"Rescue Sirens" Summer Splash 2018 May 1, 2018 00:00

From Jess: 

Happy Mer-May, everyone! Whether you shell-ebrate by participating in (or simply enjoying the products of) artist Tom Bancroft's swell mermaid-themed drawing prompts on Instagram, flaunting your favorite siren-inspired fashions, getting your tail on at the pool or the beach, or just adding a lot of salt to your nightly bath, it's a fin-omenal month for mermaid fans. Chris and I like to run some sort of contest or giveaway to commemorate Mer-May, and this year is no exception!

For 2018, we're giving away five different prize packs to help you get ready for summer, showcasing a unique sample version of one our brand-new beach towels. Each of our main Rescue Sirens has her very own towel design, and you can enter to win your favorite! Each winner will also receive an enamel pin and stickers featuring his or her favorite Siren, and a couple of other "Rescue Sirens" goodies.




On Instagram:









The fine print: you must have a United States mailing address (or a friend who has one) so we can ship the prize pack to you if you win. Your Instagram account must be public so we can see your entry. The "Rescue Sirens" Splash Into Summer Giveaway is not affiliated with or endorsed by Instagram in any way, shape, or form. The five winners (one for each character) will be selected at random and announced on Wednesday, May 16th, 2018. Prizes will be shipped out before the end of Mer-May.

Good luck and best fishes to all of you! We're looking forward to helping you start your summer off with a splash.

"Rescue Sirens" beach towels and Mer-May 2018! April 27, 2018 14:00

From Jess: 

Spring is in full swing, and with it comes the most fin-tastic month of the year: Mer-May! This year, we're going to debut the collection of "Rescue Sirens" beach towels that we teased last year. These are a particular favorite of mine when it comes to our merchandise!

A sneak peek? Why, I thought you'd never ask!




Not only will we be making the towels available for purchase on our website, but we'll also be offering a few of them as freebies as part of our yearly Mer-May giveaway. I'll have more details for you in next week's blog post, but the gist of it is this: by sharing an image of your favorite Rescue Siren on Instagram, you'll be entered to win that character's sample beach towel (along with a few siren-y summer surprises). There will be five winners in all!

In addition to the beach towels, we'll be adding a few new shirt designs to our online store, launching our corresponding Etsy page (which is where we'll also be selling our apparel as well as our enamel pins, vinyl stickers, and other tiny treasures), and stocking more copies of our young adult novel "Rescue Sirens: The Search for the Atavist" on Amazon.

As I type this, a big boxful of our water-resistant children's book, "Rescue Sirens and the Great Fish Round-Up," is making its way to an Amazon fulfillment center, too! Once this shipment is delivered and processed (which can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks), you'll finally be able to get your hands on this gorgeously-illustrated picture book for younger "Rescue Sirens" fans (or for older fans who, like us, love artist Dylan Bonner's work). Watch this space to find out when you can order yours!

This is always an exciting time of year; I'm usually burning the midnight oil coming up with merchandise for San Diego Comic-Con in July, and, as I send out design files and receive products in return, it feels like Christmas! We have some goodies in the works that Chris and I really hope you'll like as much as we do. Keep your fins crossed that we can get everything done on time!

Night Swimming March 30, 2018 17:30

From Jess: 

I've been sitting on these photos of me in my Nim tail for many moons, but, with International Mermaid Day falling yesterday, I decided to (finally) get around to (somewhat) color-correcting them and sharing the first one on our Instagram account. I think there are few things I'm worse at than consistent image color-correction (maybe parallel parking), and the photos from this shoot were extra challenging for me because they were both underwater and at night. Yikes!

(Click to enlarge.)

I've had underwater photos taken several times, but this is the first time I've worked with my husband and "Rescue Sirens" co-author, Chris! He wanted to test out his new underwater camera housing, and I was happy to get some in-tail practice while we were at it. I did a terrible job during the day, but, when we got back in the pool that night, I relaxed and -- like magic -- the photos turned out worlds better!

Chris and I were both effectively blind, since the pool that we were in lacked lights and thus our only illumination was the camera flash, but, as you can see, we got a few really amazing shots. This is what I imagine the Rescue Sirens would look like while hanging out in the Diving Belle's pool during their late-night get-togethers! I can't wait for our next opportunity to take underwater mermaid photos like this.

As always, I have Merbella Studios to thank for my gorgeous Nim tail.

2018 MERchandise ideas February 28, 2018 23:42

From Jess:  

Holy mackerel! Another month has gone by in a flash -- to be fair, of course, February is the shortest month. Still, it seems like I was just writing last month's blog post!

