Hello Gentle Reader,

If you already read the Chirrup you can skip this but if you’ve been seeing rumors about it here’s the skinny.

Dear Lord Akeldama & Parasolverse Ephemera

Being a collection of vampire advice columns, silly steampunk philosophical treatises, and deleted scenes from the Parasol Protectorate and more!

So let me attempt to articulate what’s going on.

I put together this fun little extras book, kinda like DVD extras and easter eggs for the Parasolverse. This is all stuff you can read on this blog or in interviews, but I collected the “best ofs” into a little volume, got it a pretty cover, and had it copy edited. Then I formatted it nicely for you, so you could have it all in one place on an ereader or app. I’m charging $2.99 pretty much to cover the expenses of the cover designer, copy editor, and my time putting the whole thing together. 

Here’s the preorder.

Out Nov 1, 2022. 

What is it exactly?

Dear Lord Akeldama & Parasolverse Ephemera 

Being a collection of vampire advice columns, silly steampunk philosophical treatises, and deleted scenes from the Parasol Protectorate and more!

This is not a book. This is not a story. This is a compendium of extras and appendices for lovers of the Parasolverse. You see, upon occasion the vampire, Lord Akeldama, hijacks my blog and turns it into an advice column to take reader’s questions. 

Alexia worried her lower lip. “I simply must speak with Lord Akeldama.” 

Miss Hisselpenny looked, if possible, even more worried. “Oh really, must you? He is so very outrageous.” 

~ from Soulless

In this slender digital-only volume you will find the following: 

1. Part the first ~ a collection of 10 years worth of the Good Vampire’s advice on such wide ranging topics as fashion, relationships, food, travel, culture, and identity. 
2. Part the second ~ a collection of bits and bobs related specifically to Lord Akeldama. 
3. Part the third ~ a series of short essays, intellectual salon style, on such topics as shoehorning the paranormal into a steampunk world; vampire quandaries; and how Victorian world building elements work in the Parasolverse. 
4. Part the fourth ~ deleted scenes with various favorite characters from the Parasol Protectorate, Finishing School, and  Custard Protocol series. 

Delicate sensibilities? 

Expect excessive use of italics.

Preorder Technicalities, red tape (of course it’s red)

Gumroad isn’t enabling official preorders anymore so I am using this project to test the “work around” system. Basically, you pay for it ahead of time and their system will send you a placeholder, which is a sample that I put together personally. Then the day before it officially launches, I’ll go in and simply send you the digital assets (via Gumroad) as a follow up email. *fingers crossed* 

I very much appreciate those of you willing to be my guinea pigs and preorder early, rest assured I will get this book to you no matter what. 

If you aren’t willing to be part of the preorder experiment, you will be able to just buy the thing after it’s live on Nov 1, 2022, and the usual Gumroad distribution pattern will be engaged (just like getting the Chirrup’s free Marine Biology or the exclusive Vixen Ecology).

What’s different? 

Kindle readers: Amazon is no longer supporting .mobi, and Gumroad may or may not be able to email your Kindle account the .epub. So if you have/use a Kindle app/device you may need to sideload (Google the “name of your device + sideload” or here is a handy video). Please don’t blame me!

Why only direct from me to you? (via Gumroad) 

I don’t intend to sell this offering to the general public on Kobo etc… because I think it’s too complicated and too many people may buy it without reading the description, and then be really nasty/sad that it’s not, in fact, a new story about Lord Akeldama. Also it has quotes from my other books and things in it so there is a good chance Amazon will get mad at me for copyright infringement… on myself.

Don’t laugh, it has happened before.  

Why isn’t it also in print? 

I have several reasons:

1. I don’t think it will sell well enough, and if I offered it in print I would have to post it to places like Amazon, and I don’t want it tanking my algorithms. This is for you, my dearest darling readers, and not non-fans… peons that they are. Or do I mean peonies?
2. I like having stuff that only you and I know about, it feels like a secret club. Very vampiric. Lord A would approve. 
3. I can be a lot more experimental if it’s just digital. 
4. I am loosely considering repurposing it into a more massive printed world bible book-thingy project but I don’t have the bandwidth for that right now, because… 
5. Here’s more stuff on why and how print is different from digital.

Secret project PCB is still in the works and that will be a print only project, so you’ll get your zombie tree special offering hopefully next year. Don’t you worry.

Yours treading the waters on so many projects right now,

Miss Gail 

Find my books are on:

Amazon | Kobo | Apple | Bookshop.org | Barnes & Noble | Chapters | Foyles

• Did you miss this release announcement? Want more sneak peeks, free goodies, gossip, behind the scenes info? This stuff goes to my Chirrup members, because I love them bestest. Sign up here.

BOOK DE JOUR!

Dear Lord Akeldama & Parasolverse Ephemera

DIRECT ONLY!

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Tisane of Nifty 

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