Community of Magic Pens

Release of Community of Magic Pens

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

Community of Magic Pens: cover

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 websiteAmazon USAmazon.nliBooksNookKobo

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, the dragon of ynys

Big Announcement!!!

Hello!

I am very proud to announce that my novella The Dragon of Ynys will be re-published by Atthis Arts!

After lots of hard work on revisions, we’ve arrived on a completely new edition with a brand new epilogue and afterword. But don’t fear, all the elements you loved are still there, like Sir Violet the aro ace knight, Snap the dragon, and their grand fairy tale adventure.

We’ll have fun updates as we move forward, including a beautiful cover by artist Ulla Thynell—I’m absolutely smitten with it.

For now, I’d like to invite you to the Atthis Arts AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit Fantasy this Thursday March 26, starting at 11:00 CT/17:00 CET. We’ll talk more about The Dragon of Ynys and of course about the upcoming Atthis Arts anthology Community of Magic Pens, which contains my short story “Memory Malfunction”.

Don’t worry if you can only pop in later: all the posts will still be there!

The AMA is part of r/Fantasy Virtual Con and there is a Facebook Event to remind you of it here.

Fantasy Virtual Con

Community of Magic Pens, Space Opera Libretti

An Interview in Space & News about Magic Pens

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.

Gay Apparel

A surprise for the holidays: Gay Apparel

‘Tis the season to be jolly!

I have a brand new publication in Gay Apparel: A Queer Holiday Flash Fiction Anthology!

Gay Apparel: A Queer Holiday Flash Fiction Anthology (2019)

A queer holiday anthology project collecting stories from all over the world. Includes contemporary, historical romance, space epic, weird western, post-apocalypse, gay, lesbian, trans, ace, neurodivergent, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, New Years, and some new holidays, too.

With 24 stories, it can be read as a fun advent calendar with one story every day running up to Christmas, or all at once to bring you fully in the holiday mood.

You can add it on Goodreads here.

My story is called Invite a Creature. No Christmas trees were harmed in the writing of this piece…

Other authors in this anthology include Rachel Sharp, Rose Sinclair, Amy Michelle, Ether Nepenthes (who were all part of 2016’s Unburied Fables), Jennifer Lee Rossman (co-editor of upcoming Space Opera Libretti), Ava Kelly (who was also in 2019’s Migration and will be in 2020’s Neon Horror), and L.S. Reinholt (my co-writer in several projects, including 2019’s Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove).

As you see, the holidays are very much a family affair even in the book world! Or perhaps this is what happens when a project comes to life on Twitter, where we’re all huddled together like penguins in the cold. Big thanks to Rachel Sharp for coming up with the idea and editing all the stories. The cosy cover was made by Rose Sinclair.

Of course your big question is now: where can I get this book?!

Well, Gay Apparel is not being sold at any of the traditional places. Instead, you can get it through me.

How does that work?

Please send an email to minervacerridwen at gmail dot com with subject “Gay Apparel”. Show me proof that you have made a recent donation to an LGBTQIA-supporting charity of your choice. By recent, I mean less than a week before the email. Also tell me if you prefer epub, pdf or mobi format.

If you can’t donate (e.g. because you need a credit card but you don’t have one, or you don’t know any suitable charities, or any other kind of reason) but you still want a copy, please contact me anyway so that we can find a solution together.

There’s also a Twitter hashtag where you can see people talking about the stories and where you can find where to donate if you’d prefer to get your copy from another author: #GayApparelStories. Feel free to use it when you talk about the book and join the fun!

Happy holidays!

Minerva

Migration anthology, the dragon of ynys

Migration release; The Dragon of Ynys out of print

Hi!

After an awesome holiday in Paris, let’s start with the happy news: Migration came out on July 24! Woohoo!

Migration Cover

Aside from the gorgeous cover, you’ll find 120 flash fiction stories with a speculative element and queer representation, one of them written by me (titled Not How We Planned It).

Buy it on Amazon US, Amazon Deutschland (and all other Amazons), iBooks, Barnes & NobleKobo – and add it on Goodreads.

I want to congratulate the winners of this flash fiction contest, and everyone who got an Honorable Mention (like my friend Ava Kelly)! Third place went to Siri Paulson, second place to Bey Deckard, and first place to Die Booth. Click on the names to read more about the winning stories.

Then… The sad news.

The Dragon of Ynys (2018)

Unfortunately, my Tiptree-longlisted novella The Dragon of Ynys will no longer be in print after July 31, 2019. Less Than Three Press is ending its activities as a publishing house. You can read their full announcement here.

I’m very sorry to see them go, as are many, readers and writers alike. LT3 was an awesome home for so many queer stories. I want to send a giant thank you to their team for giving my debut novella a chance in the world. This publishing house will always hold a special place in my heart, even when it’s gone.

Now, what does this mean?

If you still want to buy The Dragon of Ynys or any other of LT3’s ebooks, be quick, as their Book Market is closing on the 31st. You can still find the buy link here (click). As far as I know, the link will stop working after Wednesday, July 31, 2019.

