New Novel Soon!

I sent out my last newsletter over a year ago and in the interim there have been several major developments. First, I'm still alive after seven and a half years with ALS, which is a pleasant surprise and a boon to my literary endeavors. Second, in 2024 Invention Is a Mother was a finalist in five literary contests, in categories ranging from humor to visionary fiction. Third, I finished a second book, CARE GIVE OR TAKE!

CARE GIVE OR TAKE is about living with the assistance of caregivers. As you might expect, the transition to caregivers is framed as an alien abduction and life with caregivers is framed as an alien invasion--though not a very good one. If you've let your guard down and aliens aren't your first association with caregivers, then let this be a wakeup call. Someday on your journey into decrepitude you'll find yourself in the hands of caregivers and you'll think, Oh, that's what he meant! and you'll be prepared to defend yourself…but only if you read the novel.

Sadly, that's the best I've got for a promotional blurb. Reminding readers of aging's inevitability is probably a terrible marketing tactic. 

CARE GIVE OR TAKE, in paperback and ebook, will be available for pre-order sometime in early February and I'll let you know exactly when. I'm shooting for a publication date at the end of February.

Thank you for your interest and support!

Top Gun on Wheels

Top Gun on Wheels

Last Spring I moved to a new wheelchair that is controlled by eye-gaze. I've also switched most of my time writing to eye-gaze typing. The technology seems to fascinate people so my son Conor put together a video to show what it's like. Check it out! It's a dramatic story: 

https://youtu.be/GBc8OHR4Ts0
Contests!

I entered Invention Is a Mother in literary contests last spring and results are trickling in. The novel was one of three finalists in the American Fiction Awards' visionary fiction category, but was not picked as winner. The Cygnus science fiction award by Chanticleer moved me to the long list and then the short list and now I'm waiting to see if I get selected as a semifinalist. More literary contest results are announced through early next year.

Jesus Makes an Appearance 

Our friend Clark visited from Northern California and brought this amazing t-shirt he created with the assistance of one of those fun new degenerative AI programs that are destroying our civilization. (Invention Is a Mother is suggested supplemental reading if you don't recognize the references.)

Thank you for your continued interest and support!

Literary Improv

Over the past year, I've been slowly creating material for a second novel. I'd like it to be funny, but funny is harder for me to come by these days. That's where you come in! Near the top of my website's homepage, I added a suggestion box for anyone to anonymously offer a funny word or phrase. I'll do my best to incorporate your offering into the narrative and hopefully one day you'll see yourself in print. There is no limit to the number of offerings you can make. English words in common usage, especially folksy words, will get priority. Please share your version of funny!

Search Me Update

The search phrase that most frequently suggests my website is currently "book marketing consultant." That's a sad commentary on the desperation of independent authors, if you ask me. My name also appears near the top of the list, but no one searching for "Rob Brownell" chose my search result. My conclusion: somewhere out there is a more interesting version of me. I can accept that I have a doppelgänger or that I'm a clone, but it stings to find that I'm not the best me.

If you're keeping score, my website was suggested twice for the phrase "mother nudes" and once for the phrase "momy nudes" (sic).

Six Years

The end of June marks six years that I have survived ALS. I was surprised that I was able to finish Invention Is a Mother and I'm even more surprised that I'm putting effort into another book. Hopefully you're in the camp where those news items are all good news, Thank you to the many people who offered kindness and support over those years.

Technology Update

The crack inventors at the Syllaballistics Product Lab recently announced a competitor to Apple's VR headset. We're tentatively calling it the iBall and it will be released with a killer app called The Darkness Simulator. Here's a picture of me demonstrating the new technology at our launch event. I'm using the Riding in a Convertible With the Lights Off on a Moonless Night module. So believable!

Search Me?

Promo

Loyal supporters, I'm excited to let you know that I've been working with a book marketing consultant and we are putting together promotions to increase readership of Invention Is a Mother. To that end, I want to alert you that I'm advertising the Invention Is a Mother e-book for $0.99 from March 17- 31, 2023.

This affiliate link will take you directly to the Amazon Kindle page: https://amzn.to/3KFxIZD  (Please share that link in your many social media postings)

Readers will recognize that my opinion of marketing is… not glowing, and question whether a marketing engagement is doomed from the get-go. I'm framing it as bravely facing my worst fears. There is no light without darkness! (I heard that recently in reference to surviving a zombie dystopia, which struck me as a fair analog for publishing today.)

