Seeking Participants – Poetry Fundraiser for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

Hi everyone,

I’m writing to ask if you’d be interested (or know a poet who might be) in participating in a fundraiser for the ASRC (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre).

As you may or may not know, Australia continues its human rights abuses in regard to people seeking asylum here and I want to try something to help.

My idea is a simple cross-promotion between poets.

Basically, I create a ‘landing page’ which lists our poetry titles and purchase options.

Participants then direct their audiences to that page during the fundraiser (likely over one weekend) and readers purchase the ebooks/books. We then pass on a percentage of our sales to the ASRC.

For my own poetry sales during the fundraiser I’ll be donating 100% and for the titles that I publish via Close-Up Books, I’ll forward the publisher’s share.

If you’d like to be involved please let me know!

Please also ask questions if you have them, and I will do my best to get back to you this week.

In brief, if you want to get involved you’d have to decide/provide a few things:

1. Names of title(s) you want to list/cover art etc
2. What format(s) you want to offer
3. Whether you will offer a discount on price
4. What percentage of royalties you will donate
5. Whether you’re comfortable sending that percentage to me to tally
   up and then donate to the ASRC on your behalf (via paypal).

I know folks might have to spend a bit of time thinking this over, contacting publishers etc, but if enough people are interested I’d like to lock in a weekend in early July or August for the fundraiser.

Again, if you can spread the word, that would be great! I know there are plenty of important causes worldwide but if you have room for one more, that would be fantastic.

Again, please ask if you have any questions!

Ashley

Lionsheart – Kickstarter Fully Funded + Merch Stretch Goal!

Thank you! 😀

We’re fully funded in just 11 days – which means backers will now be able to get their hands on Lionsheart around two months before retailers do 🙂

And if you haven’t had a chance to pre-order, you can still do so, as there’s plenty of time left on the campaign.

Here are details on some of the reward options:

$5 – ebook, two months early
$15 – all 6 ebook set
$25 – paperback
$50 – reader cameo reward

Lionsheart – Kickstarter

The novel will soon go into editing, but in the meantime I’d still share sample chapters in the lead up to release, if you’re not able to pre-order.

However, if you’ve got any friends who like epic fantasy and you’re able to introduce them to this series that would be fantastic!

There are also some new merch-based rewards that will be available if we hit the Stretch Goal: a set of buttons, poster and t-shirt, which you can check out images of below 🙂

Thanks for taking a look, pre-ordering and spreading the word about Lionsheart!

Ashley

Lionsheart – Kickstarter is Live!

Morning all! My new kickstarter is now live, so if you’ve been keen to take a look at the final page you can do so via the link below:

Lionsheart – Kickstarter

I’ve launched a little early to hopefully give folks extra reading time leading up to the book’s release. I know the covid-19 virus is much upon everyone’s minds at present, so I do understand if few of you are in the mood for pre-ordering entertainment items.

But if you are in a fortunate place, and you enjoy the Bone Mask books as much as my Never stories, I think you’ll find some great bonuses here too.

Thanks for taking a look!

The Five Furies of Heaven – Out Now

Hello!

I know it’s been many moons since I posted on this blog, and perhaps longer since I posted about fiction here, but I wanted to say that I have a new release 🙂

 

If you’ve already seen me posting about The Five Furies of Heaven on social media then you can just click on the image to choose a retailer 🙂

If all this is new then I’ve included a blurb below for a bit of context! This story is the start of a new series, separate from my other ongoing novels. Half-jokingly I refer to this story as a bit like D&D + the Tom Hanks film Big!

Fighting the insect hordes of a malevolent God isn’t easy when you’re a young man with no special talents.

While searching an old temple Kilek and his friends stumble across the Goddess Avendria who transforms them into heroes – all grown up, with weapons, magic, and skills.

But when she gives Kilek nothing at all – nothing except the impossible task of saving the lands – he must fight bitter doubts. Worse, a dark prince is massing his armies and more, agents of other Gods have been set loose in the world.

