No, wait, that’s the dream I had last night, after being hopped up on cough medicine and antibiotics.  Never mind!  Yours Truly has been under the weather for the past week and a half, as well as under deadlines, and has just claimed what may be a temporary victory.

Before that, of course, was the annual pilgrimage to Boston for the Circlet Press Editorial Retreat, where I reported on the state of things to my glorious benefactors and munificent overlords, and  was thusly described as “a really great guy.”  Yes, this means I’ll be doing more editing work for Circlet, once I have my current projects taken care of.

And now the news.  I have two publications to announce:

1) Lustfully Ever After: Fairy Tale Erotic Romance, edited by Kristina Wright and published by Cleis Books, is now out.  I just got my contributor copies, and it’s a very nice looking anthology.  It contains my story, “The Long Night of Tanya McCray,” which retells the semi-obscure fairy tale “The Boots of Buffalo Leather.”  In it, a wayward photographer gets lost after dark in a very strange part of Puxhill, rescues a sexy stranger, and runs afoul of a malevolent gang.  I’m rather pleased with it.  This is actually the first of four appearances I’ll be making in Cleis anthologies this year.

2) Spec-Tacular is also out.  This is an ebook collection reprinting various selections from Raven Electrick Ink’s various anthologies. It contains my Nick St. Claus story, “Who Killed the Pumpkin King?” and is a great sampler of the previous four anthos.  It’s edited by Karen Romanko.  I’m quite thrilled that my story was chosen to represent the Jack-O’-Spec anthology.

As for other updates:

1) Like A Cunning Plan: Erotic Trickster Tales, continues right on track and should be coming out soon from Circlet Press.  I’ll have more information on that shortly.

2) Scheherazade’s Facade also progresses right on schedule, as I wrangle authors, make sure contracts are properly signed, perform various edits, ad so on and so forth.  Almost everyone involved has been paid, which really takes a load of my mind and makes me quite happy.  I’ll update this as more information becomes available, and I’ll also be sure to update via the Kickstarter program so everyone can stay informed.  I still plan a couple of follow-up posts once things settle down and I have the time and energy to concentrate on the numbers and statistics.

That’s about it for now.  Although I will be attending the mass signing for the SFWA Nebula Awards this coming Friday.  If anyone’s going to be there, I’d love to meet you!

Short and sweet: we did it.  With a final total of $6153 (over our original goal of $5000), and a total of 233 backers, the Scheherazade’s Facade Kickstarter campaign came to an end, and was officially successful.  Thank you to everyone who pledged, pre-0rdered, passed the word, and supported us in various ways.  This was a group effort, and because of you all, this anthology will see the light of day at last.  Our authors will be paid professional rates for their work, and you’l finally get to read the stories that have haunted me for several years.

Now the next phase begins, where we take care of all the little last minute details that go into any publishing endeavor.  I’ll be contacting the supporters to make sure we have all the necessary info for their rewards, wrangling the authors to make sure they’re still awake, and so on.  The important thing is that we have the funding, and this project can move forward.

I’m planning several more post game reports, talking about the Kickstarter process, the pitfalls, what I learned, what seemed to work and what didn’t, and how to stay sane during the process.  If you have any questions you’d like answered, just leave them in any of the usual places and I’ll try to get to them.  In the meantime, stay cool and be excellent to each other.

(Pictured: One of the Feline Advisory Committee. This is Molly. She knows what you did.  How could you?)

Ladies and gentlemen, our month-long odyssey nears its inevitable conclusion.  The Scheherazade’s Facade Kickstarter campaign has approximately twelve hours left to run before it ends tonight at 3 AM EDT.  I’m not going to inundate you with a blow-by-blow countdown as we near the end.  Rather, I’ll just put it out there into the world one last time, that at this point, I have two goals which would satisfy my love of numbers and symbols.

1)We’re at 224 backers.  I would so dearly love to hit 225 (or higher).  One more person would do the trick.  I’d also settle for 250 backers, if there’s 26 people who haven’t gotten around to pledging but really want to.  But I’ll take what I can get.

2) We’re at $5970.  We are -this- close to $6000.  Again, one pledge would do the trick.  We do have a $30 dollar package for both the ebook and the trade paperback, you know….

