Want to read the fifth Marla Mason book?
T.A. Pratt's Marla Mason series of urban fantasy novels was cancelled last year after four books.
Not long ago, the author wrote a short prequel novel, Bone Shop, and posted it online in serial installments, funded by donations. You can read the whole thing for free online, and even make noncommercial copies—it's Creative Commons licensed. You can also buy the print version and/or the Kindle version.
Despite my best intentions, I never managed to link to Bone Shop while it was being written. But now I have the opportunity to make amends, by letting y'all know that T.A. is considering writing the fifth full-length novel. To quote from that LJ entry:
I'm debating whether or not to write Broken Mirrors—the fifth full-length Marla Mason novel, which will resolve the cliffhanger in Spell Games—this spring, to be published online as a reader-funded serial in the summer or fall.
If you're interested in reading that (and more importantly interested in donating, so I can actually afford to spend time writing the book instead of hustling up paying gigs), send an e-mail to tapratt@marlamason.net and tell me. [...or post a comment to the LJ entry.]
I suspect I'll use this model: I'll put up the first chapter, and post subsequent chapters as soon as I receive a certain amount in donations for each chapter (probably between $200-$300 depending on how many chapters there are), not to exceed one chapter per week.
For more info, follow the above link.
Oh, and if you don't know about the Marla Mason books, here's a description from the series website:
This series follows the adventures of Marla Mason, an ass-kicking sorceress who doesn't wear a leather catsuit, doesn't suffer from low self-esteem, doesn't wallow in angst, and is almost always absolutely certain she's right... even when she's dead wrong.
It's got monsters. It's got sarcasm. It's got death, destruction, sex parties, ancient gods, wisecracks, artifacts, oracles, dark alleys, and magical daggers. Come and see.
. . . I'm fascinated by the online-serial-for-donations publication model. I've been meaning to post about some other instances, of various sorts, for ages, but not gonna happen tonight.
But I'm glad that Bone Shop seems to have worked reasonably well, and I'm hoping Broken Mirrors works too.