Announcement: A New Direction for Collective Inkwell
Many of you know us for our dark fiction. Our horror, sci-fi, and fantasy has often been criticized for its bleak, adult subject matter and coarse language.
Heck, we opened up WhiteSpace:Season One with one of the darkest scenes we’ve ever written.
Our heroes sometimes die. And our main characters go through more misery and heartache than a decade’s worth of soap operas. And god forbid you’re a child in one of our stories, because you’re in danger!
While many of you love the sort of stories we’ve been telling since 2011, we’ve also heard from several reviewers who don’t take kindly to our brand of dark and dreary realism. People who think Boricio is a sick monster created by sick minds. People who think we’re foul-mouthed heathens with the mouths, and intellects, of middle school boys.
We hear you.
And frankly, we’re a bit tired of all the gloom and doom, too.
We’d love to write something different. Something better. Something more resembling the kind of literature we can be proud of, and you can be proud to put on your bookshelf.
That’s why we’re proud to announce a new partnership with Focus on the Happy, a positive, “family values” publishing company, who is partnering with us in a new line of serials coming this year.
Don’t worry, longtime Goners. We’re not leaving you behind!
We’ll still have the same character-driven stories and crazy serialized cliffhangers you’ve come to know and love!
In fact, we’re taking some of our most popular characters and series and spinning them off into family friendly, values-oriented series that anyone of any age can enjoy!
Here’s a look at what’s coming to our newly named HAPPY INKWELL publishing line in 2013.
Boricio and Harley: Life, Laughter, & Love with Man’s Best Friend
Serial killer Boricio Wolfe of Yesterday’s Gone is a fan favorite. But murder and mayhem is so played out, not to mention juvenile.
We’ve decided to go positive with this alternate world tale of love. Meet the NEW Boricio Wolfe, a dog lover with a heart of gold, who works as a volunteer firefighter, teacher, social worker, and brain surgeon. He has everything he wants … except love.
That is until he adopts a rescue dog and soon meets a sweet but sassy vet named Jen, who just might be the girl of his dreams.
Is she the one? After a freak storm destroys his houseboat, he winds up moving into her one room apartment temporarily.
Just one problem — she takes her work home with her. Literally … in the form of eight Chihuahuas, 17 cats, and eight ferrets. All in a two room apartment!
Can she find room in her home, and heart, for Boricio and Harley?
Can Boricio put aside his preconceived notions of what love is, and find enough room in his heart for both his dog, Jen, and all her animals?
Of course he can, this is a Happy Inkwell story!
Hilarity ensues in Boricio and Harley, coming soon!
Yesterday’s Gone But Tomorrow Is Going to Be Awesome!
On October 15, the Wilson family woke up with a message from the Lord — “Spread your message of positivity and love.”
So they packed up their guitars, tamborines, keyboards, and microphones, and set out on a road trip to share their message of hope, love, and positivity in these dark times.
But can they find their way into the jaded hearts of America?
Who doesn’t love a good, family-friendly, faith-based ditty? You betcha’ they can!
Join them in their family-friendly adventures in Yesterday’s Gone But Tomorrow is Going to Be Awesome!
ForEver Happy
In ForNevermore, we met Noella, a girl tortured by an alternate world which only she could see.
But in ForEver Happy, we’ve decided to make a more realistic tale of the teen experience.
Meet Noella and Cissi, two happy, well-adjusted teen girls who have it all — money, looks, and cute clothes!
When a new mall opens up at Kings Point, life is about to get even better!
Because that’s when Noella meets Dante, an Abercrombie & Fitch model, poet, and singer. But can her relationship with her bestie survive her new love?
Of course it can, because guess what … Dante has a twin brother named Dan, a perfect match for Cissi!
Join them for fun adventures in ForEver Happy: Season One! No moody teens need apply.
WhiteFamily
In WhiteSpace, you visited an island ripe with paranoia and something horrible bubbling beneath the surface.
Well, in WhiteFamily, we go back to an island setting…
Hamilton Island seemed like the perfect home.
And the Puget Island bedroom community is!
Dan White is a stay-at-home Dad who left the corporate rat race, along with his free-spirited yoga instructor/painter/jewelry artist wife, Linda, and moved to Hamilton Island where they’re starting a new age cupcake bakery/Meditation Center/Self Enlightenment Center.
Can they trade in the 9-5 for what truly matters, and still be able to pay for their insanely expensive mortgage with a vague business plan based on selling overpriced sweets and guru sessions?
Of course they can! This is a new breed of Collective Inkwell story where every ending is happy. Well, except for ones in massage parlors. (Come on, this is family friendly!)
Join Dan and Linda White, and their lovely, but precocious children in WhiteFamily, the new serial about a perfect family on a perfect island, where nothing bad ever happens, and each day is a beautiful flower just waiting to bloom.
