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Red Quartergiant

Red Quartergiant

Image in dark red and black of concentric circles with a brighter spot in the middle.

February 2020 flash fiction (science fiction, space). For the Patreon post, click here.

*** *** ***

We knew from the moment it appeared that something was wrong—fundamentally, intrinsically incorrect about the giant star.

Our expedition ship entered observable distance during what counted as morning in the void of space. The rendering software spat out sensor-captured shot after shot, but nothing could replace our own eyes. Permanently shadowed by the other planets, we could only ever see about a quarter of its body. Around it, matter—red, plasmatic in essence—spiraled inward, seemingly static.

“Debris must be caught in its gravitational field, probably traveling at impossible velocities,” our science officer said. “But from this far away, we perceive it as motionless.”

A lot of us thought she meant to say dead.

We flew as close as we dared, hovering on the boundary of justifiable risk. We studied it, talked to it, trying not to get overwhelmed by exposure to radiation and loneliness and the crackle of feedback static whenever we attempted to contact base. We shared our stories, our science. Our deepest, most hidden thoughts.

It was morning again, a prime number of days-years-minutes after our first sighting, when an anomaly became evident, glinting along its inner edge. Around and around, and then—

Then it blinked.

*** *** ***

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Release Day: Havesskadi

Release Day: Havesskadi

Havesskadi, the first installment of the Dragon Souls series is out now!

Links NineStarPress | GoodReads | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |

On social media Tumblr | Pillowfort | Twitter | FB | Patreon |

Giveaway on Rafflecopter!

Tags high fantasy, dragons, mythical creatures, magic, shifters, sentient castles, asexual, slow burn, #ownvoices, LGBTQIA+

The red dragon is hunting her own. Up in the icy peaks of the northern mountains, Orsie Havesskadi spends his days hiding from her, but eventually he is found and his dragon magic stolen. Cursed to wander the lands as a mortal unless he recovers his magic before twenty-four rising crescents have passed, Orsie embarks on an arduous journey. Spurred by the whispers in his mind, his quest takes him to a castle hidden deep in a forest.

Arkeva Flitz, a skilled garrison archer, discovers an abandoned castle in the woods. Trapped there, he spends his days with his two companions, one cruel, the other soothing. One day, a young man arrives at his gates, and soon they are confined by heavy snowfalls and in danger from what slumbers in the shadows of the castle.

Havesskadi: February 24th

Havesskadi: February 24th

Who is ready for February 24th?

In Havesskadi, the country of Danv is inspired by Dacia, a.k.a. ancient Romania. In these lands, Feb. 24th is still celebrated, since old times, as the Dragobete.

The day for blooming love, Dragobete is one of the two Romanian events marking the arrival of spring.

On Feb. 24th, read about Orsie and Ark making their way through a cold winter to find solace in each other.

Preorder here!

Havesskadi: Exclusive Cover Reveal & Preorders

Havesskadi: Exclusive Cover Reveal & Preorders

Happy end-of-winter or end-of-summer, depending on hemisphere, everyone!

Orsie’s arduous journey and Ark’s magical entrapment are back on paper, both physical and virtual. The first installment of the future Dragon Souls series, Havesskadi is an #ownvoices ace story with dragon shapeshifters and their magical dragonsouls.

LGBTQ Reads has hosted a lovely exclusive cover reveal for Havesskadi‘s new look. Check it out!

Good news! Preorders are available for Ninestar Press, here.

More good news! Between 14 feb. and 17 feb. 2020, everything is 40% off at Ninestar Press, so be sure to check out my works with them.

Be crimes, do gay! And lavish kindness on yourself.

 

Luz Beyond the Glass

Luz Beyond the Glass

Short Story: Science Fiction, Artificial Intelligence, Symbiosis.

Release date:  28 February 2020

Around the world, glass spheres sit in gardens. Everybody knows what they do. They are here to absorb the pollution out of the ground and water and air, to cleanse the filth the ancestors left behind. Most don’t know, however, what resides inside them.

