Libram Mysterium Vol. 1 Now Available!

When we opened up the call for submissions in July, none of us knew what to expect. Finally, though, we have a product. Libram Mysterium Volume 1 is now available, either by clicking here or by heading over to DriveThru Fiction. Currently we have the PDF available for download. However, a proof copy has been ordered for review and perusal, with the anticipation that a hard copy of the Libram Mysterium Volume 1 will be available for order soon.

Spread the word. Pick up a copy for yourself. There's some good, gritty fantasy in here. The final product definitely exceeded my expectations.

ANNOUNCEMENT! CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!

Do you ever find yourself wandering through your local Big&Name bookstore, looking at the rows and rows of so-called fantasy books? Do you find yourself waxing nostalgic for a good, old-fashioned Frank Frazetta-like cover on your fantasy? Do you miss swordsmen on distant planets, amazing heroes with massive thews, truly evil magic-users trying to bring about the End Of All? Do you miss terrifyingly powerful monsters threatening barely-clad damsels? What about santity-threatening entities? Do you wonder if we have modern-day Bradburys, Lovecrafts, Burroghs, and Liebers? Do you miss undead that don't sparkle and wizards that aren't still in High School?

If you can say "yes" to any of the above, then you're in luck.

Even better, if you can say you like to write about any of the above, you're in luck, and you're exactly who we're looking for

I am pleased to announce the formation of Pulp Mill Press! Pulp Mill Press is dedicated to provide those things we all miss, things which have seemingly vanished from our bookstore shelves. Tim Shorts (Gothridge Manor), Ken Harrison (The Rusty Battleaxe), Sean Robson (Tales from the Flaming Faggot), and I have banded together to form Pulp Mill Press in an attempt to offer an outlet and a source for those who share the same literary loves that we do.

We're all excited about this new venture. At first, it'll be a labor of love; ultimately we hope to make it a going concern. We hope to take this from e-copies to print, eventually. Sean said it best on his blog: "There are few venues for speculative short fiction these days, and even fewer of them are receptive to heroic fantasy and weird fiction.... We want to publish the sorts of stories that we love to read."

We're hoping there are some writers, artists, and gamers out there who share in that love and who want to share their talents with the larger world. We've opened submissions for our first anthology: Libram Mysterium. We hope to do well enough through this first effort that we can offer financial remuneration for future volumes.

If you're interested in joining the effort and throwing some artistic or literary work product our way, please visit the Pulp Mill Press home page and submission guidelines for more information. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at pulpmillpress4@gmail.com.

Secret Santicore 2012

You better watch out...
You better not cry...
You better not pout...
I'm telling you why...
Because Santicore will come and eat you if you do.

Have you ever had one of those days when you realize that you've forgotten something very important? Something that you've intended to do for several days but keep putting off because "something else comes up" before you can get to it? Something that could mean the continued existence of life itself as we understand it?

OK, maybe it's not THAT serious, but still....

Jez over at Giblet Blizzard has announced the 2012 edition of "Secret Santicore"!! Actually, that happened late last week. I meant to pass along the news immediately...I really did. And then, what with one thing and another....

I know some of you may not know what "Secret Santicore" entails, so here it is in Jez's words:

Everybody who wants in click on the link below and fill out their request for some specific brand new campaign material--a new race, a location, a one-shot adventure outline, a random table, whatever. The idea is to be as specific as you need to be, but not too greedy (ask for a page or two of material).

Then I'll mix all the requests up and send them back out to the people who entered. Everybody gets the requests that weekend of the 14th-16th, and then they have two weeks til midnight Sunday 30th September to write up something matching the request and email it back to me.

Last year's yielded some GREAT material. I had the privilege of helping Jez by proofreading the compilation; I got a sneak peek at the stuff and was floored by the quality. I'm looking forward to this year's version with bated breath.

So...what do you do? Well, as you can see from the above instructions, you only have until THIS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2012 to enter your requests. Follow this link to the 2012 Santicore Page adn read the full instructions and guidelines, then follow the link you find there to the request form. ALL REQUESTS MUST BE MADE USING THIS FORM. Then just sit back and wait for your Secret Santicore assignment, and get ready to receive your gift in return. That's all there is to it.

So what are you waiting for?! Get busy wrapping!

(By the way, for those of you who haven't picked up your updated copy of the 2011 Secret Santicore, you can find it here.)

OSR Monster Project

Just a heads up to my readers of a new OSR project swiftly reaching its (scheduled) conclusion.

The OSR Monster Project over at Rended Press is scheduled to wrap up on Wednesday, August 1, 2012.

This was originally intended to be a collection of craziness: all the monsters created in June 2012 from the OSR blogosphere, collected in one place and then .pdf'd for general consumption. It was then extended to any monster blog-created in 2012. I came late to the party, so I was glad to see the extension. I took the opportunity to add in the eight critters that have crawled from my brain through my pen in the past eight months.

I'd urge everyone to take the next 24 hours or so to jump on over to the Google Docs site and plug in their own creations. Mine are in 3.x format, but they come from someone in the OSR blood flows. I consider myself part of the OSR, even if no one else does. I use OSR materials and theories in my games and have nothing against previous versions of D&D or clones.
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Re-blogging today's post from Rended Press.
http://rendedpress.blogspot.com/2012/07/status-update-osr-ogl-blogosphere.html

As of today, the OSR OGL BLOGOSPHERE MONSTERS PROJECT has 26 entries.

I'll close the file sometime during the afternoon of August 1.

Remember: This is open to any creature you've posted on your blog at any point in 2012!

So come on, people. Do the cut & paste!

Note: Please only share material that you feel comfortable appearing in a half-assed, crazy, DIY fan compilation.

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The count's increased from 26 this morning to, well, 39 at last count. I wanna see some more, though...monsters are like dice: you can never have too many.

My contributions:
32. Brain Ghoul
33. Howler Snake
34. Iron Hide Zombie
35. Lung Leech Swarm
36. Quickdeath
37. Ragehawk
38. Slimeclaw Wyrm
39. Soul Beetle