October 2021

This past weekend marked our "post-pandemic" return to in-person SF convention attendance, with Capclave in Rockville, MD. The convention required proof of vaccination for all attendees, as well as masks (though the county had an indoor mask mandate in effect anyway). The atmosphere did seem more subdued than pre-pandemic, with less general hanging out in the hotel bar area; but since we'd never been to Capclave before, we can't really judge how much of a change this was from previous years.

The WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction went to T. Kingfisher for "Metal Like Blood in the Dark", published by Uncanny Magazine. While we're sorry that Caias Ward didn't win for his excellent story "Reformed", we do want to congratulate T. Kingfisher. T. Kingfisher also writes for children as Ursula Vernon, and Kristin's 9-year-old niece is a big fan of her Hamster Princess series of graphic novels.

We did really enjoy getting the chance to meet Caias in person, and are glad he was able to make it to the convention. And, while we didn't know as many of the attendees there as at the conventions we attend on a regular basis, we were able to catch up with a few old friends, and meet some new people as well (and discover some new books to check out). 

Recent and Upcoming Stories

Our current fiction offering is Marshall J. Moore's "Kirishitan", set in 16th century Japan, and featuring Marshall's recurring character, samurai ghost hunter Okabe Yukiko.

Later this month, we have another story by David Tallerman, who appeared in the original Mysterion anthology: "An Exchange of Values, Conducted in Good Faith." Come back on October 25th to read this one!

We're editing the November and December stories now, and reading through the July submissions to choose our lineup for January through June.

Patreon

Although we occasionally sell a book or two (including one at Capclave!), our main source of revenue for Mysterion is our Patreon page. If you like the stories we publish, please consider becoming a Patron! Our most popular support level is $3/month, which gets you early access to all our fiction, but even $1/month includes monthly "insider" posts that offer an exclusive, behind-the-scenes perspective on our publishing adventure, and the opportunity to participate in monthly chats on Discord with Mysterion editors and authors. You can get even earlier access to some stories at the $10/month level, and free paperback books at $25/month.

Right now, we have 21 active Patrons, contributing a total of $216/month. This only covers between one third and one half of what it costs us to pay our authors each year. We hope to at some point have enough monthly support through Patreon to cover what it costs us for fiction and art. So, although we do plan to increase the number of stories and works of art that we publish each year upon reaching certain funding milestones along the way, we're doing so at a rate that would eventually bring us to a breakeven point. Currently, the breakeven point is around $700/month (though we will probably have to recalculate this to account for the recent increase in our pay rate for art from $100 to $125). You can read more about it here, if you're interested, but the interim goal we're working toward right now is $275/month. This will allow us to publish 16 stories each year instead of 14.

There aren't that many places to find the sorts of stories we're publishing, so if it's something you would like to see more of, and you're not already a supporter, please take a look at our Patreon and consider signing up.

Big Day at the Vet

We recently took steps to ensure that Maxwell and Marie would not have any kittens of their own. The initial recovery period was a bit rough on all four of us, as we needed to keep them separated (except for brief supervised visits) so they didn't lick each other's sutures, or inhibit their own healing by excessive running, jumping, and wrestling. They're pretty needy for cats, though, and can't stand being alone, Marie especially. So, although we did try to keep them company as much as possible, there was a lot of meowing.

Maxwell and Marie wearing the "cone of shame".

It all got much better after we let them hang out again. They still want attention from their humans, but it doesn't have to be nonstop when they have each other. 

Marie is wearing her camo catsuit, which serves the same function as the cone but is less annoying. Maxwell had just graduated from his cone in this picture.

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