Category: And also

Conventions and Events, Neurodiversiverse

Release: The Neurodiversiverse!

Minerva Cerridwen

The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters is out today!

The Neurodiversiverse banner: buy the book!

Thinking Ink Press presents an empowering anthology of neurodiverse stories, poetry, and art for sci-fi lovers.

Would neurodiversity be an advantage when encountering aliens? Let’s find out.

Heartbroken starships.

Human-sized hamster balls.

Superpowers unleashed by anxiety.

A planet covered in mathematical fidgets.

And we finally learn why aliens abduct cows.

Featuring stories, poems and art from Tobias S. Buckell, M.D. Cooper, Ada Hoffmann, Jody Lynn Nye, Cat Rambo, and almost forty other contributors, The Neurodiversiverse is edited by Anthony Francis and Liza Olmsted, and explores themes of autism, anxiety, synesthesia, ADHD, PTSD, OCD, avoidant attachment disorder, dissociative identity disorder, and more.

My short story “The Space Between Stitches”, featuring alien teleportation and human crochet, is part of this anthology. Atthis Arts friends Clara Ward and Stewart C. Baker also each have a story in this book.

The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters is available as ebook and paperback:

Publisher’s Website – Buy links via Books2Read – Amazon US – Amazon Deutschland – Goodreads

Meanwhile, it’s time for me to pack the last things for Worldcon! I’ll be travelling to Glasgow by train tomorrow—as Bilbo would say, I’m going on an adventure! For those who want to hear me talk on panels, my schedule can be found here.

Enjoy the Neurodiversiverse! And to those of you who are going to Worldcon: see you soon!

Minerva

Conventions and Events

My WorldCon Schedule!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

The programme of the Glasgow 2024 WorldCon has been announced!

Here are the panels (and a stroll!) I’ll be on:

PanelDay (2024)Time (GMT+1)Where?
Introduction to Cosy SFFFriday,
August 9		11:30Meeting Academy M2/M3
Great Heroes in Children’s LiteratureFriday,
August 9		16:00Meeting Academy M4
The Purpose of DragonsSaturday,
August 10		17:30Hall 1
Stroll with the Stars
– Sunday, The Tall Ship		Sunday, August 1109:00Outside Crowne Plaza
Reality Bites: Escapism in SFFSunday,
August 11		11:30Meeting Academy M2/M3
Flash Fiction: the Art of Storytelling in Under 1,000 WordsSunday,
August 11		16:00Gala

You can check out the full WorldCon programme here. If you click the little arrow pointing down on the right of a panel title, you can read the description of the event, who will be moderating it, and who else is participating.

The programme looks so good! I’m already wishing I could be in several places at the same time.

For panels and other events with the other Atthis Arts authors, enter their names in the search bar on the right of the programme guide: Ava Kelly, Clara Ward, E.D.E. Bell, Gregory A. Wilson, and Joyce Chng will also be there!

I’m really looking forward to meeting all of these people in person (and Atthis Arts’ Managing Editor Chris Bell, too!). Ava is the only one of them I’ve already had the pleasure of seeing in 3D before.

Just one week left to count down before I’ll be arriving in Glasgow. I can’t wait, and am bracing myself for a wild, magical ride!

Hoping to see you there,

Minerva

Graphic showing the presence of Atthis Arts at WorldCon, Glasgow

And also

A Queer Market, WorldCon, and Vote for Your Favourite Sea Creature!

Minerva Cerridwen

Dear friends,

Last weekend I was at the Queer Market at the Zomerfabriek in Antwerp. It was my first experience selling books in a booth out in public—and it was amazing!

Photo of The Future is Queer booth at Queer Market Antwerp
The Future is Queer booth at Queer Market Antwerp – special thanks to photographer Leni, the leader of our book club!

In spite of the scorching heat, the people who organised the market had made sure we had everything we needed to thrive (from extra water and tents to provide shade up to clothes hangers for those who were selling second-hand clothing, and metal racks on wheels to put those on—I’m still marvelling at that bit). The atmosphere was great, and I actually sold and signed books! People’s favourites were The Dragon of Ynys, Community of Magic Pens, and Neon Horror.

I had the most wonderful day there with my friends from The Future is Queer book club, and the whole experience was really encouraging me to go out and sell books at events again in the future. Probably to be continued after this summer…

Because this summer is all about WorldCon 2024! As WorldCon is taking place as “close to home” as Glasgow, Scotland, I will be there in person for the whole duration from August 8 until August 12. I’ll write an update later with my panel schedule!

