dragonmuse

[dragonmuse]

AO3 now includes chapter name and title in emailed comments THIS IS NOT A DRILL I REPEAT authors no longer have to guess what chapter readers are screaming about based on their pitch EVERYONE SAY THANK YOU AO3 CODERS

[dragonmuse]

So I ran a fic book club on a discord for a bit and one of the things we regularly did was reach out to the author and ask if they would swing by our server for an AMA after we'd had our discussion. We got a lot of yeses and the author got to really go into depth as well as hear lots of lovely things about their work!

Comments matter, but there's also other ways to bring people in and form community. Not to mention, get great writing tips and trade excitement about a topic.

I debated posting about this because I know it will be controversial and because I myself have complex feelings about it, but to quote an intrepid intergalactic explorer: we can talk about this.

A discord fic club recently advertised they would be reading one of my fics. I was actually really excited about this! Hopefully new people get to enjoy a thing I worked hard to make for them, and I was really looking forward to hearing what they thought about it.

Except the advertised date came and went with silence on the actual fic, so I assumed that it got canceled or something.

But, no, it didn’t - I heard later that the group had in fact read my fic and apparently loved it. Quietly. To themselves.

And, like, look — I’m trying to write this with a minimum amount of snark, because on one hand I’m a fic reader too and I firmly believe that people have a right to enjoy fic however they wish. As I writer, I also don’t think I’m entitled to comments, but like 90% of writing fic for me is to be part of a community, and being a part of a community means commenting on fics so that there are more fic and the community continues.

On the other hand, as a writer, I have to be honest — hearing that people specifically scheduled time to read a fic I wrote and then loved it while not sharing any of their thoughts with me? That doesn’t make me feel good. I feel like it should, but it doesn’t. It makes me feel like my fic is just content to be consumed without regard to the effort that went into making it.

The fic in question? I worked on it on and off for literal years. It had to be betaed. It had to be formatted to be posted to AO3 properly, I had to work on the meta bits to properly tag and warn people.

All of that is work, and the only thing I ask for (and any fic author, really) is engagement and encouragement from the people reading the fic.

This isn’t snark or bitterness to say that if the trend is going to be people talking amongst themselves about my fic in a group chat with total silence to me as the author, then I don’t see the point in going through all the effort to post fic publicly. I’ll just send it to my own group chat. If that’s the community now, then that’s where I’ll go. I’ll hate it, honestly, but like. If that’s the deal, that’s the deal.

Anyway, I’m clearly in my feelings about this. I really am truly glad people liked my work. But this really bummed me out.

[dragonmuse]

Good US news because I think we all could use some of it:

The Marines are to be withdrawn from LA. The extreme escalation many of us feared did not happen thanks to the people of LA and the soldiers themselves who said "no".

The "Good Trouble Lives On" protests may not have been as big as the previous "Hands Off" and "No Kings" protests (likely due to heat + being planned on a weekday), but still 1.6k protests were held across the USA with thousands joining in with the peaceful protest.

The Trump administration has been ordered to restore $6.2 million in grant funding to nine LGBTQ+ and HIV-related nonprofits. This is fantastic.

Pittsburgh City Council has passed bills to protect its LGBTQ+ citizens.

California has stepped up to partner with and support The Trevor Project. Let's go, Cali!

Another win for California: Reports show that California is powered by two-thirds clean energy. This is a historic first and it keeps getting better!

The ACLU of Louisiana has secured the release of two wrongfully detained Iranian LSU students.

The Republican governor of New Hampshire has defied her party and shot down a book banning bill.

Shareholders have pushed back on corporations' anti-DEI proposals, forcing companies to face the fact that diversity is good for business... And reminds us that the majority does not agree with the removal of DEI, no matter what MAGA wants us to believe.

Since November, 69 of the 110 Supreme Court lawyers tasked with defending the Trump admin's policies have quit.

Don't let anyone tell you that there isn't hope, that there aren't people fighting and working and just as scared and angry as you are. You are not alone. Peaceful protests, contacting reps, and simple non-cooperation is how we sustainably and successfully push back against authoritarianism.

"We're cooked" is the devil talking. Giving up, rolling over, and perpetuating the idea that we've already failed is exactly what MAGA wants. Don't give them the satisfaction. Don't make it easy. Continue to look after each other and support your communities where you can. Keep protesting, keep calling, keep writing, keep loving. The heart is a muscle the size of your fist; we can get through this as long as we continue to stand up and say "no".

