Putting In to Harbor

I haven't decided if this is temporary or permanent, but we're drydocking.

The website is gone.
Rights reversion letters went out today.
All the books come down at the end of the week.
Royalty statements and payments will go out in January.
The twitter account will go inactive, no posts, no responses.

This blog will stay up, but future posting may or may not happen.

Thank you for being a part of Inkstained Succubus.
Good fortune and clear skies wherever you may roam.

Charity Promotion

For the next week, Into Dark Waters, an anthology of gay paranormal m/m, is 99c on Amazon.

All proceeds go to Lisa the Lab Rat's New York Odyssey.

99c gets 11 tales of Love and Darkness.

Buy Link

One dollar to pay a visit to the Scholomance, where the Devil himself provides a most unusual finishing school fr the 13 most talented men of their generation.

One dollar buys admission to the Phantasmagoria Traveling Wonder Show, where Torturo the Pain King has a sexy and unexpected valentine gift for his lover.

One dollar to travel through the jungles of India and the deserts of Arabia with a naga and his beloved djinn.

Undead strippers, space exploration rangers, blind vampires and pirates await.


Lisa the Lab Rat is off to New York City with her choir and your captain would liketo accomany her. First we have to get her there. So this promo will benefit the choir fund.

Free Science Fiction: Adventuresses

This weekend's free book is Adventuresses

It's SF in the loosest sense, encompassing steampunk, alternate history and space opera.

Link

Blurb:

Ten tales of lesbian adventure take you from the far reaches of the galaxy to the science fiction convention down the road, from a steampunk west to a world where the Confederacy got nukes. Come along and fall in love with a waitress or a pirate or Medusa herself.

Excerpt:

The rice and carnitas gone, she pushed away the plate and picked up the tintype. She tried to rise, but a hand landed on her shoulder and held her in her seat. 

“Leaving us already, stranger?” the man asked. “Don't you know it ain't polite to leave without offering to buy a drink for the whole place, at least when you're new in town?”

She tipped her head and gave him a look that made most men back right off. He was either dumber than most or less cautious. He never moved his hand. “Come on, grandma, buy us one.”

“Sí, cervaza,” one of the other farmers said.

“Don't make him get ugly, old lady,” added one of the night-doves hanging on her meal-ticket of the evening.

“He already ugly. Muy feo!” tossed out someone on the other side of the room. The men laughed. She had heard that tenor in crowds before. It never boded well. The intruder clamped his hand down harder, trying to hurt her. That would not do.  She returned her attention to her teacup, pretending to ignore the others. 

“Look, you old hag,” he started.

She drew. Not the forward-facing guns on her thighs, but the ones tucked in the back of her belt. Her upper set of arms unfolded itself, flipped her coat back to the elbows and drew on her harasser.

A gasp went up. There were a few oddities around, but most kept their deformities out of sight if they could. Most of the first generation were long dead, with only a few living to adulthood and fewer still having children. The rebels had brought something out of Texas during the War, and her ma had been less than fifty miles from the place where they exploded it. It got into the air, the water and the ground, and spread from the original site.

“Care to let me get my rest now? I flew a long way today.”

“I'm sorry,” the man said, letting go of her shoulder and backing away.

She stood up, her lower arms in position to pull the guns on her thighs. The crowd looked and realized those were in quick-draw holsters, like a gunfighter's.

Free Audio Science Fiction

This weekend's free SF is Somewhere Out There, the audiobook.
Close your eyes and let the theater of the mind transport you on eight erotic journeys between worlds.

Unlike other giveaways, there are only 15 of these.
Leave a message here, and I will email you the download code.

Blurb:

At its best, science fiction presents us not just with a vision of the future, but with more understanding of ourselves and how to get to that future. It presents us with ways to think about relationships and people. And this time, it’s about the shapes of relationships.

In these eight stories, we run the gamut. Whether a shipboard fantasy about a captain that turns into more or the new fiancé meeting the former spouse, people remain people, with loves and confusion.

