Add-ons to Help Us Reach Our Next Stretch Goal
almost 6 years ago – Sat, May 19, 2018 at 09:09:15 PM

Add-ons are items that you pledge extra for that will be added to your rewards. In order to add an add-on, all you need to do is to select to manage your pledge, add the amount for the add-on and once the campaign is completed we will utilize BackerKit (a third party pledge manager) to let you select exactly what you would like to receive.

There will not be an additional shipping charge for any add-ons.

Add-ons to consider:

"Once Upon a Time," written by Logan Uber, illustrated by Meredith Moriarty

• Hardcover: $30
• Softcover: $20
• eBook: $10

"Once Upon a Time, A Bit Earlier," written by Erik Peterson, illustrated by Meredith Moriarty

• Hardcover: $25
• Softcover: $15
• eBook: $10

"Myths of Legend," written by Logan Uber, illustrated by Megan Withey

• Hardcover: $30
• Softcover: $20
• eBook: $10

"The Dragon and the Princess," written by Erik Peterson, illustrated by Mina Sanwald

• Hardcover: $25
• Softcover: $15

"Once Upon a Time, A Coloring Book," illustrated by Meredith Moriarty

• Softcover: $10

"Once Upon a Future Time," extra copies

• Hardcover: $25
• Softcover: $15

Thanks for helping to bring this project to life and don't forget to share the campaign on social media.

Illustration Stretch Goal Announced and Charity West Preview
almost 6 years ago – Thu, May 17, 2018 at 06:01:44 PM

We've reached another stretch goal and now our most ambitious stretch goal. When we reach $2,500 in funding Meredith Moriarty will create seven black and white illustrations, one for each story in the book.

To help us reach the next stretch goal we will be revealing more details about add-on options in an update tomorrow. 

And now for an excerpt from Charity West's "The Seventh Gift:"

Nikko needed him. 

He arrived as the first moon was rising, its sister trailing behind on the horizon, and pushed past the cloth draped over the doorway. Its once bright stripes were faded and dingy. Nikko knelt by the fire, stoking it in preparation for the evening meal. When they were young, people had often mistaken then for twins. The same curling brown hair, the same stocky build, the same crooked smile. They could never tell that Reyu was the older brother. 

He blinked in the dark light of the hovel, feeling awkward and foolish—like a man wearing clothes meant for a boy. Why had he come here?

“Where is Ma?” he asked, for something to say. “And Havel?”

“Fetching water.” Nikko stood, brushing soot from his hands. “Will you stay for dinner?”

Reyu nodded, hesitant. Nikko jutted his chin toward the table, where a small pile of potatoes waited. They pulled out stools and began peeling. The scrape of knives on hard roots filled the silence for a while. 

“So,” Nikko said. “You heard nothing.” 

It wasn’t a question, so Reyu didn’t answer.

“If the old hag was going to speak to anyone, she’d have spoken to you. Surely, you see the truth now.”

Reyu’s hands froze, a long, twisting peel hanging suspended from his knife. “Nikko, you can’t say things like that. You’ll cause trouble.”

“Exactly what we need to be doing.” Nikko’s voice strained with exasperation. “You’ve studied the old language, the old texts. You’ve lived in the temple! You’ve seen what we used to be able to do, the technology—” He said that last in the old language; it had no modern translation. “We are capable of so much more, but the priests are so worried about maintaining their power, their hold on us through their false Oracle—” 

Reyu let out a panicked whine and Nikko stopped, sighing. “Reyu, you have to face it. If the Oracle doesn’t order it, we don’t do it. And what does the Oracle demand? That we mine—and send all our ore off world. Who profits from that? Only the priests. They control the portal, they get the wealth. But no one can question them, no one can call them on it, or the Monitors will be on them like flies on a carcass.” 

“Hush,” Reyu dropped his potato and gripped Nikko’s arm. “Don’t you think of anyone but yourself? If the Monitors hear of this, you’ll be arrested. What will happen to Ma and Havel? Think, Nikko!” 

