Tag: atthis arts

Conventions and Events, Paranatellonta, the dragon of ynys

Ebook Sale

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

As the one thing that can make the summer heat a little more bearable is, of course, a book, I have good news: the 2025 Summer Sale at Smashwords has begun! My publisher Atthis Arts is participating, which means that the ebook for The Dragon of Ynys is currently at 50% off, as well as all other Atthis Arts ebooks, including some of my favourites Alia Terra, Be the Sea, Pluralities, One Arm Shorter Than The Other, duology Just Bart & Just Chad, short story collection Awkward Tomatoes, and anthologies Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove and Community of Magic Pens. Enjoy!

Atthis Arts will also be present at Seattle WorldCon 2025, August 13-17. If you’re going, they’d love for you to pay them a visit and say hi. And of course there will be books to buy at their table!

Finally, it’s the first of July, so here’s the 405th edition of Paranatellonta. Thank you for reading!

Stay hydrated!

Minerva

Conventions and Events, Paranatellonta

Paranatellonta 400!

Minerva Cerridwen

Dear friends,

2025 started horribly for me and my family. My mother passed away in January, far too young and without warning. My world was flipped upside down and I’m still trying to find my footing, so writing a blog post hasn’t been at the top of my priorities.

However, today is a very special day that I do want to give some attention: Fie and I have just posted the 400th edition of our photography and flash fiction project, Paranatellonta. You can check out this festive double edition here (post 1) and here (post 2). As ever, you can read all editions of Paranatellonta for free, so please come and join our celebration!

While I’m here, let me add a quick flash of positive things that happened in the past months:

1) The Neurodiversiverse is a finalist for the IBPA Book Award in the Neurodivergent Communities category. The winners will be announced at the IBPA Book Award Ceremony on May 16 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

2) Atthis Arts’ catalogue came out, so if you work at a bookstore or want to see a beautifully illustrated list of this kind publishing house’s books, you can do so here. Of course this includes my novella The Dragon of Ynys, and anthologies Community of Magic Pens and Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove, which each contain one of my short stories.

3) Also at Atthis Arts, fairy tale Wishing Well, Wishing Well by Jubilee Cho (1998-2024) came out last week. If you liked The Dragon of Ynys, you’ll want to check this one out! Author royalties are donated to Los Angeles-area efforts dedicated to directly supporting LGBTQIAP+ people in crisis.

4) If you backed the Be the Sea: Audiobook and Hardcover Editions Kickstarter and selected a physical reward, your set of Sea Creature postcards should have arrived by now. I’m very proud of how they turned out! You can still buy other postcards designed by me via this site.

5) Finally, if you’re in my area, you can come and listen to me telling a story in Dutch on the stage of Alden Biesen’s International Storytelling Festival on the evening of April 26! My performance is part of the Tales & Ales Festival, on the “open podium” for new talent sometime between 19:00 and 20:00. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you’re able to come listen and want more information! You do need a ticket for all of the Tales & Ales Festival.

Enjoy spring,

Minerva

Neurodiversiverse, Paranatellonta, Queens in Wonderland

Minerva Cerridwen’s 2024 Awards Eligibility Post

Minerva Cerridwen

1: Short story “The Space Between Stitches”, science fiction, about 3900 words.

Published in anthology The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters, Thinking Ink Press, August 2024, USA. Edited by Liza Olmsted and Anthony Francis.

Available formats: paperback and ebook.

The transportation device of a tiny flame-shaped alien called Ibb breaks down on planet Earth. Ibb meets a human and discovers the species’ problem-solving talents. Both main characters of this story are non-binary and the book focuses on neurodivergence, including but not limited to ADHD, anxiety, and autism.

2: Short story “Good-Natured Anxiety for the Queer Creature”, fantasy, about 4200 words.

Published in anthology Queens in Wonderland, No Bad Books Press, February 2024, USA. Edited by Theresa Halvorsen and Chris Bannor.

Available formats: paperback and ebook.

This re-imagining of classical elements from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass into a brand-new, queer story about self-acceptance is a wild ride. It doesn’t require knowledge of the Wonderland universe, but knowing your Lewis Carroll may spark some extra smiles.

3: Short stories in Paranatellonta Issues 369-392

Self-published on paranatellonta.tumblr.com, each photo-and-story combination is available to read for free.

Available formats: digital, only on paranatellonta.tumblr.com.

Paranatellonta is a photography and flash fiction project running since August 2013, posted on the 1st and 15th day of each month. Fie takes a photo which inspires a ten-sentence story written by me, Minerva Cerridwen. The project itself was inspired by Erin Morgenstern and Carey Farrell’s Flax-golden Tales (2009-2014).