Sometimes the love lies very close to jealousy and hatred, as in “Bodies!” Sometimes, it grows out of an unpleasant necessity, such as “Similar Species” and “Expectations.” Occasionally, it is the mother of creativity and invention, in “Tether”or just food for a species that feeds on emotions, from “A Very Emotional Scene.” And sometimes, it can leave people wondering if it was real or not, as it does in “Wide Awake.”

Love and sex are two very powerful drives and in these futures, they propel us far beyond our own world.

Excerpt, from Wide Awake:

Arkana
Planet K478, Year 2345, July 13

“I never loved anybody like I love you. Never knew I could.” K’Aran ducked his head and let the curtain of black shiny hair hide his flushed face, a feat a bit difficult for a seven-foot-tall giant. He never could hide his emotions from me.

“You’re cute.”

He bared his pointy incisors at me in an attempt to look tough, making me laugh. “You’re an idiot, Than.”

“Takes one to know one.”

He stopped trying to impress me with his viciousness and cuddled me to his chest. It was a strange sensation, one I never wanted to get used to or take for granted. I was a tall man, well over six feet myself, but nowhere near his size. Not only was he freakishly huge by human standards, he had the muscles and the strength to go along with his size. My man was massive. In all ways. I smirked and bit on the nearest nipple to my lips, just because I knew how it made him squirm. We were too depleted of energy for anything else. Going at it for three rounds did that to any male, human, drakar or otherwise.

“I don’t want you to leave. We’re better prepared now. Why do you...?”

My poor kadush.

“You know I have to. Arkana is on the right track but it will be years, decades until you are ready for it. And I’ll come back. I promised, didn’t I?”

“I don’t like this, Than. Why does it have to be you? There are others who could...”

I shushed him and kissed his pouty, quivering lips. How he could look cute at his size and with his terrifying appearance, I did not know. But my kadush, my husband and my heart always managed to pull it off when he wanted something. I caressed the soft, leathery bluish-white skin of his cheek and saw my smile reflected back at me in his violet eyes. His black bat wings moved restlessly behind his shoulder blades as they always did when we were together. He had once explained that it was involuntary, similar to the way I shivered when he touched me.

“I’m the best qualified. The best adapted here. It’s just for a short while, and then I’ll be right back here by your side.”

“I know, Than. I just worry, kadush.” He smiled at me and winked roguishly, even now trying to set my mind at ease. “I’m expecting you to take my mind off such nonsense.”

“That’s what I thought I was doing during the last two hours,” I quipped.

“I’m really really worried. You should do it some more.”

September Science Fiction: Somewhere Out There

Buy Link

Blurb: At its best, science fiction presents us not just with a vision of the future, but with more understanding of ourselves and how to get to that future. It presents us with ways to think about relationships and people. And this time, it's about the shapes of relationships.

In these eight stories, we run the gamut. Whether a shipboard fantasy about a captain that turns into more or the new fiancé meeting the former spouse, people remain people, with loves and confusion.

Sometimes the love lies very close to jealousy and hatred, as in "Bodies!" Sometimes, it grows out of an unpleasant necessity, such as "Similar Species" and "Expectations." Occasionally, it is the mother of creativity and invention, as in "Tether," or just food for a species that feeds on emotions, from "A Very Emotional Scene." And sometimes, it can leave people wondering if it was real or not, as it does in "Wide Awake."

Love and sex are two very powerful drives and in these futures, they propel us far beyond our own world.

Excerpt, from "Expectations" by Sian Hart:

The Engineer took off at a run, headed for the stairs. “Come on, come on, no labyrinths, no labyrinths,” he prayed to the digital gods as he ran, laying down traps and slides. 

The digital gods must have had a good day, because he found the staircase fairly easily. Up in the Great Hall of the castle, it looked like nothing so much as a medieval marketplace. Numerous ordinary avatars ordered things from booths that represented TelgaCorp’s varied interests. 

Cori slowed his run to a stroll. He wouldn’t find what he needed here, but he could blend in with the other shoppers until he found a way to access it. He rewrote himself, adding a shiny facade that would make him look like the other shoppers. He lifted several nice things for himself, low risk and high reward. Corp data was always choice, and he could use more in his personal accounts. He’d pay Durak half and again his purchase price. 

