Robert Allen Lupton, one of our collaborators on our project to restore Julian Hawthorne’s science fiction romance, The Cosmic Courtship, wrote at length at Horror Tree about the work that has gone in to bringing this work back to life.
Monthly Archives: March 2021
The Cosmic Courtship – $10k Stretch Goal: Ongoing Imprint
Things are going so quickly for our project to restore The Cosmic Courtship that we’re already almost to our next stretch goal before having a real chance to even talk about it!
When we first started this project, we weren’t sure what the reaction would be. We’ve all been pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm for this project, and even before we had hit the last stretch goal, Robert, Michael, and I had been talking about what was next.
“Cirsova Classics” is our working title for the imprint [we’ll keep “Cirsova Presents” around for other special one-offs.]
For the time being, we hope to continue with a couple of Hawthorne’s other uncollected works, though we’ve got arrangements made for up to three titles already. Next in the queue will be Hawthorne’s strange mystery “Sara Was Judith.”
$8k Stretch Goal Update – New Digital Tier
Wow, the response to this project has been phenomenal!
We all thank you for you support!
We are adding a Digital-Only backer tier. Originally, I’d told someone that they wouldn’t have to select a tier to receive digital rewards… and that’s true! But I also realized that in order to get backer’s names (and not just user names) included in the “Thanks” appendix, we’d need survey responses and you can’t send surveys to backers with no tiers.
The plan for the release will be as follows:
-Kickstarter ends, funds are released, and we collect surveys
-Backers will have two weeks to send in survey responses; if you do not send in a survey in two weeks, we will use your username in the “Thanks” section.
-Once the “Thanks” section has been added to the project files, we will upload the print files, do a final check, and place an order.
-We’ll mail everything out to backers.
-Once everything is mailed out, we’ll send a link to backers where they can download the digital files.
-Once we have sent the link out, we’ll upload the plaintext file to Project Gutenberg
More on our $10k Stretch Goal soon!
A Quick Look at Julian Hawthorne’s Six Cent Sam’s
So, one of the things I’m trying to do since I’m publishing work by Julian Hawthorne is to familiarize myself with some of his other stories. I’ve already reviewed The Golden Fleece…
In putting together a selected bibliography to include in the new edition of The Cosmic Courtship that we’re putting out, I came across one book called Six Cent Sam’s–I couldn’t find out much of anything about it, but surprisingly there was a facsimile edition available, so I went ahead and nabbed it. [Yes, I bought it just so I could add a couple words to the bibliography page.]
Six Cent Sam’s is a weird mystery short fiction anthology with a fascinating framing device: the narrator is ushered into a quiet and exclusive dive by a friend. That dive is Six Cent Sam’s–it only costs six cents to get in, but there are a few catches: you have to pay your own way [no treating to get in], Sam has to like you, and you have to be of ‘a certain sort.’ The six cents gets you admission, a booth, a meal, and whatever entertainment is on the tap, but there’s a special rule: anyone can drop by one of the other booths and offer additional food and libation which may only be accepted if repaid by a tale of one’s latest adventures and/or strange happenings.
While there’s clear demarcation between the tales, Hawthorne is more clever than just having his narrator go from booth to booth. While the first story serves as an introduction to the concept and has a marginally science fiction premise [an inventor is in love with a woman whose father is a doctor; inventor has an ailment that the doctor tries to use hypnosis to cure; doctor can’t hypnotize the guy, but the guy’s susceptible to his daughter; after several sessions, doctor and daughter disappear; guy finds out doctor has stolen his invention and patented it, using the hypnosis sessions to work out the kinks the guy himself had not yet worked out; he’s broken up about it, cuz he still loves the girl; end of his tale, the girl walks in–she’s broken up about it, her father’s dead, and they’ve got some stuff to talk about.] The next story begins on another night, in the middle of drinking and cards among friends [including the narrator, who is now a regular at Sam’s], and there is concern over a missing friend–he was with one of them on the street one moment, and was gone the next! At the heart of the mystery is a beautiful Persian exotic dancer and a progressive modern girl, that the young lad was absolutely torn between.
Also, we’re right on the cusp of our $8k stretch goal for The Cosmic Courtship!
Plus, test copies of the pocket paperback arrived yesterday!
The Death Cult is Real and Not Hyperbole
Brian Niemeier has written extensively on the Pop Culture Death Cult, so rather than try to explain the entire concept, I’ll refer you to his blog.
Well, the Death Cult is not hyperbole, and Mouse Wars is literally giving you cancer.
A recent report came out that many of the Hand-Sanitizers put out during the height of the Wu-Flu contained toxic, cancer causing chemicals. [This is in addition to the products that contained methanol, which is highly toxic and can be absorbed through the skin.]
“A number of them were widely available, with some purchasable on Amazon and at Target stores. One of the more contaminated formulas was sold as a Baby Yoda-themed bottle.” – From New York Post
This isn’t even something you can take schadenfreude in, because this is a product that was easily as likely used by small children as soy-faced Funko-Pop collectors.
35% off Sale on all Cirsova Merch!
TeePublic is doing a site-wide sale!
Closing in on The Cosmic Courtship’s $8k Stretch Goal!
We’re almost to our $8k Stretch Goal for The Cosmic Courtship! In fact, we’re less than $500 away!
This stretch goal includes:
-Digital copies for all backers
-Plaintext version donated to Project Gutenberg
Also, by Thursday, our first test-print of pocket paperbacks should be arriving. We’ll be sending these out as ARCs to select outlets, but if we have some left-over, we may be able to send some out to bloggers. We’ll let you know!
Don’t forget, the new issue of Cirsova is out, as are the audiobooks of Endless Summer and Tales of the Mongoose and Meerkat!
Cirsova on with Appendix I Livestream [Mike DiBaggio]
Was on the Appendix I livestream the other day to talk about The Cosmic Courtship!
Most of the part with me was in the first hour. I was still there for most of the second half, but a bit before the end my laptop battery died.
Be sure to back The Cosmic Courtship! We’re almost to our $8k stretch goal!
Mongoose and Meerkat Audiobook Live!
The audiobook for Tales of the Mongoose Vol 1: Pursuit Without Asking is now available on Audible!
Erin Michele Gabbard has done a wonderful job bringing these fun and exciting tales to life in her reading.
Please check it out!
Also, Kat and Mangos’s latest adventure, The Grain Merchant of Alomar, is out now in our spring issue!
Misha Burnett’s Endless Summer Audio Book Out Now!
The audiobook edition of Misha Burnett’s Endless Summer is out now!
If you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to check out this fabulous collection of science fiction tales!
Cirsova 