The Dark Thorn by Shawn Speakman

Hi Faithful Backers,

It's been a while and for that I apologize. The chaos of my house will end tomorrow when the last paint is brushed and the paper covering our new floor is removed. I will finally get my office desk back and some form of normalcy should return. Should. Because how normal is my life really anyway? Especially since I'm flying to Germany tomorrow for my wife's work for a few days. Ugh. More on that in a bit.

Who would have thought that water damage on June 20th would take THIS long to be taken care? Ahhh, nothing better than fighting with State Farm for weeks on end.

Anyway, that said, I do owe some updates here. And I'm actually excited to do so!

CHARGING CARDS

ARTWORK

MERCHANDISE

SHIPPING

I will continue writing the short story while on my trip to Germany and back, so be on the lookout for more Merle and Snedeker!

Below are two of my favorite Don Maitz interiors as well as his amazingly beautiful painting. So gorgeous!

If you have questions, just ask. I'm always around!

With Magic,
Shawn

Hey Everyone,

Thank you for your patience while I setup the Backer Store and got the survey system ready. It's been a crazy two weeks at House Speakman but all good things happening.

Today, I made the final changes that the fine folks at BackerKit suggested for that Backer Store and the surveys. A few moments ago, I sent out the Smoke Test. The Smoke Test is a way to validate whether or not I've done a good job with the store and survey, by only sending a small percentage of surveys out. If there are no issues, then I'll send out all of the surveys to everyone and you'll be able to answer the number/letter questions, purchase add-ons, enter your mailing address, pay for your shipping, etc. And hopefully it is all easy!

Expect more news from me in a day or two about how the Smoke Test goes. And I'll also write you that new continuation of Merle and Snedeker's story by the weekend. Will try to make the Choose The Adventure more challenging too.

Backer Store HERE should be open! I hope!

In other news, I'm excited to share news about Unavowed: New Tales from Masters of Fantasy, the next Grim Oak Press anthology. Click HERE to view more details about it, the authors involved, their story titles, timelines, etc. And be sure to join the PRE-LAUNCH page on Kickstarter if you are so inclined (900+ people have already joined)! It's the best way to stay up to date.

I should be getting my final edits on The Dark Thorn soon from the copyeditor. And this coming week I'm going to have the Map of Annwn printed, to get those shipped out early. Things are moving!

If you have any questions, do reach out. I'm always available. 

With Magic,
Shawn

Hi Everyone,

On Monday at 2PM ET / 11AM PT, the Grim Oak Press website will make available the remaining copies of The King-Killing Queen and The Briar-Sword Monk. These are set in the same world as The Dark Thorn but the series takes place 400 years before Richard's story. These were crowdfunded over a year ago in partnership with Skybound Entertainment (The Walking Dead) and are made available on Monday for the first time since the crowdfund ended.

Click HERE to see what will be available. If you purchased a limited, lettered, or rare edition of The Dark Thorn, we will be able to match numbers/letters with these books. Though I must warn you: There are only 140 Limited sets, 7 Lettered sets and 2 Rare books available on Monday. First come, first matched.

More news soon! We've begun getting the Map of Annwn posters printed as well as the Fae vs. Templar coin minted! And Don Maitz has flagged 22 scenes he wants to illustration in The Dark Thorn. Guess he'll have a hard time deciding which 15 to do.

See some of you Monday!

The Grim Oak Press Team

Hi Backers of The Dark Thorn,

Similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure of old, you get to choose what happens to Merle and Snedeker as they journey through Seattle to find a rare and risen evil just north of the city. I have written the first FOUR parts of the story and NOW YOU decide where it goes from there by reading and then voting in the attached poll.

Then, in two or three days, I will continue the story based on the majority choice and offer another poll! All the way to the story's conclusion. Get to reading. And voting, of course.

With Magic,
Shawn

PS: This is definitely a first draft! Take that with a huge boulder of salt.

Hi Everyone,

THANK YOU for helping make The Author Preferred Edition of The Dark Thorn be a success! I'm thrilled with the results. It was all you and I am sincerely grateful.

These last few days, I've been working on the BackerKit Survey pledge manager details as well as being sick while on vacation. Talk about a triumvirate. And let's not forget about that water leak that is no longer happening but causing all sorts of consternation with the insurance company. Bah! Adulting sucks. My sons have no idea how good they have it.

I hear what you are thinking. "Shawn, stop whining. It helps no one." And you're right, of course.

What are the next steps now that the crowdfund is finished? Vacation ends tomorrow, at which point we will go home. Thankfully the house is a normal temperature and all fans and dehumidifiers have been removed, so we can actually live there. I'll finish the BackerKit Survey details over the next few days and submit it for review. By Monday or Tuesday, I hope BackerKit will authorize the survey and it will go out to all of you.

I will give until July 29th for you to answer your survey (which includes number/letter requests, personalization requests, the name you want printed in the BackerKit Backers section at the back of all editions of The Dark Thorn, etc.). Then I'll take final payments on August 5th for any additional Add-Ons ordered.

I should be getting my copyedit back on The Dark Thorn in the next few weeks, so I'll tackle that. Then the book will be laid out (it kind of already is since we are using a similar layout to The King-Killing Queen). During all of this, I'll be preparing the merchandise files, getting all merchandise into production, and will be continuing to write the Choose Your Own Adventure here on BackerKit. Because that's fun.

I have a tentative timeline of shipping by April 1, 2025. But if all goes well with all elements of this -- especially Don Maitz's extra are that he will be producing due to the Stretch Goal being hit -- we might be able to ship a month or two before that. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, if you have any questions, do let me know! I'm always around! Think I'll go be sick and lay down in the shade and watch my kids play at the lake.

Shawn