Only the long-lost dragons can turn the tide but Kilek must find them before it’s too late.

And somehow, he has to do it all without divine intervention.

 

Thanks to everyone who helped me with The Five Furies… – especially to my editor Amanda and Rebekah for the cover! (Oh, and the paperback is due next week.)

I’d also like to thank the readers who write to tell me that they’ve enjoyed my other stories over the years – I hope this one is worth the wait too 🙂

 

Ashley

 

PS – I hope to have some new poetry news (and poetry too) mid-year but I’m not sure of the timing just yet.

When Figs Fly – Available Now! — Close-Up Books

Close-Up Books is proud to announce the release of poetry collection When Figs Fly by Jane Downing! The collection is available in both ebook and print editions (by clicking on the image) and you can sample several poems beneath the blurb: Australian poet Jane Downing‘s When Figs Fly reveals life in Australia and beyond […]

via When Figs Fly – Available Now! — Close-Up Books

Book of Never Playing Cards – Out Now!

Hello! It’s been a little while since I posted here, and this one’s a fiction update actually – but there’s a poetry one right around the corner 😀

Today I wanted to mention that I have a deck of cards project based on some of my fiction and it’s out now, they’re based on my Book of Never-themed playing cards! You can actually grab one direct from the manufacturer already, the deck will contain:

• Standard 54 card deck (the four suits + two jokers)
• Glossy finish
• Custom design for background and pips
• Portrait-style character art for ‘royals’ by Lin Hsiang, the artist who does the Never book covers

I’m very happy about these being ready to share – it’s been nearly a year to the day since I first e-mailed Lin about creating the art, so it’s exciting for the project to come full circle now 🙂

 

I’ll have a few decks here with me soon but they’re more expensive for me to ship from Australia – though I’m still happy to do it, of course, if anyone would like me to. I had considered signing a few… but it’d be impossible without ruining the art. Maybe the box? I dunno – what would be better is if I could get the artists to sign, since they’ve done the real work here, but that could be tricky in terms of logistics.

In any event, if you are keen to order a set of cards they’re around $20 from the manufacturer (as per the link above) before shipping. (It’d be more like $30-50 w/shipping if you ordered from me, depending on how far away you are from Australia.)

If you do decide to order a set I hope you enjoy the art – there’s a fair few character images that I haven’t shared yet, but you can see the previously shared ones in this newsletter. Shawn T King who handled the design came up with going with silver and gold for the suit colours, to better contrast with the dark ‘regular’ card backgrounds, and I’m pretty thrilled with how everything looks! (Below is just an overview of the colour, the suits don’t mix silver and gold within themselves of course)

(On a bit of a side note, I’d love to know how fast the shipping tends to be if you get a deck, or what you thought about the art, so please feel free to send off a quick e-mail if you get the chance!)

 

Until later in the month!

Ashley

 

When Figs Fly – Available Now!

Close-Up Books is proud to announce the release of poetry collection When Figs Fly by Jane Downing!

 

The collection is available in both ebook and print editions (by clicking on the image) and you can sample several poems beneath the blurb:

Australian poet Jane Downing‘s When Figs Fly reveals life in Australia and beyond with a keen eye for poignant details that linger, deftly capturing the beauty of the natural world, the bittersweetness of childhood and memory and exploring the all-too familiar foibles of human nature.

 

Local Positioning System

This corner is where the gutter backs up and the road floods.
It is dry now and everyone will forget until it rains again.

Keep going, up past where kittens popped out of the drain once, summer
balls of fur and eyes, in front of the house where the piano teacher lived;

she said ‘you have the hands of a flautist,’ so my piano lessons didn’t go far.
This line of trees was lopped around when I was in high school,

see how the branches have been cut to make a canyon for the power lines
to pass through. It’s all built up now: No. 32 is on the spot of the Paddock of One Sheep.

They’ve put a second storey on No. 29 and the hedge around No. 26
used to seem like something from a fairytale; things are taller when you are littler.

