Greetings, Faoii.
Mugs up, Faoii! I want you all to congratulate the winner of the $100 Visa Giftcard!
It goes to...
Jay Lockwood! Author of A Beast Requires!
Congratulations, Jay! I will be DMing you shortly to get your address.
The battle is progressing well, Faoii. We’ve earned a respite. Enjoy yourselves! And don’t forget to congratulate your brother-in-arms!
Faoii-Tahani
Greetings, Faoii.
Faoii! Today marks a HUGE victory for us!
Please greet our newest warriors on the field. 35 fighters joined our battle today, as we’ve been backed by the Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters syndicate! This is the greatest honor I could have expected for The Last Faoii on inkshares (other than publication). I am proud to display their medal on our wall. Between that and the Teen Reads syndicate medal, people will soon recognize our merit.
Here’s what the syndicate had to say:
"Nelson has created a fully realized world with many amazing fully developed badass female characters. At the helm of this adventure is a protagonist to keep your eye on- she’s smart, she’s flippant, she’s unstoppable with a sword and she’s about to undergo the loss of her sisters...Join the Faoii now for fierce battles, witty banter and a main character you’ll fall in love with!"
I am also proud to say that their support has brought us to 7th place in the Geek and Sundry contest. We’ve risen higher on that hill than ever before, and we’re constantly getting closer to the summit. We can do this, Faoii. Shields up!
Faoii-Tahani
Raise your mugs, Faoii! We’re back on the leader boards for the Geek and Sundry Contest! And we’ve only been in the battle for 25 days.
Don’t forget--we’re in the top 10, but we need to be in the top 3 to get mass publication. We can do that. We will do that. We’re Faoii. We don’t lose.
Shields up.
Faoii-Tahani
Greetings, Faoii!
I changed our main page a little bit in order to help it stand out. I would love it if someone would look and tell me what they think. Link: inkshares.com/books/the-last-faoii. I’m concerned it’s too cluttered now, but I also think that it might help people to better navigate the excerpts and chapters.
I also added a new "excerpt". It’s not really part of the novel, but I put up some of the artwork that inspired scenes, characters, or sections of The Last Faoii over the last five years. I also put up 3 of my own drawings, but will honestly probably take them down soon.
Look through them if you’re interested. More importantly, direct new people to the pages that are up so that they’ll be interested and join our fight.
There are more things coming, too. The talented H. A. Paaso is still working on some original artwork of Kaiya and the ever-supportive Christopher Lee is still helping me make a trailer (probably with the artwork posted on the new page-- which is awesome).
Shields up, Faoii. Good things are happening.
Faoii-Tahani
Updates, Faoii! Listen up!
Everyone raise their mug for Jillian Bostwick-- winner of our current raffle and the $25 amazon giftcard! Congratulations, Faoii! Thank you for supporting our campaign on your social networks. DM me so I can get your mailing information and send you your reward.
I’ll be putting up a $100 Visa giftcard up for raffle soon--pre-order your copy of The Last Faoii to enter for your chance to win that prize. There are excerpts, chapters, and character art on The Last Faoii’s page. The book is worth purchasing-- and getting a $100 visa would just be icing on the cake. Make sure to pick up your blade if you haven’t already.
As for current battle-plans and morale: I have one person that has served as my sole adviser and motivator for many years. When things get rough, this person has always convinced me to keep going. So imagine my surprise when he gave me the "it’s a shame your campaign is failing; you worked hard on it" speech. Wow, Faoii. It seems that my closest ally has given up.
Now, what should I do about this, do you think? Should I just roll over and wait for the end?
Hahahaha! No.
Because more people keep answering the call each day. Because more and more I see The Last Faoii on social media and outside groups. Because I have never given up on something that was important to me. It cost me my health and (possibly) my sanity to write this book. I stayed up for days at a time so I could tell this story-- so I could introduce a fantasy novel with a strong heroine that my future daughters could look up to. I gave almost everything just to make it exist. I will give whatever’s left to see it succeed.
I know that it’s different now because this is the first battle I’ve ever fought where I couldn’t do it alone. I am used to standing against entire armies with nothing but my own, chipped sword and sometimes-weary battle cry against the oncoming hoardes of whoever would stand between me and my future. But now I cannot succeed without an army at my back. Luckily, I have an army-- you. Let’s fight for a glorious victory at the end of this long, uphill battle.
Let’s do it, Faoii. Let’s take that hill. Let’s reach the top of those leader boards and get mass publication. Let’s make all of this hard work at last pay off.
Faoii, let me hear your battle cry!
Faoii-Tahani
At ease, Faoii. This updates more about fun than battleplans.
We have more warriors joining the ranks every day, and I wanted to give you all a bit of a reminder on what we’re fighting for.
So far you have seen our army’s first battle under Faoii-Kaiya-- our first true moment of unity. You’ve met Lyn, and have lived her torment--you know what we’ve lost and why we fight. You’ve seen that not all of our moments are of desperation and fear-- the interactions of Kaiya and her brother remind us of humor and camaraderie even during dark times. I’ve shown you an intercepted letter explaining our words and customs to outsiders. And you’ve seen the fall of the last monastery, the rise of the croeli, and the beginning of Kaiya’s story.
This is a good reminder of who we are, Faoii, but it is not all we are. As the Oath says, "We are the weavers of the Tapestry." It’s time to truly understand what that means.
This evening I will send you an excerpt of Kaiya’s experience with the Tapestry-- and you will see exactly how all of our lives are intertwined--how all actions are worth so much more than we realize in the moment. Be ready, Faoii. You are part of this war-- and your action or inaction has as much affect on the outcome of this fight as any other deed. Kaiya will show you.
Take care of yourselves and each other.
Dismissed.
-Faoii-Tahani
Updates, Faoii! Listen up!
The first month of the Geek and Sundry contest is over, and even though we came to the fight 20 days late, we still made it to the top 10 list. Well done, soldiers! Drinks all around!
I also learned something interesting today-- did you all realize that several of those who are above us in the ranks are still writing their novels? The novels that people are pre-ordering so quickly and in such large quantities... are not even complete, much less polished and perfected. I find this perplexing, since I put The Last Faoii through 5 years, a dozen betas and 13 edits before I even considered it worthy of your gazes. Surely if they can reach such heights while in a state of unreadiness we can conquer the same forces with our sharpened swords. Our banner will be at the top of that hill soon, but only if we find other warriors to join the fight. I need you, Faoii.
Remember there are still 3 days to share the pinned post on facebook.com/the-last-faoii (and thus enter to win a $25 Amazonian gift card). And I plan to put up an even better prize for people who have pre-ordered if we can reach 100 copies sold. I’d tell you more-- but it’s a secret. ;)
We’ve done well, Faoii. But this fight is just beginning. Remember-- all of this is for naught if we don’t get into one of the top 3 spots. And there’s only 2 months left to get there!
Shields up, Faoii. I will send out more updates as I can.
Faoii-Tahani