Nikko shook his head. “I can’t stay quiet about this. That Oracle is a fraud. If we’re all too afraid to say it out loud, we’ll never get out from under her thumb. People need to wake up, they need to question.” 

“You’ve spoken to others,” Reyu said, realizing the truth. This passion in Nikko did not appear overnight. It had been building. And he hadn’t had Reyu to balance him—to listen to him. He’d found someone else. 

 “There are others who think like me. There’s a group of us, and we’re going to change things. Reyu, now that you know—” 

Reyu stood, knocking his stool to the floor. “No.” 

“You can help. With your knowledge of the temple and the priests, our cause can succeed.” 

“No. Nikko, we have to get you out of here. Secrets like this don’t stay hidden.” He rushed to the cabinets. So bare. What could Nikko take? There had to be something that could keep him alive for a few days, a week maybe, until Reyu could— 

“I’m not leaving. I won’t run.” 

Reyu turned to his brother, eyes narrowed. “They’ll arrest you.” 

“I know.” Nikko nodded. “At the trial, I’ll say my piece. They may kill me for it, but the whispers will grow. The Monitors can’t silence everyone. We need doubt.” 

“We need faith.” Reyu gripped him by the arm. He wanted to shake him, make him stop this. But Nikko’s jaw was set. He watched the door as if . . . 

“They’re coming here, aren’t they? You knew—that’s why you came this morning. Why didn’t you say?” 

Nikko pulled him into an embrace, shocking Reyu into silence. How long had it been since his brother hugged him? “You’ll finish this, brother. I don’t believe in much, but I believe in you.” 

Footsteps sounded on the stone outside. Too many to be their mother and sister. Too many to be their neighbors. 

“Open. In the name of the Oracle.” 

Nikko squared his shoulders and walked past Reyu to the door, pushing aside the cloth. He offered his hands for the Monitors to bind. They added a gag, and dragged him away. 

Reyu could only follow behind as his brother disappeared up the sloping city streets.

Thanks for reading!

New Stretch Goal, Busy Week Coming, and Sabrina Watts Preview
almost 6 years ago – Tue, May 15, 2018 at 10:09:29 AM

At $1,750 we will be adding a second 4x6 inch mini print from Meredith Moriarty to all pledges with a physical reward.

This week there will be a number of updates as we start moving closer to the end of the campaign. We'll have an update relating to the pledge manager we will be using and how it will work, one on all the add-ons that will be available via the pledge manager. More preview updates, and a big announcement relating to another big stretch goal.

Keeping it short and to the point, here is a preview from Sabrina Watts's "Always Listen to Your Mother:"

Mark wasn’t looking at her, his eyes following the criss-cross pattern of drones flying above them, some following the interstate, some following the polar directions, some dropping lower as they neared their destinations. Were there really homes and businesses near enough that the drones were allowed to drop below the mandatory height for commercial drone traffic? If there were, maybe she could walk to one and at least get out of this blasted rain.

But then the black dot of a drone dropped into the treeline. Thirty feet from the highway on both sides the leafy wall began and paralleled the highway for as far as Poppy could see. In that case, she would be staying right here. No way she was marching through Florida trees no matter how much shelter she would find.

When Poppy was little, before her mother was attacked while she was out alone one night and her anxiety had turned agoraphobic, her family would fly to Grammy’s house every year. Since Grammy liked the outdoors, they’d go to a nearby wildlife management area and hike for a day activity. The first time they’d gone, Poppy had been fascinated with the trees, wanting to see how far they went and what was on the other side. As if they were just a few trees she could walk through to find a magical fairyland. She’d stepped off the path to explore, but her mother had grabbed her arm, frantic.

“Don’t go near the trees, Poppy. There are bad things in there.”

“Like bears? Or bad guys wanting to steal me?” five-year-old Poppy had asked. Poppy had been warned many times not to wander off because bad guys were everywhere.

“No, like gators that’ll gobble you up in one bite.” Mother had put her arms out in front of her like a big gator mouth and snapped them at Poppy. Horrified, Poppy had stayed near her mother the entire rest of the hike, holding onto her hand for dear life, scanning the edge of the woods for large scaly creatures.

