Athena's Daughters, Day 22: Our Facebook Group, An Audio Clip, the Rewards Rundown, and More...

Our digital cover.

Hello, all! Hope you are enjoying the last few hours of 2013. I know I am - what a year it's been! The Kickstarter is hovering steady at $29K right now, and we've still got eight days to go until the campaign ends!

Have you checked out our Facebook or our Goodreads groups? There, some of our Athena's Daughters authors have started great discussions with our backers and other bloggers about why we wrote for this anthology, and what strong women mean to us, among other things! Come see what all the fuss is about!

Also, live for all you audiophiles, here's an excerpt from a reading of Danielle Ackley-McPhail's story, "Looking Back."

I've also got an updated list of stretch goals for you all. Let's hope we can knock down a few more of these! Personally, I want an Apollo's Daughters hardback!

At the $31,000 level, we will replace the graphic design cover of the print version of Apollo's Daughters with an original art cover created by artist Joe Corroney, and colored by Brian Miller

Joe has been providing Lucasfilm with official Star Wars artwork for books, games, trading cards, comic books, posters and magazines since 1997. Other comic books he's illustrated include True Blood, GI Joe, Fallen Angel, 24: Nightfall, Doctor WHO, Angel and Spike Vs. Dracula for IDW Publishing, Farscape for BOOM! Studios, Buckaroo Banzai, Kolchak The Night Stalker and The Phantom for Moonstone Books and Crimson Dynamo for Marvel Comics. Currently, he's illustrating for IDW's new Star Trek and X-Files comic books. He's also developing his creator owned comic book series, Death Avenger and continuing to create new Star Wars artwork for Lucasfilm.

Brian Miller, founder of Hi-Fi Color Design, has provided art for Marvel, DC Comics, Disney, and many others, and has worked with Joe on all of his current and recent artwork.

At $32,000, every backer at the $5 level or more will get a free digital download of Janine K. Spendlove's War of the Seasons short stories "World Spins Madly On" and "Fire and Rain."

At $34,000, backers at the $5 level and up will get a free digital download of Vicki Johnson-Steger's short story e-book, "When Dragons Fly."

When we reach $35,000, we'll begin adding stories to the Apollo's Daughters anthology! Starting with authors Joshua Palmatier and Donald J. Bingle.

Joshua Palmatier started writing science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories in the eighth grade, when the teacher assigned a one page Twilight Zone-ish short story. He wrote a story about Atlantis. He got an A. Joshua has never stopped writing since, mainly focusing on novels, including his popular Throne of Amenkor series.

Donald J. Bingle is an oft-published author in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, romance, steampunk, and comedy genres. His novels include: Net Impact (spy thriller), GREENSWORD (darkly comedic eco-thriller), and Forced Conversion (near-future military scifi). Many of his three dozen short stories are available in hard copy and for Kindle and Nook, including his Writer on Demand short story collections: Tales of Gamers and Gaming; Tales of Humorous Horror; Tales out of Time; and Grim, Fair e- Tales.

At the $38,000 level, we will produce a limited hardcover edition of Apollo’s Daughters. The hardcover edition will be a run limited to this Kickstarter only. Backers will be able to order it as an add-on even after the Kickstarter ends, just in case we make this goal just under the wire.

Last, but not least, I have some very exciting news concerning Apollo's Daughters, our brother anthology. But I can't tell you what it is until tomorrow. Would you like a hint?

A) It concerns the subject of the show from which this GIF is taken. B) It's physics AND Nobel-laureate-related (aka, AWESOME.) I'll write more about this mysterious development - and reveal who the Apollo introductory writer is - in tomorrow's blog post!

At this point, you've got seven more days to share about or back our awesome project. So what the heck are you waiting for?

Athena's Daughters, Day 20: Rewards Rundown, ALL the Stretch Goals, and More Links

Day 20 of our Kickstarter! We are closing in on the home stretch! Let's do a quick Rewards Rundown, for those of you who may have forgotten. All backers at the $5 level and up are now receiving:

4 novels
3 short story bundles
4 short stories
2 audio books
1 music album
1 illustration of Athena (digital, and a physical 5×7 for people with books.)

