The Living God has a new cover! Thank you to everyone who voted and left comments that helped make these better. I liked both covers so much, and since I did like them so much, I’ve decided to use them both! After all, this is a series, and I have four books to make covers four. So, I present to you the new book cover for The Living God, and the official cover (and title) of the second novel. 

Hello everybody,

I hope everyone had a great holiday period and are off to a good start for 2017. It’s been a couple of months since the last update on The Battle Within, so here’s the latest information.

Timeline

We’re still on track for a book launch of 27 Jun 2017. At this moment the manuscript is about to enter the proofread stage and while that’s happening, advance reader copies are going out for endorsement. I’m happy to say that initial feedback has been very positive. We’re already starting to make plans for the book launch party, so if you’re going to be in Ottawa during the last week of June, please include that in your plans!

Upcoming Developments

Being new to the publication process, this experience has been great in learning everything that goes into marketing a book. One of those aspects is getting the book into brick and mortar stores (or their electronic equivalents). Believe it or not, but there’s great opportunity for an author to get involved here and one thing I’ll be working on over the next few months is engaging the regional distributors in the United States who provide books to the Army Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES – or the PX for a more familiar term).

Also, The Battle Within is featured on Goodreads at  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31922135-the-battle-within?from_search=true#other_reviews. If you have a minute, please click on the link and add the book to one of your shelves!

Other Projects

The big news on this front is that I’ll be finished the second draft of my next novel, Jihadi Bride, by the end of this coming week. After that comes the search for beta readers and then I’ll start the editing process in earnest. Still a lot of work to accomplish, but I’m very happy with how this novel is taking shape.

That’s it for this update, but as always, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions. Thanks again for your support and patience, and all the best in 2017,

Alastair Luft

Dear friends and followers,

It is now three weeks since we won the Full Publication deal with The List. The manuscript for "Murder at the Veterans’ Club" was submitted two weeks ago, and now it is a matter of waiting for an editor to be assigned to me. This could take a while; here’s the article about the publishing timeline, in case you missed the last update: I know there are a couple of new faces among you since then.

So, what lies ahead?

Well, I am currently halfway through working on a story-game project for Choice Of Games. I expect to see it come out some time in the latter half of this year. (I encourage everyone to check them out. I’ve enjoyed their stuff over the past few years, and I’m excited at the possibility of seeing myself in their lineup.)

There is also the matter of what to do with the Peterkin franchise. With the publishing timeline being somewhat longer than I expected, and with the additional time required to properly fund a campaign ... plus the sheer chutzpah it would require for me to begin asking for orders on a second book before the first book is even in anyone’s hands.... If I plan on getting the Full Publication deal on something, I should probably start the funding campaign after the launch of this current book, which means it could be two years or more in between books. That seems ... likely to result in an overall loss of interest.

So, I’m toying with a couple of ideas.

One: start a new campaign anyway, for the short story collection "Peterkin Investigates the Anthology"--but aim only for the 250 orders required for the Quill imprint. It won’t get all the services of the Full Publication deal, but then it isn’t a sequel and it isn’t a full-length novel, and it will be out there and available within a year after "Murder at the Veterans’ Club".

Two: take that collection apart and publish the stories individually via Kindle Direct; say, one every two months.

I haven’t quite researched these options yet, nor have I decided on a course of action. It seems the adventure is only just beginning....

It has been just one week since the 90-day campaign began, and The Walls are Closing In has reached 123 preorders. This is phenomenal. We are halfway towards the Quill light-publishing deal already, and are on a brilliant trajectory towards the full publishing contract.

Thank you to everyone who has taken this leap of faith with me. I realize that putting down hard earned money on a book that is a ways off is not everyone’s cup of tea. I want you all to know that each time I see a new order come through, I am dancing on the inside ... and sometimes on the outside. 

A special thank you to my super readers (who have ordered 3 or more copies), Inkshares authors and followers who have already sent referrals my way, and to those who have left a review or recommendation.

The manuscript is complete as is, though it will continue to be fine tuned until the last minute. I am spending long hours locked in staring contests with my manuscript, striving to ensure that the story walks the line between fact and fiction just enough. Sometimes it wins and sometimes I do.

As I mentioned in a previous updated, The Walls are Closing In has been selected as this month’s Thriller Night Syndicate pick. This was a huge honor. My book’s page now sports the Thriller Nights badge!

Blog posts and youtube mentions will start to go live this week or next, and I will share those links when they do!

Today is a rough day for a lot of people, and I hope that all of you are able to stand strong, find solace in numbers, and surround yourselves with friends and loved ones. Buckle up. It will be a rocky ride.

Until next time,

-Jacqui

Hello everyone!

I want to apologize for being MIA for the last two months. Things have been rather crazy in life, with the holidays. But, I was also offered a new job as the lead graphic designer for 117-year-old engineering firm. I’m going to be heading up (starting up, really) the department. So, I’ve been spending the last few weeks getting all the loose ends tied up at my current job. On top of that, my fiance and I are looking at wedding venues and preparing to move in three months. Needless to say, I’ve been a bit out of sorts.

