Hello everybody!

Apologies for the radio silence.  I owe you all an update on KILL CREEK, so...here it is!  The editing process is going well and I couldn’t be happier with the experience.  The Inkshares team has been insanely encouraging but also willing to push me to make this book as strong as it can be.  Their notes are smart and specific and always in the interest of making my story better.  I love the changes and feel you’re going to end up with a very cool, very scary, very satisfying horror novel, a book I hope you’ll enjoy and feel confident recommending to others.

Which brings me to my next bit of news: KILL CREEK will be published in October of this year!  That means paperbacks and/or ebooks will be shipped to those who pre-ordered during my fundraising campaign (a million thanks to you).  And my book will be available to the entire world via on-line booksellers and actual holy-crap-they-still-exist bookstores like Barnes & Noble.  Inkshares is backing this baby 100%, and I’m very excited to be a part of the team.

I also wanted to share the new cover art with you.  I think it perfectly captures the creepy, elevated haunted house story I’ve written.

Thank you SO MUCH for your support and your patience during this process.  October will be here before we know it!

Best,

Scott Thomas

March is winding up and significant work is progressing on Human Resources. During the past month, my developmental editor was assigned and read the manuscript. Since then, we’ve been working furiously on the planned edits to whip the book into shape. Matt, my editor, is brilliant. He’s been deconstructing the manuscript with insightful observations, making great suggestions, and generally keeping me working hard. With his support, a new outline for the novel is emerging, that trims away unnecessary distractions, crystallises the themes, and adds extra punch to the plot. The unfortunate outcome of this effort is more work, but I’m excited by the improvements. Human Resources will be dramatically improved by the time it reaches your hands. On a related note: feel free to send me all your caffeine, I’m going to need it :).

If you haven’t already done so, it would be great for everyone to follow my various online accounts — it feeds my ego, staving off the crushing self-doubt of a writer!

• Follow my Facebook page.
  
• Follow me on Goodreads.
  
• Follow me on Amazon.
  
• Sign up to my newsletter (covers more than these HR updates).
  

Finally, I wanted to point your attention towards two particular projects on Inkshares:

Sorcery for Beginners

A 13-year-old boy finds an easy-to-read, how-to manual for magic. Now he just has to prevent everyone else from stealing it.

Sorcery for Beginners is in production and written by my talented editor. It’s a fun premise and is going to be a great read.

Rule Britannia 

A female airship Captain and her crew work to prevent a despotic Queen Victoria expanding her empire.

This new project is by a fellow Tasmanian and now funding. There isn’t enough steampunk in my life, and Rule Britannia will fill that void in an epic manner. The excerpts have me bouncing up and down for more.   

Dear friends and followers,

It has been a while, and I apologise for the radio silence; we are still waiting for an editor to be assigned to us, and can only be patient. And anxious. And anxiously patient....

If any of you are in the Montreal region in April, however, I would like to draw your attention to the following event:

It is as it says above: the Arthur Ellis Awards recognise the best in Canadian crime writing. I’m not in the running (yet) but, being in Montreal, I’ll be there as one of the local crime writers playing host. With me will be Peter Kirby (last year’s winner for Best Crime Novel), Michael Blair, Michael Kent, Jim Napier, Geri Newell, and, of course, Hilary MacLeod who is also the organiser for the event.

In the meantime, here’s hoping for a speedy editorial process.

Hi everyone,

Now that the dust has settled on the first couple of weeks since pre-orders opened, I’ve been turning my attention to trying to drive more traffic to the story page for Rule Britannia. I know I’m treading a well-worn path that a lot of you have taken before me, so I’ve been poking around your updates, social media, forum posts etc to see what has been tried, tested, failed and succeeded at.

I’ve spent my time over the last week or so working on my online presence.  In addition to launching the Facebook fan page for Rule Britannia, I’ve registered a domain name with the intent of setting up an author page (stay tuned). I’ve been trying to get to grips with Twitter, and through Fiverr.com found a consultant who set-up a social media schedule for me to get my head around what to post when, and to where.

All this, and like most of the rest of you, working full-time.  Roll on Easter.

Here’s my pick of the week(ish).

Everything is Normal: The Life and Times of a Soviet Kid By Sergey Grechishkin
"One eventful middle-class childhood behind the Iron Curtain in Soviet Leningrad.  A mix of a fun memoir and social history of the years preceding the collapse of the USSR."

I said in my review of this book that history is written by social historians like Sergey, the sample chapters (which I enjoyed so much I stopped reading because I didn’t want spoilers for the full book), are engaging and full of the little details that pull you into a story and keep you reading.  Sergey’s book has nabbed three syndicate picks, including the coveted Staff Syndicate, and as of today, is tantalisingly close to 750 - just 52 more pre-orders needed. 

’till next time,
Helen.

Top of the something, Space Crew! 

I have emerged from the confines of the writer’s cave to give you all a well-deserved update. 

Turns out the manuscript, and my mental health, needed more reworking than expected. I am declaring it now, and please don’t scream at me: I am a month behind! 

(best if you imagine me shouting it like this)

So March is wrapping up, and so is this story, finally! At last! The end is on the horizon. I expect that in one week I’ll be finished writing and onto editing. 

Here’s the updated total timeline:  

To compensate for my lateness, I’ve made sure to boost the quality of this thing, so I’m expecting editing to take half what I had planned (about two weeks). This means that if you think about it, I’m only a couple weeks behind. 

