My urban fantasy and historical fiction were nominated for the Indie Ink Awards!
Phantom and Rook, the first in my Levena series, made it as a finalist last year and it makes me so happy to see Matsdotter and Adrastus getting love and attention this year! And my beloved gay explorers, in a category that is so very fitting.
You can vote for your favorite indie books beginning on Monday, December 15th. Check out Indie Story Geek to learn more. 🎉✨️📚
November plays host to many reading challenges this month, and it’s National Native American Heritage month. I’ll do my best to fit in as many recs as possible !
This week, let’s take a look at some queer books with nonbinary characters, or written by nonbinary authors. I’ve read a few of these, but there are so many good ones here I’m looking forward to.
Any favorites you’d like to share?
I have been collecting queer indie books for a bit now, and then I found a spectacular queer indies 2025 release list that filled this post out beautifully.
Any of these you’re excited for, or have loved?
Presenting An Outstretched Hand: A Tarot Spread of Queer Stories, from the Right Here Write Queer podcast! My story is inspired by the tarot card Temperance, and you may have seen excerpts of it here and there.
Tune into the podcast to learn more about each story, our first anthology episode is about The Star!
Blurb:
A hand reaching to you from the shadows. Six cards over-turned. Six enchanting queer tales inspired by the magic of tarot.
The Star by Tess Carletta
A lighthouse keeper who influences the fate of her people by wrangling misbehaving stars back into place must remedy her own constellation.
The Hierophant by Carolina Cruz
A knight who was disabled in battle gives up on asking the gods for healing and turns to something dark in the woods for help instead.
Strength by Luna Daye
A warrior is sent to investigate the rumors of a raided village and is forced to face the trauma of his past, and has to battle more than his grief after a terrifying discovery.
The Chariot by R.K. Ashwick
Two witches vie desperately for a goddess’s blessing- but the fortune they seek might be right in front of them.
Temperance by Noah Hawthorne
A grieving mercenary searches for the tallest mountain to throw himself from, but a mystery and curious folk keep him grounded for a little while longer.
The Devil by Sebastian Nothwell
A repressed Victorian finds fleeting release in a fae courtesan’s arms until iron chains threaten their growing bond.
Explore the forest, meet the fae, pray to the gods, shepherd stars, or fight creatures of myth. An offering for you, if you accept the Outstretched Hand.
Pre-orders are open here, release date is November 11th, 2025.
I am in my Temeraire era and *loving* it, but I can’t help but internally scream ‘make it queer!’
Although the platonic bond between the seasoned captain and his dragon with delicate sensibilities hits me right in the gut, so there’s that.
Prints, packaging, and the final copy of the book have arrived!
Bookmarks and stickers are on the way, as are cartons upon cartons of books. That pesky spine and I fought hard, but it’s certainly behaving now.
Only 35 more days until release !
“I just didn’t know how to live. I still don’t, but I’m getting better. I’ve asked for help and everything. Where I was going with this, is that I know when it feels like the end. But I can promise you, there’s always another road. Don’t give up yet.”
-phantom and rook
🌈✨️📖
September is Suicide Awareness Month. This is an issue that is dear to me, in case that wasn’t evident by the struggles I put my characters through, Arlo Rook especially.
Some of my favorite books that deal with this are A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, Lore and Lust, Summer Sons, An Unnatural Vice, and Jack of Thorns.
In some of these stories there are on page attempts, while others have active or passive ideation, or there was an attempt in the past. Please check TW as a good few of these are dark and full of angst.
It’s Sapphic September, and I’ve rejuvenated the book rec stash with fresh titles! I have to say, I think my favorite types of sapphic stories are the ‘she’s a little bit fucked up and a lot bit haunted’ and the good ol’ ‘I shall protect you with my life, my lady.’
What about you?
After the chaos of the last year, and some consideration, I have decided to thin my Patreon tiers one last time. Instead of two tiers with content divided, there is now one which provides access to everything. Chapters excerpts, art, full short stories, the NSFW stuff, writing resources, all of it.
I hope this will make things more accessible, and less confusing. I have updated the layout, and collections.
When it comes to new stuff, the next few months are going to be chock full of it. Between the short stories, Mochizuki and Xlato, and Witchtober, there is a lot of new writing content coming to Patreon. As much as I love the explorers, it’ll be nice to switch it up and write about some new folks, and give you something different to read.
For art, there will be upcoming sneak peeks at the VOWP hardback cover, and a potential commission for one of my anthology stories.
For writer talk, I was thinking about a post-kickstarter discussion about what it was like to release a book that way, and how it’s gone so far.
Anything else you’d like to see from me on Patreon? I would love some feedback!
Thank you to everyone who has backed the Kickstarter, it is now fully funded !
Not only that, but we have hit our first stretch goal, a short story that takes place after The Voice of Wild Places, and there is a chance we may reach the second one, a special edition hardback!
Despite my Big Feelings about all this love for the Kickstarter, I have already set to work on the short story, it feels so good to be with these characters again. Yes, I know we haven’t been separated for that long, but it still feels like coming home.
Speaking of coming home, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the Adventures in Levena books, which some people added to your pledge. It is cozy season after all, which is what these books feel like. There is some angst as characters heal and face the past, but they are overwhelming wholesome and romantic.
There are currently two novels and two novellas out, each book follows a different couple. The first novella has multiple perspectives, and an interesting first half that technically takes place after all the books. It’s an immortal thing, you know?
The third book, Mochizuki and Xlato, comes out in October of next year. Illustrated by Crossroad Art, the same artist who we hopefully will have for the special hardback of The Voice of Wild Places!
You can find out more about the series here.
I can’t wait to order prints, bookmarks, stickers, and wield my new highlighter and pens to go full historical nerd mode for annotating time. Not to mention signing and/or painting the books themselves.
Neshama Publishing 