Fear and the Maiden – by Peter Sartucci

FearandtheMaiden This month’s story is perfect for the Halloween Month with ghosts, demons, and a case of possession that our hero must reverse! Set in a fantasy realm recovering from war, the story follows Kirin, brother to Terrell, Princ Governor of Silbar as he is sent to do his brother’s bidding. I hope you enjoy this month’s offering.

Peter Sartucci lives with his wife and two children in Colorado where he is disguised by day as a commercial real estate appraiser. He has been writing fantasy and science fiction for more than 35 years as an engrossing hobby and has three novels and two short stories published on the SM Stirling fan site. He won an honorable mention from the Writers of the Future Contest for the fantasy work ‘Fear and the Maiden’, published here in the Story of the Month Club. He likes Hawaiian shirts, chocolate, and reading fantasy and science fiction (not necessarily in that order).

Next month we’ll be featuring Just a Second by Lou Berger. He has promised an autographed copy of of the magazine Galaxy’s Edge (where the story appeared originally) to the next ten people that sign up at Story of the Month Club and mention it to him on Facebook.

Thanks for reading!

Dragon Con

dragonconnWe will be at Dragon Con!

More specifically -I- will be at Dragon Con at the Brobdingnagian Bards table. We will be in the band area over at the Marriott. Should you decide to come by and visit (please do!) you will find a plethora of CD’s from Marc Gunn, The Brobdingnagian Bards, and Andrew McKee. You will also be able to pick up a copy of my new book: Charisma +1: The Guide to Convention Etiquette for Gamers, Geeks and the Socially Awkward, and a copy of Steampunk Trails 2 with my story Bad Altitude, (the precursor to Sapphire Eyes are Smiling)  and of course, you can also sign up for Story of the Month Club.

Hint: We give discounts for multiple purchases at the Bards table. 

 

Here’s where you can find me over the course of the weekend.

Friday:

2:30 – 3:30 Self Defense Panel (Vinings Hyatt) with Keith R.A. DeCandido

6:30 – 9:30 pm Brobdingnagian Bard Table

11:00 pm Brobdingnagian Bard Show – Hyatt International North

Saturday:

2:00 – 4:30 pm Brobdingnagian Bard Table

Sunday:

4:00 – 9:00 pm Brobdingnagian Bard Table

Monday:

10:00 – 2:00 pm Brobdingnagian Bard Table

Stubby Shillelaghs to Premiere New Batman-themed Video to support Children’s Miracle Network

THE STUBBY SHILLELAGHS TO PREMIERE NEW BATMAN-THEMED PARODY VIDEO TO SUPPORT CHILDREN’S MIRACLE NETWORK

What does this have to do with Story of the Month Club? We will be donating a lifetime membership to be given away at the premiere. Come out and join us to support the Children’s Miracle Network.

*******
Untitled1

The Stubby Shillelaghs, Colorado’s High Energy Celtic Folk Band, is pleased to announce the premiere for their music video, “Gotham’s Finest”, on September 20th at the Kress Theater in Greeley from 7pm MST to 9pm MST. Filmed in Downtown Greeley over one weekend in August, “Gotham’s Finest” is a parody and homage to Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” Trilogy told through an original Celtic folk song. The video is a gathering of some of Colorado’s premiere Cosplayers as well as some of the best in Colorado’s local film scene.

The song takes a look at a few of the major villains that appear in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises and is an original Stubby Shillelaghs song written by fiddle player Eric Fischer.The video itself is a satirical microcosm of the films with director Shaughnessy McDanielstating that he hopes that “people will watch this video and feel, even if just for a second, like they’re watching an actual Batman movie”.   Filled with laughs, action, and a cleverly shot version of downtown Greeley that makes it look like the streets of Gotham, it’s a unique combination of fanboy tribute and professional filmmaking.

In order to help the people the Stubbies deem “the real superheroes” 25% of the proceeds from the song has gone and will continue to go to the Children’s Miracle Network of Hospitals. The Stubby Shillelaghs will be donating money from CD and T-shirt sales that night, there will be a raffle, and the Kress will be donating a percentage of their bar sales to further the “Gotham’s Finest” goal of raising money for the Children’s Hospital. Wiley Roots Brewing, one of the video’s many Greeley-based locations, will be doing a tap takeover at the Kress that night to help support the fundraising endeavor.

Entry is free but a $5 donation is suggested. The video will be shown twice once at the beginning and once at the end of the night so the Stubbies encourage you to come out and experience this great evening of music, film, comic books, and fun to help the Children’s Miracle Network.

August is a Banner Month

August 2014
August 2014

We’re only on August 6th, and it’s been a banner month so far!

