#fantasy

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Mell Eight has a new MM holiday fantasy book out: Cupid’s Arrows.

Sable and Wynn have kept their relationship quiet. Love cupids and loss cupids are too different, after all. But cupid society wasn’t always separated. When Elder Meir hatches a plot to use Sable and Wynn to prove cupids work better together, Sable and Wynn are all in...

https://www.queerscifi.com/new-release-cupids-arrows-mell-eight/

@MMbookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon @diversebooks @bookstodon

This week's Wednesday snippet comes from Wooing the Witch Queen, which comes out in (gorgeous!) paperback in the UK tomorrow:

https://stephanieburgis.com/books/wooing-the-witch-queen

(And if you're in the UK, the ebook is on super-sale this month!)

In the background of this image is a lush, poisonous-looking garden of deep green leaves and red and black berries. Near the top of the image is this text: He had to remember that she was infinitely more likely to kill him than to kiss him... Beneath that text is the UK paperback cover of Wooing the Witch Queen, by Stephanie Burgis. The illustration shows a man in a cloak riding headlong through the night towards an ominous castle with an illuminated, crowned female figure in its doorway and bats flying overhead in the moonlight. A potion vial surrounds that central image and is further framed by leaves and branches. Crows sit on the branches, and a tagline reads: Love can be a witch. A blurb from Sarah Beth Durst reads, 'Absolutely irresistible!'

14

Here’s the thing about writing stories that contain hope. It’s a reminder to hold tight to that hope in my own heart.

So armed, I can write it, and so it gives back to me again.

That isn’t to say that characters don’t struggle. Of course they do. That also isn’t to say that darkness doesn’t often descend. Of course it does. The light of hope burns brightest at such times.

Be everwell.

BLACK AND WHITE TREMJARA MAP The continent is roughly oval with notable exceptions, the oval tilted southwest to northeast. In the far north are the Frozen Lands, but otherwise the continent is surrounded by three oceans, the Para-Equa in the west, Terminus in the south, and Titania to the east. A long, slim peninsula, along with multiple islands, exists in the northwest. In the west and south are multiple, large islands. The southeastern peninsula is a barren wasteland with some volcanic islands off its coast. There are scattered islands up the eastern coast, most notably Pannulus, a roughly circular archipelago. The continent is roughly divided in half by mountain chains, some more extensive than others. Mountains also exist in other locations, especially the southwest. The west is heavily forested, the east a mix of forests and grasslands. The south desert. The east coast is dominated by the Brillica Cataclysm Region that prevents east and west travel. Some notable locations follow. Mythwyll in the southwest was the elfin homeland. In the west, Forstava is still the ora’ean homeland. In the east, Emprensa was once the home province of an empire. In the northeast, Draskrith is the realm of the shadow lords. Below that, and as noted, is Pannulus. At the continent’s center is nation of Carrdia. It’s surrounded by mountains, except in the west along its border with Forstava, and in the northeast. The continent’s biggest lake is located there, as is the mighty Key River.

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'room'

After I'd written the Tales of Einarinn, I wanted to explore other places in the world I had sketched in around that evolving narrative. Time to go roaming!

First up, the Aldabreshin Archipelago, where magic is banned on pain of death - which is a real problem when magic attacks.

For more on the series https://www.julietemckenna.com/books/the-aldabreshin-compass/

For purchase links https://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/books-by-juliet-e-mckenna/southern-fire/

And follow @WTPress 🙂

Cover art by Ben Baldwin. A trireme with a green and white striped sail is on fire in a tropical island sea. An astrolabe dominates the background, like a rising sun. Book extract: Kheda walked rapidly down the dim, familiar stairs, winding down around the tower’s central core of successive rooms packed with records and interpretations and all the materials necessary to work the different divinations that he used to serve his people. Lamplight showed beneath the closed door of the lowest chamber. ‘Sirket?’ Kheda entered and smiled affectionate reproof at his elder son. ‘Telouet’s gut’s growling louder than a jungle cat, so it must be time for us to eat. Join us.’ Seated at a reading slope, the youth looked up from the weighty book he’d been studying, eyes still distant in thought. There was no doubting he was the warlord’s son; both had eyes as green as the newest leaves of the rainy season, unusual in these southernmost isles of the sprawling Aldabreshin Archipelago. They had other features in common: high foreheads, faces more oval than round with more sharply defined cheekbones and noses than Telouet. Telouet’s nose would have been broad and flat even before the fight that had left it squashed crooked on his cheerful face. But Sirket’s mother had brought him fuller lips and darker skin than his father, as well as tightly curled black hair that he kept cropped short. Kheda’s hair and beard were a coarse and wiry brown, tamed only by close clipping.

I had to do SO MUCH BOOB COVERING for Webtoon in the latest Charmed Away update: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/charmed-away/episode-1-part-33/viewer?title_no=1065934&episode_no=36

And it wasn't even fun nudity. It was casual nudity. Sad, biphobic argument with your fishwife nudity. I apologise to you all for somehow ruining nudity.

