Category: News & Updates

Wow. It’s been another 50+ orders already (260 total as of right now)! You guys have me stalled in a continual state of amazement! I could have never imagined that this many people would rise up to support me through this process, yet every time I think I’m getting used to being buried beneath the weight of your kindness, you throw another load of your benevolence on me!

As promised, I’ve released another chapter, number seven for those of you keeping score at home. In this segment, we see the indirect effect of the Impresario’s arrival. His presence sends supernatural shockwaves through the homes and souls of Elancourt’s inhabitants, loosening the foundation of the world I’ve built to this point in the story. This is where things start to get abstract and weird. Magic is being born. Things get even creepier in the next few chapters as spirits and demons starts to take shape. I hope you’ll enjoy it and ask a friend to pre-order so that we can keep this momentum going.

A couple of days ago I accidentally sent out 100+ recommendations to all of my followers. I apologize. I thought that I was sending various Inkshares authors a personal request for my own book, but I was utilizing the improper Inkshares web tools for doing so. While I’m sure each of those books are worthy of being checked out, the phrasing I attached was pretty strange because of my mistake and made it sound like I was pitching my own book within a recommendation for theirs. 

My apologies to the people who received a bunch of spam emails and to the authors whose work I inadequately showcased. I’ve said it before, but even writing a terrible book would be a huge undertaking, so to put out the kind of quality my Inkshares peers have produced deserves a lot more respect and attention than what I put forth. I hope you’ll all consider browsing through some of the other authors in this contest. 

I have especially grown fond of Alex Lander’s Housewife in Hell and look forward to reading the new chapters she releases every Monday night. It always delivers the creep factor. As she suggested, I recommend reading it in the dead of night with your favorite end of the day beverage- you’re going to need it! 

Then there’ Gorracula by Yorgo Douramacos… the title alone is probably the most gravitationally effective I’ve ever seen, and yes *spoiler alert* it is exactly what it sounds like. lol 

The Elements: Descension by Lauren Drube. Seriously. Some really provocative sci-fi fantasy work! Can’t wait to get more of the story. I love science fiction. I love fantasy. When the two marry, they make the most beautiful babies. And then she put demons all up in there! *swoon*

Last but not least, Witch’s Diary by Rebecca Brae is super fun! It’s about a Witch who got drunk and burnt out her powers, so she takes a bunch of odd-jobs to see where she fits in without magick. For me, one of the hardest things to write is comedy, so when I see it done right I really take notice. Rebecca does it right and you can tell after just the first few paragraphs.

The sheer variety of appealing work is astounding. Makes it even more difficult to imagine that you’ve all managed to keep me where I am on the leader boards.

Of course, I hope I win, but not at the expense of potentially denigrating anyone else’s hard work. Keeping perspective in this ordeal is paramount. I have been supported by more than 250 people! As stressed out as I am, how can that be anything short of miraculous? Sure, it’s the kind of miracle that has my guts all tied up in knots, my blood pressure is rising to dangerously high levels and I kind of want to throw up my heart all the time, but still! Miracle!

Thank you readers and authors alike. Thank you dream makers and hustle-helpers. I will never stop being grateful for the efforts of the promotional army we’ve managed to amass! As always, reach out to me and let me know what you’re thinking! Have an idea of how I might take my book promotion to the next level? Want to let me know what you think of the last chapter? Have a book you want me to check out? Let me know!

https://www.facebook.com/OpheliaDollBook

Sincerely,

Robert Wren

Well now you’ve gone and done it. This morning, I wake up to find that we’ve hit that 200 supporters marker I was talking about, and so you all should have received a notification that I have kept to my word and uploaded chapter six, which I call “Monsters Taking Shape.”

In this chapter, we are returned to Ophelia’s present where children and adults alike are spreading rumors about the soon to arrive Impresario. I’ve always thought that rumors are like the modern seeds for a good ghost story and I tried to reflect that in what I’ve written, as the individual rumors start to gather and form a picture that takes on a life that is greater than the sum of its parts.

