It's been a month!?  How has it been a month since my last update.  Whatever.  Hello, Boulderoleros!  Do you ever feel insignificant?  Like life is just passing you by?  Like you're being manipulated by immortal beings with no regard for your well being and condescendingly pointy ears?  Good.  That's what the Immortals want.

I've been doing some math and some shenanigans (never a good combination) and I've discovered that the Immortal Calendar is super cool.  Immortals have nine days in their week.  They have nine weeks in a month.  They have nine months in a year.  Do all that math and their years are 729 days long.  That's two of our years minus a day.  One Immortal year is two human years.  We're like dogs to them.  And yes that means they have two springs, two summers, two falls and two winters, but if you live forever, does that really matter all that much?  Does time really matter all that much?  Yes.  Yes it does.  Because you have to know when to go to war and when to go to war and when to go to war and most importantly, the most sacred of all Immortal traditions, you have to know when the times are good...to go to war.  Immortals loooove killing.  It's bad.  Mostly for us mortals.  I hope you're all having good, safe travels.  I'll be updating more than zero times a week for the next few weeks.  Feel free to follow me on Twitter for an array of shenanigans, mainly those pertaining to my book, but also, just things that are happening in my brain.  Also like us on Facebook if you haven't already!

As always thank you for your continued and rad support.

Earth, sea, empire.

-NDF

WOW so much has changed around here! But one thing remains the same--I'm working away editing Starbuck and getting him ready for you all. 

I wanted to make sure you don't miss the #inksharesholiday promotion that starts today. If you order a physical copy of my book, you qualify for a second copy COMPLETELY FREE *turns on infomercial voice* That's right, folks, you get two copies of this magnificently silly book FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! There are some holidays coming up, and everyone you know has a birthday. Order my book during this promotion and you can read my book along with your favorite bibliophile friend. You could make multiple orders and start a book club, where you discuss exactly how little sleep I was running on while writing various sections of the book, or how many bagels with cream cheese and doritos I probably ate while my delicate brain was still developing (answers in the readers guide: very little, and way too many, respectively.)
I highly recommend you take advantage of this offer while it lasts, and encourage everyone you know to do the same. Even if you're planning to gift them your second copy. You'll be in before copies of this book become highly collectible and incredibly valuable. Now excuse me, I have some squirrels to avenge.

For more on the inkshares Holiday Promotion, check out this link: https://www.inkshares.com/holiday_promotion

Hey Team! Thank you so much for your support. While we may have not technically reached our goal and the book won't be published at this time, I want to thank all of you fir your incredible support. Writing is my life and it was wonderful to be able to share a piece of my work with you. I will now be pursuing more traditional modes of publishing for the Chrono Club.

Today I sent out a few copies of the Chrono Club to readers who had expressed interest in reading the book even though it was not funded. If any more of you would like a digital copy of the Chrono Club email me at fallonwalker@rocketmail.com and I will send it to you.

Thank you guys so much. You're amazing!

Wow, what a week!

First of all, let me give a huge THANKS to everyone who has already placed a pre-order. You have no idea how much it means to me! I will never forget my early adopters. You are the ones who took a chance on me, and obviously something with me or my writing resonated with you enough to click the button. That is extremely flattering, and I am so thankful for you believing in me.

A lot of the supporters this week were family and friends, and so I count myself a lucky man to be surrounded by so many wonderful people who rally around me when I need them. Even though I already knew you were amazing people, it's still such a happy reminder.

I was astonished to see my book hover in the top 5 of the Sword & Laser Contest for most of this week. I am in the company of some truly great authors. There is a lot of talent on this site, so that is also a huge compliment to be among their ranks.

Congrats to Joseph Asphahani for absolutely crushing the contest so far! He is completely deserving of it, so I tip my hat to him. Also, I hope that if I ever meet him in person, I say his last name correctly.

This contest has me doing strange things. I've started using Twitter, which is a different sensation for me (brevity is foreign to me). I also jump at every e-mail when my phone buzzes, hoping it's something novel-related. But most importantly, it has forced me out of my shell, which is a pretty thick layer to crack. Putting myself out there is extremely scary for me, so this is a bigger deal than you could imagine.

I'm also going to be a first-time father in May, and so I feel like this is probably the best time to focus my time and effort on something that is near and dear to me before taking on the role of "Dad" in five months. What a hectic (but fun) time! If you see me in person and I'm in a bit of a daze, please forgive me. I've got quite a few important things bouncing around in my brain right now.

