Dark Dominions: An Anthology Preview and a Kickstarter

UPDATE: UNFORTUNATELY SINCE THIS WAS POSTED THE KICKSTARTER PROJECT WAS CANCELLED. 

Today I have something a bit different, a look at an upcoming fantasy anthology and its Kickstarter project. Enjoy.

A Fantasy Anthology.

Assassins. Knights. Crooks. And Villainous Heroes.

Fantasy storytelling at its best. Rich with 18 new and original tales by emerging and award-winning fantasy authors alike including MORGAN WRIGHT, DAVID COLLINS, NICOLE SCARANO, JAMES STEVENS, LUCY SPOONER, LIONEL RAY GREEN, JESSICA MARIE BAUMGARTNER, and JOSHUA ROBERTSON, these stories bring us tales of fear, courage, love and sacrifice in worlds of death and tyranny.

Pave the way for indomitable male and female characters. Principled assassins, gifted orphans of fire-wielding warrior bloodlines, high priestesses in possession of magical ink, and sisters born of blood, war and cruelty.

Lies. Hidden secrets. Truths to be unravelled.

Join us in worlds where a forest is marked by death, both for those who enter and those who survive it. Where a warrior as old as time is resurrected to not only fight the darkest of foes but also to come to terms with whom she has now become. Where a prime assassin who has never missed a mark begins a dance with his most elusive target yet, a mysterious and alluring witch. Where an elf knight is able to influence real-life events through magical tapestries. And where a young princess encounters danger and deception amid a border war where defeat means the end of her freedom and the ruin of her kingdom.

Welcome to Dark Dominions

About the Project

1. Summary - What is Dark Dominions?

Dark Dominions is one of the first Fantasy short story anthologies in support of gender equality. Nine male and nine female authors present new and original tales of fiction featuring strong male and female characters. You’ll find no “damsels-in-distress” within its pages. Rather, Dark Dominions takes its readers on journeys of magic, self- discovery, war, love and betrayal in worlds concocted by the imagination of incredibly talented writers including Mike Jansen, Morgan Wright, Michael Mitchell Jr., Nicole Scarano, Joshua Robertson, Kristin Clarke and David Collins.
This anthology will be WriterWriter’s first official step into publishing with an epic collection of fantasy short stories from emerging and award-winning writers alike.
By backing their Kickstarter campaign you will not only be supporting one of the first anthologies in support of gender equality but you will be rewarded for your pledge by any number of special rewards available including: early release copies, limited edition copies, Kickstarter exclusive bookmarks, limited edition bookmarks, book acknowledgements, and a backers-only forum where backers will be directly involved with the creative process, converse with the creators and contributors and be the only ones to get “a-behind-the- scenes” in the making of Dark Dominions.


2. Why Gender Equality?

Because this is something they’re passionate about. In publishing, the idea remains that women can’t write as well as men, especially not male-dominated fields such as fantasy or science-fiction.
The Founders of WriterWriter want to prove them wrong.
How they’re going to do that:

- 50% of their authors will be male and 50% of their authors will be female.

- Both genders will be treated equally and paid equally (no preferential treatment).

- The anthology will feature both strong male and strong female characters.

- The Founders of WriterWriter (writer-writer.com) themselves are male and female, and both consider each other equals. As an extra, Morgan (the female founder) advocates for the “working woman” and some of our other female authors represent the “career mother”. We often hear people use these terms in a derogatory way, as if it’s wrong for a woman to strive for a successful career. This is a traditional bias that still remains and they want to discard that. They believe a woman can have both a family and a successful career. You never hear people say things like this about men. As such, it shouldn’t be said at all.


3. Stretch Goals- What are they and what will these achieve?

Kickstarter stretch goals are goals you reach beyond your target goal, meaning that if one has a goal of say $8000 but they reach $9000 instead, the extra $1000 will go towards completing specific stretch goals.

These are the stretch goals for Dark Dominions:

• Pay Raise for all contributors

• Extra illustrations (means an image for each story in the anthology)

• Extra Stories (one stretch goal for every 2 unlocked stories- means an even bigger an anthology)

• Audiobook

• Small Print Run (200-500 copies)

• Translations (in 4 languages- Spanish, Dutch, French and German)


4. Publishing the Anthology

If there are no unforeseen delays, these are the current publishing dates they have in mind.

- Preorder: September 9

- Official Launch when the book becomes available in ebook, paperback and hardback: November 5


5. Key Dates

Kickstarter Launch Date: March 1, 2019

Kickstarter End Date: April 2, 2019


6. Featured Authors

Women:

- Morgan Wright

- Nicole Scarano

- L. Spooner

- Toni Adwell

- Jessica Marie Baumgartner

- Sherry Leclerc

- Kristin Clarke

- (Two Women Still Undecided)


Men:

- David Collins

- Lionel Ray Green

- Cal P. Logan

- Michael Mitchell Junior

- James Stevens

- Mike Jansen

- Kevin Potter

- Darren Edden

- Joshua Robertson


7. Book Illustrations by

- Mike Cook (also our Cover Artist)

- Inya Serban

- Michael Mitchell

- Lara Calleja

Check out the Kickstarter Project

What Is WriterWriter?