For those of you who haven't yet left a review and need to clear your conscience, the $0.99 price also presents a guilt-busting opportunity to buy the Kindle version from Amazon, wait a few days, and then leave a verified Amazon review. My consultant tells me that a handful of reviews from verified buyers will substantially boost my book's credibility. Reviews can be just one sentence, you're not required to leave your name, and I encourage honesty, not flattery. Honest flattery is completely acceptable.

Thank you for helping me spread the love to new readers.

Disturbing Nudes
Yesterday, I reviewed search terms that generated clicks to my syllaballistics.com website. One individual had searched for the phrase mother nudes and because I had jokingly used the word nudes in my previous newsletter, Google offered the person my site, which they found enticing and obligingly clicked. Not wanting to imagine what the individual was actually searching for, I reflexively decided they were twisted... and possibly an avid reader, which is a demographic combination I could work with. No, I did not investigate my mother nudes search competition.

I prefer being associated with highfalutin keywords like novels for intelligent readers or best humorous fiction of 2022/2023 or visionary metaphysical fiction, but you have to meet your audience where they live. Theoretically, by relating this story in my newsletter and repeating the offending phrase, I increase the likelihood that future mother nudes fans will be offered my site as a search result. Verification of that theory will be reported in future newsletters.

Bunny
The mother nudes incident reminded me of when I helped develop concepts for an animatronic animal's tail mechanism and was warned by a colleague to exercise caution if I chose to Google robotic tail. In that case I did investigate the search term. Beyond the drawings of cyborg vixens, the search led to the subculture known as "Furries" — people who dress/identify partially or completely as animals. Years later, that discovery bubbled back out of my imagination as Bunny, Invention Is a Mother's feral engineer. True story.

--

Rob Brownell
Syllaballistics | Join Newsletter | Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Syllaballistics nudes

My voice control is punishing me today for reasons it won't reveal. That subject header should have read news not nudes. Sorry to disappoint.

Speaking of improving disability technology, I'm excited to tell you that Function Engineering is part of an NSF project to improve the design of power wheelchairs. We are a member of a collective headed by researchers at Northwestern University. Other team members are Team Gleason, Relay Robotics, and LUCI. You can read more details about the NSF grant and its goals in this gnus release from Northwestern University.

Kickstarter Books Shipped!

I'm excited to announce that the Syllaballistics shipping department delivered Kickstarter books and merch to the post office yesterday! We did a couple of USPS test shipments and believe you should expect delivery within one week, but please allow two weeks.

Invention Is a Mother launches publicly on November 17th. I would appreciate a review on Amazon or Barnes & Noble or wherever you typically leave reviews. The quantity of reader reviews, in addition to positive ratings, has a strong influence on how well a book is received.

If the story isn't to your taste, consider my grandmother's advice: if you don't have something nice to say, then don't air your opinion online.

Thank you to my Kickstarter supporters for helping me reach this milestone, I couldn't have done it without your support. I hope you find some small pleasure in what I've written.

Ta-da! The Cover Reveal!

What do the graphics mean? Excellent question. Read the book to find out.

PROOFS!

I received proof copies of the paperback and the hardback and they look amazing! I'm making a few small tweaks and will then order copies for my loyal Kickstarter supporters. I can't predict exactly when I'll be able to ship the advance copies, but my goal is mid October. The book will go on sale to the public in mid November (tentatively).

Spread the word, production copies are available for preorder!

Once launched, the book will be available through a wide variety of online retailers. Some of them are taking preorders now. If you missed out on the Kickstarter advance order, this is your next best opportunity to live on literature's cutting edge. Follow the Preorder Now links at the top of the page!

Thank you for your continued interest in my Invention Is a Mother adventure!

Invention Is a Mother is Complete! (mostly)

A Mother of an Update
I'm happy to let everyone know that Invention Is a Mother's cover art, cover text, and interior design are finished! I'll review proof copies in the upcoming weeks and then it's time to order books to share with my Kickstarter supporters! Any remaining punctuation or spelling errors will henceforth be referred to as "creative intent."

In the near future, I'll reveal the cover design developed by artist Carlo Giambarresi and graphic designer Jude May. Check out their work, they've both been incredibly inspiring to work with!

