LFL might branch out with Children of Blood and Bone adaptation

Lucasfilm might soon be expanding outside its two signature franchises. Deadline reports that Disney may be handing off an adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone, one of last year’s big YA fantasy releases, to Lucasfilm.

The book was originally picked up by Fox 2000, which is now owned by Disney. Writer Kay Oyegun (This Is Us) is “making a deal” to write the film, which will be directed by Rick Famuyiwa, one of The Mandalorian’s directors. (He’s also rumored to be doing more Mandalorian and in the mix for the Cassian show, so clearly LFL likes what they’ve seen. )

Lucasfilm has done projects outside of Star Wars and Indiana Jones before – most recently Strange Magic – but this would be the first produced and developed since the Disney purchase.

Athena’s Daughters 2 highlights women, diversity in speculative fiction

athenas-daughters-2Today marks the launch of the Kickstarter for Athena’s Daughters 2, a collection of short speculative fiction by diverse women about diverse women. In Athena’s Daughters 2, publisher Silence in the Library set out for the second time to produce an anthology where women were involved in all aspects of the creative process, from the artists to the authors, the editors to the project managers. We hope that you will support this exciting short story collection of science fiction and fantasy by some wonderful writers.

A year ago, Silence in the Library ran a Kickstarter for the first Athena’s Daughters anthology. That successful campaign funded the first anthology, a companion anthology, Apollo’s Daughters (stories about women, but written by men), and the production for Athena’s Daughters 2. For Athena’s Daughters 2, Silence in the Library had an open call for submissions.

I was thrilled and honored to have a story accepted to this amazing anthology. Athena’s Daughters 2 marks my first published fiction since the Star Wars stories I wrote with Club Jade co-founder Chris Cassidy for Tales of the New Republic and Star Wars Gamer.

Athena’s Daughters 2 has many other ties to Club Jade. CJer Elizabeth Bridges also has a story featured in the anthology, her first original fiction story!

athenas-pennyblossomJanine Spendlove, also a CJer, co-edits Athena’s Daughters 2. Janine, an active KC-130 pilot in the United States Marine Corps, is the author of the War of the Seasons trilogy. She co-founded Geek Girls Run with, among others, BrightCopperPenny, another CJer, and maker of Penny Blossoms. If you check out the Kickstarter page, you’ll see the special Penny Blossom that BrightCopperPenny designed just for Athena’s Daughters 2; it’s available both as a $15 add-on and for a $22 pledge!

Silence of the Library has published many CJ alums and friends, including Janine, Bryan Young, Ron Garner, Mike Stackpole, Tim Zahn, and the late Aaron Allston.

I hope you’ll click through to read more about this amazing project and watch the hilarious musical video that accompanies it, complete with filking, chorus line kicks, and Vegas-style showgirls! Athena’s Daughters 2 needs your support.

McCaffrey’s Pern books optioned for movies again

pernIt seems like the Pern books get optioned every couple years, and nothing ever comes of it… But you never know. Today, it’s Warner Bros., in need of a fresh franchise, who’ve nabbed the rights to Anne McCaffrey’s classic sci-fi (with dragons!) series, Deadline reports.

I was a big fan of Pern as a kid, and even wrote up a guide to reading them in 2011. Hell, I just realized the other day these books are basically my personal equivalent to Lord of the Rings… But I’m never sure how to feel when the possibilities of movies (or TV shows) come up. Not sure if want?

Her Universe announces Marvel products

Her Universe Marvel

Her Universe has announced the first wave of their new Marvel line! There’s more coming, including a Loki dress, Ashley Eckstein tells The Daily Dot. A Black Widow hoodie will be available at San Diego Comic Con. And Ashley herself will be voicing Dagger of Cloak and Dagger in the animated Ultimate Spider-Man.

The line is also part of Marvel’s own “Characters and Creators” initiative, which is targeting women and girls. (The new Ms. Marvel is an earlier example.)

Have Marvel and Her Universe made an alliance?

We know that Her Universe is expecting to announce several new liscensees, and if this Captain America shirt (prematurely?) available for order on ThinkGeek is any indication, Marvel is indeed one of them. Unless Ashley is suddenly modeling other lines… (Via @Shadadukal)

Note the shirt itself looks pretty familiar… (h/t @Jessin2D)

UPDATE: And here’s a Captain America tank at Hot Topic. (h/t @brownjawa)