Oracle cards for divination and games -- shipping now!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Hello from DragonCon!
over 2 years ago
– Fri, Sep 01, 2023 at 07:47:54 AM
Despite the best efforts of United Airlines, I have made it to Atlanta! Alyc and I are now ensconced in a hotel on the fringes of the chaos, ready for one last big push in promoting this campaign. We're nearly halfway to the fifth stretch goal (full-color guidebooks), and hopefully will manage to cinch that one by the time we leave DragonCon -- or even go beyond that . . .
Rook & Rose Miscellanea
To entertain you in these final days, we've got a few series-related links to share. First up is a post I wrote for fellow author Alma Alexander's blog, "It's in the Cards," wherein I go into greater detail on how exactly I designed the pattern deck -- what led to the three-thread structure, the order in which the various layouts developed and so forth.
Second, Alyc and I were recently interviewed by Sarah at Voyage Through Worlds about the Rook & Rose series. It's fairly spoiler-free -- the one section that goes into mild spoilers is clearly flagged -- and since Sarah shares our interest in worldbuilding, we had a lot of fun going into our choices around certain aspects of the setting.
And third, some of you may be familiar with Elias Eells' YouTube channel "Bar Cart Bookshelf," wherein he designs cocktails as accompaniments to SF/F books. (He's also sold an upcoming book, of cocktails for video games!) With his permission, I've reposted those recipes to our website, where you can make yourself two different kinds of Vraszenian spiced chocolate, a Black Rose, or a Trials of the Volti! Some of those can be non-alcoholic, too, for those you who prefer your drinks that way.
I am definitely going to be having a Black Rose to celebrate after this campaign ends!
Other campaigns
Just a quick reminder, if you were not already a pre-launch follower, that Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine and the Diaspora has now gone live! Thanks to support from people like Neil Gaiman, it has made its minimum goal in less than a day, but there is a ton of room for it to grow in its stretch goals, adding more fiction and illustration with additional funding. I encourage you to check it out!
--Marie
Solitaire + DragonCon!
over 2 years ago
– Wed, Aug 30, 2023 at 09:54:17 AM
We're almost 3/4 of the way to our fourth stretch goal -- the one for a second piece of fiction in the Rook & Rose setting, this time written by Alyc -- and on our way to that, we've achieved another milestone: 350 backers! To celebrate that, the digital and physical guidebooks will now include rules for a solitaire game you can play with the pattern deck, along with three games to be played with friends.
I know I accidentally said 400 backers for that in a few places (after three weeks of running this campaign, my brain increasingly resembles Swiss cheese), but Alyc and I have a different plan in store for that milestone, if we get that high. The stretch goal for $38,000 is a bonus "card" depicting the eponymous Rook & Rose, delivered digitally to all backers; we've decided that if we also gather 400 backers, then we'll actually print the card as a joker/wildcard in the deck.
So as we head into this final week, keep spreading the word!
DragonCon
Alyc and I will be at DragonCon this year; in fact, we miiiiiiight have chosen the dates of this campaign specifically so we could spend its final days promoting it at the convention. If you're going to be there, too, here's where you can find us!
SIGNINGS (Marie & Alyc together)
Time: Friday 2:30 p.m. Location: Overlook Westin
Time: Friday 5 p.m. Location: Vendor Hall Floor 1 Mart2, booth 1201 (The Missing Volume)
Time: Sunday 5 p.m. Location: Vendor Hall Floor 1 Mart2, booth 1201 (The Missing Volume)
We're also happy to sign outside of those times (especially since we know it can take literal hours to get into the AmericasMart building). I'm easily findable after my panels, but since Alyc will be a roving Author at Large, if what you want signed is one of the Rook & Rose books, drop us a line ahead of time to let us know when to expect you; that way Alyc can arrange to be there as well.
PANELS (Marie)
Playing With Fire: The Fae in UF (panel) Time: Friday 8:30 p.m. Location: Chastain 1-2 Westin
Gender Essentialism in the Wheel of Time (panel) Time: Saturday 10 a.m. Location: L401-L403 Marriott
This is another one that won't be launching until later, but is worth pre-following now: The Map of Lost Places, an anthology helmed by Lesley Conner of Apex Magazine and Sheree Renée Thomas of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Those of you who are involved with SF/F publishing may have heard Thomas' name going around lately; for those who haven't, the short form is that there were some problems with the magazine, for which Thomas took the brunt of the internet outrage even though the decisions rested with the magazine's owner and publisher, Gordon Van Gelder. (Unlike most magazines in our field, the publisher and the editor are not currently the same person.) Van Gelder has since addressed the issue at hand, but Thomas took a lot of online abuse in the meanwhile, which is all the more troubling since she's the first female Black editor of a major SF/F publication. Becoming a follower of this anthology ahead of launch is an indirect way of showing support, to be sure, but I'd love to see this new project succeed.
That's it for now! Even if we reach the fourth stretch goal today or tomorrow, you probably won't hear from me again until Friday, as I'll lose basically all of tomorrow traveling to DragonCon. I hope to see some of you there!
--Marie
First -- no, second -- no, THIRD stretch goal unlocked!