Merch
I'm also pleased to report that all the Kickstarter merch (T-shirts, beanies, engraved straws, kitchen towels) is in my possession and ready to be shipped along with the books, once they are ready. Photographic evidence will be forthcoming.

Technology News
Early this year, I had a conversation with Sung Kim, the owner of Function Engineering, and I commented that power wheelchairs were way behind in technology — they have less intelligence and fewer safety features than factory robots and even consumer gizmos we have helped design. Though I haven't verified it, I don't believe my wheelchair would prevent me from driving off the top of a flight of steps. I can verify that it drives over the feet of caregivers without warning.

Sung generously reached out to industry contacts and I'm pleased to report that Function is in discussions with Team Gleason and other groups developing technology for the disabled. We are still figuring out how to fit into that landscape, but I'm optimistic that Function will be able to contribute expertise.

Stay Tuned!

Thank you for this Kickstarter adventure! Stay tuned…

A huge THANK YOU! for participating in my Invention Is a Mother Kickstarter campaign! We closed at just over $10,000 — four times my original goal! I’m incredibly grateful for your support and I hope to reward you with laughter once I get the book in your hands.

Additional thanks to everyone who donated to my Team Gleason ALS fundraiser. We collectively contributed over $11,000 and it will be put to good use, providing technology and support to people like me who are living with ALS.

Special thanks to Alessandor Earnest for floating the Kickstarter idea and for providing invaluable support with its execution.

I’m busy regrouping after the campaigns and will provide regular updates on our publication journey. In the coming weeks please keep an eye out for emails. I will be asking for additional information to ensure accurate fulfillment.

I am humbled by your generosity. I can't say it enough: thank you!

WE DID IT!!!

What a fabulous Father's Day this must be for Rob! What a triumphant end to a fabulous campaign!

Collectively, we donated over $11.5K to Team Gleason, and the Kickstarter rose above $10K just hours before the end! You guys purchased more than 200 copies of Rob's baby, Invention Is a Mother. (I can't resist a dad joke—especially not on Father's Day!!)

A huge thank you to everyone who made this success possible. We are so excited to get these books into your hands as soon as possible! We'll send you production updates as we have them, so stay tuned for the cover reveal and other exciting news!

Also shoutout to Amanda Palmer and everyone who jumped into action and supported the book when she mentioned it in her newsletter:

Amanda Palmer's newsletter mention of Invention Is a Mother

Big hugs to Amanda and everyone else here whose lives have been touched with sorrow because of ALS. I hope Invention will bring you hope, comfort, or at least a few belly laughs!

I don't think Rob exactly set out to be an inspiration, but I am definitely inspired, and I know when you read the book, you'll feel exactly the same. It has been one of the truly greatest honors of my life to work with him on this project.

This is a huge accomplishment. Writing a book is hard. Publishing one is an entirely different challenge, and doing a Kickstarter as an introvert?! Forget it. But he did it. And look what he was able to achieve!

Rob, here's to you! I'm proud to know you.

Alessandor, the editor who promises I'm not crying, you're crying.

Urgent update from Syllaballistics HQ

Good news!

My Team Gleason fundraiser broke $10,000! I can't believe it! Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

There's more… I received feedback from one more author this week.

“Invention Is a Mother is a sharp, wickedly funny look at science, fiction, life, death, pitch meetings, insane flights of fancy and technology that will either kill you or save you but you’ll never know unless we can sell it. It made me laugh in despair and laugh in joy, which are the best two ways to laugh. I loved it.”

—Will Leitch, author of How Lucky

My Kickstarter and ALS fundraiser both end this Sunday, June 19. Don't miss out.

You still have time to preorder Invention Is a Mother and to donate to ALS charity Team Gleason, but the clock is ticking!

We're in the home stretch!

We are a few short days from the end of the preorder campaign for Invention Is a Mother and the fundraiser for Team Gleason. Both campaigns end this Sunday, June 19, and it looks like we're lined up to finish with a bang!

163 copies of Invention Is a Mother have been preordered so far, and the Team Gleason fundraiser sits at $10.5k!

We're extremely happy with the response the book has received, and your support has exceeded our expectations every step of the way! THANK YOU!!! Thank you for making this the whoppingest success in the whole grand history of whoppings and successes. We could finish now and be so, so happy. But who knows what might happen in a week?!

