Right now we'd like to reveal a digital zine you're already going to get: a sixteen page PDF collection of drawings by author Molly Tanzer, depicting the events of BLUE FIRE!
We've been telling you how great we feel BLUE FIRE is for a hot minute. You may be curious to hear what others have to say!
And tonight we have something pretty entertaining for you!
Using the excellent Black God's Kiss setting & rules from Flaming Hand Games, I'll be running their module based on the classic C.L. Moore Jirel tale Hellsgarde. Will Molly Tanzer play as Jirel and be joined by a cast of other exciting individuals?
SHE JUST MIGHT.
So please join us at 7pm EST for our final livestream of the crowdfund!
...but being as close to our creative team pay raise stretch goal as we are, and with the crowdfund ending at noon EST this Saturday, we thought we should probably come up with one....last....stretch goal!
If we hit $22,300 then all backers will receive a free 'zine starring Jirel's hard-drinking buddy, Thevin!
What does she get up to when Jirel isn't around? Find out in a 13,000 word tale called "CITY OF TEARS".
All backers will get the 'zine as a free PDF.
All physical format backers will get a free 5.5 wide by 8.5 inch tall, 34 page stapled 'zine. It will be produced using a fun, lo-fi method called "risograph printing" which creates retro lo-fi results using only two colors.
An example of two-color risograph printing. Photo by themostinept.
Cover art will be done by Carl A-F! Here's a B&W example of art she did for a past risograph printing project:
But first we've gotta close that last distance to unlock bonuses for the creative team behind the book! So please consider pledging if you haven't already, and tell your nearest evil sorcerer about Jirel of Joiry's historic first book-length adventure.
We greatly appreciate how far you've taken us, let's see how much further we can go in these final days of the crowdfund!
The crowdfund ends at 12pm EST, Saturday July 4th so that means just about a week left to pledge for your copy of BLUE FIRE...
...and don't forget that every physical copy of BLUE FIRE purchased through the crowdfund will be SIGNED BY MOLLY TANZER.
You could make this book even more special by appearing in the art!
Available as a pledge tier and an add-on, you can have yourself drawn into a scene with Jirel of Joiry herself! Working from reference images you provide, Saprophial will draw you into the book's second full page illustration as a peasant, person-at-arms, or other "movie extra".
Fifty years from now, when someone in a used book store finds a copy of BLUE FIRE, they could open it and see you!
But we can only fit in two people, so if this kind of literary immortality is appealing, we suggest you grab the pledge or add-on now.
SPEAR & FANG &....TUSK???
Our friends over at OLD MOON QUARTERLY magazine are getting ready to crowdfund their own exciting novella, SEERS IN A BROKEN SEASON. Written by superstar author Jonathan Olfert, it stars a friggin' mammoth!
In SEERS, Walks-like-a-Rockslide, blade-tusked hero of the Blue Ochre People, flees the creeping ice, seeking the sweet grasslands for the mammoths of his herd. But after discovering the gnaw-marked bones of one of the Deep People, he finds himself embroiled in a war of revenge against the cannibal whalers of the shore. The specter of his grandmother, sorceress and matriarch of the mammoths, haunts him. Honor, and fury, and (on occasion) even compassion compel him. Will he whet his tusks upon the whalers? Or will he, like the Deep People, fill their bellies?
A 35,000 word novella for fans of Conan and Primal, and fans anywhere of mammoth melancholies and mammoth mirth!
I've already gone to the crowdfund sign-up page to learn who the cover artist is and make sure I'm alerted when they launch, and I strongly recommend you join me!
Don't forget, there's just one week left to snag your copy of BLUE FIRE and help us unlock our final stretch goal, a nice pay bonus for the creatives & staff involved in making the book.
BACK COVER ART unlocked! Now the back of the book will feature an original painted illustration by Saša Đurđević.
NEW STRETCH GOAL...already unlocked!: Custom chapter headings & dinkus.
NEW STRETCH GOAL: Bonuses for all involved with making this book.
LIVESTREAM TONIGHT AT 7PM EST: Join us tight here at the top of the crowdfund page for a panel discussion of Jirel tales classic and contemporary.
IN DETAIL
That's right, the back of Blue Fire will now have an original painted illustration by Saša Đurđević!
Meanwhile you've already unlocked his also doing illustrations for the chapter headings, and - we love to say this word - a custom dinkus.
Don't worry, a dinkus isn't rude, it's that symbol or line you sometimes see which is used in manuscripts to denote a significant break within the work between major sections. In our recently released novella WHAT ROUGH BEAST? (available as an add-on) we used this:
No shame in that game! But thanks to you BLUE FIRE will instead use a custom illustration by Saša for its dinkuses...dinkus....dinki? Y-you get the idea.
OUR FINAL STRETCH GOAL....well, we've:
Doubled the interior art by Saprophial...
Unlocked spray color edges, whose color backers get to vote on...
Discounted shipping for backers outside the United States...
Added a fun Jirel one-page cartoon by Clade Mirya...
Added a back cover painting by Saša...
...and added those chapter heading illustrations & custom dinkusususususus....
We could just keep adding things onto this book until we'd be giving it spinning rims, but at this stage we'd like to acknowledge an awful lot of hard work by making our final stretch goal pay bonuses for the author, the artists, and the staff involved in producing BLUE FIRE.
This will help them all keep doing what they do best, creating wonderful Sword & Sorcery words, art, and publications for us all to enjoy!
Livestream tonight! Join myself, Luanna Saitta, Nathan Long, and Jeremy Pak Nelson for a light panel discussion of one classic Jirel tale (HELLSGARDE by C.L. Moore) and one 21st century Jirel tale (JIREL AND THE MIRROR OF TRUTH by Molly Tanzer)! It goes live at 7pm est, at the top of the crowdfund page.
