Where Has the Time Gone?

I apologize for not posting for the last two weeks!

I've got two deadlines on September 30th. One is delivering books for The Books of Apep Kickstarter campaign to my lovely backers. The other is having everything out of our storage unit.

Speaking of The Books of Apep, the four novels and the short story have been listed on the series page. I'm slowly getting preorders uploaded to the various retailers and updating the links on the page, too. Death Goddess Walking (The Books of Apep #1) will drop to the public on November 15, 2026. The rest will come out in 2027.

Why won't I release Book 2 in December? Because I swear everyone in the U.S. goes crazy in December. I did retail work long enough that my fellow staff members and I had some nicknames, the nicest of which was New Hallowthanksmas. But yes, people are scattered and distracted, and the only thing I release are holiday stories with happy endings at the beginning of the month of December.

Anyway, once The Books of Apep are put to book, I can go back to A Sprout of Wild.

As for getting the storage unit emptied, the goal is twofold. First, we're spending nearly $100 a month storing crap we do not need anymore. And I have to face facts--GK is never going to fit in the adorable Winnie the Pooh onesie again, nor will I have any more children.

Second, I refuse to turn into my parents and in-laws. There's something about the Silent Generation where they CANNOT throw anything away. Part of me understands. They grew up in a world where scarcity was a problem and things had to be fixed or you did without.

But after going through four fucking years of snail mail my FIL had piled around the first floor of his HUGE Victorian?

Noppity-nope-nope! I'm not doing that to my son!

So both the recycling and the trash bins have been very full the last two weeks. And I'm beginning to love the Gen Z minimalist approach!

If I get a breather between now and October 1st, I'll post a chapter or two of A Sprout of Wild.

Until then enjoy some glorious late summer weather, and make sure you're registered to vote!

A Setback, But What Else Is New

Last week was not a good time. It's been a few years since I've had a sinus infection. For me, the pain is on the level of a migraine. And I've had both to compare.

One of my doctors in Houston referred to my sinuses as the ultimate hot tub, and the bacteria love to party!

I haven't gotten as much done as I wished last week. Which means I needed to alter my release calendar a bit.

And before any Justice fans have heart attacks, A Sprout of Wild and A Glimmer of Light are next in priority after The Books of Apep Kickstarter campaign is fulfilled. I just can't guarantee the publishing dates at the moment because neither project is remotely close to finished.

Speaking of The Books of Apep, Death Goddess Walking is up for preorder on all usual retailer sites. I've started uploading the others, but I'm not quite finished yet.

Many thanks to the reader who has already pre-ordered the entire series over on Amazon!

And thank you to the one person who replied about a Justice Encyclopedia. This edition will be fancy--silver foiling on black leather with painted edges. I'm still looking for an artist, however, so it probably won't come out until 2028 at the soonest.

I hope everyone else is enjoying their end-of-summer activities. And I hope I'm feeling a lot better by Tuesday. That's when official Halloween decorating begins at Casa Harden!

'Til later, folks! Enjoy those Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

Woo-hoo! Another Book Drafted!

I finished the first draft of Death Goddess Redeeming yesterday amid a full day of thunderstorms and sunshine.

Yes, Ohio's weather is weird. As the old-timers say, "Don't like the current weather? Wait five minutes."

I've started on Death Goddess Rising, and I hope to make significant progress while DH is at the Buick Nationals this week. The freezer is stocked with frozen pizza and ice cream. There's plenty of Pepsi Zero in the utility room. And when I need a break, I'll unpack a box of books in the library.

Yep, we've even made progress on cleaning out the storage unit!

Today, the surveys for The Books of Apep Kickstarter campaign will go out. This time, I'm putting a deadline on the dang things. I generally do shorter campaigns, plus backers have already paid for their books, so there's no reason for backers to forget to send me their e-mail addresses and/or snail mail addresses so I can get their goods to them.

But alas, someone's notice always seems to slip through the cracks.

During my rare moments of free time, I've been toying with a science fiction world I developed during a Space Opera class last year. There's a few things I need to fix in the original story, and there's some art I've picked out for the cover. Surprisingly, I came up with a Christmas story idea set in that universe. It's a little weird--think of an Orville version of DS9 or Bab 5. Let's just say the original story involves singing trees and a cloned wolverine.

Seriously, people are going to love these stories or hate them.

I'm making progress and having fun. What more can I ask from life? 

