Howdy! How is this holiday season shaping up for you and yours?

In our house, circumstances have prompted gift shopping to be already done in record time, pending a few more doorstep deliveries. (A gift for my wife has a delivery window as late as Dec. 23 – should I worry?)

I want to thank everyone who has so far taken the time to support me in Inkshare’s new All-Genre Manuscript Contest, which I introduced in my last update.

If you haven’t done so, please do! I am competing against 100+ other entries and it’s getting interesting.

My contest entry is The Crucible Tree, book 2 in what I plan to be a four-book series. You can check it out at https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-crucible-tree

Remember, this contest is not a pre-order campaign like before with Bane of All Things. It is the first time that Inkshares is running a contest that is scored on social engagement metrics only.

All you need to do is:

1.     Visit the above link

2.     Sign in to Inkshares as you did before (You may need a password reset – easy to do)

3.     Then click to Follow The Crucible Tree (It may not stick if you click Follow then sign in, without clicking Follow again)

4.     You can also help boost me up the contest standings if you read my sample chapters and post a Review

This contest is an opportunity to promote my work ahead of next summer’s release of Bane of All Things. New authors can easily become one-book wonders if their first book doesn’t sell well. Anything you can do now to support me in this contest could help me be more successful down the road.

(FYI: If you visit the Leaderboard for this contest and wonder, “Why in heck is The Crucible Tree so far down the list?”, be aware that the public ranking algorithm doesn’t reflect the actual metrics that matter in this particular contest.)

On the cancer front, I have just passed the halfway point in my one year of gene therapy. Been a few bumps along the way, but I appear to have achieved a ceasefire with the couple of side effects that were troublesome. Onward and upward!

Again, thank you for all your patience and support. Have a great holiday season and keep safe.

Cheers

Leo