So it wouldn’t take much to satisfy both of these last-minute “victory goals.”

(Edit: Even as I write this, someone magically pops up to to be my #225 hero.  Yay!  But we’re still $20 short of that magical big number.  Can we do it?  Yes we can!  See, you never know what will happen in these crazy, turbulent times.)

So if you were planning to pledge, you don’t have much time.  Pre-order Scheherazade’s Facade and you get my thanks and admiration, and the satisfaction of a job well done, and a book you’ll hopefully enjoy.  (They also make great birthday presents.  Or blog giveaways.  Or library donations, if you decide it’s not for you afterwards.  See, you have options!

Now, if anyone decides that twelve hours before the deadline is a good time to -cancel-, on the other hand, I should warn you: My cats?  Are CHAMPIONS at horking, and I know where your shoes are.

I kid, I kid.  Just a little last minute editor-is-flailing-with-anticipation-mixed-with-neurotic-worries humor.  But I have a Maine Coon and he knows what to do with potted plants.  Oh, does he.  And I’m not afraid to use him.  Scheherazade’s Facade: pledge now or the potted plant is toast.

So spread the word, one last time.  Talk it up to your friends and readers and followers, one last time.  Remind people that you know where the bodies are buried, one last time. Kidnap the boss’s poodle, one last time.  And I’ll see you in a few hours, when we pop the metaphorical bubbly and celebrate success.

1) Thanks, folks! All of your voting paid off! “Devil’s Masquerade” has been accepted for inclusion in Fantastic Erotica: The Best of Circlet Press 2008-2012.  I’m thrilled that my sexy lesbian adventurers will get a chance to see print yet again, and this time in a real, physical book.  Yay!

2) I got the author proofs for my forthcoming anthology, Like A Cunning Plan: Erotic Trickster Tales, due out from Circlet sometime relatively soon.  Again, yay!  I feel like a real editor, seeing this thing so close to completion.

3) Scheherazade’s Facade has 53 hours to go on Kickstarter, and we’re sitting at $5825.  I know my original stretch goal of $10k was probably a little too stretchy, but we can totally hit $6000, right?  Right?  It would make me and the authors really happy…. If you’ve been waiting until the last minute, this weekend is it!

4) My review of Seanan McGuire’s new urban fantasy, Discount Armageddon, is live on Tor.  Go check it out!

5) I’m on Twitter as Oneminutemonkey and while I may not post a lot, I’d love more followers so I’m not screaming into the wind so much.  I do that enough without the Internet’s help.

That’s all for now.

Oooo, shades of the ’80s.  It’s the final countdown!  The Scheherazade’s Facade Kickstarter campaign is nearing the end of its dramatic journey.  We’ve all had some good times along the way–who can forget the climatic battle against the jetpack gorillas, cyborg Nazis, and–yeah, sorry, I forgot you weren’t there for that.  Forget I said anything.  National security.

But seriously, it’s been an awesome time here, watching everyone spread the cheer and get involved.  Now, we only have five days left before this sucker closes at 3 AM EST, April 16th. If you’ve been thinking about pledging, now’s the time.  Last-minute revelations are all well and fine, but if you’re like me, you’ll forget and feel really embarrassed later.   I was almost late to my own wedding.  True story.  Don’t let this be you.  Pledge $10 for the ebook, $25 for the trade paperback, $30 for the combo, or $50 and up for the special bonus packs.   Buy them as belated Easter gifts, early Christmas presents, anniversary gifts!  If you’re an American who got a tax refund, help stimulate the economy by pre-ordering this book!  If you’re not an American, just consider this one way to help the global economy, as you’re helping to support the careers of authors from six different countries!  Get a headstart on what I fully expect to be the most talked-about, most acclaimed, most award-winningest anthology of the year.  (I’m allowed to exaggerate, right?)

Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your neighbors.  Unless it might invite too many awkward questions.  (“Hey Bill, I know the last time we spoke was after your dog ate our roses and defecated on the front porch, but this dude on the Internet told me to tell you to buy a book…)

And remember: the closer we come to hitting that secondary gal of $10,000, the less I’ll have to scream and shout when it comes time to doing a second volume.