With a smirk, he slipped behind the curtains and into an alcove, cutting through the wall to head into the rooms that the customers didn’t see, the rooms with the digital servers. 

“Checkmate,” he whispered. The Engineer wasted no time. Plugging into the servers, he set a packet of worms activated through a Goldberg code, and quickly wrote the payroll directive in with a rush.

 He added back pay for a thousand other employees, making sure that even if it were traced to a hack, it wouldn’t be Durak who took the fall. With that, he disconnected and sauntered out, planning to leave by the path he’d laid in on his entrance. 

A rank of armored knights had encircled the alcove in the few seconds he had worked, silent as they could only be in cyberspace. Several of them blocked him, and others held halberds on him. A small man with thinning red hair and a goatee, wearing an appropriate tunic and a large chain of office, stood behind the first-rank knights. 

The Engineer hated sell-outs who went over to the corps instead of running for their own gain. The fussy little man cleared his throat as Cori pulled bits of code nestled in his wild hair and pockets. 

“By order of TelgaCorp, I hereby place you under arrest for trespassing, data piracy and icebreaking. You will be required to work off the damage you have done. Should you resist, you will be flatlined, your location traced and your body sold for its component elements.” 

A smile spread over the Engineer’s face, hidden behind the gadgets and goggles he wore. He set off his deadman’s switch and finished the code he’d been putting together in a hurry. “You pissant little yellow bastard. I haven’t even begun to do damage.” He held up a finger. “Watch this.” 

With that, he aimed the newly-assembled gun program at his feet and fired, falling down a level into their security. He hit the floor with a groan and a scrabble, and started to run for his life, setting off the traps in the servers. 

“That is not a period weapon!” the pompous little man yelled after him. 

Free SF for the Month of September!

We're giving away free books for September

The first is Nikolai Revenant. This dark future will be free from Sept 8 to Sept 12

 Download Link

Blurb:
James Ligatos is a man with an unusual hobby. He turns promising young criminals into world leaders. His latest project is Nicholas Boyd, formerly Nikolai of the Revenant street gang.

But the little killer-turned-file-clerk is much more than Ligatos and his staff bargained for. As Kentucky attempts to secede from the Confederated States of America and rejoin the United States, Nick's skills and the group's training are put to the ultimate test, and the price of failure is death.


Excerpt:
The next morning, Nick showered and changed into his regular work clothes of pants, a thin dress shirt and a nondescript tie. With the candelabra safely in his cardboard briefcase, the one covered in peeling vinyl, he waited. Around eleven, he headed out to Highland and Ligatos Pawnshop, where Vlad had first heard of the whole notion.

He bundled up the black raid clothing, still stained with Vlad's blood, and took it with him. On his way to the bus stop, he dropped it, and the well-polished knife, in another dingy motels dumpster. This time, he really was leaving Nikolai behind him for the last time, as he thought he had two years before. With great luck, no one would notice it. The maids would dump their endless wastebaskets on top, and it would go to the landfill. Worst case, they would search this motel and not the one where he'd actually stayed.

He caught the bus to Highland, flashing his GenroTech pass, the bio-diesel fumes choking him as it pulled up to the curb. He watched the Memphis autumn morning turn blue and hot. He glanced at the screen in the front of the bus. Temperatures in the seventies, close to eighty, the television announcer said. He'd heard old people talk about when November was the first sign of actual cold weather with long days of gray rain and sometimes ice storms in the last week. Now, it almost never got below freezing before January. The trees were just starting to turn colors.

He got off and walked the last few blocks to Highland. A couple of juvie gangs jostled for position on the walk ahead of him. He pressed against the building like any other working stiff, not wanting them to know who he was, not wanting them to find the loot in his briefcase.

There were more gangs every year since the last of the public schools had closed eight years ago. The Confederation had no clause for public schooling in its constitution and the group currently in power was very strict about such things. Under the previous and rather more lenient regime, there had been a looser interpretation of general welfare of the populace, and public schooling had been allowed, although only grudgingly. The churches were no help and most didn't bother running private schools, since their usual stance was that man should not lean on his own understanding.

