Introduction:

This is the sixth entry in my series about POST, the novel that eSpecBooks is crowdfunding via Kickstarter.  For reference, we’re at $2796 out of $3500 at this moment, which is Friday morning.  18 days to go. I’m telling stories about POST….and this is a story about old and valued friendships.

One of the advantages of crowdfunding is that it’s often a great deal for the backers.  I support one or two Kickstarters a month, sometimes publishing Kickstarter like ours, sometimes a new tech toy. Note that the books are reliable – only a few of the publishing projects I’ve funded have even been late!  Ours won’t be – the books are written and copyedited and the covers designed.  Only about half of the tech toys actually seem to show up in a useful way and on time.

This Kickstarter is already a great deal.  The price for a single ebook is reasonable at $5.00. If you back at $5 or more, and we hit $3,000, you’ll get five great stories included, each of which is worth at least $1 all on it’s own…..and of course I think the two stories that are by my friends John and Ken are worth a million dollars each.

Let me explain….

As we were putting the campaign together, Danielle asked if I knew of any great writers we could get stories from. I immediately asked a few friends, and five said yes.  Pretty cool.  I hope I get to write about all five of them.  Let me tell you about two of them, Ken Scholes and  John Pitts.

Ken Scholes (Of Metal Men and Scarlett Thread and Dancing with the Sunrise)

Isn’t that a lovely title? If you haven’t discovered Ken’s work yet, you want to.  He generously asked me which story I wanted to use, and I chose this one on purpose.  It’s a seed story for one of the best fantasy series I’ve ever read. It’s a long series – five books, and the last of them is done, but not out yet.  Still, you know it won’t be left half-done and finished by someone else…

I personally can’t wait to binge read them all – the first three will be re-reads and then the last two will be fresh for me.  As soon as I finish my MFA….

Ken is one of the finest writers (and humans) I know. His work drips with authority and magic and creativity. If you back or have backed us, and we get to $3,000 (almost certain), you’ll get the story. Then you’ll want to buy the series.  Consider that warning — you’ll need to set aside some time to be enchanted. You’ll also want all of Ken’s other short fiction.  He’s up to three collections, and I had a really hard time choosing between this story and his Edward Bear story.

I’ve known Ken since before he started selling novels, maybe even since before he started writing novels. He sings at conventions. He has a huge, funny, loving heart. He’s overcome much and worked incredibly hard to become the brilliant being that he is.

John A. Pitts (Towfish Blues)

John and I were in the same writing group years ago, before either of us were published (with another friend who’s story might appear here). We’ve stayed friends ever since. He’s one of my best first readers, the guy who catches the plot problems and is always brave enough to tell me when something doesn’t work.  He’s also a brilliant writer.  I love Towfish Blues, which you’ll get to read if you back or have backed us. It’s a dirigible story, and an adventure.  I also love his novel series that starts with Black Blade Blues.  Warning – both titles have “Blues” in them. Different worlds entirely.  John just likes the word blues.  His short story collection is Bravado’s House of Blues.

He’s currently serializing a set of novels as he writes it.  It’s called “Dear Father Mulcahey” and it’s pretty darned awesome. You can find it for free online.

In addition to being a fine writer and delivering great critique, John and his wife Kathy are two of the most fabulous people I know. They’re better humans than I am (and I think I’m a good human – I just think they are stellar role models for the rest of us. They have this intense and rare unselfish generosity).

Hopefully I’ll get to tell my stories about the next three — that will require funding and  hitting stretch goals.  So help us out if you have a moment.