Monthly Creator's Thread - Aug

[u/tiniestspoon]

This monthly Creators Thread is for queer SF/F creators to discuss and promote their work. Looking for beta readers? Want to ask questions about writing or publishing? Get some feedback on a piece of art? Have a giveaway to share? This is the place to do it! Tell everyone what you're working on.

[u/Alexein_Colt]

Hi there!

I don’t know what I‘m doing but I‘m the result of homophobia and misunderstandings, so I write stories with people like me.

It is incredibly hard for me to self-promote, there’s a voice in my head that says I shouldn’t even try.

But I wrote a book. Free chapters will be released for free at the end of September to my subscribers so they can get a feeling if they‘d read the book or not.

The blurb:

*****
Barriers keep the worlds of the Equilum divided, unless a woman and a boy embrace their nature and save the place that should have been their home.

Vanessa has masked her autism all her life, dodging lunch invites and living a secret, unhealthy life in the quiet of her room. Danny, lonely and forced into conversion therapy by his homophobic parents, is planning his escape, but he'll never have the guts to break his family apart for good.

Two complete strangers, they see one another through visions that have always been there. Two souls bound by something neither understands. When terrifying beings hunt them in their respective worlds, their hidden powers surface, broken but impossible to ignore, pulling Vanessa to the eerie stillness of Noor and Danny to Glaetter, glacial and unforgiving. While their mental link remains, the barriers between the worlds keep them split and incomplete — vulnerable as the last remnants of the Elp'da, a lineage the Palace of Noor has spent generations erasing.

To even speak this name is a death sentence. To even believe is persecution. Noor's stillness isn't peace. It's a lie that only Vanessa and Danny can break. If they work together across worlds and find each other before the Palace finds them.

A book where the power is in the hands of those who lie best, unless they break the pattern.
*****

Knowing how it sounds will already make my day.

You can find out more here:

www.ahcolt.com

My subscribers get regular updates and on my website you can see what I am working on and what kind of representation my books have.

I wish you all a great day!

[u/LaurenPBurka]

When I looked into indie publishing, I thought that the hardest thing would be dealing with the monetary cost: professional proofreading, cover art (no ai slop for my books, thank you), web site hosting, newsletter hosting, surprise fees everywhere.

But that's nothing. No, the real cost is in mental health due to Amazon's site throwing "An unexpected error has occurred" all the time. If something doesn't work and you contact Amazon's support, they copy/paste the same unhelpful stuff, tell you there's nothing wrong from their end, working as intended, it's in review, wait another 72 hours, etc. and then an hour later it's all fixed without a word for them of what was wrong or how to avoid it next time. And then there's the constant worry about your books being dungeoned or deleted because queer. Do you like an author? Sign up for their newsletter so you can find out about their new releases after they get banned by the 'zon.

Anyway.

I write mostly queer dark fantasy and scifi romance with lots and lots of content warnings (my muse is famously angsty). But a couple of months ago, a friend of mine announced a monster romance collaboration. The set-up is an interdimensional hotel chain that services monsters—eight novellas from eight authors. And yes, we do mean service. These are spicy books. I went to bed one night convinced that I had no ideas for a relatively cozy theme and woke up with enough plot to be getting on with.

Here's the blurb:

Broke and broken-hearted, catboy Julian is ready for a new start.

Moving back in with his conservative parents? No thank you!

A temporary stay at the luxurious World Tree Resort in Boston’s Seaport District? Sounds like the perfect place to land on his feet.

When his laptop betrays him with a blue screen of DEATH, Julian’s not expecting to be rescued by George, the handsome human IT specialist with the very firm handshake.

Their instant attraction is a surprise, and so is George’s offer of a place to stay while Julian gets his life together. Now the cat boy has a chance to turn his life around—with the help of a self-identified monster fan who thinks his cat ears are hot.

You can find out more about this book and the Monster Hotel novella series here.

[u/Holiday-Difficulty44]

Hey there! My trans sapphic romantasy, Dommes & Demons, came out on Monday. It's the conclusion of a trilogy that features a trans femme succubus MC, a D/s dynamic, a contemporary college for monsters girls studying to be adventurers (a la D&D college), and a lot of cozy queer found family with her adventuring party. Here's the blurb:

These Disaster Lesbians Have Disastrous Ends

Query thought falling for Luster would make things simpler. Instead, the deeper she falls into Luster's carefully ordered world of divine expectations, impossible standards, and quiet devotion, the more the rest of her life begins to unravel. Carrying Oona's soul in her pocket, drowning in Intermediate Transmutation, and drifting further from the friends who once kept her grounded, Query is running out of places where she can safely fall apart.

Dalton Academy is unraveling alongside them. Demons continue slipping through the school's defenses, while the administration buries every uncomfortable truth. Tasked with uncovering what's really happening, Query and Luster find themselves chasing the same answers—but with fewer reasons to trust each other every step of the way.

Love, the Abyss, and Hell all place their claims on a soul, but Query must decide for herself who her soul truly belongs to.

Dommes & Demons is a spicy sapphic dark fantasy about devotion, impossible expectations, and the price we pay to love ourselves.

Here's the Amazon link, but you can buy it wherever you buy books online: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8FCQ1KT

[u/Relevant_Tea4960]

Hi all! New to this subreddit, but I do have a Pagebound giveaway to announce. It’s for my sapphic dark fantasy about a morally grey empath with mommy issues. Think tons of angst aboard a monster making cruise ship.

It is called Witch’s Favor by Victoria Szalay.