As a result, jobs were hard to get and the few private schools were expensive. Most parents just sent their sons until they could read and do some math. School was illegal for girls and minorities. The church said it made them discontent. Nick wondered at the wisdom of cutting more than half the population out of the ability to earn a living. It seemed like a waste.

Nick had picked up enough in three grades and a series of reformatories to get a real job. Most boys weren't so lucky and ended up throwing boxes at Big Purple or doing service work like his father who still drove the Mount Moriah and Winchester bus route.

There was less and less service work to be done as well, as the economy shrank. He scuffed the leaves. Fifty years ago, he'd have been in college. He heard the United States still had mandatory free public schooling, as high as one could go. Even Heartland provided it through high school. Lone Star had taken the same stand as the Confederation.

He ignored the news screens on the buildings, letting the talking heads chatter at each other in their calm baritones as he looked for the pawn shop. He took in the news strictly by osmosis these days. It was always the same: saber-rattling with the United States, disagreements with Heartland, drought, crop failure, rises in the number of indentures being signed as people abandoned the city and their farms to serve the few wealthy folk. Tobacco raids, bootleg alcohol raids, sex party raids and the breaking-up of a secret synagogue all rounded out the news.

The street-preacher on the corner of Highland was harder to ignore. He towered over the passers-by, black and frightful-looking, his hair a wild mass of dreadlocks, his filthy robe tattered with wear. He proclaimed the end of the world in his great deep voice that carried for blocks.

“Even now,” he intoned, “events rush to their conclusion. The demon that squats atop the world has called his Nikolai to him.” Nick startled a moment at the sound of his taken name and then saw an ancient, battered copy of Nicolae: The Rise of the Anti-Christ in the preacher's hand. It was nothing, just weird coincidence. He had taken the name from the book, though, and something made him uneasy. Nothing had gone quite right on this heist. He continued to the shop.

Nick opened the door of the pawnshop into must and dust and the smell of desperation. Old contraband computers, old televisions, prohibited fiction books, cheap jewelry all piled together with someone’s wheelchair and old forbidden movies in formats no one made players for any more.

Autumn again

Hello Ducks
We're flying through the Fall Obstacle course

We just finished our penultimate convention: Mephit FurMeet
There will be ConTraception in Kansas City and that concludes the airship's travels.

September is Science Fiction Month.
We will be promoting our SF titles on the twitter and here.

October brings horror movies for Halloween, and horror novels and anthologies.

November is Anthology month, and we may run some Black Friday sales!

And December is the Last Hurrah.  Everything will be discounted for quick sale.

At the end of December, final royalties will go out, rights reversion letters will go out.
And authors will be notified of paperback stock that they can buy for cost and shipping.

It's been a long strange trip, my lovelies, but the airship is putting into port at the end of the year.
Thank you for taking the ride with us.

September Science Fiction: Diplomacy and Universal Constants

Buy Link

 Available in ebook or audio

Blurb: Legatus Tetradec Sarutahiko is a diplomat valued by the Solarian command for his uncanny ability to see through any pretense and most manipulation. When discovering that the alien Asimi have peculiar methods of doing business, Sarutahiko and his cadet must either find a way to work around this or fail both himself and his people.


Excerpt:

"What are you, weird aliens?” came the growl again.

"We are human,” I replied.

"Hu-man,” the driver said, testing the unfamiliar word. "Never heard of. You from new annexed province?”

"Of course, not,” replied Radek hotly. "We are from the Solarian Hegemony. We could crush-”

"What my young colleague here is trying to say,” I interrupted by gripping his arm and giving him a sharp look, “is that we are not part of the Confederation. We are independent. ”

"Good for you, lousy alien.”

Radek raised an eyebrow at me, as if asking if this guy was for real. We left the circumference traffic ring and got on one of the radial hoverways which led straight to the center of the station. The station’s looks didn’t get any better the deeper we travelled. The skyline consisted mostly of gray and brown blocks, with little space between them. The alien’s grunts broke the silence again. I rolled my eyes. Who would have thought cab drivers like to chat?

"We was independent once, you know.”

“Oh?” I replied, deciding to humor him. “When was this?”

“More than three hundred cycles in past. Our kind was spread to three planets in two stars. We was strong and rich.”

