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Blood Lies: A Collection of 7 Brotherhood of Blood Shorts

Created by J.S. Living

Lies and secrets cause Anastasia, Voica, Islyn, Indigo, Rimi, Mihnea, and Mihrihmah to go on journeys that will change their lives forever. Urban fantasy X Historical Fiction.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Pre-Order Store is Up and Running, Stretch Goals are Back, and my New Campaign Starts Soon!
8 months ago – Tue, Oct 07, 2025 at 06:09:40 AM

Hey, hey Bloodlings! I hope you're all happy, healthy, and wealthy!

From yesterday evening until about five minutes ago, I was setting up the BackerKit survey for you all when I realized something: Some of you might have missed the campaign!

This made me think about what I could do to ensure you get a chance to snag a copy of Blood Lies before it releases in stores. Plus, I thought we could still aim to unlock that $1500 Stretch Goal!

So, after great thought, I think I came to three suitable conclusions.

Option 1: Pre-Order Store on BK
The first, is the pre-order store ran through BackerKit! If you want to get items that were exclusive to this campaign, this is the best way to get them before rewards are distributed in March 2026. I'll honor any of the funding amounts for Stretch Goals we hit before I close the pre-order store!

What does this mean?

We have until 11 November before I close the pre-order store, and we're only $467 away from the $1500 stretch goal! If we hit it, I'll still give y'all the two additional print options.

And!

If we hit any of the other goals, I'll honor those too. To recap, here's what those stretch goals were:
 

Option 2: November Audiobook Campaign on BK
Now, if you're not into those rewards, but you still want to get an early copy, there is also the option to support my upcoming audiobook campaign in November. The goodies for that campaign will be slightly different than the ones for Blood Lies, but the book is definitely one of the rewards.



Option 3: Pre-Order on my Website
The third option is the simplest solution, but it's also the one with the least amount of perks. Once all rewards are distributed for the Blood Lies Book Campaign and the Blood Ties Audiobook Campaign, I plan to put Blood Lies up for pre-orders on my website. That should take place around August or September 2026, about one to two months before the retail release (unless circumstances cause me to push up or push back the release).

Regardless of which option works for you, I hope you're able to grab an early copy of Blood Lies and get all the rewards you want!

Last, I'm excited to say that a sample of Those Bloody Recipes is now available for download! All you have to do is follow the Blood Ties Audiobook Campaign and you can be eating bloody good food. In addition, there's already polls and discussions available on launch party. If you want to get ahead of the competition, and vote on polls, now's the time. Have a great day!

XOXO

J.S. Living

We Did It! Time to Re-...I mean Work!
8 months ago – Wed, Oct 01, 2025 at 06:00:18 AM

Hey, hey Bloodlings! I hope you're happy, healthy, and wealthy!

Yesterday evening, we finished out this campaign with 38 backers and we hit $1033 in funding! Y'all, I am so grateful that you showed up for me and believed in this project. I'm even more astounded and excited that we were able to hit not one, but two of the Stretch Goals!

Even more amazing than that is that every single Printopia Campaign funded with a collective 291k in funds, and every digital zine was unlocked. You all did great. So, once again: Thank you!

I'm sending this email today because I didn't want to bombard you with another one yesterday after the craziness of Overtime. But, now that everything is finished, here's some things you need to know. No TLDR this time, please read everything in its entirety and contact me via BackerKit or email ([email protected]) if you have questions, comments, or concerns.

So, here's what's next:

1. Payment methods began charging yesterday and will continue charging today and probably tomorrow. You'll receive an email saying it was accepted or declined. If declined, BackerKit will explain how to fix the issue (it's usually as simple as changing the card on file). If your card declines, you'll want to fix this sooner rather than later.

2. I'm planning to sleep for a long time, sooo...

3. Just kidding.

4. In all seriousness, I'll begin working on the backend things (like putting together your surveys; getting quotes; ordering things; and, of course, writing, editing, and publishing the book.) Expect your survey to go out between January and March of 2026. I can't plan for everything, so I gave myself plenty of time to deliver quality products to you. That said, if something changes, whether things move faster or slower, I will send out updates to keep you apprised. You can view the updated timeline for these things on the FAQ page, which I plan to update as the project moves along and dates shift.

