by The Alchemy of Sorrow will be out this November!
As I blogged back in February (can you use the verb “blog” that way? I’m doing it) myself and twelve other authors have been putting together a sci-fi and fantasy anthology centered on the themes of grief, healing, and hope. Last time I posted, the project was still funding on Kickstarter and we hadn’t settled on a final cover design or public release date. Hence this follow-up to share the official cover, pre-order link, and release date for those who missed the Kickstarter.
My entry in the anthology, “Death in the Uncanny Valley”, is my first and probably last ever stab at writing a video game story, so if that sounds interesting, you might want to grab a copy. If that doesn’t get you hype, I would mention that my fellow authors were considerably more ambitious and personal with their stories than I was. On the basis of their excellent work, I do still recommend that you pre-order a copy.
Below the divider, you’ll find the official pre-order info and cover reveal post.
Book Description
Here be dragons and sorcery, time travel and sorrow.
Vicious garden gnomes. A grounded phoenix rider. A new mother consumed with vengeance. A dying god. Soul magic.
These stories wrestle with the experience of loss—of loved ones, of relationships, of a sense of self, of health—and forge a path to hope as characters fight their way forward.
From bestsellers and SPFBO finalists to rising voices, 13 exceptionally talented authors explore the many facets of grief and healing through the lens of fantasy and sci-fi.
Title: The Alchemy of Sorrow
Public release date: Nov. 1st 2022
ISBNs for all editions: eBook – 978-1-952667-92-3, Hardcover – 978-1-952667-93-0, Paperback – 978-1-952667-94-7, Audiobook – 978-1-952667-95-4
Editors: Sarah Chorn – lead editor, Virginia McClain – acquiring editor/coordinator
Authors: M.L. Wang, K.S. Villoso, Intisar Khanani, Sonya M. Black, Angela Boord, Levi Jacobs, Krystle Matar, Virginia McClain, Quenby Olson, Carol A. Park, Madolyn Rogers, Rachel Emma Shaw & Clayton Snyder
Publisher: Crimson Fox Publishing
Ebook Pre-Order Link: https://books2read.com/AoS
Print and audio pre-orders coming soon!
About the Cover Design
For the cover of The Alchemy of Sorrow, we wanted to create an image that was evocative of all the stories contained within its pages, without being specific to any single one of them.
Since most of our stories have female protagonists, we chose to center the image on a grieving woman. We wanted her to be a woman of color, to celebrate the diversity of our stories and authors, and to represent the majority of the world’s population. We asked the artist to portray her standing among ruins, with her grief transmuting into light, which in turn begins to transform her surroundings.
We also took inspiration from the Japanese practice of kintsugi – in which a fractured piece of pottery is restored using precious metals mixed into the lacquer so that the item’s cracks become a beautiful feature of the piece rather than a flaw to be hidden away – and we asked if the woman’s skin could feature cracks lined with gold.
From those sketchy details, Zoe Badini conceived of this stunning image of a woman standing before a broken stained-glass window, with light coming from the cracks in her skin. The light forms swallows, a symbol of rebirth, and renews the dying jasmine around her.
After receiving Zoe’s gorgeous artwork, the task then went to Virginia to design a text layout that didn’t detract from it. She did her best to convey all the information necessary and make it legible without obscuring too much of the artwork.
Vicious garden gnomes. A grounded phoenix rider. A new mother consumed with vengeance. A dying god. Soul magic.
These stories wrestle with the experience of loss—of loved ones, of relationships, of a sense of self, of health—and forge a path to hope as characters fight their way forward.
From bestsellers and SPFBO finalists to rising voices, 13 exceptionally talented authors explore the many facets of grief and healing through the lens of fantasy and sci-fi.” And below that it reads “Find out more at books2read.com/rl/alchemyofsorrow” and then next to the ISBN Barcode it says in small white text “Cover Illustration by Zoe Badini ©2022, Cover Design VM Designs ©2022”)The cover art for The Alchemy of Sorrow. Image description: to the right of the image (the front cover) a woman of color stands before a broken stained glass window. Her body is riddled with glowing golden cracks. A pair of similarly glowing swallows flitter above her hands, held at chest level. She is surrounded by dead vines that curl around the window as well–here and there, a few glowing golden flowers are blooming. To the left of the image (the back cover), a pair of glowing swallows face each other in midair, framed by a few glowing flowers. The rest of the cover shows dead vines and a sense of decay, including a broken ewer.
The text laid out across the front cover reads “The Alchemy of Sorrow” in gold across the top with a portion of the text hidden behind the woman’s head but still legible. Below that in white, the subtitle “A Fantasy & Sci-Fi Anthology of Grief & Hope” and below that, “ M.L. Wang, K.S. Villoso, Intisar Khanani, Sonya M. Black, Angela Boord, Levi Jacobs, Krystle Matar, Virginia McClain, Quenby Olson, Carol A. Park, Madolyn Rogers, Rachel Emma Shaw & Clayton Snyder” below that “Edited by Sarah Chorn & Virginia McClain”
The spine of the paperback layout shows the publishing logo for Crimson Fox Publishing the the bottom in a light gold color, above that the names Chorn and McClain written in white are separated by a pair of swallows depicted in line art in a light gold color. And above that “The Alchemy of Sorrow” is written out in a stylized font to match the front cover.
The cover art for The Alchemy of Sorrow. Image description: to the right of the image (the front cover) a woman of color stands before a broken stained glass window. Her body is riddled with glowing golden cracks. A pair of similarly glowing swallows flitter above her hands, held at chest level. She is surrounded by dead vines that curl around the window as well–here and there, a few glowing golden flowers are blooming. To the left of the image (the back cover), a pair of glowing swallows face each other in midair, framed by a few glowing flowers. The rest of the cover shows dead vines and a sense of decay, including a broken ewer.
The text laid out across the front cover reads “The Alchemy of Sorrow” in gold across the top with a portion of the text hidden behind the woman’s head but still legible. Below that in white, the subtitle “A Fantasy & Sci-Fi Anthology of Grief & Hope” and below that, “ M.L. Wang, K.S. Villoso, Intisar Khanani, Sonya M. Black, Angela Boord, Levi Jacobs, Krystle Matar, Virginia McClain, Quenby Olson, Carol A. Park, Madolyn Rogers, Rachel Emma Shaw & Clayton Snyder” below that “Edited by Sarah Chorn & Virginia McClain”
The spine of the paperback layout shows the publishing logo for Crimson Fox Publishing the the bottom in a light gold color, above that the names Chorn and McClain written in white are separated by a pair of swallows depicted in line art in a light gold color. And above that “The Alchemy of Sorrow” is written out in a stylized font to match the front cover.
The text laid out across the ebook cover reads “The Alchemy of Sorrow” in gold across the top with a portion of the text hidden behind the woman’s head but still legible. Below that in white, the subtitle “A Fantasy & Sci-Fi Anthology of Grief & Hope” and below that, “ M.L. Wang, K.S. Villoso, Intisar Khanani, Sonya M. Black, Angela Boord, Levi Jacobs, Krystle Matar, Virginia McClain, Quenby Olson, Carol A. Park, Madolyn Rogers, Rachel Emma Shaw & Clayton Snyder” below that “Edited by Sarah Chorn & Virginia McClain”
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