anthology – Page 2 – Minerva Cerridwen

Skulls & Spells out now!

1 September 2022 Minerva Cerridwen

Queer horror anthology Skulls & Spells is out now from Artemisia’s Axe!

Order it directly from the publisher in Hardcover or Ebook format, and add it to your to-read list on The StoryGraph!

Here’s a Tiktok video from the publishers, showing off the gorgeous full-colour hardcover edition:

@thehauntedbouncycastle
So hyped for our anthology Skulls and Spells! #booktok #spookytok #gothtok
♬ Ghost bop lovely – 🇵🇸💖Juni💖🇵🇸

Aside from lots of other great stories, poems, and beautiful art, this book contains short story “The Bound Heart”, written by LS Reinholt and me. It’s a fantasy horror story with a witch main character, xyr snake familiar, and horrible things happening in the woods. If you’re into creepy and bloody stories, it’s a pretty cool one, if I say so myself. Mind the content warnings in the book’s table of contents!

This is the teaser art we did to promote the successful Kickstarter (illustration by LS, colouring by me):

And if you’d like to hear another co-written story from LS and me (no horror, only fantasy!), remember to attend our reading on September 11! Read all info here, or reserve a spot for free right away.

P.S. Happy September 1st! Here’s the 337th edition of Paranatellonta, freshly posted.

Clarity

Clarity about a flash piece

2 August 2022 Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

Good news: my flash story “Secundum Artem” will be part of the Clarity anthology! That is the book resulting from this year’s Queer Sci Fi flash fiction contest, and I’m very proud to say it’s the fourth year in a row my story made it into the anthology. The book will contain 120 stories of 300 words or less, and is set to release on October 5, 2022.

You can see the full list of included stories in this Facebook post.

If you can’t wait to read a book of speculative flash fiction, find all the info about the previous editions Migration, Innovation, and Ink here on my website!

In other flash news (pardon my bad jokes), there will be an update about Skulls & Spells soon, and as on every 1st and 15th day of the month, Fie and I posted a new edition of Paranatellonta yesterday. The 335th already! I realise now that I’m writing this that we started the project in August, so we’ve been going for a whole 9 years – happy birthday, Para!

Enjoy the summer and stay hydrated!

Minerva

Ink

Release Day of Ink!

10 August 2021 Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

The Ink anthology is out today and let me start by boasting about my awesome friends! Ink is the collection of 121 stories selected from Queer Sci Fi’s yearly flash fiction contest, and the first and second place went to no other than Ava Kelly and LS Reinholt, respectively! I’m so proud of them – and believe me, both these stories are brilliant. It was a well-deserved win for them both, so I’m glad the jury agreed! I’d also like to congratulate Emilia Agrafojo, who got the bronze medal with “Mixology”. I haven’t read this story yet, but I certainly look forward to it!

You can read all the announcements here: honorable mentions – judges’ choices – winners. Congratulations to all!

This also means that the anthology is now available for sale. There is even a hardcover available of this edition, aside from the ebook and paperback editions.

Here are some links where you can buy Ink: Amazon US – Amazon Deutschland – iBooks – Barnes & Noble – Kobo – Scribd – Thalia – Vivlio

You can also add this book to your shelves: Goodreads – The StoryGraph

And in this post you can read Queer Sci Fi’s own release announcement, with the full list of included stories as well as some story fragments (and a giveaway to celebrate the release): click.

And I’d almost forget to say: my story “Not Alone” is in this book too. Enjoy!

INK (NOUN)

Five definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell:

1) A colored fluid used for writing
2) The action of signing a deal
3) A black liquid ejected by squid
4) Publicity in the written media
5) A slang word for tattoos

Ink features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

Ink, Projects by Friends, Skulls & Spells

Flash publication in Ink!

1 July 2021 Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

Great news: my genderfluid flash piece “Not Alone” will be part of Queer Sci Fi’s Ink anthology! This story was my 300-word entry for the yearly flash fiction contest that also gave us 2019’s Migration and 2020’s Innovation anthology. The release of Ink is planned on August 10, 2021, and by that time, Queer Sci Fi will be announcing honorable mentions (still proud of getting one last year!), judge’s picks, and three winners. Check out the full list of stories that will be published in the new anthology here – notice the names of friends L.S. Reinholt and Ava Kelly. Congratulations to these 120 writers!

While I’m here, an update on the Skulls & Spells Kickstarter. They took a great start and are now 58% funded. Let’s hope this keeps going! Their latest update talked about a secret stretch goal, so I can’t wait to see what Jinx and Jonas have in store. And, of course, I’m extra invested, as L.S. Reinholt and I have our story “The Bound Heart” in this book. If you like magical horror from queer creators, I’ll ask you once again to please consider supporting this Kickstarter.

