Benjamin Smith

August 6, 2023

Less than a week in, and our readers and supporters have already raised over $4,000 for the Car Warriors Kickstarter project! Our modest goal of $500 was blown past in the opening hours, and we are already deep into the stretch goals, with more to access and even more to uncover as the numbers continue to climb.

We’ll get into some of those stretch goals in a moment, but first: thank you to all who have backed the project, and thank you to all who’ve shared it around! Every tier backed and every post shared is humbling, and we are grateful for each and every contribution. We promise you won’t be disappointed with the end results in the Car Warriors fiction universe! If fast cars, big guns, and killer characters are your thing, you won’t want to miss what we have in store for you!

What Stretch Goals Have Been Achieved?

In short, lots! We have this campaign chock full of add-ons and goals, from poster prints to hardback versions of the first books of the universe to come out, including Burning Roads by William Joseph Roberts (Kindle and Paperback currently available on Amazon), 72 Hours to Graceland by David Hensley and Marathon of Madness by Christopher Woods (Both coming soon to Kindle and Paperbook). We’ve also unlocked a professional audio production for Burning Roads, and limited edition versions of all three books about to come out!

In addition to all that, we’ve unlocked Jody Lynn Nye as lead editor for Go Hard or Go Home, an anthology set in the Car Warriors universe, featuring stories by Casey Moores, Christopher Woods, David Hensley, William Joseph Roberts, and more, including me! We’re excited for this one, and we know you will be, too. Take a look at that sweet cover art:

The last two rewards unlocked so far are challenge coins for Car Warriors and the Dead Man’s Run, as well as 3D models of several of the vehicles from Burning Roads! The next stretch goal at $5,000 unlocks the lead character tuckerization add-on. That’s going to be a fun one for the superfans out there:

Have you ever wanted to be part of the stories you love so much? Well, with this add-on, you can.

With this level of tuckerization, we will write you in as the Lead Point of View, and a story created to showcase the character in a novel of your own, who will also become a recurring character in the universe.

The Lead character is the center of attention, the Harry Dresden, Buffy, or Logan to their respective story.

With your permission, we will use your actual name or preferred “call sign”, and schedule an in-depth discussion about what type of character you’d like them to be.

Again, thank you to everyone for your interest in this project! It’s already a resounding success, but let’s see how far we can go before the gas tank or battery bank runs dry! Until then, happy driving and hunting. And for those who haven’t yet read Burning Roads, check out some of the reviews below:

Dwarves of Rahm Audio is out!

Harry Frost had done one hell of a job bringing The Dwarves of Rahm: Omens of War to life.

War, the only constant in the everchanging landscape of Rahm….

For millennia, the dwarves of the southlands have battled against their ancient foes, the sallowskins, who occupy the nation of Garthon-Tor to the north.

When a massive horde of goblins and orcs invade, the irascible bard, Omens prepares to flee The Golden Keep, content to let others do the fighting. Through a cruel twist of fate, he is forced to accompany Princess Merin in a diplomatic mission to summon aid. The contentious pair soon find themselves being tracked by a legion of sallowskin warriors, led by an orc assassin whose mission is to hunt down Merin, no matter the cost.

Racing for their lives, the pair happen upon the Gray Company, a group of surly Engineers known for their irregular tactics and questionable reputation. Striking a hasty alliance with the captain of the Gray Company, the group soon falls in with Gavakyn, the finest dwarven warrior in a generation. At his side walks Karn, the most hated goblin shaman in the northlands. Exiled by his kin, Karn carries a secret that will alter the fate of both the dwarves and sallowskins forever.

From the world of the Raven and the Crow, discover the adventure that awaits in The Dwarves on Rahm: Omens of War.

Get your copy on Audible

And if you’d like a chance to win a free audio code before you drop a few dollars on a copy, you can sign up for our giveaway raffle! To sign up for your chance to win a free audible code for the Dwarves of Rahm: Omens of War audiobook, please fill out the form below. ***Note:*** By signing up for this promotion, you are also agreeing to join our mailing list.

Welcome new members of the team.

To help give a little more back to the writing community, we’ve brought a few interns on board to show them what we do and how we go about getting great fiction to print.

