*Crawls out of editing cave, hissing at the light*

I LIVVVVEEEEE!!!!!

Yes, I’m still technically alive. Haven’t fallen in a deep, dark hole or anything like that. I’ve just been a slave to the editing process and, of course, my day job. 

But I’ve decided to peek my head up from the abyss to send you all an update. 

First and foremost, Beyond the Code news. Editing has been going slower then I’d like but very well. Results from my wonderful beta readers have given me some ideas for rewrites of the story. These changes will give some of the characters actions more of a dramatic punch that I really think you’ll all enjoy. 

In other news, I will be taking my first try at pushing my book at a convention. I will be at the Edmonton Expo on Saturday. I will be handing out bookmarks to anyone who will take them to try and get the word of Beyond the Code out. I hope to see any of you there. 

I also want to take this opportunity to talk about Evan Graham’s book Tantalus Depths. It’s a really well thought out world that deserves full funding and it is very close. Please, if you have not already, take the time to check it out and consider backing this great project. 

https://www.inkshares.com/books/tantalus-depths

Thank you all for continuing to support this my dream and I hope I can give you a fully realised product sooner, rather then later. 

Kelsey Rae Barthel

DEAR DAX HARRISON READERS, FANS, PASSIVE FOLLOWERS, ETC...

Dear Friends

There are many exciting news in the world of The Catcher’s Trap. As the official publication day approaches, media interest is ramping up, and the details for the release party are getting sorted out.

So first mark your calendar. The Catcher’s Trap is out in bookstores on November 8th, the release party is on Thursday, November 10th at 6 PM at North Haven Barnes and Noble, 470 Universal Drive N, North Haven, Connecticut. You can RSVP by sending me a message or in the Facebook event.

RSVP here

Yesterday I had an interview with Connecticut NPR as part of a special series on immigrants living in Connecticut. It was a great opportunity to talk about my story, my struggles and the path to my dream of becoming a published author. I will share the link to the interview when it airs in mid-October. I have a couple of more radio engagements lined up and several interviews with blogs and a newspaper. All very exciting stuff.

It is going to be a busy fall for your friendly neighborhood nerd-author. I’m so looking forward to that!

Finally, please remember you can help make another dream come true (I know, I have no shame) let’s help this high heel lover, machete wielding, fabulous drag queen get into bookstores. Get a copy of Bad Medicine and support my efforts to win the current Crypt TV horror contest at Inkshares.

Order here:

THANK YOU!!

Every last one of you is fantastic.  I thank you sincerely and truly for helping this dream come to fruition.  The timeline for final production and shipping is fluid, but I am hoping to launch sometime in late Spring, give or take.  This may be as early as February but, as my old boss used to say, it’s always best to under-promise and over-deliver

Speaking of, those of you who won raffles or earned prizes; you have not been forgotten.  They are coming.

To every last one of you, whether you supported this dream with a follow, a recommendation, a review or even a gorgeous, eternally beautiful pre-order:  You are Magnificent.  You have helped to sculpt a wonderful reality.  You have earned my appreciation.

In short, Borehole Bazaar, the first book the Vow Unbroken series, is in the works and being shaped and polished to accept its physical and digital forms.  And a special, extra thanks to everyone who has helped in this process.

Hello, everyone. Hope you’re having a great start to the week! 

The last seven days have been brilliant for Witherfist, as we reached and surpassed 25% funding. I hope that the rest of this month will see our readership continue to grow. 

The book now has 138 followers. If you’re one of that number and you’re unsure about preordering, head over to the project page and have a read through the first three chapters. 

Once you’ve done that, why not check out some other great projects on Inkshares:

• Mothering: The Game
  
• Weaponized
• Fae Child
• The Last Faoii
• Black Cloud

~ Jenny

Hi everyone!  Happy Fall!

Long time, no chat, huh?  It’s been about a month and a half since It’s All Fun and Games went live, and I’ve got all sorts of news to share.

The first thing is that I was fortunate enough to receive some pretty cool media attention to coincide with the release.  I had a nice sit-down with John Holyoke from the Bangor Daily News, and I was featured both in their online paper and on the front page of the Lifestyle section.  IAFAG also was in a segment on the 207, a statewide public interest show that airs nightly in Bangor and Portland.  It was fun hearing people tell me that they’d seen or read about me.  Look out Kardashians, I’m coming for you.

I’ve also been out and about for a couple public appearances.  I had my first public book signing at The Briar Patch in downtown Bangor.  If you live locally, make sure you stop on by – it’s a wonderful store filled with books, games, and other things that the little people in your life will enjoy.  And then at the end of August I was the featured presenter the Orono-Old Town Kiwanis (which, having just recently seen Calendar Girls at Penobscot Theatre Company (Season Tickets Still Available!), makes me chuckle at the role of “featured presenter”), where I talked about NANOWRIMO, Inkshares, and all the nuggets of stuff that go into making the sausage we call a novel.

I had the horrifying experience of being asked by my award winning voice actor, Cassandra Lee Morris, how to pronounce a few words and realizing that I never really thought about how those combinations of letters would actually sound.  Garbaldar is a tricky one to roll off the tongue, and don’t even ask me how to pronounce Gahrauah.  I actually just punted and told her to make something up.  Memo to me – read all future novels aloud before sending them for publishing and make sure the names are actually pronounceable.  If you’d like to read more about Cassandra, you can visit her web page here.  She’s pretty impressive, that’s for sure!

Sales have remained steady, though they have tapered off somewhat.  Word of mouth is a wonderful thing, so if you know anyone who might be interested in It’s All Fun and Games, have them swing by their Friendly Local bookstore or Amazon and pick up a copy.  Or grab it on an e-reader, or in a week or two the ebook!

Also, if you’ve read the book, please swing by Amazon, Goodreads, and (if you have an account) Barnes And Noble and leave a review.  They don’t need to be long – “I really liked it” is plenty!  I’m currently sitting at 51 reviews on Amazon, but there were 578 people who preordered the book.  It’ll take just a few moments of your time, and can make a huge difference.  We haven’t yet broken into B&N’s retail stores (which would be instantly several thousand copies sold), but a couple hundred reviews on Amazon and Goodreads would make a pretty convincing argument. 

In fact, go do it now.  I’ll wait. 

….

See?  That wasn’t so hard, was it?  And now you have a warm fuzzy cause you know you did me a solid.  Speaking of which, I’ve had a number of people tell me that they’ve let the book around their office or circle of friends.  That’s great, and I hope your friends all enjoyed the book too.  Please ask all those folks to leave me a review as well.  3 minutes of clicking and typing is a great price to pay for a novel.

So, I think that’s all the news that’s news.  You may or may not have received an email from Inkshares regarding new contests.  There are three right now.  Of perhaps the most immediate interest to backers of It’s All Fun and Games are the Geek and Sundry Fantasy Contest and the Crypt TV Horror Contest.  If you’ve got any interest in helping another author fund their novel, here are some suggestions of books written by some of the buddies I’ve met throughout my own contest process –

 A Beast Requires

Apex

Arcadia

Bad Medicine

Exile, Magus

Phew!  That was long!  Thank you again for all your support, and I promise not to wait so long between mailings next time!