Hey Campers!

My good friend Lew Temple blurbed Sunshine is Forever. Check it out! Your copy arrives August 29, 2017! 

Dear Sparked reader,

Thank you so much for your amazing support during our preorder campaign last fall. You might be wondering where the heck your copy of the book is, and why we’ve taken so long to update you. 

Good news! We have a publication date: October 3, 2017. Your book will be mailed (or become available as an e-book) on that date. And the reason we’ve taken so long to update you is that we’ve been working hard on making Sparked completely ready for your eyes. 

We thought you might be interested to hear a bit about that process and the lessons we learned, especially if you’re a writer yourself or interested in writing. 

Lesson #1: Don’t shut down when you get feedback, even if you THINK you’re done.  

When someone gives you feedback, it’s human nature to focus on the negative, and it’s a writer’s nature to blow the negative wildly out of proportion. After Sparked achieved its preorder target, a developmental editor gave us a—gulp—twenty-page letter that sent us into a tailspin. The word “overkill” jumped out and something about how we should remove every reference to zombies. We’d already revised Sparked countless times. In despair, Helena couldn’t even bring herself to read the whole thing, while Malena lost herself in cat videos on Youtube. 

 But when we forced ourselves to read the letter line by line, we were shocked at how positive it actually was. It was like realizing that the mean girl at school, muttering insults under her breath, was actually complimenting your fashion sense (and giving you some useful pointers too). If we’d received that feedback with an open mind in the first place, we would have gotten the revision done a lot sooner.

Lesson #2: Thinking your book is done is usually a clear sign that you need to do another draft.  

You should never tempt fate using the word “final” when naming a draft of your book (as in “SparkedFinal.doc”). Just as we were treating ourselves to a celebratory lunch, we received notes from editor number two, our line editor. More changes were needed, including more “sexual tension.” Believe us, it is not easy to find a way for the hero and heroine to make eyes at each other while also trying to prevent the end of the world. But we set to work again.  

In the end, both editors were totally right and we’ re grateful to them for their brilliant insights and even more grateful the book is finally finished (or at least going to press. If you see more that we should have changed, maybe keep it to yourself at this point). We’re also excited that the book is coming out in October because it’s a spooky book that takes place in the week before Halloween, and…

Well, after all that work, we don’t want to spoil the story, do we?

We will update again when there’s more concrete news to share (readings! parties!) but for now, we are deeply grateful for your support and your patience and we can’t wait to send our book to you.

Warmly,

The ‘lenas

Hello my Knightmares!

This is my monthly check in to say hey, give you my perpetual thanks, to entice those who have not purchased a book to do so, and to share with you some free content! 

I am still waiting in the queue to begin publication, but there are rumblings that things are moving along and that I will be taking part soon. As soon as I hear something, all of you will know!

In the meantime, if you’re still on the fence about THE KNIGHTMARES, now is the time to grab yourself a copy for you, for your friends, for your significant other, for your dog and your cat! Grab one today. The Knightmares is ranked #2 on INKSHARES in Horror. Let’s give it a push!

FREE CONTENT! FREE CONTENT! FREE CONTENT!

As a promise to you all, I have continued my monthly serial called MYTHOLOGY, and I present to you not just one part, but two! Check it out! Make sure to read part I if you haven’t already!

Check out the first part here.

Check out parts II and III here.

The Mythology will not only build a larger universe, but it will set the stage for The Knightmares, and other projects I am working on.

Second order of business! I have decided to have my cover artist, the very talented Rachel Perciphone, design a SECOND cover. Once both of these are wrapped up, I will present them to you to choose which is best with some extra incentives. Check out her work! She’s awesome!

Stay tuned for more information!

Lastly, I leave you with a teaser image from my upcoming short story, MUM.

Hello everyone! 

I have lots of great stuff to share today!

First and foremost – The Bones of the Past eBook is ready and available for download for those who pre-ordered through Inkshares!

To grab your copy, just go to the book page here: https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-bones-of-the-past

After you log in, there should be a ‘Download’ tab under the cover image. The book is available in both EPUB (Kobo/Apple) and MOBI (Kindle).

This should be available to you if you ordered an eBook or if you ordered a hardcopy. If you haven’t received a notification email from Inkshares about it, and the download tab isn’t appearing for you, a quick note to Hello@inkshares.com will get it sorted out quickly.

Second - Paperbacks should start going out sometime next month. I’ll be down in the San Francisco area signing the backer copies on May 8th. Your books will start shipping out shortly thereafter!

Third – For anyone in the Ottawa area (or willing to travel!), Chapters Rideau will be hosting a launch event for the book on May 30th from 6-8pm. Come join us for a reading, coffee, and swag, as well as some appropriately themed baked treats from Lolai’s Yummies! For those who asked – there will be lots of paperback copies available in the store that night :)

Full details are here: https://www.facebook.com/events/126870887829199/

Thank you all again and again. I cannot express how grateful I am for the support you’ve shown me, and the help in getting my story out into the world!

What I love most about Maria’s drawing technique is the balance she strikes between stylistic interpretation and realistic detail. Her innate sense of what’s too little and what’s too much resonates with me, it always has, which is why I’m so excited to be partnering with her in this way. Like me, she’s learning as she goes (or, as my partner Michael would say, she’s building the plane while flying it). Maria’s making great progress, and her illustrations look fantastic!

For those of you who missed Maria’s introduction in my last update, you can catch the video here.

Other news

I’ll be receiving my editor’s comments on May 3, which basically makes me this owl, right now, and for every second until then.

(Photo credit: Naldz Graphics)

(Very exciting. Blink blink. I might puke I’m so nervous.)

Also exciting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid Kitchener a visit yesterday. The folks at Vidyard hosted him. They took him on a tour of the office and chatted about many things.

I had the pleasure of tuning in to watch the livestream of the chat, which was fantastic (full recording here: http://demos.vidyard.com/watch/7VRMFw6CbkSfmFfPTsaaRH).

To everyone who pitched in to make yesterday seem so dreamy from the stands: Congratulations on doing an incredible job of hosting our country’s leader. Thank you for making such a lasting and positive impression. I’m proud to be part of a community where members push themselves to be compassionate and thoughtful, take risks, and behave transparently. 

End of news.

You can probably surmise that the phrase ’Your book is in the mail’ is my dearest haunt. I can’t wait for the moment when I get to call you up (email or text, more likely) and say those words. So I thank you for your continued patience and understanding. Most of all, I want to thank you for reading! 

Donna

Now for some fun bits... ;)

Maria’s creative process has been fascinating to observe. I mentioned how, like me, she’s figuring things out as she goes. Maria’s had to stretch her limits to overcome challenges, and in doing so, has developed her own techniques (read: hacked solutions together and I love it). 

It’s my pleasure to be sharing with you some of her midstream work.

(^ ERMAGHERD!)

I hope you’re tantalized by these small flashes. Stay tuned for more detail in updates to come!

Hey fans and friends! 

I want to give everyone who preordered my book in the funding stage something special. I really appreciate the support. Publishing with Inkshares has been a dream. So, if you were one of the first 750 people to preorder a paperback of my book, you will also get this limited bookmark with your shipment. (E-book preorders will not get this perk, mostly because you don’t need a bookmark for an e-book haha)

 Thanks again!

Also, I was in Better Call Saul last night. Lines got cut, but you still see me, and I still got credited. Check it out!

Thanks for the continued support!

Kyle T. Cowan