Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness

Starred Review | Launch Party
over 2 years ago – Thu, Sep 30, 2021 at 02:47:33 PM

Still breathless with excitement about this news: Unfettered Hexes has gotten a starred review from Publishers Weekly. You can click through and read the whole thing here (and we tweeted about it here if you'd like to boost the signal).

Some October events of possible interest to y'all:

On 10/21, Neon Hemlock Live will feature two Unfettered Hexes contributors,Tamara Jereé & Kel Coleman, along with Merc Wolfmoor.  

On 10/28, we'll be holding a fall launch party for this anthology as well as The Secret Skin and & This is How to Stay Alive. Come for spooky stories, oracle card readings and other mischief. RSVP here.

And then on the 30th, as part of Barrelhouse's Conversations and Connections, Unfettered Hexes contributors Suzan Palumbo and Craig L. Gidney will be joining Wendy N. Wagner and Zin E. Rocklyn for a panel on body horror. The day-long conference costs $70 but comes with a handful of free books, of which you can choose to receive Anya Ow's Cradle and Grave and Saida Agostini's STUNT if you select Neon Hemlock when you register.

Hope to see you in the virtual crowd here or elsewhere!

Talk soon,

dave

Proofs | Pins! | Updated Publication Date
over 2 years ago – Sun, Sep 12, 2021 at 11:44:25 PM

Hi friends,

Bad news first: between production slowdowns and shipping quandaries, I'm pushing the official publication date of Unfettered Hexes to October 31st. With that said, I'm expecting y'all will have your copies in hand sooner than that, but I'd rather make a conservative guess than have to push it back again.

Good news: the proof arrived, and the book is beautiful. Here are some shots:

Remember the proof isn't bound so that's why the pages look like that. But you can see the color inside cover, the full page illustrations, the white-on-black pages of the games at the back, and just how thick this book is. It's almost two hundred pages longer than Glitter + Ashes.

To sign off, please take a gander at these beautiful pins with pinback cards all designed by Riddle's Tea Shoppe!

Thanks for your patience! 

dave

Backerkit Locked | General Update
over 2 years ago – Mon, Aug 16, 2021 at 01:26:27 AM

Hi folks!

Backerkit told me today was the day to lock in orders, so I've put that into motion.  From now on, if you'd like additional Unfettered Hexes loot, you should pre-order from the Neon Hemlock website.

It's all coming together.  We're just shy of sending the book to the printer, which is very exciting. We have mini-prints of the cover with no text on it for y'all. The Witches Brew candles from Neon Apothecary are all boxed up and ready to go.  Riddle's Tea Shoppe is working away on the pinback cards.

We will have the usual suspects covered, but if you know of any reviewers that might want to see the book, or podcasts/booktubers who might want to cover it or interview some contributors, please let me know, either in the comments or via DM/email.

And as always, thanks for your support!

dave

Design Update | Oracle Cards Prototype
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Jul 27, 2021 at 06:57:18 PM

Hi folks,

Unfettered Hexes is still on track for our October 2021 publication date.  We're nearly ready to send the book to reviewers, just finishing the last round of edits and working on the front/back matter.

Here's a sneak peek at the table of contents:

...you may notice that this book is huge. It's about 150 pages longer than Glitter + Ashes.

We're using a graphic by Matthew Spencer for a number of the Unfettered Hexes design elements: the tarot altar cloths, the oracle deck instruction booklet, and the "chapter art" with each story. Here's an example with Jordan Shiveley's very cursed title page:

Each of the oracle card illustrations will appear opposite the matching story like so, not to mention the extra cards that Matt did to fill out the deck.    

The prototype of the oracle deck arrived and while there are some elements I need to tweak, it looks pretty rad:

You can see more of the prototype over on Twitter here.  The coin pictured will come with each oracle deck and also be available to purchase separately. (If you'd rather get this coin than the Decision Coin, I might have an opportunity to swap them out.) The altar cloths/bandannas will be available to buy separately on the website soon.

The pins from our collab with Riddle's Tea Shoppe came back from the manufacturer too:

There's one more photo of the pin here.

I think that's it for now! If there are specific things you're curious about, please let me know in the comments and I can try to preview them next time.

dave

Digital Extras Fulfillment & Art Update
almost 3 years ago – Fri, May 28, 2021 at 11:12:40 PM

Hi folks!

Quick update to let you know that the last of the interior illustrations/oracle card images by Matt Spencer are complete.  Check them out above.  The Underworld is drawn from a poem by Imani Sims, "The Underworld as a Heart Meditation," our latest addition to the book.  And The Manor is from Danny Lore's story, "The Passing of Sinclair Manor, Or, The House of Magical Negroes." You can look at the illustrations all together here.

Folks whose reward included Glitter + Ashes Queer Tales of a World That Wouldn't Die in ebook form should have just gotten an email from Backerkit with the link to download the book.  Same for folks who backed us at Club Serpentine for both ebooks and physical.  We'll be sending out the physical book orders for the titles included in that download as soon as A Formal Invitation Issue Two is back from the printer. If anyone didn't get the link, please let me know. It's my first time using Backerkit for distribution.  

I've also received the interior color illustrations from Frances P!  One is based on Danny Lore's story mentioned above and the other is based on R.J. Theodore's "The Coven of TAOS-9." They look bold, bright and fantastic. To sign off, here's a little graphic showing a bit of the art from Frances side by side a slice of Matt Spencer's illustrations from the same stories.

These color illustrations will be on the inside back and front cover. And I just realized that we took an inside/outside approach for both pieces, both for the space station and the manor.  

Behind the curtain, we're working away on edits and layout and the oracle deck guidebook. More to come! And our campaign for the 2021 Novella Series is in its final days. We would appreciate it if you sent the link to anyone who might want to support us!

dave