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Thursday, August 16, 2018

It’s another Free eBook Friday!

In recognition of WorldCon 2018, the 8th Anniversary of the original launch of STUPEFYING STORIES, and any other excuse special occasion we’re sure to think of if we just keep vamping long enough, Rampant Loon Press is excited to announce that beginning at midnight Pacific time tonight and running through—well, sometime later this weekend, we aren’t exactly sure when—we are making not one but three ebooks available free, for the cost of a click. These books are:

STUPEFYING STORIES #12 • The Special WorldCon 2018 Reissue Edition.

I’ll admit to being pleasantly surprised by this, but all the authors save one generously agreed to allow us to put this out-of-print ebook back into release on Amazon for three days only, just for this special promotion. (The missing author didn’t decline, he really is missing. He appears to have vanished completely from the Internet, which if intentional is an impressive feat. We hope it was intentional, and that he’s sitting on a beach somewhere with a tall drink with a little umbrella on it, enjoying life to the fullest.)

If you’ve been wondering what Stupefying Stories is all about, #12 is an excellent example of our special brand of fiction. It features:

• DRIED SKINS UNSHED, by Julie Day
• A NUN’S TALE, by Pete McArdle
• THEY FOLLOWED ME, by Carol Holland March
• INTERREGNUM, by John J. Brady
• FULL FATHOM FIVE, by Judith Field
• BONE MOTHER, by Torah Cottrill
• ALEPH, by Brandon Nolta
• ALIEN TREATIES, by Randal Doering

And yes, many of these authors are writers whose new stories you’ll be seeing in upcoming issues.

» STUPEFYING STORIES #12DOWNLOAD NOW


THEIAN JOURNAL #1 • Originally designed to be the “sister” title to Stupefying Stories, Theian Journal launched with great promise but ran into second act problems. We offer this ebook now as a preview of what Stupefying Stories #24 (November 2018) will look like, as we’re ramping up to relaunch the concept, only this time under the Stupefying Stories aegis. Featuring:

• THE FISSURE OF ROLANDO, by Judith Field
• ADROIT, by David Williams
• TAKING A BREATHER, by Jean Davis
• A SCORPION WITHIN, by Alison Grifa Ismaili
• PLAINFIELD, NEW YORSEY: 2114, by Angele Ellis
• WHEN WE ARE WHOLE, by Gary Emmette Chandler

» THEIAN JOURNAL #1DOWNLOAD NOW


THE BOOK OF JUDITH: Sixteen Tales of Life, Wonder, and Magic by Judith Field 

Judith has been one of our favorite contributors ever since “The Prototype” first showed up in our inbox, and subsequently in Stupefying Stories #6. In this book we collected every story of hers we could get our hands on, and it got great reader reviews in the UK—but because Amazon does not propagate reader reviews across geographies, readers in the US, Canada, and Australia never saw those reviews, and the book...

Well, we believe it can do better. A lot better. Because all modesty aside, this book is full of great stories.
“Judith Field’s talent, or rather one of her talents, for she has many, is the ability to come up with an idea that’s almost laughably simple, then plonk that idea in the most prosaic of settings, and somehow end up with a tale so unique and so eldritch that it stays with you long after you’ve finished reading it.”
Which is why we’re giving The Book of Judith away free this weekend—
“Judith Field celebrates the extraordinary. It lives in every line of her stories alongside magic, friendly ghosts, and paranormal entities. Each tale also contains human beings who are warm, full of sentience, and often conflicting emotions. Allow yourself to be whisked away to ordinary suburbs where incredible things happen all the time.”
—in hopes of picking up some good quotes from American, Canadian, and Australian readers—
“A collection of tales of the fantastic that manage to be sweet, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny all at the same time.”
—so that we can use ‘em on the jacket when we reissue it in trade paperback, with new cover art, later this Fall.
“These stories present a refreshing fusion of styles. Life, wonder, and magic sums it up—often the fantastic and magical meets the reality of everyday life in a way that I’d imagine fans of Pratchett and Gaiman might appreciate. There are also hints of magic realism and a depth of characterisation that makes the writing truly engaging and a pleasure to read. The fact that some characters make repeated appearances across the stories is very welcome because they are so well-drawn that they stay with you. This collection is by turns funny, absurd, and poignant, and never less than thoroughly entertaining. Highly recommended.”
» THE BOOK OF JUDITHDOWNLOAD NOW

Thanks for reading. Tell your friends. Share the link.

- Bruce Bethke, Stupefying Stories 

1 comment:

  1. We're not being vague about when this promotion ends by design. Rather, we planned it to run from Friday through Sunday, but ran into a conflict with the Kindle Unlimited enrollment dates for Theian Journal and The Book of Judith. We'll try to keep this going until the end of Sunday, but Amazon may cut it off early.

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