“How were you incorporated in the Confederation?” asked Radek. “Did they conquer you?”

“Asimi?” he replied and issued a whining sound that must have been a laugh. “Frail fools never makes wars with nobody. If they can’t buy what they wants, they leaves.”

He made a lengthy pause. The exchange had piqued my interest. I was just thinking of asking for details when he spoke again in a grim tone.

“It was them hairy bastards. Scorchers of planets with the emperor.”

It took me a moment to realize who he was talking about, but there was no mistaking it. He was referring to the Velkodlac Empire. For over a hundred years, our Hegemony had been in almost constant warfare with them, so we knew a lot about their methods. Led by a mutant who fancied himself a god in physical form, the countless Velkodlac hordes destroyed races and grabbed any planet they could get their claws on. Always looking for resources and more living space, they were
fanatical and cruel beyond reason. In fact, they were the very reason I had quit the Navy and joined the Diplomatic Corps. Memories of a place called Gemma still haunted me.

“Let me guess,” I croaked, “they rained atomic fire on your worlds. Then they came in and finished off the survivors close and personal.”

“Aye,” he growled grimly. “You know ‘em?”

“Let’s say I’ve run into their kind a couple of times.”

“We was crammed on what ships we hads left and made way to the Confed. Millions survived, billions left behind to die. Asimi took us in, but wasn’t easy.”

“It never is, for a refugee,” I muttered.

Nobody said anything else for the rest of the trip. After a while, we landed on a slightly better-looking landing pad protruding from a mammoth cylinder, all glass and metal, connecting the two faces of the disk. The Hub, as the alien named it. We got off, relieved to be out of the enclosed space and its stench.

“Hey, hu-man,” said the driver, sticking its head through the window.

“What now?” I asked, frowning.

“Watch yer step ‘round them Asimi. Things is never as they seem with them.” He gave us a knowing wink, which was really weird coming from an oversized lizard. I stared after him as the shuttle took off and couldn’t suppress a smile.

“Well I’ll be damned,” said Radek. “Sir, I believe we’ve found proof of one more constant in the Universe. Aside from Planck’s, there’s also the cab drivers’ delusion of being wise.”

Audio Book Releases!

We've had several Audiobooks finish production

1) 1KRV5 is up. Nicholas Camm did a brilliant job on this tale of love and invention.

2) Elizabeth Donald fans, D. Jordan Padrona has finished Dreadmire!  Come take the floattrip to Hell!

3) Jimmy Gillentine's story of inhuman love comes to your ears as well. The Beast Within.

5) Audry Lusk is our audio guide through 8 tales of SF romance in Somewhere Out There

Give your ears a summer treat!

All kinds of news

There are several things afoot here, even as we begin the process of storing the airship indefinitely.

1) Audiobooks.

We have a new audiobook out. And several more headed to retail.
These rights will revert on Dec 31, 2016, IF YOU CHOOSE. If you would prefer they remain available in this format, that's fine too.

Matters of Scale is available for $6.95. Written by BR Sanders, read by Crystal Jeffs, a tale of clockpunk elves.

2) Travel. 

There are still two conventions on the calendar.
Mephit Fur Meet and ConTraception.

The Cartpenter's Wyfe, our new division, is going to the Memphis Renaissance faire, The Kansas City Renaissance festival and Festival of Souls.

Kindlmart, a December SCA event where all materials would go, is still up in the air.


3) Books
We will continue to publish some limited titles, the Eight Thrones series, even after official shut down. Glad Hands and Anthony are slated for this year.

Four Days Left

Hi, My name is Angel and I'm a serial entrepreneur. Please enable my dysfunction. 8)

We're transitioning from a publishing house to a craft business.
Books aren't moving and handcrafts are.

For the last four days, your contribution will be credited at the next perk level.
$1 ebooks!
$30 gets a hat, a tarot reading, an audiobook, a paperback and an ebook.

At $5000, we negotiate.

Release Day!

At last!

The Anthology that Survived is out.

Paperback

Kindle

Our editor survived two concussions, one of which hospitalized her. Our formatter had a couple of breakdowns. And it's been one thing after another with some of stories and events.

