Publication Dance and an Indiegogo Update

I keep swearing - yes, swearing - ladies and gentleman, that I'm going to offer you some writers' guest posts to make this old saw more interesting, but life keeps getting in the way.

That said, being busy isn't such a bad thing. I'm honored to have a story freshly published at The New Engagement, Digital Issue #12, July 2017. "Enter the Kingdom" is a dystopic sci-fi story with a fresh twist on The Handmaid's Tale theme. When I began writing it ages ago, I hadn't read Margaret Atwood's now classic tale about post-apocalyptic religious persecution of women, but apparently I picked up on that creative wavelength. When I fleshed out an early draft in my post-grad creative writing program at Aberystwyth University in 2009-10, I was flattered to hear one of my seminar mates say the story reminded him of Atwood, and I had to rush out and read the book and view the movie. It's interesting how these themes percolate through our subconscious (or unconscious) minds in that Jungian archetypal manner.

In other news, publication day of The Contest & Other Stories (Tootie-Do Press, August 2017) is looming ever closer! I just posted a campaign update, and I'll share it with you here:

Happy weekend, backers and followers!

We're always stunned by how fast time whizzes by. Must be having a good time here on Redwood Highway 101!

We're adding two more like-new used book perks - as chief wordwhacker at Tootie-Do Press and Starstone Editorial, Kate judged new paranormal releases in the PRISM contest recently. Rather than keep these books in her library or donate them to a public library, she wants to share them with a backer. A great deal for a new book by an award-winning paranormal author PLUS a copy of The Contest & Other Stories early bird PDF!  

Silverlight by S.L.Jesberger is a Celtic romantic fantasy. This copy is autographed and comes with book swag!  Bound: The Silverton Chronicles by Carmen Fox is an urban romantic fantasy featuring werewolves. Claim one of these perks and hunker down for some great summer reading!

And, if that's not all, we've just reached our FINAL first lines reveal! Our final short story in The Contest & Other Stories is also art-inspired, but a bit different thematically from the others. "Heaven or Hell?" is a bit of humorous metafiction that features us - the authors - as characters. It's inspired by William-Adolphe Bougereau's famous painting, Dante & Virgil in Hell (1850).                                                                

                  HEAVEN OR HELL?

Dante & Virgil in Hell

William-Adolphe Bougereau, 1850

My old friend Andy bounced into my room and flashed that sideways, shit-eating grin he always got when he started coming down from a trip.

“Guess what, Joe? I’ve learned how to tell if you’re dead or not while I’m hallucinating.”

I looked up from my book, wondering what kind of drug Andy had experimented with this time. “Um, how can you tell?”

“Look in a mirror. If you see yourself, you’re alive. If you don’t see a reflection, it means you’re dead.” Andy leaned toward the dresser and checked his reflection in the mirror. .

 

You're probably expecting us to say, "That's all folks!" But it's not . . . we still have a cover reveal coming up soon!  And though the description of the connecting novella is posted in the campaign and at Tootie-Do Press, we haven't shared much about that either, so stay tuned!

Warm regards,

Authors Joe DiBuduo & Kate Robinson

        & Tootie-Do Press