The AIM is  #1 New Release Children's Astronomy Book on Amazon

Am I happy to share this news:

Two weeks after release, The Astronaut Instruction Manual has become #1 New Release in Children's Astronomy Books on Amazon.

This news comes with a prize bonus. See those 3 customer reviews? All three of our customer reviews came from backers! 

(If I could ask for one birthday present this year, it would be for YOU to review The AIM on Amazon. Here's the link. Click on Write a review. Then go to it, Reviewer!)

If you have any questions about your books, email me mike-at-mikemongo-dot-com or Inkshares' Matt Hayes at hello-at-inkshares-dot-com. And keep up the good work!

Mike Mongo
astronaut teacher

Two weeks ago I received my Developmental Edits from my fantabulous editor Lindsay from Girl Friday Productions -- a day or so before I was beside myself with anxiety and anticipation, so I posted this on Twitter:

  Dev edits coming in on Friday. SCREEEOOONNNKKK. Was that my heart making a Godzilla noise? Why yes, yes it was.

And now, on the day that I complete two weeks of wailing, teeth gnashing, amputating my darlings, and re-writing, I am happy to now post this image:

I stand atop a pile of words. 54,528 of them, to be precise.

That is the most recent count, the most recent clump of language and raw ore pulled from the earth, that I've generated for The Footsteps of Cain. Good, bad, and everything in between.

Of my estimation, I believe I'm about half-way to a...deep breath here...finished piece! Since I've been able to focus full-timeish (at least as full time as I can with my 7 year old at school and a perpetual mountain of house work and keep-my-family-alive food preparation that I SUPPOSE I should commit to), I've been able to crank out 20,000 words, or thereabouts. For me, that's about a month and a half of work.

I've passed in and out of a couple different types of certainty on the journey; certainty that part of what I've generated is good, and certainty that part of it sucks in the most cringe-worthy sense. I feel like I have too many one-dimensional puppets, and I know that in my second run through I'm going to try to breathe more life and blood into them...take felt and make it flesh. The view from inside a story, especially for someone like me with little experience, can be a very constricting one; I wonder and fear what fresh eyes will reveal about it when they see it.

Walk forward with fear, old man, and let it keep your eyes open.

Back to work.

Asteroid Made of Dragons re-writes /developmental edits are due back to my editor on Friday.

Artwork - Hieronymus Bosch / My adrenal glands.