It’s been fun, but...

Maybe you’ve noticed that I’ve suspended my funding campaign for The Underneath. I realized I had gotten ahead of myself and begun this campaign before it was ready. However, believe me when I say this isn’t the end for me, or for the Underneath. I’m pressing pause on marketing and selling the story, but I hope that someday it will be ready to take the next step in being published. 

Going through this campaign has taught me that it is very difficult to sell a project that is rough and unpolished. I wanted to fund the novel through the drafting process as an experiment, but it turned out to be much more of a challenge than I had anticipated. Such an undertaking is almost impossible for someone working full time. 

I will continue to write stories that I am passionate about. I have moved The Underneath back to the draft stage and I will continue to post updates for all of my readers. I would like to thank you guys for your interest in this idea. You have no idea how excited I get every time I see that I have a new follower.

I will also be participating in NaNoWriMo next month. My project, Treaty of Treason (working title) is already up on Inkshares. As of now, I have no plans to fund that story, as I’m just taking things as they come. I really just wanted to share with my readers what a NaNoWriMo first draft looks like for me (warning: not pretty!). So if you’d like to follow me on that journey, check it out. 

Thanks again for all of your support. I hope to bring The Underneath, or another project, back into funding mode in the future and I hope you’ll all still be with me when I do. For the people who preordered copies, Inkshares should be refunding you if they haven’t already. Please consider spending that money to support another project on Inkshares, as I know first hand now all the hard work authors do to get their novels fully funded. 

This isn’t the end!

-Megan

About Superiorii and Sapiens...

You should know that the common characteristics between these two groups far outweigh the differences. I did not want to create an "Other" race -- an alien race that was humanoid but not quite human. 

This is why both groups are classified, in my mind, as Homo sapiens. Currently, there is only one subspecies of H. sapiens (actually, "sapiens" are the only current surviving species in the Homo genus). 

In the context of the setting of this story, it’s important to remember that despite the separateness and differentness (I might have made up those words?) of the two factions, they really are the same in structure -- they have the same parts. It’s just that Superiorii have organs that run far more efficiently than Sapiens. 

There’s one other angle to explore here, as well. Since they are the same species, they can reproduce with each other. At the time the story begins there hasn’t been enough intermingling between the two groups to create a significant third "mixed-race" group. That said, the fact that this possibility exists creates even more hidden tension between them, and provides more opportunities for the two worlds to come crashing together. 

Hi, Readers,

I hope you all have been enjoying yourselves!

Finally, chapter four is here, and I am super excited to share it with you guys. This is the chapter I refer to as the end of the beginning of the beginning. In my structure, I’ve separated the story a beginning, a middle, and an end, and within each their own beginning, middle, and end. The first four chapters represent the very very beginning of the story.

It’s nice to finally have a shot to get things rolling. Thus far, the story has been about building characters and setting, with a hint of the plot to come. The rest of the first act is all about solving the mystery of what’s going on. In chapter five, though, something will happen that will drastically affect Chris and Freya’s investigation. The end of chapter four changes the game, but chapter five will change the stakes. 

Ending every update with a plea to get people to open their wallets to preorder is a little bit awkward for me. I hate asking for money, and that’s what this feels like. But, I have some things up my sleeve to reward people who take that leap of faith. Nothing huge, but certain extras I’m willing to share with my backers. Stay tuned (and preorder!) for more info on this in the future.