It's ALIIIIIIIIIIVE! (Also There is Too Much News)

Good morning, Readers!

I'm at Ottawa ComicCon in two days.  But more on that tomorrow (there's too much news!).  Right now I wanted to talk about the Kickstarter for the We Shall be Monsters anthology.  It's by my current publisher (who kindly published Daughters of Britain last year, and will be publishing Skylark probably next year), and there's a lot of talent attached to this project.

I'm not good at explaining, so I'm just going to copy their Kickstarter info here:

We Shall Be Monsters: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Two Centuries On will feature a broad range of fiction stories, from direct interactions with Shelley's texts to explorations of the stitched, assembled body and narrative experiments in monstrous creations. We Shall Be Monsters is a fiction collection that will feature explorations of disability through Frankenstein, queer and trans identity, ideas of race and colonialism. Shelley’s story provides a space for exploring a multitude of identities through the figure of the sympathetic outsider. Frankenstein’s “monster” is a figure of Otherness, and one that can tell stories of exclusion and social oppression.

About the Editor 
Derek Newman-Stille is a 7-time winner of the Prix Aurora Award, the highest award in Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy. He is currently also editing Over the Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales from the Margins (Exile, 2018), and has written for publications like Quill & Quire, Accessing the Future and The Playground of Lost Toys. He has published academic works in works like The Canadian Fantastic in Focus, Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature, and Misfit Children: An Inquiry into Childhood Belongings. In his academic life, Derek is a scholar of disability and queer studies, examining how popular media portray oppressed identities. In his role as a critic, writer, and interviewer, Derek seeks to open up discussions about speculative fiction, fantastica, and the imagination.

The Rewards

At the Electric level, you'll receive an ebook copy of the anthology.

At the Monster Itself level, you'll receive a physical copy of the book.

At the Monstrous Renaissance level, in addition to a copy of the anthology, you will receive a selection of Renaissance's complete novels in ebook format. To find out more about the listed books and their authors, please visit https://renaissancebookpress.com/.

The Monstrous Selves level, in addition to having your name listed on the supporters' page and receiving a copy of the book. allows you to submit a picture and Nathan Caro Fréchette will "monsterize" you, turning you into Frankenstein's monster.

At the Raising the Writer level, in addition to having your name on the supporters' page and receiving a copy of the book, you'll be able to participate to an exclusive writing workshop on Google Hangout to explore your inner writer and improve your writing skills.

Stretch Goals  

Audible Monsters: at 4,000 CA$, we will produce an audio version of the book.

A Monstrous Instruction: at 6,000 CA$, we will produce an ebook of Derek Newman-Stille's The Essential Frankenstein 101 Syllabus. We will also record video lectures and discussions with the following experts:
- Scholarly Discussion on Frankenstein by Anya Heise-von der Lippe from Universitat Tubingen;
- Scholarly Discussion on the Universal Studios Frankenstein Films and Queer Identities by Sarah Milner from Trent University
- Scholarly Discussion on Frankenstein and Monstrous Geographies by Erin Vander Wall, George Washington University
- Scholarly Discussion on Frankenstein and 19th Century Horror by Sean Moreland from Ottawa University
- Lecture on Frankenstein, Disability, and Gender by Derek Newman-Stille from Trent University
- Scholarly Discussion on Frankenstein and Colonialism by Ashley Morford
If this stretch goal is reached, we will include a DVD of the full selection of lectures and/or links to streaming versions of the videos to all reward levels

​A Monstrous Display: at 7,000CA$, we will produce digital Frankenstein Art by Derek Newman-Stille and Nathan Caro Fréchette, dramatic readings of sections from Mary Shelley’s 1818 Frankenstein, and a Frankenstein radio play performance. These audio and digital art files will be added as a CD and/or downloadable resource with every reward level

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Well, what are you still doing here? You should be over on Kickstarter!!