Two more things on the topic of Kickstarters:

Alia Terra, the illustrated book of dragon fairy tales in English and Romanian, written by Ava Kelly and published by Atthis Arts, which I kept talking about in my previous posts, is fully funded and reached its stretch goal of becoming a fully illustrated book! I’m so happy we’ll get to see all the beautiful dragon art by Matt Spencer. If you missed the Kickstarter, you can still preorder your copy via BackerKit through July. The Dragon of Ynys can also still be added to your order there!
Xenocultivars is a plant-themed speculative fiction anthology about queer growth from Speculatively Queer. I’d love to see this book happen, but with only 5 days to go they’re still a little under half funded, so they need all the help they can get. Check out their Kickstarter and their wonderful queer flag cactus stickers here!

Love,

Minerva

Skulls & Spells

Skulls & Spells launched!

22 June 2021 Minerva Cerridwen

Hello everyone!

The awesome cover above this text is that of the queer horror anthology Skulls & Spells, which will be published by Artemisia’s Axe and the Corpse’s Tongue later this year and which will contain the short story “The Bound Heart” written by L.S. Reinholt and me!

Today, the Kickstarter has launched to make this wonderful project happen. So if you’re into bright and thrilling horror stories with LGBTQI2SA+ representation, I definitely recommend checking out this link. There are ‘early bird’ rewards at a lower price, including patches, stickers, art prints and even an exclusive plushie! And of course you can pre-order the book itself, 150+ pages and in full colour – physical copies as well as pdf files. You can also use the Kickstarter to order your copy of Artemisia’s Axe’s previous anthology, Neon Horror, which ALSO includes a story by L.S. Reinholt and me! More details are, of course, found on the Kickstarter page itself.

To promote the anthology, L.S. Reinholt made the illustration below as a teaser for “The Bound Heart”, with colouring done by me. (CW: snake, human heart.)

The Bound Heart Promo Illustration

And on the topic of Kickstarters, I’d also like to direct your attention to the fact that there are only 52 hours to go in the Alia Terra Kickstarter! (To spare you the maths if you’re reading this message later, it will end on June 25 at 2:00 AM CEST.) This beautifully illustrated queer book of fairy tales WITH DRAGONS hasn’t quite reached the funding goal yet that is necessary to become a fully illustrated book, so every coin that’s added to their campaign helps!

I’m also having a lot of fun seeing all the wonderful comments to the blog tour for The Dragon of Ynys! Remember you can check this post to see where we are today; the posts marked with “guest post” contain little interviews with me, if you like that sort of thing!

Sending lots of love, good vibes, and magic!

Minerva

Innovation anthology

Release of Innovation anthology

8 August 2020 Minerva Cerridwen

The Innovation anthology is out today!

It contains 120 pieces of flash fiction with a speculative element and queer representation, including my story “The Emperor’s New Helmet”, which I’m proud to say received an honorable mention in the contest. There are also stories by my friends E.D.E. Bell, Ava Kelly, Ether Nepenthes, and L.S. Reinholt. The judges’ choices were announced here and we also know the winners now: third place went to “Antlers” by K.A. Masters, second place to “Dragonslayer” by E.M. Hamill, and first place to “The Fleshsmith and the Metalsmith” by Devon Widmer. Click on the names to read more about the winning stories on the Queer Sci Fi website.

Congratulations to the winners, judges’ choices, fellow honorable mentions and everyone who made it into the book!

You can buy Innovation on Amazon US, Amazon Deutschland (and of course all the other Amazons), iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo—and add it to you to-read shelf on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.

Queer Sci Fi is also hosting a giveaway that runs until August 21, and on the same page you can read some excerpts from the book and see the full list of authors.

IN-NO-VA-TION (Noun)

1) A new idea, method, or device.

2) The introduction of something new.

3) The application of better solutions to meet unarticulated needs.

Three definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell. Here are 120 of our favorites.

Innovation features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

Keep your eyes peeled for some draconically big news next week!

Love,

Minerva

Innovation anthology, Neon Horror Zine

Release of Neon Horror and a flash fiction acceptance!

15 June 2020 Minerva Cerridwen

Hello!

So… Since my author copies were already on the way, I was going to wait a couple of days and announce the release of the Neon Horror anthology with a selfie of me holding the book. Then the postal service decided that actually delivering packages was so 2019, and subsequently it got kind of awkward to make a release post without that selfie, because the book had already been out for 2 weeks… But now I have some other news as well, so this is the perfect time to finally write this post.

And since acting as if everything is going as planned is a 2020 mood, here we go…

Wonderful news: the beautifully printed Neon Horror: an Anthology of Terrors by Creators from the LGBTQIA+ Community is out now!!!

This full-colour anthology contains art and short stories in the horror genre. The Lost by L.S. Reinholt and me (aside from having a title that the mail clearly found very inspiring) is about two travellers in space whose logs and maps have been erased. When they encounter another ship, they hope they’ve found a solution, but instead lose even more…

Buy Neon Horror in The Haunted Bouncy Castle webshop!

