Kickstarter Patrons - Thanks!

This page is small attempt to acknowledge the impact and assistance that everyone listed below provided through their kind donations and support for my publishing Kickstarter. They truly helped to bring The Jesuit Letter to life.

For that, they have my profound thanks.

Kickstarter Patrons

Andrea Cameron

Dave Martin

Deborah Kyrzakos

Devon Hamilton

Duke of Wolves

Erin Spink

Freda Colbourne

Gail Kryzakos

Gary Slye

Greg Hood

Heather West

Ivan Szlapetis

James Hamilton

Josh Ricci

Karen S. Conlin

Kim Litchfield

Linda Sukk

Linda Thompson

M Davies

Maria F. Martinez

Melissa Morin

Monica Monroy Estrada

Paisley Family

Rae & Glenora Hamilton

Robert Crosby

Robin Masters

Ron Blondeau

Sameer Masood

Sandro Perruzza

Scott

Scott Fitzgerald Gray

Scott Lininger

Sharon McGaughey

Siobhan Doherty

Steve Dale

Sup3rDave

Superstar Sandy

Susanology

It's Here! Launch Date April 23, 2015! Pre-Order via Amazon!

My book has arrived!

Ladies & Gentlemen, meet my first published novel, The Jesuit Letter (hint: it's in the box guarded by the intemperate cat). 

The Jesuit Letter is  available now for pre-orders on Amazon! Please place your orders now and on April 23rd, they will go through and your e-book will be sent out.

This particular batch of books shown is intended for all the supporters of my Kickstarter fundraiser however the official publication date is April 23, 2015; in honour of William Shakespeare's 451st Birthday (who is a key character in The Jesuit Letter as an eleven-year old Stratfordian troublemaker).

  

The Jesuit Letter (along with the 10,000 word novella prequel Black Dog) will also be available on Kobo and other  major e-book sites.

 Physical copies of the book (as seen in the pictures) can be ordered via Amazon as of April 23rd, 2015 but will not be available for pre-order.

If I sound overly excited it is because...I am.  This is the culmination of an almost ten-year long project and I am thrilled beyond measure that people can finally see and enjoy the fruit of that work, and hopefully, enjoy some sword-swinging Elizabethan intrigue and excitement.

So TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS! Your support for this creative endeavor is THE critical part of making this work and helping me bring Tyburn back for another trek through the London back-alleys.

Thank you in advance for your kind support, your assistance and your help in making this a reality.

Now bing a waste! (and if you don't know what that means - it's in the book.)

Wanderers

This is a fantastic video by Eric Wernquist, combining narration from Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" with a superlative, speculative visual tour of the solar system and humanity's spread across planets.

The Jesuit Letter Cover Reveal

Well, here it is.  Let me know what you think!

Jesuit Letter Cover Drafts

Everything happens at once.

No sooner do I receive the edited version of The Jesuit Letter back (laced and scarified with editor's cuts, slashes & corrections), then my designer drops the new cover concept drafts into my hands.

I was expecting maybe 3 to 5 concepts, and she came back with 15!  Admittedly a number of these are all variations on a specific concept but still, it was a cornucopia of concepts.

In the interest of aiding my decision, I thought I would throw these up on the Interweb and social media for direct feedback and commentary.  Let me know favorites, what you think, what works, what pops and what doesn't.  Any preferences, thoughts or helpful comments would be greatly appreciated!

By way of background, The Jesuit Letter is historical fiction, with a bit of mystery/thriller mix, set in Elizabethan England in 1575.

Here are the concepts:

Let me know what you think!  Thanks!

Yahrrr! Avast!

It's Friday, and as a bonus it's #TalkLikeAPirateDay, so check out Lindsay Sterling's "Master of Tides" to celebrate!

For the Night is Dark, and Full of Stormy....

The timeless, superlative prose that is the winner of the annual Bulwer-Lytton competition has been released!

"It was a dark and stormy night..."

Penned by Victorian novelist Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, the phrase has now become the watchword for florid, over-wrought writing and is doomed to be leveraged in perpetuity as an example for future generations.

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is, of course, the annual literary challenge aimed at composing the opening sentence to the "worst of all possible novels", following int he footsteps of that infamous dark and stormy night.

Here is the 2014 Grand Prize winner:

When the dead moose floated into view the famished crew cheered – this had to mean land! – but Captain Walgrove, flinty-eyed and clear headed thanks to the starvation cleanse in progress, gave fateful orders to remain on the original course and await the appearance of a second and confirming moose. 

— Elizabeth (Betsy) Dorfman, Bainbridge Island, WA

Check out the rest of the excellent entries!