Happy Spooky Season, all! 🎃 There’s so much in today’s newsletter that I’mma gonna start with a summary:

Blood Demands now available with new title 🥳

Blood Demands audiobook press release, pictures of Amber in the studio 🎆

Sex Questionnaire for you, the reader 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Spooky Geek Faire announcement 👻

Review of the film Monster Mash (strap in for the 🎢)

Song for your playlist 🎧

OK, first off, as you may recall, Blood Sine Qua Non was renamed Blood Demands. This required so much more work than you could imagine. Firstly, we had to choose the damn name, and that was a workshopping that nearly did me in. Reducing “Without Which, Nothing” to just one word that would somehow capture the full depth of the Latin meaning, argue about the relative merits of the few proposed words exhaustively (because choose the wrong word means less readership of the book, as I have learned to my cost!), and then, once you have agreed a word, go online and search to make sure the title is not already being used by a book that is  too close to yours in genre or so famous that yours will get lost in the dust, find that is indeed the case, and then argue about the remaining choices, rinse and repeat.

After that, it’s re-layout the cover (which involves having to work in InDesign, which is my least favorite Adobe app—and that’s the kindest way for me to phrase that.

There was an added step here, because the book was in the studio already with Amber, and the very best way to find any typos in your book is to have it be recorded in audiobook form. So there was a “go through and take out the final remaining typos” pass for the text of the book, as well. So that got added to the careful task of updating the front and back matter in Atticus.

Then it’s getting the new ISBN, and getting the new internal matter uploaded, which impacts cover size, so new covers have to be made for BOTH Ingram and Amazon, print and e-book, all with differing sizes, file sizes, and file types to be made for each.

Finally, taking down BSQN from places it’s already being sold, whilst trying to not lose the reviews we already have. This has failed utterly on Amazon (those of you who wrote reviews have gotten emails asking to repost them, so you know this already!) but I can only email people for whom I can get contact information, so we are losing a fair few reviews. So, if you are rebuying Blood Demands or getting ready to buy the audiobook, would you please take a few moments to post a quick review when you finish? I desperately need them to make up for the loss!

💥 Buy on Amazon | Buy signed copies from me 💥

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PRESS RELEASE: Amber Benson To Narrate Raven Belasco’s BLOOD DEMANDS, Second In Blood & Ancient Scrolls Series 📰

Boston, Massachusetts Sep 25, 2024 (Issuewire.com)  – Immoral Influence Publications (IIP) takes its autumn publication season by storm by releasing its third audiobook on October 22, 2024 — just in time for readers to get ready for Halloween! The BLOOD DEMANDS audiobook by Raven Belasco will be narrated by Amber Benson and produced by Punch Audio.

Amber Benson is best known for her role as Tara Maclay on the iconic TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She has directed, produced, and starred in myriad films and television shows since then. Benson has also written numerous books including Death’s Daughter and has narrated books for authors including John Scalzi and Cory Doctorow.

Speaking about working on the series, Benson explained that Blood Demands “is about coming into your own and finding your family at the same time. The series itself is also about finding out who you are, coming to terms with that, and also letting your found family bring you forward and more into yourself.”

Speaking about the project, Belasco said, “I am so delighted that Amber is continuing to narrate this series. It’s not just about her incredible talent for performing in the recording studio. She is simply the perfect Noosh and we couldn’t do it without her!”

BLOOD DEMANDS is the second installment of the BLOOD & ANCIENT SCROLLS series. This fresh and unique exploration of the vampire myth rolls smoothly cross-genre to check boxes for fantasy, horror, history, and action-adventure fans.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone who you think might be interested in the audiobook, such as Buffy fans or super busy people who are basically only reading via audiobook these days. Word of mouth makes a HUGE difference to our sales 💞

For those who have not seen it on the socials, as I start working on the fourth novel in the Blood & Ancient Scrolls series, one of the things on my mind is sex.

You might joke that that is a topic you’d expect to be on my mind all the time…but these thoughts are pretty serious 🤔

Based on the popularity of authors like Laurell K. Hamilton, I thought that vampire story readers expected a certain amount of spice. And since I can write very good spicy scenes, I made them vital to the plot, and had fun writing all of it. And ever since, it’s been a point of pride to me that the loving sex scenes in my books were as explicit as the brutal violence, and balanced it out well ⚖️

But I’m at the point now where I could change things, if fans of the series have strong feelings on the matter. So if you have read even one book in the series, could you please take a moment to do this short poll (just 7 questions!) and let me know what YOU think, and I will factor that into how I write Book IV and all the following books in the series…

And: thank you for being such amazing fans and always being so actively participatory in the series. Your caring so passionately about the am’r is what keeps me going!