[dragonmuse]

Original Novel, For Free on AO3

Funny story. I meant to write a cute little background fic for a fake fandom I cooked up for another fic. Instead, I wrote an original character romance novel and I'm hip deep in the sequel now. Please enjoy:

PG-13. A M/M Romance.

A lead role on a television show could make or break a career. Victor is all too aware of that when he's cast as a leading role on a new science-fiction project. He arrives on set, nervous, but determined and fully unprepared for the way everything is about to change.

With years of character acting under his belt, another show likely destined for a single season before being ruthlessly cancelled by a streaming service doesn't excite Marco much. He doesn't expect to walk from the quiet grays of the day-to-day into a world of color and sound that may wipe away the cobwebs he's let gather in every corner of his life.

Note: This story contains discussions of grief, being closeted, past drug use, a character with a chronic injury, and the romance does have an age difference with the mains being 27 and 43 years old.

[dragonmuse]

Evan “ I AM NOT AN EVIL WIZARD” Kelmp fan-art is finally done!

[dragonmuse]

Fic writers, put in the tags what the difference in hits is between your most and least viewed fics. Mine is 7,720 (7,779-59).

[dragonmuse]

Seeking Inspiration: Scholarly Pursuits Authors Share Queer Books that have Inspired Them!

As we share our upcoming anthology Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories with y’all, in the hopes you’ll find comfort, pleasure, and inspiration between the covers, we thought it would be fun to take a moment to ask the contributors to share queer books that have inspired them! We didn’t specify what we meant by “inspiration” – maybe it’s a lifetime of encouragement, maybe it was just the spark for a specific story, but either way or anywhere in between, these are the stories that some of our authors chose to share!

If you’re curious to learn more about these authors and the results of their inspiration, I encourage you to check out the Kickstarter campaign for our next anthology, Scholarly Pursuits, ending August 12 2025!

(read more: the list in text format)

Vee Sloane‘s choice: Imajica by Clive Barker

Nicola Kapron’s choice: Tokyo Babylon by CLAMP

Swev’s choice: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Robin Huntington’s choice: We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

Robin S. Blackwood‘s choice: Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos by Wizards RPG Team

Mina Kramek’s choice: Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Lucy K. R.’s choice: Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Shannon Lippert‘s choice: The Prospects by KT Hoffman

Dei Walker’s choice: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Bettina Juszak’s choice: Sing the Four Quarters by Tanya Huff

Lyonel Loy’s choice: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Cassia King‘s choice: The Orc and Her Bride by Lila Gwynn

As always, these books can be found on our Goodreads bookshelves, and for those that are available, you can buy them from our Bookshop.org affiliate shop!

[dragonmuse]

Why the fuck are you 30+ on tumblr

this is my house?

[dragonmuse]

actual comment I received on this day

so I'm gonna go sit in my rocking chair and stare out into the void for a bit.

[dragonmuse]

on this day in 1953 shirley jackson sent this to an unhappy reader

[dragonmuse]

Now Crowdfunding: “Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories”

The Kickstarter for our next general imprint anthology SCHOLARLY PURSUITS: A QUEER ANTHOLOGY OF COZY ACADEMIA STORIES runs right now through August 12 2025!

Transforming the core settings of “dark academia” to be cozy and snug, Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories features 22 delightful, charming science fiction and fantasy stories set at colleges, universities, libraries, and other places where people pursue academic excellence – and all feature queer characters! From field research shenanigans to cooking adventures, from space station education departments to eldritch libraries, our awesome authors have brought their vivid imaginings to life in this anthology. We can’t wait to share it with you!

The contributors to this anthology are Robin S. Blackwood, E. V. Dean, Eliza J. Fitzwilliam, Rhosyn Goodfellow, Mare Griffen, Zel Howland, Robin Huntington, Indigo J. H., Bettina Juszak, Lucy K. R., Nicola Kapron, Cassia King, Mina Kramek, Shannon Lippert, Lyonel Loy, Jessica Mason, Maggie Page, Lee Pini, Vee Sloane, Swev, D. E. Towry, and Dei Walker. You can learn about them by reading their biographies on our webpage.

We’re also offering a whole bunch of awesome merchandise – an enamel bookmark, journal, pencil case, sticky note pad, and more! Artwork is by Aceriee, Zel Howland, Artsy-Alice, diminuel, Alessa Riel, Liz Lee Illustration, and Rascal Hartley.

Curious? You can learn loads more about this project by visiting Kickstarter now!

You can support Duck Prints Press every day by backing us on Patreon! Backers at all levels get behind-the-scenes access to story teasers and more, and those who back at the $10/month or $25/month level will get exclusive bonus merchandise when they also back this Kickstarter campaign.

signal boosts extremely appreciated!!

