About this project
I'd like your help to fund the next novel in my Marla Mason urban fantasy series, Grim Tides. I'll serialize the book online for free starting next January, posting one chapter per week, and then create print and e-book versions for sale.
I started publishing books about ass-kicking sorcerer Marla Mason back in 2007. The first four books (Blood Engines, Poison Sleep, Dead Reign, and Spell Games) came out from Random House, with awesome cover art by Dan Dos Santos. (You can see some in the video, along with art by Justin Pierce and Beth Rheaume). In those pages Marla fought a zealot dedicated to bringing fierce Aztec gods back to life, outwitted the king of nightmares, defeated the god of death and the revivified mummy of John Wilkes Booth, and even bested her own slimeball brother.
But in 2009 my publisher decided to end the series. (Remember that little economic apocalypse we had? It didn't help.) That would have been the end, except for one small problem -- I'd finished the fourth book on a cliffhanger. My fans were understandably annoyed, and wanted to know what happened next. So in 2010 I decided to self-publish the fifth novel, Broken Mirrors, funded by reader donations, with lots of neat prizes for donors.
The response was fantastic, so I've decided to do a sixth book, Grim Tides. My heroine Marla has been stripped of pretty much all her power and exiled from her home city. She's living in Hawai'i with a friend, trying to put her life back together. Of course, when she was powerful, she made a lot of enemies, and now a bunch of her old foes have decided to team up and kill her while she's weak. (Spoiler: she fights back.)
I'm excited about the book, and the only problem is affording the time to write it. Lately I've been doing work-for-hire books and assorted freelance jobs to pay the bills, and while much of that work is fun, what I really want to do is write more about Marla.
So I thought I'd take the project to Kickstarter, offer some cool incentives like bookmarks, signed copies of the novel, a chapbook with an original story, and other goodies. If funding comes through, I can put off other paying gigs and devote a few months to writing this book, and then share it free with the world.
What do you say? Let me tell you a story.
(Cover design donated by Jenn Reese of Tiger Bright Studios)
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on September 16, 2011.
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
Your name in the acknowledgments
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
As above, and a new Marla Mason bookmark.
Pledge $20 or more Pledge $20 or more
As above, and a DRM-free e-book of the finished novel (.mobi, .epub, or .pdf format).
Pledge $40 or more Pledge $40 or more
As above, and a DRM-free e-book collecting several Marla Mason short stories, including early hard-to-find short-short "Encounter on a Back Street."
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
As above, and a signed limited edition chapbook featuring a new Marla Mason story. ($55 for backers outside the US)
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
As above, and a signed trade paperback of Grim Tides as soon as it's available. ($85 for backers outside the US.)
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
As above, and a personal handwritten postcard from Marla to you. May contain light profanity and bad doodles.
Pledge $200 or more Pledge $200 or more
As above, and a print of a Marla Mason drawing (artist TBA).
Pledge $300 or more Pledge $300 or more
As above, and I name a character -- or spell, or yacht, or something else in the book -- after you, or use a name we mutually agree upon. It's a great gift: immortalize your loved ones! Or yourself.
Pledge $400 or more Pledge $400 or more
As above, and a signed limited edition hardcover of Grim Tides. ($410 for backers outside the US.)
Pledge $2,000 or more Pledge $2,000 or more
As above, and I'll write a Marla Mason short story just for you, featuring any supporting character of your choice, to be produced in a signed chapbook limited edition of a single copy.
Pledge $5,000 or more Pledge $5,000 or more
As above, and I'll dedicate Grim Tides to you. (You funded almost the whole thing single-handed! You earned it!)
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Tim Pratt's stories have appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The Year's Best Fantasy, and other nice places. He's won a Hugo Award (science fiction's highest honor), and has been a finalist for World Fantasy, Mythopoeic, and Nebula Awards. His books include The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl, Briarpatch, and the Marla Mason series.
