Project Update: Funded! Bonus Story Unlocked! New podcast interview! Rainbow Metal Battle-Axe? SIX TIMES THE ART???
IN SHORT
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We've funded in almost exactly four days! That was first thing Monday morning but we're reporting it now because hoo boy our publisher has lots to do.
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There's a podcast episode about the anthology and a new collection from Matt John of Rogues in the House, as he and Oliver took turns interviewing each other about their respective new books. Listen to it here, and everywhere good podcasts are found (Search for "So I'm Writing a Novel").
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Bonus Story Unlocked: Having more than 200 backers means "Pagan Poetry", a 6,000 word S&S tale written to the tune of this anthology, will be included with all pledges! It'll come as a digital extra in the usual formats.
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Next Goal: Now we're working toward our first stretch goal (aka Achievement), SEXTUPLE ART! We're currently 78% of the way there.
- New Add-On: Rainbow Metal Battle-Axe Pin. A 1.5 inch pin of the New Edge Sword & Sorcery battle-axe! Made with soft enamel using anodized rainbow plating on a zinc alloy base metal. The rainbow effect is randomized, making each pin unique.
And you can watch a very short video clip here that shows off how the colors shift with the light (sorry, can't embed video in updates) .
IN DETAIL
This is very exciting, as it gives us plenty of time to push through stretch goals like SEXTUPLE ART and INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING DISCOUNT!
There's also some secret stuff that will be unlocked along the way...
Something else cool you all did? You got us on the main page of Backerkit!
The way campaigns get featured on Backerkit's main page is through strong activity on the Community Tab, like our latest question "What does your ideal Sword & Sorcery romance look like?" Please feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, or just say hello over on the Community tab, knowing that simply by chatting with your fellow backers you're also helping get us in front of fresh eyeballs!
Why, there's even a UNIQUE REWARD for whomever is the most active member of our campaign's community!
Scroll down far enough on our campaign page and you'll see:
Not too shabby!
Alright folks, that feels like plenty for now. Thanks so much again for backing us! There's plenty more livestreams, achievements, unlockable rewards, and good times to come.
Sincerely,
Previously backed this creator's crowdfunding project
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I was on a Discord server that was chatting about the anthology and someone said "I love the premise but I know nothing about sword & sorcery". If you were trying to create a Beginner's Guide to S&S, where would you start? In the cases of "long series/characters", is there a particular short story or volume you'd point someone at? Classics OR newer authors/stories in the genre welcome. I think I'd start mine with _People of the Black Circle_ and _The God in the Bowl_ by Robert E. Howard, plus _The Black God's Kiss_ by CL Moore on for starters.
One of the reasons we think Sword & Sorcery & Romantic Fantasy go together so nicely is they both have genre-defining tropes, but those tropes can also be used to great effect to subvert reader expectations and surprise them as well.
Here are a few of my favorites--and many of them have overlap between both of these genres!
Enemies or Rivals to Lovers
Ahem.
Love it or hate it, it's a classic for a reason.
My favorite comic, ElfQuest, my first love in this world of bare-chested sword-wielding adventurers, does this one really well multiple times over multiple storylines.
Often, one of the ways it stays fresh and surprising is the nature of the rivalry or enmity and how our lovers are able to overcome it.
The Tragic Hero
Okay, listen. The reason I am really insistent on the wording "romantic fantasy" and not "fantasy romance" is that you can stick the word "tragic" in front of the former and not the latter. While we've managed to muster a roster of endings I think are overall the Sword & Sorcery ideal of a happy ending, I am an absolute sucker for a romantic and tragic figure like Elric of Melniboné, another of my first loves in this beautiful weird subgenre of ours.
Just to round things out, one of my favorite goofy ones that tends to materialize on the fandom side of things:
Only One Bed!
Good grief, do I love a solid Only One Bed moment. While the function of this trope is forced proximity or closeness, I think it's also a fun way to dig deeper into a character's psyche. I have written an only one bed moment in a tragic fix-it fic, and one of my favorite Tumblr jokes that occasionally makes the meme rounds ends with the punchline "this bed ain't big enough for the two of us," so there are lots of ways to use it to subvert sexual or romantic tension between characters.
- What are some of your favorite tropes of sword & sorcery or romantic fantasy?
- How might those be subverted in a fun or interesting way, especially in the context of mixing genres?
Previously backed this creator's crowdfunding project
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I'm curious, as someone who doesn't really read much romance or S&S (don't worry, I'm in the right place): what's the ideal balance or blend for you? How much romance until the story becomes a Harlequin with a loose S&S setting? How much does it stick to the same beats as a regular S&S before it comes a standard tale with an allusion to sex or a relationship thrown in? What makes it a true S&S romance for you?
Previously backed this creator's crowdfunding project
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We've all done it; finished a story imagining the what ifs and if-onlies of a potential romantic coupling(s) that never was/were. What was that one rousing good tale which still haunts your hopelessly romantic thoughts? For me, well... It's a bit of (pretty much entirely) a crackship, I admit, but I have never gotten over the potential of King Conan and Rinaldo the Minstrel. I know how this sounds, but hear me out. Yes, they barely interact, it's incredibly generous to call their exchanges a 'relationship', and the latter tries to murder the former... B-but have you even heard the way Conan talks about him? The way he stays his axe when he is among his would-be assassins? Does that sound at all like someone who isn't down bad? To say nothing of Rinaldo's brief mention in 'The Scarlet Citadel', which implies he might've been under the influence of Tsotha-lanti. What if there was a STRONG and RUGGED Cimmerian to— Ahem, anyways, what about yourselves?