The trees that lined this part of the highway were part of a similar wildlife management area, so as much as Poppy longed to get out of the rain, she would keep her distance from the trees. Her mom had ruined those for her, too.

Megan Weber Preview
almost 6 years ago – Tue, May 08, 2018 at 07:09:30 PM

Just wanted to do a quick update. We've slowly making progress to the Bret Carter stretch goal and it'll be exciting to see the continual growth in the coming days.

And now a short preview from Megan Weber's "The Giant's Scheme:"

Now there were many throughout the planet of Iron who questioned Fin’s choice of placing his home atop Knockmany Hill. Fin told some it was to be able to see the stars better, others he told it was to gain the cool breeze that rolled across the planet day and night. Yet Fin’s real reason for planting his home atop the tallest hill on the planet of Iron was to keep watch for Cucullin as he searched the galaxy for Fin. After a long trek back across Iron from the Causeway, Fin had finally reached his home atop Knockmany Hill. Once he had scanned his hand to enter his home, he found Oonagh who asked him why he had returned, because she had expected him to still be in space working on the Causeway. He told her that he had just come to take a break and spend some time with her. Which he did, but for those days Fin tried to hide his worry like the sun star hiding behind the fourth moon during an eclipse, but to no avail Oonagh could see that something was bothering him. She prodded her husband until he told her what was troubling him. Oonagh had the gift of being able to tell and retrieve whatever was bothering her husband, pray tell of a woman’s intuition. Fin went on to tell his wife of the troubles that he was going to be facing against that of Cucullin. Oonagh could tell that this was going to be a troublesome venture for her dear husband and tried to calm him down. Just then Fin looked through the security cameras on their land and saw Cucullin in the distance headed for Knockmany Hill.

Thanks for checking everything out.

A New Stretch Goal and Bret Carter Preview
almost 6 years ago – Sat, May 05, 2018 at 09:47:22 AM

New Stretch Goal - $1,450

We've reached another stretch goal and so it's time to announce a new one. The next stretch goal will be for an eBook copy of Bret Carter's short story "Cold and Hungry," in which a dimensional glitch has transformed the city into barren streets infested with creatures called sybans. These predators look like large globs of black taffy and Nicholas is the next meal. He still might live to see another day. But he’ll have to do more than keep his head. He’ll have to use it. The stretch goal will be for all backers once we reach $1,450.

As a reminder, all backers at a physical pledge level will be getting their rewards plus a 4x6 inch print of the cover image.

All backers will be receiving eBook copies of "Once Upon a Time," and "Touch of Power."

Bret Carter preview from "Jack and the Quantum Fracture," enjoy:

When I walked in the door, I was shocked to see that not only had she built a fire, she was actually cooking over it. 

She was even smiling a little. “I’ve made a decision. It’s time to selling everything.”

Part of me was afraid to hear this. Part of me was relieved. “Really?”

“We’ll start with the cows. Take just one into town and talk to Jacob.”

“Jacob?”

“At the feed store.”

“I know, but—”

“He told me some of the kids in the city are wanting to try their hand at 4-H. He said he could get a decent price. Dinner will be ready when you get home.” 

“You want me to take just one?”

“It will be faster than trying to rustle all twenty-five on foot.” 

“Twenty-four.” She grimaced. “Twenty-four. If he likes the one, I’m sure he’ll come and get the rest.”

I put on my baseball cap. In fifteen minutes, I was walking to town with one of our cows plodding along behind me tied to a rope.

The dirt road from our house didn’t have a name. But it led to a gravel road called County Road 12. From there, it was another three miles to town.

No cars came along. No trucks. No tractors. No nothing.

There wasn’t much to look at during the trip. Just the colorless sky over a colorless world. I watched my feet. I watched the way they just kept finding another step. Another. Another. Another.

So I didn’t even see the guy until we collided. He was walking the other way and apparently, he’d been watching his feet too. 

I touched my hat. “Sorry.”

“Hello, there,” the man said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He wore brand-new overalls and brand-new boots. I almost expected to see the price tags dangling down.

