Posted on Leave a comment

News: Cascade audio book coming soon

And a warm welcome to narrator Paul Adamson

Image shows hard-cover copy of Cascade with earphones draped atop it, one earphone covering part of the front cover.

March 17, 2023 — It is with great pleasure that I welcome Paul Adamson to the BumblePuppy Press.

Paul has signed on to launch our — and his — very first foray into audio books, narrating Rachel A. Rosen’s Cascade.

This being our first time working with audio, I’m not ready to provide a precise launch date, but our intention is to publish it in the fall of 2023 (why yes, in time for Christmas). We will also be launching a crowd-sourcing campaign to support it — details to follow soon.

Paul has already made a name for himself as a voice actor in video games and e-learning videos, but Cascade will be his first time working with long-form fiction. I for one have no doubt that this book will be the first of many — I hope, for the BumblePuppy Press, and elsewhere.

Cropped black and white image of Paul Adamson.
Paul Adamson (image provided by Paul)

Below is a very brief excerpt from his audition recording, already very nearly ready for prime time.

Of course, if you prefer to read your fiction with your eyes (or you just can’t wait until the fall), Cascade is now on special at our store, in hard-cover, soft-cover, and all major ebook formats (DRM-free, of course). And if you’re voting in the upcoming Aurora Awards, there is still time to vote for Cascade as this year’s best novel.

Thanks as always for your support,

That's me!

Geoffrey Dow, publisher

Posted on Leave a comment

Vote early, vote late! But vote!

Rachel A. Rosen’s Cascade eligible for Aurora Award

Vote early, vote often!
Image courtesy of Rachel A. Rosen

As is only right and proper, Rachel A. Rosen’s debut novel, Cascade, is eligible in the Best Novel category for Canada’s premiere English-language science fiction and fantasy awards, the Auroras (https://www.csffa.ca/members-home/nomination/).

To have a chance to be added to the final Aurora Awards ballot, a work must get at least five nominations, and only members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) are eligible to vote. The price of that franchise is a pretty affordable $10.00 for an annual membership, and you must be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant in order to join.

If you loved Cascade, or even if you’re just a fan of Canadian SF&F, that seems a small price to pay to support the work creators you like. Membership information is here: https://www.csffa.ca/become-a-member/. CSFFA membership allows you to:

  • nominate your favourite works in any or all of the categories;
  • download e-versions of almost all of the finalist works for free with our voter package; and
  • vote for the for the awards themselves.

To celebrate (and yes, to improve Rachel’s chances, I won’t lie), we’ve reduced the price on all versions of Cascade. DRM-free ebooks in all formats are now only $2.00, the paperback is marked down to $15.00, and the hardcover is only $26.00. A little self-serving, maybe, but a great deal for you if you have not yet had the pleasure of reading what I really do think was the best Canadian SF novel of 2022. You can buy all of our books here.

Cascade has blurbs!

Besides the upcoming Aurora Awards, the BumblePuppy Press will have more news about Cascade (audiobook!), the upcoming novel Reprise, and a new version of A.A. Milne’s classic children’s book, which we will be calling The Inclusive Woke Winnie-the-Pooh. So please come back soon or, better yet, subscribe to our newsletter!

That's me!

Geoff

Posted on Leave a comment

Kickstarting Cascade!

What's in a cover? More than this!

Well, this is it: time for the hard sell.

After months of hard work, I am excited — nervously excited — to announce that our Kickstarter campaign for Rachel A. Rosen’s brilliant debut novel, Cascade is now up and running!

What’s a Kickstarter, you might ask?

Quite simply, it is a tool that allows creators to raise funds for their work and to raise awareness of it at the same time.

What that means for you, is that you have the opportunity to:

  • Become a patron of the arts, like the Medicis of old;
  • Pre-order a book that is sure to delight and disturb you in the format of your choice, including;
  • A signed, limited edition hard-cover volume, autographed by Rachel A. Rosen;
  • One of a limited number of autographed paperback copies; and
  • Ebooks in the format of your choice and DRM-free! And
  • Lots of special extras as well!

I have a toddler to take for a walk, so I’ll just add that you can check out our Kickstarter via www.kickstarter.com/projects/bppress/cascade.

Kickstart Cascade

That's me!

P.S. And don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list to keep up-to-date with all of The BumblePuppy Press’ activities!