But we pulled it off. Enjoy the last anthology from Inkstained Succubus.

And no, it's not winter, but here are some chills to carry into the warmer seasons.

The Tale of Morgan Maynard is a bit of holiday horror.

An Appropriate Response takes us on a Poe style tale of gothic terror.

The Other Half Live follows a combat vet starting a new job and a new romance, one that he can't possibly imagine.

What Slithers Beneath the Leaves is a tale reminiscent of Bradbury at his darkest. Autumn is beautiful, and a little terrifying. And this one captures it.

Death becomes Her. The gaslit horror of ordinary men is the centerpiece of this little conte cruel.

The Meek One's Keep. After the Apocalypse, one man finds he's not all alone. 

Of Unknown Origin. John W Campbell meets HP Lovecraft in this frozen nightmare.

Man in the Checkered Suit. Crossroads and deals and the mysterious stranger are standard in the genre, but this time, our man learns to be careful what he bargains for.

Royalties and Decisions

I did first quarter royalties.
We had a very slow quarter. We did not travel. I did a lot of twitter promotion which seems to have translated to bupkiss.

Authors:
Somehwere Out there made 17 cents
Hungry Hearts, you made 28 cents
Dominant Tendencies got 74 cents
Winter Shivers got $1.21 each
And Candle in the Dark raked it in at 1.63 because of the audio book

Single titles fared about as poorly, with our best performer making $6.50 net.

There are no royalty checks being issued this quarter because no one made the $5 minimum

~~~

And this, this is exactly why the following announcement is being issued.

Inkstained Succubus will cease all outside operation as a small press, reverting back to a private reprint house, as of December 31, 2017. No new books will be published this year.

All current outstanding contracts are being voided and no new one will be issued. Pan's Garden and Have Quest Will Travel authors will receive their stories back unpublished, thus retaining their first sale rights.  Winter Chills is already processed on Amazon.

All rights will revert to the authors on that date. Extra paperback stock, if any, will be offered to the authors at cost plus mailing. Cover art for stand-alone titles will be available for purchase, should you wish it.

 We are only going that long to finish out our year's commitments.



~~~

It's been a long strange trip. And the financial reality of the business is that I can't afford to stay in it. I wish I could sell a million copies of everything, make my authors rich and make all their dreams come true. I can't. And it's unfair to keep you amazing authors shackled to the press.

So thank you for your faith in me and my crew. I'm sorry it was unfounded.
I'll keep tweeting and blogging until the old girl is impounded and I get stuck in a rocker on the porch of the Old Airship Pirate's Home.

Crowdfunding special

Today only, Monday the 28th, I will bump the first $100 in donations. 

That means, if you contribute at the $5 level, I will match your donation and bump you to the secret $10 perk. If you contribute $30, I bump you to $50 and make you a hat.

$100 of my own money, 12 hours at Michael's, 10 secret shops. 7.5 hours training Sears associates. That;s on top of the money and time and sweat already in the shop.

The link to the secret $10 perk level.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/air-harborage-and-fuel-or-storage-and-improvements--2/x/6784331?secret_perk_token=65aa38a7

March marches on

Here it's nearly St. Patrick's Day.

As pagan Irish, I'm torn. on one hand, ethnic pride (my great-grandfather was an anchor baby!). On the other, Christian privilege. The saint got his sainthood for eliminating people like me.

So, aboard the airship, we'll have Dublin Coddle and Soda Bread, sing raucous Irish songs and maybe cast a bit.

Updates:

Books:

1) Several; of you have written, asking about the status of Winter Chills. I have hauled Gabriel out of his new paramours' bed, dropped him back in the lab and remonstrated with him thoroughly about the wisdom of starting new romances while we are on deadline.

We plan to have it out by April 1, if not before the Equinox. I'd like to get it done while it is still winter.


2) Others have sent messages regarding contributors copies. They are all purchased and will be mailed as incoming finances allow.

Audiobooks:

These are selling better than the physical books.
Dreadmire,
Somewhere Out There
Winter Shivers
The Beast Within
1KRV5
are all in production

Royalties

First Quarter is lean. But we will be getting statements out in early April

Crowdfunding

Any help would be hot.