Beta readers wanted! The next phase requires a couple of people to read this thing for early feedback. I have some folks in mind, and I have specific requirements, but if you’re interested, hit me up on Twitter (@acbaldwin) or by email at acbaldwinbooks@gmail.com. No promises, but if I need you I will call on you. 

So that about sums up the remaining work. I’m really excited about this story after a lot of progress has been made, and I can’t wait to make it a reality. 

Your Silly Space Captain who forgot their drawing tablet today, -AC

Yesterday Inkshares finished the final layout of The Punch Escrow and sent it off for galley printing (that’s book biz talk for advance reader copies). The book’s gotten some AMAZING blurbs from some AMAZING people. I wanted to share my favorites with you:

"An alt-futuristic hard-science thriller with twists and turns you’ll never see coming. I couldn’t put it down." - Felicia Day, author of the bestselling You’re Never Weird On The Internet (Almost), Geek & Sundry founder, and soon to be Kinga Forrester in Mystery Science Theatre 3000!

"This book angered me to my core, because it’s based on an idea that should have occurred to me. The fact that Tal executed it so well, and made such a page-turner out of it, just adds insult to injury." - Scott Meyer, author of the Magic 2.0 series

"The Punch Escrow will have you rooting for its plucky, sarcastic hero as he bounces between religious fanatics, secret agents, corporate hacks and megalomaniacs in a quest to get his life back." - Robert Kroese, author of the Mercury Falls series, Starship Grifters series

More news soon!

-Tal

Exciting news, faoii! Listen up!

Today has been a wonderful day. It was the first day that I felt like myself since I got sick over a year ago. It was the first time in a long time that I felt like everything was going to be okay. Honestly, I had gotten so used to feeling run-down that I had forgotten what a true faoii feels like. I remember now. And it’s wonderful. Today was filled with hope and it made all the doctors appointments, fear, desperation, and pain of the last several months seem worth it. Things are getting better, faoii. We are going to make it.

But, here’s what YOU care about: Five minutes ago I sent in The Last Faoii manuscript to Inkshares. It is the first step in the march to publication-- the march to our campaigns ultimate and most glorious victory. Ready your weapons, faoii. The final battle is about to begin.

Shields up. Now and always.

Faoii-Tahani

Orders, Faoii! Listen up!

Thanks to all of you for your honest feedback and advice after my last update. The Last Faoii’s facebook page was filled with advice and opinions, and it’s taken me a bit to sort through all of it.

First things first: Blade-Blessed is a dumb name. We all decided that together. Also, the cover art with Kaiya on it was too cluttered. Most people seem to like the original design that I’ve been using since the beginning. So I’m glad we got those things out of the way. Well done, troops.

The title, though... that has brought up all sorts of discussion. On the one hand, yes, faoii is hard to pronounce if you haven’t already read the Glossary. On the other hand, though... We’re faoii. Every single one of you is a warrior, and I’ve addressed you by your title since your enlistment. Our campaign has been built on that word from the beginning. The world is beginning to know us by that name. It would be hard to drop it now.

But, it does not hurt to ask one more time before making an ultimate decision. Opinions, my warriors?

Welcome to new followers, and greetings to those who have faithfully stuck with me for awhile. I have some glorious news! 384 copies of The Walls are Closing In have been presold, which slides us over the 50% mark! This leaves 366 copies to go!

I am working on an audio version of Chapter 1 to be released once the 400 order target is met - likely sometime in the next week.

That is not all on the exciting news front! In addition to the dystopian book bundle giveaway that I am running to help spread the word, I have also decided to offer a raffle specifically for those who place a preorder. I will be raffling off a $250 gift card for Airbnb as soon as the 750 order mark is met. Everyone who has already ordered has automatically been entered!

So, for $10, folks can support an emerging author, and enter for the chance to win a $250 Airbnb gift card. Please tell your family, friends, and random strangers you pass on the street.

In the meantime, check out these other great books currently on Inkshares.

Everything is Normal: The Life and Times of a Soviet Kid

One eventful middle-class childhood behind the Iron Curtain in Soviet Leningrad. A mix of a fun memoir and social history of the years preceding the collapse of the USSR.

 Rule Britannia 

A female airship Captain and her crew work to prevent a despotic Queen Victoria expanding her empire.

Squirrelfriends , glamazons and beautiful people in general

It has been a while. Actually, it has been a long, long time, but I have a good excuse. I’ve been dedicating every minute to finishing Bad Medicine: Slay it queen!

I have to admit, this book took me on an unexpected ride. I know how to write horror, I know how to scare people, however, mixing horror and comedy resulted harder than I expected.

This project means a lot to me. As a gay man, I was raised by drag queens. Life was rough after I came out and my friends became my family and my lifeline. Many of them were too fabulous to live within the constrictions of one gender, so they became drag queens. I saw them go from timid performers to fierce queens and their journey is what inspires me. That is why I want to get it right. I want to show the soul of a culture that is rich in history and struggle.

Of course, I am a twisted horror writer, so I threw zombies into the mix. I am a huge zombie fan and writing the frightening scenes in which the monsters lurk in the allies of a post-apocalyptic New York is just great.

I am happy to report that the final manuscript is almost done. I will go over it one more time, just to make sure all ends are tied and then I will send it to my friend and editor extraordinaire, Koleen, who also happens to be a drag-culture expert.

I am excited. I know the wait has been long and we still have a while to go until you can read Bad Medicine. I promise you, the wait will be worth it.

That is it for now. Have a wonderful, glamorous and gorgeous rest of your week.