[dragonmuse]

Rotate the Crops: On Writer's Block and Replenishment

There is a certain phenomena that I've experienced as a writer that may not be universal, but seems common enough to be worth noting.

I do not write consistently. There is no daily requirement nor goal that works well for me. Instead, I write in hugely ridiculous fertile bursts, sometimes pounding out thousands of words a week.

And then I stop. Usually I manage to reach the end of my current project first, but not every time. I go dry. I have no fresh ideas, no passion for writing, no zest.

For a while I would call it writer's block, but these days, I consider it something else. Like a field used to grow a demanding crop, my brain needs a fallow period. It needs time to regenerate the soil.

To help it along, I can rotate the crop. I turn my creative energies to knitting or cooking or some new hobby. It doesn't feed off the same place in my brain and let's me build my serves back up.

I can also nurture the soil in this time, by feeding it new things. I read more, I watch more television. I go to a museum. I have little adventures with my kid. I don't try to turn any of it into a story. It's only more life and more things piled into my skull.

Then one day, I'm ready again. The words flow and the plants grow.

All this is to say that there's something beautiful in not writing, almost as much as there is in writing. If you're stressing yourself out staring at blank page and blinking cursor, maybe that doesn't always lead to more writing. I've often seen jokes of writers procrastinating by doing a dozen other things, but sometimes those things are productive. It probably is a good idea not to be very hungry when you sit down to write, to go for a walk if your mindset isn't right and to light a candle if the smell pleases you more than no smell.

I don't believe in muses and perfect inspiration for writing. I believe in letting your mind relax and absorb new things. I believe in rotating the crops and sometimes letting the field go fallow until the wild things grow and you're ready to till again.

[dragonmuse]

Non-Binary Duck Prints Press Creators for Non-Binary Week!

Happy Non-Binary Awareness Week! In previous years, we posted our recommended books with NB characters and books written by NB authors. This time, we’ve compiled a list of works published by Duck Prints Press that were created by our fantastic non-binary authors and artists!

You can find these titles in the Duck Prints Press webstore and on our Patreon!

(images in text format under the read more)

Nina Waters

A Glimmer of Hope (novel)

The Last Letters of Mrs. Victoria Holmwood

Puppetry

Widow’s Black

Lust

Knishes and Noshes and Angel in Add Magic to Taste

To Dance at Lady Chadston’s (Patreon exclusive)

Bi-Pan Solidarity (Patreon exclusive)

May Barros

Art: Magic Friendship (Patreon exclusive)

Art: Spark by May Barros (Patreon exclusive)

Art: Gazebo in the Rain in A Truth Universally Acknowledged

Neo Scarlett

Wolven Dance (Patreon exclusive)

Whispers of Atlantis: A Tale of Discovery and Belonging (Patreon exclusive)

Rhosyn Goodfellow

The Fairy Garden

On the Safe Side (Patreon exclusive)

Pierced Hearts in Aim For The Heart

Nice Girls Don’t Get the Superweapon in She Wears the Midnight Crown

Vee Sloane

The Iron Rose in A Truth Universally Acknowledged

The False Sweet Bait in And Seek (Not) to Alter Me

Wait and Hope in Aim For The Heart

Escape Velocity From Fear in He Bears the Cape of Stars

Cedar D. McCafferty-Svec

Coffee For My Valentine? (Patreon exclusive)

Glass Slipper: A Dance (Patreon exclusive)

Unsafe Haven (Patreon exclusive)

sweet static (Patreon exclusive)

please, may i have s’more? in Many Hands: An Anthology of Polyamorous Erotica

Catherine E. Green

Of Loops and Weaves

The Serendipity of a Late Train in Aim For The Heart

To Hold the World Close in Aether Beyond the Binary

Robin S. Blackwood

The Case of the Lost Grimoire in Scholarly Pursuits

Zel Howland

Art: Chrysopoeia (Patreon exclusive)

Chrysopoeia

The Lightkeeper and the Sea (Patreon exclusive)

Flower and Rot in Aether Beyond the Binary

Pas De Deux and A Stolen Moment in A Truth Universally Acknowledged

N. C. Farrell

Sarisa (Patreon exclusive)

Eldest Daughter Seeks Her Wife in She Wears the Midnight Crown

J. D. Harlock

Somewhere Other Than Here in A Truth Universally Acknowledged

Sword Dancer in Aim For The Heart

Chinaski’s Dirty Work

The Sea Bears Salvage Co. (Patreon exclusive)

