July 21st.

This date is important to me for three reasons. 

First, at 12:01am on July 21, 2007 I was a recent high school graduate, counting down the days until I started my first semester as a college freshman, standing in a Barnes & Noble with my little sister and and cheering with a crowd of hundreds as cardboard boxes were opened and copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were lifted into the air. Years of reading and waiting were coming to an end as I entered adulthood, and the Boy Who Lived was facing off against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for a final time.

Second, at 3:00pm on July 21, 2012 I ended my final shift as a Hogwarts student. I took off my robe, sweater vest, and Gryffindor tie and left the castle halls. I had graduated college a year previously, but now I was leaving school, leaving Florida, and achieving my childhood dream of moving to New York City and working in the film industry. Little did I know about what the future held for me. A literally rat infested apartment, Hurricane Sandy hitting the city (I thought I left Florida and the hurricanes behind?!), and the many, many, late nights and early mornings required when working on a film set.

Third, at 5:07pm on July 21, 2016 I walked to the mailbox, slid in the key, and opened the small metal door to discover a cardboard box wrapped in white tape covered in Inkshares logos. My heart skipped a beat, and I didn’t even wait until I was back in the house before ripping the package open. Nine years after I held the final Harry Potter book, a book I wrote was sliding out of it’s shipping box and into my hands for the very first time. 

Thank you, Inkshares. Thank you, Nerdist. Thank you, every single person who backed my dream, believed in my book, and brought me to this moment. If anyone told me a year ago that this would be happening today, I never would have believed them. I wrote a book, but you all made its publication possible. Thank you.

This is only the beginning.

-Zac

Greetings Jackolytes,

The copyedited manuscript of Sync City has landed! This is fantastic news as it brings Sync City one critical step closer. I now need to gird my loins, park my butt in front of a computer and take on the words of wisdom passed down by the editorial gurus at Girl Friday Productions. It should be a fascinating experience.

Also, for those that missed it, Jack has a new drinking buddy! Destiny Imperfect shrugged off some awesome late competition and clung onto third place in the recent Inkshares/Nerdist contest. This means Destiny will become a fully published reality. Many  Jackolytes have already hitched your carriage to the Destiny train, but if you haven’t, head over to here to check it out. We’d love to have you on board.

Have a good one!

Cheers,

Peter 

Note from the author:

On this historic date 47 years ago, Mat the alien chose to make his escape from captivity, holding the late JFK to his word. He adopted this day as his Earth birthday.

Hey Cape’s Side Bayers!

We have only 200 pre-orders left until we reach full-publication! I have to say I am grinning non-stop at this. Thank you all for your support of this book, it has been incredible. I can’t wait for you all to read it!

46 days remain in this campaign and I am exhausted, but it’s far from over and 200 orders is still a mountain to climb! 

So please, if you have not yet pre-ordered your copy of Cape’s Side Bay you still have a chance to see your name in the back of the book! And if you have ordered, thank you so much and please continue to spread the word and share this book as much as possible (most of you have and I cannot thank you enough!).

Huge congrats to Joni Dee having And The Wolf Shall Dwell reach full-publishing!

Until next time,

James

Good morning Dreamers,

Wow! @Kendra Namednil has reached the Quill publication mark for her book, Borehole Bazaar! Further proof to me that the Universe shines on happy, positive, generous people!

I’ve got a quick update this week for everyone. First news of important dates: 

• I’ll be at Wizard World in Chicago on August 18th thru 21st. You can find updates and follow me on twitter @CrankyBolt. I’ll have signed Advanced Reader Copies to give away, art prints, and preorders ready to go. Plus, a contest will be afoot to "spot the signs of the Illuminati". I’ll have to come up with a better name for that.
  
• The book gets officially published on 11/1/2016. If you are in the Naperville area, that weekend on 11/5/2016 will have events! Either from bookstore launches to a special 1 night Seventh Age live action game. 
• Midwinter Gaming Convention in Milwaukee is the next convention after that. January 19th is the date for that!

Besides dates and places to meet up! What would an update of mine be without pictures?! I bring you the final cover illustration for the Front Cover!

Good news. Out of hospital and my son is doing well, although with mono the next 6 weeks need to be taken really easy, and he can’t be biking, climbing, jumping round etc. As his summer fun is now strongly hindered, he has come to the conclusion that this is justification for an xbox one or playstation 4.