Athena's Daughters, Day 24: E.J. Lawrence, More Podcasting, and a Tricia Barr Novel Preview

Six days left in our Kickstarter campaign, and we are thisclose to breaking $31K! Thank you so much for continuing to share about our project! With luck and faith, we hope to break through a few more stretch goals before the week is over. Now, onto the link roundup:

Athena's Daughters author E.J. Lawrence did a guest post for the Silence in the Library blog this morning. In it, she talks about how her early love of science fiction eventually spurred her to a career in science. She also talks about the symbiotic relationship between the two, and the ways in which female figures in both fields can be positive role models for young girls and women:

"...And though female figures within the scientific community do help to drive young girls into the scientific fields...I believe that female figures within science fiction also serve [as role models] in that capacity. Perhaps more so, because in science fiction and fantasy for that matter you get to live out those ‘what ifs’ far sooner than we can make them happen for real, but those ‘what ifs’ drive us towards getting there that much faster."

Well said, EJ! Her full blog post is here on SITL's website.

Athena's Daughters also got a plug on DJ Grandpa's Crib a few days ago. Janine Spendlove appeared on the podcast to talk about the anthology and strong women in the episode "Thor's Hammer, Part 2." You can stream it live or download it via iTunes at the link!

I'm also excited to announce that AD author Tricia Barr released her first novel, Wynde, this week! Her story for our anthology is a direct tie-in to this novel. The latter is best classified as "military science fiction with a fantastical twist that features heroines Vespa and Gemini." Which just makes me squee. I can't wait to read it! You can find out more about Wynde or purchase it here at FANgirl Blog.

To everyone who has backed or shared about Athena's Daughters so far: thank you! We are blown away by your continued generosity and support. But the campaign's not over yet! If you're reading this and feel compelled to get on board while you've still got the chance, the link -- as always -- is right here.

Athena's Daughters, Day 8: A Blog Hop, Jean Marie Ward Story Preview, & the Rewards Rundown

Day 8, and we are now over 20K! In addition to all our other stretch goals, we will be releasing a limited hardcover run of the Athena's Daughters anthology!I wanted to give you another story excerpt from Athena's Daughters, this time by the fabulous Jean Marie Ward.

Jean writes fiction, nonfiction and everything in between. Her first novel, written with the late Teri Smith, finaled in two categories of the 2008 Indie Book Awards. Her short stories appear in numerous anthologies, including the award-winning Hellebore and Rue, and The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity. Her short story “Lord Bai’s Discovery” was shortlisted for the Washington Science Fiction Association’s Small Press Award. You can find her online at JeanMarieWard.com or on Twitter. A preview of her A.D. story, "The Gap In The Fence," is here:

The corners of the fairy’s eyes crinkled, like he was hiding a smile under his beard, but it didn’t last. “Nothing like that. I’m sorry. I can’t stop anybody from dying. There’re some things you just can’t fix.”

“Then what can you do? There’s got to be something.”

Gurt and all the birds seemed to gasp at once. Even the leaves seemed to hold their breath. The man’s bushy eyebrows lifted.

“What do you want of me?”

His voice sounded different somehow. It was still slow and gravelly, but there was something sharp and cold underneath the words that brought back all my fear. Me and my big mouth—Mom always said it would get me in trouble. He waited for me to say something, staring at me from under his eyebrows with eyes as hard as his voice. “What do you want of me?”

A cloud passed overhead, shadowing his face. Gurt ogled us with big saucer eyes. Her head turned from side to side to keep us both in view.

What I wanted was for him to save my best friend’s dog from dying, but he said he couldn’t. At least I thought he did. I wanted to be smarter, so I’d know what he meant and what I was supposed to say. But this might be my only chance. My head whirled with all the bad things about to happen—Willy dragged away from the people who loved him when he was sick and hurting, Shari waking up to find out her mom… I couldn’t finish the thought any more than I could face her and tell her what her mom was going to do.

“What. Do. You. Want?”

The breeze roared into a wind. My hair skinned away from my face. Branches as big as my whole body shook. The grass bowed flat. The fairy hadn’t moved, but he seemed to have grown until he was too big to see without lifting my head. I almost peed my pants, but I knew if I broke and ran, he’d be on me in a second. Then I’d be dead. There was only one thing to do...

I also wanted to link you to many of the fabulous blogs and anthology-related posts of my fellow authors! Gail Martin was kind enough to put together a comprehensive list on her own blog, Disquieting Visions, and shared it with us last night. The LinkyTools nodule at the bottom of this post is where you can find more story previews, blog posts, our Goodreads community and much, much more!

