Tag: the neurodiversiverse: alien encounters

And also, Neurodiversiverse, Paranatellonta

Award for The Neurodiversiverse

Minerva Cerridwen

Hi!

I’ll continue the quick flash update style of my previous post, since I have a lot of short messages.

1) Great news about The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters, the anthology which includes my short story “The Space Between Stitches”: it has won the Silver IBPA Book Award in the category Neurodivergent Communities!

2) In the first week of June, I’ve participated in Workshop Week for the third year in a row. It’s always so much fun to learn new techniques that I will no doubt apply to postcards soon. Here’s a tiny glance at the pieces I learned to make with teachers Type Affiliated, Mabz Brisson, Shayda Campbell, Aurelia Thomson, Lindsey Bugbee, Julie Marriott, and Terry Runyan. You can still follow my artsy explorations on my Instagram.

This image shows small versions of the results of 7 Workshop Week projects: a handlettering piece saying "wishing you a very happy father's day", 2 floral pieces, a grandmotherly character, a hummingbird with flowers, a floral cat, and a swallow filled with calligraphy.

3) Yesterday was the 15th day of the month, so of course Fie and I also posted a new edition of Paranatellonta – number 404!

4) In May, I had my Storytelling exam, allowing me to mark my third year at Knst academy as successful. I’m continuing the Storytelling course next year with great enthusiasm! If you’re in the area of Hasselt, you can start your first year in September with the same brilliant teacher, on Mondays from 19:00 until 21:00. (Mind that this course is taught in Dutch.) Info via this link, scroll down to “Storytelling 18+”.

5) Ulla Thynell, the artist who created the cover of my novella The Dragon of Ynys, will have a book out with Atthis Arts soon! Faraway Dreaming is an art book and story of forest, peace, and a calming night journey. Dragons, hills, and magic to soothe your soul. I know I’m ordering several, both to keep and as gifts. The Kickstarter is already successful, so the book is definitely happening! Rewards start from $1. Go take a look!

6) Speaking of cool artists affiliated with Atthis Arts, Dhiyanah Hassan made this amazing handdrawn dragon fairy portrait of me! I’m still so delighted with how it turned out; I really feel seen. You can commission your own portrait from Dhiyanah via this link.

Handdrawn portrait of a smiling white person with horns in the colours of the ace flag, glasses with purple tentacle details, long brown braided hair, a green t-shirt, rainbow scaled dragon wings, a couple of purple tentacles, and lots of purple flowers all around. Stars are scattered over the atmospheric green background.

7) I’m looking forward to a week in Denmark in July! I’m sure it will bring lots of inspiration and relaxation. And I’m going to see the H.C. Andersen House, which feels extra special as my first published story ever, Match Sticks, was inspired by one of his fairy tales. 

That’s all for today!

Have a wonderful summer!

Minerva

 

Neurodiversiverse, Paranatellonta, Queens in Wonderland

Minerva Cerridwen’s 2024 Awards Eligibility Post

Minerva Cerridwen

1: Short story “The Space Between Stitches”, science fiction, about 3900 words.

Published in anthology The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters, Thinking Ink Press, August 2024, USA. Edited by Liza Olmsted and Anthony Francis.

Available formats: paperback and ebook.

The transportation device of a tiny flame-shaped alien called Ibb breaks down on planet Earth. Ibb meets a human and discovers the species’ problem-solving talents. Both main characters of this story are non-binary and the book focuses on neurodivergence, including but not limited to ADHD, anxiety, and autism.

2: Short story “Good-Natured Anxiety for the Queer Creature”, fantasy, about 4200 words.

Published in anthology Queens in Wonderland, No Bad Books Press, February 2024, USA. Edited by Theresa Halvorsen and Chris Bannor.

Available formats: paperback and ebook.

This re-imagining of classical elements from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass into a brand-new, queer story about self-acceptance is a wild ride. It doesn’t require knowledge of the Wonderland universe, but knowing your Lewis Carroll may spark some extra smiles.

3: Short stories in Paranatellonta Issues 369-392

Self-published on paranatellonta.tumblr.com, each photo-and-story combination is available to read for free.

Available formats: digital, only on paranatellonta.tumblr.com.

Paranatellonta is a photography and flash fiction project running since August 2013, posted on the 1st and 15th day of each month. Fie takes a photo which inspires a ten-sentence story written by me, Minerva Cerridwen. The project itself was inspired by Erin Morgenstern and Carey Farrell’s Flax-golden Tales (2009-2014).

Personal favourites of this year include:

Issues 370, 380, and 390 were special editions where we swapped roles, meaning that for those issues, I took the photo and Fie wrote the short story.

4: Work as a Fan Artist

As a friend of author Clara Ward and a fan of their novel Be the Sea (Atthis Arts, 2024), I got to work on the successful Be the Sea: Audiobook and Hardcover Editions Kickstarter campaign last summer and made a piece of fan art for the book for every day of the campaign. Check out the 26 Sea Creatures of the Day, 8 of which have been made into postcards as backer rewards. There’s crochet, drawing, painting, and origami creatures, and even a Double Chocolate Cookie Fish.

Bonus: Friends’ eligibility posts

Indie publisher Atthis Arts

Author Clara Ward