Personal favourites of this year include:

Issues 370, 380, and 390 were special editions where we swapped roles, meaning that for those issues, I took the photo and Fie wrote the short story.

4: Work as a Fan Artist

As a friend of author Clara Ward and a fan of their novel Be the Sea (Atthis Arts, 2024), I got to work on the successful Be the Sea: Audiobook and Hardcover Editions Kickstarter campaign last summer and made a piece of fan art for the book for every day of the campaign. Check out the 26 Sea Creatures of the Day, 8 of which have been made into postcards as backer rewards. There’s crochet, drawing, painting, and origami creatures, and even a Double Chocolate Cookie Fish.

Bonus: Friends’ eligibility posts

Indie publisher Atthis Arts

Author Clara Ward

And also, Projects by Friends

The Chosen Ones

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

Be the Sea author Clara Ward summarised it this way:

The tentacles wave! The crab claws clap! All the Sea Creatures celebrate together as some are chosen for postcards, some remain paper-free, and all are friends because Minerva made them special Sea Creatures! (Did I just tack a Hopepunk ending onto a Chosen Ones narrative? Maybe?)

In other words: after running the Sea Creatures poll for over a month, we have now decided which of these Creatures will be represented on the Be the Sea Kickstarter reward postcards. Thank you very much to the 45 people who voted!

Even with your help, it was a tough choice. In the end there were 4 Sea Creatures with the same number of votes who competed for the last 2 spots on a postcard. We of the Be the Sea Kickstarter team have seriously discussed our options, taking into account the varieties of Sea Creatures and the balance in styles within the set of postcards. Considering this was “just” a stretch goal reward for this Kickstarter, you can imagine how much work Chris is doing with all the actual rewards. A round of applause for him, please.

Yes, I do expect you to be clapping in front of your computer screen or at your phone now. Don’t be shy. Extra cheering is encouraged; Chris will feel the love.

Now, the Chosen Sea Creatures are:

Floral Sea Horse, Dites-moi Hermit Crab, The Dragon at the Bottom of the Sea, Rainbow Tardigrade, Crochet Non-Binary Jellyfish, Watercolour Octopus, Flower-spotted Moray, and Galaxy Angelfish.

Image showing the 8 chosen postcards

Do you like our final selection? Did your favourites make it? Let us know in the comments!

You can still visit all of the Sea Creatures from the campaign on this page.

And you can still add as many sets of postcards as you like to your Be the Sea: Audiobook and Hardcover Editions order via Backerkit! Also check out the Atthis Print Bundle and Atthis Digital Bundle options; these both include my book The Dragon of Ynys. The Print Bundle includes a pack of Sea Creature postcards at no extra cost. What are you waiting for?

Thank you all for joining me on this Sea Creatures journey! It has been an exciting adventure.

Love from Minerva, the Be the Sea team, and all of the Sea Creatures!

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

Neurodiversiverse

Introducing The Neurodiversiverse

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

I’ve got some big news!

See this cool new science fiction anthology with short fiction, poetry, and art that celebrates human neurodiversity? The one called The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters?

Well… It includes a short story written by me!

Banner for The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters Kickstarter

I’m so proud that my story is part of this new universe. The book celebrates human neurodiversity, with a focus on own voices stories told from the perspective of folks who are neurodivergent themselves, featuring autism, ADHD, PTSD, OCD, synesthesia, anxiety, and more. Representation is so important, as you’ve probably heard me say many times if you’re here to read this. Personally I cannot wait for this anthology to come out!

About 45 creators have worked on this book, including Cat Rambo, Tobias S. Buckell, M. D. Cooper, Ada Hoffmann, Jody Lynn Nye, and my Atthis Arts friends Clara Ward and Stewart C. Baker. It was edited by Anthony Francis and Liza Olmsted, with cover art by Barbara Candiotti.

You can preorder it now, and directly support all of these creators, on Kickstarter. The campaign will run until May 13. Please don’t miss it! Aside from the ebook and paperback edition (with a discounted early bird price!), you can add an original sticker, tote bag, or pin to your hoard, order bundles of books from Thinking Ink Press, and even acquire a special hardcover edition with slipcover that will be exclusive to this Kickstarter.

From the campaign:

“The Neurodiversiverse is for anyone who loves science fiction that stretches the mind!

In fact, when we first voyaged to your planet, we noticed that some members of your species coped better than others with the symphony of thought process found across the galaxy. These beings, whom many of you call neurodivergent, have diverse thinking styles enabling extraordinary responses to mind-bending situations. 

Since your species communicates with words and images for enjoyment, we thought collecting stories, poems and art describing neurodiverse encounters with aliens would not only provide entertainment and edification to lovers of science fiction all across your globe, but also would facilitate our attempts to infiltrate your society. 

The realized form of that collection is our science fiction anthology, The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters!”

