Until 2014

Merry Christmas and Happy (early) New Year!


The Kickstarter for A Sawmill's Hope succeeded. And it was close!

This means several things... First, I'm about to be very busy, which is good. Second, I owe everyone who shared and pledged and prayed and spread the word and supported and encouraged a huge Thank you.

For anyone considering Kickstarter or some other crowd sourcing endeavor, let me tell you what to expect if yours goes like mine did -

Expect a month's worth of anxious helplessness despite relentless effort, punctuated with small bursts of manic joy but smothered under a looming, suffocating sense of impending doom. Your self worth will take a beating. Next will come a single day of mounting tension and excitement, capped off with shrieks of elation and hollered gibberish. To counter this storm of emotion, you'll want to procure whatever celebratory articles best suit you and step onto your back porch for some peaceful introspection.
 And no, it doesn't matter that it's Monday night, Christmas Eve-eve, and your spouse is already in bed because (s)he has to work at 8 am. Enjoy your success right this moment. Because when you wake up the next day, reality will be standing beside your bed, staring you in the face.
Dozens of people expect something no less than totally excellent from you. And after all the promises you made and pretty illustrations and videos, you damn well better deliver.

So here goes.

By the way... thanks, guys. Stays safe during the holidays.

David

The last stretch of the Kickstarter!

We're in the final 12 hours and closer than ever! Now's the time to muster for a final push.

By this time tomorrow I'll be posting for my last time of the year, announcing the result of the Kickstarter.

Thanks to all you guys for clicking and sharing and pledging and believing and encouraging. Seriously, thank you all very much. I needed all the help you offered.

See you tomorrow!

Here's the link to the Kickstarter, look how far we've come

Tis the Season...

... to bring a new fantasy world to life!

The Kickstarter for A Sawmill's Hope has been crazy! I had no idea so many people would come out, and so enthusiastically!

I won't lie, each time someone pledges money, my vision grows a bit blurry, my breath a bit trembly. And I don't know why. Of course I hoped it would happen... that people would care. But did I really expect them to? Of course I believe in the story, and the future stories, and the world of Silexare. I always have! But until now, I didn't know others would. Is that why, when a total stranger makes a pledge, my eyes fill with tears? I couldn't say. What I can say is thank you.
Thank you from the sticky depths of my cavernous entirety.

But it's not over yet.
We're inside the last days of the project. And every pledge counts. Exclusive to pledgers are Silexare "easter eggs," produced and offered on the site itself for every ten percent we reach. These serve to enlighten, to entertain, and to reward your efforts, even if the Kickstarter falls short. A single dollar pledge will gain you access to them all.

If you haven't done so, visit the project and contribute. The video is two and a half minutes long. It takes less time than that to pledge. Skip the drive-thru meal you had planned and use that money to become part of Silexare's history. Your body and mine will thank you.

This might be the very last post you see here until December 23rd, when I announce the outcome. I want to thank all of you, whether you pledged money, helped spread the word, offered me advice, or consoled me during my emotional throws. You didn't owe me your time or efforts.

So, Thank you.

DtL

Click here and join Silexare's army.

A Sawmill's Hope Kickstarter - Meet the Editor!

While researching professional editors for A Sawmill's Hope, I left no stone unturned. No stone available to me, anyway. I asked each forum I'm a member of for their two cents... I googled every combination of "fantasy" "fiction" "editor" and only-God-knows what other relevant word... But the way I discovered my editor, I would not have expected.

I'd learned online that professional edits run about $.02 a word, which sounds easy-breezy if you aren't familiar with typical novel word counts. But for my book that would come to over $2,000. And although that is daunting, I'm cutting no corners. I want this book to be as good as I can possibly get it or never to exist at all. Anne frankly, I don't understand any other way of looking at it.

So I approach Faceboot and say, "Any editors out there?" And among the responses comes one from my friend Jamie Cain.