For those of you who are following the novel, but haven't opted to pre-order it yet, I truly hope at some point I can convince you that this is a project worth your investment. If there's something specific you'd like to see from me or this book, please reach out to me and let me know. I am more than happy to answer questions or share with you whatever it is you want to know. The only thing that is off limits is the ending of the book. ;)

I am a few chapters deep, and constantly in a state of figuring out how I can make something better. Jacob's journey will be a bit trippy, no doubt about it. But I want the reader to walk away from the book with a certain degree of paranoia that perhaps something is always lurking in the dark corners of our world. Those small oddities we ignore could be part of something much greater.

As you may have noticed, Chapter 2 takes a bit of a breather after Chapter 1. This is before shoving Jacob further down a twisted path in Chapter 3 (yet to be seen by you). He isn't exactly a willing participate in anything going on around him, but he doesn't mind humoring something that might improve his current condition.

I plan on posting Chapter 3 on Wednesday. If I hit 25 pre-orders before then, I will post it at that milestone. It would mean the world to me to see this book's numbers start to rise again.

Thanks again, and happy dreaming!

Chapters 4 & 5 have been added to the Inkshares page for The Children of the Forest. Looking ahead, I still have 3 more chapters to post, and I will try to have all 3 up by the end of the month. 

I've made some updates to my second book's page for The Darkest Places. The novel is equal parts science-fiction and horror, and the story combines elements of Boardwalk Empire, Indiana Jones, and H.P. Lovecraft. If you're a fan of the supernatural, any of the sources above, or my writing in general, go check it out @ https://www.inkshares.com/projects/the-darkest-places   and pre-order a copy today to help me win the Sword & Laser Contest (Part Deux).

Also, I've made the announcement before but I would like to remind all you savvy reader-folk that I am currently underway in holding a raffle for purchases of my books. Each sale of The Darkest Places & The Children of the Forest nets you a chance to win a $250.00 Amazon gift-card! 

The drawing will be held on December 10th, with a live video posted to youtube. So remember everyone, mark your calendars and be prepared for the inevitable horror of my terrible visage staring back and talking to you through your computer, while also announcing the winner.

~ Until next time! 

G'day folks,

Found this article in today's West Australian... page 6 of the Today lift-out.

Hopefully, it will provide exposure, pique curiosities and boost sales! Yes, I'm still going for 750! Please help me! If each of you get one more reader, that's 2/3 of the way there... so, your partner/wife/husband/bf/gf, mum, dad, sister, brother, friend, work colleague, your local IGA check-out chicks/chooks, uni mates, lecturers, evil ex-girl/boyfriends... all you have to do is get them to:

1. Sign-up - wait ~10 minutes for the email confirmation;
   
2. Click the CLAIM CREDIT button;
3. Go back to the site and click PRE-ORDER my book for USD$5;

To assist, I have prepared the following comebacks for some of the most common responses:

1. "I don't read" - "don't need to, just wait for the movie."
   
2. "I don't read sci-fi" - "really? are you saying you don't have an imagination?"
3. "I hate sci-f"i - ... (quietly walk away from the crazy person, then run fast)
4. "I don't know, it's expensive" - (scornfully look at the takeaway coffee in their hands, then say) "seriously?"
5. (general display of apathy) - "look, it's the season of giving, and by pledging your support, you're helping an upcoming author tell his story and you get to be part of that journey! While he might not be the next J.K. Rowling or Andy Weir (actually, he just might), but your contribution today might just push him in the right direction."
6. "Sure, how do I do it?" - (don't freak out, calmly and purposefully get their email, and send them this link https://goo.gl/UJujLI) "Thank you so much! I'll let Vincent know, I'm sure he'll be stoked!" (or ask them to google "The Cora Chronicles")

So, what are you waiting for? :^)

Cheers.

Sincerely yours, Vincent

P/S: Merry Christmas!

Hi everybody, first of all - you guys rock! Thank you so much for putting your faith in me and my book, it means more than I can describe. 