Read more about the Neurodiversiverse here!

As if that news wasn’t big enough, there’s something else I’d really like you to know. Snap, my dragon of Ynys, is on a T-shirt! And on a tank top! In different colours! Including purple!

The pop-up shop with Atthis Arts merchandise will be open until April 30. Artist Matthew Spencer created a brand new design that combines elements from the Atthis Arts stories, and you’ll recognise Snap as one of the three featured dragons. (Want to recognise all of the elements? Get some Atthis Arts books!) Aside from those shirts, there is also the option of a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants with Graystick, from the E.D.E. Bell comics inspired by Gregory A. Wilson’s Gray Assassin Trilogy. Make sure to have a look at these handsome, soft cotton clothes before the shop disappears!

Illustration on the Atthis Arts shirts, created by Matthew Spencer

Projects by Friends, Skulls & Spells

Treasures to Hoard!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

I’ve just returned from Copenhagen, where I spent a marvellous week—LS and I got to see Hannah Gadsby live!!! The show was absolutely brilliant. Other than that we also had a lot of fun, finally meeting up after such a long time, and I got united with my author copy of Skulls & Spells!

Are you also intrigued by this gorgeous full-colour publication of queer horror stories, poetry, and art? Read all about it on the Skulls & Spells page of my website.

Now, in true dragon fashion, I actually wanted to talk to you about even more treasures. Literal ones, from the house of Atthis Arts (publisher of my novella The Dragon of Ynys as well as anthologies Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove and Community of Magic Pens). A True Travelling Treasure Trove!

What’s this all about? Well, Atthis Arts has set up a Kickstarter with the main goal of funding an audiobook for The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall. This book sounds like so much fun and has been on my to-read list literally since it came out in 2019—but since I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, I think this will be the moment I’ll finally get to it, whether on page or in audiobook form. Either way it sounds amazing, with a road trip, theatre, ghosts, and a really fun writing style from what I’ve heard. Add to that the fact that the audiobook will be performed by C.S.E. Cooney, who hosted the Atthis Arts Reading last September, and this will be reason enough to go have a look at the Kickstarter. But. BUT!

Before you think this is just another Kickstarter, I have to tell you about these treasures. Because Atthis Arts hasn’t gone with your average rewards, but set up an entire set of actual limited-edition (metaphorical) gems to go with each of their 2022 publications. The one I’m personally most excited about is the Alia Terra colouring book—I mean, wow!!! Have you seen the Alia Terra art? Can you imagine getting to colour it yourself with whatever media you prefer? And not only that, but the colouring book will contain the original text, so you can enjoy the stories while you unleash your own creativity! I really love that this is a thing that will exist.

But it’s not just that: Gigi Ganguly has provided the campaign with actual-treasure tassels from a market shop in Delhi to represent her book One Arm Shorter than the Other (very much recommended to sci fi fans!), there’s an enamel pin of the assassin’s dagger from Gregory A. Wilson’s Grayshade, an exclusive scarf for the 2022 Origins Game Fair anthology Rogue Artists, scented candles for E.D.E. Bell’s own Night Ivy, and huggable squid friends matching Brandon Crilly’s Catalyst. (I wasn’t going to buy more plushies for myself, but we all know that when they have tentacles, I’m going to have to break that promise.) And, of course, you can also add the books themselves to your rewards (there will be an add-on window after you’ve picked your pledge level). There are also some digital jewels for those who are now, understandably, gritting their teeth at international shipping and duty.

And for those of you who think “sure, that all sounds fun, but have you noticed it’s 2022 so where would I get the money for all that?”, mind that the audiobook & ebook combo starts at $1 (!). So, really, go have a look, and please consider supporting the publishing house where I would very much love to get some of my future projects published! (👀) Extra link to the Kickstarter so you don’t have to scroll up: CLICK!

Good luck picking your treasures, and have a nice Sunday!

Minerva

P.S. Those of you who have been following my Inktober attempt on Instagram may have noticed that I missed a week of drawings. Some of the ones I did make took a little longer than a quick Inktober sketch. Feel free to leave a reply if you can spot which ones! But I am planning to do a catch-up sketch this week to represent the missing days (19 and 26-31), so stay tuned for that. Thanks for following along on this journey!

Hotel Stormcove, Projects by Friends

Watch the recorded Atthis Arts reading!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

Did you miss our celebration of storytelling and joy yesterday? Or did you enjoy it so much that you want to experience it again? (You might!)

Then watch the recorded Atthis Arts reading here!

LS and I start reading around 1:18:50, but if you have the time, I absolutely recommend watching the whole video. And if you want to read a background story for E.D.E. Bell’s own reading, check out this hilarious Twitter thread.

Enjoy!

Minerva