HAPPY NEW CAT DAY! (and other news)

Hey everyone! Today is a very special day for me, one I’ve been looking forward to for weeks. It’s NEW CAT DAY!

NEW CAT DAY!!!! SQUEEEEE!!!

If you aren’t interested in pets, scroll down, because this is all I can think about right now and I’m dying to talk about it.

As those in our Discord likely already know, our extremely beloved German shepherd, Emma, died in her sleep on Christmas night. She had been part of our family for eleven and a half years, so it wasn’t a small loss, since most of our kids had never known a life without her in it.

Thankfully, the kids recovered (as much as you can recover from that kind of loss) within two weeks, but my Bengal cat, Lucy, did not. Her behaviors changed, and after some Googling, we learned that she was showing signs of distress. (Pics provided as proof.)

It’s obvious she’s not meant to be an only pet, so we decided to rescue another kitten.

Finding the right kitten isn’t easy, though. They have to be great with kids and other cats, for starters, but they also can’t have fur, because I have serious allergies. Fun fact: Bengals don’t have fur, they have pelts, which is why I can rub my whole face on Lucy’s belly without my eyes swelling shut and my throat closing up.

But do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Bengal to rescue? We came upon Lucy by accident, and we were fortunate to, because it turns out, Bengals are crazy expensive and in extremely high demand. So, it took a lot of time. I applied for several Bengal kittens, but all were snatched out from under me by much faster applicants. (In one case, the foster decided to keep the kitten, because her son loved it too much, lol.)

I started refreshing my Petfinder search every 30 minutes and finally got lucky! This is Lola. Today, I’m driving to White Plains, NY, to pick her up and I AM SO EXCITED.

Okay, and now that I have that out of my system, I can talk business stuff.

WE NEED PLAYTESTERS!

We recently placed a call for playtesters in our Discord server. If you’re interested, please apply here: https://www.thedreadmachine.com/plane/ 

TDM PRESENTS: 2024

In other news, we’ve decided to put together a small anthology this year. Here are the facts as they stand now:

• THEME: Send stories that you believe encapsulate our overall vibe. Dark tech-speculative (not an actual subgenre, but it should be) with a hefty dose of dread and a bit of wry, cynical humor. Examples can be found here: https://www.thedreadmachine.com/calls/ 
• OVERALL WORD COUNT: We’ll be looking for 60,000-70,000 words total.
• COMPENSATION: Pay will be $0.08/word.
• COVER ART: Cover art will likely be done by Yorgos Cotronis, if he’s got the time.
• FORMATS: Like all of our anthologies, this title will be available in hardcover, paperback, and epub, printed through Ingram.
• SUBMISSION WINDOWS: We’ll be giving Mechanists (the writers we’ve already worked with) submission priority, so they’ll get an exclusive submission window before we open to the general public.
• FUNDING & TIMELINE: The total cost for the anthology will run between $5,200 to $6,000. Since I cannot justify throwing more of my own money and investing more of my time into these projects without preorders lined up, we are going to be relying on backers to make this happen. (I'm down to work for free, but I'm no longer down with paying for the privilege, lol.) I’m still busy finalizing Plane, so it’s probably more realistic to expect us to open in the spring, finalize our selections and run the Kickstarter in the summer, and fulfill by Christmas.

I have to get in my car now, but I’ll post another update soon. Expect pics of beautifully hand-painted Jenga towers and an adorable baby Bengal cat, lol.