Last, but not least, an updated Rewards Rundown. Contributors at the $5 level and up are now getting:

-a digital copy of the “Athena’s Daughters” anthology, now also featuring stories by E.J. Lawrence, Tera Fulbright, Tricia Barr, and Jennifer Brozek -an email from one of our authors, personally thanking you for your contribution

-a digital copy of two Danielle Ackley McPhail novels (The Halfling’s Court and Yesterday’s Dreams) -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” -a digital copy of Sherwood Smith’s novel Crown Duel

-an anthology cover upgrade, created exclusively for our book by artist Tietjen Alvarez -a digital download of Jean Marie Ward‘s short story bundle “Four For More” -a digital download of the audiobook of Danielle Ackley McPhail’s collection of short stories, Flash in the Can. -a digital download of Gail Z. Martin’s Jonmarc Vahanian short story bundle, including “Raiders’ Curse”, “Caves of the Dead”, and “Storm Surge,” -a digital download of Janine K. Spendlove’s novel War of the Seasons, Book 1: The Human

-a digital download of Tera Fulbright‘s short story “Fires Within the Blank Page.” -a free digital download of Ginger Breo‘s illustration of the goddess Athena. (Backers who purchase print copies of the book will additionally receive a free 5×7 print of Ginger’s art.) -a free digital download of the audiobook for Janine K. Spendlove’s novel War of the Seasons, Book 1: The Human

-a limited hard cover run of Athena’s Daughters using the commissioned cover art by Tietjen Alvarez (this edition will be limited to a print run of 200 books! Act fast!)

In the pipeline are the following stretch goals:

At the $22,000 level, another story will be added to the anthology! Author Diana Peterfreund is the author of nine books for adults and teens about awesome young women doing awesome things: from breaking down the gender barriers of an all-male secret society to saving the world from killer unicorns. Her latest book, Across a Star-Swept Sea, is a gender-flipped take on the Scarlet Pimpernel set in a post-apocalyptic future. Her critically acclaimed short stories have appeared on the Locus Recommended Reading List and in the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Vol.5.

At the $24,000 mark, we will produce a companion anthology, "Apollo's Daughters." This book will also feature strong female characters, but with a slight twist. The authors will be some of the best male SF/F writers in the business, including Michael A. Stackpole, Aaron Allston, Bryan Young and Aaron Rosenberg!

Are any of these awesome things relevant to your interests? To paraphrase Liz Lemon, do you now feel like high fiving a million angels? Back us or share about the project here.

Athena's Daughters, Day 7: More Previews! More Press! And the (updated) Rewards Rundown!

2013 copyright Autumn Frederickson.

Day 7, and we are over 19K and still climbing. I'm so proud of this anthology and how well it's doing. In the conceptual stages, we were all thrilled to be invited to this project, but to see it funded so quickly and continue to be a success now that the campaign's active is really gratifying for everyone involved. Thank you all for doing what you do!

I wanted to bring you guys another preview from our anthology. Author C.A. (Christine) Verstraete writes both flash and short fiction with a touch of the macabre. Her stories have appeared in various anthologies including Darlings of Decay, Feast of the Dead - Hors D' Oeuvres, 100 Doors to Madness, as well as Timeshares and Steampunk'd from DAW Books. Her new book is GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie.

Her story for "Athena's Daughters" is going to be awesome. In fact, you can still pledge for a "Tuckerization" in it, meaning you'd be written in as a character! So far, Autumn Frederickson has created a gorgeous illustration of C.A's protagonist, Marietta (see above). An excerpt of Christine's story is posted here on her blog:

"No one could remember the last soul who came to Devil’s Gulch and made such an impression. When she stepped through the doors of the Black Fiddle Tavern that day, all conversation stopped and silence fell like a heavy winter snow.

Everyone took notice because the woman just didn’t seem to fit in either the brass-embellished tavern or the burgeoning town. Miss Marietta Parsons was as plain as could be.

Marietta knew that everyone considered her plain, homely. But she didn't care. Nor did she take insult at the look of regret that flashed across the painted face of the striking bar owner Luella, who had posted an opening for a songstress and thereby lured Marietta to the tavern...

Let's also take a look at the current Rewards Rundown, updated to reflect achieved stretch goals:

-a digital copy of the “Athena’s Daughters” anthology, now also featuring stories by E.J. Lawrence, Tera Fulbright, Tricia Barr, and Jennifer Brozek -an email from one of our authors, personally thanking you for your contribution

-a digital copy of two Danielle Ackley McPhail novels (The Halfling’s Court and Yesterday’s Dreams) -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” -a digital copy of Sherwood Smith’s novel Crown Duel

-an anthology cover upgrade, created exclusively for our book by artist Tietjen Alvarez -a digital download of Jean Marie Ward‘s short story bundle “Four For More” -a digital download of the audiobook of Danielle Ackley McPhail’s collection of short stories, Flash in the Can. -a digital download of Gail Z. Martin’s Jonmarc Vahanian short story bundle, including “Raiders’ Curse”, “Caves of the Dead”, and “Storm Surge,” -a digital download of Janine K. Spendlove’s novel War of the Seasons, Book 1: The Human

-a digital download of Tera Fulbright‘s short story “Fires Within the Blank Page.” -a free digital download of Ginger Breo‘s illustration of the goddess Athena. Backers who purchase print copies of the book will additionally receive a free 5×7 print of Ginger’s art. -a free digital download of the audiobook for Janine K. Spendlove’s novel War of the Seasons, Book 1: The Human

Here is a list of our upcoming stretch goals (a couple of which you are going to freak out over. because they're amazing):

At the $20,000 level, we will produce a limited hard cover run of Athena’s Daughters using the commissioned cover art by Tietjen Alvarez. This edition will be limited to a print run of 200 books.

