I wanted to send an update on the status of Infodemic, one of three finalists in the 2020 Inkshares contest. I have now finished working on the manuscript with an outside editor, the talented and lovely Michele Abramowitz. 

As of Friday, I have passed the manuscript onto the Inkshares team and am awaiting the next steps. Thanks again to everyone who has preordered a copy of the novel or otherwise supported this book throughout 2020/2021.

In the meantime, do check out my email newsletter, where I will soon be sharing a non-fiction investigative story that I’m currently writing for Slate.

https://stephenharrison.substack.com/

All the best,
Stephen

Howdy! It’s with great pleasure and excitement that I reveal, at long last, the real cover for Bane of All Things!

But wait, there’s more!

As I have noted before, Bane of All Things is meant to be the first of four books. I have finally landed on a title for the series – A Silence of Worlds. (I will dig into the meaning behind that in a future update.)

Now, about this cover

It’s been a long time coming, this cover reveal – decades, even. I’ve had plenty of ideas over the years of what could be the cover for this story, drifting between a particular tense action scene, or some dramatic posing of my main characters.

When cover designer Tim Barber of Dissect Designs asked me about it a few months back, I sent him a pile of ideas and descriptions. He wanted to avoid the overused fantasy cover concepts that crowd the shelf. But still, it had to be true to the story.

Tim further brainstormed with Inkshares CEO Adam Gomolin and Deputy Publicity Manager Noah Broyles, who will be driving the book’s launch and who has, of course, read it.

“I was basically grilling Noah about what he would see if he was holding the book in his hands,” Tim told me. “He described rocks at the edge of water, a fortress/castle at the edge. Cold, but not snow. An unforgiving place. To me, this is how I pictured what he described. When I showed it to him his reaction was, ‘Yes, that’s it, that’s what I saw.’”

That scene is found in Chapter Three, where our two main characters, Ryn and Josalind, arrive at their destination – Dragon’s Claw Abbey. I asked Noah why he considered this particular image so powerful. 

It’s all about atmosphere

“The arrival at Dragon’s Claw Abbey was potent for me in terms of both the striking imagery and what it meant for the characters,” Noah said. “I imagine the reality of being a convict is no more vivid than when you first come in sight of your prison. This place is not only the end of the world as far as civilization is concerned, but also the end of the world for Ryn and Josalind. Or so they think.”

It’s a foggy morning in that scene, not a stormy night, but Tim’s fantastic design captures the scope and atmosphere of the story as a whole. There is a storm coming. What Ryn and Josalind don’t yet realize when they first set eyes on Dragon’s Claw is that it’s already begun.

What’s next?

The awesome Avalon Radys, Inkshares’ Director of Editorial and Publishing Operations, will start sending out ARCs – Advance Reader Copies. These go to reviewers and established authors to build advance buzz and net (hopefully) favourable reviews for Goodreads, Amazon and so on before Release Day. We also want to bag a strong quote from a known name in the fantasy genre to add to the cover.

I can’t wait until November when the final product will be in your hands! 

(P.S.: Noah has a novel of his own coming out in September, The House of Dust, a southern gothic horror described by one reviewer as being “full of nightmarish imagery wrapped in elegant prose.”)

Cheers

Leo

Hello Everyone,

Well, the 2020 All Genre Manuscript Contest has officially come to a full close and, unfortunately, Beyond the Masquerade wasn’t chosen. Because of this and the fact that the campaign is nowhere near the pre-order goal, I have decided to end the campaign and reevaluate how I am going to move forward.

Thank you all for your support. It didn’t turn out the way I would have liked but, I believe it was still worth it. I’m still going to keep the book page up through Inkshares to get information and my work out to you all so follow if you want to stay in touch.

Thanks again for all the support and good will.

Kelsey Rae Barthel