Just FIVE HOURS left of the pre-order campaign, so today we shared a glimpse into every story and poem in The Art of Being Human over on Twitter. You can check them out in the hourly threads there, or through the gallery of screen caps below.
It’s been an absolute whirlwind three weeks, but it’s hard to believe there’s just over two days left on the campaign! Don’t forget that physical copies of the book will ONLY be available through this campaign! You are able add on extra copies or change your reward level to a multi-copy option (up to three copies) with extra discounting available on multi-book reward levels. Reward levels start at AUD$10.00 for the ebook.
We are thrilled to announce that The Art of Being Human will feature a Foreword by multi award-winning storyteller Angela Slatter, and Introduction by our very own Stephanie Lai!
Based in Brisbane, Angela Slatter‘s short fiction has been featured in publications all over the world, and her collections and novels, many of them adjacent to her intricate “Sourdough” world, are lyrical, dark, and utterly consumable pieces of literature. FableCroft has been fortunate to publish several of Angela’s stories over the years, and we’re so excited that her insights into our theme and the stories in the book will feature in the anthology.
Co-editor of The Art of Being Human, Stephanie Lai, is a painter, occasional writer, and professional climate change activist. Stephanie chaired Continuum, Melbourne’s local SFF con, in 2013, and wants everyone to talk about intersectionality and kyriarchy in SFF. She lives in Melbourne, Australia. In her Introduction to The Art of Being Human, Stephanie considers the juxtaposition of art and grief. She writes about understanding that art doesn’t need grief to be amazing or to reach its audience, but that often art helps us work through our grief, and examines how this anthology is a work of this moment, the different ways we grieve, and the myriad things we celebrate.
A bunch of our truly awesome contributors talked online about the theme and their stories over the past couple of weeks. If you’d like some insight into what the book will be like, take a look!
K G Anderson shares a beautiful reflective piece explaining the inspiration for her story “Pieced Together” https://writerway.com/2022/08/22/the-short-story-from-a-mosaic-workshop/
Joanne Anderton shares a tidbit about the genesis of her story “Birdsong” https://joanneanderton.com/wordpress/2022/08/17/the-art-of-being-human/
Joyce Chng shares a very personal insight into the genesis of her story “The World Has Gone Silent” – https://awolfstale.wordpress.com/2022/08/10/the-year-of-tears-and-the-fight-for-hope/
Helen Vivienne Fletcher (and her gorgeous pupper!) shares a video talking about her story “The Library” – https://www.facebook.com/Helenvivienne/videos/506745707791990/ – and reads from her story – super fitting during Book Week! https://www.instagram.com/p/ChlIxZkOBJH/
Ephiny Gale not only digs into a bit of the inspiration about her story “Neuro”, but shares a sneak peek! – https://ephinygale.com/2022/08/14/neuro-in-the-art-of-being-human-kickstarter-live/
Nikoline Kaiser teases a snippet of her story “A trail of blue paper flowers” on Twitter https://twitter.com/NikolineKaiser/status/1562052357835341825?s=20&t=bz0KB0JJkYmnYHeb-_dGqA
Stephanie Lai offers an insight into the conception of the anthology https://yiduiqie.tumblr.com/post/692691175794262016/the-art-of-being-human
Juliet Marillier shares a snippet of her story “Greatheart” and talks about the power of music and stories to heal and teach – https://www.julietmarillier.com/2022/08/14/bagpipes-a-monster-and-the-power-of-storytelling/
Kirstyn McDermott draws on the impact of capitalism on our capacity for creativity in discussing her story “Seeding Trouble” (and offers another sneak peek!) – https://kirstynmcdermott.com/2022/08/11/the-art-of-being-human-seeding-trouble/
Steve Quinn talks about how wealth inequality helped inspire his story, “The Maiden, the Statistician, and the Architect” – https://www.steve-quinn.net/2022/08/14/the-art-of-being-human-anthology-kickstarter/
Tansy Rayner Roberts has been sprinkling little nuggets of joy all over the internet about her story “Welcome to the Death Trade” – check out her Facebook and Insta feeds!
Kaaron Warren talks about beauty, and loss, and the hope that things can be built anew, in the inspiration for her story “Everything so slow and quiet” https://kaaronwarren.wordpress.com/2022/08/23/the-art-of-being-human-anthology/
And of course, we revealed the stunning cover by Amanda Rainey!
Well, I’m a little late posting this because goodness me, the campaign has been cracking along this weekend! I’ve got so much gratitude for every single person who has shared and linked to the Kickstarter, and of course to the 100+ awesome people who have put their money on the table. I can’t quite believe we’ve more than doubled our target this week, and we’re totally chasing down our first stretch goal to increase author payments. And we’ve still got seven days to do it!
A few days ago I shared a sneak preview of our cover design, by the very talented longtime FableCroft collaborator Amanda Rainey – today I’m delighted to make it public! I hope you love it as much as I do.
Don’t forget, the only way to get your hands on a physical copy of The Art of Being Human is via the crowdfunding campaign – there are discounted prices for multiple copies, too! Check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fablecroft/the-art-of-being-human-a-speculative-fiction-anthology
What a fantastic ride we’ve had so far, hitting our funding target in just three days, and then almost 50% of that again! We’ve got some big stretch goals to reach for still, and some exciting announcements about the book to come.