At the $22,000 level, another story will be added to the anthology! Author Diana Peterfreund is the author of nine books for adults and teens about awesome young women doing awesome things: from breaking down the gender barriers of an all-male secret society to saving the world from killer unicorns. Her latest book, Across a Star-Swept Sea, is a gender-flipped take on the Scarlet Pimpernel set in a post-apocalyptic future. Her critically acclaimed short stories have appeared on the Locus Recommended Reading List and in the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Vol.5.

When we reach $24,000, Silence in the Library, our publisher, will produce a companion volume to Athena’s Daughters titled Apollo’s Daughters! This anthology will feature stories by some of the best male SF/F authors in the business. The stories will also feature female protagonists. Michael A. Stackpole, Aaron Allston, Aaron Rosenberg, David Mack, and Bryan Young have already signed on for the project.

Are you getting excited yet?! We still have 23 days to go! I can't quite spill the beans about some of the other stretch goals we've got planned, but I will say that you're bound to love them as much as we do.

Reading this blog for the first time? Or the twelfth? You can back us or share about the project here.

Athena's Daughters, Day 6: Positive Press, Another Preview, and The Rewards Rundown

Athena's Daughters, Day 6: Positive Press, Another Preview, and The Rewards Rundown

Day 6, and we are over 16K and climbing, thanks to front page press on Jezebel, The Mary Sue, and i09. Frankly, it's surreal and totally awesome to see our project sharing page space with articles about Jennifer Saunders, Paul Dini, Peter O'Toole, and the fact that someone has created Hogwarts-house themed high heels. I'm so thankful to everyone for contributing and spreading the word about our project. You guys are amazing.

I'll give you a revised version of the Rewards Rundown, now updated to reflect achieved stretch goals. In addition to any items specifically pledged for, all contributors at the $5 level and up are now getting:

-a digital copy of the “Athena’s Daughters” anthology, now also featuring stories by authors Nisi Shawl, Tanya Spackman, E.J. Lawrence, Tera Fulbright, and Tricia Barr
-an email from one of our authors, personally thanking you for your contribution
-a digital copy of two Danielle Ackley McPhail novels (The Halfling's Court and Yesterday's Dreams)
-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”
-a digital copy of Sherwood Smith’s novel Crown Duel

-an anthology cover upgrade, created exclusively for our book by artist Tietjen Alvarez

-a digital download of Jean Marie Ward's short story bundle "Four For More"

-a digital download of the audiobook of Danielle Ackley McPhail’s collection of short stories, Flash in the Can. 

-a digital download of Gail Z. Martin’s Jonmarc Vahanian short story bundle, including “Raiders’ Curse”, “Caves of the Dead”, and “Storm Surge,”

-and last but not least, a digital download of Janine K. Spendlove’s novel War of the Seasons, Book 1: The Human. 

And that's not all! Here are four more stretch goals on the horizon:

At the $17,000 level, all backers who have pledged at the $5 level and up will receive a free digital download of Tera Fulbright's short story "Fires Within the Blank Page."

At $17,500, we'll add another story to the anthology, this time by author Jennifer Brozek. Jennifer is an award winning author and editor who has been writing roleplaying games and professionally publishing fiction since 2004. She has won awards both for her game design and for editing. 

When we reach $18,000, all backers at $5 and up will additionally receive a free digital download of Ginger Breo's illustration of the goddess Athena. Additionally, backers who purchase print copies of the book will receive a free 5x7 print of Ginger’s art. 

At the $19,000 level, backers pledging $5 or more will also receive a free digital download of the audiobook for Janine K. Spendlove’s novel War of the Seasons, Book 1: The Human.

I want to leave you with another story preview, so you can get an idea of the type of work that will be featured in the anthology. Maggie Allen's "Lunar Camp" is about a thirteen year old African-American girl named Bee who spends her summer vacation at camp on the moon. As Maggie says, "her passion is botany and growing plants, so you can imagine her excitement at spending a summer learning about moon rocks. Lunar Camp ends up being more than she bargained for in so many ways..."

You can read an excerpt from Maggie's story here.

Per usual -- if you or someone you know would like to contribute to our anthology, or would like to hear about it, link them to it!

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