the dragon of ynys

Dragon Biscuits!

Hello!

I have a feeling Snap will approve of this post’s title… Happy Publishiversary, Snap & co.!

That’s right – it’s already been a whole year since The Dragon of Ynys came out with Atthis Arts. If you’re new to my blog: welcome! You can read all about my queer fairy tale novella via this link!

Buy links: Publisher’s websiteSmashwordsAmazon.comAmazon.deiBooksBarnes & NobleKoboBookshopVrolijk.nu (NL) – Kartonnen Dozen (Belgium)

Add the book to your shelves: The StoryGraphGoodreads

To celebrate the anniversary, I made real The Dragon of Ynys biscuits! I used a gingerbread recipe and Rainbow Crate’s rolling pin (which you can still find here). As it was the first time I made patterned biscuits, I still have some experimenting to do before every single sword, cupcake, and little dragon will be visible on the dough, but I already learned a lot as I went!

Dragon biscuit - unbaked.
An unbaked biscuit with the Dragon of Ynys-pattern rolled into it.
Baked biscuits, the rolling pin, and a copy of "The Dragon of Ynys".
Baked biscuits, the rolling pin, and a copy of “The Dragon of Ynys”.

As you can see, my biscuits even include the spiders’ forest! (Yes, that is Minerva-speak for: “Look, there is a little tree!”)

And while you’re enjoying a biscuit, remember that the Dragoniversary story Lost in Ynys, by Ava Kelly and me, is still out there for the party.

Cheers, and thank you for being here!

Minerva

the dragon of ynys

Tomorrow’s Reading

Hi!

Just dropping a quick note about the Reading in Ferndale Library, which I talked about in my previous blog post. It’s tomorrow, at 12:00 EDT/18:00 CEST (click here to see what time this is for you).

The Zoom link is now available, so I can tell you the reading will take place on this address! And for more info, I will once again refer to the Facebook event.

See you tomorrow, if you can make it!

Edit: This event is now over, so I have removed the links.

the dragon of ynys

Reading in Ferndale Library

Hi!

Back in March, when I talked about donating the proceeds for The Dragon of Ynys to Ferndale Pride, I mentioned that there would be an author reading in May, co-hosted by Ferndale Library. That event is happening next Thursday, May 20!

It will, of course, be an online event – I’m still waiting impatiently for that teleportation technology for quick hops from Belgium to Ferndale, Michigan. Fortunately, we can have just as much fun online. I’ll be reading from The Dragon of Ynys, and then I’ll be answering questions from readers. You can find all the info about the event on the Facebook page: click here. The Zoom link will be found there on the day before the reading, and the event itself starts at noon Ferndale time (18:00 Belgian time – in other words, 12 EDT/18 CEST).

See you there!

Minerva

the dragon of ynys

Rainbow Space Recording

Hi!

A quick note to say that you can find the Rainbow Space Magic reading with Elle E. Ire, Ava Kelly and me on YouTube! You can also watch the rest of the panels and readings here.

If this gets you in the mood to attend a virtual con live, you can now sign up for IQARUS, which takes place on May 8-9! This book con is named “International Queer Authors and Readers Uniting Stories” and you can see the guests listed here. (I won’t be speaking at the con myself, but I’ll definitely be there to listen!)

Also, the Ferndale Pride Promo for The Dragon of Ynys was prolonged all through March. If you buy a copy of my novella through the publisher’s website, all proceeds will be donated to Ferndale Pride. So you’ll get a queer story in paperback AND ebook format, AND support charity at the same time. Awesome, right? This will also earn you an invitation for my author event on May 20. Come celebrate with us!

Love,

Minerva

the dragon of ynys

Rainbow Space Magic virtual con

Hi!

Next weekend, March 12-14, 2021, the second edition of Rainbow Space Magic Virtual Con is taking place!

The con is starting with a series of free workshops on Friday, March 12, and will then continue with different interesting panels and exciting readings by LGBTQIA+ authors. You can see the full schedule here!

Everything is free to attend; you just need to register as a participant on this page.

This is the very first con I’m attending as an author! I’ll be doing a reading on Saturday, March 13, at 11 AM ET. (For my local friends: that’s 17:00 in my time zone in Belgium!)

