We’ve been redecorating our house (after spending so much more time in it during the pandemic), and after painting, the second-biggest change we made was to order two large pieces of furniture: an entryway organization unit and a media center.
I ordered them in February, and because of the massive supply chain disruptions, they just arrived last week. But they’re here!
It’s amazing what a difference the right furniture makes. We have one long windowless wall on our main floor that stretches from the front door to the back deck, and I’ve long struggled with the best way to use that space while also providing separation for the living and dining areas.
The space finally feels finished. It only took me 16 years <grin>. What a wonderful gift.
It felt like Christmas at the office, too, but for a totally different reason. The three anthologies from the 2021 WMG Holiday Spectacular published last week and we’re so getting in the holiday mood!
Here are the three volumes you can read right now:
Forget run-of-the-mill holiday stories. In this cleverly creative WMG Holiday Spectacular anthology, award-winning editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch offers a carefully curated collection of unexpected holiday stories to add a delightful twist to the season.
From completely fictional holidays to holidays celebrated in the strangest of places to off-the-wall twists on familiar traditions (pooping Nativity figures, anyone?), this volume will put a smile on your face as it transports you in the weirdest and most delightful ways.
Join eleven of the best writers in the business as they present their take on A Weird Holiday Season.
Includes: “The Case of The Disappearing Gingerbread City” by R.W. Wallace “Project Management Miracle” by Johanna Rothman “The Light Man” by Ron Collins “The Pooping Knight’s Playbook” by Robert Jeschonek “Thunder Angel” by Kate Pavelle “Dong Zhi and the Last Huli Jing” by Julia Vee “A Hollow Earth Thanksgiving” by Robert J. McCarter “Sometimes Strange Magic Casts the Best Spell” by Kari Kilgore “Beast Feast” by Meyari McFarland “Five Days of Chickenmas” by Brenda Carre “Gone Gnomin’” by Jessi Hammond
Scrooges unite! In this crime-filled WMG Holiday Spectacular anthology, award-winning editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch offers a darker and more disturbing take on holiday stories to add a bit of mischief and mayhem to the season.
From characters fighting corruption to facing moral dilemmas to conducting criminal investigations, this volume offers a refreshing change to the usual holiday fare for those with a bit of darkness in their hearts.
Join David H. Hendrickson, Annie Reed and nine other spectacular writers as they offer a more mysterious side of the holidays with Cold-Blooded Christmas.
Includes: “Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow” by Tonya D. Price “A Black Winter’s Night” by Chrissy Wissler “On A Cold Winter’s Night” by Cate Martin “On The Feast of St. Stephen” by Patricia Duffy Novak “The Perfect Christmas” by Lauren Lang “Evergreen & Crimson” by Lisa Silverthorne “Maccabees” by Carolyn Ivy Stein “Negative Spaces” by Annie Reed “Santa’s Shrinkage” by David H. Hendrickson “The Lost Gravy Boat” by Meyari McFarland “Consigned in Peppermint” by Lisa Silverthorne “Presents for Kitten” by Jessi Hammond
Romance and holidays go hand-in-hand. In this year’s sweetest WMG Holiday Spectacular anthology, award-winning editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch offers a lovely collection of romantic holiday stories to add a bit more heart to the season.
From traditional Regency and romantic suspense stories to a diverse set of characters who find love and romance in the usual—and some unusual—places, this volume offers eleven heart-warming tales filled with love and joy.
Join Anthea Lawson, Dayle A. Dermatis and nine other wonderful writers as they present a host of holiday happy endings in Mistletoe Moments.
Includes: “How It Started” by Irette Y. Patterson “A Different Christmas Experience” by Chrissy Wissler “Stolen Kisses” by Carolyn Ivy Stein “French Armoire” by Brenda Carre “Chicken Chuck & the Congo Connection” by Patricia Duffy Novak “The Christmas Haters’ Ball” by Robert Jeschonek “The Plunge” by Daphne Crowe “A Pinewood Valley Homecoming” by Kelly Washington “In The Deep Dark Forest on Solstice Night” by Dayle A. Dermatis “Mr. Bear” by Jessi Hammond “Holly and The Viscount” by Anthea Lawson
To find out more information about these three new holiday anthologies (and the rest of the holiday anthology collection from previous years), click here. You can also sign up for the WMG Holiday Spectacular 2022 Calendar of Stories here.
But you might want to hold off on that last for a bit. We’ll be launching the WMG Holiday Spectacular 2022 Kickstarter very soon, so stay tuned for more information on that.
It’s the perfect time to start getting a jump on the winter holiday season!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Fall arrives this week, and our busiest season is already in full swing!
Our Kickstarter for Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s new Fey novel ended last week, and we’re so grateful to all of the backers. What a fantastic showing of support for the first new Fey novel in 22 years!
If you missed the Kickstarter, but still want to get the book, never fear. The book publishes wide in February, and the ebook is already available for preorder here.
Speaking of Kickstarters, this week you can read a story set in another of Kris’ popular series—the Diving series—that WMG previously has only offered as a stretch goal reward during the 2021 Diving Kickstarter. And the story is free, this week only!
“Hunches” offers the backstory on Balázs Jicha, whom we first met in the Diving novel Thieves. Here’s the synopsis:
The Fleet designed the new SC-Class ships with an impenetrable bridge. The most protected spot on the ship. Right in the center.
So, when Lieutenant Balázs Jicha realizes the bridge of the Izlovchi now opens to space, he fights to remember what happened. And what to do next.
Jicha always follows his hunches. Now, he must rely on those hunches to help him save his ship.
A pulse-pounding addition to Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s award-winning Diving Series, “Hunches” offers key insights into one of the series’ newer characters.