The end is creeping closer, with stealth only matched by a wormhole seven martinis deep into a night with a handsy lawyer—which, for the sake of the uninitiated, is startlingly stealthy! So if you know just one person who would get a kick out of reading Rob's book or putting a smile on his dear sweet face, shoot them the link to the Kickstarter and tell them to hop to!

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robbrownell/invention-is-a-mother

Team Gleason: https://teamgleason.rallybound.org/creative/RobBrownell

From Rob:

Thank you again to everyone for your amazing support of Invention Is a Mother and my Team Gleason ALS fundraiser! It's been a wild ride.

Seeing the interest in my book and getting positive reviews for what I wrote has been first and foremost an incredible relief, given my self-doubt, but beyond that I feel incredibly thankful for everyone's generosity.

All donations to Team Gleason, no matter the size, are a huge help to someone living with ALS, and our combined giving is sure to have a life-changing effect. Team Gleason helped me personally by funding my wheelchair seat elevator. They funded my digital voice so I can continue to communicate with my loved ones and bark commands at my caregivers. ALS can try, but with Team Gleason's help, it won't take that away from me!

---

We raise our glasses to you!

Alessandor, the weepy-once-again editor of Invention Is a Mother

Final week to preorder Invention Is a Mother and to donate to Team Gleason!

If you're the kind of person who works best under pressure, your moment is now! Please donate to Team Gleason and preorder your copy of Invention Is a Mother on Kickstarter while you still have the chance! Both campaigns end this Sunday, June 19, and I'd love to see a strong finish in the final week.

161 copies of Invention Is a Mother have been preordered so far, and the Team Gleason fundraiser sits at $8,728. Finishing with 200 copies sold and $10,000 for Team Gleason would be amazing, and we are incredibly close!

Remember! If you donate $100 and also preorder a copy of my book, you'll get your name listed in the acknowledgments. If thirteen more people generously donate $100 this week, we'll hit $10k! Who wants to be immortalized for a good deed?

All donations, no matter the size, are a huge help to someone living with ALS. Here are some examples of what your contribution could mean:

• $7 covers a smart switch for home automation.

• $30 buys a headset microphone, which is used to record and digitize the voice of someone with ALS while they are still able to speak.

• $50 funds approximately 2 hours of respite care.

• $100 pays for home automation software.

• $350 is enough for an iPad that will help a patient with ALS to communicate when they have difficulty speaking.

• $500 purchases a Surface Pro that can be mounted to a wheelchair and controlled by eye movement.

• $1,000 buys a wheelchair mount for a communication device.

• $2,000 provides an iLevel seat elevator for a wheelchair.

• $5,000 enables a bucket-list adventure.

Your individual contributions will help people living with ALS, and our combined giving can have a life-changing effect. Team Gleason helped me personally by funding my wheelchair seat elevator. They funded my digital voice so I can continue to communicate with my loved ones and bark commands at my caregivers. ALS can try, but with Team Gleason's help, it won't take that away from me!

If you've already donated or are uncomfortable donating to charities, you can still help by sharing my campaigns with a friend or posting on social media, it would mean a lot to me.

Thank you again to everyone for your amazing support of Invention Is a Mother and my Team Gleason ALS fundraiser! It's been a wild ride.

More exciting news from Syllaballistics HQ!

Thank you to everyone who has backed my Kickstarter campaign and my ALS fundraiser. I'm overwhelmed by your support!

I'm excited to report that Bill Burnett, author of Designing Your Life, graciously read an advance copy of Invention Is a Mother and provided an endorsement!

“Fans of oddball science fiction are going to love Rob Brownell’s new novel, Invention Is a Mother. Starting with a quirky cast, an unlikely hero, and a bunch of superfluous technology, Rob crafts a romp through startup land that is fun and moves fast. Invention Is a Mother is potentially the new Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy—be the first one on your block to back the project on Kickstarter and get a copy ahead of what I predict will be a legion of readers.”

—Bill Burnett, Co-Author of Designing Your Life and Designing Your New Work Life

Bill is the executive director of Stanford University's Life Design Lab and is an adjunct professor.

Check out the Merch

Our crack quality assurance team is putting our InAction!! beanies through their paces. You too can be ahead of the style curve! Check out our fantastic gold color offering…

My ALS fundraiser on Team Gleason, my Kickstarter campaign, and your opportunity to preorder Invention Is a Mother all close on June 19 — Lou Gehrig's birthday and Father's Day. Please support my fundraiser and publishing effort.