Plus, we added 8 additional stories to the Athena's Daughters anthology, gained a brother anthology, Apollo’s Daughters, and will be producing a limited-run hardcover edition of both books!

Also, an updated list of upcoming stretch goals:

At the $30,000 level, every backer at the $5 and up will receive a free digital download of the eBook for T.S. Rhodes‘ novel Scarlett Sails.

At the $31,000 level, the graphic design cover for the paperback of Apollo’s Daughters will be replaced with an original art cover by artist Joe Corroney. Joe has been providing Lucasfilm with official Star Wars artwork for books, games, trading cards, comic books, posters and magazines since 1997. Other comic books he’s illustrated include True Blood, GI Joe, Fallen Angel, 24: Nightfall, Doctor WHO, Angel and Spike Vs. Dracula for IDW Publishing, Farscape for BOOM! Studios, Buckaroo Banzai, Kolchak The Night Stalker and The Phantom for Moonstone Books and Crimson Dynamo for Marvel Comics. Currently, he’s illustrating for IDW’s new Star Trek and X-Files comic books. He’s also developing his creator owned comic book series, Death Avenger and continuing to create new Star Wars artwork for Lucasfilm.

At $29K right now, I think this next batch of stretch goals is well within our reach!

Meanwhile, Caylie Sadin at Nerdy-but-Flirty was kind enough to link us this week, saying a lot of lovely things about our Kickstarter:

The book itself seems really awesome, but add to it that it’s all women? Oh yes, sign me up. FEMINISM, good writing, and new sci/fi fantasy stories!

Thanks, Caylie! We appreciate the shout-out!

Is this your first time on this blog? Or the fiftieth? Share or donate to our Kickstarter right here: http://tinyurl.com/athenasD

Athena's Daughters, Day 19: A Preview of My Story!

Day 21 of our Kickstarter! It's going to be a short post tonight (as I am recovering from food poisoning), but I wanted to give you all a preview of the story I wrote for Athena's Daughters, "Oh, Sisters, Let's Go Down to the River."

This story was inspired directly by family. When my grandmother was a little girl in Virginia in the 1920s, one of her routine chores was to scrub out the family well. As a child, she was lowered into the dark space by a hanging bucket in order to clean it. I always thought this was terrifying! Even now, it's fascinating to imagine the courage it took for a girl her age to do that on a routine basis.

When I was brainstorming the type of story I wanted to write about a strong female character, an idea based on parts of my grandmother's childhood was the first thing that came to mind. I also wanted to tie the other side of my family heritage into the folk tale I wrote. My paternal grandfather was Native American, and it was important for me to show that Native culture had significant influence on the Appalachian region.

An excerpt of my story is here on Wattpad. I have also posted a brief excerpt below. I hope you enjoy it!

“You be careful of them mean ol' ghosts!”

Staring into the dark mouth of the stone well, Mary felt her sister's hands grab her shoulders as like to push her in, and whirled around with a shout, gripping her small metal pail in one hand and swinging it round in an attempt to scare Virgie away. But all Virgie did was whoop as she jumped back quick, and the pail missed her by a mile. She grabbed her stomach and laughed like she was fit to die afterward, her loose scraggly blond hair hanging in front of her sunburned face.

Mary pushed her frizzy black hair out of her eyes with a frown.

“You shut your mouth! There ain't nothin' down there!”

But now she couldn't help thinkin' there might be. She glanced down at her feet to remind herself what was real, watched the way her own faded cotton dress, greenish with tiny brownish purple flowers, swayed in the wind above her muddy legs and bare feet. They'd run down from the house on the dirt path behind the outhouse, just after sunrise, pushing through thick bushes and red briars in the low light until they hit the small field clearing where the well was at. She was moving so fast to keep up with tall, leggy Virgie there weren't time to be scared. All Mary'd had sense enough to do was keep hold of her pail and put an arm in front of her face to keep from getting too scratched up.