Anthology: Vast: Stories of Mind, Soul and Consciousness in a Technological Age

Editor: C.R. Dudley

Publisher: Orchid’s Lantern

Out now! | Orchid’s Lantern | Goodreads | Paperback (Orchid’s Lantern) | Waterstones | AmazonWordery | Book DepositoryFoyles | Barnes & Noble |  Kobo | Apple |

Deathless

Deathless

Pencil drawing of buildings forming a cityscape flowing out of a quill.

January 2020 flash fiction (urban fantasy, death). For the Patreon post, click here.

*** *** ***

My name is Amara and I was lost once.

When I was six, I learned the universal truth, just like everyone else. Whatever you’re skilled at is the one thing you cannot have. Like a shoemaker walking with blistered feet on cobblestone, or a seamstress dressed in tattered rags.

Across from Nana’s shop was the house of a muse, her hair streaked with purple and white, lips always quirked into a smile. She came to the Valley of the Forgotten after her eyesight had faltered. Back in the City, where the streets were filled with the creations she’d inspired—where her architect had thrived—she’d been driven to a blindness that the Valley had kept at bay. One day, Nana gifted her a painting of the prettiest building in the City, and I was surprised when she thought the canvas was blank.

That was when I started asking my own questions, curious about the magic of the Valley.

***

When I was twelve, I learned that Nana wasn’t my grandmother, not by blood. She didn’t tell me why she’d been caring for me, or who my parents were, or where I’d come from.

There, in the Valley, we wore ill-fitting clothes made by blacksmiths and lived in houses built by cooks. Everything was always on the verge of falling apart, nothing ever worked quite right, but it was a place of safety from the clutches of fate. The Valley was where the tired ran to. Some remained for the rest of their lives, others only sought refuge for short reprieves. All resisted their calling, their own skill. So did I, after figuring I would’ve been a storyteller, if I’d lived outside, in the other world. But I left it be. Reading tales was enough, and Nana provided as many as I wanted.

***

When I was twenty-four, I found the piece of paper that had condemned me to the Valley. There, in blue ink on yellowing paper, sat the words forbidden and mandatory isolation and punishable by incarceration. So if Nana took me to the City, she’d be held responsible for whatever effect my special talent would create. Upon myself, not upon others. I had been chained against my nature for reasons nobody deemed I should know.

I raged, simmering quietly. My anger had to go somewhere, and it turned to everyone around me. To our muse neighbor, first, who did nothing but ensure greatness in the City I wasn’t allowed to visit. So I wrote about her, mingling my misery with her own. In my tale, though, she’d remained by the architect’s side, growing more and more obsessed with the creations she could not see. In my story, she’d fallen off the highest clocktower, betrayed by her gift as I had been by mine.

Many acclaimed my writings, after I’d secretly sent them outside the valley. Many mourned and roared with me, the spawns of my imagination spreading wide, beyond the City and the borders of our lands.

***

When I was thirty-six, I wrote my final piece.

I hadn’t realized it, not in the beginning, what I was actually good at.

Not storytelling itself, because the tales of adventurous kittens and brave knights befriending dragons had been dismissed, one by one. No, what I had a skill for was death. Dished out in violent bursts or served in increments, whenever my protagonists suffered, the world rejoiced.

When I was thirty-six, I lay on the pavement, staring up at the Valley’s only clocktower, my assumptions confirmed. The world thought of me as an abomination. They feared and shunned. Abandoned.

They came for me, then, men in military uniforms, to escort me to the border. Nana told me, whispery and fragile against my ear, to wait for her. To be patient.

That rage, it boiled over, and I ran.

***

When I was thirty-eight, I found them. Hidden away high on a mountain slope, a small village of lost souls. Nurses of old battlefields, caretakers for the incurable, masters of funeral rites, executioners. Among them, arms spread wide, was Nana.

“Welcome home, child,” she said, face unweathered, smile unchanged.

She explained, then, how my skill had been discovered as a small child. How I’d been marked for isolation. We could’ve fled long ago, but she wanted me to grow outside the village, without the weight of our final resting place upon my shoulders. It wasn’t difficult to understand why she’d done it, why she’d kept it from me. Why I had to discover my fate on my own.