If you're anything like me, you're immediately skeptical. Friend AND editor? Doesn't that mean conflict of interest? How honest will he be? What are his qualifications?
Now, I can't show you a bunch of beautiful illustrations or works in progress like I did when I introduced the artist. But I think some insight into Jamie's portfolio as an editor suffices as an answer to all the above -

He has over a decade of editing experience. He's principally edited dozens of books, in large publishing houses and as a freelance editor, and has worked as part of an editorial team on even more. Jamie's worked on every aspect of book production, from story brainstorming to developmental editing and proofreading... on books of fiction and nonfiction... Thrillers, Scifi, and (of course) Fantasy. He's served as editor for several New York Times best-sellers and for bestselling authors.
Jamie is also a writer himself, of fiction and nonfiction, and has published articles and book reviews.

Last and most important, he loves books. All sorts of books. And to seal the deal even further, he's an enthusiastic fan (although student may be a more appropriate word) of J.R.R. Tolkien, who is amongst my favorite authors.

Jamie asked for an excerpt to see if it held his interest. And it did. So I'm trusting him with A Sawmill's Hope. And I'm asking you to trust him, too.

UPDATE -
The Kickstarter has trampled over the threshold of 30% funding. There are now THREE Silexare / A Sawmill's Hope secrets available to all who pledge - if only a dollar - on the Kickstarter site.

Things will move quickly this coming week. We're inside the final 10 days of the event. Do not be left behind.

Two hundred and thirty dollars from now...

...I'll post the next "easter egg" in the Updates section of the Kickstarter.

The pledgers have heard some things about Berdes and Lunglow.

This one will be about the Sky Island nation of Suvinor... How it matters to Darke's friend Brandal in A Sawmill's Hope. How it matters to the future of Silexare in the real world.

I don't mind telling you secrets. But you must pledge to be privy. You have to be (as Tex put it in her comment below this post) "smart and shrewd and slick enough to join the Silexare army."

So if, let's just say, five people were to visit the Kickstarter and claim the Silver Sampler package as their own, the Silexare army would grow irreversibly wiser.

Enriching the Kickstarter

Oh my gosh, please shut up about the Kickstarter!

I know, right? I promise I will. Not. I'm sorry. And I just turned your words into a link to the project.

So, in the spirit of distracting myself from the ticking clock, eternally slashing down the seconds between this moment and 8:00 pm Eastern time December 23rd 2013, AND in the spirit of letting my pledgers know I care, I've decided to offer 10 (ten) secrets of A Sawmill's Hope throughout the duration of the Kickstarter. The secrets will come in the form of "making of" factoids or just Silexare lore.

David, I want to help. But I only have a dollar.

That will help. This particular Kickstarter is fueled by dollars! And then you'll be privy to the lore!

For every 10% mark we hit (10,20,30... you get it), I'll post another secret, exclusive to the eyes of the Silexare army. And since we're at 25% as of this moment, two have already been posted (just last night... in fact, they're still warm).

A teaser of the first two -

1. Etymology and a bit of inspiration of Darke's hometown, Berdes.

2. Negative side effects of Moonstone mining.

More to come -

Etymology of the Trevet River.

Origin and etymology of Old man Hastr, Lesovik the Unwithering, Rusalka, Castoroccs, Spirits of the Pines - Setuar, Wretched Mers, Vedorant Goblins... 

Origin and inspiration of Seltys - the alchemist, Recher of Andyr...

Dude, those words all sound really cool but I want to see pictures of them.

As do I, dear one. Thus the Kickstarter. Go have a look.

IWSG Dec 2013

IWSG, brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh, occurs once a month and exists for writers to voice their insecurities and offer advice. The official website, www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com has been a priceless commodity in my studying and research as of late. I encourage any one interested in writing to have a look!

Hi. Welcome to the insecurity epicenter of the entire universe.

For those of you who've visited me lately, you know what I have going on and can probably guess my insecurity this month. For those of you who haven't, it's this - my Kickstarter for A Sawmill's Hope.

I don't want to mope and gripe about how torn up I am inside about the possibility that it will all be for naught. That's for my wife to enjoy for the next 19 days. Besides, it would probably be quite obnoxious and come off as a cry for pity.

What I will do is this. If you know someone who might enjoy the novel I've written, edited and illustrated, or the art or music I'm offering through this Kickstarter, or someone who just wants to see an indie author come up, please share this event with them! I'll give you at least one very virtual, possibly awkward, uncomfortably intimate, sexual identity compromising, internet hug! (complete with heavy breathing)

Here's the link in its rawest form - http://tinyurl.com/mzvev2u
 

Thanks, guys