The Campaign is Over, But...

The Books of Apep Kickstarter Campaign ended at midnight PDT. (Having lived/worked in multiple time zones, I'm aware that I'm not the only one who freaks at 11:50 p.m. when they remember there was something they forgot to do on a deadline day.)

However, the campaign is just the beginning! Kickstarter collects the money from the backers and delivers it to me. I then send out surveys to get some necessary information from the backers, like snail mail addresses.

By the end of August, my kitchen table will be turned into a delivery packing center as I send out physical rewards. Why the kitchen? Because I finally finished shredding the in-law's personal paperwork and my drowned legal files from last year's basement flood two weeks ago, and my office needs a thorough cleaning.

All-in-all, I consider it a successful campaign!

And I hope all my backers will enjoy their goodies!

P.S. The Books of Apep preorders are in the process of being uploaded to the usual retailers. Death Goddess Walking will be release November 16, 2026. Keep an eye on the Release Schedule for further updates! 

Just a Reminder about the Current Kickstarter

The Books of Apep Kickstarter campaign end tomorrow, July 30th at 11:59 p.m. PDT! The campaign has FUNDED! Which means you will get the books you order plus some nifty swag if you wish!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CAMPAIGN! 

If you want the entire series or just the first book to try it out, you can order it through Kickstarter and receive it in September.

Otherwise, you'll can preorder them through e-book retailers, but the first book Death Goddess Walking won't be released to the general public until November 16th.

The Books of Apep Kickstarter Is Live!

 It's Alive!

How Kickstarter Works

For those of you who have never backed a campaign on Kickstarter, here's a brief description of how is works:

1) The customers are called backers.

2) A project creator (like me) puts something new they've created into a campaign on  Kickstarter. The created object can be just about anything. Mainly, I support books, comics, and Tarot cards, but I've also supported low-flow shower heads and wearable flash drives shaped like Star Trek comm badges. The point of the campaign is to solicit funds to bring their product to wider markets.

3) In return for supporting the campaign, the backers get some really cool merchandise! 

4) The campaign is open for a set number of days (in my case, from July 21^st through midnight PDT July 30^th).

5) During the time the campaign is live, the backer can pledge for a certain reward package. For example, the backer can get all e-books or all paperbacks. In my current campaign, I set up a ‘Make Your Own’ package option where you can mix and match the items in a campaign via the 'Add-ons' feature.

6) A lot of creators also have 'Add-on' merchandise where backers can get extras of campaign items or special merchandise that's not part of the main campaign. You can select ‘Add-ons’ in my campaign if you want an extra paperback for your favorite niece, for example.

7)  Yes, backers will need a credit or debit card to make their pledge. However, Kickstarter WILL NOT charge you yet.

8) The creators have a funding goal. If there's enough pledges to meet or exceed that goal when the campaign's time is up, then the campaign is successfully funded!

9) If the campaign fails to fund when its time is up, The backers won’t be charged at all, but they also won’t get any merchandise.

10) If the campaign successfully funds, the backer's credit/debit card will be charged shortly after the end of the campaign.

11) If there is a problem with the backer's credit/debit card (hey, life happens), Kickstarter will contact the backer and give them a chance to rectify the problem. If they cannot fix the issue within 7 days, Kickstarter will cancel the backer's pledge.

12) Approximately, two weeks after the end of the campaign, Kickstarter deposits the funds from the campaign (minus Kickstarter's fees and any card processing fees) to the creator.

13) The creator then arranges for the merchandise to be made (if they haven't done so already) and delivers/ships the merchandise to the backers. In my case, physical books will be drop-shipped from the printer/distributor Ingram. The e-books will be downloaded via Book Funnel. And the extra merch will be mailed from me to you!

14) There's a very low incidence of scamming on Kickstarter. The company runs a pretty tight ship. However, once in a while someone slips through. So screen any creators! Hopefully, after writing and publishing for the last 15 years, you find me trustworthy! 

 

I've successfully run two campaigns so far. The Books of Apep series is my third one, but my first under my company name, Angry Sheep Publishing LLC. I'm truly excited about this campaign because I had a ton of fun writing the books!

If everything goes smoothly, my backers will have their books a minimum of six weeks before the first book in the series launches at the regular retail sites.

If you have any additional questions about Kickstarter, take a look at their FAQ section.

Hopefully, you'll check out my campaign when it launches tomorrow! Thanks!