Now, standing in front of the well, watching the sun shine through the green-leafed maple trees and listening to the wind whistle through the stones, making the hanging rope bucket creak and move, Mary felt a hard lump in the middle of her belly, and clutched the handle of her pail until it bit into her hands. She had to go inside that big old well and clean it. Her eyes flicked over the outside stones. One side of the well was covered in moss. There were dead leaves crunched up and rotting around the edge, where it met the dirt. Least that'd clean up fine. She was more scared of going inside.

The well didn't have no roof, just two big wood posts set into the stone, and a long wooden box with a crank on one end stretched across 'em and nailed down tight. The bucket dangled a few feet from the middle of the box, where the rest of the rope was at. Mary put her hand to the bottom of one of the posts. A couple black ants crawled up quick through her fingers, but she didn't care about them. The grey stuff keeping the thick wood in place against the stones was hard and rough against her palm. Some of it came off in little crumbly bits as she poked her fingers around the edges.

“Hit's the mortar,” Virgie told her quiet-like, coming up to stand beside her. “Daddy reckons it'll need fixing in a couple years.”

“Oh,” Mary said, snatching back her hand like she was burned.

She was afraid to ask the questions on her mind – the ones that'd been on her mind ever since Flossie and Virgie told her the well'd be her main chore. When she was no more'n four or five – before Flossie was married, before Bonnie was underfoot, before Mama went to heaven – she'd watched her sisters walk back to the house after cleaning the well. She knew Virgie was always the one who went in, cause her face and arms and dress were smudged with black dirt and green slime, blond hair sticking to her sweaty forehead, knuckles and hands scrubbed raw from the lye.

Ain't it scary to be down there in the dark alone? Hanging on to that rope with nothing to help you? How's it s'posed to hold a body up?

She was brought out of her thinking when Virgie tapped her arm, maybe feeling how Mary was nervous, and said,

“Come on, Mary E, let's go!”

As always -- if you like what you read, back us or share about the project here!

Athena's Daughters, Day 18: Guest Blogging for Silence in the Library

Hello, all! To any readers who celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a fabulous holiday. To readers who don't, I hope you were at least able to enjoy a couple extra days off work. I know I've loved spending time with friends and family this week.

To update you on Athena's Daughters, we are now over $28K, meaning all backers at the $5 level and up just got a free digital download of Janine K. Spendlove's War of the Seasons short stories "Girl" and "White Flag!" What's not to love?

I also wanted to point you in the direction of the Silence in the Library official blog. Throughout the Kickstarter campaign, several of our anthology authors have taken turns to guest blog there. They have discussed how they got started as writers, about how they balance their writing jobs with high-powered careers, family and hobbies, and have also given sneak peeks of their anthology stories. Yesterday, my guest post went up! You can read it at their website. I also have it posted below:

Don’t Be Afraid to Show People Your Work! Or: You Never Forget Your First Workshop

I’ve been thinking a lot about writer’s workshops in the past month. One of my good friends and I had a discussion this summer about whether they are helpful, and whether I should encourage her to take them.

In full fairness, I told her about the reason I love workshops and still believe in them. I’ve been attending them for years. The first one I remember was part of a summer arts programming series put on by my hometown university. It was offered for kids in the area who were interested in creative writing. My mother signed me up and told me I was going. I imagine it was in the hope that thiswould be a good opportunity for me to be encouraged and to meet new friends around town.

The story I prepared was about a Victorian-era girl named Lucy, who was twenty (glamorous!), was a college student involved in a dark mystery (even more glamorous!), and who also had a dashing fiance named John who wore three-piece suits (I die of glamour!) It was probably the result of fervent, ongoing obsessions with Anne of the Island, Daphne duMaurier, and a lot of PBS shows.  

Here are the two vivid memories I have of that workshop: I didn’t have an ending for my story. And, as the group sat around a dilapidated, square lab table, flipping through our typed printouts and our copies of handwritten stories, I was convinced everyone hated it. Granted, I was probably ten or eleven at the time, and the other kids were in middle school or high school. I might have been convinced they didn’t like me no matter what I wrote, because a lot of them wore ripped jeans, were into alt rock, and had multiple earrings. Compared to a seventy pound kid in a kitten t-shirt and LL Bean athletic shorts, they were all way cooler by default. But that anxious tugging in my chest–that awful silence as I waited for strangers to pass divine judgment on words I’d put on paper instead of keeping inside my head–is a feeling I’ve never forgotten. And it’s what prompted my feelings about workshops as a tool for writers.