Posted on Leave a comment

Tentacle Time: A tale of three covers

What is behind the curtain?

If human thought is a growth, like all other growths, its logic is without foundation of its own, and is only the adjusting constructiveness of all other growing things. A tree can not find out, as it were, how to blossom, until comes blossom-time. A social growth cannot find out the use of steam engines, until comes steam-engine-time.Charles Fort

These things are sent to entertain us.Carl Dow

Back in October of 2021, about a month after we announced that BPPress had bought the rights to publish Rachel A. Rosen’s brilliant debut novel, Cascade, Rachel mentioned to me that she designs book covers in her so-called spare time and would I like to see a concept she had for Cascade.

Well. What would you say? Of course I wanted to see it! And I think she sent me one the very same day.

And then, after a very little back-and-forthing, she sent me a design that knocked my proverbial socks not just off, but into the house across the street.

Chuthulthu rises on a point of order.

Needless to say, I was thrilled. The design was simple but eye-catching, the colours bold, and together the image conveyed a sense of place and of strangeness. How cold this not get people to take a closer look and sample the words behind the cover?

With all kinds of other work to do, what a relief it was to know we didn’t need to worry about the cover!

Or so we thought …

At this point I don’t remember if it was weeks later, or only days (and I’m not willing to dig into the archives to find out), Rachel sent me the following note and attached photo:

ETA: Fuckdammit. New concept time.

Fuckdamnit indeed …

Naturally, my first instinct was to cry foul. Surely, China Miéville‘s publisher must (somehow) have stolen Rachel’s work and adapted it for themselves! (Rachel was not so upset. She thought Kraken‘s cover was a good one, and she’s been a fan of China’s for years.)

Of course, Rachel’s cover had existed for only a few weeks and it didn’t take much checking for me to learn that the Miéville cover had been around since at least 2011.

Harm, maybe, but no foul; just a coincidence. An irritating and a kind of hard to believe coincidence, but a coincidence nevertheless. To paraphrase Charles Fort, the early 21st century seems to be tentacle time.

Of course, we could still have used Rachel’s cover despite the similarities, but appearances wouldn’t have been flattering. Since they published first, it would have looked as if we had stolen the concept, no matter what the truth was.

Thank goodness, Rachel A. Rosen is not easily cowed!

So, without (as they say) further ado, may I proudly present the cover to The BumblePuppy Press’ next release: Cascade, Book 1 of The Sleep of Reason!

Cover of Cascade, by Rachel A. Rosen.

Next time: We’ll talk pre-orders and our Kickstarter campaign!

That's me!

Geoffrey Dow
Publisher
April 1, 2022

Posted on Leave a comment

Big news: The Sleep of Reason!

Detail of Goya's Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters etching

This is a post I’ve been itching to write for a couple of months now, but both good sense and a worry about jinxing things kept me quiet until the contract was signed on the proverbial dotted line.

Yesterday, Friday September 17th, 2021, was that day. I am (yes) thrilled and delighted to announce that The BumblePuppy Press has purchased the rights to a major new novel, Cascade, by a major new writer, Toronto’s own Rachel A. Rosen.

Cascade, the first book of The Sleep of Reason trilogy, is set in the near future, one in which both climate change and a resurgence of magic, have ushered in a terrifying new world, and yet one that is far too close to our own for comfort.

We anticipate publication in the spring of 2022, along with a Kickstarter campaign to produce a limited, signed and numbered, hard-cover edition, along with all sorts of delicious bonuses. I also hope to bully persuade Rachel to blog here – when she gets the chance. (A dedicated high-school teacher in her other life, I don’t want to let blogging get in the way of her novel-writing!) Of course, you can also find her on Facebook.

I said I was thrilled at the outset, and I’m going to say it again. I am thrilled to welcome Rachel A. Rosen to the BumblePuppy Press. Rachel’s vision may be the stuff of nightmares, but some nightmares are warnings we would do well to remember upon waking.

Much more to come soon!

That's me!

Geoffrey Dow, publisher – September 18, 2021

P.S. If you’re looking for something to read now, we’ve extended our (very) late summer sale on Carl Dow’s novel, Black Grass, and collection of short stories, The Old Man’s Last Sauna. Please feel free to visit our online store to get your deal before it’s too late!