Ava Kelly and I are sharing a reading slot to read a short fragment from each other’s dragon books: Havesskadi and The Dragon of Ynys. You may have read more about these two stories, which were written at the same time, in my blog post about our recent short story Lost in Ynys.

We look forward to having fun with each other’s texts and hope to see you there! You’ll have the possibility to send us questions after the reading.

Rainbow Space Magic also supports a number of charities, which are listed here.

And speaking of charity, the Ferndale Pride Promo for The Dragon of Ynys has been extended all through March! So if you buy my novella directly from Atthis Arts this month, you know that all proceeds are going to a good cause. Please spread the word!

Thank you and lots of love,

Minerva

the dragon of ynys

Ferndale Pride Promo

Hello!

From March 1 (today!) until March 14, all proceeds for The Dragon of Ynys are going to Ferndale Pride when you buy the paperback (and included ebook) via the Atthis Arts website.

Atthis Arts is located in Ferndale, close to Detroit, Michigan. As a local publisher, they are proud to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and to promote the charities this Pride organisation supports in turn. I’m honoured and happy to let The Dragon of Ynys, with its queer cast of characters and message of acceptance, help out!

Grab your copy of the book here or get one as a gift for a friend!

If you already have your copies, you can also donate directly to Ferndale Pride via this link. Please spread the word if you can!

Ferndale Pride is set to take place on Saturday, October 2, 2021. You can find all information about the event on this website.

As part of the promotion, everyone who orders The Dragon of Ynys via Atthis Arts during these two weeks will be invited to an author reading, where you can hear me stumble over my words do my best dragon voice, and you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions. It’ll be fun! We’re still deciding on a date for this event, so more information will follow later, but it’ll probably be sometime in May. The event is co-hosted by the Ferndale Library.

Mind that only the proceeds from book sales directly via the Atthis Arts website will be donated; sales via other book shops or retail sites like Amazon are not part of this promotion.

More information on The Dragon of Ynys, as always, can be found here.

Happy Pride!

P.S. More awesome news: the ebook of The Dragon of Ynys is going to be part of the Rainbow Crate Book Box this month! AND they’re going to have a fandom item in their April book box… Exciting times!!!

P.P.S. If you want to hear me read earlier than May, you can join my reading on the Rainbow Space Magic virtual con on Saturday, March 13. Ava Kelly and I are sharing a reading slot to read from each other’s dragon book at 10:00 AM CT/17:00 CET. Register here to participate! We hope to see you there.

the dragon of ynys

Lost in Ynys: a crossover story with characters from Ava Kelly’s Havesskadi

Once upon a time in 2017, two befriended authors were writing a story for the same call for submissions. One of the stories was The Dragon of Ynys, which you probably know something about if you’re on this website. The other was Havesskadi, an epic fantasy with a magic castle, an asexual character and of course (since that was in the submission call)… dragons!

Havesskadi got published a few months before my Dragon, in February 2018. When the original publisher closed, it was also re-published. It came out with NineStar Press on February 24, 2020. That’s exactly one year ago!

To celebrate its anniversary, Ava and I have written a short story together. Lost in Ynys finds the two main characters of Havesskadi accidentally ending up in the world of Ynys and calling in Sir Violet’s help. Read it here!

Askanath the Ancient with a copy of "The Dragon of Ynys" and "Havesskadi"
Photo by Ava Kelly

the dragon of ynys

New review!

Hi!

The Dragon of Ynys got a new review, of which I was alerted in an email, and then I realised I hadn’t blogged since the start of the year and therefore hadn’t linked to the previous review yet either!

So here’s the new review on The Queer Bookish: click!

And here’s the review on Ancillary Review of Books: click!

It is such an honour to know that people are not only reading the book but also enjoying it. And that those readers even agree that it’s important for queer youth to have a fairy tale like this! I could only speak for myself when I said this was something we needed, of course, but to see my feelings on the matter reflected gives me hope. And of course I like being right. 😉

In other news, I signed a contract to have another short story co-written with L.S. Reinholt published sometime this year, but I can’t say much more about that yet.

Until the next time I remember to blog! 😛

Minerva

The Dragon of Ynys
the dragon of ynys

Interviewed by Jennifer Lee Rossman!

Hello!

I hope you’re all well. The world is once again looking a little scarier, but at least stories are always there to give us a relaxing means of escape.