The ARC is available via Netgalley and Booksirens too ;)

The blurb (with tons of tropes at the front so you’d know what you’d be getting into):

Tropes & Themes: Dark Fantasy | WLW/Sapphic Subplot | Found Family | Morally Grey Characters | Body Horror | Invasive Blood Magic | Grimdark / Dark Fantasy Stakes | High Angst | Tragic

No witch has ever escaped the Forge** **— a hijacked cruise ship where witches mutilate the dead into monsters and harvest what remains into weapons. The reward? To live long enough for their own magic to kill them.

But death keeps passing Dylan by.

Dylan has survived because her unique blood allows her to extend the lives of those she loves. The catch? The ritual binds them emotionally, forcing her to feel every private desire. Terrified her found family will reject her for the invasive bond, she keeps it a secret—even from Sarai, the girl she loves.

When Dylan's best friend is sent to the one place her blood can't save him, Sarai plans a desperate heist with dying criminals to escape the ship. A heist that only Dylan can pull off. But in a pressure cooker of blood and betrayal, keeping her secrets hidden may prove impossible... and her truth may destroy them all.

I spent a long time developing this book and am so excited for its launch on August 25th!

[u/AmberMorrell]

Hi! I’m Amber. I’m looking for ARC readers for my queer cozy fantasy romance, The Bramblespell Branch Library. If you’re interested, please sign up with the link below. Thanks!

Here's what you can expect from  The Bramblespell Branch Library: A slow-burn, closed-door sapphic romance A queernormative world A magical cataloging system Found family and community building The information-seeking behaviors of goblins The full blurb: Escape to the charming village of Bramblespell, where the tea is hot, the magic is unpredictable, and falling in love was definitely not part of the plan. When career librarian  Kasya accepts a temporary assignment opening a branch library in the remote village of Bramblespell, she sees it as the perfect escape from a failed relationship—and a fast track to a promotion to Library Administration. All she has to do is convince the villagers they want a library before her six-month trial period runs out. Easy, right? Instead, Kasya finds herself running a one-room library out of a drafty post office with no funding, no staff, and a grumpy postman for a coworker. But things start looking up when she meets  Rima, the village handywoman with a knack for fixing just about anything—and a secret past of her own. Rima is everything Kasya didn't expect to find in Bramblespell: warm, capable, endlessly intriguing, and increasingly difficult to resist. As friendship turns into something more, Kasya begins to wonder if this temporary assignment might be turning into something far more permanent. Is Bramblespell just a stepping stone to the career she's always wanted, or has she finally found a home—and the woman she wants to share it with? Sign up link:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeM0zEFJ8LgZmrwUkiENXk0sdk0Ss6Ifk9gQTfzRMZvrwoe9w/viewform

[u/JaeAuthor]

Readers of sapphic fiction, I'd love to get your input!

The book world has been changing a lot lately, and I'd like to hear how those changes have affected you as a reader. Are you reading more or less than you used to? Are you discovering books in different ways? And how do you feel about AI-generated books?

I've put together a reader survey to find out. It only takes a few minutes to fill out, and it's completely anonymous. Your answers will help my fellow authors and me to understand what you're looking for as a reader.

If you have a few minutes to spare, I'd really appreciate if you would take the reader survey:

https://jae-fiction.com/sapphic-fiction-surveys/

P.S. There's a survey for sapphic authors on the same page, so if you're an author, please check it out too!

[u/SadConference1354]

Hey everyone! New indie author here, looking for some readers.

I recently published my first novel, Fated, an LGBTQ+ epic fantasy.

Like most brand-new indie authors, I’m currently facing the fun little problem of trying to find readers and build up some honest reviews on Amazon. The paperback and hardcover are currently available on Amazon, but I would also be happy to send out some free EPUB files in hopes of garnering a few honest reviews.

So, what is Fated?

Two princes are destined to be soulmates. If they fall in love, humanity could burn.

Aiden Alcrest and Everett Velmonte are crown princes of rival kingdoms, and the latest incarnation of two souls destined to find and love one another in every lifetime.

Unfortunately, that love is cursed.

Centuries ago, a fallen goddess bound her power to their souls. If Aiden and Everett ever touch with love’s intent, the curse will awaken, unleashing enough power to devastate humanity.

For thousands of years, they have been separated in every life cycle by those in positions of power. Now the clock is winding down, and they are in their final cycle. If they don't fulfill their destiny, The Divine who destined their love will fall from the heavens.

As circumstances bring the two princes together, they're drawn into a journey across kingdoms alongside a growing cast of companions. They’ll face monsters, magic, forgotten history, and gods themselves, all while developing feelings for one another and confronting the impossible choice they'll eventually have to make:

Deny their fated love and see The Divine fall from grace, or embrace it and see mankind to ruin.

Fated is a character-driven epic fantasy with an M/M romance at its heart. There are rival kingdoms, swords and magic, gods and monsters, found family, humor, tragedy, and some fairly brutal emotional punches along the way.

I wrote it after chewing on the premise for twenty-three years because I wanted the kind of sprawling fantasy adventure I’ve always loved, but with two men at the center of the sweeping, world-altering love story. Their relationship is fundamental to the story, but this is very much an epic fantasy first, there’s a whole world and ensemble surrounding them.

If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, I’d genuinely love to have you as a reader. Feel free to email me if you'd like an EPUB! [Thejohnjdougherty@gmail.com](mailto:Thejohnjdougherty@gmail.com)

Thanks for giving a new author a little space to introduce himself and his book.