Blood Ties Audiobook Campaign: 

Quick reminder that I'm running another campaign in November for Blood Ties the Audiobook. My goal is to, eventually, turn all my books into audio so I can reach a wider audience and we can build an even larger community. I'll continue sending reminders about the audiobook campaign in these updates up until it ends on 3 December. If you all show up for the Blood Ties audiobook campaign the way you did for Blood Lies, I have no doubt we can make it successful!

Oh, and did I mention:
  •  The audiobook campaign already has samples up! You can check them out by following visiting my website (www.thejsliving.com/audio)! 
  • If you follow the Blood Ties audiobook campaign, you'll receive a sample recipe book containing foods from the Danube region: the place where the characters in Blood Ties are originally from! The recipe book isn't ready yet, but it will be soon. 
  • Of course, if you back the project, you'll get the entire recipe book for FREE! The recipe book is a limited time deal and will be exclusive to the Blood Ties audiobook campaign until 2027. 
  • For $3, you can reserve a spot on the campaign and get a set of Three (3) Oracle cards! 
  • Some polls and discussions are already up, so you can begin voting and discussing things like Early Bird Rewards, Returning Backer Rewards, why you love audiobooks, etc. And, just like with the Blood Lies Campaign, whoever has backed the project and is at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the campaign will receive a special prize! Same for the top team! 

Whaaaat??? We hit the $1000 Stretch Goal!
8 months ago – Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 01:41:28 PM

Hey, hey Bloodlings! We hit the stretch goal!

It looks like we did it! We hit the $1000 stretch goal, which means there's an extra story being added to the book just for you! As I said earlier, since this story will be exclusive to this campaign, it's going to come with the book as an insert.

I'm going to attach a poll to this update later to see which story you want, so watch this space!


And now, OMG, we're in Overtime!

So, what this means is that anytime someone backs a project in the Nightfall group, another ten minutes gets added to the campaign.

Let's see if we can unlock Stretch Goal #2 during the BackerKit Train!
Because at $1500, I can offer two more digital print options to you, for a total of seven prints! And, if we somehow manage to get to $2000, there are some digital coloring pages in your future.

Remember: If you'd like to get Blood Lies, it's now or never! Keep the BackerKit Train going by donating to mine and Shiloh's campaigns!

Thank you everyone! Let's keep making this a successful campaign!

One Hour Left and a One Hour Video: Let's Reach $1000!
8 months ago – Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 11:46:34 AM

Hey, hey Bloodlings!

As we embark on this last hour of the campaign, I wanted to share something with you:
The first video of my Cooking with J.S. Living segment on YouTube!

A little while ago I asked y'all to follow me on YouTube so I could be able to Live Stream. I'm still not at 50 followers, but that's okay. Why? I realized the 50 follower rule is just to stream on your phone! LOL.

Now, to be honest, it would be more convenient for me to stream from my phone than from my computer whilst cooking, but I'm not going to let that stop me from making my videos. So, I'll either keep posting the way I am, or find a way to set my laptop up in a convenient way in the kitchen. Either way, I'm going to get her done!



Now, to be honest, I'm not great with short form content. Just look at my Instagram page. So, of course, my video is like, an hour long. But! I edited it myself, and I'm pretty darn proud that I was able to shave it from 1.5 hours to just 1 hour. So, in this last hour of the campaign, if you've already pledged, would you like to see the thing? 👀👀👀

And, if you haven't pledged, what are you waiting for? 👀👀👀 This is the last hour to get exclusive perks and rewards! After today, you won't be able to have your name in Blood Lies, and you'll have to pay the full retail price for the book.  Besides, we're only $74 away from the $1000 stretch goal! Don't you want to help me pay the editors so this book can be shiny and pristine when it's done?

I'm just saying...now is the time!   