It’s been a month and a week since my story The Dragon of Ynys came out, so of course I’ll be talking a little more about it in this blog post. I was interviewed about it by the one and only Jennifer Lee Rossman, who’s an awesome author herself and the co-editor of anthologies Love & Bubbles and Space Opera Libretti. You can read the interview here (and see a cute photo of The Dragon of Ynys with some dragon friends!).

I also saw a wonderful review accompanied by a beautiful photo on theboyandhisbookshelf’s Instagram yesterday, which I’d love to share: you can see it here. And while you’re wandering around on Instagram, you can also check out some of my baking, inspired by Ynys’ baker Juniper: for example the cinnamon rolls Sir Violet is so fond of. (They make a great breakfast indeed!)

If that made you hungry for more but you’re not able to buy the book right now, I’d like to inform you that I’m currently doing a giveaway, to celebrate one month since the release as well as the upcoming Ace Week.

Ace Week, formerly Asexual Awareness Week, is an event that will take place from October 25 until October 31, all over the world. It celebrates the asexual community and the progress we see in the awareness that asexuality exists, both in society and in media representation. You can read more about it on the Ace Week website and the organisation is also present on social media.

Sir Violet, like myself, is asexual as well as aromantic, so I felt that starting giveaways on three platforms and announcing the winners on the last day of Ace Week (October 31) would be a good way of participating in the celebrations. If you’d like to enter the contest, these are the links: TwitterTumblrPillowfort.

You simply retweet or reblog the post until October 30, 2020 at 23:59 EST. The winner will be chosen randomly on October 31; one winner per platform. That means you have one chance per platform; 3 chances if you reblog all three! (On every platform, only your first reblog will count as an entry, so while you are most welcome to keep spreading the word afterwards, this will not increase your chances.) You can also share the posts without entering the competition; simply leave a line like “not entering the giveaway but signal boosting”.

If you’re interested in the book but would rather bypass the competition altogether, these are the buy links:

Publisher’s websiteSmashwordsAmazon.comAmazon.deiBooksBarnes & NobleKoboBookshopVrolijk.nu (NL)

Add the book to your shelves: GoodreadsThe StoryGraph

And one more thing I’d like to call attention to: my publisher, Atthis Arts, is currently doing a Kickstarter for a project called In This Moment. I am not directly involved with this, but they have put together a mindblowing team of people who’ll be working on this collection of short works, both fiction and non-fiction, documenting this moment that will be described in history books as the time of the Black Lives Matter movement and the global pandemic. As they focus on important marginalised voices, I think it’s incredibly important that this book can be made – but the Kickstarter still has quite a way to go before the funding will be complete. Take a look at it here if you can find the time, and please consider contributing.

That’s all for now!

I hope you’ll have a great Ace Week, and please stay safe!

Love,

Minerva

The Dragon of Ynys
the dragon of ynys

Guest Post on LGBTQ Reads

Hello!

Tomorrow it’s been three weeks since the release of The Dragon of Ynys. A joyful three weeks indeed! It’s been amazing to see people pick up the book, post pictures of it, and write reviews. Please keep them coming (and remember how helpful it is to post about the book on different platforms)!

To give you an idea of the beautiful photos I’ve seen around on Instagram, here’s a selection: check out The Urban Reader’s review, Paddy_Pikala’s photo, the cute origami in the background of Owlsbooksandtea’s picture, and the cosiness that Howtobeabooknerd_ has set up around the book! For more, check my Instagram highlight.

A big thank you to everyone who has made posts and will do so in the future – you’re making this book release into a wonderful online party.

For my part, I celebrated release day with a video and baking Juniper’s delicious cinnamon rolls.

And last week something happened that feels like a real milestone: I saw the first fanart of my characters!!! *heart eyes*

Today, I have the honour of getting a guest post published on LGBTQ Reads. I’m talking about why the label “all ages” is so important to me when I’m talking about a fairy tale with a clear message of acceptance and aromantic, asexual, trans, and lesbian representation. You can read it here – feel free to leave a comment!

Thank you for reading my blog!

Remember you can pick up The Dragon of Ynys here:

Publisher’s websiteSmashwordsAmazon.comAmazon.deiBooksBarnes & NobleKoboBookshop

and add it to your shelves on Goodreads and The StoryGraph.

Lots of love,

Minerva