You can find more information (like the blurb, reviews, etc.) about my book here.

Currently I am still considering my next step with The Dragon. I’m pretty confident that it will return to the published market eventually, but first I want to take my time looking into its options. I will, of course, make announcements on my blog and on other social media as soon as I know more.

the dragon of ynys

One year since publication “The Dragon of Ynys”!

Can you believe it? My novella The Dragon of Ynys has been out in the world for a whole year today! It feels like it was only yesterday that I was working on the blog tour, though at the same time a lot has happened since. The Dragon even made it to the Long List of the 2018 James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award!

To celebrate, I’m doing a giveaway on Twitter, so take your chance there if you don’t own the book yet! Or buy it for only $2.99 in the LT3 Book Market.

love & bubbles

Love & Bubbles is out now!

Since last Thursday, Love & Bubbles is out in the wild!! I couldn’t post this on the day itself because I was having an awesome time in London – Hamilton was great! And I even found the courage to tell the people at the Gay’s the Word bookshop that Love & Bubbles was coming out. *proud*

Anyway, now you can buy this collection of queer underwater love stories on Gumroad, Amazon.com or Amazon.de (and the other Amazons worldwide, of course). At the moment I’m typing, the paperbacks haven’t been listed on Amazon yet, but they should be up soon and they’ll be available through the same links. So if you don’t see the physical books listed yet, return to the page in a couple of days and you should be able to order your copy (shipping cost-free in many countries)!

I hope you’ll enjoy the anthology!

Remember, aside from buying the book, the best way to support projects like this is by leaving reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads, so more people will hear about its existence. Thank you!

love & bubbles

Cover reveal: Love & Bubbles!

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since I made a blog post (oops), but now I’ve got awesome news: the Love & Bubbles anthology is coming out this Thursday, October 18!!! It contains my story, “Summoned”, about a water demon and a merman, and what I’ve read of the other stories so far was great too!

You can still preorder it here, but for my European friends who want a physical copy it might be wise to wait until after Thursday, so you can order via Amazon and won’t have to pay high shipping costs. I’ll post the buying links next weekend, when I’m back from London to see Hamilton (the musical) 😀

The book cover was also revealed this weekend! It was designed by Kyra J. Wolff and I think it looks awesome.

Love and Bubbles 450 px wide

The official cover reveal was done on the following blogs – check them out!

Barely a Blogger

Zigzag Timeline

Mehek Writes

Small Queer, Big Opinions

That’s all for now – see you after release day!

love & bubbles

Love & Bubbles Preorders!!!

Yes yes yesss! You can now preorder Love & Bubbles! It’s available both in paperback and ebook format. In the Gumroad shop you can also find some awesome Love & Bubbles-themed t-shirts and Jaylee James’ previous anthology, Circuits & Slippers. There’s only one of the cross-stitch artworks by Jennifer Lee Rossman left at the moment I’m typing this, so be fast if you want that!

Get ready to dive into romance with these thirteen stories of queer love under the sea!

Love & Bubbles is a short fiction anthology of love stories united by an underwater theme and featuring characters from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

In these pages you’ll go on a deep-sea voyage to study a brand-new species alongside a cute, distracted scientist. Discover your magic with a water witch and the help of a cute mermaid. Explore the waters of an alien ocean. Get summoned to the surface with a grumpy old merman and his non-binary water demon neighbor. Swim with a catfish goddess, rescue a dolphin… and so much more!

That line up there about the grumpy old merman and the water demon? That’s my story, Summoned!

You can add Love & Bubbles on Goodreads here. On Amazon it won’t appear before the actual release date in September 2018 – just so you know not to go looking there yet. Preorders will be exclusive on Gumroad.

To those who have backed the original Kickstarter: you should have received an update email with a code for a 10% discount to thank you for supporting us from the very beginning.

To everyone else: thank you for your interest in this anthology! I’m very excited about it!

And if you are a book blogger, instagrammer, or youtuber, and want to participate in a cover reveal, author interview, or receive an ARC, please email jaylee@jayleejames.com!

darkling's beasts and brews, the dragon of ynys

An Interview with Snap

Hello!

A new character interview was published today, this time with Snap, the dragon of Ynys himself! You can read it here: http://candidceillie.com/character-interview-snap-the-dragon-of-ynys/

I also realise I haven’t shown off my absolutely awesome phone cover yet, here on the blog. And a friend made this brilliant keychain for me! My eternal thanks to her, and of course to Kirby Crow for the design of The Dragon of Ynys‘ cover.

Phone cover 040618-1And some not-Dragon-related news:

The publication of Darkling’s Beasts and Brews: Poetry with a Drink on the Side is expected in October 2018, ready to provide some Halloween goodness. You can find its cover and table of contents here on Facebook.

I also rearranged my website a little, mainly making the Stories page a lot neater than it was. Have a look around and let me know what you think!


The Dragon of Ynys is now available at:

Less Than Three Press (Publisher; 20% off in June for Pride month!) | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Kobo | Amazon (US) | Amazon (Canada) | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (De)

and you can add it on Goodreads.