Solarpunks: Viva la Revolución

An Odd Gathering of Peculiar Cats

The Blood Tithe (Patreon exclusive)

Ride On, Shooting Star (Patreon exclusive)

Linnea Peterson

Lyd, Not Lydia in A Truth Universally Acknowledged

Max Jason Peterson

Going Dark

Last Boat to Heaven

Night Birds

Art: Snow Heart (Patreon exclusive)

Dueling Darcy in A Truth Universally Acknowledged

The Semantic Time Machine (Patreon exclusive)

S. J. Ralston

Razzmatazz in Aether Beyond the Binary

The Inscrutable Fate of the ISV Devotion (Patreon exclusive)

Xianyu Zhou

In Want of a Horse-Stealing, Troublemaking Swordsman in A Truth Universally Acknowledged

Fated Encounter Challenge in Aim For The Heart

Irreverence

This Treatment for Chronic Pain has an Unbelievable Side Effect!

Urchin Juiced

D. E. Towry

Writ of Evocation in Scholarly Pursuits

[dragonmuse]

not looking to pick fights so I'm not rb-ing but it's not parasocial to interact with an ao3 author and to respond to what they say in author notes or comments, that's just being social

ao3 authors aren't content creators, that's a real person sans public persona just sharing a cool thing they made

[dragonmuse]

...see this works unless you're already a librarian. Then it's just your name.

[dragonmuse]

Important to note that at the time I thought was a late adapter and had to be dragged over there from LJ, digging my nails in the whole time.

Just updated my Ao3 profile and realised it’s old enough to legally drive in the US. 😂

Got it in March 2010 and the user ID is four digits long.

Reblog with when you got your Ao3 account and how long your user ID is.

[dragonmuse]

HER SUBTLE INVESTIGATIONS OUT AUGUST 16TH!!!

YES! IT'S HAPPENING, TUMBLR!!! Her Subtle Investigations is back from copyediting and I have a release date!!! This baby is coming out Saturday, August 16th, so you can spend the whole weekend devouring all 155k of it!!!

A Tired Blade The Knife has long been the Warrior Guild's invisible answer to complicated problems—silent, sharp, and gone before her enemies even notice. She loves the work, loves helping people no one else will, but the years of endless travel—of lonely assignments, empty beds, and temporary allies—have worn her thin. Every new mission feels heavier, and Southport's nostalgic foods and familiar heat stir a deeper ache: the yearning not just for a solid home, but for a shared life with someone to whom she's just Kia, not the Knife... A Collision Course Chasing down a string of kidnappings, the Knife crosses paths—and blades—with two surprising Southport natives, both hunting for missing family. Masako wields nature magic with steely fury, but knows almost nothing about Southport's criminal underbelly. Nukunya carries an encyclopedic knowledge of the city along with a dry wit that cuts as deep as any blade. After a violent first meeting the trio form an uneasy alliance, then a true team as their search leads them closer to their quarry… and each other… A Branching Path Pinned down and hiding out in a brothel's back room, the Knife finds the lines between partnership, friendship, and romance blurring. Southport—and the people in it—has started to feel dangerously like home, but the Knife's Guild assignments never let her stay anywhere for long. With duty pulling her to one path and the temptation of Masako and Nukunya pulling her to another, she'll have to decide: Is it time to walk away again, or finally lay down roots?

And did I mention that this isn't a love triangle, it's a love triad? That's right, it's a polyamorous shorty4shorty4shorty relationship where they're all the grumpy one, they're all the sunshine one, and they're all soft for each other! Action! Adventure! Threesomes! Magic! A very reasonable amount of stabbings! The universal book link is here, with more retailers to come as it percolates through the system. This link is ebook-only for the moment, but there will be paperbacks! I just want to give the paperback PDF a full read-through before I hit publish on that, since I can't make edits to it as easily pre-release as the ebook. You can pre-order signed paperbacks directly through my website here, if you want, which will ship on August 16th. Squarespace does not support digital pre-orders (unless I can find a work-around), but the ebook sales pages will go live on my website on August 16th as well. (Ordering directly from me is the best way to support me financially - I get the whole cover price minus credit card fees, and I don't have to wait months for a royalty payout.)  Her Subtle Investigations will be available as an audiobook... eventually. I estimate it'll cost about $5000 to get it fully produced (His Sacred Incantations was about $4700), so I need to save that up first. This is harder to do when you don't have dayjob money covering all your bills, allowing your book income to go directly into book savings, but I will persevere (and sell more books to increase my income, thus speeding up the process)! In conclusion: [incoherent sounds of celebration]