Tag: lgbtqia+

the dragon of ynys

Dragon Biscuits!

Minerva Cerridwen

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 website – Smashwords – Amazon.com – Amazon.de – iBooks – Barnes & Noble – Kobo – Bookshop – Vrolijk.nu (NL) – Kartonnen Dozen (Belgium)

Add the book to your shelves: The StoryGraph – Goodreads

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

Ink

Release Day of Ink!

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.

Banner for the anthology "Ink"

 

Ink, Projects by Friends, Skulls & Spells

Flash publication in Ink!

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!

Minerva Cerridwen

Cover of Skulls and Spells: an anthology of horrors by creators from the LGBTQI2SA+ community

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

the dragon of ynys

Tomorrow’s Reading

Minerva Cerridwen

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

Minerva Cerridwen

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

Minerva Cerridwen

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

Minerva Cerridwen

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

Minerva Cerridwen

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

New review!

Minerva Cerridwen

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