WriterWriter was launched in September 2018, born through the friendship of two like-minded writers who wanted to offer more to the writing community than what was currently available.
And the thing WriterWriter is most known for is its writing competitions with no limits, allowing multiple submissions to other publications so writers aren’t bound by the metaphorical chains of time (raising their chances of gaining publication faster), allowing simultaneous submissions to increase writers’ chances of winning.
Morgan Wright and David Collins teamed up to create a platform to share writer’s works- publishing short stories on their website, offering advice and inspiration for aspiring authors, offering unlimited opportunities for author interviews and book promotions and provide regular writing competitions to keep writers writing.
WriterWriter is most active on Twitter as @byWriterWriter.

Interview With Author Cassidy Taylor

Today brings an interview with Cassidy Taylor, another one of the authors in the anthology, Mirror & Thorns, which I recently spotlighted. Enjoy.

Interview With Cassidy Taylor

Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.

I’m a fantasy author who studied English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was there that I found my niche in children’s literature, and won the Bill Hooks Award for Young Adult Fiction in 2007. My first novel, When Rains Fall, is forthcoming in December 2017. The prequel short story, The Dry Season, is available for free on Amazon. I live in beautiful North Carolina with my husband, two kids, two dogs, and one cat who thinks he’s a dog.

Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?

My story, The Life & Death of Cora Svanros, is exclusively available in Mirrors & Thorns: An OWS Ink Anthology. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076HFL17F

Cora Svanros, a self-sacrificing slave girl with an iron will, wants nothing more than to protect her little sister. Sold into slavery after the death of their mother, she’s spent the last eight years being tortured by a cruel, young chief with an unusual ability. When a seer tells her that to defeat him, she must pluck three feathers from the Crow of Malos, she knows she must try, even if it means dying to get what she needs.

How long have you been writing, and how many books have you published to date?

I’ve been writing since before I could read. One of my earliest memories is making up a story to the pictures in a Peter Pan picture book when I couldn’t find anyone to read it to me. I have two short stories published in anthologies, and my debut novel is set to release in December 2017. They are all set in the same world and interconnected.

The Dry Season (That Moment When…): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N45F679/

The Life & Death of Cora Svanros (Mirrors & Thorns): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076HFL17F/

When Rains Fall: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36154732-when-rains-fall

Why did you decide to write in the fantasy genre?

Writing fantasy is both incredibly freeing and incredibly challenging, and I write it for both reasons. I enjoy the challenge of creating an entire world—its history, its religion, its politics—and finding the characters that the world creates. And I enjoy the freedom of being able to explore today’s important themes without the influence of our world’s history and prejudices.

Can you tell us about your writing process? Where do your ideas originate? Do you have a certain writing routine?

My ideas can originate from anywhere. As a writer, I listen and I observe, and I take what I find and ask, “What if…?”

As far as my writing process, I’m a reformed pantser. My first four completed manuscripts were written without any planning whatsoever. After NaNoWriMo in 2016, when I sat back and looked at what I had written and found that I was so disappointed—it didn’t look anything like I had originally intended—I set out to learn as much as I could to improve on my craft. Using a combination of skills I learned from KM Weiland and Libbie Hawker and Joanna Penn, I found a way to plot and plan that works for me. 

What is your greatest challenge as a writer?

Time, time, time! I work full-time and have two young children. It takes real commitment to sit down and write after the kids are in bed, commitment that it took me years to develop and with which I still struggle every day. I’ve found that accountability is super-important to me, and having a community of fellow writers to back me up and encourage me has been invaluable.

What advice would you give beginning writers?

Read widely, and write often. You won’t improve without either of those things.

What do you like to do when you're not writing? Any hobbies?

When I’m not writing or working, I’m reading. My goal is to read fifty books each year, but this includes audiobooks that I listen to during my commute. I also have two active young kids, so I spend a lot of time reading or writing in the gymnastics lobby or during soccer practice. I’ve read 70 books so far this year!

Are you working on another book?

I’m finishing up edits on my first novel, When Rains Fall. It’s the first in a series set in the same world as my short stories. I’m currently seeking ARC readers. If interested, readers can sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/PuU6pjt1182UbDui2. 

Mirror & Thorns is available at:

Amazon

Smashwords

About the Author

One of Cassidy Taylor’s earliest memories is flipping through a Peter Pan picture book and making up her own stories to go with the illustrations since she couldn’t read yet. It wasn’t long before she was writing her own stories, the first of which was called The Last Unicorn (not to be confused with the fabulous classic novel of the same name by Peter S. Beagle). As you might have guessed, it didn’t have a happy ending, and she’s been trying to make people cry ever since.

