Herald

2024-04-252024-04-25

Ascendancy : Crowdfunding

Disclaimer: This story and any related content, such as but not limited to videos, photos, pictures, or artwork, is for entertainment purposes and all its contents are fictional.

Book Blurb: Imagine you are a young, rising documentarian possessing unbelievable video footage captured by your courageous best friend that, if shown to the public, would change the course of history. Then before you can release it, a mysterious agency raids your home, leaving you with only an ominous threat and a copy of the script you had well hidden. Determined to inform the world and save her loved one, Amber Sierra finds she has little recourse except to take a calculated risk and shroud the truth she’s uncovered in the guise of fiction, hoping the power of social media will overcome the crushing weight of collusion.

Explorers and adventurers rejoice! Despite all appearances, the Willow and the Fox are still alive and kicking. We have been hard at work to personally fund Ascendancy. After a year of financial struggle and strange occurrences, we have decided to crowdfund and get this revelatory and insightful story published as quickly as possible. Our Kickstarter campaign launches tomorrow, April 25, 2024. Stay in the loop and support this project by becoming a backer here (you can also scan the QR code above)!

If you are in Vermont this weekend, come hang out at our booth at the 5th Annual Vermont Sci-Fi & Fantasy Expo. We are travelling through time and space to bribe you with stickers, fangirl over cosplayers and indulge in some general geeking out with you. One of us may or may not be qualified to answer your questions about aforementioned strange occurrences.

2023-04-282023-04-29

Ascendancy pre-launch

Firstly, an announcement. Local Vermonters are cordially invited to the pre-launch party of our first young adult publication, Ascendancy. Come celebrate with us this weekend, April 29 and 30 2023, at Vermont’s 4th Annual Sci-Fi & Fantasy Expo. Join author April Dawn Duncan and artist Danielle René Pecor at their booth to talk about Sci-fi, suspense, art, and all things geeky. The first twenty pages will be at your disposal for perusal, as well as a carefully curated collection of tasteful swag. There will be much rejoicing and geeking out.
For all you Facebook denizens, please find he event page here.

Our gratitude goes to Onion River Press for believing in this project.

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And now, come explore with us the hidden sanctuary of Skulk’s Grove. Sit in the cool shade on the soft, fresh moss. Take in the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of nature. See that the world around you is not as familiar as you think, if you look more closely! Have you noticed something strange about a nearby tree? Or glimpsed a fleeting vision in the sky beyond its branches?

Let Amber, a young, rising documentarian, tell you about what seems like the coming of age of a promising writer, her best friend, Charlie. As Charlie struggles to free her creativity from projects imposed on her by her agency and a dangerous client, she finds that other, invisible chains have been holding her imprisoned in ways that even her keen mind can hardly grasp. Against their will, Charlie and Amber may become part of a terrible secret that changes everything they know about the world. Prepare for Ascendancy!

2022-03-302022-03-30

The Monocle of Shai re-release

Image of Kellan and Pern from The Monocle of Shai — Kellan and Pern are gathering parts to build a time machine.

We are thrilled to announce that the Monocle of Shai has finally been re-released! Kellan and Pern have come a long way. With the assistance of our partner Onion River Press, our bright inventor and her loyal assistant have made their way to Phoenix Books. If you are in lovely Vermont, you can grab your copy of The Monocle of Shai at any of the Phoenix books locations or order from their online shop. We are proud to be supported by an independant book shoppe!

You will also find the Monocle of Shai in all major online bookstores.

2021-12-062022-01-27

A New Publisher for Our Books

We are a small, locally-owned, independent, print-on-demand publisher based out of Phoenix Books in Vermont.

The happenings in our life sometimes delay our dreams, but we must never give up, and instead remember that as the historian Thomas Fuller wisely said, “it is always darkest just before the dawn.” We now proudly announce the dawning of our new partnership with the independent Vermont publisher, Onion River Press. Together we will be re-releasing our very first book, the Monocle of Shai, which will be available in all major online bookstores in January of 2022!

2021-04-212021-04-21

Portrait of an artist : Danielle René Pecor

I first met Danielle René Pecor on a tatami where she kindly allowed me to fly over her shoulder and land gently at her feet. We repeated this process countless times, and each time, I got to know her a little better because I would ask her a question about herself just before taking flight. I always got an answer when I landed. Aikido, the way of harmonious spirit, allowed us to commune with each other in a graceful dance where our spirits could express themselves through physical and metaphysical movement in harmony with each other. Practicing this martial art of introspection balanced with external awareness created the perfect atmosphere for community and family. She quickly became an Aikido sister and a dear friend. It was only then that I discovered she was a geek like me, and led to our first adventure together outside the dojo. We attended a Star Trek convention and visited the Star Trek: Original Series Set nestled in the Historic downtown of Ticonderoga, New York. She dressed in her Star Trek: the Next Generation Science Officer Blues uniform while I sported my For the Love of Spock Documentary Kickstarter t-shirt. We were beamed up to the Enterprise where we roamed its decks and met the aliens serving onboard. During our travels, I learned that her love for art was not only martial. And that was when I started scheming…