The same webshop also has a lot of fun and colourful queer horror objects, ranging from cups to pillows to pins to prints for on your wall, so be sure to check it out. They have a Pride sale of 10% off until the end of this month.

Then, today’s very fresh news is that my flash story The Emperor’s New Helmet is accepted in this year’s anthology of the Queer Sci Fi flash fiction contest. The theme was “Innovation” and you can see the full list of the 120 included titles here on the Queer Sci Fi website. It also includes stories by my friends E.D.E. Bell, Ava Kelly, and L.S. Reinholt!

I finished reading last year’s edition, Migration, only a few weeks ago and was surprised by the great quality of all those stories, so I look forward to reading Innovation as well. It will be out on August 8, 2020, after the honorable mentions, judges’ picks and winners have been announced. In the meantime, I certainly recommend Migration if you’re in the mood for some bite-sized stories (all under 300 words).

And for even more flash fiction, I will refer to Paranatellonta, where we posted the 284th free photo-and-story combo today for your enjoyment.

That’s all the news for now!

Love,

Minerva

Community of Magic Pens

Release of Community of Magic Pens

4 May 20202 May 2020 Minerva Cerridwen

On this May the 4th (may the force be with you), we are officially welcoming Community of Magic Pens into the world!

The anthology, edited by E.D.E. Bell, contains 40 short stories (including flash fiction and poetry) in a wide range of different genres. All of them about Magic Pens, in many imaginative shapes and forms.

My story in this book, Memory Malfuction, is about an android applying for a job as an intergalactic antiques salesman. The company bosses, however, have their doubts…

You can add the book on Goodreads and buy it on:

Atthis Arts website – Amazon US – Amazon.nl – iBooks – Nook – Kobo

If you scroll down on Atthis Arts’ website, you can also find a Magic Pens poster which you can download for free! It was designed by Ava Kelly and features the title in the languages spoken by the book’s authors.

The publisher also provides a cover description for the visually impaired on the same page.

Blurb:

Eclectic, imaginative, and unexpected, Community of Magic Pens features forty genre-spanning flash and short stories—including fantasy, humor, science fiction, romance, historical fiction, satire, and mystery—bringing together a rich group of diverse voices from a wide range of backgrounds and intersections.

Fountain pens, markers and ink, charcoals, spy pens, a braille writer, a printing press, virtual reality, and a supernatural pizza: whether revealing unspoken truths, fighting injustice, or finding friendship and love, our pens have power. Join us as a recent graduate of superhero school struggles to understand her gift, a disabled android interviews for a job, a queen’s conscripted artist must pull reality from illustrations on parchment, and a grandmother’s secret room is…better kept a secret. Tales of struggle and triumph, compassion and hope: Community of Magic Pens is a celebration of our shared story.

–

I hope you’re all well!

Lots of love,

Minerva

Community of Magic Pens, Space Opera Libretti

An Interview in Space & News about Magic Pens

26 February 2020 Minerva Cerridwen

Hello!

I’ve got a lot to tell!

First of all, I gave an interview in space—more specifically, on the good ship Space Opera Libretti. You can read it on Jennifer Lee Rossman’s website here. Remember that you can find more info about Space Opera Libretti here—add it on Goodreads and buy it on Amazon. I really feel like it deserves more buzz than it’s currently getting, because who doesn’t want more funny, musical stories in space?

Secondly, some news about Community of Magic Pens! The cover has been announced!!!

Cover for "Community of Magic Pens"

This beautiful, happy piece of art was made by Artistic Journey.

There is also an official list now of the stories and authors that will be included in this anthology: check it out here! My story really is in great company! Release is expected in early May and you can still preorder.

To stay up to date with news from publisher Atthis Arts, you can subscribe to their newsletter on the bottom left of their website.

I’d like to conclude this update with news from my friend Ava Kelly! Their fantasy novel Havesskadi has been re-released this week by NineStar Press. I recommend it to everyone who likes epic fantasy, dragons, and/or ace characters! Read all about it on Ava’s website.

Community of Magic Pens

Part of the Community of Magic Pens

6 February 2020 Minerva Cerridwen

Hello!

I received my first story acceptance of 2020!

My short story Memory Malfunction will be part of Community of Magic Pens, an Atthis Arts anthology. (You might know that publishing house from last year’s Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove!)

I’m delighted to work with them again and to be included in what will be a collection of amazing, thoughtful stories from many different perspectives. And full of magic pens! You can already preorder the book here; release is expected in May.

The theme of magic pens is close to my heart. I remember scribbling somewhere in my school notes that “the secret of the writer is a good pen”. And it’s true: even in a time when most writing happens at a keyboard, a beautiful pen that’s fun to write with can inspire new stories or ease the brainstorming process. For many of us, pens are a tool that makes our storytelling magic possible.

And that power is definitely not limited to storytelling magic, as you’ll see in Community of Magic Pens!