I wish you a magical new year, full of wonder and inspiration. Don’t let the atelodemiourgiopapyrosaurus rush you! (The link brings you to the 393rd edition of Paranatellonta, which was posted on January 1, 2025.)
Now it’s time for the reveal of the Mystery Card, of which I’d given a sneak peek back in November. You can get it for yourself via this page.
Scroll down for Dutch – scrol naar beneden voor Nederlands.
Hi!
Woosh, time is flying by! December is fast approaching, so I thought it would be fun to give you a sneak peek at my new holiday card, which you can order directly from me!
All the information on how to buy this holiday card and/or the other designs is in this post. Feel free to contact me directly if you want help, more information, or just a chat about how dragons are great companions to celebrate the end-of-year holidays with!
If you’d rather buy your cards live, I will be at the Queer Winter Market in Antwerp on Sunday, December 15, 2024! The market will take place in ‘t Werkhuys, Zegelstraat 13, 2140 Borgerhout, from 1:00 PM until 6:00 PM. There will be lots of wonderful queer art, and I’ll be bringing cards, books, and more!
Poster by Queer Market Antwerp:
For my readers who understand Dutch, I’ve participated in NovemberVers this month. NovemberVers is a project organised by Vanessa Daniëls and Creatief Schrijven, which encourages writers to create a piece of poetry on every day of November. I managed to post a new poem every day and will continue to do so until November 30. You can read all of the results via this page on Azertyfactor (Dutch only). Enjoy!
And soon I will be able to share news about a new publication in Dutch… Stay tuned, and happy winter!
Minerva
Hoi!
Wauw, de tijd vliegt! December komt er alweer aan, dus ik dacht dat het leuk zou zijn om jullie al een eerste detail van mijn nieuwe feestdagenkaartje te tonen.
Je kan het kaartje rechtstreeks via mij bestellen. Alle informatie daarover is te vinden in deze post (in het Engels), waar je ook de andere ontwerpen van mijn kaartjes voor de feestdagen kan zien. Je mag mij zeker ook meteen een berichtje sturen zodat ik je in het Nederlands kan helpen, meer informatie geven, of zodat we gewoon even kunnen babbelen over wat een leuk gezelschap draken zijn tijdens de eindejaarsfeesten.
Als je je kaartjes liever offline komt kopen, dan kan dat op de Queer Winter Market in Antwerpen op zondag 15 december 2024! De markt zal plaatsvinden in ‘t Werkhuys, Zegelstraat 13, 2140 Borgerhout, van 13:00 tot 18:00 uur. Er gaan heel wat toffe queer kunstwerken te vinden zijn en ik breng mijn kaartjes, boeken, en nog meer leuke dingen mee.
Poster gemaakt door Queer Market Antwerpen:
Deze maand heb ik deelgenomen aan NovemberVers, een project van Vanessa Daniëls en Creatief Schrijven dat schrijvers aanmoedigde om dagelijks een stukje poëzie te schrijven. Ik heb elke dag van november een nieuw gedichtje gepost en zal dat ook blijven doen tot en met 30 november. De resultaten kan je allemaal via deze pagina op Azertyfactor lezen. Veel plezier!
En binnenkort kan ik nieuws delen over een nieuwe uitgave in het Nederlands … Nog even geduld en een fijne winter!
Am I the only one who’s freaking out about it being mid-October again already?
Well, that means the winter holidays will be upon us in just two shakes of a lamb’s tail, so here’s my reminder that you can order my holiday card designs again this year! I’ll have 3 available designs: the colourful “Holiday, Holly and Tree” and the whimsical “Creatures’ Winter Wreath”, both designed in 2023—and a brand new handdrawn black-and-white design this year, currently known as the Mystery Card!
“Holiday, Holly and Tree” – designed by Minerva Cerridwen in 2023
“Creatures’ Winter Wreath” – designed by Minerva Cerridwen in 2023
Mystery Card – designed by Minerva Cerridwen in 2024 – there will not actually be a question mark on this card
All these cards will be folded A6 cards (that is 10.5 cm x 14.8 cm, when folded). The inside of the card is left blank so you can add your own message to your loved ones.
Are you curious about the Mystery Card yet?
The reason why I’m doing a Mystery Card is that I like to surprise the people I send a card myself. Last year my solution was to make a second design for myself, but this year I thought it would be fun to throw a little mystery into the mix. What do you think?
Prices for my holiday cards
Price table for my holiday cards.
How to order your cards
Orders can be placed directly via my Paypal, but 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!)
If you order directly, please specify the following in your order:
how many cards you want of each type:
Holiday, Holly and Tree (per 1), e.g. “10x holiday tree card”
Creatures’ Winter Wreath (per 1), e.g. “5x wreath card”
Mystery Card (per 1), e.g. “3x mystery card”
Don’t forget to specify whether you want envelopes as well. (€0.50 per envelope)
Specify your address. 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 30 cards or more, best get in touch with me first so we can look into the best shipping option for your area.