Okay. The other thing I wanted to tell you in this update is that I messed up on the set up of the Returning Backer rewards.

I said that the returning backer reward would be the Vampire Teeth pin. But, somehow, the Challenge Coin was set up instead. Now, even though it says Challenge Coin, I can still give you the vampire teeth pin instead and just mark it as a note.

 
But, I thought that, since this was my mistake, it would be better to leave the decision to you.

So, when I send out the surveys in 2026, if you're a returning backer:

  • I'm going to try to add the question into your survey. 
  • If I'm unable to do that, then I'll send the returning backers a personal email asking their preference of the Challenge Coin or the Vampire Teeth Pin. 
  • Alternatively, you can also just email me about whichever one you want or leave a comment on this update. Whichever you fancy.

Again, I want to apologize for this, but I do think this is the best way to make it fair.

If you backed my last project, but haven't pledged to this one yet, what's stopping you? 

Please let me know so I can see if there's something I can do to persuade you that helping a Black, indie author at $5 per eBook is the best course of action. Because 1) you now have a choice between two really cool items for coming back! 2)  3)I'm still hoping to crack these stretch goals. 

Last: Thank you! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support! I appreciate every single one of you and hope we can continue making amazing things together! I'll send one more email tomorrow and then I'm taking a short break to set up things on the back end. Have a great week! 

Less than 24 Hours to Earn Prizes, Reach Stretch Goals, and Get Blood Lies!
8 months ago – Mon, Sep 29, 2025 at 11:11:25 PM

Hey, hey Bloodlings!

Wow! I don't know if y'all have noticed, but we went from $750ish to almost $1000 in a day! But we're not quite at a thousand yet. We're still short about $100. I'm really hopeful that we'll make it and maybe even get as far as the extra two art prints at $1500.

But if even if we don't: Thank you!

I am ecstatic and amazed at how great you all have been. Truly. The amount of support is humbling. So, thank you. I don't know how many times I'm going to say it, but I feel like I need to so I can stress how much I appreciate y'all! 

Okay. That's all for the tears. I have a few more update-y things to tell y'all before the end of this campaign.

Here's the TLDR/BLUFF: The Prizes offered to the Leaderboard Team and Top Contributor include puzzles and metal bookmarks. I'm hopeful that we might be able to hit the $1000 and $1500 Stretch Goals in these last few hours. A gentle reminder that this is the last chance to get Blood Lies and the other campaign rewards. After today, any purchases for Blood Lies will be at full price. I'm one of the participants in The Book Bazaar, so I've got one more campaign this year: The audio production of Blood Ties: A Collection of Three Covenant of Blood Shorts.

Alright, let's get into it!

Prizes 

Thank you all for participating in Trivia Challenge! This was my first time doing it and, though it didn't yield the results I wanted (heated debates and passionate discussions, lol), I am happy to see that several of you took part. It means a lot to me that you took time to interact with the polls, questions, and discussions.

Now, at the beginning of the campaign, I promised a prize to the winning team members and one Grand Prize for the Trivia Champion. I never did reveal what the prize would be. So, today, I'm happy to reveal the Trivia Champion Prize and the Team Prize!

Trivia Champion Prize
To the Trivia Champion Prize Winner, I will bestow:
  • one (1) Covenant of Blood Puzzle; and 
  • one (1) metal bookmark ($31.98 in retail). 

View available variants of the bookmarks here, on my website or go to https://www.thejsliving.com/forreaders. Unfortunately, the Love is Forever Bookmark is only available if you choose to pay an additional $5. 

Trivia Team Prize
Each person on the winning Trivia Team will receive:
  • one (1) metal bookmark ($13.99 in retail). 

Choose between Angelo, The PI, Lizzy, and Liz. View available variants of the bookmarks here, on my website or go to https://www.thejsliving.com/forreaders. Unfortunately, the Love is Forever Bookmark is only available if you choose to pay an additional $5. 

