Hi you beautiful beings!

Two weeks after the release of The Bone Wars, it is thriving! Look at all the times its been seen out and about all over the world

The Natural History Museum London  (thank you Ben and Jess!)

 NHM

Here is one of Jess next to Mary Anning’s "Swimming Dragon" This is mentioned in the book! In fact, this whole museum is :-)

Here it is at my parent’s local bookstore. If you’ve read the acknowledgments (also the dedication), you know that my father was an important Dev editor to the many drafts of TBWs. 

My step mom Kris with a member of Book Passage’s wonderful staff. Such great people!  

Here it is at Book Inc in Mountain View (thank you Kristy!)

as well as at Stanford!

If you have pics, send them my way!! Or let me know and I’ll go a hunting!

Thank you again for all your support. I’m just so thrilled the book is finally out there and people are enjoying the story. In addition to pictures, I’ve been getting very nice emails, not only from close friends and family, but also from people I haven’t had a chance to connect with in a while, telling me how much they enjoyed the book. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. 

Two things quickly! 

One, THE BOOK IS ON AUDIBLE! As I mentioned last update, I spoke to the actors last year and was just so please with how they interpreted the story. Their pronunciations also deserve some major kudos! Parasaurolophus isn’t easy to say! You can buy it now, so if you’d rather hear the book instead of reading, definitely go check it out: 

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Bone-Wars-Audiobook/B0C1T5TVXM?qid=1683242675&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=BMEY9B4JJBK284HJ5H53&pageLoadId=MklzD1CXYmLcEA6M&creativeId=0d6f6720-f41c-457e-a42b-8c8dceb62f2c

And two, please review! Every author I know hates this part, but it’s critical in today’s saturated book climate. If you liked the book, review it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, wherever you want. The more people review, the more the algorithms/AI gods bring the book to the attention of others that might enjoy it.

Thank you again for your support after all these years. I truly appreciate it!

Best,

Erin Evan

Greetings, adventurers,

Congratulations to those of you who correctly correlated yesterday’s cover reveal with the date! Those of you who know me well believed it anyway and I love that about you. Regardless, yes, yesterday’s cover reveal was absolutely an April Fool’s Day joke, but so many of you were so warm about it nevertheless that it made me smile. Thanks for understanding me!

That being said, if you really do want to read about adventuring anthropomorphic animals, you might be interested in the next series I’m writing... but that won’t see the light of day for a few years, yet. Definitely do keep an eye out, though, through my Substack and my website, as I’ll be trickling out information as it comes--probably starting as early as next year. The first book is written, but I’ll likely release them together. Stay tuned.

Now... that being said, you may be wondering about the future of Mushroom and Anchovy. A few things.

1. I am not actually rewriting them as ducks. I am slow because implementing the edits has taken me considerably longer with my current work schedules. That said, I am making good progress and we are still looking at a 2023 release for this book.

2. As for the cover, I actually have hired somebody. I am very excited, because this artist was always my first choice and I know they’re going to do an incredible job. They have been VERY busy these past few years and neither of us had thought we could make it work, but here we are. They are hard at work right now and have shared some details with me, and I am hoping to do the actual cover reveal this week. 

3. I’m going to keep the joke cover on this site until the actual cover reveal, because I think it’s funny.

4. Because the reception was so warm about the joke cover, I kind of want to do SOMETHING with it. Maybe a bookmark, a poster, or a journal... or something. I’m thinking about it. If you have any ideas, let me know!

Thanks for having a laugh with me yesterday. I really cannot wait to get this book into your hands this year--and that’s no joke!

May your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

Hi all you fantastic supporters!

Wait, you’re probably like, new number, who this?

Well, it’s me, dear friends, Erin S. Evan. That book writer you pre-ordered from all those years ago. Let me refresh your memory....

The Spring of 2016. My son Jack wasn’t even a year old, the sky was blue, the earth was filled with fossils, and you preordered a book called The Pirates of Montana. 

So much has happened then, amirite? Moving (for me, a total of three times), new babies (my daughter Sara says hi), new jobs, a global pandemic. I’m sure you all have new updates and stories to tell. I hope they are all wonderful and bring you joy! Except for that pandemic. That can go to hell.

But the most important part of this update- THE BOOK COMES OUT ON APRIL 11! 

A HUGE thank you for your patience all these years. For those that preordered a copy years ago, you’ll get it sent to you around April 11. For those that didn’t, check out Amazon or, better yet, ask your local bookstore to order a copy.

In fact, for those that preordered, you should have gotten an email from Inkshares asking for your updated address, if needed. Definitely fill that out! I wouldn’t want the book going to an old address you haven’t lived in for years (I’ve updated mine)

Now, the hard question- why did it take so long? Because Inkshares is a small publishing house, I had to wait in line. Plus I needed to become a better writer. I went into this never writing fiction before. I’ve always made up stories, often spinning my yarns to my kiddos during their bedtimes, but I’d never put anything on paper.

Now I kinda claim I’m not too bad at it. What is that saying? You need 10,000 to master a skill? Well, I’m probably about a third of that way along. Not kidding- I’ve got lots of drafts of this book on my hard drive, plus tons of notes, treatments, summaries, etc.  Over the years, Inkshares set me up with several amazing editors who challenged me to become a better writer. For that, I’ll forever be thankful.

When you read the book, check out the acknowledgements- there are many individuals that have impacted this book and your name might be in there. 

And, just when we finally were about to publish, Covid hit. The closures of bookstores was brutal for the industry, to say the least. E-books did okay, but Inkshares, like many indie publishing houses, makes money through the sale of physical books. So we decided to wait till people could go back into stores.

So we waited.

And waited...

And waited….

Until now!

Now the fun stuff. 

I’ve changed the title, as you probably noticed. It’s now called The Bone Wars. This is a nod to the greatest paleontological race in American history, the rivalry of O.C. Marsh and E.D. Cope. You’ll learn more about it when you read the book (along with a ton of other cool paleontologists). However, the book is now apart of a series called The Pirates of Montana. So keep your eyes peeled for more info in the future on that.

While the book is now defined as a Young Adult book, I’ve written it so that adults will enjoy it too (think Hunger Games).

Booklist, one of the literary trade publications, has reviewed the book and given it a fantastic review. To quote: it "is a remarkable combination of incredible scientific detail and convincing fabrication." What does that mean? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out (muahhahaha).

Professor Charles Marshall, Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology, wrote a really awesome blurb for the book. It’s on the back cover. I’m really proud of his review. I haven’t been in "the game" for a while now, and to have a professional paleontologist read my book and not find any glaring errors was a fantastic feeling. His email was so nice, just a suggestion or two (which I incorporated). Additionally, he really enjoyed it! 

Another science fiction author, Tal Klein, also wrote a nice blurb for the book. For those that have been on Inkshares for a while, you’ll definitely remember his book, The Punch Escrow. If you haven’t read that one, stop reading this update and go order it. It’s fantastic. 

The Bone Wars will be on Audible! I met with the voice actors last year, and they are amazing. More on that to come!

Finally, the book was also selected by the Junior Library Guild as one of their Gold Standard Books, which is also very cool. The Guild helps Libraries choose books for their students. Fun fact: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was on its editorial board for decades! I’m incredibly honored to have been selected.

We’re at the finish line. Thank you all for the support and encouragement over the years. It took longer than I would have liked, but thankfully it meant a stronger, more fun book with an awesome cover (by the fantastic M.S. Corley! Check out his work at www.corleyms.com!) 

Best, 

Erin S. Evan

Hi, everybody!

Time for another update.

A couple of weeks ago, word came down from The Powers That Be that Matt Harry, the suave and debonair head of story development for Inkshares, would at last be turning his attention to the three books that won the Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest.

