Hey there!

So much news, but we’re gonna keep it efficient!

• The manuscript for A God in the Shed has been sent to Inkshares. It’s in the hands of editors right now. This is the Dark Times. The days when I worry that my editor won’t like my story. It’s always more fun/better when the editor likes the story.
• Working feverishly on Arch-Android. I ; love working in this world again! Going back to the partial draft after so long I’ve decided on a few minor changes that have exploded into huge shifts in characters and plot lines and it’s simply the most awesome time working on it. Arch-Android is so much fun to work on. If it’s half as entertaining to read as it is to write I think you, my friends, will love it.
• Arch-Android is the sequel to The Life Engineered. If you haven’t read this first book in the series I highly recommend that you do and, good news(!), the price for the digital version has been cut. 3.99$ will get you a DRM free eBook of The Life Engineered. You can have the future of humanity in your hands for less than a cup of coffee from a trendy barista.
• IMPORTANT: In 8 tiny little days, the Nerdist Video Games Contest will be over. Not just that but so will the pre-order period for Too Many Controllers. I will have a story in this anthology and I’m honoured to be alongside 14 other awesome and talented writers. You do not want to miss out on this. Check it out and pre-order your copy today.

That is all for now. As always, you’re all the best people in the world for being so supportive. Not only have I found amazing readers in you, but also a great community that I’m proud to call friends.

I remain, as always, your humble servant,

JF

Hey there!

So much news, but we’re gonna keep it efficient!

• The manuscript for A God in the Shed has been sent to Inkshares. It’s in the hands of editors right now. This is the Dark Times. The days when I worry that my editor won’t like my story. It’s always more fun/better when the editor likes the story.
• Working feverishly on Arch-Android. I ; love working in this world again! Going back to the partial draft after so long I’ve decided on a few minor changes that have exploded into huge shifts in characters and plot lines and it’s simply the most awesome time working on it. Arch-Android is so much fun to work on. If it’s half as entertaining to read as it is to write I think you, my friends, will love it.
• Arch-Android is the sequel to The Life Engineered. If you haven’t read this first book in the series I highly recommend that you do and, good news(!), the price for the digital version has been cut. 3.99$ will get you a DRM free eBook of The Life Engineered. You can have the future of humanity in your hands for less than a cup of coffee from a trendy barista.
• IMPORTANT: In 8 tiny little days, the Nerdist Video Games Contest will be over. Not just that but so will the pre-order period for Too Many Controllers. I will have a story in this anthology and I’m honoured to be alongside 14 other awesome and talented writers. You do not want to miss out on this. Check it out and pre-order your copy today.

That is all for now. As always, you’re all the best people in the world for being so supportive. Not only have I found amazing readers in you, but also a great community that I’m proud to call friends.

I remain, as always, your humble servant,

JF

First Edit is DONE!

Hey folks, I’ll try to walk the line between too many updates and never hearing about the progress of Pilot X, but I think this is a good milestone.

The Developmental Edit is done!

What the heck is a developmental edit some of you ask? Now some of you are sneering because you know what it is. Stop that. Not everybody is as smart as you.

Basically this is the edit where Clete finds the things that I abd my beta readers didn’t realize were confusing or contradictory. I slap my head and go WOW how did I miss that? I take his suggestions add a twist of my own and YOU end up with a better story.

Among the highlights

- The people of the Fringe Cascade have much more readbale names but their horrible spellings have been preserved as a hilarious joke. At least Clete and I think it’s hilarious

- The Encyclopedia chapter is now at the end of the book as an appendix so you all don’t throw the book out the window thinking the whole thing is a dry recitation of facts

- A really confusing bit where Pilot X travels back int time to the same point three times is now understandable.

There’s more but it would be spoilery.

So there you go. Developmental Edit MANAGED.

Now it’s off to the copy editor where they will wail and gnash teeth at all my typos and utter lack of comprehension of the proper use of a comma. Clete tried to catch most of those things but he is only human and I am really awful at commas.

MARKETING PLAN! There’s a marketing plan. Spoiler: THIS IS PART OF IT RIGHT HERE!!! But also exciting things like newspapers and blogs and radio and podcasts. Heh. Podcasts.

Also a side note. Amazon decided the book comes out in February which it doesn’t. The expected release date is still March 14. Amazon just makes up stuff sometimes apparently.

And that’s it!  By all means please let me know if you have any more questions and I’ll keep you up to date as we pass more milestones.

As always THANK YOU for your belief in this book and making the publishing possible. You are the best.

Tom

To Authors in Draft Mode:

Happy early 4th of July to all of my fellow Americans and non-Americans, I hope you have a great day too!

Quick update - You may be interested in following a new idea that I have placed here on Inkshares. Here’s the extremely short pitch:

Follow the life of Eugene Trickens, a survivor of WWII genetic experimentation with a secret, in this indirect sequel to AGELESS.

That’s right, I am in the planning stages for TIMELESS, a sequel to AGELESS! The plan (currently very, very rough) is you will see a lot of characters again in some capacity and dive deeper into some of the mysteries of the first book! I want to stress, this is not a direct sequel and we won’t pick up where the last book left us but don’t worry...possibly someday...whoops, I’ve said too much!

Also, we are less than two weeks from the end of the Nerdist Video Game Contest, and it’s time to jump in feet first and support TOO MANY CONTROLLERS! For those that have, I say thank you! If you haven’t, (and I’m looking at YOU James M. and a few others too) NOW is the time. We still need you! I still need you.

Lastly, if you have some time to listen, I had to pleasure of sitting down with Elan Samuel of The Warbler Books for a great interview (there are heavy AGELESS spoilers)!

And we can’t forget THE ROAD TO 100 REVIEWS on Amazon! Please leave a review if you can! 

Have a safe, happy holiday and thanks for everything!

Just an FYI guys the Pre-Order campaign ends TODAY. Those of you interested in getting your hands on an authentic original copy should have their order’s in ASAP.

Hello,

Check out the pre-order stats provided by Inkshares for SQUIDS IN:

As you can see, the rate of funding has flattened off as we approach the end of the Nerdist video-game contest. By keeping a close eye on the leaderboard (I swear my F5 key is going to break due to all the double-tapping) I can see that this is apparently also true for a lot of the other entries in the contest too. The quiet before the storm perhaps?

If the contest ends as is, I would of course be slightly disappointed not to have made it into the top 3 but I would be supremely chuffed with how the contest has gone. I never thought that my silly book about a video-game playing octopus would receive this much support from within the Inkshares community and honestly, you guys make up like 50% of my pre-orders, so thank you for making me feel so welcome here! 

In return, I have decided to give something back to the community by starting up a new syndicate called "Why So Serious" which will focus purely on funny, humour filled books to make us all smile and laugh in these dark and desperate times. 

Feel free to join the syndicate and help us to decide the first book we should back.

https://www.inkshares.com/syndicates/why-so-serious-

All the Best

Matthew