Finally, I’ve opened a poll where you can vote for your favourite Sea Creature at the bottom of the Sea Creature page (click)! Go ahead and pick your 8 favourites, and don’t worry if you need to sleep on it; the poll won’t close until September 1, 2024. I can’t wait to see which of these creatures will be the chosen ones to be turned into postcards as rewards for the Be the Sea Kickstarter. 

Thank you all, and happy summer!

Minerva

And also, Projects by Friends

Final day of the Kickstarter!

Minerva Cerridwen

Dear friends,

We achieved the final stretch goal of the Be the Sea Kickstarter!!!

Thank you all so much for your support!

There’s still 18 hours left in the campaign. Mind that the hardcover editions are limited to this Kickstarter—and the 8 (!!!) Sea Creature postcards that come with them as well!

For now I won’t write a very long message here—it’s time for me to go finish the final Sea Creature (and there’s still quite a bit of work on that, whoops).

Thank you,
Minerva

PS Happy Non-Binary Awareness Week!

Photo of a crocheted jellyfish hanging from the arm of a cactus

And also, Projects by Friends

Three days left: order your Sea Creature postcards!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

Great news: we made it to the first stretch goal in the Be the Sea Kickstarter, so 4 of my Sea Creatures will be turned into postcards! They’re included with every hardcover reward, can be added to every physical reward, and all backers will get high-resolution digital downloads of the postcards. I’ve made a page here on my website where every Sea Creature of the Day is added as soon as it’s come out to play.

In fact, we’re already very close to the second stretch goal: you could be the one to push the Kickstarter to the $5000 mark right now! This will bring us a bonus story by Clara Ward and a better quality of hardcover!

Floral illustration of a spotted moray, black and white
Day 22: Only flowers, and yet a whole spotted moray.

We really hope the Kickstarter will make it to $6000, as that’s the full amount needed to make the audiobook. Besides, $6000 brings 4 more Sea Creature postcards, AND foil stamping to the cloth cover of the hardcover edition!

You can find all the possible rewards for this Kickstarter here.

Photo of a crocheted sea snake
Day 21: A crocheted Ace Sea Snake who loves to play games!

Whether you’re able to support the Kickstarter or not, don’t forget to read the updates; they’re so much fun! In the latest, Clara and Chris took us on a Bookstore and Chocolate Shop Tour, Clara has talked about childhood memories inspiring Be the Sea, and Matt has given a Behind-the-Scenes Peek at Hand-Colored Numbered-Edition Hardcovers.

Please do tell everyone about this project and let’s make these last days of the campaign really impressive! Clara, Chris, Matt, the team at Atthis Arts, all the Sea Creatures, and me are so grateful for your support.

This image includes 20 small square images, each showing a Sea Creature.
The first 20 Sea Creatures

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Minerva

And also, Projects by Friends

Sea Creature Postcards

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

Great news! The Be the Sea: Audiobook and Hardcover Editions Kickstarter has reached its minimum funding goal already! And you know what the first stretch goal is??? Postcards of my Sea Creatures!!!

Small photos and scans of the first 10 Sea Creatures of the Day for the BE THE SEA campaign
A small recap of the first 10 Sea Creatures of the Day

If the campaign reaches $4000, 4 of my Sea Creatures will be made into postcards. They’d be included in all hardcover reward levels, available as an add-on for all physical reward levels, and included digitally for all backers. I’d be very proud if that happened! Personally I hope the Kickstarter will go far beyond that, of course—my peeks behind the scenes have told me there are more brilliant stretch goals coming up!

Of course, the Sea Creatures you can see in the image above aren’t all of them: there’s still a new one arriving every day until the end of the campaign, and for everyone who isn’t using social media, I’ve made a new page here on my website where you can comfortably see them all together, just one click away! I will update that page regularly.

For EVEN MORE Sea Creatures of my hand, I refer to today’s Kickstarter Update, which was a guest post I wrote!

Thank you so much for sailing along!

Minerva

And also, Paranatellonta

Happy 2024!

Minerva Cerridwen

Happy New Year!!!

I wish you lots of cosiness, inspiration, and wonderful stories for 2024!

Handdrawn holiday card with a magical Christmas wreath

May the day be full of fun traditions or marvellous new discoveries.

