Wow! It took less than a week for the New England Speculative Writers‘ Kickstarter campaign to reach its fundraising goal! That means the basic expenses for The Final Summons anthology, set for a February 2019 release, have been met and now it’s on to the stretch goals — the first of which is $1,475 to cover compensation for our editor.

For readers, that means you can still contribute to the campaign and pre-order the book, which will feature my short story The Going Rate for Penance and 13 other fantasy, horror, and science fiction tales from New England-area authors.

By backing this project on Kickstarter, you can pre-order your e-book copy now for $5 or a print edition for $25 — which also includes a copy of the e-book! For a larger contribution you can have a copy donated to your local library. Visit the project’s official Kickstarter page and learn more about the authors, their stories, and what you get for pledges as little as $2 and as large as $50.

WRITING PROJECTS

Well-Behaved Women: The current draft of book one is off to my editor and book two is nearly done.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – book four: First draft in progress.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Fourth draft written. Tentatively scheduled for a February/March 2019 release.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins (audiobook): Review completed, final editing in progress.

APPEARANCES & EVENTS

• CANCELLED – The Blackstone Valley Authors & Artisans Festival. This event has been rescheduled for the fall, and it’s unlikely I’ll be able to participate.
• The Connecticut Renaissance Faire – Saturday, September 15, 1 to 3 PM. I’ll be returning for the annual Meet the Author series.

MISC.

The New England Speculative Writers group has launched a new promotion for its newsletter, and you can get not one but two free books out of the deal! Simply click on this link and sign up for the newsletter, and you’ll receive e-book versions of the two collections pictured here, featuring novel samples from NESW members. The fantasy collection includes the first two chapters of The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Scratching a Lich.

If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.

In case you missed the announcements on social media over the weekend, the New England Speculative Writers group announced it is releasing its first anthology, The Final Summons, in February 2019, and my short story, The Going Rate for Penance, will be in it!

By backing this project on Kickstarter, you can pre-order your e-book copy now for $5 or a print edition for $25 — which also includes a copy of the e-book! For a larger contribution you can have a copy donated to your local library.

The project’s goal is $1,125 but the book will be delivered even if the fundraising goal is not met (any shortfall will be absorbed by the NESW group).

Visit the project’s official Kickstarter page and learn more about the authors, their stories, and what you get for pledges as little as $2 and as large as $50.

The Going Rate for Penance, one of 14 stories that” appear in the collection, is a freestanding adventure set in the world of The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot.

The NESW group received dozens of submissions from talented writers from across New England, and my story made the cut, so I’m especially proud of this achievement. This will be my first anthology and I can’t wait for it to hit the shelves!

WRITING PROJECTS

Well-Behaved Women: I worked up a fresh draft of book one last week to iron out some stubborn wrinkles in the text, and now I’m working on a fourth draft to hammer out a few more.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – book four: First draft in progress.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Fourth draft written. Tentatively scheduled for a February/March 2019 release.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins (audiobook): Review completed, final editing in progress.

APPEARANCES & EVENTS

• The Blackstone Valley Authors & Artisans Festival – Saturday, June 2, 10 AM to 3 PM.
• The Connecticut Renaissance Faire – Saturday, September 15, 1 to 3 PM. I’ll be returning for the annual Meet the Author series.

MISC.

The New England Speculative Writers group has launched a new promotion for its newsletter, and you can get not one but two free books out of the deal! Simply click on this link and sign up for the newsletter, and you’ll receive e-book versions of the two collections pictured here, featuring novel samples from NESW members. The fantasy collection includes the first two chapters of The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Scratching a Lich.

The NESW is also sponsoring a special newsletter subscription promotion for its individual members. Get free short stories, collections, novel excerpts, and full novels just for signing up for an author’s newsletter.

If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.