Athena's Daughters, Day 10: Vicki Johnson-Steger, the Rewards Rundown, and more info on Apollo's Daughters

2013 copyright Autumn Frederickson, for "Athena's Daughters."

Day 10 of our Kickstarter: Autumn Frederickson has just released this gorgeous piece of art which will accompany Vicki Steger's story in Athena's Daughters.

Vicki has published several short stories in DAW anthologies, including Spells of the City, Timeshares, Boondocks Fantasy, and Hot and Steamy: Tales of Steampunk Romance. Orphan Train was published in Triumph over Tragedy, 2013. “Auggie’s Wings,” a novella, was acquired by Dragonfly Soapworks, to launch their Bitty Bug line of skincare products for children. Fairydale Tale, a YA fairytale mystery, was a quarterfinalist in Amazon Penguin’s Novel Contest 2012 and is currently being shopped. Her tribute to Gene Wolfe appeared in The BULLETIN of the SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY WRITERS of AMERICA.

Vicki has also released a summary for her A.D. story, "Burly and Cavendish Blend,"

It looks as though archaeologist Abigail Watts' obsession with ancient artifacts will lead to her demise, when she and her cousin Dawson Willoughby are left to die in an abandoned Egyptian tomb.

Me personally, I'm a sucker for any stories featuring archaeology, perilous Egyptian tombs, and ancient artifacts. I can't wait to read it!

According to my DVD player, my love for Egyptian archaeology has very deep roots.

I also wanted to give you an updated version of the Rewards Rundown, summarized nicely by Maggie Allen as of this morning:

To recap, with your $5 Kickstarter pledge you get: 4 novels, 3 short story bundles, 2 short stories, 2 audio books, 1 music album, and [Ginger Breo's] illustration of Athena (digital, and a physical 5x7 for people with books.) Plus we added 7 additional stories to the anthology (with an 8th to come @ $26k) + the option for a hardcover edition and soon the option for another anthology!

Meanwhile, we are less than $100 away from unlocking our companion anthology, Apollo's Daughters! This is a stretch goal I'm very excited about, not least because we get more stories about strong women written by talented authors. Cleolinda Jones, one of our authors, and Bryan Young, an author who is one of Silence's founders, and who will also be contributing to as well as editing Apollo's Daughters, were on Twitter a couple days ago, discussing how excited they were about the companion collection. I happened to glimpse part of their conversation as I scrolled through my feed, and saw a tweet where Cleo articulated what I love about the entire arrangement:

"The Apollo's Daughters companion takes it into the realm of "female protagonists are for everyone," IMO. I love that."

This is one of the things I love most about this Kickstarter. Not only are we producing great stories by great authors, but we're also dispelling myths about what makes compelling protagonists, inspires their characterization, and makes a multi-faceted, page-turning, amazing story. In the end, both women and men are excited to write works about engaging female characters. And our readers are excited to receive those stories and dig into them. What's not to like about that?

Thanks to everyone who has continued spreading the word about Athena's Daughters. If you or someone you know is interested in pledging, here's your link.

Athena's Daughters, Day 5: Even More Stretch Goals, An Introduction, and Author Commentary

Day 5, and we are close to breaking the $13K mark! I'll remind everyone what contributors at the $5 level and up are now getting:

-a digital copy of the "Athena's Daughters" anthology, now featuring stories by Nisi Shawl and Tanya Spackman,
-an email from one of our authors, personally thanking you for your contribution
-a digital copy of *two* Danielle Ackley McPhail novels
-a digital copy of Gail Z. Martin's short story bundle including "Vanities," "Buttons," and "Steer a Pale Course"
-a digital download of Maggie Allen's album "Last Call," recorded with her band Naked Singularity -a digital copy of Cynthia Ward's short story "Gabriella"
-and finally, a digital copy of Sherwood Smith's novel "Crown Duel"!

At the $13,000 mark, our beautiful book will be getting a cover upgrade. Artist Tietjen Alvarez has graciously agreed to produce an original art cover exclusive to the "Athena's Daughters" anthology! 

At the $13,500 mark, all backers at $5 or greater will ALSO receive a free digital download of Jean Marie Ward’s short story bundle "Four For More."

When we reach $14,000, a story by new author E.J. Lawrence will be added to the anthology! By day, Lawrence is a forensic scientist and genetics expert who has worked with the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory and the Smithsonian Institute. Trust me, you WANT to read E.J.'s story. I had a sneak peek at it last month and it's fantastic.

I also wanted to introduce you to another of our talented authors, Cleolinda Jones. You may know Cleo from her book "Movies in Fifteen Minutes," or from her Livejournal recaps of current movies and TV shows such as Harry Potter, Twilight, Hannibal, or Dracula.

She recently posted a blog entry on Tumblr about the inspiration for her anthology story, "The World to Come," set in the same universe as the novel she's currently working on:

"It's a ghost story," Rose tells her friends around the fire. "But it's also, I suppose, the story of how my father proposed to my mother."

You can read more about Cleo's story here.

As always, like what you see? Or feel like sharing? http://tinyurl.com/athenasD