Today I have for you a little round up of the online activities some of our brilliant contributors have shared so far about their stories in The Art of Being Human. I always love these behind-the-scenes peeks into the writer’s mind, and as an editor, it absolutely fascinates me to see how a theme can spark an idea…
Joyce Chng shares a very personal insight into the genesis of her story “The World Has Gone Silent” – https://awolfstale.wordpress.com/2022/08/10/the-year-of-tears-and-the-fight-for-hope/
Helen Vivienne Fletcher (and her gorgeous pupper!) shares a video talking about her story “The Library” – https://www.facebook.com/Helenvivienne/videos/506745707791990/
Ephiny Gale not only digs into a bit of the inspiration about her story “Neuro”, but shares a sneak peek! – https://ephinygale.com/2022/08/14/neuro-in-the-art-of-being-human-kickstarter-live/
Juliet Marillier shares a snippet of her story “Greatheart” and talks about the power of music and stories to heal and teach – https://www.julietmarillier.com/2022/08/14/bagpipes-a-monster-and-the-power-of-storytelling/
Kirstyn McDermott draws on the impact of capitalism on our capacity for creativity in discussing her story “Seeding Trouble” (and offers another sneak peek!) – https://kirstynmcdermott.com/2022/08/11/the-art-of-being-human-seeding-trouble/
Steve Quinn talks about how wealth inequality helped inspire his story, “The Maiden, the Statistician, and the Architect” – https://www.steve-quinn.net/2022/08/14/the-art-of-being-human-anthology-kickstarter/
Tansy Rayner Roberts has been sprinkling little nuggets of joy all over the internet about her story “Welcome to the Death Trade” – check out her Facebook and Insta feeds!
THE ART OF BEING HUMAN is fully funded in less than 72 hours – what a bunch of legends we have as supporters 😘
We’re not really the types to sit back and relax, though – shoot for the moon, I say! And so, for your delectation, please make welcome … our STRETCH GOALS!
It has been two long years in the making, but we are beyond excited to begin our pre-order campaign for The Art of Being Human!
The purpose of this campaign is to offer early access to The Art of Being Human anthology to all backers, and to provide the ONLY opportunity to purchase the book in print.
Ready to back? Click here!
Want to know more? Read on!
What is the book about?
In 2020, the world was tipped upside down and shaken in ways we could barely have imagined, except perhaps in the post-apocalyptic and dystopic worlds of story. Amidst pandemic illness and death, political machinations and despair, one of the casualties has been, at least in a financial sense, the Arts. Governments across the world have slashed funding, galleries, theatres and entertainment venues have closed amid lockdown restrictions, money is being carefully metered with jobs more uncertain than ever, meaning our creatives across all industries are suffering. And yet, more than ever, we are turning to art to stay sane in lockdown, to keep our spirits up in isolation, and to remind us that despite the hardship, there is beauty in this world.
To that end, FableCroft came out of hiatus to publish a brand new original anthology, The Art of Being Human. Co-edited by Tehani Croft and Stephanie Lai, this anthology seeks to remind readers of the hope and beauty of the Arts, and the way our engagement with writing, music, film, theatre, artworks in all media, and craft of all kinds are at the core of our humanity.
If the time since COVID began to dominate our global society has taught us anything, it is that connection is crucial to our wellbeing. While so many of the stories that make up this amazing anthology have a core element of grief to them, they also speak to hope, connection, community, and yes, ART, and how important these threads are to the very centre of humanity.
Who does the book feature?
We had around 350 submissions equalling well over 1.5 million words from at least 30 countries – I’m pretty sure it’s FableCroft’s biggest submission call ever! We are absolutely delighted with the lineup of stories we have selected, but it was a very difficult task. We could easily have accepted dozens more, so high was the quality of submissions. The stories selected range across the speculative fiction genres, and come to you from all over the world. We can’t wait for you to read them.
Table of Contents
“Pieced together” by K G Anderson
“Birdsong” by Joanne Anderton
“The world has gone silent” by Joyce Chng
“The ocean, the lighthouse keeper and the sunset” by Lee Cope
“The library” by Helen Vivienne Fletcher
“The icecutter’s daughter” by Aiki Flinthart
“Neuro” by Ephiny Gale
“Everyday wonder” by Valerie Hunter
“A trail of blue paper flowers” by Nikoline Kaiser
“Spools of silk, shards of stone” by Karin Landelius
“Drawing blood” by Gerri Leen
“Greatheart” by Juliet Marillier
“That feeling when you ask me to dance” by Cara Mast
“Seeding trouble” by Kirstyn McDermott
“Among the faded woods” by Faith Mudge
“Exposure” by Jason Nahrung
“The light in the attic, the bones in the earth” by Spencer Nitkey
“The maiden, the statistician, and the architect” by Steve Quinn
“She is not in heaven” by Rivqa Rafael
“All dressed up for the death trade” by Tansy Rayner Roberts
“The mask makers” by Kristi Ross
“When silence speaks” by Spencer Sekulin
“Everything so slow and quiet” by Kaaron Warren
“The poet’s tale” by Suzanne J Willis
kickstarter.com/projects/fablecroft/the-art-of-being-human-a-speculative-fiction-anthology
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