And just because my great-great-grandmother would be unhappy if I didn't give you this:

http://www.rotinrice.com/2013/03/dublin-coddle-irish-bacon-sausage-potato-and-onion-stew/

Update!

Not dead yet, although both day jobs seem determined to get me there.

In the news:

The indiegogo campaign is reaching some of its goals, without a lot of support.  (I've been cashing out internet rewards programs. Amazing how far I can make $75 go.)  Any help would let us reach more of our goals.

Even if you can't contribute...and let me emphasize again, Authors Are In No Way Obligated to Contribute, sharing it to the four corners of social media would help a great deal.


Books: No news, no progress.

Audiobooks: 

Winter Shivers is solidly into production as is Somewhere out There.

Money:
Royalties get paid next month. We didn't travel this month, so it might be slim.
Second Quarter has Frolicon. We're debating Hypericon.

February update

Your captain had to go legit for a while, ducks, and let me tell you, it's no place out there for a pirate. This honest work nonsense is going to kill me.

So, I'm back at the helm and being busy.

Already in Progress:

1) Have Quest Will Travel is back from the editor. We're hoping to get done with that very soon.

2) Pan's Garden is still at the editor. We're applying some thumbscrews to get her to work faster.

3) Winter Chills is sitting in the corner and thinking about what it did.

4) The third book of Jim Gillantine's  Beast trilogy should be contracted, and we're pushing for a June release.

Over the Loudspeaker:

The audiobook side is going well. We have 4 out and 8 in production.

Completed
Candle in the Dark
Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists
Skin and Bones
Diplomacy and Universal Constants

In Production
Matters of Scale
Dreadmire
The Beast Within
Somewhere Out There
Winter Shivers
1KRV5
Resistance
Hard Reboot
Terror of the Frozen North

Dead in the Air:

It is my great sorrow to announce that Badass will not be working out, because of a lack of submissions.

Reduction and Expansion:

As the crew is plotting a mutiny, we have ceased the intake side of the press. We will continue selling through until the current contracts run out. Whether we continue flying as a press remains to be seen In order to supplement our travel budget, we have expanded into a line of crafts. This has been helping pay the bills since September.

So, we're running a crowdfunding:
Air Harborage and Fuel

This will make some capital improvements and allow us to travel without debt this year, and put the books in front of more eyes.  Authors are in no way obligated to contribute. But any signal boosting you can do is more than welcome.

There are a few of you we still owe paperbacks to. Again, cash flow issues. We're buying and sending in the same dribs and drabs as the money arrives.

Current travel Plans:
These are subject to change depending on health issues

Memphis Flea Market, Feb 27-28

Spring Spears, Rolla Mo, April 2-3
Renaissance Faire of the Ozarks- Fayetteville AR April 18-19

Frolicon, Atlanta GA, May 5-8
Beltane, Memphis TN, May 13-15

River City Comic Expo, Little Rock AR June 11-12
Hypericon Nashville TN, June 17-19

Mid South Renaissance Festival Memphis TN Aug 20,21,27,28

Mephit FurMeet Memphis TN, Sept 2-4
Cooper Young Festival, Memphis TN, September
Mid South Pride, Memphis TN, Sept 24

Contraflow, New Orleans LA, Sept 30-Oct 2
Festival of Souls, Memphis TN, October (2016 page not up yet)

ConTraception, Independence MO, November

We're staying closer to home this year (we have crash space in Independence and New Orleans), and branching out from SF conventions. If you have suggestions for July, we're open.

Taxes and other news

It's that time of year again.
Time to pay the price for living in a civilized society.

I do not send 1099s unless you make over $600, And since I didn't even make $600, well...

Anyway, if you need a year -end financial statement, let me know. You can ping me on facebook (Angelia Sparrow) or you can just drop e-mail.

Also let me know if you need the employer number.

~~
We've been planning for this year, and expanding our focus a little. There will be a crowdfund campaign later this month. We're in need of a storage unit.