Also on my site: http://pentup.games/charmedaway

Leilani: Why won't you just admit it bothers you that I'm attracted to men? Zuri: Because it doesn't. You can get off on dolphins for all I care.

KA reviews "Aéros & Héroes" by Ef Deal:

"While her household is bustling to prepare for her twin sister’s wedding, Jacqueline Duval throws herself into working on her automatons, in an attempt to drown out the insecurities that are plaguing her mind. ... fast paced with dynamic characters.. The tone of the book is beautifully unique. 5 stars."

https://www.queerscifi.com/review-aeros-heroes-ef-deal/

@lgbtqbookstodon @bookstodon

If the full moon causes werewolves to transform, but not waning or waxing moons, then something about ordinary sunlight reflected from the surface of our specific space rock--at or beyond a certain threshold--causes a significant biological transformation in at least one terrestrial species.

Direct sunlight doesn't do it. Therefore, some substance across the surface of the moon (or at least the visible face) absorbs what must be "protective wavelengths" of sunlight, allowing only the evil-transformative frequencies to reach the earth's surface.

Scientists have told us the moon's surface is littered with pretty normal asteroid/space rock dust and rubble. So is there a special substance--as yet undetected, or at least unrecognized--on the moon's surface, absorbing the protective sun rays? Or is almost all light from our sun (or stars like it) reflected from dry, dusty space bodies evil-transformative? If the latter, we would expect lots of werewolf-type transformations as …

The epilogue of Stone Prophet is available to read on : https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/108234/jigsaw-city

The Seventh Sage presents Nicole with a choice: he can explain the nature of Olyna's deception to Kurg, teaching it about the nature of a lie, or Nicole can go her own way, staying separate from the magic city.

It isn't an easy choice for her to make...

@bookstodon

13

It’s amazing what extra sleep can do.

Despite my absence from home yesterday morning, I returned home, dove into a chapter, & finished it.

At long last, I think I’m getting kinda good at this editing thing. Well, not like a real editor, but pretty fair.

The biggest change I’ve made is to loosen up my approach & not become obsessive about petty details. Readability matters.

Be everwell.

Image shows the first three published books in the Kovenlore Chronicles series standing on a shelf where a gargoyle in the shadows on the right protects them. Each book’s cover is the negative image of a golden, hand drawn map showing mountains, plains, and rivers, but sometimes a black void. The titles are always displayed across two lines up high, the color varying. Between the two lines of the title is always a set of turquoise eyes. A subtitle, always in turquoise, is below that and shares which number book it is in The Kovenlore Chronicles. At the bottom is the author’s name, Christina Anne Hawthorne, and always in a dark yellow. All text is outlined in black, the titles possessing a shadow. Book 1, Trust in the Forgotten, is on the left, it’s title in turquoise. Book 2, A River in Each Hand, is at center, its title in red. Book 3, Exhuming Truths, is on the right, its title in dark blue.

Challenge : Faekindred Family

Barthus noticed little things around the shop. Damaged items repaired, clothes sewn, better clothes for Makana, etc
The faerie folk cared for those that took care of their new young ones. And made life hard for those that made life harder for the caretakers.
https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04719-l335-newfound-family -- Anon Guest

Explaining the whole world a bit at a time was eye-opening. Barthus had never thought to question the things his new prentice/child did, but now the questions were there, they had to admit something most adults never would, "I don't know," they would say. "It's just the way things are. Never thought to wonder why."

And of course, Makana would wonder, "Why?"

"Folks get used to things being. Takes less energy from other tasks as needs doing." Barthus never thought to punish Makana for asking too many questions. Near as they figured, the strange two-cubit-tall …

900 — Share a piece of lore from your WIP.

(New thread for my friends~!)

The older a vampire is, the less the sunlight will bother them. Eventually, they will be completely unaffected, where a young vampire would immediately burn.

I’ll include an excerpt that explains things better than I ever could. At the moment this takes place, Alistair and Fenella have just learned the information we’re discussing. It’s also a favorite scene of mine, featuring Duncan and Fenella. Alistair has just stormed out of the room.

“That went well, don’t you think?” asked Duncan, all too cheery. He wandered closer, inspecting Fenella, and a hand fell to grasp hers. “But look at your fingers, my dear.” Her gaze dropped to her hand, only to find her skin discolored. Her knuckles were a dark purple, fingers a disgusting shade of gray. She was distraught, prompting him to elaborate. “It’ll pass,” he explained. “The effect is immediate, I’m afraid. It’s what the sunlight does to us. We’re strong enough to withstand it, but not yet old enough to be completely unaffected by it. You’ll feel no pain. It doesn’t hurt, I promise.” For a moment, she was confused. Her eyebrows furrowed. He watched the change in her expression with wide-eyed rapture and glee. “Yes,” he drawled. “I can see the gears in your mind turning as we speak. You’re such a curious thing. And as we both just witnessed, Alistair was completely unaffected.”