You’ve heard of the Geek Faire, well, have you heard of the SPOOOKY Geek Faire?⁠ ⁠As part of Pandemonium’s on-going 35th Anniversary, they’ll be hosting a spooky (and geeky!) craft faire in our downstairs on October 27th. Featuring one-of-a-kind art pieces, illustrations, books, pins, stickers, and so much more!⁠ ⁠I’ll be there with the fresh-off-the-presses Blood Demands and hot spiced cider — and previewing my Halloween outfit 👀 See you there, at the faire!⁠ 🎪 

Last night I watched the 2024 film Monster Mash, mostly on the basis of the cover image. This means I was not prepared for the journey I was about to take. I don’t watch a huge amount of horror films, so the director being The Asylum didn’t even perk up my ears as it clearly ought to have done. A much better review than I could ever write was waiting for me, after the movie was over, and I’ll cut in about halfway through…

Let me say that my own final decision was that the film was unintentionally charming and the final fight scene made me feel like I was six and watching the Creature Double Feature on a Sunday afternoon, and I don’t feel like my time was wasted. (And yes, “my time wasn’t wasted” is the best that it can get 😂 ) I’ve also discovered that the film was shot in only five days, so actually, considering that, I really have to say it was startlingly good and really adorable, and absolutely not a waste of your time to watch it ☠️

Today’s Music recommendation: The lush, melodic Cake by Victoria Canal 🎧

OK, friends, you are fucking amazing if you made it down this far! 😍 See you in two weeks, and until then, be good or be good at it! 😘

SHOP EBOOKS, PAPERBACK, & AUDIOBOOKS:

Blood Ex Libris | Blood Demands | Blood Ad Infinitum | Blood Triad 

If you have questions, comments, or requests, just hit “reply” & talk to me!

First, a poll question for you. I’m really interested in your answer! And if just one line of a poll won’t do, hit reply to this email and tell me your thoughts long-form!

It’s Banned Books Week and I’ve been thinking about how my books haven’t been banned anywhere—yet…

We all know it’s going to happen eventually. My books have:

💥sex scenes that focus on female pleasure and women being just as enthusiastic participants as the men (or, even more terrifying: same-sex partners of either gender!)

💥Polyamory as the main relationship model

💥All the inclusion of skin shades, body shapes, genders and pronouns

💥All the Colonizing European Baddies in Book II, rather unsubtly designated as such

💥The am’r having gotten rid of sexism and racism (and Nthanda openly talking about enjoying dispatching any racists who make it into the am’r underworld)

💥And I’m sure there will be more complaints about my “wokeness” that I haven’t even thought of, yet…

I wrote these books to be enjoyable for many types of readers: those who love vampire fiction, those who love action-adventure novels, those who love history and playing around with it, those who just want a fast-paced beach read, those who want to deep-dive and search out the nerdy easter eggs, or anyone who just wants some new flavors for their brains. But I made a choice as I was writing the first book: I am never going to diminish how the story wants me to tell it to make it more palatable for some people.

I’m pretty sure that once the angry and fearful sort of people who find banning books to be satisfying will categorize my work as “this is the future those woke snowflake liberals want” (it’s certainly the fictional sandbox this liberal loves playing in). So I am now counting my book being banned as both a compliment and a measure of success. The minute that Florida or wherever puts this series on their banned books list, I will be celebrating! (I mean, just think of all the amazing authors I will be keeping company with!)

So, this week, while I encourage you to buy Blood Triad if you haven’t already I also suggest you glance over the Banned Books List and pick up a copy of something for yourself or for a friend. Or, as I have done, grab this awesome t-shirt! 

I was away this weekend at an SCA event. The events at this particular location are my favorite ones of the SCA calendar: great people, amazing fighting, on the most gorgeous location. Unlike Pennsic, this is an event where you can really sit down and talk with friends (not just hug them in passing as you rush off to your various activities) and so I got some wonderful “away from my computer” time, enjoying the most wonderful company and food, and nerding out about history as easily as breathing in that fresh autumnal air.