I hope my cards will once again bring a little cheer around the world!
Not in the holiday mood yet?
I get it, we’re still looking forward to Halloween! My all-season set of 10 postcards designed in 2023 is still available too (click here).
Mind, though, that it’s probably a good idea to order your cards early to make sure you’ll be able to send them in time for the holidays.
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.
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.
I got home safely on Tuesday evening, and it’s Saturday now, but sometimes you need to let the waves calm down before you start writing about them or the ink will run.
Anyway, this is the report of my first Worldcon! I left home on the morning of Wednesday, August 7, to start on my 10-hour journey by train. It really was more relaxing than travelling by plane, and barely seemed to involve any waiting thanks to Siân, who was so sweet as to meet up with me for a cup of tea in London even though I would only be there for under 2 hours. It was wonderful to meet her in person, and I am very proud and grateful that she allowed me to add her beautiful fore-edge-painted hardcover of The Dragon of Ynys to my hoard!
Here it is, displayed leaning on the yarn hoard I acquired later…
And thus my trip had already become magical before I was even close to Scotland!
The journey went smoothly. I thought I’d be using the 4.5-hour trainride between London and Glasgow to finish preparing for my panels, but it turns out that I do fall asleep in high-speed trains, so the final preparations would end up happening late at night in the hotel room and in the Quiet Space at the con itself. I did get to see some nice Shire landscapes and some gorgeous hills and/or mountains on the way; I’m grateful that my friend Mattea had advised me to look out of the window more often!
After checking in at the hotel, where I was sharing a room with theAva Kelly, we had a nice dinner and some time just to settle in. We decided to have an easy morning, too, before we headed for the Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre. I still had to get registered, and in the late morning on Thursday there was a bit of a queue… Luckily, Emily and Chris from Atthis Arts came and found Ava and me in the queue, so we could hug and talk, and what must have been over an hour of queueing just flew by!
And then I was really there! At Worldcon!!! Ready to show off this gorgeous copy of my book (and my convention badge) to everyone!
And Atthis Arts was beautifully present at Waterstones too.
I walked Ava to the greenroom so I’d know where to find it myself the next day, and from that point on I was either listening to panels or finding my way to the next one. I attended “Engineering Solutions to People Problems” with moderator A.T. Greenblatt and panellists Ann Gry, Ava Kelly, Wole Talabi, and Robert (nojay) Sneddon. Up next was “Surviving Late-Stage Capitalism as a Creative” with moderator Terri Ash and panellists Erica Holcomb, Miles Cameron, Sarah Langan, and E.D.E. Bell. Next we were at the Group Book Launch, where Gregory A. Wilson got to present Atthis Arts title Heretic, the third book in his fantasy trilogy. And thus the whole day had been filled with Atthis Arts-related activities, and with so much joy!
On Friday it was time for the very first panel I would be speaking at myself: “Introduction to Cosy SFF” with fellow panellists Rachel Gutin and Yilin Wang, moderated by Caitlin Rozakis. It went well, and Atthis Arts friend Clara Ward even described it as one of the nicest and indeed cosiest panels they had ever listened to. A big thank you to Caitlin, Yilin, and Rachel for making my first panel experience so welcoming!
Knowing that I had survived being on a panel once, I wasn’t really nervous for the other panels anymore, and I went and listened to a panel in the very next time slot, titled “Learning from COVID – An International Perspective”, moderated by Ava Kelly, with panellists Iain Kennedy, Keren Landsman, Sabine Furlong, and Sam Scheiner. Not the most cheerful subject to celebrate my first panel with, but it was still interesting, and after that Ava and I went for lunch and a short walk around the Dealers Hall, and then I was heading for the greenroom again for my second panel, “Great Heroes in Children’s Literature”, moderated by Grace A.T. Worm, with fellow panellists Caitlin Rozakis, H.G. Parry, and Sharon Sheffield. Again, these people were so nice to talk with. The convention honestly felt like one big book club session, because so many people there have more or less the same set of interests, and I feel so lucky about the panels I got! Being on the same panel twice in one day, Caitlin and I realised we had a lot in common, and I will definitely be reading her novel Dreadful soon—it sounds right up my street.
“Introduction to Cosy SFF” with Caitlin Rozakis, Rachel Gutin, Yilin Wang, and Minerva Cerridwen. Esme Addison was scheduled to be on this panel too, but sadly couldn’t make it to the convention.
“Great Heroes in Children’s Literature” with Grace A.T. Worm, Caitlin Rozakis, Minerva Cerridwen, H.G. Parry, and Sharon Sheffield.
