You may have noticed the recent addition to the sidebar on this here website. I’ll give you a second to take a gander.

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Done?

That’s right, friends! I’m trying to get a novel published on Inkshares! Initially, I was hoping to do so by being one of the top 5 finalists in their Nerdist Collection Contest, but now I’m going for the longer game. If we can get 630 more books sold in 130 days, I’ll be published digitally. If we get 880 more books sold in that time, it’s going to get printed and sold around the country! Exciting stuff.

One of the benefits of participating in this contest is that I’ve had the opportunity to “meet” some delightful writers whose books I’m excited to read. Take a look below, and support up-and-coming writers!

A.C. Weston – She Is the End

Relai went to sleep thinking she’d wake up home, on Arden, and face her father after four years away.
She never even left Earth’s atmosphere.

She could give up (it’s what she did before, after all), but this time she’s not the only one getting hurt. Someone is ruling in her name, pushing the four planets of the Vada Coalition toward war, and they’re killing anyone who resists—people like Milo Hemm’s family. Of all those harmed by the false queen, Milo is the only one who managed to track Relai down.

He won’t be the only one to nearly kill her.

She Is the End is the first installment of an intergalactic space opera trilogy.

Cara “A.C.” Weston writes, does freelance art, and attempts to run 5Ks without dying. She lives in St Paul, MN.

Paul Inman – Ageless

Imagine that you never aged—that you would forever remain young and vital, impervious to the ravages of time. For Alessandra, a woman whose genetic code keeps her eternally young—perhaps even making her immortal—this fantasy is a reality.

But it’s not as idyllic as it seems.

Her rare condition only leaves her feeling isolated and fearful of what her circumstances really mean for her future. And Alessandra has every reason to be afraid. After many years in captivity as the subject of Nazi science experimentation, she’s haunted by the memories of her exploitation and desperate to keep her identity a secret. This proves to be exceptionally difficult when impassioned CIA agent Mark Richards develops an unhealthy obsession with capturing her.

After decades of fleeing from her enemies, Alessandra finds a devoted ally in Grey Chapman. But can she learn to trust another after all she’s been through?

Ageless, Paul Inman‘s debut novel, is in production now with Inkshares Publishing.

C. Brennecke – Seven Shards: The Color of Wine

With a large cast of vivid characters, Seven Shards: The Colors of Wine tells the tale of seven clashing counties manipulated by one woman. Compelling social issues are tackled in this exciting tale of past mistakes, new vengeance, and good old-fashioned adventure, all while delivering a message of hope to the reader in the form of magic.

C. Brennecke is a fantasy writer, artist, and lifelong daydreamer. She works as a publications editor and organizes chaos for fun. Her first taste of world-building came when she discovered tabletop roleplaying while studying art at Temple University, and she’s been creating worlds ever since. She spends many late nights on the computer in her suburban Philadelphia home, which she shares with her husband and a sheltie that thinks he’s a cat. Follow her on twitter: @bonebonetweets.

Yicheng Liu – The Remains of Civilization

Some doors are best left closed. Or some day, you might find the corpse of your wife behind a door you opened. Or you might find your best friend stabbing someone to death instead. Curiosity killed the cat, but can it kill you too? Left with no choices, two guys scavenge the internet for odd jobs stumbled into a conspiracy. Dragged into a whirlpool of conspiracy, action, and aliens. They now hold the fate of society in their hands, can they save the world?

Yicheng Liu is a guy who sadistically enjoys darken pieces of processed dead wood with ink and maniacally laughs as he darken computer screens with pixelated text when he can’t find processed dead wood. When not doing any of that, he is making stupid jokes and hanging out on twitter under the handle @liu_liu0074.

Adam Vine – Lurk

Film student Drew Brady loves horror movies. They’re his only escape from the real world, where he is a depressed, overweight virgin. But when Drew and his best friend Bea find a box of old Polaroids buried in the basement of their college house, the already-threadbare fabric of Drew’s life begins to unravel. The unearthed pictures show a group of students who lived at the house in 1993 digging up human bones in the basement. The pictures begin to change to show Drew things he shouldn’t see, and to make matters worse, Drew finds a sleeping bag next to the hole where he found them, which someone has been using… recently…

Adam Vine is a twenty-nine year old American game designer, screenwriter, and short story writer currently living in Poland. His day job is writing stories and screenplays for video games, and he’s worked on everything from dark fantasy point-and-click adventures to pirate RPGs. He has lived in four countries, including Germany, Finland, Poland, and the USA.