Tag: speculative fiction

Neurodiversiverse, Paranatellonta

10 days left for a flourising new universe!

Minerva Cerridwen

10 days left in the Neurodiversiverse Kickstarter!

Since my last blog post, the campaign has been labelled a Project We Love by Kickstarter and further Stretch Goals have been announced: bookmarks, goodie bags, an audiobook, and a sequel anthology!!!

But first, of course, we need to cross the minimum goal. Please keep sharing the Kickstarter link and consider preordering your own copy of the anthology!

Banner for The Neurodiversiverse with a Kickstarter Project We Love Logo

On a personal note, my grandmother passed away last week. I wrote the latest Paranatellonta edition in her memory.

Love,

Minerva

Neurodiversiverse

Introducing The Neurodiversiverse

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

I’ve got some big news!

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!

Banner for The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters Kickstarter

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.

From the campaign:

“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!”

Read more about the Neurodiversiverse here!

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!

The pop-up shop with Atthis Arts merchandise will be open until April 30. Artist Matthew Spencer created a brand new design that combines elements from the Atthis Arts stories, and you’ll recognise Snap as one of the three featured dragons. (Want to recognise all of the elements? Get some Atthis Arts books!) Aside from those shirts, there is also the option of a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants with Graystick, from the E.D.E. Bell comics inspired by Gregory A. Wilson’s Gray Assassin Trilogy. Make sure to have a look at these handsome, soft cotton clothes before the shop disappears!

Illustration on the Atthis Arts shirts, created by Matthew Spencer

Projects by Friends

Dedication!

Minerva Cerridwen

Today I would like to talk about the newest book release by my friend and editor of The Dragon of Ynys, E.D.E. Bell. It is titled Just Chad and collects 25 adventures of a robot named Chad, whom we got to know in the first part of the Just Duology: Just Bart.

Cover of "Just Chad" by E.D.E. Bell

I’m so, so honoured that E.D.E. Bell dedicated a book to me, and not just a book, but this one. Everyone, grab your copy!

Love, beeps, and boops,

Minerva

And also, Paranatellonta, Queens in Wonderland, Rise

Order a set of cards!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

See these cool cards?

2023 set of 10 postcards

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!

For a better look at some of the illustrations, I refer to the Illustrations page on my website.

Some more news:

  • 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!

Queens in Wonderland Announcement Graphic

Have a nice Sunday!

Minerva

Banner for "Refuge" - 10 years of Paranatellonta
Paranatellonta

TEN YEARS of Paranatellonta!

Minerva Cerridwen

Hello!

It’s a day of celebrations: Paranatellonta is 10 years old!

The little project in which Fie takes a photo twice a month to inspire a ten-sentence story by me is still going strong! Back in 2013, we were inspired by Erin Morgenstern and Carey Farrell’s Flax-Golden Tales, of which there were 261. That sounded like quite a lot when we started, and to be honest, it still does—but today we are at our 360th edition!!!

Of course, we have a special edition for you to mark this anniversary. Just like for the fifth anniversary, we have asked none other than Ava Kelly to be our guest photographer and author. Ava’s photo inspired my 10-sentence story “Scrutiny”, and Fie’s photo inspired Ava’s 10-sentence story “Refuge”.

Banner for "Refuge" - Paranatellonta

Banner for "Scrutiny" - Paranatellonta

Click on the banners to be taken directly to both new Paranatellonta pieces, or click here to see all three of today’s new posts, including the introduction of our anniversary edition.

The banners were also created by Ava Kelly.

Ava Kelly is a nonbinary speculative writer and engineer. Secretly a pile of cats in a trenchcoat, Ava’s goal is to bring into the world more tales of friendship and compassion, dedicated to trope subversion, stories that give the void a voice. Romanian living in Norway, Ava is an avid explorer of culture and its reflection upon life and creativity, both in art and in tech design. Among their works are the award-winning novel Havesskadi, the short story A Sudden Displacement of Matter (part of the Lambda-nominated anthology Trans-Galactic Bike Ride: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories of Transgender and Nonbinary Adventurers), and the illustrated dual language book of nonbinary fairy tales Alia Terra – Stories from the Dragon Realm.

Thank you for yet another wonderful collaboration, Ava!

You can always read and watch all editions of Paranatellonta for free here. Enjoy, and let us know what you think!

Community of Magic Pens, Innovation anthology, Neon Horror Zine, Paranatellonta, Space Opera Libretti, the dragon of ynys

Minerva Cerridwen’s Awards Eligibility Post 2020

Minerva Cerridwen

’tis the season…

I haven’t made an awards eligibility post before, but as I see them going around on social media, I thought it couldn’t harm to list my publications of 2020.

Novella (fantasy)

The Dragon of Ynys

My novella The Dragon of Ynys came out in September 2020 with Atthis Arts. Mind that it is a re-publication after revising the story I published in May 2018 with Less Than Three Press, so it may not be eligible for some awards, as it’s not a first edition. (Both editions were published in the US.) However, aside from many smaller revisions, the 2020 edition has a brand new epilogue and afterword, and the 2018 edition had only appeared as an ebook, not in print. The new edition is available both as ebook and in print, and the new cover was designed by Ulla Thynell.

The Dragon of Ynys (24,000 words) is a fairy tale with an aromantic asexual main character, trans and lesbian supporting characters—and, of course, a dragon. The genre is fantasy, and it is suitable for all ages. You can read all about it here.

Also, if you’re looking for an editor to nominate: E.D.E. Bell is the amazing editor of The Dragon of Ynys as well as the anthology Community of Magic Pens (see below).

Short stories (science fiction)

I had 4 short stories published in 2020. There are no reprints among these.

1: Stars from the Stars in the anthology Space Opera Libretti, edited by Jennifer Lee Rossman and Brian McNett. (Published in the US, 4600 words.)

Simon is a siren who lives alone on a rock in space, until he’s picked up by the Stars from the Stars ship to compete in the universally beloved talent show. Even though he’s completely confident in his abilities, he might learn a thing or two on the way…

This story is inspired by shows like America’s Got Talent… in space!

2: Memory Malfunction in the anthology Community of Magic Pens, published by Atthis Arts and edited by E.D.E. Bell. (Published in the US, 2100 words.)

“Memory Malfuction” is about an android applying for a job as an intergalactic antiques salesman. The company bosses, however, have their doubts…

3: The Lost, co-written with L.S. Reinholt, in the anthology Neon Horror, published by The Haunted Bouncy Castle. (Published in the UK, 3000 words.)

The Lost is a science fiction horror story about two travellers in space whose logs and maps have been erased. When they encounter another ship, they hope they’ve found a solution, but instead lose even more.

4: The Emperor’s New Helmet, in the anthology Innovation, published by Other Worlds Ink. This flash piece of 300 words received an honourable mention in the 2020 Queer Sci Fi Contest. (Published in the US.)

Paranatellonta

Ever since August 2013, I write ten-sentence stories based on photos made by my friend Fie. This project is called Paranatellonta. Every edition (294 at the moment of writing this post!) is published online on Tumblr and available for free, so even though I’m not sure this would fit into any awards, feel free to take a look at the newest stories or find yourself a random story from sometime in the past 7+ years. The stories from 2020 are editions 273 to 296.

Paranatellonta updates on the 1st and 15th of every month. Fie and I celebrate every tenth edition by switching roles: in those editions I take a picture and Fie writes a story.

We first discovered this concept when we enjoyed Erin Morgenstern and Carey Farrell’s Flax-golden Tales and became inspired.

Edit 20/11/20: Atthis Arts also has an awards eligibility post up now, which you can find here.