A. They are terrifying.

B. If you get the chance, and feel brave enough, you should do one.

I’m not saying a single workshop session will make you a better writer. Over the years, I’ve participated in plenty of classes where the group didn’t click. Workshops where I left feeling more confused than when I went in. Workshops where I had no idea how to fix the draft I’d submitted, and didn’t get much concrete feedback other than “what you have now isn’t working.” Workshops where we weren’t allowed to write science-fiction or fantasy stories because they weren’t “real.” I’ve also been my own worst enemy in some workshops. I’ve turned in drafts of ideas I hated because I was too afraid to write about an idea I loved.

But for all of those experiences, I also have plenty of stories about positive workshops. Sessions where I sweated and angsted about a submission I couldn’t wrangle, and my fellow writers said, “Well, have you tried x? What if your main character did y? Why not start the story at point z?” Sessions where I feel I can be brutally honest with the group, and they’re brutally honest with me in return. Sessions where I was also excited (and not just terrified) to put up my work for peer review.

In the end, I still love the workshop model and believe in it. Mainly because it is so helpful, and so important, to have other people see your work. Whatever you produce – whether it’s fan writing, original fiction, an outline, or a bare thread of an idea – being able to talk with a trusted group or trusted person about something you’ve created is one of the best feelings in the world. The story I produced for Athena’s Daughters was done under deadline for my writers’ workshop.

For me, it’s a way to make sure I have legitimate writing output, as opposed to keeping multiple, hundred-page word documents on my computer and tinkering with story bits in secrecy for years. A good workshop doesn’t even have to be a formal class that you pay to take. It can be as simple as assembling a group of your people, fellow writers, who love telling stories and want to see what like-minded peers think of their drafts.

So, if you’ve ever wondered what all the fuss is about, I say try it. Maybe your workshop will be fabulous, and you’ll meet your people. Maybe you’ll just get a wince-inducing story out of the experience, which you can then trod out at parties. (“Hey, remember the workshop where that guy didn’t spell or grammar-check his submission? WTF?!”)

As always, if you like what you see, back us or share about the project here!

Athena's Daughters, Day 14: More Stretch Goals, Rewards Rundown and a Holiday GIF

Day 14: we are over $27,200 and climbing!

I want to thank all of you again for pledging money toward our campaign, sharing it with friends and family, and generally spreading the word about our project. We could not have funded without you, let alone done this well within the first two weeks. So, thank you.

Let me remind you once again as to what rewards all backers at the $5 level and up are receiving:

4 novels

3 short story bundles

2 short stories

2 audio books

1 music album

1 illustration of Athena (digital, and a physical 5×7 for people with books.)

Plus, we added 8 additional stories to the anthology, as well as a brother anthology, Apollo's Daughters, and will be producing a limited-run hardcover edition of Athena's Daughters!

Upcoming stretch goals:

When we reach $28,000, all backers pledging at or above $5 will get a free digital download of Janine K. Spendlove‘s War of the Seasons short stories “Girl” and “White Flag.”

At the $30,000 level, every backer at the $5 and up will receive a free digital download of the eBook for T.S. Rhodes‘ novel Scarlett Sails.

At the $31,000 level, the graphic design cover for the paperback of Apollo’s Daughters will be replaced with an original art cover by artist Joe Corroney. Joe has been providing Lucasfilm with official Star Wars artwork for books, games, trading cards, comic books, posters and magazines since 1997. Other comic books he’s illustrated include True Blood, GI Joe, Fallen Angel, 24: Nightfall, Doctor WHO, Angel and Spike Vs. Dracula for IDW Publishing, Farscape for BOOM! Studios, Buckaroo Banzai, Kolchak The Night Stalker and The Phantom for Moonstone Books and Crimson Dynamo for Marvel Comics. Currently, he’s illustrating for IDW’s new Star Trek and X-Files comic books. He’s also developing his creator owned comic book series, Death Avenger and continuing to create new Star Wars artwork for Lucasfilm.

