suggest no one ever do), writing a book I originally thought would never see the light of day. It was at this point that I promised I would never do another contest, by the way.

When the Nerdist Video Game contest came along, I was at the right place at the right time with a group of writing colleagues who wanted to try something crazy -- submit an anthology. The result was a first place win for Too Many Controllers, to which I submitted a story I had been working on for years that is currently titled "Final Boss." I am incredibly proud of that story, mostly because it represents my overcoming a huge fear of short fiction that’s hounded me since I let fear push me out of the fiction side  of my creative writing degree at USC. 

And now, The List 2016 is drawing to a close. In little under six hours I will be ending my first year with Inkshares the way I began it: Watching a contest end. I  find myself introspective (obviously) rather than dejected at the results of this contest. Sitting seventh in a contest that I was invited into is a rather big honor. I have a finished manuscript waiting until the contest closes today, one that I firmly believe is the best writing I’ve ever done.  No matter what result happens from this contest, I will be able to look back at this year with Inkshares and smile. I have one book published, two more in production once I send in DHM, and many more projects. I have found a community of disparate writers from around the world, and a strange and wonderful company that links them all together in this crazy publishing fever dream. 

What’s next up for me in 2017? I am about to write another couple of short stories in the Shadow of the Owl universe. Once I have those done and published I’ll be planning out the sequel to DHM and then hammering out the next (and final) version of Shadow of the Panther. That book needs to be finished -- it’s been restarted so many times at this point that it must assume I don’t love it. Luckily I have the outline complete on what it’s going to look like, and I think I’ve settled on a premise that will fit the fantasy of the series while still innovating within it.

Two stories, two books, zero contests: that sounds like a great year to me. If 2016 was the year of funding books, I think 2017 will be the year of writing books, and maybe even publishing a couple too.  That sounds pretty great to me.

“Exciting times are incoming.” No other more obvious statement has ever been made when one considers the horror that was 2016. With this update, I want to draw your eyes to what I’m seeing in 2017, and I think you’ll have a lot to be excited for. At least three things for sure:

First: “The Animal in Man” continues to lurk in the dark recesses of my brain. I’ve already been thinking of more monuments I can build in the violent world of Herbridia. Literally, a monument of bloodletting and death, a coliseum at the heart of Crosswall, the Leoran capital city featured in the novel’s opening chapters. And more - the ideas just never stop coming. I’m utterly in love with this world, and even while I chomp at the bit to get my production timeline put together, I’m already getting edits written down. Stay tuned for further news as soon as I hear it!

Second: “Hunger.” I took a trip in 2013 to attend my graduation ceremony at Full Sail University in Florida, and during the flight I managed to craft and tighten a pretty fine piece of writing, a little 10-page short film script focused on the struggles of a father and son as they starve in a post apocalyptic world. What would you do if it meant you could eat, and survive? What part of yourself would you give up? “Hunger” has caught the attention of some film-makers based in Sydney, Australia, and WITH YOUR SUPPORT my beautiful little screenplay can be professionally produced and shown on the silver screen! Please visit the project’s Pozible page (a.k.a. The Aussie Kickstarter) and pledge what you can.

Third: “The White Shadow.” My thesis as part of Full Sail’s Masters program was a full-length video game design document, a project I very lovingly pitch as Cyberpunk Soul Reaver, blending traversal through the realm of spirits with a futuristic cyberpunk Japanese setting, a world dominated by omnipotent Megacorporations, pervasive fear, and destructive technology. I put “The White Shadow” on the back-burner while work on “Animal in Man” progressed, but I couldn’t help myself from wandering back into its grimy rain-soaked streets. I decided to turn the story into a novel - MY NEXT BIG PROJECT FOR 2017! - and just finished writing the first chapter today. Please visit my portfolio page right here, and then tell me what you think! Should I turn this into a draft on Inkshares? The possibility has more than certainly crossed my mind…

2016 was tough. I’m glad to be turning my back on it. I’m excited to be turning toward 2017, and I hope you are too. We’ve got plenty of things to look forward to, my dear readers. Rest assured I will be keeping myself ridiculously busy refining old chapters of “The Animal in Man” and completing new chapters of “The White Shadow.” And, with your help, getting a real-world Screenplay-By Credit for "Hunger".

See you in the New Year, Animals. Lets have a Happier one this time.

Hey gang! Been a while...right to it then! But first, thanks for being the best! Seriously, I couldn’t do these awesome things without you.