Turn right at the corner with the apartments. There was a girl who learned the violin,
she lived in the one on the lower left. Mostly windows are blind eyes but at dusk

she’d put the light on, stage lighting her bowing. Exhibitionist. Maybe I was smarting
from my piano teacher’s words, but I see her ghost in the window every time I pass.

It’s a long straight road next. In summer it is the best way to town because of the plane trees
The temperature drops 10 degrees instantly. And in autumn it rains itchy fluff

with the cockatoos up there ravaging the seed balls. No, that’s not a cockatoo.
It’s a scrap of paper in the wind.

Trick Photography

They say these are the days
you’ll remember forever
But you take photos anyway

Then the face in the mirror of the memory
Is not the one in the frame

You are not the little girl
behind the heat haze of cake and candles
You are behind the garage mortified
at finding not one minty in the hunt

But you point the camera at your child anyway
determined to capture a trick of the light
She smiles behind her own singing candles
And you wonder where the memory hides

 

Detention Deficit Disorder

How do you write a poem about Manus and Nauru
We’ve seen the razor wire footage/ listened to the reports
succumbed to Attention Deficit Disorder – look a celebrity died
Will a well chosen image connect
Move someone to action (not me)
like poetry in the old days recited in the heat of revolution
Does this need a personal anecdote
to give it a punch above lecture/harangue
a poignant quote*
A crisis point to bring into focus the human face
that reveals the inhumanity of our country of the Fair Go
turning a willfully blind eye
and blaming the hypocrisy of smiling politicians
Will a reference to Hitler help any (no)
How could the Germans not have known?
It’s not as if we don’t

History will not be kind
An Apology will be too late
Having written a poem will not have been enough

* ‘Poetry is about the grief. Politics is about the grievance.’ Robert Frost

 

 

small town lazarus & teeth of the world – ebook release

Hi folks – here’s a quick note to let you know the ebook versions of my two new poetry collections are slowly filtering down to retailers – I see the Amazon territories and B&N are on it but other folks are lagging a bit.

Still, you can collect the slender teeth of the world for $2.99:

and small town lazarus is available for $3.99

if you’re more in the mood for free verse 🙂

Some links for print editions are back here from late last month – or you can sample some of the contents over at my Medium profile!

 

And once again, massive thanks to Vivid Covers (small town lazarus) and also Erik Ly (teeth of the world) for the covers!

Two New Poetry Collections!

Good morning!

I’m just popping in to share some news – I’ve got two collections up for pre-order right now, after a fairly long poetry hiatus I’ve suddenly been pretty busy, one is free-verse and the other is a mix of haiku & senryu – just in case anyone was looking to pick up a Christmas present approximately 7 months early 😀

Most retailers have the paperback now but the ebook is trailing – however Book Depository has free postage at least!

https://www.bookdepository.com/Teeth-World-Ashley-Capes/9780648395720

https://www.bookdepository.com/Small-Town-Lazarus-Ashley-Capes/9780648395775

Otherwise, Amazon US has the live links too:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0648395774

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0648395723

 

And you can sample some of the poems in a future post, or over here right now at my Medium profile 🙂

Ashley

Beneath the Ferny Tree – Available Now!

Close-Up Books

Very proud to announce the release of David Schembri’s horror and dark fantasy collection Beneath the Ferny Tree!

You can grab a copy at any retailer via this link right here and the paperback edition is right around the corner too!

Over here you can learn a little more about David and his other work too, like his first collection Unearthly Fables.

Dig into the cold earth, pull away the damp leaves and burrow deep down to uncover true darkness…

Face the horror of war-torn Germany with Edmund as he fights to rescue his family. Confront the same overwhelming dread as Cody, in the midst of a futuristic prison, is haunted by his past and desperate for a chance at redemption. Discover true monsters aboard a slaver’s ship on the high seas and witness a more twisted side to Christmas.

Uncover these and other bleak mysteries in Beneath the Ferny…

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