We're hoping our bodies hold up to the lighter touring schedule (No Fall Death March, now extra deathier, this year), and the shorter distances. We'll be staying pretty close to Memphis. We have one Atlanta convention that only Gabriel is attending. We have a New Orleans convention...possibly, a deal in Fayetteville AR and one in Independence MO.  The rest aren't much farther than Nashville.

~~~

Winter Chills is in formatting. And I have been ordered that there will be no more horror anthologies.

Pan's Garden and Have Quest Will Travel are at the editors.

Also scheduled for this year,
Anthony and Glad Hands, both part of the Eight Thrones Saga
Blood of the Father, the third in Jimmy Gillentine's urban fantasy series

~~~

Audio book s have landed!
Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists and
Diplomacy and Universal Constants just became available.  If you like some SF action, and world building this last one rocks.

Candle in the Dark and Skin and Bones are still available.

Hard Reboot
Terror of the Frozen North
1KRV5
Resistance
are all in the works.

I have to listen to auditions for Fated Bonds, The Beast Within and Matters of Scale

~~~
That's it for now, ducks. The tour schedule should be up next week,
Clear Skies

A Scaling Back

Last year was a very difficult one here. Health issues, work schedules, and general difficulties prevented us from giving the press the attention it needs.

This year, we have decided to scale back.

Effective at once:
Inkstained Succubus is closed to submissions.
All anthology calls for this year are postponed.

The square store remains open, the books remain for sale and royalties will continue to be sent.  All contracts will be honored.

Our convention schedule will be lighter.
We're still recovering.

Internet promotion, via blog, facebook, google+ and twitter will continue. We encourage you to promote as well.

The following anthologies are going forward:
Pan's Garden
Have Quest Will Travel
Winter Chills

I'm sorry we've had to take the hiatus. We're just not well.

Busy Busy

Your captain has a finger in every pie, ducks. (And the peach one is a little warm)

So here's a midwinter update, as we lie at anchor in the Skies above the Sunny Southland.

1) Winter Chills

Gabriel has this one and is formatting. Which means, barring explosions in the lab (Lisa! Put that down!) we should have a book in a week or so.

2)  Audiobooks. You have no idea how hard it is to get the engine noise out of these.

Candle in the Dark is available and selling. Evan Harris did a tremendous job.

"Skin and Bones" is headed to retail. I can't wait for you to hear Elisa Hilton's reading.

"Diplomacy and Universal Constants" is in edits.
Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurists is in edits 
Terror of the Frozen North has had the first 15 minutes approved

Resistance is in the works
Hard Reboot is in the works

"1KRV5" just got contracted and the manuscript went out tonight.

3) Pan's Garden

At the Editor.

4) Have Quest Will Travel

At the Editor. Also needs cover idea.

5) Badass

In Reading

And we remain open for submissions of novellas  (20-45K) and novels (45K+). We will take three more for publication this year.

Xenophile is open until March 15,
Mythos for the Modern Age until June 15
Friends with Strange Benefits until Sept 15

Money Money Money

It's out! It's paid.

If you did not get paid and I didn't notify you there were no sales this quarter,
please drop me email with your proper PayPal address.

We put out over $160 in royalties this month, a new record.

Keep telling people about your books. Review!


Keep watching the skies, Skin and Bones will be out soon as an audiobook!

Welcome to 2016!

Hello and welcome to 2016!

Here's what's happening aboard the airship.

1) Royalties are calculated and will be sent on Wednesday the 6th.

2) Winter Chills is in second edits. There is still the galley edit/formatting step. It should be out this month.

3) Pan's Garden has been sent to the editor. We're planning a February release.

4) Have Quest Will Travel has been sent to the editor. We're planning a February release.

5) Badass is in the reading stage. We will know if this is going off.

6) Xenophile closes March 15. Send us your alien lovers! Tentacle sex welcome.

7) We are open for novella (20-45k) and novel length (45-99K) submissions. We have one as it is. We can accept a few more for the year.

8) Our first Audiobook is out! Our second should be available this week and our third is in edits! We're excited about this!

 


9) Our convention schedule is light for the first quarter. It should pick up for second and third. If you need books for a convention, let me know about a month in advance. You can buy them for a 40% discount for resale.

10) Look for a Crowdfunding campaign and a possible Patreon in the near future.