Justin Marks - Author

Hi all,

Three days to go until Rebuild the World: Maine comes out! If you haven’t pre-ordered yet, now is the perfect time. Every preorder helps boost the book’s ranking and visibility. I’ll be posting again on release day and likely a few times in the days after. A bit of early news for you all. The Rebuild the World: Alaska ebook will be on sale to celebrate the new book's release. Look for that sale Monday through Friday.

In other news, Jonathan, who had been beta-reading all my books, starting with The Castle at the End of the World, was nearby (in Alaska terms) and came to Ketchikan for the day yesterday. It was really cool to hang out, get in 15+ miles of walking, and show him some of the locations from the Alaska book. This picture is from Gravina Island, looking back at Ketchikan. One of the great parts of writing has been meeting and talking with all the cool people who’ve checked out my books.

Speaking of cool people, one of my local readers wanted Rebuild the World: Alaska for Christmas. They were all sold out in town, so their partner 3D printed this placeholder and slapped the cover on it. They brought it in for me to sign last week, and I had to share it with you all.

Hey all,
This is a LitRPG Con update, but first, a reminder that Rebuild the World: Maine is up for preorder and out in just 10 days! Check the comments if you want to pre-order, and thank you to everyone who already pre-ordered.

Okay, now the LitRPG Con news. I got the badge ribbons in. Check them out in the picture. I will have ribbons, stickers, and bookmarks/business cards to give out. My signed books will also be available for sale at the Book Nook booth throughout the con (in limited numbers).

If you want to see me do my best not to make a fool of myself at the front of the room, I have my panel schedule to share. If you’re already coming, I can’t wait to see you there. If you want to come, it looks like some day passes are still for sale. Also, hit me up if you want to hang out or organize some gaming at one of the open gaming tables.

Friday Noon: The Plot Was Tight Until I Got Attached to Everything
A chaotic writing panel on how a clean outline slowly collapses once side characters get too interesting, subplots refuse to die, and “just a small detail” becomes canon. When everything starts feeling important, nothing is safe to cut, and the story quietly becomes twice as big as intended.

Friday 1:30 PM: Stats, Skills, and Serotonin
Why has LitRPG become such a massive comfort genre for readers? A discussion on escapism, community, progression, humor, and the stories people return to again and again.

Saturday 3:00 PM: Just Because It's Called a Safe Zone Doesn't Mean Safety Is Guaranteed
A panel on how safe zones and hostile zones shape progression, storytelling rhythm, and player expectations in LitRPG worlds.

Saturday 4:30 PM: More Than Power and Prestige
Why do readers cheer for some heroes, boo some villains, and somehow become emotionally attached to a random innkeeper? Join our panelists as they explore the virtues, vices, quirks, and flaws that transform characters from stat blocks into unforgettable favorites.

Hey everyone, after finishing the first draft of Rebuild the World book three, I slowed down some as I get ready for the Rebuild the World: Maine launch. Not totally slowed down, though.

I've restocked the local stores here in Ketchikan with my books, did two signings, and met some cool people this week. Shoot me a message if you want to order some signed/personalized books directly from me (the new covers for the At the End of the World series are so nice all together).

I have confirmed I'll have signed books for sale in the Book Nook at LitRPG Con as well. In other con news, I got the stickers in, and the badge ribbons are on the way!

Rebuild the World: Maine has made it through all the edits, and Chris is doing his formatting pass now. I'll get it up for pre-order in a week or so. As a reader, I'm not a fan of long waits after pre-orders are up, so I like to keep it to a couple of weeks.

Have a great week.

Not a fancy update today, but I wanted you all to be the first to know. Rebuild Book 3 draft 1 is DONE as of five minutes ago! Super excited about that. 138,825 words later, it's ready to start the self-editing. I plan to take a week off before I start that (I need to focus on Rebuild 2 and getting ready for a release in 5 weeks), but it's done, and I expect to hit my Oct timeline to get it to you (so Rebuild 2 in June, Rebuild 3 in October if all goes well).

As always, wrapping up a series and a book is hard to write, and I am sure the ending will be tweaked a lot as I try to make sure the conclusion is satisfying. I can't wait for you all to see how things wrap up. Some of the pieces that I've been waiting to get to for three books were in the last few chapters.

Rebuild the World: Maine is moving along with editing, covers, and more. I'll have better updates next week on that.

Finally, no postapocalyptic picture today. Instead, I found and bought this today. I read it when I was 12 (so 40 years ago) and remember it fondly. Curious if it's as good as I remember. Has anyone else read it?

-Justin

Update time again. I hope you all had a chance to check out the Anthology and enjoyed the short story about the Antarctica station. It was fun to write more in that world, and it's a good match for all the snow in the current series.

Rebuild the World: Maine editing update. My editor and I resolved the first round of edits (thanks, Chris at WDP Author Support Services). Now he's onto some line edits and probably a LOT of my mistakes to highlight. The cover is looking good, but I have one more round of edits (at least) to send back before it's done.

Rebuild 3 writing update. I'm 13 chapters and 60,000 words into it. I've made a few changes to my outline, and I think the story's stronger now. I'm having a lot of fun with it, even if I still can't spell one of the towns that's featuring heavily.

Finally, today's pictures. I hiked up to this lighthouse this week. It's got the post apocalyptic vive going for sure. And next to it is a picture of me climbing a power line on the hike. There was no sign telling me not to...

Have a good week, everyone.