Kickstarter Campaign is LIVE!

         Announcing the launching of the Kickstarter campaign for my next book, Bittersweetness & Light!  You could skip this blog post and head straight over to KICKSTARTER where all the details are laid out (and there’s a little video of me being earnest).  But over here on this blog I’ll give just a little more of a peek behind the scenes.

        Bittersweetness & Light is a project I’ve been thinking about for a long time, as I’ve become more and more convinced that acknowledging joy is not childishness, naivety, or escapism, but is, on the contrary, a vitally necessary act of fierce defiance.  So I’m pulling together a selection of my work into a book that I hope will hold up a hopeful vision of goodness to be found all around.  Here’s what you can expect

• a full-color, fully-illustrated, slightly oversized paperback book

• short stories, poems, and art (mostly relief block prints)  Why?  Because stories, poetry, and art can put us in others’ shoes, expose us to new ideas, and connect us on the deepest levels.  (And also because I love it.)

• various flavors and genres of speculative fiction

including space exploration, a knitting witch, alien encounters, an Old One, an adventuring librarian, a puzzled ghost, and more.  Why?  Because speculative fiction has a unique ability to save the world!  (And also of course because I love it.)

• some humor, some heartbreak, some irreverence, some focus on the spiritual, some whimsy, some earnestness…

• happy endings, looking for the best in others and ourselves, affirming joy, and finding reasons for hope.

        A few of these stories and poems have been previously published in magazines and anthologies, but most will appear in this collection for the first time.  Each written piece is illustrated, plus there will be additional art that’s in there in its own right.  Again, some of the artwork has been created specifically for this project, while other pieces have been drawn from my entire catalogue of work.

        I launched this campaign yesterday, and it’s already a third of the way funded, so I’m feeling pretty optimistic.  If you feel like you could use more reminders of joy and more messages of hope, by all means check it out and join us!  And as always, please be sure to spread the word to any friends and family who you think might also enjoy this project.  We small-time artists and authors are utterly dependent on word-of-mouth to get out the news about our work.

        Profound thanks to everyone who joins me in this project; making connections so that we can encourage each other is what it’s all about!

[Pictures: all images by AEGN, representing drafts of details from Bittersweetness & Light, 2024.]