🥳 FREE NEW AM'R STORY FOR YOU, New Anthology News, Giveaway Winners 🥳

🥳 Finally, as promised, YOUR FREE STORY 🥳

The purpose of this free story is to get people to sign up for this newsletter. But you, Superior Being, have already made the excellent choice of signing up, so you get it automagically! Watch out for an email from Bookfunnel to confirm that you would like to receive the free story📜

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The cover is very special. It’s the first cover done by the 13-year-old in my life, Miss Fierce. She’s got mad talent, and this was her first paid commission. I am of course bursting with pride 🥹

Other Big News 🌕

Immoral Influence Publications, the publishing company I’m doing with two amazing women, has a call out for a new anthology raising money for reproductive justice. (Yes, again; my last anthology was put out by Aqueduct Press, and my co-publishers in IIP feel just as passionately and want to add their own efforts to the cause. And I see no reason not to keep helping that particular cause, considering what is happening in Arizona, Utah, Nebraska, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas, nevermind the states where abortion has already been near-totally banned: Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, and North and South Dakota.)

A liminal space in myth and legend, The Crossroads are where spirits are contacted in many cultural beliefs. Full of life and dark secrets, it is a place where one can lose or gain control in new ways.

In this charity anthology for reproductive freedom, Immoral Influence Publications is looking for stories where deals take place across many possible borders, both physical and mental. Stories that inhabit that midnight hour of uncertainty and transition. Where journeys are interrupted, and characters stand on the precipice.

This anthology will be inclusive of many cultures, perspectives, and orientations. In Ancient Greece and Rome, rituals of change and protection were done at crossroads, as the crossroads represented the ability to “cross over” or move between life and death. In Britain, crossroads were often the sites of executions and where criminals were buried. Most recently, in American history, it’s where the great blues guitarist Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil.

What spirits will your characters encounter? What deals will they make? What will they give up and what will they gain?

We can’t wait to find out!

• Where to submit: submissions may be sent to [email protected]

• Please name files in this format: title-authors last name

• Reprints are accepted, please note if your work is a reprint in the submission

• Word limit: 7,500

• Due by August 1st 2024

• Payment: All proceeds from this Anthology will go to abortion access and reproductive freedom. A number of recipient funds are being considered, and when they are chosen they will be announced

Follow IIP to keep up with news about this anthology and other projects:

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If you remember the giveaway we did on The StoryGraph, the winners were chosen! We gave away 2 Advance Review Copies of Blood Triad, and 10 ebooks of Blood Ex Libris.

I cannot express enough how much I adore The StoryGraph. If you, like me, are dismayed by how GoodReads was ruined by Amazon buying it, then The StoryGraph is your solution. You can migrate all your reviews over from GR, and then settle into a wonderful new reading community with honest reviews. Go sign up and add me as a friend!

🐺 The Archie Report 🐺

Archibald is feeling much better thanks to ElleVet CBD Chews. Ever since we got him, he’s had digestion issues, leading to me spending the day at the emergency vet with him a few weeks ago. (Which was super traumatic for me, considering how much time I’d spent their with Cairngorm at the end of his life—I was not ready to be back there!)

They put Arch on a fancy new probiotic, but I had been suspecting that he’d been in some real discomfort from it, because on his bad days he didn’t want to play, just laid on the sofa or bed looking sad. Also, after our trainer Al’s last visit, I knew how bad his anxiety really was, so a product that would deal with both pain and anxiety seemed like a good thing.

Well, since he’s been on the chews, his energy levels and bounciness are through the roof, so I think they have taken care of any discomfort he was having. Also, while he usual triggers are still there, he is much more relaxed on walkies, and not sweating the small stuff anymore. I am really happy with those results!

For my review portion of things, I’m gonna let NPR tell you about Shōgun, which you totally should be watching

For your song this week, The Lincoln Lawyer (which is also a damn fine show) hipped me to Mattiel’s Count Your Blessings, which I’m now addicted to 🎧

OK, I’ve got a million other tasks for today, so go be good—or be good at it!