I gave copies of the books to friends who’d had helped with the historical aspects, sold a couple copies, and got some amazing images/video I will posting to social media over the coming days. But I forgot to get any selfies of my hand-made garb, or even just take pictures of Archie (who was enjoying the first camping of his life!) Today I found that a photographer had snagged this shot of me talking about the books with a friend, and I am so happy to have that moment captured 📸

If you haven’t started watching Kaos over on Netflix, do yourself a favor and dive in. The acting is a delight, the casting is even more of a delight, and the costumes/sets/FX are all supportive of ongoing delight. I’ve been re-listening to Stephen Fry’s Mythos series as well, to refresh my memories of the myths they are playing with, and it’s a perfect combination 💞

As I mentioned last newsletter, the following ad is a brand I am proud to support. And if you click on their link below, even if you do nothing else, I get paid for it! So if you could just take a second of your time, that helps me make the time I put into getting you these chatty newsletters more profitable, and I really appreciate it! Until two weeks from now, my friends, be good or be good at it! 😘

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For those of you on IG or FB, you’ve already seen the video of this, but this week I’m actually stealing a few minutes to write about it.

I’ve had very little interest from the first bunch of local bookshops I reached out to to stock the Blood & Ancient Scrolls series, so I was super afraid to reach out to the bookstore in the town I grew up in, because getting turned down by them would hurt.

But it turns out I didn’t have to be afraid, because the wonderful employees of the Concord Bookshop welcomed me and my series with open arms, and it was one of the biggest gifts I’ll ever receive 💝

And then they asked me to come in and sign the books, so that they can offer author-signed copies 🥰

Just walking through Ye Olde Concord center to the bookstore was enough to start my emotions going. I don’t get out there very often because, other than the bookstore and the two ice cream places, well, and the award-winning cheese shop, there isn’t much reason for me to deal with the lack of parking and the way that the tourist drivers just ignore crosswalks and basic common sense. (Speaking as a townie, here!)

So as I was walking up to the store I had emotions just bubbling up in me already. And then I get inside, and they are so excited to see me, and then they have my books on display right in the front of the store! So within minutes, I’m damn near crying with joy.

But I hold it together, and have lovely conversations with everyone as I do my best to put vaguely legible signatures in the books, and then I’m given a tour of the two places they have shelved my books: Fantasy and an adorable new little Horror section.

I get the BEST COMPLIMENT when I am told that I got a great cover designer for my books, and I shyly admit I did the cover design, and then I am informed that I am a “woman of many parts.” Since I have always been a bit worried that maybe I should have shelled out the money for a pro, since my layout experience is only from doing a ‘zine in college and then working at the Spectator “news magazine” in Oakland for a year, this compliment was exactly the sort of thing I really needed to hear, basically a cherry on top of the sundae for me.

The best thing of it all was just the reciprocal excitement. They were just as excited to have me in the store as I was to be there. How often do you get moments like that in life? 💝

You’ll be happy to know that I cranked through the short story for the Bauhaus anthology and it’s now with editors.

That means I can get back to the Sadie the Goat / Gallus Mag story and put in the work to bump it up to a novella, as my main editor demanded. I know this sucks for you lot in the short term, but in the long term just means that when you finally get it, it there will be more of it and filled with more pirate-y goodness! 🏴‍☠️

A review of Blood Triad just came in from the fantabulous and deeply talented author Myles McDonough and I love it so much I have to share it:

How do vampires and humans connect?

What does emotional and physical intimacy between two people look like when one of them is a human being—and the other is an immortal, blood-drinking creature of the night?

This question lies at the heart of Blood Triad, Raven Belasco’s delightful collection of three historical fiction novellas set in the same universe as her innovative, vampire-themed Blood and Ancient Scrolls novel series.

In Blood Triad, Belasco brings the unique worldbuilding of Blood and Ancient Scrolls to three settings not typically found in the vampire genre—the US occupation of Haiti, the British Isles in the early Middle Ages, and the slums of 1930s Philadelphia. If you’ve ever wanted to read about vampires fighting a zealous guerilla war against undead Marines, going a-viking, or dancing in sweaty jazz clubs late into the night, you’ve found your book.

And trust me—you do want to read about these things.

A defining feature of Belasco’s world is the extensive, ancient vampire language. Belasco’s vampires refer to themselves as am’r—blood is vhoon—and there are more names for rituals, degrees of kinship, and highly specific crimes than you can count on two hands.