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Aug 28, 2023 at 12:46:04 PM
Wow, those of you who wanted the frock coats absolutely POUNCED on them the moment the price dropped! And as a result (plus the additional backers we've picked up; hello!), not only did we achieve the first stretch goal -- we blew past it, and straight past goal #2 as well, before stalling briefly a mere eight dollars short of goal #3! Having now tipped over that line, here's what we've unlocked:
rules for a third game to play with the deck
short fiction in the Rook and Rose setting from yours truly!
hand-lettering on the cards
Next up is short fiction from Alyc, followed by full-color printing for the physical guidebook (all digital copies will be in color). Let's see how far we can get!
Other projects
This time around, for the horror fans among our backers, I'm highlighting a colleague's upcoming anthology:
This is the second such anthology from Sloane Leong and Cassie Hart -- and like the first one, every story in it will be illustrated, which is a feature I love. But paying the artists as well as the writers does make an anthology more expensive, so for those of you who like horror, do check this one out! It's currently about halfway to goal, and includes good digital rewards as well as physical ones.
That's it for now! You'll probably hear from me next on Wednesday, when I'll have a finalized DragonCon schedule to share -- if you're going to be at the con, please do come say hi to me and Alyc!
--Marie
First stretch goal almost achieved + frock coat update!
over 2 years ago
– Sun, Aug 27, 2023 at 10:28:41 AM
Friday's surge has left us in great shape: not only are we well-funded, but our first stretch goal is only $273 away! That will be rules for a third game you can play with the pattern deck, one in the broad "rummy" family. And while we're at it, I'll add another bit of bait: if we get up to 350 backers, I'll also work out rules for a solitaire game! I can't say for sure what that one will look like, but I have a book titled 150 Ways to Play Solitaire, and a quick skim through it showed me some possibilities. And this way, you'll be able to entertain yourself with the deck at any time.
Frock coat update
To make things easier (or at least more tempting) for those of you who've been lustfully eyeing the frock coat add-on -- which I know is several of you -- Alyc has authorized me to drop the price for that to $400. Generosity, or a burning desire to free up some space in their fabric stash? You decide!
If you're new to this campaign since I last posted about the coats, you can get a better view of the fabric on our site, and some views of an earlier version of the coat (sewn for a friend's book release, with me playing posable doll). Alyc is more than willing to modify the style on request, e.g. with narrower cuffs or collar, or a straight instead of angled hem.
Other people's work
Two campaigns I'd like to draw your attention to!
Embroidered Worlds: Ukrainian Fantastic Fiction isn't launching until September 1st, but you can sign up to be notified when it goes live. Doing that helps the campaign: more pre-launch followers = more visibility on Kickstarter once it goes live and a bigger first-day spike. Speaking from experience of having the pattern deck get nearly halfway to its goal in the first twenty-four hours, I can say it is a huge relief to anyone running a Kickstarter to get that kind of healthy boost. So if this interests you, go sign up! For more detail, I turn to the publisher's description:
Embroidered Worlds presents a living snapshot of imaginative fiction in Ukrainian culture today, including stories that span and cross the speculative genres of science fiction, fantasy, horror, weird fiction, magic realism, and alternate history.
The majority of stories included in the anthology will be from writers in Ukraine, and for most of them it will be the first time their work will be translated into English. Writers of the Ukrainian diaspora have contributed as well with stories that draw upon their heritage, illustrating the complex and diverse ways we celebrate and re-imagine culture.
These writers and their stories are wildly diverse: There are ghosts and monsters, there are spaceships and ancient gods, there are battles — real and imagined — as well as time-travel adventures, post-apocalyptic settings, magic and folk motifs. Through all this amazing storytelling, we glimpse the ideas and ideals, the history and future, that the Ukrainian people are fighting and dying for.
Full disclosure: Einstein's Workshop is run by a friend of mine, aiming to interest kids, especially girls and kids of color, in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math). She's received a grant to update their equipment after lockdown put a significant dent in their ability to operate a hands-on learning center -- a grant that's offering 2:1 matching for the funds they raise here. So every $1 you donate transforms into $3! If you're willing and able to support it, both my friend and I would be hugely grateful. This isn't a Kickstarter, but it's something I'd very much like to see raise as much money as it can.
Thank you all again, and onward to the stretch goals!
--Marie
~*~100%!~*~
over 2 years ago
– Fri, Aug 25, 2023 at 11:14:26 AM
Well, I didn't expect to be updating so soon after my last one, but --
WE HAVE DONE IT! THE PATTERN DECK KICKSTARTER HAS REACHED ITS GOAL!!!
Thank you SO MUCH to all of you who have backed it, all of you who have helped to promote it, and especially to our artists, whose beautiful work has helped draw everyone into this dream! I'm legitimately a bit light-headed right now. When I posted yesterday, I mentioned there was a chance -- not a guarantee, but at least a chance -- that we might fund by the end of the weekend; instead we did it in a day. Which means I get to float into the weekend on a metaphorical cloud.
And there's still a week and a half to go! Which means plenty of time to set our sights on those stretch goals . . . but first, I'm going to try to do this "relaxation" thing I've heard so much about.