For those of you who celebrate Christmas (as well as those who don't), I hope you have a fantastic holiday. I'll be back on Dec. 26th with a guest post for the official Silence in the Library blog!

I don't know who made this GIF. But every time I look at our Kickstarter page, I want to blast Wham! from an open Jeep and get orange mocha frappachinos.

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

Athena's Daughters, Day 12: 26K, an updated Rewards Rundown, and the Stretch Goals Strut!

Day 12 of our Kickstarter campaign, and we are over $26K!! Meaning we can officially welcome Alma Alexander to Athena's Daughters! For those of you not keeping track, here's where we are on the Rewards Rundown. All backers at the $5 level are now getting:

4 novels 3 short story bundles 2 short stories 2 audio books 1 music album 1 illustration of Athena (digital, and a physical 5×7 for people with books.)

Plus, we added 8 additional stories to the anthology, and will be producing a limited-run hardcover edition!

Yesterday, I also promised you a more extensive list of upcoming stretch goals.

When we reach $28,000, all backers pledging at or above $5 will get a free digital download of Janine K. Spendlove‘s War of the Seasons short stories “Girl” and “White Flag.”

At the $30,000 level, every backer at the $5 and up will receive a free digital download of the eBook for T.S. Rhodes‘ novel Scarlett Sails.

At the $31,000 level, the graphic design cover for the paperback of Apollo's Daughters will be replaced with an original art cover by artist Joe Corroney. Joe has been providing Lucasfilm with official Star Wars artwork for books, games, trading cards, comic books, posters and magazines since 1997. Other comic books he's illustrated include True Blood, GI Joe, Fallen Angel, 24: Nightfall, Doctor WHO, Angel and Spike Vs. Dracula for IDW Publishing, Farscape for BOOM! Studios, Buckaroo Banzai, Kolchak The Night Stalker and The Phantom for Moonstone Books and Crimson Dynamo for Marvel Comics. Currently, he's illustrating for IDW's new Star Trek and X-Files comic books. He's also developing his creator owned comic book series, Death Avenger and continuing to create new Star Wars artwork for Lucasfilm.

At $32,000, every backer at or above $5 will get a free digital download of Janine K. Spendlove's War of the Seasons short stories "World Spins Madly On" and "Fire and Rain".

At the $34,000 level, all backers pledging $5 or more will get a free digital download of the eBook for Vicki Johnson-Steger's short story "When Dragons Fly."

Finally, at the $35,000 level, we'll start adding stories to the Apollo's Daughters anthology, first by authors Joshua Palmatier and Donald J. Bingle.

Joshua Palmatier started writing science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories in the eighth grade, when the teacher assigned a one page Twilight Zone-ish short story. He wrote a story about Atlantis. He got an A. Joshua has never stopped writing since, mainly focusing on novels, including his popular Throne of Amenkor series.

Donald J. Bingle is an oft-published author in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, romance, steampunk, and comedy genres. His novels include: Net Impact (spy thriller), GREENSWORD (darkly comedic eco-thriller), and Forced Conversion (near-future military scifi). Many of his three dozen short stories are available in hard copy and for Kindle and Nook, including his Writer on Demand short story collections: Tales of Gamers and Gaming; Tales of Humorous Horror; Tales out of Time; and Grim, Fair e- Tales.

I do not have a story preview for you tonight. But I can offer you a GIF which nicely summons up my feelings about another successful week (technically six days, if you're counting) --

I don't know who made this GIF. But every time I look at our Kickstarter page, I want to blast Wham! from a Jeep and get orange mocha frappachinos.

Happy Saturday, all. I am obligated to remind you that the link to our very awesome project is here, should you or someone you know feel like contributing or sharing.

Athena's Daughters, Day 11: Danielle Ackley McPhail Preview, Apollo's Daughters, and ALL the Stretch Goals

Day 11, and we are over $25K! Meaning that backers pledging at the $5 and over now get all of these things:

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 5×7 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...

PLUS our brother anthology, Apollo's Daughters, is a go!

Our original cover.

