Awards and things!

~ Tehani

So, I think I kind of got busy the past few months and completely forgot that the blog was a thing! News is regularly shared on Facebook and Twitter (RIP…) but I have definitely neglected this space.

What’s been happening? Well, first of all The Art of Being Human Kickstarter funded, reaching 275% of the initial target! Waaaay back in August 2022. Good grief, that’s nearly a YEAR ago! We very quickly progressed to fulfilment, with all ebook and physical rewards despatched by the end of October 2022.

We were stoked to see some love at Awards time, with Helen Viviene Fletcher’s story being shortlisted for New Zealand’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards, and we saw FIVE nominations for the Aurealis Awards – Best Anthology, Best Fantasy Novella and Best Horror Novella for “Among the Faded Woods” by Faith Mudge, Best Fantasy Novella for “The Ocean, the Lighthouse Keeper, and the Sunset” by Lee Cope, and with “The Icecutter’s Daughter” by Aiki Flinthart in Best Fantasy Short Story. It was a bittersweet pleasure when Aiki won the gong on the night, but we’re so proud to have been able to publish one of her last works.

That brings us up to the now, and the final round of Awards for the year are open with the Ditmars, to be presented at Conflux at the end of September, and which recognise excellence in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror by Australians. These ones are peer-nominated and voted, so if you have read and loved THE ART OF BEING HUMAN and are an eligbile person who nominates (anyone “active in fandom” can nominate, though voting is restricted to members of the Natcon past and present), we would be delighted and grateful to see our contributors recognised.

Eligible works are:

BEST NOVELLA/NOVELETTE
“The ocean, the lighthouse keeper and the sunset” by Lee Cope
“Among the faded woods” by Faith Mudge

BEST SHORT STORY
“Seeding trouble” by Kirstyn McDermott
“Greatheart” by Juliet Marillier
“The icecutter’s daughter” by Aiki Flinthart
“All dressed up for the death trade” by Tansy Rayner Roberts
“Neuro” by Ephiny Gale
“She is not in heaven” by Rivqa Rafael
“Birdsong” by Joanne Anderton
“Exposure” by Jason Nahrung
“The poet’s tale” by Suzanne J Willis
“Everything so slow and quiet” by Kaaron Warren

BEST COLLECTED WORK
The Art of Being Human, edited by Tehani Croft & Stephanie Lai

BEST ARTWORK
Cover for The Art of Being Human – Amanda Rainey

Of course, TAOBH was just one of hundreds of amazing Aussie publications in 2022 and you should nominate anything you loved! If you have trouble remembering what came out last year, check out the entry list for the 2022 Aurealis Awards as a guide.

Nominations close on Tuesday, 14th of August, 2023 and can be made

  1. online, via this form: https://ditmars.sf.org.au/nominations/nominations.html
  2. via email to nominations@ditmars.sf.org.au

On the home stretch for The Art of Being Human!

~ Tehani

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.

ALL THE ANNOUNCEMENTS

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!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fablecroft/the-art-of-being-human-a-speculative-fiction-anthology

One week left – THE ART OF BEING HUMAN campaign

~ Tehani

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

THE ART OF BEING HUMAN KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN – WEEK 2!

~ Tehani

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!

You can read more about the book and the crowdfunding pre-order campaign over at Kickstarter – thanks for being part of the journey!

Are you ready? The Art of Being Human Kickstarter campaign is LIVE!!

~ Tehani

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!

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/NGA

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

Table of Contents for THE ART OF BEING HUMAN

~ Tehani
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/NGA

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 is coming out of hiatus in 2021 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.

It is our very great pleasure to announce the table of contents for The Art of Being Human. 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.

So, without further ado, the forthcoming lineup!

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

We still have a way to go on finalising the book, but keep an eye on our social media for pre-order options and release date!

UPDATE: The Art of Being Human anthology

~ Tehani

Nick Youngson (CC BY-SA 3.0)

It’s been a busy few months and while we’ve posted some updates on Facebook and Twitter, I realised we really need to write a news post as well!

We received well over 320 submissions for The Art of Being Human  during the open period, totalling more than 1.5 million words, with stories from at least 30 countries – that one heck of a response! Far more than we anticipated, and it has affected our response time dramatically, I’m afraid.

The editors are steadily working through the submissions, but it is taking us longer than we had planned (with other RealLifeTM stuff also interfering, as it has a tendency to do). We would like to apologise to the creators who have entrusted their work to us, and thank them for their patience. Please bear with us – I sent a “received” response to every submission early on to note submission, and will contact every author regardless of the outcome, so if you haven’t heard from me with an acceptance or rejections, please know we’re still considering your work!

Thank you again to all who submitted – the standard is very high which makes this process both better AND harder! We can’t wait to share our TOC with you though – it’s shaping up to be amazing.

Three weeks until submissions close for THE ART OF BEING HUMAN

~ Tehani

Submissions close: December 1, 2020

The world in 2020 has been 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. 

60801main_image_feature_186_jwrfull
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/NGA

To that end, FableCroft is coming out of hiatus in this year of social distancing and staying at home, to call for submissions on 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. We are looking at this through a broad context, seeking work that in some way demonstrates the beauty and hope of humanity through a lens of “the arts” in some form.

Stories should be between 2,000 to 20,000 words long, and not previously published. Poetry of any length is also welcome. Works are invited from all over the world, but must be primarily in the English language.

Stories must contain speculative elements – science fiction, fantasy and horror and their sub-genres are all welcome, but we recommend researching FableCroft’s past projects for an idea of the sort of stories we publish. Generally, no erotica or splatterpunk is desirable. Please query the editor before sending stories outside those limits.

SEE OUR SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR MORE INFORMATION.