You can read the story here for free this week on Kris’ website, as part of her weekly Free Fiction. Or you can order the book here.
Finally, it’s time for the monthly WMG Teachable sale. You can read all about this month’s sale, including our new offerings, on Dean Wesley Smith’s blog by clicking here.
What a great time to fall back into reading, writing and learning!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
I cried last week when Queen Elizabeth II died. And my heart goes out to those of you for whom she played a much larger role. She was a very strong woman. We will not likely see her equal again.
Despite the United States declaring its independence from the English monarchy 246 years ago, we remain captivated by the royal family and its workings. I know more about the royal family that I do about the families of some US presidents.
The British royal history also sometimes inspires US writers in their fiction. As it does with Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Fey series and the people of Blue Isle.
If you’ve read the series, this probably won’t surprise you. But if you haven’t, there’s never been a better time to start.
The Brand New Fey Novel Kickstarter, featuring the first new Fey novel in 22 years, has been hugely successful, and you still have a few days left to join in on the fun.
The Kickstarter funded in record time and blew through three stretch goals in one day!
We’ve hit more since then, of course, and the additional rewards keep piling up so fast, I can’t list them here or risk this blog being obsolete before the day is out!
With each new stretch goal comes another free story and more free writing videos.
Plus, there’s that new novel, The Kirilli Matter, the first book in the new Qavnerian Protectorate saga, that comes with every single reward.
You really need to check it out if you haven’t already. And keep watching if you have to see just how many books and writing classes our backers will get.
Click here to go to the Kickstarter.
But hurry. This one ends on Thursday, Sept. 15!
I suspect you’ll have time to read the entire series before the world is done mourning such a powerful presence as the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Happy Labor Day! The WMG staff is off today, but tomorrow is such an exciting day, I couldn’t wait to tell you about it!
Our Brand New Fey Novel Kickstarter launches at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 6. The first new Fey novel in 22 years! Are we excited? Yes. We. Are!
That new novel, The Kirilli Matter, is the first book in the new Qavnerian Protectorate saga.
Here’s the synopsis:
Gripping, imaginative, and a tour-de-force of thrilling storytelling, New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Kirilli Matter launches her acclaimed Fey series into exciting new territory.
When the investigation of a brutal murder scene points to terrifying suspects, Augusta Kirilli must find a way to protect her family’s secrets—secrets so long buried, she must discover their meaning or risk her own destruction. Set in the world of The Fey and masterfully blending fantasy and steampunk elements, Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Qavnerian Protectorate saga adds rich new dimension to this powerfully written series.
From its shocking opening to the deepening mystery at its conclusion, this groundbreaking novel takes epic fantasy in a whole new direction and proves Rusch’s place as the greatest storyteller of our time.
The ebook of The Kirilli Matter is part of every single reward we offer. And we have so many great rewards. Here are some highlights:
We’ll be rereleasing all of the Fey novels [the five Original Books of The Fey, the two Black Throne, and the two (so far) Qavnerian Protectorate] with new covers, available only through the Kickstarter at the moment.
All of the Fey novels will be available in hardcover, also available only through the Kickstarter at the moment, with the beautiful new covers illustrated by Echo Chernik, many for the first time!
We’re offering two special Kickstarter-exclusive workshops for writers: How to Write Magic Systems and Combining Steampunk with Fantasy.
So, be sure to check out the Kickstarter to read the story and watch Kris’ video and check out all of the rewards.
Of all the many hats I wear as publisher, my favorite one is cover designer. That’s an unusual hat for a publisher to wear, in fact, but I’ve never been called “usual.”
A cover designer is different than a cover artist. I don’t create cover art. I find it. I might modify it or enhance it. But as a cover designer, I curate together the best piece of art I can find to represent the book and its genre and pair it with the fonts that pair best to the genre, and voila! Pretty cover.
But sometimes, I have a really important book that I just can’t find the right art for. Or I’m looking for something specific. This usually happens for a series of books. That makes it harder. Because series branding is very important, and it starts with the cover.
That’s when I turn to the artists. Digital illustrators these days.
For some of our major sf series (the Diving Series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and the Seeders Universe for Dean Wesley Smith), we work with the amazingly talented Philcold. He customizes all of our spaceships and space scenes for those books. He’s a delight to work with.
But those books are easy to cover compared to Kris’ Fey series, the latest books in need of new covers. The Fey books have a troubled history thanks to neglect from traditional publishers. You can read all about it in Lessons from the Writing of The Fey or watch Kris talk about it in a series of videos on the WMG Teachable site.
So, these covers had to be spectacular to make up for all of that. To make it up to Kris, who loved this series and was heartbroken by its treatment.
I worked closely with her on the project and created covers that we liked. But they weren’t good enough. I knew they needed to be more. But because I’m not a cover artist, I didn’t know how to achieve it.
Until I met Echo Chernik at the Licensing Expo in May.
Echo is the coordinating judge for the annual Illustrators of the Future contest and one of the premiere Art Nouveau artists of her generation.
I showed Echo what I’d come up with and she loved the concept. She could already visualize how to take what I’d created and enhance it to what I wanted it to be.
And oh wow, has she.
We have three covers done so far, and they are simply stunning. We’ll be using them prodigiously in the coming weeks as we promote our next Kickstarter—for the first new Fey novel in 22 years, so be sure to watch for news on that next week!
To give you a taste of what I’m talking about, here are side-by-side comparisons for the new covers for The Sacrifice and The Changeling. The ones on the left are what I did with the art I had to work with. The ones on the right are Echo’s incredible creations.
Sometimes, you’re just in the right place at the right time. And you find a partner who just makes everything better.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