A new, happier Direction for The Happy Inkwell
Sean and I have decided that after a year of writing such grim, terrifying stories, that we should write something with more positive, happy messages.
Gone are the violence and horrible bad words. Heck, I’m not even sure where we got such ideas for bad things, given that nothing like that ever happens in the real world. Not in the America I grew up in anyway! Nobody swears or hurts one another. Everybody gets along perfectly, loves one another, and lives together in peace and harmony.
We’re sorry for upsetting that harmony and painting a false picture with our fiction which clearly is the byproduct of too many sinful comic books and video games, or something.
But we’re trying to get better.
And for that, we thank Focus on the Happy, for this partnership.
And to anyone who says we’re selling out because of the multimillion dollar contract we’ve signed, we say, no way. These are tales that truly come from the bottom of our hearts. Our well-paid hearts.
These are the stories we’d always meant to tell. Shiny, Happy Inkwell stories.
Yeah, right.
April Fool’s.
And don’t worry, Goners.
We’re not changing a damned thing in our dark, disgusting tales.
Thank you for reading,
Sean and Dave
Collective Inkwell 
pmsl.. you guys are naughty!! biggest smile I’ve had all day x
Dammit – you got me on that one!!! I was feeling SICK when I heard what you were doing to my #1 dude, Boricio. 🙂 Ya done good.
Well done. LOL.
You really had me going there, for a minute anyway!! GREAT April fool’s prank! I had an inkling something was up when it got progressively more saccharine the more I read…heck, by the third story my teeth were beginning to ache! By the last, I was positively nauseous! Good job! Now…back to gloom and doom! Heh heh heh!
GREAT April fool’s prank! You had me going for a minute, there, but little by little I had an inkling something was afoot! The further I read, the more my teeth ached, and when I got to the last story, I was positively nauseous! Good job! Now…back to gloom and doom, the way we Goners like it!
Was like, wtf kind of sellouts…then remembered the day
PHEW!! i was like WTF??? Boricio with a puppy??? Lorda mercy!! Good one fellas..
I really hope you guys are kidding I have enjoyed everyone of your books & so has the people I have shared them with I dont want to see any changes I like the sick way you guys are. I hope this is just a sick joke I would hate to stop reading ya’ll back I so look forward to them
Well done! The best AF joke I’ve seen in a long while!
Oh my, I really love this. And something is wrong with me since I really want to write that Boricio with a puppy story.
Dave, how many times did the blackness of your soul spew forth while you were writing this?
Don’t do that again, please… I was shocked. I love your dark stories…
LOL. Yeah, I caught on pretty early in the game, being no stranger to April fool pranks. (You can attest to that one, Sean!). Hilarious !!!
Way to commit. 😉
F*%#! YOU GOT ME!!! Seriously, after the first few sentences, I quickly scrolled down the page looking for the unsubscribe button (didn’t know how). It’s almost 3pm and I’ve let my April Fools guard down at 3 hours ago. *claps hands together* that was a good one, you guys!
You got me…depression was setting in as I read each synopsis….
Well done! The best one for me today!
But, I must say, WhiteFamily would truly terrify the crap out of me.
See, when I look at those covers, I get a really unsettling feeling that you’re going to do some Sick and Disturbing Behind the Scenes stuff.
Dang I thought I was going to have to find another author!
Hilarious! Best April’s Fools joke I’ve seen today! Love it!
I knew u were full of shit on a friendlier Boricio. But I love reading the fake changes. You guys rock.
Dave, and a happy story? Now Sean I could see doing this, especially the puppy one. But Dave?
*hangs head in shame for falling for this* You got me good. I almost cried
OMG I nearly fell of my seat you had me for almost 20 seconds, Boricio with mans best friend jeeze, and the white family…Im running for the hills already!!!
Soo relieved this was April fool PHEWEY!!!
Damn! Scared me to death, just seeing the words “family values” creeped me out more than anything Boricio’s ever done! Very funny guys.
For a second, I thought I had just stepped into a twilight zone episode!!
Thanks, everyone, glad you enjoyed it! And don’t worry, no, we’re not abandoning our wicked ways! I would’ve responded sooner, but I’ve been sick all week and trying to get the last draft of WhiteSpace:Season Two complete in time to get it to our editor. It was a hectic schedule, but I love what Sean and I wrote and can’t wait to show you all the Tuesday after next!
While these covers are nothing we’d ever write, Sean and I WILL write children’s books, and I’m even going to illustrate one I’m writing for my son. I think Sean could be up there with Dr. Seuss, he’s that good with children’s poetry! But these aren’t titles which would replace anything we’re doing here at the Inkwell.
I would actually love to read the Boricio and Harley book. I loved the parts with Boricio and Rose (even knowing it couldn’t end well). I think it’s just that you are both great writers though (and I strive to write characters as intriguing as you both).
Boricio’s story had me. That was hysterical.
I also love White Family. Five stars, y’all.
Thanks!