Good morning, everyone.

I suppose I must have lied about scaling back my updates to a monthly basis. See now, I’ve got some news to share that simply can’t wait.

For starters, Inkshares has launched their latest publishing contest in partnership with the Nerdist network! If you’ve got an epic “Space Opera” science fiction story hyperdriving through the wormholes in your brainspace, then I encourage you to chart a course t… Okay, enough. Just enter the damn contest HERE!  The beauty of this crowdfunding model is that all you really need is an idea for a story. Write something up - a synopsis, some character descriptions, a first chapter, whatever - and post it up on Inkshares. “What’s a space opera,” you ask? For you TV nuts think Firefly or Battlestar Galactica. The movie buffs should envision Guardians of the Galaxy or that little franchise Star Wars maybe. Gamers like me should recall Mass Effect and Destiny. And bibliophiles (a term only bibliophiles could love) should check out Iain Banks’ Culture series (my favorites) or Asimov’s Foundation series. 

If you’re serious about entering, I and some fellow contest winners shared some winning advice recently on inkshares blog. The fact that many of us had different versions of the same tip is quite insightful on that particular tip’s utility (you’ll see). But I would add another that I don’t think was mentioned: Be Organized! I had a massive spreadsheet I updated with all my campaign activity during the Sword & Laser contest. I couldn’t have done it without it. 

Finally, two more bits of news:

I am writing “The Animal in Man” every day, every night, with a daily goal of 1,000 words that I’m pleased to say I’ve often overshot. I thought maybe I’d just clean the early chapters up a bit, but geez was I mistaken! Instead I’m pretty much tearing the house down and rebuilding everything from the ground up. I’m almost done revising chapter three, and work continues steadily.

John Robin, the extremely talented author of “Blood Dawn,” had reached out to me about sharing some details of my story’s world in greater depth. Of course I agreed! Here’s an amazing picture I found that captures my own personal interpretation of the animal-human creatures that inhabit Herbridia:

(Credit to Adrean-BC on deviantART) If you want to pore over some more of the background knowledge - and go fishing for a hint or two about what’s really going on in my novel - then click here to visit John Robin’s World Building page on his blog.

And for gah’s sakes, pre-order your copy of John’s book. It comes with my absolute highest recommendation. 

End of January / technically beginning of February update! Another long one, so here goes.

So far my plan of obliterating the first chunk of the book (more or less) is working out. It’s taking a lot longer than I planned, and I’m even adding stuff that was meant for book 2 for the sake of world-building. Here’s the basics of the changes for no other reason than why NOT tell y’all. In bullet-point format, for the cool kids (spelled "kool kidz" if you’re not whack).

• First four chapters have become first five. Fewer words per chapter, more down to earth dialogue that fits my style. There’s a much stronger sense of respect, teamwork, camaraderie, and / or dislike between all characters.
  
• The Counterbalance are a faction that is basically this world’s cops. Daytime is ruled by mass-hypnotism, so crime is ultra-low. At night? S*** gets dangerous and wild, and this group handles it. In each major metropolis, the faction goes by a slightly different name. Stone-State’s crew is known as the Igneous Counterbalance (IC for short).
  
• Constable Henrov Renker leads the IC. She’s smart, has a limp, and hates (HATES) Saints. Captain Hanyan Hays is already in the novel later on, but I like him and wanted to put him in earlier. These two additions have expanded the conversations that take place in the early parts of the book in cool ways.

Okay, that’s the major stuff I wanted to say. Figured to do some kind of update since my thoughts are constantly on this project. I’ll update again in about a month. Also, the older you get, the more you realize that time is the greatest commodity you have to use properly. Those of you who follow me or Blurred Weaponry and read this update have given me your precious time, and I appreciate it immensely. 

Thank you, and I look forward to sharing some of the surprises and content I’m working on soon (this update was twice as long until I realized I’m giving everything away too soon ^_^).

Peace out,

Michael V.