***

When I was forty-four, I wrote my second first-story. It was about a muse who sacrificed herself to inspire the creation of new medicine, but instead of her life, she paid with her gift.

Because, I realized, death is what we make it—an ending, a journey, passage to another existence, the tearing of a soul to shape it into something new.

My name is Amara and I am Deathless.

This is where my life begins.

*** *** ***

If you enjoyed this story and wish to support me, you can buy me a coffee!

2019 Retrospective

2019 Retrospective

In 2019 my literary journey has reached some new turns in the road. Although longer works are still in progress (plotting underway, let the interweaving begin), I’ve met some satisfying milestones. Selling short fiction to magazines has been one of those things that felt like a required stamp on my Writer CardTM. Semi-pro so far; hey, progress! And many thanks to those editors who believed in my works! With great joy, my novel Havesskadi has received the Rainbow Award for Best Asexual Debut Book. Celebrations are in order, with cake of the black-grey-white-purple variety (get it?).

That said, here are my works of 2019. This list serves as an award eligibility post, too!

  • Erebus (2019) Short Story (1400 words): Science Fiction, Space, Mythology, Death, Slipstream. Selene Quarterly, Volume 2, Issue 2 | Online here | Semi-pro.
  • Peripheric Synthesized (2019) Flash (900 words): Science Fiction, Space, Artificial Intelligence, Fictional Non-fiction, Time Travel. Sci Phi Journal, Issue 3/2019 | Online here | Semi-pro.
  • Snowdrop in a Storm (2019) Novella (18300 words): Contemporary, Holiday, Interracial, Transgender, Romance. Publisher: NineStar Press; Snow Globes Series.
  • Sunbound (2019) Flash (900 words): Science Fiction, Winter holidays. Anthology: Gay Apparel | A queer holiday charity anthology project collecting stories from all over the world | Counts as self-published.
  • Across the Mirror Lake (2019) Flash (300 words): Science Fiction, Space Travel, Portals, Transgender. Anthology: Migration | Publisher Other Worlds Ink | This work has been part of Queer Sci Fi’s Sixth Annual Flash Fiction Contest and has received an honorable mention.

In 2020 new releases await impatiently, just around the corner. In 2021, it will be an immense honor to be part of the excellent lineup for the Trans-Galactic Bike Ride: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories of Transgender and Nonbinary Adventurers.

Stay tuned, and remember: keep your hands, arms, tentacles and antennae inside the train at all times!

Happy New Year!

Sunbound

Sunbound

Flash: Science Fiction, Winter holiday.

Release date:  December 2019

Laura met Martha on the Eve, standing on the frozen shore of the river that flows through the entire virtual reality deck.

Anthology: Gay Apparel | 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.

Editor: Rachel Sharp

How and where to get it: from the authors! To receive the anthology, donate to an LGBTQIA+ supporting charity of your choice (or if you want to support me directly buy me a coffee). Then send me an email with proof, what file you want (epub, mobi, or pdf). You can get it from me or other authors (see thread below)!

Out now! Goodreads | Twitter | Thread of authors

Snowdrop in a Storm

Snowdrop in a Storm

Novella: Contemporary, Holiday, Interracial, Transgender, Romance.

Release date: November 2019

Daniel Wu’s life is wonderful. He has an amazing family in his partner, Jeff, and their adopted daughter. The only thorn in his happiness is Abby’s biological father, Nick, who can’t seem to let go of the past.

Ridden by guilt for trying to tear apart Jeff’s family a year prior, Nick Mariani struggles to find a place for himself in a future that seems bleak. With the backdrop of a holiday vacation, he embarks on a journey of redemption. An unexpected surprise is Leon, who flirts shamelessly from the moment they meet. Leon brings Nick hope, but the shadows of the past threaten to swallow all that newfound brightness.

Series: Snow Globes

Publisher: NineStar Press

Out Now! NineStarPress | GoodReads | Universal link | Amazon | Apple Books |Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |