Hey Everybody, 

The beginning of the Sword & Laser: The Sequel contest has been amazing. I’m thrilled to be competing with so many excellent creative thinkers. To say I’ve been impressed by the community of authors on Inkshares is a mega understatement. Everyone has been so supportive of their fellow authors and competitors, with genuine desire that their neighbors achieve success with a rising tide lifts all boats sentiment. The beauty of the Inkshares model is that there is no reason that we can’t all win in the long run. With crowdfunding, the more traffic we bring to Inkshares, the more of us get published. Such a wonderful concept. So let’s get published! 

 OK, on to the fun… 

I’ve decided to start a raffle to promote The Last Machine in the Solar System. I am cracking open the vault of epic goodness in the spirit of the holiday season, and I hope you all enjoy the first two items that will be raffled as we reach upcoming milestones! 

First, when we reach 30 unique readers, I will raffle off a beautiful signed copy of Haunted Horror #12: The Chilling Archives of Horror Comics! There are a number of colorful stories from the early 1950s in this magazine published in August 2014. The magazine is signed by Jack Katz, the comic book artist and graphic novelist who created The First Kingdom. Jack drew “Bride of Death” (1952) in this Haunted Horror. Check out the images below. 

Then, when we reach 50 unique readers, I will raffle off my copy of Rudyard Kipling’s Mine Own People. Kipling published Mine Own People in 1891, three years before he wrote The Jungle Book. It is possible that the book is First Edition, though I’ve been unable to confirm one way or the other. I have read that books without a date on the title page are sometimes first edition and this book has no date inside (see below pics). But if you win and it turns out not to be first edition - well, all I’m saying is it’s super old and an early edition! I’d say it is in fair condition. After at least 111 years that’s not half bad. The light pencil writing by a former owner says 1904 - though it could be older than that. The book might be worth somewhere in the $25 - $50 range (that’s a rough guess). I hope that whoever wins will love this old book as a treasure and give it a prominent place on their bookshelf. 

Final details: Everybody who pre-orders The Last Machine up to the 30th reader will be entered into the raffle for Haunted Horror. If you order multiple books, you will receive one entry per ebook or paperback pre-ordered. When we get to the 50th unique reader for the Sword & Laser, I will raffle off Mine Own People - everyone who has pre-ordered back to the first person will once again be entered to win and receive one ticket per book ordered. 

Hope everyone has a great holiday season and keep on reading and writing! 

Dear Readers,

We're almost there! I have now posted sections V and VI of The Last Machine in the Solar System. This means there is only one section remaining which amounts to 1,300 of the 9,000 total words. So you now have most of the novella.... Left unseen is Jonathan's ultimate purpose. I hope you enjoy the story and are excited for the finale!  -Matthew