A fellow San Diego Comic-Con exhibitor once remarked to us, "Comic-Con is either a year away or a month away." Truer words were never spoken! You break down your booth at SDCC, relieved that you can get a full night's sleep and start eating a real lunch again but simultaneously sad that it'll be another twelve months before you can see all your con friends again... and then you turn around and it's already time to start getting ready for the next one. While we won't have a new "Rescue Sirens" book with us for SDCC 2018, we do have several merchandise ideas in mind, and we'd love to hear what you'd like to see!

Possible SDCC 2018 merch ideas include: 

• More enamel pins. If we don't manage to create new pins, we're thinking about releasing a second edition of 2017's pins, which would be different from last year's.
• New stickers. You guys really liked our high-quality vinyl stickers, and they're fun and easy to produce.
• Acrylic charms. I'm a little addicted to acrylic charms: the sort you can use as a keychain, hang from your Nintendo 3DS or the zipper on your backpack, or even turn into a pendant if you string them on a necklace. I'd love to make an acrylic charm for each of the Rescue Sirens!
• Water bottles. We've sold full-color water bottles in the past and got such a kick out of it! Making "Rescue Sirens" water bottles would be awesome.
• Lanyards. There are so many cute lanyards out there -- is a lanyard covered in "Rescue Sirens" artwork something that you would want to buy?
• Art prints. This isn't something that we've really offered at SDCC (not for "Rescue Sirens," at least), but vivid art prints or even postcards are a possibility if there's enough interest.

We might also bring some of our rad online merchandise, like our tote bags or hats (items that are one-size-fits-all). Maybe even some of our beach towels that I designed last year! Our plan at the moment is to get the beach towels up on the website when spring rolls around so people can purchase them in anticipation of summer and warmer weather; SDCC is in July, so it'd still be the perfect time to buy them.

Here are a few other new products that I've been kicking around as possibilities for online sales:

• Women's and kids' leggings (of course!)
• Women's one-piece swimsuits
• Women's dresses
• Backpacks
• Drawstring bags

Sometimes (okay, frequently) I bite off more than I can chew when it comes to my projects, but I figure that if I try to create a bunch of different things at one time, at least some of them will get finished!

If there's something that you really want to see made available, though, definitely let us know at contact@rescuesirens.com! That way, I can focus my time and effort on merchandise that the largest number of people are interested in.

January update January 31, 2018 21:30

From Jess: 

Happy 2018, everyone! I didn't want to let January slip by without letting you know what's currently going on with "Rescue Sirens" -- and what we're hoping to accomplish in the coming year.

Right now, I'm continuing to work on getting the Etsy store open. I'll be offering the remainder of our very first run of enamel pins, and perhaps our beautiful vinyl stickers, too. Since fulfilling orders for those items will be up to me, I plan to make them available periodically, when I have a spare moment to pack pins up and ship 'em out.

I'm also going to look into integrating our apparel line with Etsy (if I can) so you can do your "Rescue Sirens" clothes- and accessories-shopping all in one place! Because our clothing items and things like coffee mugs are fulfilled offsite, they'll remain available at all times, just like they are here on our website.

Next up: adding "Rescue Sirens and the Great Fish Round-Up," our water-resistant fully-illustrated children's book, to Amazon. While Amazon is not yet in possession of the books, there's already a product page. For those of you who already own a copy of the book, we'd love it if you'd leave us your honest review! Reader feedback really helps us as we work on the next volumes in both the young adult novel series and in the children's picture book series.

Speaking of that, Chris and I continue to work on the sequel to our first novel, "Rescue Sirens: The Search for the Atavist." Taking a hiatus from social media has been really helpful in giving me back the time and mental bandwidth I need to write! I love posting photos and writing blogs, but every moment that I spend on Instagram or Facebook is a moment that I'm not working on the next book. I'm really excited about the way this second story expands the Rescue Sirens' world, so I want to finish it as soon as possible and share it with all of you!

I still hope to come out with more merchandise, too -- little things like more pins and stickers, or maybe even those super-cute acrylic phone charms. Imagine being able to string a tiny Kelby or Nim to your phone, jacket zipper, purse, keys, etc.! San Diego Comic-Con will be here before we know it, so I'll keep you updated as Chris and I make decisions about what we'll be bringing to sell.

Oh! And just a cool little side note: I accompanied Chris earlier this month to Pop Secret Gallery when he signed copies of photographer Greg Preston's "The Artist Within: Book 2" (Chris is featured in the book), and one of Chris's fellow signers was animation director John Musker! Mermaid fans will know him best as having co-directed Disney's "The Little Mermaid" with Ron Clements. It was a real pleasure to talk mermaids with him for a few minutes, as "The Little Mermaid" was an immensely influential part of my childhood. I still remember getting my Happy Meal toys from McDonald's and going to see Ariel for the first time on the silver screen. That was real movie magic, and meeting one of the filmmakers responsible for it was an honor.

Until next time!