It’s also the first day of the month, so of course there is a new edition of Paranatellonta! You can read the 369th edition here.

Love,

Minerva

And also

Cards for the holidays!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

The Christmas cake is baked and waiting in an airtight box to get its weekly shots of booze before it will be wrapped in marzipan and fondant icing just before its first cut on Christmas Day. Plans are being made for decorations and lights. Cosy meet-ups with friends are happening. And my cards for the December holidays are ready!

Kerstboom - holidays2 - small-glazed-intensity29-render3-V1 with watermark

I will be selling this handpainted, handdrawn design on folded A6 cards (that is 10.5 x 14.8 cm, when folded) for the holidays! The inside of the card will be blank so you can add your own message to your loved ones.

Table of prices: please feel free to contact me for a price calculation if you can't see the table.

Orders can be placed directly via my Paypal. Don’t forget to specify how many cards you want and whether you want envelopes. If no other address is specified, I will assume your Paypal address is the correct address for shipping.

If you want to place an order of 50 cards or more, best get in touch with me first so we can look into the best shipping option for your area.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or want me to calculate the exact price for your order. Just let me know how many cards you want, whether to include envelopes or not, and your address. (Please don’t forget to include your country!)

I hope my cards will bring a little cheer around the world!

If you can’t get enough of art cards, don’t forget you can still buy my colourful set with 10 different designs from 2023! Take a look and read all about them here.

Here for the books? Remember, if you live in my area, you can support local bookshop Grim by getting my novella The Dragon of Ynys there, and of course small indie publisher Atthis Arts is open for everyone to support. Don’t miss their big announcement today!

I hope you’ll have a cosy, friendly winter!

Hugs,

Minerva

And also, Paranatellonta, Queens in Wonderland, Rise

Order a set of cards!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

See these cool cards?

2023 set of 10 postcards

These are ten of the designs I’ve drawn this year (plus my business card at the bottom right). I made them into a postcard set, which, if you like them, YOU can buy right now!

These are the prices for 1 set of the 10 different postcards, printed on high-quality paper, including shipping (via bpost):
to Belgium: €13 per set
to the rest of Europe: €17 per set
to the rest of the world: €18 per set

To order them, please send the correct amount to my PayPal, specifying how many sets you would like to order and to which name and address I can send them. If you have questions or would rather get in touch before ordering, please send me an email to minervacerridwen@gmail.com so I can help you out!

For a better look at some of the illustrations, I refer to the Illustrations page on my website.

Some more news:

  • The cover of Rise, the anthology that will include my flash story “Ace-tral Projection”, has been revealed. You can take a peek here! The book will release on October 25, in paperback, hardcover, and ebook format.
  • It’s the 15th today, so there’s a new edition of Paranatellonta! Enjoy number 364, titled “Autumnal Company”, here.
  • And last but not least: my brand-new short story “Good-Natured Anxiety for the Queer Creature” has been accepted for publication in Queens in Wonderland, the queer Alice in Wonderland-themed anthology from No Bad Books Press! I’ve seen summaries of some of the other stories that will be included (and even got to read one full story…) and I really look forward to this collection myself!

Queens in Wonderland Announcement Graphic

Have a nice Sunday!

Minerva

And also

A Bookstr Interview and Lots of Art

Minerva Cerridwen

Wow, have I really not written any blog posts since February? Oops…

Well, hello! Time sure is flying, and lots of things are in the works, though none of them have come to the point of any Big Announcements yet. If anyone is making lists of skills writers need, don’t forget to add “having patience”.

I’m writing to you today because I gave an interview! Book website Bookstr asked me and 4 other asexual authors all the same five questions about the reasons why we write and our experiences, and I found it very interesting to read the answers of the others as well. You can read the full interview via this link. Enjoy!

I also wanted to tell you that I participated in Workshop Week last week and made quite a lot of art! You can see all the results on my Instagram; I learned new techniques for handlettering, watercolour painting, portraiture, and sketching flowers, and had a lot of fun with all that! I’ve already been applying what I learned to some new cards today.

Tonight I participated in the end-of-schoolyear performance of my spoken-word Storytelling class, and I’m very happy with how it went. I can feel how much I learned and improved since we started last September, and can’t wait to see how our skills will evolve as the class continues. Even in my writing, I can feel its influence.

I hope to be back soon with some publishing news. Fingers crossed!

Love,

Minerva