The phenomenal Kevin J. Anderson has provided us with a look at hiking on a foreign world. His story, Landscapes, captures the spirit of back-country hikers everywhere and is available to our subscribers for August.

Airing this month on Comcast Entertainment Television (Comcast 105 on Sundays at 7pm and 11pm for Colorado viewers) an interview with Xfinity Arts & Entertainment television talking about Story of the Month Club, what we’re doing, and our goals for the future.

And if that wasn’t enough great stuff, we’ll also be at MalCon from August 8-10th here in Denver, and at Dragon Con in Atlanta over the Labor Day weekend. I’ll have several panels over the course of the weekend at MalCon, so come find me and say ‘Hi!”

 

Bonus Story!

Sapphire EyesWe’re sending out a bonus story for July. (Barely! Sorry, I got behind) Sapphire Eyes are Smiling is a Steampunk Adventure by Jessica Brawner. It is set in an alternate history France and Scotland. If you like this one, make sure to get a copy of the upcoming Steampunk Trails where you can find a new adventure of Captain Jac and the crew of the Indiana in the story Bad Altitude.

We’ll be at MalCon!

IMain_Logo_For_Banner_No_Ragged_small am excited to announce that Story of the Month Club will have a table at Myths and Legends (Malcon) August 8-10th at the Tivoli Student Union Building
900 Auraria Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204.

The link to buy tickets is http://malcondenver2014.brownpapertickets.com.

 

In addition to a table for Story of the Month Club, I will be appearing on several different panels throughout the course of the weekend. Come by, say hello and ask good questions!

My schedule thus far:

Friday:

5:00 – 5:50 pm         Roger Braun Room

Convention Etiquette for Gamers, Geeks and the Socially Awkward.

Are you shy around new people? Are you uncertain in new social situations? Do you frequently misunderstand the term Personal Space? Do you want to know how to make your convention experience better? Bring your questions and join Jessica Brawner, author of Charisma +1: The Guide to Convention Etiquette for Gamers, Geeks and the Socially Awkward, for a frank discussion of these topics and more!

(This will be a debut of some of the topics in my soon to be released book.)

 

6:00 – 6:50 pm           Roger Braun Room

Who’s your favorite Who? With Dana Bell, Jessica Brawner, Ashlyn Ross, Aaron Spriggs

Just like it sounds. With 11 to choose from and a 12th on the way, which is your favorite and why?

 

7:00 – 7:50 pm           Garage Lounge

Unsung Heroines of Fandomwith Jessica Brawner, L.H. Parker, Kronda Seibert

With Professor McGonagall as a starting point, who are some of the great unsung heroines of fiction/fandom? Who do we revere and why? The same goes for villainesses.

 

Saturday

12:00 – 12:50              John Good Room

The Etiquette of NaNoWriMo with Jessica Brawner, Sam Knight, Aaron Spriggs

Learn why December 1st is one of the most despised days of the year by industry professionals everywhere. We ask the questions “What is NaNoWriMo for? What should I do, or not do, when November comes to an end?”

 

4:00 – 4:50 pm         Roger Braun Room

G.R.R. Martin Outside GoT – with Jessica Brawner, Van Aaron Hughes, Jake Spriggs

Has Martin done anything outside of GoT? What is it and how does it compare?

 

Sunday

12:00 – 12:50              John Good Room

NaNoWriMo: What, When & Why – Jessica Brawner, Julie Campbell, Christopher M. Salas

The ins and outs of writing for NaNoWriMo. Why is it good training grounds for writers new and old?

An Idea and a Goal

typewriterStory of the Month Club was an idea born a few months ago out of the brain of Jessica Brawner (me!) and Peter J. Wacks. It’s a fairly simple idea, with several lofty goals. Basically we want to send you (our dear and loyal readers) an excellent story every month (perhaps sometimes two), choosing from a variety of authors and genres to tickle your fancy. The stories will be short so as not to overwhelm your reading list and entertaining – to keep you coming back for more!

That’s our first goal – our second goal is to get enough subscribers that we can pay our authors professional rates for their stories. The romantic figure of the starving artist is just that – a romantic figure. I don’t recommend trying to eat romanticism, it’s not very filling. The reality is, being an author is a lot of hard work, and frequently for not very much pay. We want to provide another place for them to get published and get paid.

The magic number for us to achieve that goal is 1000 subscribers.

There are also a few other cool things that happen at 1000 subscribers :

  1. we’ll be able to expand our genre list, and our loyal readers will get to tell us what they want to read
  2. we’ll look into providing stories in audio book format
  3. we’ll start accepting submissions

Help us get there by telling people and encouraging them to subscribe!

As I’ve said before, it’s less than the cost of a latte each month for some great reading, and it supports the arts. We also support subscriptions from libraries and schools – if your local library is interested, have them get in touch.