Blue was dancing like mad when she burst into flames.
It didn’t happen suddenly. She’d been busting chaos-angel moves on stage when I’d noticed smoke rising from her hair. Blue’s feet flashed and spun beneath her jingling skirt. Sweat shimmered on her tattoos. Her eyes rolled back till all I could see were the whites. Her pale skin began to glow.
“How’s she doing that?” Ashley whispered.
“I have no idea,” I whispered back.
Flames flickered from Blue’s scalp, then swept across her skin. Her black vest caught fire in a sudden puff, the flames shining on the tiny mirrors woven into it.
We launched ourselves at the stage…
A Young Dancer Enters the Underworld…
After a friend’s mysterious death, Genét Shilling delves into the world of Red Shoes, a drug whose effects alter time, space, and form. That journey challenges all she thought she knew about herself and reveals how strange her world truly is.
Propelled by wide-eyed attitude and inspired by its author’s experiences with music, dance and metaphysical subcultures, Red Shoes presents an urban fantasy tale set in the Appalachian town of Riverhaven, where magic hides just out of sight.
Time warps. Modern bards. Sexual confusion. Grief and revenge.
A dance begins.
The dance of Red Shoes.
Who We Are
Hi, folks! I’m Satyros Phil Brucato – or just Satyr, for short. My spouse Sandra Damiana Swan and I formed Quiet Thunder Productions back in 2009. Founded to produce and publish the benefit anthology Ravens in the Library: Magic in the Bard’s Name, we’ve since produced various books and media, including Open Your Heart to the Magic of Love (with Dr. Lester Sauvage), Powerchords: Music, Magic & Urban Fantasy, the Strowlers multimedia series (with Zombie Orpheus Entertainment), and visual art products from Wyld Hunt Photography and Damiana Swan. Now known as Roguery Arts, we continue to produce and release work in various media. Red Shoes is our newest project, and we're quite proud of it.
Why We’re Here
Six years ago, on November 1, 2015, I typed the first words of the story that would become Red Shoes. That story caught fire. After a string of personal tragedies, I finished the book, hired Laura Anne Gilman to edit it, and began shopping Red Shoes around to publishers just as the pandemic changed everybody’s world. Sandi and I decided to publish the novel ourselves. That book is now complete, and features digital, print, and audiobook editions.
We can’t wait to share it with you.
Ideally, we’d like to do more with that story, too…
Ready to Go
Written by Satyros Phil Brucato – the award-winning author behind Mage: The Ascension, Valhalla with a Twist of Lethe, Arpeggio, Powerchords, Deliria, and more – the novel is ready for release. Orders will be fulfilled as soon as funds are secured.
Done Deals
This campaign’s goal covers the costs of:
● Professional editing by Laura Anne Gilman.
● Professional cover and graphic design by Cora Ocean and Sherry Lynne Baker.
● Professional audiobook narration and production by Ivy Tara Blair.
But Maybe More…?
If things go well, we may unlock other Red Shoes goodies, too:
● $7000 unlocks a hardcover edition of Red Shoes.
● $10,000 unlocks bonus payments for our collaborators.
● $13,000 unlocks a brand-new Red Shoes-inspired musical track from S.J. Tucker.
● $15,000 unlocks a second song from Sooj.
● $20,000 unlocks an illustrated edition, with interior paintings by Cora Ocean.
● $23,000 unlocks additional bonus payments for our collaborators.
● $25,000 unlocks a musical companion album by mythpunk sensation S.J. Tucker.
● $30,000 unlocks a roleplaying game sourcebook featuring characters and settings from Red Shoes.
● Beyond that? We have ideas…
The more we raise, the more we can create.
Perks
$1 Our thanks for being an awesome supporter.
$10 Red Shoes wallpaper, by Cora Ocean.
$15 Red Shoes digital edition (PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats).
$20 Red Shoes audiobook edition.
$25 Red Shoes trade paperback edition (US postage included*).
$30 Signed and personalized TPB edition (US postage included*).
$100 Signed TPB edition, digital and audio editions + a Red Shoes tote bag and jigsaw puzzle*.
$200 Signed and personalized copies of Red Shoes and Valhalla with a Twist of Lethe and digital and audio editions of Red Shoes + tote bag, jigsaw puzzle, and a one-hour personal video conference with the author*.
*Please add +$15 for international shipping of physical goods.
No shipping cost for digital copies.
Add-Ons
Although this campaign provides copies of Red Shoes ahead of the book’s general release, you can get a variety of fun perks for helping us fund its publication:
Applicable only to pledges of $10 or more.
+ $5 Digital edition of Red Shoes.
+ $5 Digital edition of Valhalla with a Twist of Lethe.
+ $10 Digital edition of Powerchords: Music, Magic & Urban Fantasy.
+ $10 Red Shoes audiobook.
+ $15 Additional copies of Red Shoes in TPB.
+ $18 Valhalla with a Twist of Lethe (TPB edition).
+ $40 Powerchords: Music, Magic & Urban Fantasy (hardcover full-color edition).
+ $40 Goblin Markets: The Glitter Trade (hardcover full-color edition).
+$45 500-piece Red Shoes jigsaw puzzle. When you read the book, you’ll see why a puzzle is appropriate.
You can also find a range of Red Shoes goodies at our Redbubble store:
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/93676450
Risks
There are none. The book is finished, with the trade paperback edition set up to roll presses once we have the orders and funds in hand. The digital and audiobook editions have already been produced, and they’ll be sent out as soon as those funds reach our bank. Given holiday printing and shipping turnarounds, our estimated delivery date for print editions would be late 2021 or early 2022.
Additional Projects
If /when we unlock additional projects, those projects will need to be created from scratch. We haven’t begun work on them yet, so we don’t have firm schedules in place for them yet. As each project unlocks, however, we’ll set up schedules and share progress with you here.
● A hardcover edition merely needs to be laid out and set up at press. That can be done by early 2022.
● If we unlock an illustrated edition, Cora needs to paint a new cover and 20 interior images, and that book will need to be laid out and set up at press. Estimated press date would be mid- to-late 2022.
● Sooj already has a few songs for a companion album; you can hear part of one of them, “Alchemist Eyes,” in the Red Shoes book trailer. A full album would most likely take a year or so to record and produce, but there’s no firm date available. Potential release date would be late 2022 to mid-2023.
● A Red Shoes RPG sourcebook would require a comparable production period. We can provide more details if this stretch-goal unlocks. Estimated delivery date could be mid-2023 to early 2024.
How Else Can I Help?
We appreciate any kind of help folks can offer:
● Spread the word. As an indie micropress, we depend on word-of-mouth and social-media publicity. Please let folks know about this campaign, and use the hashtags #RedShoes #RedShoesNovel, and #redshoesurbanfantasy
● Tag Us: Let us know when you’ve spread the word. Each week, we’ll have a drawing for folks who’ve spread the word about us that week; the winners get a special something from us.
Thank you, everyone! We hope you enjoy Red Shoes!
We’ll post updates here as they occur.
Cheers!