Minions In Training

Alyssa Casto dances and flows through life living by a single motto, “Try Everything.” She draws on those experiences to write fantasy adventure stories about mermaids, magic, mystery, and monsters that takes readers on epic journeys to wondrous new worlds filled with excitement, heart, and hope. You can learn more about her work at www.alyssacasto.com or on her socials @authoralyssacasto where she is probably exploring on one of her #WonderWalks and looking for tiny bits of magic in everyday life.

When Lauren Crockett-Girard first read Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” in high school, she was hooked. This short story sparked an ever-growing fascination with science fiction and post-apocalyptic literature/film. During her time as a teacher, she developed a passion for working with students on creative writing projects that gave them the space to craft worlds of their own.

These days, she spends much of her time working on her dissertation about zombies in American culture. She currently resides in Massachusetts with her husband, two axolotls, and Star Wars action figure collection.

Macee Johnson is a college student at USC Aiken and is set to graduate in the spring of 2024. She is majoring in Fine Arts with a minor in Communications. Previously, she was the Visual Arts Editor for her college student anthology series “Broken Ink.” Though she’s more of an artist than a writer, she still enjoys the craft, has written a few short stories, and is always looking to improve her storytelling skills. After college, she wants a career in art entertainment like a comic artist, or character designer. She also has a few passion projects she’d love to visualize in some form of medium someday. Besides drawing and writing, her hobbies include playing Nintendo games, going to the gym, and watching movies.

Upcoming Open Calls

Like Superheroes? Well, we’re looking for novels in Christopher Wood’s B.E.N.T. universe.

We’ve put a challenge out to the writing community as sort of a flash Nano, to write a 50,000 word novel in 45 days based in the B.E.N.T superhero universe created by Christopher Woods.

The first book in the series, Annoyed with Lloyd initially kicked off the series last December. Everything about the series has been well received, especially since it was based around the Super Hero tropes that most people know and love.

Since then, we’ve talked to a number of authors interested in writing in the universe to get something larger than a short story under their belt.

So, we issued the challenge.

Write a 50,000 word novel in the B.E.N.T. universe in 45 days, ready to be reviewed for publication.

The amount of interest in the project has been exciting. I think the fact that it is a short novel, instead of something 80,000 words or larger is part of the draw. Plus there isn’t any worldbuilding to do, it’s done. It’s the world that we live in with a few minor tweaks, like Super Heroes.

This project has already inspired a surge of creativity in the community, especially the baby authors, and we look forward to seeing what the participating authors come up with.

Confirmed authors working on the project:

Christopher Woods / William Joseph Roberts / David Hensley / Mellisa Olthoff / Nick Steverson / Gustavo Bondoni / Philip K. Booker / Jenny Wren

50,000 word publishable novel

Due Date: by August 31st

Genre: Superheroes
Word Count: 50,000 +/-
Edited by: Christopher Woods/William Joseph Roberts
Due Date: August 31, 2023

Email submissions to: threeravenspublishing @ gmail dot com with “B.E.N.T. 45 to 50k” in the subject line

Payment: Stories selected for publication will receive a contract for a percentage of all royalties received.

Please follow the Three Ravens submission guidelines that can be found here

Those who turn in their stories by August 31st, will be considered for the next publishing slots. All submissions to the universe after the due date will also be considered for publication, so don’t give up, but you will be slated for a later publication date if accepted.

Gomez and Hiro the Editor Kitty are impatiently waiting for your story submissions.

Extended Network

If you’ve been following and enjoying what you’re seeing with the Car Warriors Kickstarter, then you might be interested in checking out fellow Superstars Writing Seminar Alumni, David Hankins lastest Kickstarter

Here’s the info

The Taxman is coming!

Join the Grim Reaper in Death and the Taxman in a hilarious race against time as he, trapped in an IRS agent’s dying body, tries to cheat death and avoid an audit by Hell’s Auditor and the Office of Micromanagement. Allies are few and hijinks are many in this novel-length expansion of the Writers of the Future Volume 39 award-winning short story of the same name.

Available on Kickstarter from August 8^th to September 7^th.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davidhankins/death-and-the-taxman

Latest Podcasts

The folks over at the Blasters and Blades podcast were nice enough to bring J.F. Posthumus on for an episode to talk about aliens. Check out the links below for your viewing pleasure choice.