romance – Minerva Cerridwen

‘Tis the season to be jolly!

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

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

28 July 2019 Minerva Cerridwen

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 & Noble, Kobo – 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.

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.

love & bubbles

Love & Bubbles is out now!

20 October 2018 Minerva Cerridwen

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!

15 October 2018 Minerva Cerridwen

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.

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!!!

13 August 201813 August 2018 Minerva Cerridwen

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!

the dragon of ynys

Release Day!

16 May 201822 May 2018 Minerva Cerridwen

The Dragon of Ynys is OUT NOW!!!

You can buy it at (amongst others):

LT3 Market | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

And add it on Goodreads: Goodreads

All preorders should have arrived in the appropriate mailboxes by now.

This also means the blog tour has taken off! I’d like to send major thanks to the people who are spreading the word about my novella during the tour, which will run from May 15 until May 28. On the last day, I’ll repost the schedule with all the updated links!

May 15

Review via Let’s Fox About It: https://letsfoxaboutit.com/review-the-dragon-of-ynys-by-minerva-cerridwen/ (character interview to come at a later date at http://candidceillie.com/)

Review via Barely a Blogger: https://barelyablogger.wordpress.com/

May 16

Review via Jennifer Lee Rossman: https://jenniferleerossman.blogspot.com/

Review & interview via Crimson Talks Books, Mostly: https://crimsontalksbooks.wordpress.com

May 20

Review via Ava Kelly: http://avakellyfiction.com/news/

May 22

Character interview via Archer Kay Leah: https://archerkayleah.wordpress.com/

May 28

YouTube interview via Amphibian Press: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthRhMtY9NSLpbCIMNd20tw/videos

the dragon of ynys

THE DRAGON OF YNYS available for preorder!!

25 March 2018 Minerva Cerridwen

Every time something goes missing from the village, Sir Violet makes his way to the dragon’s cave and negotiates the item’s return. It’s annoying, but at least the dragon is polite.

But when the dragon steals a person, that’s a step too far. As Sir Violet ventures out to get the missing baker back, however, he quickly realizes things are not at all what they seem…

–

My debut novella will be released on May 16 with LT3 Press but you can already preorder it now for only $2.54! Sir Violet, the main character, is aro/ace, other important characters are lesbian and trans, and of course there’s a dragon!

Get it HERE!

love & bubbles, the dragon of ynys

An Interview and a Date

17 February 201811 June 2018 Minerva Cerridwen

You can find my interview for the Love & Bubbles Kickstarter campaign here! I’m talking about my story, Summoned; about what I would ask of a water demon and about gardening. And the gorgeous moodboard the Love & Bubbles team made for my story is visible there too! 😀

To make sure this book will get published, you can still back the Love & Bubbles Kickstarter here. Thank you so much if you consider doing this and/or if you’re spreading the word about this project! ❤

I’ve also got news about my debut novella, The Dragon of Ynys: I can officially announce its release date! It will be out on May 16, 2018, with LT3 Press. More news on this will follow!

love & bubbles

Bubbly Kickstarter!

7 February 20187 February 2018 Minerva Cerridwen

The Kickstarter for Love & Bubbles has been launched!

Love & Bubbles is a collection of short stories of underwater romance. The characters range from classics like mermaids and selkies, to creative interpretations on the theme that take you to the Amazon river basin, alien water planets, and an ice-crusted lake.

We put out a call for love stories of all gender pairings and styles, and were surprised to discover the bulk of our submissions featured lesbian couples. Of the eleven base stories featured, eight feature relationships between queer women. We considered going ahead and focusing this anthology solely on queer women, but… I think you’ll agree the three stories featuring queer men and straight couples are well worth the uneven distribution of pairings!

This anthology contains my short story, Summoned, about a grumpy old merman who’s trying to express his feelings to the water demon living next door. There’s a pet catfish, much love for tea, and an aggressive plant.

Please check out this link for more information, and thank you so much if you consider supporting this project! You can help to make this awesome publication happen!

love & bubbles

Happy Bubbles!

28 January 20181 February 2018 Minerva Cerridwen

AAAAAHHHHH!!! 😀 😀 😀
==> This is the very dignified reaction of a writer receiving good news.

My short story, “Summoned”, is accepted for inclusion in Jaylee James’ “Love & Bubbles” anthology! 😀

Love & Bubbles will feature love stories centered around underwater biodomes, submarines, alien planets entirely covered by water, sea monsters, selkies, mermaids, water witches, river spirits, and more! You can find the official announcement here.

My story features an old grumpy merman trying to express his feelings for his demon neighbour.

If you want to help make this anthology happen, keep an eye on the Kickstarter! It will begin on February 5 and I’ll make another blog post to announce it.