Cassidy attended Young Writers’ conferences as a child, and still has a copy of a poem she wrote about writer’s block that won her a place in one of those conferences, but she won’t show it to you. After completing a degree in English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Cassidy went on to get married and raise two wonderful children. Watching her kids grow and discover the magic of reading for themselves has inspired her to return to her own make-believe worlds. 

If you like YA fantasy featuring strong, dangerous women and mysterious magic, and you would like a **free** short story and access to **exclusive content** visit http://cassidytaylor.net and sign up for Cassidy's Reading Warriors.

You can also find her at:

Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

The Toll of Another Bell: A Blog Tour Stop and Review

Today I'm playing host to a stop on the blog tour for the new fantasy anthology from Xchyler Publishing, The Toll of Another Bell, releasing Jan 31st. I got a review of the book for you, a blurb, a look at the full cover graphic, a giveaway, plus the trailer. And be sure to join the authors on Facebook, Saturday Jan. 31st, for the launch party. Now read on and enjoy...

The Toll of Another Bell

A collection of out-of-this-world short stories that ring true in mortal hearts.

Breath: The Guardian of Souls realizes her life is incomplete and sacrifices everything to find what’s missing.

Awareness: To achieve the status of Magi, Jyn must pass his father’s ultimate test.

Phoenix: Orion loses his wife on their wedding day and uses dark magic to seek her in the afterlife.

Life Under Research Conditions: Can a bioweapon possess a soul and make choices to save humanity?

The Year of No Foals: A miraculous colt and a mysterious old man bring healing to a family ripped apart by tragedy.

Naoki No Yokai: Yokai have overrun a local village, and it’s up to Saga Naoki to discover the reason why.

Jilted River: An Appalachian fairy tale attracts visitors to a state park, but then they start to disappear.

Tower Gods: A thirteen-year-old boy with an oxygen mask befits the role of hero in Watcher Benson’s eyes.

Reality As We Know It: Where otherworldly magic fails, is Row’s friendship enough to mend Singer’s grieving heart?

60 Seconds to Midnight: Fleeing an ancient evil, a young woman from amongst the stars finds unlikely refuge on Earth.

The Authors: 

Jodi L. Milner, Timothy Vincent, Elise Stephens, Thaxson Patterson II, Scott E. Tarbet, F.M. Longo, Ginger Mann, J.R. Potter, Danielle E. Shipley, and TC Phillips

The Toll of Another Bell: A Fantasy Anthology

The Toll of Another Bell is a bit of a fantasy mash-up, if an entertaining one, its magic and mayhem swirled with a bit of sci-fi and a dash of historical imaginings. It veers through a wide speculative spectrum, casting forth myths, enchantments, magic, strange creatures, and mad science in its wake.

Here are some quick thoughts on each of the stories.

Breath: This story is soft and subtle, with a seamless blend of character and parable. The setting and fantasy world is rich and creative, a delicate fabric that perfectly suits the story.

Awareness: The beginning of this story was a bit tangled for me as I tried to decipher my way through the opening puzzle motif, but once my brain clued in, I found the story captivating. The narrative had a tense precision to it without losing its mystical undertone of fantasy and surrealism. And I loved the ending.

Phoenix: An excellent modern re-imaging of the Orpheus myth. The tragic quest, the juxtaposition of the contemporary world against mythology was all woven together in an well-crafted tapestry.

Life Under Research Conditions: This story leans more heavily into the sci-fi realm than fantasy, but it was a kick-ass story regardless. The first-person narration, from the point of view of the traditional “monster”, lent the story a different, sympathetic intimacy I enjoyed.

The Year of No Foals: This tale is the star of the book, with a charming, cozy allure that draws you in and never lets you go until the end. It has a sense of wonder and hope, built atop an undercurrent of heartbreak, and melds the fantasy seamlessly into the story.

Naoki No Yokai: This story was light on the fantasy elements, but I enjoyed its historical, slightly off-kilter world, and the mystery that unravelled. I did have a minor quibble, however. There were a few clever, modern in-jokes that peppered the story. While amusing and witty, they pulled me out of the narrative and marred the flow of the story for me.

Jilted River: Another quiet story, but one with much clout. It was a lovely blending of folktale, superstition, and family ties to create a beguiling narrative.

Tower Gods: This one reminded me a bit of an old fashioned boy’s adventure story, complete with giant robots and mystical mentors.

Reality As We Know It: This story was a very entertaining tale that twists the fantasy element a bit, turning the fantasy creatures into regular people, instead of the other way around. It has a spectacular voice and set of characters, and a sweet tone.

60 Seconds to Midnight: I found this one a engaging yarn with sci-fi and Lovecraftian overtones. The ending was a bit open-ended, though. I love to see a sequel to the story, or to have the tale expanded into a book.

Overall though, the book is a great read and I recommend it.

Book Links:

Amazon

Xchyler Publishing

Smashwords

Kobo

The Giveaway

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