Stretch Goals

I'm so happy to say that we've almost reached our second stretch goal! If we can get the last $99, I can include an eighth short story just for you. So, in these last few hours, let's try to make it happen! And, if by some miracle we hit $1500, I'll be able to throw in two more art print options. For clarity, these are the five prints currently available:


Currently, the other two characters are only available in the actual book. But, at $1500, we can unlock prints of them! And, of course, as the book moves closer to completion, I'll be able to show you the colorized version of these.

Last Chance

I'm putting you on notice: This is your last chance to back my project before the prices increase. It's your last chance to get any special rewards or items that are BackerKit specific, like:
  • the Challenge Coin (vote on the design!) for early backers, 
  • the Vampire Pins for returning backers, or 
  • the resin bookmarks for cross-collab backers.


After today, the prices will increase. Now, I do have a few extras of some of these rewards, so there's a small chance you can get them during my next campaign in November, but they only exist until supplies run out. And, this may be that day.

So, don't chance it! Don't miss out! Uncover the Lies and Pledge today!

Oh, yeah, my next Campaign!

I was actually going to wait a bit longer before I announced this, but I guess now is as good a time as any: My next campaign is only one short month away from now!

The Book Bazaar

For my new campaign, I'll be participating in The Book Bazaar, a crowdfunding effort created by, for, and with indies in mind.

Join a variety of authors, small press, and indie publishers as we celebrate all things book with a number of simultaneous literary crowdfunding campaigns. Find your new favorite author, series, anthology, or stand-alone at The Book Bazaar event running November 12th, 2025 to December 3rd, 2025.

Here you won’t find just novels, you’ll also find projects funding audiobooks, anthologies, poetry, picture books, comics, and more!

Don’t miss out! Subscribe to get notified of when The Book Bazaar launches, last-minute reminders, and collective project updates!

Blood Ties: A Collection of Three Covenant of Blood Shorts the Audiobook Campaign

Do you love audiobooks? Do you want to support BIPOC creators? Do you want to immerse yourself in urban fantasy and historical fiction?

Then check out my campaign for Blood Ties: A Collection of Three Covenant of Blood Shorts the Audiobook!

Blood Ties the Audiobook is a short story collection turned audiobook production that blends urban fantasy with historical fiction.

Anyone can read Blood Ties since it's part of a series of interconnected standalones, which means you can enjoy it without reading the introduction novel. Previous fans of The Covenant of Blood will enjoy these additional stories in their new format; and new fans will be introduced to the Bloodlines Series. 

Why did Liz want to take control of Lizzy's body? What happened to Dmitri on that fateful night he and Lizzy were separated? And why did Angelo follow through with a wedding he was forced into?

If you've ever wondered about the answers to these questions in The Covenant of Blood, or if you're just looking for a couple of fun short stories to read, today is your lucky day. All these questions, and more, will be answered in Blood Ties: A Collection of Three Covenant of Blood Shorts.

Follower Reward

If you follow the project between today and 11 November, you'll get access to a sample of the Bloodlines Recipe Book. And, if you back the project once the campaign starts, you'll get access to the full recipe book! Each recipe will be personally tested by me, and you can watch me try them out online via YouTube:

Early Bird Reward

Plus, if you missed the Early Bird reward for Blood Lies, you have a second chance to grab a Challenge Coin by pledging early to the Blood Ties Audiobook. These one of a kind Challenge Coins will only be available for 2025, so you don't want to miss out. 

Cross-Collab

I also have a new cross-collab partner for this project: Sword and Spiral Press! They're funding The Dark Side of Super the Audiobook, which is a collection of dark, gritty, short stories with a realistic takes on super powers that will shock you with their conclusions. We're cooking up a goodie to give you (no pun intended) and it will be announced when the campaign starts on 12 November. 


Reservation Reward

And, I'm doing something new for this campaign: If you reserve a spot for $3, you recieive a collection of three (3) Oracle cards! But, you have to pledge to receive the reward.

So, what are you waiting for? 

It's time for you to Listen to the Voices, and Find Your Family Ties! Follow the Blood Ties Audiobook so you can be the one of the first people to hear the stories come to life!