The challenge is to reach the magic 250 preorders for the book to be published. I believe that the domino effect is the best, so my ask is:

Would you be so kind to tell one friend each about this project? If all of you do, we will reach the goal and the book will be on its way to you sooner rather than later! And what´s more..I will stop harassing you through email:)

The link is still: https://www.inkshares.com/projects/life-happened

Lots of love,

Caroline

Hi guys,

Okay, I'm about to head back into the world of DHM, but I wanted to share some inspiration images that I've found that describe the feel of the book. Now, these aren't mine, they are from artists on Deviantart, but they give you a better idea of what DHM is about.  First up is a hacker:

I’ve been meaning to edit the first chapter and re-upload it to the Inkshares page. “The fox’s eyes WERE dazzled as he passed from the darkness beneath the arch and stepped into the daylight. Maxan HAD BEEN following his mark…” Argh! Those passive verbs are killing me! One of my weaknesses as a writer that I’m trying to work through is the fact I obsess about the quality of every line, every arrangement of words, practically every letter that I produce. Which wouldn’t be so bad if it all happened AFTER I committed the sentence to the page, you know - like normal editing.

But no. No. Oh no. Unfortunately it happens to me DURING the writing. I’ll type something that’s maybe not perfect but not so bad, and then I’ll instantly convince myself there’s a better way to say it… *backspace*backspace… “Aaah, there you go, Joe. Now we can move o… Hold on, what was I going to write next?” By the time I get ready to move on, I’ve lost the rhythm. Anyway, as I said, I’m getting better at ignoring the perfectionist riding on my back. I need to be a bit more Blaster, a lot less Master and just get the g*d**n first draft done!

Besides the superficial edits that need to be done… There are some sweeping changes that need to be made to all of The Animal in Man’s earlier chapters. You see, one day, I got tired of worldbuilding and just said “Hell with it! Let’s write!” And I did. Only while I was writing it, I was discovering things about the world that I hadn’t prepared for. Like this plague called “The Strayn” that grips the Herbridian population.

When a Herbridian develops a case of Strayn, they have quite literally ‘gone astray’ or become ‘stray.’ It’s not a physical affliction. It’s a complete breakdown of their mental faculties. It’s a complete reversion to a wild, feral nature. They lose anything and everything that makes them more than an animal, starting with coherent speech. They growl. They stop using utensils to eat their food, opting instead for the more natural claw and fang to scratch and rend and tear into their sustenance. And they develop an ‘unnatural’ taste for meat. Live meat. They hunch, they stoop, they start to move on all fours as opposed to upright. Their entire bio-mechanics change. The most advanced cases of stray Herbridians are relatively indistinguishable from the animals you or I might see behind a cage at a zoo in this world. Only a Herbridian is roughly the size of a human. So imagine that Lion-man, standing upright, 6’6” tall, powerful, proud, the sunlight of Yinna glinting off his golden armor, his hand gripping a Gladius hilt buckled at its side, and then some hunger sets in, some beast whispers within the veil of this Lion-man’s dreams, reminding it how much it enjoys the flesh of the gazelle, the thrill of the chase, and soon the Lion starts slouching, just a little, over time, inch by inch, and soon the Lion starts staring down the cobbled street toward a block of Crosswall it knows many gazelles call home. More and more, it catches itself there on that corner, week to week, day to day, every minute, and soon the lion doesn’t bother to wear its armor any more. Wearing clothes has no point, nor standing tall, when one moves so much faster, when one hides so much better, beneath just the fur that covers its skin. And one day the hunger overcomes the lion, the whisper has grown to a scream that can only be silenced if the beast slakes itself on the blood of that gazelle.

And thus the once-proud Lion-man has fallen astray.

So when I edit The Animal in Man, I will need to remind readers of the danger that surrounds Maxan when he skulks through the Western district. He doesn’t just shadow from the rooftops because it keeps him hidden. Oh no. It keeps him safe. The Western District of Crosswall is an enormous cage. The Leoran King has ordered all Stray to be quarantined within the high stone walls that run the length of its miles-long perimeter.

But are all those Leorans locked in this district Stray? No. Many are falsely accused of going stray and exiled. Neighborly disputes in the other areas of the city can be solved by whoever bribes corrupt city guards to believe that their rival’s fangs might be showing a little more involuntarily these days… “Right? Maybe his shoulders are stopping a little more than they used to. Maybe he doesn’t feel so right in the head?” And after a coinpurse changes hands, that perfectly healthy rival might find himself flung into the Western District, surrounded by Stray, separated from his family and from his claim to property in the city. His life completely destroyed.

Such is the nature of greed, or of revenge. Of opportunity and betrayal. Besides our tendency for violence, there are many ugly parts of ourselves we try to hide. There’s just not enough room in this update to list them all. Stay tuned for the next weekly update, due this Friday Dec. 11th, wherein I’ll tell you about Maxan the fox, The Animal in Man’s reluctant hero.