Finally I attended the panel “Fanfic or Re-imagining?” moderated by Ava Kelly, with panellists F.D. Lee, Gabi GL, Genevieve Cogman, and Seanan McGuire, and after that we had a nice little Atthis Arts dinner party thanks to Chris and Emily!
After such a long day, Ava and I made the (perhaps surprisingly) wise decision of taking another easy morning on Saturday, so we could take our time for breakfast and prepare for our events of the day. There was just one for each of us, but sadly they were at the same time—someone really should invent a way to be in several places at once for conventions like this! Though I suppose providing replays of some of the panels is already a good step in that direction. And I was lucky enough to hear Ava’s practice version of their academic presentation “Digital Necromancy: Ethical Implications of Virtual Life After Death”, so I didn’t fully miss out either.
Before it was time for the presentation and the panel, all of the Atthis Arts people were meeting up outside to celebrate Chris’ 50th birthday! Emily managed to herd everyone together, Clara brought a cake and chocolates, and I met new Atthis Arts author Joyce Chng, whose book Wolf’s Path will be out in March 2025. But it really was extremely windy, so Ava and I soon fled inside to spend some time in the convention’s Quiet Space. Singing the song that I’d written for Chris would have to wait for another opportunity. Somehow, the fates actually decided to start playing the right song when we were out for dinner on Monday evening, so that turned out great!
My dragon panel, “The Purpose of Dragons” moderated by J E Hannaford, with fellow panellists Eliza Chan, L.R. Lam, and Paolo Bacigalupi, was in one of the big halls. Getting to speak about what I love most in front of so many people gave me such a rush! We really had a lot of fun on this panel, and I think it sparked new story inspiration for most of us. After the panel, I sold the final two copies of The Dragon of Ynys present at the convention (aside from my own pretty painted one, which obviously wasn’t for sale! Mine!!!), to two very kind Dutch-speaking people. It was strange to be speaking Dutch in this setting! When I came out of that panel, I was skipping over purple clouds and rainbows; it really had gone as well as I could have hoped. Thanks to Eliza Chan for the photo of the dragon panel, and thanks to Ava Kelly for the other 4 photos of panels in this post!
“The Purpose of Dragons” with L.R. Lam, Paolo Bacigalupi, J E Hannaford, Eliza Chan, and Minerva Cerridwen.
Of course I wouldn’t be going there alone!
Sunday was a very busy day for me: I was on Stroll with the Stars at 9:00, walking to the Tall Ship Glenlee. (Photo source: The Unicorn – Glasgow 2024 Newsletter, Issue 7.) I was happy to find time for a cup of tea before my first panel of the day, “Reality Bites: Escapism in SFF”, moderated by J A Mortimore, with fellow panellists Julia Rios, M H Ayinde, and Phoenix Alexander. This was another really fun talk, and I loved that I’d kept bumping into J A Mortimore before this panel, as she was the one checking me in for most of my panels in the greenroom (leading to the question: “How many panels are you on??!” “I don’t know how this happened either!”).
Stroll with the Stars at the Tall Ship Glenlee. Photo from The Unicorn, Issue 7.
“Reality Bites: Escapism in SFF” with J A Mortimore, Julia Rios, Minerva Cerridwen, Phoenix Alexander, and M H Ayinde.
My final panel of Worldcon 2024 was “Flash Fiction: The Art of Storytelling in Under 1,000 Words”, moderated by Stephen Granade, with fellow panellists Aimee Ogden, Istvan Vizvary, and Örjan Westin (@MicroSFF). This interesting and inspiring panel led me to writing a new welcome post on Paranatellonta, in which I’m linking to the flash fiction recommendations that were mentioned in the panel discussion. Of course there was also a new Paranatellonta edition on the 15th—that’s number 384!
After the Flash Fiction panel, Ava and I finally finished our walk around the Dealers Hall, where we’d also had a lovely chat with the owner of The Portal Bookshop earlier that day. They had anthology Love & Bubbles (James & Rossman, 2018) on display! I signed my story in the three copies they had. If you’re near York (or ordering online from anywhere in the UK), please consider getting your books by Portal.
“Flash Fiction: The Art of Storytelling in Under 1,000 Words” with Stephen Granade, Minerva Cerridwen, Aimee Ogden, Örjan Westin, and Istvan Vizvary.
“Love & Bubbles” on display among lots of other great books in The Portal Bookshop booth in the Dealers Hall.
Then it was time for a quick dinner and to go outside and queue for the Hugos ceremony in the Armadillo. I thought it was so cool to actually be in the room where that yearly celebration of the SFF genre happens!
Cute friends in the Hugos queue: Clara Ward, Ava Kelly, and Emily Bell! I was wearing the adorable dragon hat Clara made for me; it proved far more useful already than either of us would have expected in August! That’s Scotland for you. (Can I have that weather back now, please?)
