Hello friends of talismans.

Please find some important information about your respective pledge levels. Those of you in the Regent, Scion, and Desert Witch categories, all of these apply to you. 

You are receiving either a raccoon rib or coyote shortie leg bone. These are pretty strong pieces, but if you snag them and apply enough force, they will break.

Some are designed with jump rings that go from the bone to the leather strand. Double check your jump rings upon arrival to ensure they are snug and your bone buddy isn't gonna go on a journey. Needle nose pliers will work well to close them up if they ever start to look loose.

Fun facts: We see Macarthy's bone necklace in the opening scene of Book 1 and it stays with her throughout the series. She made the necklace herself from one of her first excavations, several years before she would pursue her studies in anthropology. 

Your little ghosty buddy has a protective film on both sides that you'll want to remove.

Double check all your jump rings, especially the ones leading from the stone strand to the large O ring. I checked them before packing but physics is a funny thing. The jump rings are the single point of weakness on these guys. Use a needle nose pliers to close up any gaps should they form over time.

Fun facts: We first see Remy's talisman written about in Chapter 10. Their strand of stones is a blend of labradorite (wisdom, protection), malachite (protection, luck), and amethyst (dreams, overcome addiction). No idea why the reckless one of the bunch would choose such a collection of stones to put on their keychain. 😂 

Y'all, these things scare the hell out of me to ship. Be careful unpacking them as they are glass and might choose violence. If anything broke in transit, let me know.

Your spell bottle is probably not as aesthetically pleasing as it was when I assembled it after traversing the country. A pair of tweezers will help you arrange your herbs and bones in a more delightful manner. You won't 'break' any intention by opening them, promise.

Fun facts: Your candle was carved with runes for protection and empowerment. The spell jar is filled with stones for protection and strength (most of them are lapis lazuli, agate, or aquamarine), a coyote toe bone, herbs, and a pinch of dirt from Fort Concho. Your moon water is from one of the recent super moons.

These also scare the hell out of me to ship. Your rattlesnake vertebrae are the critical point of weakness on these. They may suffer very slight breakage in transit--many of them arrived to me that way. I packed them to the absolute best of my ability but if bones are cracked, shattered, or split beyond minor breakage, please let me know.

There are a few jump rings on the spell beads that it will good to check upon arrival. If any have developed gaps, a needle nose pliers will help to seal them up.

Fun facts: Vincent's talisman makes its first appearance in Chapter 12. Its design is similar to that of a rosary, featuring his signature stones: bloodstone (strength, healing), obsidian (protection, grounding), and howlite (patience, clarity). These are combined with metals to round out his link to the coven's earth-based magic. 

Happy news everyone! About half of the orders are packed and ready to ship. I'm hoping to get a bulk of your orders out this week and another batch next week. 

When you get them, I'd love it so very much if you could take an action shot with your swag and post it to Facebook or Instagram and tag me (FB: Bladen Mercutio / Insta: sovereign.of.ghosts). Since I can't be there to see you open your stuff, this is the next best thing. It helps me feel alive and makes me so very happy! 

If you get your box and find something missing, don't panic. I'm a flawed human and I probably shouldn't have done the majority of the packing during the govt shutdown when I was extra frazzled. If you're missing something, send me a note and I'll get it out to ya as soon as I can. 

If your package is more complex (ie, Regent, Hill Talisman, Creek Talisman, Scion, Desert), it may be towards the end of shipments. I still have a few Creek talismans in particular to make and they take a minute to craft. You will likely receive your tracking number several days before your package ships. Bear with me as we near the end of this bad boy. <3

More soon!

Well... actually, two small boxes of books have arrived. The actual shipment is held up in Memphis in customs due to clearance issues. Hopefully my next update is not about how my small business and I got assaulted by tariffs. (fingers crossed) But more to the point, they turned out BEAUTIFUL. Look at all that spot varnish! The sprayed edges! The special interior! I can't wait to get them in your hands. :)

Did you miss the campaign but want a book? Or maybe you want an extra book for the holidays?
Preorders are still open and come with their own exclusive goodies!


BACKERS: READ THIS PART PLS

There are still 18 surveys that I'm missing. It's likely not your fault. Several folks have had trouble with the forms. Double check that your survey is sent. There's an extra screen where you have to re-enter payment information and that's I think what's messing most folks up.

I will be charging cards for shipping in the next few days. 
That way, once I get the shipment past customs, I can get all the supplies in order and start shipping out books. (yay!)

If you have any questions or concerns, please hit me up! <3

This one goes out to the villains, because I'm not gonna lie--I'm here for these monsters.

When I started Southwest Gothic back in 2019, the Harvest was the only monster I had planned. I finished Book 1 in March of 2020 and was just not into the idea of editing it. You'll notice that when you read 1, it stands just fine on its own. Somewhat by accident, Book 2 happened, and I'm so glad it did. Lucio might be my favorite psycho and his arc takes up all of Book 2 and 3.

Then, comes the Messiah of Ruin, the soldier of fate and misfortune. The emotional rollercoaster of this character was some of the hardest writing I've ever had to do. We see hints of this ghoulish mess at the end of 3 and then throughout 4. The other monster in 4 is the archaic Coven of Sighs, primarily their High Priestess Delphina Abate. She thinks she's doing the right thing, which makes her hella dangerous. Also, genocide is never the right thing, you lunatic, but I digress.

Lastly, The Wraiths. Yikes. Screw these guys. They give Harvest vibes but with somehow less humanity. Book 5 opens with these spine-chilling monsters, who actually don't even speak until well into the book. They're essentially acting as a celestial clean-up crew, stealing the hearts of innocent bystanders to trudge across the desert in pursuit of their targets like perfect unhinged roombas.

These are being printed trading card style with neat star illusion film on top. Each physical backer will get one card. My hope is that on the next BackerKit campaign for Book 2, I'll be able to do another 5 of them. With 4 books left on the horizon, we might have a whole Major Arcana tarot deck worth of art to work with. Could do some cool stuff with that. :D

Digital backers who would like stretch goal goodies -- shoot me a message ([email protected]) and we will work out how to get that to you. There weren't a whole lot of you but I'm happy to get you hooked up. :)

Other news:
Books are at the printer. Hopefully they'll start heading my way in the next 2 weeks. I've made lots of talisman progress--I think I'm about halfway through. I'll post an update about that soon.