Hello Readers!
Welcome back, after quite a long time, to Nice Kicks! The blog where I tell you about what I’m backing on Kickstarter! Today I’m promoting a trio of really worthy publishing projects that could use your help getting to the finish line. Please follow The links below and support these endeavors to bring new stories into the world.
Gay Mormon Dad by Chad Anderson
This graphic novel adaptation of the memoir by writer and podcaster Chad Anderson is a personal story of his growing up Queer in the Mormon church and learning to accept and love himself. Gorgeously adapted from the memoir with beautiful illustrations by Remy Burke, this is a story about learning to be who you are while still caring for the people you love. Chad is the host of the Greymalkin Lane podcast, and is a genuine, warm, and excellent person. This project is reaching the last ten days of its campaign, and it would be a shame if it did not see print.
Small Wonders Magazine: Year 2 by Cislyn Smith
Small Wonders is a new online flash fiction and poetry magazine and it has been a consistent delight over the past year. Editors Smith and Stephen Granade have brought a treasure trove of little speculative fiction stories to the world, and I want to see them continue their work into the future. In a world of media consolidation and late-stage capitalist demands for publications to devour themselves in the name of quarterly profits, we need small, independent magazines more than ever, even as it is becoming more and more difficult for them to stay open. From stories about buying chips and the end of the world to crow and cactus weddings, to fish desperately seeking bicycles, Small Wonders is doing amazing work bringing small, unique, non-commercial stories to the world. They have been a consistently bright spot in my day every time I see a new story in my inbox.
Dirty Magick Magazine by C. D. Brown
Originally a series of hard-boiled urban fantasy anthologies set in the cities of Los Angeles and New Orleans, editor C. D. Brown is relaunching the format as a semi-pro magazine. Having written a story for Dirty Magick: New Orleans, and recently discussed the new project with Brown in the city, this is a project that is very close to my heart. As a springboard for great gritty Fantasy stories, and expanding into more experimental genres as well, this is a very exciting project that I am very happy to back. This one just launched, and could use some buzz.
These three projects are just a sample of the many projects on Kickstarter waiting for support from folks like you. As private equity bulldozes the media landscape, small, independent voices become all the more important as it becomes harder and harder to find them. Please go and support these projects, and while you are there, find another passion project to adopt.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 