With my final panel behind me, Monday was an easy day for me, enjoying the words of others and learning from them. I had been planning to attend “Can We Turn the Machines Off?” moderated by Ava Kelly, but by the time I arrived, the room was already full! I still had time to figure out where else I could go in that time slot, and I ended up listening to “Finding Story in the Landscape”, moderated by Kathleen Jennings, with panellists Ai Jiang, Garth Nix, Terri Windling, and Tiffani Angus. That way I unexpectedly got the chance to take up my book club friend Aline’s recommendation of listening to a panel with Terri Windling! And I have to repeat it again: it was interesting and inspiring!
Afterwards I rushed to have a quick lunch and then to the book launch, where Clara Ward was presenting Be the Sea. And then it was time to attend my final panel: “The Art and Craft of Literary Translation”, moderated by Denis Taillandier, with panellists Hildur Knútsdóttir, Igor Rendić, Yaroslav Barsukov, and Yilin Wang.
Suddenly it was over! The convention had rushed by so fast, and I’d love to do it all again someday. We had a lovely final evening with Atthis Arts, and on Tuesday morning it was time to start the journey back to Belgium. Luckily, whenever I feel sad about it being over, I can dive into the hoard I brought home! (Along with the plan to buy more books that had already sold out at the convention by the time I had time to go look for them. And with the beautiful yarn I showed in the pictures at the top, which I’d preordered from Third Vault Yarns and picked up at the convention.)
My convention badge with all the ribbons I collected! Ava Kelly’s Dragon Realm (avakellyfiction.com), #SupportBoldIndies (edebell.com), My First Worldcon, Programme Participant, Nerds of a Feather Flock Together, I Kudos Fanworks (AO3), I Get My Books By Portal (Portal Bookshop), and Cast of Wonders.
Loot: all the cards and bookmarks I picked up at Worldcon, together with the souvenir book, the Hugos programme, a sticker sheet with bees, and my convention badge.
Loot: My friends know me well! Aside from the adorable dragon hat depicted in the Hugo queue photo above, I got to bring these perfect gifts home. “Oracle Gretel” is a chapbook by Julia Rios which was given to the panellists of “Reality Bites: Escapism in SFF”. It’s lovely and will be cherished!
(Disclaimer: if your gift is not in this photo, know that I still very much appreciate it, but I was being chaotic during unpacking and forgot to add it to the photo.)
More loot: We hadn’t even reached the convention when I’d already seen that baby dragon in St Enoch shopping centre in Glasgow. By the end of the convention it was still calling for me, so I had to go pick it up.
I am now the proud owner of a BE THE SEA totebag!
… and of a The Neurodiversiverse totebag!
The Neurodiversiverse totebag was a Kickstarter reward—in case you missed it between all my Worldcon news, anthology The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters has now come out and includes my neurodivergent alien teleportation story “The Space Between Stitches”! Get it here.
P.P.S. The tagline for this convention was “A Worldcon for Our Futures”. If you are, indeed, in the future reading this, and you’re preparing for your first convention yourself, feel free to contact me or leave a comment or some questions here that would help with your preparations!
The programme of the Glasgow 2024 WorldCon has been announced!
Here are the panels (and a stroll!) I’ll be on:
Panel
Day (2024)
Time (GMT+1)
Where?
Introduction to Cosy SFF
Friday, August 9
11:30
Meeting Academy M2/M3
Great Heroes in Children’s Literature
Friday, August 9
16:00
Meeting Academy M4
The Purpose of Dragons
Saturday, August 10
17:30
Hall 1
Stroll with the Stars – Sunday, The Tall Ship
Sunday, August 11
09:00
Outside Crowne Plaza
Reality Bites: Escapism in SFF
Sunday, August 11
11:30
Meeting Academy M2/M3
Flash Fiction: the Art of Storytelling in Under 1,000 Words
Sunday, August 11
16:00
Gala
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!
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!
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.
“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!”
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!
This anthology is packed with 120 stories under 300 words each, all with a speculative element and queer characters. One of these stories is my little piece “Ace-tral Projection”, and the book also includes L.S. Reinholt’s “Flood”.
The winners of this edition were Aidee Ladnier’s “Getting The Proper Rise” in third place, Sorren Briarwood’s “Dead Name” in second place, and Meghan Hyland’s “So High Up We’ll Never Hear Them Shouting” in first place. Congratulations!
The winner announcement can be found here, judge’s picks were announced here, honorable mentions were announced here, and the full list of stories in the book is on this page.
And we’ll continue celebrating today, because I have great news for everyone in Belgium who wants to buy The Dragon of Ynys at an independent bookshop: it is now available at Boekhandel Grim in Hasselt!
Happy autumn, and happy Ace Week!
P.S. My postcard sets are still available! Read about them here.
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!
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!
Minerva Cerridwen 