While the invented words may be a barrier to entry for casual readers, they reward the reader who sticks with the novellas long enough for their meaning to sink in. As in A Clockwork Orange or Neuromancer, part of the fun of the book is getting hip to the lingo—learning to think in the way the characters think by absorbing the words and their meanings over time.

Like Heinlein inventing the word grok to describe a kind of deep mutual understanding available only to Martians, Belasco uses words such as vhoon-vaa to encompass emotional and physical highs that can’t be captured with words like orgasm, buzz, or rush.

More than an interesting tidbit, the language is a crucial tool in these novellas that focus on profound connections between vampires and mortals in times of great pain.

This is most apparent in Teeth Are Bones, a remarkable love story between a young Haitian revolutionary and the vampire with whom she fights for the freedom of her people. It also comes to the fore in Abyssinia, a moving and timely story of women navigating dangerous backroom abortion procedures in 1930s Philadelphia. While both of these stories offer plenty of the usual vampire fare—violence and seduction galore—what stands out is Belasco’s heartfelt handling of the emotional ties between vulnerable humans and the vampires who care for them.

Poignant and dripping with well-researched historical detail, Blood Triad is the perfect book for anyone eager to read about vampires outside of their usual element—and feel them struggle with deeply human dilemmas of justice and closeness in an often bloody world.

The music rec this week is going old school. I was watching a show where they played a cover of Nirvana’s Heart Shaped Box. The cover was not a disaster or anything, but when I went and played the original, yeah, it’s still far more powerful and just can’t be done better.

Below is an Advertisement. You might have noticed one last week, too. It’s pretty exciting for me because you AMAZING fans have given me an open rate of regularly 40-50%, which is hella wicked (mixing my Bay Area and Boston slang) for newsletters. If you have gotten down to here, would you just take a second and click on the below ad? You don’t actually need to buy anything, but if I can get a decent click-through rate, even more people will want to start doing ads in this newsletter, and that will lead to me offering you a bigger variety of potentially useful/cool stuff. Also, and not negligible: I get paid for clicks, so just clicking is really helpful for me!

I promise that there will only ever be one ad per newsletter, and it will only ever be stuff I am proud to associate with my name, and which I think you lot might actually appreciate.

Thank you for supporting me in so many ways! OK now, go forth, my friends, and be good or be good at it! (And click below, pretty please!) 😘

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Most important news: the audiobook of Blood Triad finally populated out through the audiobook platforms, so we can officially announce it’s out and ready for you to stuff into your ears 🎧

Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781960942128

Chirp: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/blood-triad-by-raven-belasco

Hoopla: https://www.hoopladigital.com/audiobook/blood-triad-raven-belasco/17263714

Audiobooks.com: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/x/808217

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/blood-triad-stories-in-the-blood-ancient-scrolls/id1760451716

Audible & Amazon: https://www.audible.com/pd/Blood-Triad-Stories-in-the-Blood-Ancient-Scrolls-Series-Audiobook/B0DBRCWC3V  /  https://www.amazon.com/x/dp/B0DBRCXDWN

B&N Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-triad-raven-belasco/1146180349

Everand: https://www.amazon.com/x/dp/B0DBRCXDWN

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/x?id=AQAAAEAyQ00DbM

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/blood-triad-1

Overdrive: https://www.overdrive.com/media/11098125/blood-triad

IF this list does not include YOUR audiobook dealer, reply to this email and let me know what I’m missing, and we’ll get to work setting it up. (Note that Spotify will not be included, as I don’t like their policies.)

This isn’t gonna be my longest newsletter, as I am cranking through the story I’m writing about Bela Lugosi’s Dead for the WHITE ON WHITE anthology and the deadline is looming

I will write more about my pure delight in being a part of that project in the future, but here are some pictures of me in college in front of my Bauhaus poster to tide you over… 

For those who have been eagerly awaiting the “lesbian gangster pirate” story…

My Editor Extraordinaire has just informed me that I ain’t as done with the story as I thought: it’s currently a 10,000 word short story, and she says I basically have no choice but to take it up to a 40,000-50,000 word novella…

I see her point, so I’m afraid that you’ll all have to wait at least 30,000 words longer for that story (and for me to then get my derrière in gear on the fourth novel in the series, sigh)

HOWEVER. I’m having a feck of a time coming up for a title for this story. So… drumroll please 🥁🥁🥁

Anyone who wants to suggest a title to me can request the nascent story and then pitch out some ideas. So hit reply to this if you want in on naming the next B&AS story novella! (It’s rare that I let anybody see my stories at this stage, so you know I’m desperate for a solid title 😂)

Your music rec for this newsletter is the brilliant Hot Damn by Blimes and Method Man (which is a great song but I also hear it constantly right now because my partner Trent plays it at least once a day 😂)

Gotta rush back to writing my Bauhaus story! So, for now, be good or be good at it 😘

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And the results are not only IN, but actually UNANIMOUS – you ALL chose Blood Eternal. I’ve never seen such an entirely undivided result before! When The People speak with such a United Voice, what can I do but go with it?