Are you are a fan of Star Wars novelizations like the X-Wing series; I, Jedi; or The New Jedi Order? Authors Aaron Allston and Michael A. Stackpole are contributing to this project. Prefer your space novels to involve the Prime Directive instead of Jedi councils? Trek author Aaron Rosenberg is signed on, too, as are other fantastic authors like Bryan Young, of Big Shiny Robot fame, David Alan Mack, Christopher Ruz, Elias Pate, and many more!

We are also very close to unlocking our $26,000 stretch goal, which will mean author Alma Alexander will contribute a story to Athena's Daughters! Alma is a novelist, anthologist and short story writer who currently shares her life between the Pacific Northwest of the USA (where she lives with her husband and cat) and the wonderful fantasy worlds of her own imagination.

When we reach $28,000, all backers pledging at or above $5 will get a free digital download of Janine K. Spendlove's War of the Seasons short stories "Girl" and "White Flag."

At the $30,000 level, every backer at the $5 and up will receive a free digital download of the eBook for T.S. Rhodes' novel Scarlett Sails.

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

Last, but not least, we have another story preview for you!

Danielle Ackley McPhail's published works include four urban fantasy novels: Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's Memories, Today’s Promise, The Halfling’s Court and The Redcaps’ Queen: A Bad-Ass Faerie Tale. She is also the author of the non-fiction writers guide, The Literary Handyman and the senior editor of two Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, Dragon’s Lure, and In An Iron Cage. Danielle had this to say on her blog about her work for Athena's Daughters:

...My story is a rather fun Steampunk tale about a woman determined and dedicated to finding her missing cousin, Rockford, so that he can assume the management of his inheritance, her father's estate. I like to think you will be amazed at the predicament she and American inventor Fritz Langstrom get into...!

Her story excerpt is here on her blog, as well as posted below. You can also enjoy the artwork which will accompany her story, which is the illustration in the middle of this post.

“Lady Clara! Lady Clara!” a voice called out.

The Right Honorable Claramina Evangelista Pemberton, Countess Chadsworth—the very image of propriety in her dainty hat, rose velvet walking gown, white gloves, and pearl-buttoned boots—stopped very still, took a deep, imperious breath that was warning in itself, and slowly pivoted on one heel. Her already alabaster skin paled further until it bore the aspect of shaved ice as her brown eyes darkened to the hard luster of anthracite. The gentry swarmed the park this afternoon, impeccable in their finery, quite eager to see and be seen. All around her she heard their murmurs and gasps, and not a few sly titters from those glad to witness her touched by even this slight scandal. The rumormongers were in bliss. Though she carefully schooled her expression to display nothing of the sort, within she was mortified...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If any of these things pique your interest, or sound like the type that might interest a friend, you can find our Kickstarter campaign here.

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 9: Rewards Update, and a Janine K. Spendlove Preview

Day 9 of our Kickstarter campaign! We've successfully added author Diana Peterfreund to Athena's Daughters, and we're less than $1500 dollars away from producing our companion anthology, Apollo's Daughters!

And now for another anthology preview. Janine K. Spendlove is a KC-130 pilot in the United States Marine Corps. Her bestselling series War of the Seasons is a gorgeous fantasy trilogy about a teenage girl, Story, who stumbles into a parallel world only to find out she might be the key to its very survival. She has also written for anthologies such as Time Traveled Tales, A Hero By Any Other Name, and more. Janine's work for Athena's Daughters, however,hits a little closer to home. As she notes on her blog:

...My story, “Millie,” is about modern day Marine helicopter pilot Sara Colón (based on an old friend of mine from my first days in the Corps) who has a chance encounter with a very familiar time-traveling Aviatrix. (Have you ever wanted to know what really happened to Amelia Earhart?)

Spoiler alert: her story is fantastic. I was able to get a sneak peek at it last month. But an excerpt for you fine people is posted right here on Wattpad. Check it out!

As always, thank you all so much for continuing to share and pledge to the anthology. We could not have done all of this without your generous contributions. Not to mention, every additional pledge increases rewards for the group at large. Who doesn't want more books and goodies?

If you or anyone you may know would like to pledge toward or share about our campaign, you can do so 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.