When we hit 250, I’ve got the next chapter all locked and loaded too, in which the Impresario finally comes to town and we start to see the ripple effects of his presence. When we hit 300, I’ll release chapter seven, which I am really excited about because that’s when the Impresario makes his first in the flesh debut. I like the character a lot. Someone asked me to describe him a couple weeks back and the description I came up with is this: If Count Olaf and Willy Wonka had a child that was possessed by demons and he grew up to be a huge Shakespeare junkie.

Can’t wait to share him with you all! As always, feedback and reviews are welcome and I will either live or die in this contest by your support, so I thank you tremendously.

Sincerely,
Robert Wren

Well now you’ve gone and done it. This morning, I wake up to find that we’ve hit that 200 supporters marker I was talking about, and so you all should have received a notification that I have kept to my word and uploaded chapter six, which I call “Monsters Taking Shape.”

As many of you may have noticed, I’ve added a new video to the Ophelia, Doll order page. Hopefully you all have some fun, exciting or relaxing three day weekends ahead of you, but if you could take a second to check it out and share the video it would really help me out.

As for me, I’m about to go dark- dropping off the grid a bit. Making that video was draining, so I’m heading into a planned writing binge over the next several days, writing that extra chapter that I’ve talked about, making some edits based on your feedback and hopefully revising the last couple of chapters of the book if I can make it that far. 

I know it may not seem like it with all of the Ophelia, Doll promoting that I’ve been doing, but asking for help is a terribly difficult thing for me to do. In part, it made the overwhelmingly positive responses and preorders I received that much more meaningful. I wrote the book, but you guys are responsible for having kept me in the running with this contest. You’ve done that. Nothing I’ve said or done has forced your hand- it was a conscious decision that you made to help me. Maybe you did it because you know me and want to see me succeed. A lot of you are strangers to me and have added your wind to my sails simply because someone else who is close to me asked you to. For one reason or another though, each of you has decided to follow me on Inkshares/Facebook, preorder a copy of my book, comment/review the chapters I’ve posted, and/or asked other people to aid my cause and it means the world to me. 

I’ve spent a lot of time pondering why it is that anyone else should care about my dreams. Every other author in this contest could make the same claim. I don’t believe that anybody sets out to write a book if they don’t feel a strong, intense passion to do it- and they would certainly not cross the finish line without that drive. Even writing a terrible book would take a commendable effort! 

However, from what I’ve seen of my competition, the stories being shared through this contest are all worthy of admiration and respect. So I’ve wondered- how can I hope to gain any real momentum with complete strangers (as I’ve come to believe is what’s required to win this competition) when every single author has just as much heart put into their work as I have? If everyone has an equally valuable story of struggle and triumph that has led them to this point, how can I hope to do anything that will stand out? 

It’s not a question that I readily have the answer to. The best I’ve come up with is that I need to share my heart with you, as pretentious as that sounds. I’m operating under the hope that if I expose the raw nerves and emotional turbulence of my journey, that it will resonate with enough of you that you’ll do me an even bigger favor than what you’ve already done: I need you to share this with anyone who you think might listen and ask them genuinely for their support.

Today I was feeling pretty lost, having tried to reach beyond my immediate social media connections in order to expand my promotional efforts- so I went back to the drawing board and did what came naturally: I wrote. I didn’t know where I was headed when I started, but I ended up talking pretty openly about the paradoxical relationship I’ve formed with PTSD. On the one hand, it has made the process of promoting my book seem insurmountable. On the other hand, I truly believe that I wouldn’t have finished Ophelia, Doll, a book that I am wholly proud to have written, without the forcefully abrupt, screeching halt that PTSD brought into my life. I hope that you will take the time to read this post that goes into my personal story with greater detail: 

http://canyouholdasecret.blogspot.com/2015/08/by-pricking-of-my-thumbs.html

If you have any ideas that might be helpful or feel like you have access to some means of helping me further the reach of my promotional efforts, please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts. Your comments, reviews, feedback and own personal stories are all much appreciated and make up most of what’s helped me maintain a loose grasp on sanity over the course of this crazy experience.

 Again, thank you all for everything you have done to keep me in the running- I appreciate each and every one of you.

Yours Truly,

Robert Wren