Danielle holds a BA in Psychology and Studio Art and a black belt in Aikido, all of which involves the cooperation of art and science, two seemingly diametrically opposed concepts that actually work in effortless synergy, creating incredible, enriching, and therapeutic experiences. She shares her synthesis of the two in her own artwork, which meant that I had found the perfect illustrator for my science fiction chapter book series. While I could attempt to describe her artwork, it would be a disservice, so instead, please feast your eyes here: www.daniellepecor.com. As if our shared love of a harmonious martial art and geeky things wasn’t enough, I quickly assessed that she is a natural teacher and loves to teach as much as I do. Her online art school called Artful Accidents (launching in 2021) and her dedication to teaching Aikido to children are just a couple examples of this. She would be a perfect fit, I only just had to summon the courage to ask. Her jovial nature made it easy, and I found my plot to esnare her spilling out of me. Her innate curiosity, desire to explore, and willingness to experiment whether she succeeds or fails, means that she didn’t run away screaming. Instead, she rose to the challenge and helped me create our first children’s book, The Monocle of Shai, the first book in the Kellan’s Contraptions series. Now, whether she realizes it or not, she’s committed to being the illustrator for all the subsequent books to follow, not to mention who knows what else I will beg her to illustrate.

Danielle is the most wonderful kind of friend you could ask for, and is a dream as an illustrator to work with. I will never, ever, ever, be able to thank her enough for taking this chance on me, but I’m certainly going to keep trying.

– April Dawn Duncan

2021-03-102021-03-10

Portrait of an author : April Dawn Duncan

I first met April when we were vampires (do not be mislead by above picture!). Then we became mutant space mercenaries. Starship officers in a vast and dangerous universe. Blade-wielding warriors on a royal quest. We would gather with friends in the desert in a galaxy far away or in the enchanted forest of a floating island. We will never be too old for make-believe. That’s right! We are roleplayers to the core. But where I played mainly to get away from everything, April made the game meaningful, her characters deep and real, the stories engaging, immersive and honest, whether she sat in the player’s chair or the gamemaster’s.

It was inevitable that she would build her own worlds and conjure up her own stories. Such lush, vibrant lies to bear the true, important things she needs to say. April will always tell you the truth, whether she is leading you through a perilous walk through dreamland or showing you a genius child’s time machine. So come sit beneath her willow tree. Hang your disbelief on a branch. Have a wonderful time. And when you come out, you’ll be holding a shiny monocle through which you may see the world a little differently.

– Tieu Thuy Nguyen

2021-01-312021-01-31

It’s The Monocle of Shai Launch Day!

At long last The Willow and The Fox would like to present its first book, The Monocle of Shai, now available only on Lulu.com. This book represents a couple of decades of dreaming and years of scraping resources together in order to have a proper website and planning where and how to self-publish so our books could be high quality but affordable. We can’t believe it’s finally come together, and we’re publishing our first book today! Just know that there is a grand celebration happening on the other side of your computer screen, and we are so grateful and touched that you are here reading our post!

Our empty landscape started with a single seedling now grown into a beautiful tree, and soon others planted will sprout and join it, until one day it will be a majestic forest! It is our hope to continue publishing wholesome, uplifting, and inclusive children’s books for all ages regularly and to someday have built an impressive bookstore all our own. We can only do that with the support of wonderful booklovers like you! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

2020-12-282021-01-31

Adversity and the Stories It Creates

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” — Maya Angelou

Life is about facing adversity, and despite whether we triumph over or are defeated by it, loving, hoping, dreaming, creating, experimenting, expressing, exploring, adventuring, sharing, and never giving up. Stories of these triumphs and defeats with the lessons learned along the way are the kinds of stories we need to be sharing with our children, stories that will give them an unshakeable foundation upon which to build their identities. This is the aim of the Willow and the Fox Children’s Book Project, which has encountered adversity in many forms over many years but has never given up. Now it is opening the New Year with its debut book launch on January 31, 2021 of The Monocle of Shai, the first book in the Kellan’s Contraptions series, which are chapter books seeking to introduce children to complex scientific and interpersonal concepts. Join Kellan and her faithful laboratory assistant, Copernicus, as they use science to explore their world, discover the nature of the universe, and learn about the things that really matter in life. We here at the Willow and the Fox hope you enjoy the adventure!