"I see Dead Wood" T-shirts now available!

We are proud to reveal the T-shirt design created by artist Jack Van Thomme and inspired by Invention Is a Mother:

From Invention Is a Mother:

Noticing movement on his own belly, Shaughnessy discovered Sammy had slipped an advertisement onto his identiTee. The animation featured a hieroglyphically stylized eye plastered across his front. The enormous eyeball swiveled in a socket, studying everyone within range. Above the eye, across his chest, the advertisement read, I see Dead Wood!

How to get yours:

The T-shirt is available as an “add-on” that you can add to your original order. If you’ve already preordered a book, you can change your reward and add the T-shirt, an InAction!! beanie, or a Lean MFG kitchen towel. Also available in a reward combo with the paperback!

These happy looking people can see Dead Wood. Can you?

When someone asks you what the T-shirt means and you’re embarrassed to admit that you don’t know because you haven’t yet read the novel—or never intended to in the first place—just answer, “I’m against deforestation!”

At least you’ll sound environmentally in the know. The full explanation is much more convoluted.

News from Syllaballistics HQ

Great news from our bustling Syllaballistics HQ (my porch)!

I’m starting to receive comments from authors who have read advance copies of Invention Is a Mother. Here’s the first “blurb” that I will proudly display on the back of the novel:

“Rob Brownell’s sharply-written Invention Is a Mother somehow manages to be witty, absurd, playful, imaginative, cynical, sad, compelling, heartfelt, and darkly hilarious all in one. Full of boozy wormholes, sentient appliances, multiple Jesuses, automated buffets, and many other colorful sci-fi abstractions, this book will not only make you think and feel, but also smile.”

— Dan Marshall, author of Home Is Burning

Campaign update…

Many thanks for following Invention Is a Mother and my Team Gleason ALS campaign. The book launch has exceeded 300% of my initial goal and the team Gleason fundraiser is closing in on 300%! Both campaigns run until June 19 and there’s still time to get in on the action if you’ve been on vacation.

More updates to beguile you!

To mark the occasion of reaching 300% of our Kickstarter goal, on Monday, June 6, we’ll be making 25 “signed” copies of the paperback available for preorder. We quickly sold out of the signed hardback limited run, so we’re expecting this new reward tier to go quickly.

On Monday we are also releasing a T-shirt design pulled from the text of the novel. Professional artist Jack Thorne designed the graphics.

Is there more you can do to help?

Yes, please share a link to my Kickstarter campaign on your social media of choice: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robbrownell/invention-is-a-mother

My GIF to you!

Hi, gang!

Lots of cool developments happening behind the scenes! I wanted to let you in on some of the things we're currently working on.

• Production is chugging along on the book! It's currently being formatted, and it looks AMAZING! We introduced some custom design elements we think you'll really appreciate.

• The preorder campaign is SUPER close to 300%!! Like 5% away!!! You guys are fabulous.

• Remember when Rob promised everyone I would do a fun stunt to celebrate 200% on the Kickstarter AND Team Gleason? Well, he told me getting a line from the book tattooed was off the table, but we both love Pink Floyd and cheesy lip syncing, so I am putting together a video of me "performing" The Great Gig in the Sky! Here's a sneak peek:

The Great GIF in the Sky!

• We've got an artist (a real one, not me this time!) working on a new merch design, which we're hoping to share with you later this week!

• And we came up with a funny smear campaign to share on social media, with some silly quotes attributed to various "Critics." Here is a sampling to give you an idea:

The above format is ideal for sites like Twitter, Reddit, and blogs.

The above format is ideal for sites like Instagram and Facebook.

The above format is ideal for sites like Twitter, Reddit, and blogs.

We've got a smattering of other quotes, like, "This book puts the gross in engrossing!" and, "It fills the void in literature between profound and profoundly stupid."

In other news,  June 2 — today! — is Lou Gehrig Day. Lou Gehrig was a Major League Baseball player who had ALS, which used to be called Lou Gehrig's Disease. You can learn more about the man and the day at the Major League Baseball website.

That's all I've got for now! As always, thank you for your contributions! We appreciate it more than we can say!

