Guest Post - Lauren Zurchin's A Year of Daydreams: Fantasy Author Calendar

Lauren Zurchin contacted me earlier this month about her Kickstarter campaign and I was immediately intrigued. You may have noticed I also haven't had a lot of time this month, so I asked if she would put together a quick guest post.

She did, and just in time. There are only 5 days left, so you still have a chance to support this great project.

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Hi! My name's Lauren Zurchin, and I am a professional photographer and the managing book editor for scifi/fantasy website Lytherus. During the spring of last year I wanted to try something new and creative, and settled on making some custom costumes (yes, I can also sew pretty well!) for fantasy-themed photos I'd shoot. Then I got the great idea to make fantasy authors the subjects of these photos. Immediately I knew I'd have to do something with this, something bigger than just my crazy idea. So I decided to create a 12-month calendar, the proceeds of which will go to two different non-profits: First Book and Worldbuilders. 

I gathered an amazing team of world-famous authors who were interested in this project: Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles; The Curse Workers Series), Gail Carriger (Soulless; The Parasol Protectorate), Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments; The Infernal Devices), Lauren Kate (Fallen), Gregory Maguire (Wicked; The Oz Chronicles), The Merry Sisters of Fate- a trio of authors consisting of: Tessa Gratton(Blood Magic; The Blood Keeper), Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver; The Scorpio Races; The Raven Boys), and Brenna Yovanoff (The Replacement; Paper Valentine), Brandon Mull (Fablehaven; Beyonders), Lauren Oliver (Delirium; Before I Fall), Christopher Paolini (The Inheritance Cycle), Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind), Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time; Mistborn), Tad Williams (Otherland; Memory, Sorrow and Thorn).

As the idea started to come together I realized that the cost of making costumes for fourteen authors, and the costs of travel to actually go and shoot all of these photos, was more than I could afford. So I decided to do some crowdfunding, utilizing Kickstarter to bring in the finances to cover the cost of this project. We hit the goal with over a week left, and so now I'm working toward the stretch goal, which will allow me to take these photos to another level with detail and props I wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. And as a treat for the backers I had all the authors agree to sign various items related to the project for the Kickstarter rewards, things that are extremely limited in number and, once gone, will never happen again. 
This is an amazing project that will be bringing a lot of good to the world in addition to making some good art. Please consider backing the Kickstarter and/or spreading the word. Thanks for your support! 

The Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/354009039/beyond-words-a-year-of-daydreams-fantasy-author-ca

Want to learn more? Check out my website. http://laurenzurchinstudios.com/author-fantasy-calendar/