Clockwork Universe Kickstarter

Aliens invade. Earth responds with steampunk badassery.

We’re kickstarting this anthology because we want to write the ever-lovin’ bejezus out of it. 

And by “we,” I mean a boatload of awesome writers, editors, artists… and, well, me. 

An anthology needs anchor authors.  And lordy do we have them: Seanan McGuire, Scott Lynch, Gini Koch, Gail Z. Martin, Caitlin Kittredge, and Brad Beaulieu.  That Milkweed Triptych guy signed up, too. 

An anthology needs experienced editors.  And we’re good there, too.  Josh Palmatier and Patricia Bray — incredibly talented and accomplished writers themselves — edited the “After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar” (for which I wrote a story) and “The Modern Fey’s Guide to Surviving Humanity”anthologies for DAW.  And now they’ve started their own small press called Zombies Need Brains, LLC.

Oh, and wicked artwork doesn’t hurt, either.  Done.

So we have a kickass premise, a stellar lineup of authors, two editors who are VERY good at what they’re doing, and artwork that makes me feel all tingly.  Now we just need funds to make it happen.

Hence the Kickstarter campaign.

What’s in it for you?  First, obviously, the anthology itself.  If we reach our goal of $10,000 by August 16, there will be ebook AND paperback editions. 

Oh, and there are tuckerizations to be had.  Yeah.  Would you like your name to grace a character who, say, goes down in a brass-plated blaze of glory seconds before getting alien queened?  We can make that happen.  But jump in soon.  The tuckerizations are going fast.  Supplies are
limited.  (Although, if there’s enough interest, nothing is impossible.)

Scott Lynch (SCOTT FREAKING LYNCH, PEOPLE) has offered to reveal a hand-drawn map that he used when writing The Republic of Thieves if we hit $4k. 

And since I’ve been so slow off the starting blocks to spread the word about this project*, I’ll tell you what.  How about I throw a complete set of Milkweed Triptych books into the pot?  Bitter Seeds, The Coldest War, and Necessary Evil all together and up for grabs. 

[ETA: It’s official!  If the campaign reaches $6k, we will randomly select somebody from amongst the contributors to receive a complete signed set of Milkweed hardcovers.

ETA: So it turns out that random drawings aren’t allowed within the Kickstarter guidelines.  I’ll still give away the books, but we’ll have to figure out a different way to do it.]

I’d want to play in this sandbox, alongside so many cool people whom I admire.  And, look, I really want to see that map.  So, you know.  If it sounds fun, toss a few bucks our way. 

(*We’ve been doing a lot of renovation to the guts of this website.  In theory, this will mean it’s easier to keep updated.  In practice, we’ll see if it helps me overcome my rabid aversion to keeping the blog up to date.  This post, in fact, is the first test of the new system.  So if things go crazytown bananapants, this is why.  Let me know if you hit a bug.)