(Picture: Halloween night 2001)

Hello friends, family, and fellow authors

We are three months away from the release of The Catcher’s Trap and this humbling journey continues to fill me with joy.

Last week Out Traveler’s editor, Brian Van Gorder, had this to say about my book: “In his fast-paced and tense first novel, The Catcher’s Trap, Ricardo Henriquez introduces us to an entirely original, richly detailed universe filled with strong, well-developed characters trying to survive their nightmarish new world. Sure, there are plenty of horrible monsters lurking on every page, but it’s the glimmers of joy found in the despair, the humor poking through the inhumane, that may just be the book’s cruelest beasts.”

As I read his words, I couldn’t help to feel emotional and reflect on the past 15 years of my life. On October 2nd, 2001 I arrived in the U.S. like many other immigrants: full of dreams and hopes for a life of unlimited possibilities. During my first 2 years, I rented a small bedroom where everything that I owned fitted with room to spare. I worked as a waiter from noon until 1 A.M. 6 days a week while learning English by attending free adult education classes, reading children books and watching Will and Grace.

Those days were hard. Money was not enough to live comfortably and, as time passed, I started questioning the decision of leaving my country.

Fast-forward to August 2016. Thanks to the love and support of many, many people, today I’m writing to you, my readers; friends who either cared enough about me to pre-order a book that didn’t exist yet, or strangers who read a couple of chapters and thought they would take a chance on this weird fantasy/horror idea.

Mister Van Gorder’s words not only made me reflect on this journey and feel thankful for all of you. They also gave me much-needed fuel to continue working on The Catcher’s Trap sequel, Worlds Walker and continue pushing to make sure my book is a success.

So there are two things I will do in the coming months:

1. I will start a campaign to get The Catcher’s Trap to sell 1000 copies before its release day (November 8th)
2. I will finish writing Worlds Walker before the end of the year.
   

Both goals are bold. But I feel energized and ready for them.

If you are on this list and haven’t pre-order a copy of The Catcher’s Trap, please consider doing it.

If you are on this list and have not check yet Worlds Walker, check it out here and consider following the project.

Have a fantastic week.

Hey everybody!  I didn’t expect to be saying this for at least another 3-4 months, but Exile, Magus is live and in funding mode!  When I saw the G&S contest announcement, it was too good of an opportunity for me to pass up.  I’m now in that somewhat panicky "I wasn’t ready for this" first day of campaign launch mode.  Its both an incredibly nervous and highly energized feeling.  I’ve already gotten a pretty good start, so now its just up to me to keep up the momentum.  I’m hoping you’ll join me in that endeavor as well.  That’s all I’ve got for now, expect to hear from me every Tuesday or Thursday from now until the end of this contest with updates on our progress as well as other fun "things" I’ve been doing my best to save up to share with you all.

THIS IS IT EVERYONE!

Hello everyone,

I guess I should talk about this shouldn’t I?

There’s a minuscule little article on The Tracking Board that talks about me and my upcoming book; A God in the Shed. Go read it. It’s fun. I’ll wait.

You’re back? Awesome. So what do you think? Yeah, I was a bit overwhelmed. Still sort of am. I’m not exactly wired to take compliments or bask in the glory of good news on that scale. I’d love to pretend that it’s because I’m humble and level-headed but in truth I’m just terrified of disappointment and incapable of processing success. My own issues aside, I think it’s important to know a few things about this announcement.

What this isn’t:

• The rights to A God in the Shed haven’t been sold.
• You’re not going to see A God in the Shed on TV any time soon.
• I’m not rich and famous.

What this is:

• An important step in the right direction.
  
• A sign that the rights might one day sell, which still wouldn’t mean a series would get produced, let alone distributed, but again; step in the right direction.
• Nic Pizzolatto is now my new best friend and can come to all my birthday parties.

The great Mike Mongo (Astronaut Instruction Manual) once told me; "However long you think this process is going to take, double that." and the awesome Adam Gomolin also shared this nugget of wisdom; "It’s a no until it’s a yes."

So I’m going to try and take it easy. Keep the day job and continue chipping away at my other projects (check out Arch-Android, the sequel to The Life Engineered, along with Too Many Controllers).

Thanks again for the support everyone. Go read that article again and while you do that, keep telling yourself; ’I’m part of this.’

Because you are.

JF

Just a quick update to let you all know that I am still working quite hard on Mr. Butler. I enrolled in Camp NaNoWriMo for July and set a goal of writing 70,000 words for the book in 31 days...and I did it in 30:

All 70,024 (and counting!) words were written for Butler. Every day I’m working to make this the best damn book I can make it. 

Just thought you, my wonderful investors, my support system, and most importantly, my friends, should know that I am giving this project every single spare moment I have. I’m still aiming for a September manuscript submission. I will keep you updated!

Thanks for hanging in there!

Love to all.

-Michael.

Hendrix is still doing his bit to raise awareness for SQUIDS IN. Not only did he hang out in Times Square at stupid o’clock in the morning the other day, he managed to get a few of his minions a free ride on some Porsche Carrera Cup racing cars.

It’s becoming very apparent that Hendrix and I will not manage our target of 250 pre-orders alone. If you know anyone who has a rude sense of humor, please point them to the sample SQUIDS IN chapters. Thanks!

Matthew