Dan Wells (author of I am Not a Serial Killer and other splendid books) has announced a new anthology to raise funds to help his brother, Robison Wells (also an accomplished author) with his battle against mental illness. The anthology – Altered Perspectives – will contain a collection of stories, deleted chapters, alternate endings and other “bonus” material from a whole bunch of great authors, plus essays and comments from each of them about mental illness.
The list of authors involved in this is pretty impressive:
Ally Condie, the forewordDan Wells, the introductionAnnette Lyon, An unpublished chapter from her retelling of the Finnish fairy tale, THE KALEVALAAprilynne Pike, TBABrandon Mull, Deleted scenes from BEYONDERS 2Brandon Sanderson, five completely rewritten chapters from THE WAY OF KINGS, where Kaladin makes the opposite choice of what he makes in the published novelBree Despain, an alternate ending to THE LOST SAINT, and an alternate beginning to THE SHADOW PRINCEBrodi Ashton, the first chapter from her YA novel about an unwilling alien fighter who has to rescue the boy she lovesClaudia Gray, a deleted scene from A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOUDan Wells, the original John Cleaver free-write that inspired I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLERErin Bowman, a deleted scene from TAKENHoward Tayler, a creative non-fiction story about life with mental illnessJ Scott Savage, three original chapters that led to writing FARWORLDJennifer Moore, a deleted scene from BECOMING LADY LOCKWOODJessica Day George, a deleted scene from PRINCESS OF GLASS, where the main character plays poker with a witchJosi Kilpack, the original opening scene to TRES LECHES CUPCAKEKiersten White, an original short story, set in a dystopian, sci-fi worldLarry Correia, a deleted fight scene from SWORDS OF EXODUSLauren Oliver, two deleted scenes from PANDEMONIUM, plus a hilarious scene about the plotting processLuisa Perkins, a short story, “Seeing Red”–a modern-day retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.Mary Robinette Kowal, deleted scene from VALOUR AND VANITY (the scene was cut because readers thought the scene was trying to depict depression)Nancy Allen, bonus scene from BEAUTY AND THE CLOCKWORK BEASTRobison Wells, an epilogue to FEEDBACK and the VARIANT duologySandra Tayler, a creative non-fiction piece called “Married To Depression”Sara Zarr, a story featuring characters from one of Sara’s previously published novelsSarah Eden, “Farewells” for LONGING FOR HOPE and HOPE SPRINGSSeanan McGuire, The original opening for DISCOUNT ARMAGEDDONShannon Hale, ”Ravenous,” a previously unpublished scifi short storySJ Kincaid, the original first chapter of VORTEX, before it was entirely rewritten
It’s going to be funded through an IndieGoGo campaign (which is a lot like a Kickstarter campaign but with more flexibility).
This is what Dan had to say about it:
This anthology goes up on IndieGoGo on Monday, April 21, where you’ll be able to buy it in hardcover or ebook, along with a ton of extra perks like manuscript critiques, dinners with your favorite authors, and the ever-popular “die horribly in one of Dan’s books.”
The project sounds very interesting and I’m a sucker for crowd funding so I’ll definitely be checking it out on Monday.
[New Anthology – Altered Perspectives by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 19 April 2014]