He had gray hair and the worn-down look of someone in the suburbs of fifty, but his eyes had the shine of a toddler. “An animal,” the man said. 

I lifted the rope slightly. “Yep.”

“Meat,” the man with the toddler eyes said. And I think it was at that moment I started thinking of him as Todd. It was then or maybe later on. 

Standing there with that pitiful cow tethered like a leaky leather balloon, I didn’t say anything. I was trying to make sense of the conversation. 

Todd’s toddler eyes almost sparkled at the cow. “Meat,” he said again.

The sun had melted the frost, but even so, I felt a chill along the back of my neck. I tried to veer the conversation closer to normal. “Yep, I suppose she’s just a walking Happy Meal, huh?”

Todd seemed to notice the question mark in my voice only after thinking about it. His eyes twitched over to me and then back to the cow. “Happy food.”

Before I could decide on a response to that bit of oddness, Todd reached into the pocket of his bright blue overalls and brought his fist out, holding a handful of something. He stepped forward and knelt down beside the cow.

At first, I thought he was going to look the animal over and make an offer.

Instead, Todd opened his right hand, palm up.

There were five pieces of metal. About the size and shape of beans. Like pinto beans. Except they were bright silver. 

Todd took one of the silver beans and pushed it into the ground with his thumb, directly beneath the cow. Then he selected a second silver bean and pushed that into the ground as well, a few inches from the first one.

“Wait,” I said. “What are those?”

The man pointed at the first hole. “One for up and down.” He pointed at the second hole. “One for side to side.” Pressing the third silver bean into the ground, he said, “One for forward and backward.” He planted the remaining two. “One for moments. And one for phasing.”

I tried to recall if this was some old saying, like the wedding saying. Something old, something blue, something something or other.

But I had learned about the three dimensions at school and I had also seen that movie The Time Machine where it talked about time as the fourth dimension. 

But I had never heard of phasing. 

I started to kneel down next to the Todd. “Phasing?” I asked.

Abruptly, Todd got to his feet and stepped back. He moved so quickly, I automatically did the same.

Todd watched the cow, but he spoke to me. “To phase with the vessel. The vessel is off-phase with this phase.”

I started to ask if he meant vessel as in blood vessel. It was possible this guy was a veterinarian of sorts.

But before I could ask him to elaborate, a deep hum thickened the air.

Todd took another step back. 

I did too.

The cow blinked, not disturbed at all. But the dirt around her hooves was disturbed. Clods shuddered and wobbled. The deep hum made my skull shudder.

Then, with surprising grace, the cow rose up into the air. 

She rose and she kept rising. The rope didn’t hang down. It drifted in a loose coil right in front of her like a serpent mesmerized by her Happy Meal gaze. 

“Hey,” I said. Then I said, “Hey.”

There was shimmery air above the spot where the cow had stood. It stretched up in a nearly invisible column. Occasional glints of light rose upward, moving a little faster than the cow.

Right after the levitation began, it sped up. In less than a minute, the cow disappeared inside a cloud. 

I went over to Todd. “Hey.”

He smiled. “How about this weather?”

“What just happened?” I asked. Todd looked up and shielded his eyes. But he didn’t squint. The gesture seemed premeditated. Not natural. It looked like he was saluting the cloud.

Since he wasn’t giving me any answers, I decided to dig up the silver beans and get some answers on my own. 

But when I took a step, Todd grabbed my arm.

Hard. Like a clamp.

He didn’t say anything. He just kept looking up, his grip still painfully latched onto my arm.

I struggled a little and said, “Hey.” But that word was getting worn out, so I added. “What’s going on?”

Still cloud-gazing, Todd said, “Provisions.”

“You mean food?”

“Yes,” Todd said. “The foremost has sent me for provisions.”

“The foremost?”

“Yes.”

“The foremost what?”

Todd glanced at me with some confusion. “He is the Foremost and he sent me for provisions.”

Now I could hear the captial F. It was only then I realized what had happened to the other cattle. Whatever was going on involved yanking cows up into the sky.

...

Thanks for reading and checking everything out.