Alessandor, editor and aspiring professional lip-syncer

New Merch Reveal!!

We've got an extra special surprise available today! InAction!! beanies!

Just in time for summer!

From Rob:

Thank you everyone for supporting my Invention Is a Mother book launch and my Team Gleason fundraiser! We have more than doubled my initial goals on both accounts! In recognition of that achievement, Alessandor will be recording an emotional lip-sync'ed rendition of Pink Floyd’s The Great Gig in the Sky and she’d better be posting that soon.

In celebration of our near future — when AI and robotics and athletics finally coalesce to create exercise equipment and sportswear that can operate without our exhausting participation — this week we are offering InAction!! headgear paired with a paperback copy of the book.

This sporty, soon-to-be stylish beanie features an embroidered InAction!! logo. Early adopters like electric bicycle and Esports enthusiasts will love the sense of movement the dynamic graphics add to their seated positions! A perfect gift for the sedentary athlete in your life. Taoists love them too!

InAction!! and Lean MFG are fictional companies that appear in the text of Invention Is a Mother. Buy them on a lark, preorder your copy of the book to discover what the heck they mean!

From Invention Is a Mother:

His dangling feet stop inches from the stage, above a pair of bunched yoga pants. The pants shimmy their way up his calves, up his thighs, like a serpent swallowing its prey whole.

“Our InAction!! family is extremely proud to present... Self-Actualizing Yoga Pants!” Gloria gestures to redirect attention to her husband, but all eyes are already trained on him.

The crowd can’t help but gasp as the pants cinch tight and mold Walton’s midsection into something resembling a waistline, his backside into perfectly-formed curvature-continuous buttocks.

Get your favorite color! 

The pompoms are easily removed, if you aren't excited to have fluffy bits of thread atop your head!

Many of our plans for merch incorporate brands, products, and startups from the book. We'll be sharing a brief snippet about each when we reveal the designs! Stay tuned for more as our creative team works tirelessly to bring you cool ways to rep your future favorite book!

Stats

The Kickstarter stands at 269% funded! And we've still got 21 days of the preorder campaign to go!

As of today, we've also raised $7, 303 for Team Gleason! That's AMAZING! Our original goal was $3,000. With your help, we've flown way above and beyond. Thank you!!

Rob Brownell Trivia!

While doing research to assemble the Jeopardy game for the launch party—which you can play now at the bottom of this post!—I came across something absolutely amazing!

In this May 1998 interview with Computer Graphics magazine, Douglas Adams praises the Apple Newton for its backlit display, which was at the cutting edge of technology at the time.

The latest Apple Newton has a dpi of 100, is backlit, and already that is making a big difference -- even "real" books don't have the backlit feature!

Why is that a big deal?

Well, Rob actually worked at Apple between 1991 and 1994 as a mechanical engineer, and one of the products he worked on was the Apple Newton! The version Douglas Adams is referring to is obviously a slightly later model. But still, in a sort of indirect way, Douglas Adams was a fan of Rob's work. And I think that's pretty dang cool.

Stats for today

The Kickstarter stands at 264% funded! And we've still got 22 days of the preorder campaign to go!

As of today, we've also raised $7, 303 for Team Gleason! That's AMAZING! Our original goal was $3,000. With your help, we've flown way above and beyond. Thank you!!

To celebrate, we'll be doing a design reveal for a new merch offering from a brand in the book later today! Stay tuned!

Design Reveal: Towel Day Exclusive Towel!

The launch party starts in half an hour! It's free to attend. Details here.

This fun design will be embroidered on kitchen towels!

From Invention Is a Mother:

"Welcome! I’m Dorothea. Here at Lean MFG we say, ‘The G stands for gourmet!’ We specialize in vegetables,” she said.

“We begin our preparation by working through the issues that might negatively affect flavor. We counsel the vegetables about their fears of being flayed, dismembered, boiled alive, and eaten and have group sessions for those suffering PTSD from insect infestations. We reassure all our ingredients that they’re going to a better place, which, admittedly, is a matter of perspective.

"We don’t serve genetically modified vegetables.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “They think they’re a superior race. It only encourages them.”

---

Many of our plans for merch incorporate brands, products, and startups from the book. We'll be sharing a brief snippet about each when we reveal the designs! Stay tuned for more as our creative team works tirelessly to bring you cool ways to rep your future favorite book!