Hello everyone

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has pledged support for my book so far. The campaign began just one week ago and already 90 of you have pledged.

I am so very grateful to you all. You have pledged from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Guatemala, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the UK and US.

The book is now 27% funded. It will help me immensely in the coming months to know that you are all out there waiting to read it.

By supporting my book in advance, you get private access to this part of the Unbound website. This is where I will share background information about the book, reports on my progress and previews of some of the content.

For now, I'll just give you a quick update.

The book: I started writing this book over ten years ago. It has gone through many changes over that time and I have just about settled on a final structure. The good news is that I have a completed manuscript. My task now is to refine the text, check the facts and make my final edits. It is a process that sometimes goes fast, other times is slow and can involve many reversals as I change my mind. I will share a list of chapter headings soon.

The illustrations: There will be about 20 black and white illustrations throughout the book. So far I have started the pencil sketches for half of these, and have a good idea about what I will portray in the others. I haven't decided the style yet. I'm waiting for a block of time to play with options and will share a working list of illustrations soon.

Okay. That's all for now. Feel free to get in touch (mikeshanahan@yahoo.com) and let me know if there is something in particular that you would like me to discuss here.

Thanks once again for supporting my book. You are participating in an exciting new approach to publishing. Books like mine deserve readers like you. Please do continue to spread the word to anyone else who might be interested in this book.

Mike