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

Athena's Daughters Kickstarter, Day 2

Amazing. We are FULLY FUNDED on day TWO of this campaign! Thanks to everyone who has contributed to our project, as well as those who may not have contributed, but have faithfully shared the link on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Reddit, and other social platforms. You guys rock! We could not have done this without you!

I want to take this time to talk briefly about the inspiration for this anthology, and remind you about some awesome upcoming stretch goals we've put together for you!

The reason Silence in the Library wanted to put together this collection of stories is simple: media representation of women matters. Right now, there are many examples of strong women in books, television, and film. Through this anthology, we wanted to show that character strength comes in all forms. Female characters do not only have to be physically strong to be considered awesome. Women and girls also have mental strength, moral strength, or strength of conviction, all of which deserve due recognition alongside physical feats.

Basically, we wanted to read and write stories about compelling women of all walks of life. The authors in this anthology who have children wanted their families to be able to read about a variety of female characters, too.

Since this project IS funded, I'll remind you about the fantastic upcoming rewards we're working to bring you now:

At the $9000 level, artist Ginger Breo will create an exclusive piece of artwork for this anthology which will feature the goddess Athena. It will be made available as an 8x10 print for backers to purchase.

At the $9500 level, all backers who have pledged $5 and up will receive a free digital download of Danielle Ackley McPhail'snovel The Halfling's Court!

At the $10,000 level, all backers who've pledged $5 and up will receive a free digital download of Gail Z. Martin's short story bundle 3 Deadly Curiosities! This includes her short stories Vanities, Steer A Pale Course, and Buttons.

At the $10,500 level, all backers who have pledged at the $5 level will receive a free digital download of Maggie Allen's album Last Call, from her folk-rock band, Naked Singularity!

Finally, at the $11,000 level, we begin to add more stories to the anthology! Award-winning author Nisi Shawl and newcomer Tanya Spackman will both have their work included in Athena's Daughters if we reach this goal.  Tanya has even posted an excerpt of her story on her blog for you to preview!

I am so excited to see where we take this project from here. Thank you all for your continued support. I hope you continue to spread the word of this fantastic Kickstarter to your friends and family.

(Newcomers: like what you hear? Back us!)

Athena's Daughters Kickstarter is Live!

Our beautiful cover!

It is officially Day 1 of our Kickstarter campaign! I've partnered with Silence in the Library Publishing and a host of renowned authors including Mary Robinette Kowal, Gail Z. Martin, Jean Rabe, Sherwood Smith, Janine Spendlove, and many more in a new Kickstarter project titled Athena's Daughters. 

Athena’s Daughters is a collection of short speculative fiction from some of the best female science fiction and fantasy authors in the industry. This anthology features stories written by women about women. It showcases an engaging, diverse group of stories about female characters who exhibit strength in all forms, whether physical, mental, or moral. It also features an introduction by retired astronaut and Space Shuttle Commander Col. Pam Melroy.

I am so pleased to be part of this anthology. My included work, "Oh, Sisters, Let's Go Down to the River," is an Appalachian ghost story about a young girl whose daily chore is to scrub the family well. She thought nothing could scare her more than being lowered into the well's narrow mouth. But she didn't ever count on hearing voices while she worked...

Silence in the Library, our publisher, believes strongly in bringing creative artistry back to the industry. To that end, the anthologies they produce feature illustrations for each individual story. Athena's Daughters showcases the work of two talented artists  in particular -- Autumn Frederickson and Betsy Waddell -- and, as one of our stretch goals, is also poised to feature artist Tietjen Alvarez, who will create an original art cover exclusively for this anthology.

My fellow authors and I, in addition to the staff at Silence in the Library Publishing, believe that any good project should contribute something to improving the human community. In keeping with that goal, a portion of every book sold will go to RAINN. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline in partnership with more than 1,100 local rape crisis centers across the country, and operates the DoD Safe Helpline for the Department of Defense. RAINN also carries out programs to prevent sexual violence, help victims, and ensure that rapists are brought to justice.

This is only a small portion of what you'll find on our Kickstarter project page. Please join us today and become a part of the Athena's Daughters journey: http://tinyurl.com/athenasD.