I can officially say we are getting published because now we have a brand spanking new layout in Inkshares and it is no longer the funding page! That is so exciting! I’ve got to take down the incentives and get those out to everyone. Fancy mugs are in for those spectacular backers who bought 10 copies. I’m ordering the bookmarks and posters to send out to the other backers tomorrow, so I’ll be contacting you for your address so that I can send you your incentives! 

Inkshares contacted me, but I have no real deadline for when the book will be published. Right now, they are working through a backlog, so it may be some time. The book is finished and it is almost completely edited after passing the first round of beta readers. As soon as I finish these edits I will be passing it off to the second round of beta readers. (If you’ve contacted me about beta reading, again, I haven’t forgotten)

I’ll be contacting those that I owe covers very shortly (today, hopefully) to discuss jumping back in to work on those. I’m looking forward to helping you guys out with them, and I apologize for the delay. 

For quicker updates, go like my Facebook Page! You’ll find lots of links to other books that I’ve done covers for, you’ll get up-to-date news about the book, the editing process, and sneak peaks!  https://www.facebook.com/KaytalinPlattAuthor/  Also, follow me on Twitter. https://twitter.com/KaytalinPlatt

That’s the end of the updates, so I’m going to move on to the sentimental, mushy, oversharing stuff that isn’t necessarily important to your interests, but still something I’d like to say. Rather, I’d like to share with you so that, if you are like me, you might not feel so alone in the weird need to disbelieve in the achievements you’ve made.

I suffer from imposter syndrome and have for pretty much a majority of my life and in everything that I do. If you don’t know what imposter syndrome is, it is where, no matter how well you do or what you achieve, you always feel like a fraud and that, eventually, everyone will realize how really crappy you are. Someone with imposter syndrome spends their life achieving things and expecting "the other shoe to drop". 

So, I’ve got an amazing fiance, I’m gaining a wonderful family, a company actually thinks I’m good enough to start a graphics department and gave me a job out of the blue, and a book that I’ve dreamed about for the last 10+ years is going to be published. All of this culminating in the last six months or so, really kicked the imposter syndrome into overdrive.

I’ve wanted to write to tell you how much being published means to me, but I’ve been afraid to acknowledge it is really happening. It’s even harder to look people in the eye when they congratulate me in person. It’s not that I’m not grateful, just genuinely afraid that I don’t deserve it or that what I’ve loved and created is unworthy. It is definitely something I need to work on, and I am. 

So, in moving past the imposter syndrome, let me tell you how incredibly happy I am. Let me acknowledge that happiness, let me announce it to you and to the world, and not be afraid. Nothing is ever perfect, least of all books. But, when you’ve worked so hard for something, when you’ve dreamed and fought and spent every spare second you had working on it, even people with imposter syndrome deserve to celebrate those accomplishments. I’ve day-dreamed half my life about sharing stories with the world, and you all made it possible.

Thank you. From the bottom of the heart, forever and always, thank you.  

Greetings Bards and Druids!

It has been a few weeks since my last communication with all of you wonderful people. As you know, The Lore of the Aos Sí did not reach its funding goal of 250 Orders by January 1st. Even though this was hard to swallow, I am not discouraged. Why? Because even though the book did not fund, my story and characters managed to wiggle their way inside the hearts and minds of many of you over the past year. That I take as a splendid sign that my work is promising and will eventually lead to a published product for many readers in the future. 

I want to thank each and every one of you who Pre-Ordered, spread the word, and aided me in my quest to publish this book through the Inkshares platform. It was a wonderful experience and I met and became friends with a great many talented and kind authors here. Although I will probably not be publishing the Lore of the Aos Sí here on Inkshares.com. I will still use the hub to communicate my progress on the book and the next stages. 

I have taken a few weeks off from writing to collect my thoughts and determine what will be the best way to proceed in the future. 

Once again I am deeply humbled by the support all of you have lent me over the past year. I hope that one day soon I can give you this story in its entirety. I am currently pursuing other avenues of publication and will keep all of my readers here posted. 

I wish everyone here a happy new year and I look forward to bringing you more content in the future. 

Blessed Be, 

Christopher Lee

Greetings Jackolytes,

Well now, where are we at exactly? In the twisting, turning world of publishing, Jack finally has a fixed date for release on the unsuspecting public. And that date is February 28th, 2017. If you have pre-ordered the paperback version of Sync City, then your copy(ies) should appear around that time. If you are an international person of mystery (i.e. a non North American), they may take a touch longer to get to you.

For those of you who went the ebook route, things should be a little more straightforward, and you’ll just need to follow the instructions in the email sent to you at that time.

So what’s new in Jack’s world? Well, my website is new. Or at least tremendously updated. If you click here, you can see my new home page. And if you follow this link, you can read the first two of chapters of Sync City to whet your appetite. Many thanks to my lovely wife, Nicola, for doing all the heavy lifting on this one.

One of the sexy things you’ll notice on the home page is all the online booksellers from which you can now pre-order Sync City. Of course, if you want to get in on the ground floor, then you can very much pre-order it here (and please share with those who have yet to meet Jack). And if you are familiar with the opening scene of Sync City (read here and don’t be shy!), then make sure you come in on the ground floor and not the basement. The basement is a bad place to be!

Cheers,

Peter