It's been an amazing ride, hasn't it?  

Dear Readers,

You amazing, fantastic, beautiful humans!!! WE DID IT!!!!! WE DID IT IN 3 DAYS!!!!!! Do you know how wonderful you are? You made my dream come true today, and I am grateful beyond measure!

Today is a day of great hope. There have been far too many times in my life, and in yours I'm sure, where others have told you that my dream was impossible.  That I weren't smart enough, strong enough or good enough for my dream to come to fruition.  It happened to me while I was healing after this accident, it happened while I was pitching this book - and both times I considered giving up.  But luckily, somewhere inside of me there was this well of hope that wouldn't let me give up - and here I am living, walking and going to publish a book! 

Please take a good hard look at what happened over the last three days, and know in your heart that no matter what anyone else says - there is always hope. 

Also, if you have a minute, can you give yourself the BIGGEST hug. The hug is from me, and make it a good one, because I REALLY mean it.

Love,

Katie 

#Katie1Truck0

Thank you. No matter what happens in the hours that follow, this campaign has transformed my life.

The Animal in Man has just under 400 pre-orders, but well over 400 followers. If you’ve seen my raffle videos, you know my troubles with simple math, but my logic is pretty solid on this one: there are still so many who follow, who read this right now, who still haven’t committed to a pre-order.

It is to you I address this update.

On day one of every new school year, one of the first ideas the young men and women in my high school English class would hear me say as we read aloud the syllabus was “words are magic.” They are. They can build something out of nothing. Writing is Magic. Words are its power, and sentences its spells.

Right now I wish I knew exactly what to type in this little box. I’m pressuring myself to find the perfect utterance, to strike the right style, to speak with the precise tone. I want to build in you that need to read “The Animal in Man” out of nothing but words. That’s the truth. These are the words of my heart laid bare. I don’t know what else to give you besides these two promises: I will finish The Animal in Man, and The Animal in Man will be an incredible book.

I, Joe Asphahani, don’t know what else to say. But my story does. I believe in its power to captivate you, all you have to do is believe it too. Please pre-order “The Animal in Man.”

By the end of the school year, the power of my writing, the force of my personality, the warmth in my heart and the smile on my face all made believers out of the skeptics. Give my book a chance.

Followers of Blood Dawn, I hope you're all having a great New Year. To kick off 2016, I've renovated the Blood Dawn page. Please come and check out some of the surprises there now, including the map.

Check out the infographic below for some of the great reviews Blood Dawn has received -- I'm humbled by the high praise.

If you haven't purchased your copy of Blood Dawn yet, click on the image to visit the Blood Dawn page on Inkshares to pre-order your copy today!

Good news everybody -- I've found the toolkit I've been looking for!

Hello all! Very excited to send another update out, we hit 300 pre-orders this weekend. As momentum going into the final 40 day stretch, this is great news. Another chapter went up today, and if you find it appealing, give a thought to ordering if you haven't, and/or share enthusiasm for the project on your socials. I would be very grateful, hitting 750 preorders is a big step that will improve the quality and reach of the project immensely.

As incentive/thanks, I will be sending updates out with "How-To" screenplay writing tips for the next several weeks. Hopefully they will be useful to aspiring writers, or experienced ones alike. Screenwriting is a unique beast, and one I've specialized in over the years, and I'm excited to share my methods and advice. If you're not a writer, maybe the tips may spark interest in other creative outlets for readers. 

I have more bonus incentives to come as well. Stay tuned for those, and again, thank you for the orders. Dracula will fight one day soon for all of us.

Pat

Dear Machiners! 

 I only have time for a very quick update today because the Sword & Laser is in full sprint to the finish mode and I feel like a politician out amongst the people shaking hands on election day. 

This is my only campaign. Almost guaranteed I will not run another crowdfunding campaign, at least one like this, which leverages my extended network to such a great extent. So failure is not an option, especially at this late stage when we have tasted so much success. 

As we know though, nothing is won until the contest is officially over. So I must implore you, if you follow this project and have not yet pre-ordered, please do so. 

At the moment, we may or may not still be in 2nd place. This amazing story has held 2nd place for the last four and a half weeks! To be quite honest, I am a little too competitive to feel very good if we slipped to third at the end. I know getting published is getting published and I will certainly do a dance and feel amazing. But for a moment, I’ll be disappointed about the way the campaign lost steam at the end and was overtaken. 

So let’s not let that happen! 

This is a 2nd place campaign, and it has felt that way for several weeks. The Animal in Man has dominated the competition and my congratulations to the fantastic Joe Asphahani! Craig Munro also has a wonderful project, and I enjoyed learning more about it last night on the Sword & Laser podcast with Tom and Veronica. If you haven't watched the interview yet, you can check it out right here:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BT-qJERU_s 

Oh, and if you are a fellow Inkshares author following along but haven't pre-ordered, I almost invariably order back. Always happy to swap pre-orders to support my fellow authors! 

On to the finish!