In a month or two I can expect to receive a document from Matt full of suggestions on how to make my story even better than it already is. In the meantime, I’ve swapped manuscripts with the other contest winners — Katherine Forrister, author of CURIO CITIZEN, and Ferd Crôtte, author of MISSION 51 — and over the next several months, these talented writers and I will be working with Matt to make sure our final manuscripts are the best they can possibly be.

Once developmental editing is done, whenever that may be, the book will presumably move on to copy editing, cover design, and production design.

I will, of course, keep you updated along the way.

As always, thank you so, so much for your continued patience and support. I can’t wait for you all to read AFTER DEATH. I promise the wait will be worth it!

I have an announcement:

That’s right. The titles of all three parts of The Animal in Man saga have at last been decided. I painstakingly pondered all the meanings of all the words that reflect the style, atmosphere, and experience I’ve created with the story. And then, suddenly, I had it. What is a [hu]man? What are we, really? We are a mind, a body, and - perhaps - a soul.

What if we created a world where we could play at our most violent fantasies? What if we shaped the creatures there in our image? Would they not also be those three things? I asked myself these questions a lot while I was writing The Animal in Man, and when I dug up the old journal entries I’d made about it, I knew I’d found the titles I needed.

You can follow the Draft page for The Animal in Man II: Ferocious Heart RIGHT HERE! The second book is already 100% complete, minus the professional-grade editing and services Inkshares provides upon my successful future campaign. That’s where you, my dear animals, can play a part. Please please please click the link and follow the project now so you’ll be ready for the day it starts taking preorders. And of course, as always, thank you so much for your continued support.

THE MANUSCRIPT IS IN!!!

After two months of rewriting and revising, with the help of my friends Peter Ryan and Cari Dubiel, and. of course, my wife, I’ve turned in a fine tuned 76,900-word manuscript after the first round of developmental editing. That’s nearly 10,000 darlings killed. It was probably closer to 15,000 of the original words that suffered their terrible fate, but I changed a couple of scenes and added about 5,000 words back in. It was all for the better, and I’m proud of what this book has become. 

I know I promised mid-January for turning in this manuscript, but I’m going to play the sympathy card, because I was hospitalized in January for acute abdominal pain and had my gallbladder removed and subsequently stolen. They wouldn’t bronze it and let me keep it, the jerks, they just took it God only knows where. But, I’m glad it’s out. The good news is that I got my author bio picture in the process: 

That’ll sell a lot of books on its own. Might even make it the cover of the book. Not sure my publisher would go for that, though. 

Speaking about the cover, design will start happening in a few months, but I already know one thing will be remarkably different when it’s done: the title. 

Yup, I am almost sure I’m changing the title. The book is in two parts now, and I’ve named part one "The Madness of Mr. Butler," while part two is "The Courage of Mr. Butler." As much as I love the title as it has been, it doesn’t really sound like a science fiction book, which it mostly is. I’m changing the title of the book to "The Man Who Stole the World," which, for those of you who are in need of improving your musical tastes, is a play on the title of a David Bowie song. (And David Bowie might have a cameo in the story, but I’m not at liberty to say at this point).

wink

So, what’s next? 

Right now, we wait. Matt Harry, my editor, already got back to me that he’s currently working on a few manuscripts and plans on starting on mine in a few weeks. So, it’s probably going to be a while before I can report on further progress. But, this means that this year will begin the next levels of edits on a manuscript that is actively in production. I feel great about it all. I’ve had a wonderful experience with Inkshares. 

Thank you all for your support. Your investment in me is something I think about and appreciate daily. I’m working my tail off to get you the best version of the book. Thank you for the opportunity. This is all because of you. I hug you.

In the meantime, if you wanna interact outside of email, you can find me on Twitter and Facebook, and fairly soon I’m getting my blog back up after some reconstruction. 

Hang in there, it’s all coming together!

Love always, 

-Michael