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News Archives: Dead Endings


The End of Off*Beat

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Sparkler update: The end of Off*Beat!

This is it–after years and years of waiting, the final chapter of Off*Beat is up on the site now! We can hardly believe it’s over–after waiting for an ending for so long, wanting to see things finally get resolved for Tory and Colin…at least 50% of the Sparkler staff has been reduced to tears this week.

*sniff*

Anyway! Are you already a Sparkler subscriber? You can read the final chapter right here, right now.

Or, if you were waiting for the series to be over before reading, head to the series page to start from the beginning.

Not yet a subscriber? You can fix that right here!

Plus, we’re currently taking preorders for the print version of Off*Beat volume 3! There’s still a lot of work to be done before we have the finished paperback in hand, but if you’d like to buy it now and then get a sweet surprise in the mail in early July, you can use the links below.

Volume 3 alone

The complete series (books 1-3)

Both the single book and the set can be bought alone, or in a special deluxe edition with a keychain, postcard, new buttons, etc.

We’ve also extended the deadline on the big Off*Beat contest to the end of April! Read about it here.

Thank you SO MUCH to all the fans who’ve made this possible. Getting to rescue a series that we all love so much, that never got an ending–it’s been such an incredible experience, and we couldn’t have done it without the support of so many great Off*Beat fans who wanted to read the ending just as much as we did.

Anyway, once you manage to tear yourself away from Off*Beat, we’ve got another great update for you–Dusk in Kalevia volume 4 is up for subscribers!

And last week’s chapter of Dead Endings is now free to read for a limited time.

Thanks guys, and we hope you enjoy the ending :D



End of an Era

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Jeez… It honestly feels a little surreal, but this month brings the long-awaited end of Off*Beat. The second half of Off*Beat Chapter 18, plus a short epilogue, goes up on April 18th, and then that’s it! I’ll talk more about this in other venues this month (i.e. tumblr), but it’s going to be almost exactly 10 years since Off*Beat officially started production (it was one of the first things I worked on at TOKYOPOP), and now we’re finally getting to the finale. *wipes away a tear* Jen and I are both really excited to bring you the conclusion to this series, but it’s a little sad to see it go! But fear not, there’s definitely more from Jen on the horizon…

Anyway, in honor of the end of an era, we’ve got a great Off*Beat contest running, courtesy of superfan  wonder1440! Test your knowledge and win a Sparkler Monthly subscription! (Which will be added to your current subscription if you’re already a subscriber, of course!)

Mind you, there are plenty of new things springing up around here as well! We’ve got a new short story in the comics department–Alexis Cooke channels some quality josei vibes in Dinner Ditz, which was described internally as “SO F#&%ING CUTE.” Plus we’ve got some sexy lady pin-ups coming from the amazing rem as our subscriber exclusive this month, and your regularly scheduled updates of Dusk in Kalevia and Tokyo Demons Audio.

But I’m personally extra excited about a double-dose of Dead Endings, with a chapter in Week 2 and Week 4 of the month!  If you haven’t checked out this fabulous, hilarious, and deeply creepy NYC ghost story, this is a great time to jump on board!

Spring is in full bloom, and we here at Sparkler are happy to watch all our various series grow and flourish along with it!

 



A month of romance!

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It’s a huge month for us here at Sparkler–we’ve got all four of our prose series updating, a new chapter of Awake, and a new chapter of Off*Beat! 

And for our subscriber exclusive this month, Jess Chavez brings us a Dead Endings side-story about what our favorite spirit hunters do on the most romantic night of the year. (BTW, while planning this story, we had a little internal discussion about our favorite Valentine’s experiences, and mine involved drinking heavily with some college friends while watching men’s Olympic figure skating. It was awesome! But not nearly as awesome as what Gabriella and Cailen are up to…)

In other news, we’re looking for audio pitches, so if you’re a fan of Japanese drama CDs, or you’re part of the Welcome to Night Vale craze and want to try your hand crafting something to tickle the ears of Sparkler subscribers and make their hearts go pitter-pat, this is your chance! Becca, our head of audio, is fielding questions in the forum all month, and our general guidelines can be found here as well:  (http://sparklermonthly.com/submissions-questions/)

Also, winners have been chosen in our January Fanart contest, but the Valentine’s Fanart Prompt will run all through this month, ending in a raffle on March 1st. Read all about it here: http://sparklermonthly.com/forums/topic/monthly-prompt-challenge-2-february/  We got some amazing submissions the first time around, and we’re all eager to see more!

Happy Valentine’s Day!





New series: Dead Endings!

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Sparkler Monthly is proud to announce our newest series, debuting right now in Issue #005: Dead Endings, a light novel by Jessica Chavez and Irene Flores! This darkly funny ghost story/mystery/thriller follows a trio of NYC university students–all of whom have limited contact with the supernatural–as they investigate a series of strange murders in the Big Apple. Cussing and drinking abound! Chapter 1 is available now to subscribers, and the paywall will come down (and stay down) next Friday for free reading. Enjoy!

Unfortunately, we’re sad to also announce that Dire Hearts will be going on indefinite hiatus due to the health of Christy Lijewski (creator). You can read more details here. We wish her a speedy recover so she can return to her wonderful comic.

This weekend is the last time your posts on the forum count toward our December raffle, so get in there and get chatty for your chance to win prizes! And as mentioned last week, the coupon code sparkler2013 at check-out gets you 10% off your order (subscriptions not included) until the end of the year.

Enjoy the rest of Issue #005 this month, including the great Sparkler holiday card and bookmarks from Romy for subscribers. And have a lovely holiday and new year!