City of Roses
A serialized phantastick on the ten thousand things & the one true only.

also available at the following fine establishments:

Powell’s City of Books • Spectator Books • Bookshop.org • itch.io • Payhip • IPRC • Multnomah County Library • OverDrive

or just about anywhere else book-shaped objects might be found

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City of Roses is an epic urban fantasy firmly set in Portland, Oregon—a wicked concoction of the urban pastoral and the incantatory fantastic, where knights are dubbed in Forest Park, and duels are fought in Pioneer Square, where union meetings are beseiged by ghost bicycles, and the Devil keeps a morgue in an abandoned big-box store. —It’s the story of Jo Maguire, a highly strung, underemployed telemarketer, and what happens when she meets Ysabel, a princess of unspecified pedigree. Jo rather unexpectedly becomes Ysabel’s guardian and caretaker, and now must make a place for herself among Ysabel’s decidedly unusual family and friends—which involves rather more sword-play than most of us are used to, these days.

The story is published in novelette-sized zines, on paper, and online: 46 so far, to date. These novelettes are then collected in paperback and ebook collections, of which four have been published so far: “Wake up…”, The Dazzle of Day, In the Reign of Good Queen Dick, and —or Betty Martin.

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Covers

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“Wake up...”
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The Dazzle of Day.
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In the Reign of Good Queen Dick.
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or Betty Martin.
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Author Photos

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Illustration by Jenn Manley Lee.
Illustration by Jenn Manley Lee

Recent selfie.
Recent selfie

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PORTLAND, August 18 – Twenty years ago, the first installment of City of Roses was posted online, and published as a paper ’zine. Since then, the acclaimed urban fantasy serial has grown to encompass 47 novelettes collected in four fat paperback volumes, over 710,000 words firmly set in a Portland where duels are fought in Pioneer Square, and ancient sea-gods retire to close-in Southeast apartments with lovely views—and a 48th novelette is just around the corner.

To celebrate, Supersticery Press is pleased to announce a twentieth anniversary hardcover edition of volume 1 of the serial, “Wake up…” This is a fully re-designed edition collecting the first eleven novelettes, with a printed cover showcasing the original photograph that adorns the paperback, and an austerely elegant dust jacket. This hardcover edition will be released on Tuesday, October 13th, and is already available for pre-order through Ingram.

Bookslut has called the overall epic an “entire, swirling, beautiful mess.” and the Web Fiction Guide said it’s “utterly captivating” and “brilliant.” The Guardian said, “City of Roses is an absorbing read that many fantasy fans will enjoy immensely,” and the Oregonian once called it, “just another Portland story.” Please address any questions to Kip Manley, at kipmanley@yahoo.com.

Printing proof for the dust jacket of volume 1.

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