As some of you might know from social media, I was on vacation over the last two weeks. Well, kinda. I worked on a short story and did support on recording the next audiobook, and a whole bunch of other things. So there was slightly less work than normal. Which, I suppose, is what vacations look like for people who are trying to build their small business into something stable. If I’m lucky, I can take all two weeks off for real, next year!

🍎📖

Oh, for those of you who were waiting for Blood Ex Libris to be sold in Apple Books, it took ages for it to get listed but here it finally is!

Upcoming newsletters are going to be chock full of exciting news, but in this one I’d like to ask each of you for a favor…

Libraries.

I profoundly believe in their necessity in for a strong society. On a less intense level, I just believe that everyone should be able to read a good book, even if it’s “just” for relaxation and diversion at the end of a long day. (Why we rate emotional self-care and actually getting to enjoy life so little as a society is a whole ‘nother rant entirely!)

When I was about age seven, I wrote my first book.

“The Firebird” was the story of the phoenix, and after the main action of the phoenix going up in flames, a beautiful golden egg was found in the nest of ashes. I wrote AND illustrated it, and it was probably the final period of my life in which I thought I could both write and draw—I eventually had to admit that my abilities in the visual arts were not ones involving a pencil or brush.

But for someone age seven, the art was not bad! And I put so much work into it.

And then, to my immense surprise, my mom told me the book was going to be featured in a display at the local library. (I was never sure how that came about, but I’m reasonably certain it involved my mom bringing my magnum opus in and showing it to the librarians…) There was a round table in a main part of the library, and books about the legend of the phoenix were all over it…my book in the dead center, raised on a clear plastic display stand.

Now, writing books is very hard. (I could have told you this at age seven! 😂) Most people who start writing that novel that’s in their heads never finish it. And of those who do actually finish their novel, a staggeringly small number of those people manage to get that book into print.

So if you don’t think that this early publishing triumph did not make a lasting impression and contribute to me having the strength, later in life, to believe in myself that despite everything the world throws against me that I can make it as an author, well, then I guess you must simply take my word for it. It meant everything to me at the time, and it’s a cherished memory. (And hey, it also provides me with the incentive that I don’t want to have peaked at age seven 😂)

So, libraries.

When it came to publishing the Blood & Ancient Scrolls series, I could have gone exclusively Amazon and Audible, and gotten a greater percentage of sales. I could have made life a lot easier for myself. But I went the route that ensured that libraries could access my books and provide them for people who want diversion at the end of a long hard day (or some people have read them beside pools on vacation, and I have to say that’s a very good idea) but the main point is, I’ve always wanted my books to be in your local public library, because I believe in libraries. Libraries are a safe place. A happy place. A clean, well-lighted place. A vital place.

However, libraries have to request my books. They don’t just magically fly there, or POOF into existence out of purple smoke.

That’s where YOU come in. IIP has been and will continue doing a big push to get my books into the wonderful hands of librarians, but the best way to get my books into libraries is for people to request that their local public library purchase the book for their shelves.

Your local library has a request form on their website. They will request some or all of the following information:

Basic bibliographic information about your book (title, author, ISBN, publisher, date of publication, number of pages, price)

A link to your book’s website and links to coverage in the news media (if available)

Information about how or where to buy it

If you could spare a moment of your extremely valuable time and request either Blood Ex Libris or Blood Triad from your local library, it would do significant and measurable good for the Blood & Ancient Scrolls series (and for me as a person, knowing that my books are catching new readers’ eyes from their happy homes on library shelves around the country. Here is an easy cut-n-paste to use for the request forms:

I leave you this week with one of the finest songs ever written about reading, books, and the library: Library Rap | MC Poindexter & The Study Crew

Until next newsletter, be good or be good at 😘