While working on her book, Frog Toes and Tentacles, a collection of weird erotic vignettes
for Subterranean Press, author
Caitlín R. Kiernan discovered that she very much enjoyed writing
these short erotic works. The MerViSS Project is a continuation of Caitlín’s
exploration of the fusion of erotic literature with elements of dark fantasy
and science fiction, creating brief, dreamlike fictions.
2. What does MErViSS stand for? Why Sirenia?
Monthly erotic vignette subscription service. The acronym was jokingly
suggested by Bev Vincent,
but appealed to Caitlín’s inner NASA geek, so it stuck. As for Sirenia,
not only does Caitlín have a fondness for dugongs and manatees, the
title is a reference to John William Waterhouse's exquisite painting, The
Siren.
3. What do you mean by "darkly fantastical erotica"?
The vignettes in Sirenia Digest will weave together elements of
erotica, dark fantasy, science fiction, horror, and various schools of fantasy.
Think H. R. Giger meets H. P. Lovecraft meets Anaïs Nin...sort
of.
4. What is a vignette?
Vignette (Webster’s 10): 3a) a short descriptive literary sketch; 3b)
a brief incident or scene. Generally, the vignettes included in Sirenia
Digest will average 1,000-3,000 words in length.
5. How do I subscribe?
That’s easy. Just click "subscribe" on the front
page, which will take you to the subscription page.
Then click the subscription PayPal button. Subscribers will automatically
be charged $10 each month and may cancel their subscriptions at any time
and may also resubscribe at any time.
6. What does my subscription include? How does MErViSS work?
Once each month, all subscribers will receive by e-mail a PDF (Portable
Document Format) including two vignettes and at least one illustration.
Four times a year, both vignettes will be illustrated. You will also receive
special coupons and discounts from our sponsor, Subterranean Press, and be
included in monthly drawings for prizes (monster doodle sculptures, books,
etc.). You will need Adobe Reader to open and read the PDFs, a programme
which can be downloaded for free at Adobe.com,
if your PC or Mac doesn’t already have a PDF reader (and it probably does).
All fees collected from subscribers go directly to Caitlín and will
comprise a significant portion of her income during the writing of her next
novel.
Space pirates are forcing her. Also, after finishing Frog Toes and
Tentacles, Caitlín discovered she had a desire to continue writing
the sort of material she’d done for the book. Seeing the large number of
pre-orders for FT&T and realizing that a market for these vignettes
existed, it occurred to her that a monthly subscription service would give
her that opportunity and also provide some supplemental income while she
writes her next novel.
9. Will the vignettes in Sirenia ever appear
in print form?
A portion of the material will be collected in print by Subterranean Press
and released as follow-up volumes to the Frog Toes and Tentacles
collection. However, the print collections will contain only a fraction
of the material available to subscribers (less than 50%), and only
subscribers will have access to the sneak previews, bonus material, and be
included in the monthly drawings.
11. What if I want to cancel my subscription?
Simply use the "cancel my subscription" button on the webpage.
12. When will my subscription begin?
Your subscription begins as soon as you subscribe. New PDFs will be mailed
out on the 10th of each month (or sometime thereabouts). If you subscribe
sometime after the 10th, your subscription will still begin with that month’s
PDF.
13. What is Frog Toes and Tentacles? How can
I order it?
Frog Toes and Tentacles is a volume of erotic vignettes written by
Caitlín in the spring of 2005 during a fit of absinthe and animal
cracker induced delirium, published by Subterranean Press in November 2005,
and illustrated by Vince Locke. It
may only be purchased directly from Subterranean Press.
14. Can I expect occasional non-erotic content?
Yes. From time to time, Caitlín will include excerpts from new
novels and short stories, as well as reprints of older material, poetry,
non-fiction, etc.
15. Will there be artwork?
Yes. Various professional illustrators will provide illustrations for
the vignettes in the PDF digests. A new artist will be be employed approximately
every six months.
16. Will there be fan/slash fic?
No. These will be all-original vignettes, using characters created by
Caitlín. There will be no slash or fan fic, even if Caitlín
really would prefer to spend all her time writing Nebari porn and Deadwood/Farscape
slash.
17. Will my e-mail address be shared with or sold
to other services/companies?
Absolutely not. All subscriber info will be strictly confidential!
18. What’s this I hear about Caitlín taking
requests?
Beginning with the third or fourth issue, Caitlín will choose one
suggestion/request per month from a subscriber and write a vignette based
upon it. The subscriber will be acknowledged and receive a Secret Prize.
19. I hate reading off computer screens. Will I be able to print the PDFs?
Yes.
20. Should I feel naughty for reading this stuff?
Depends on your definition of naughty. The content of the Sirenia Digest
is expressly intended for mature readers.