lpetersonwrites

[lpetersonwrites]

My debut novel, Level Up, is available for preorder now on kindle!

The book will be released in October, and it will also be available in KU and in paperback at that time.

It’s a cute and nerdy romantic comedy (with a bit of “spice” but not a ton) and you don’t have to be into games to enjoy the story, although there are lots of little references in there if you are.

I’ll also be looking for ARC readers to leave a review on release day, so if the book sounds like something you’d enjoy, I’ll have another post with more details for how to sign up and you can check that out.

[lpetersonwrites]

Happy pride month! Before I post the bisexual releases of June, here are upcoming bi4bi books!

Make sure to pre-order the ones you like!

The edit of the sloth with the bi4bi flag was made by @illustratedjai-art🩷💜💙

(The bonus books are the ones I enjoyed reading and/or plan on reading soon!)

Books listed: (They are in order according to the post)

Love Points to You by Alice Lin

Black Salt Queen by Samantha Bansil

Only Fan Service by Cat Giraldo

A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love by Ann Rose

Solo Stan by Talia Tucker

Voidwalker (Beasts of the Void, #1) by S.A. MacLean

Sparks Fly by Zakiya N. Jamal

Thrill of the Chase by Kathryn Nolan

The Sun and the Moon by Rebekah Faubion

A Wild Radiance by Maria Ingrande Mora

What Happened on Roslyn Street by Elle Lavendelle

Savage Blooms by S.T. Gibson

House of Rayne by Harley Laroux

An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole

This Raging Sea by De Elizabeth

No Body No Crime by Tess Sharpe

A Tale of Mirth & Magic by Kristen Vale

The Curse of the Cole Women by Marielle Thompson

Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi

Isn't it Obvious by Rachel Runya Katz

Kiss and Kill by Jasper Hyde

How to Juggle Ballads & Blades by Jess Galaxie

Roar of the Lambs by Jamison Shea

Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar by Anahita Karthik

Lord of Ruin by K.M. Enright

All I know So Far by Nicole Zelniker

This Feast of a Life by Cynthia So

Someone Like You by Kayla Faber

Loser New Year by Celine Ong

[lpetersonwrites]

Indie Author Central Stepping Through Time: Historical Fiction and Contemporary - August 12-16, 2025

A book blast featuring free and discounted historical fiction and contemporary ebooks!

Free books with queer representation include:

Bisexual, pansexual, and mspec characters

Where the Heart Is by Jenni Simonis - bisexual MMC (Amazon)

F/M

Where the Heart Is by Jenni Simonis (Amazon)

M/M

Storm and Sea by Tereza Kane (Amazon, Kobo)

Others tagged LGBTQA+

The Promise of Persephone by Elizabeth Castleton (Amazon)

Of Seafoam and Silence by Kay Leyda (Amazon)

Bound by Fate and Blood by Jenna O'Malley (Amazon, Kobo)

A Portrait of Pride by Naomi Rachel Kelly (Amazon)

[lpetersonwrites]

Call for ARC Readers

I’m looking for people to join my ARC team for my upcoming book, Level Up, and future books as well.

Basically, if the book interests you and you can read on a deadline, you’ll receive a copy of the book (in .epub form) about a month before the release date (in this case the release is October 17) so that you can leave a review as soon as the book comes out. You need to leave the review on Amazon/Kindle, since it will be exclusive there, although Goodreads is fine as an additional place to review.

If this interests you, email me at paisleyrosebooks[at]gmail[dot]com to let me know. Also, please indicate whether you are interested in just this book, or if you’d like to be contacted for future books as well. I plan to release a book every three months, at least for the first year, but you can opt out of any of them if you want.

Please keep in mind that these are contemporary romance/romantic comedy novels, so if that’s not your thing, it’s probably best not to sign up for it. There will also be varying degrees of smut in these books, so you need to be 18+ and comfortable reading that sort of thing. They will be an assortment of M/F, F/F, and M/M romances in the future, but mostly M/F (still often, but not always, queer). By signing up, you are agreeing to all of this.

You are free to talk about the book anywhere else you like, but obviously don’t share your copy with anyone. If you think someone you know would like it, perhaps encourage them to order the book, because that also will help potential readers find it. Ultimately that’s what I want, for the people who will like it to be able to find it.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who has been so supportive about this. <3

[lpetersonwrites]

I'm volunteering for a literary journal right now and there's two things I think you all should know.

1. Most people that submit to literary journals are cis white men. We know this because our journal has an anonymous survey about demographics for people that submit.

2. Most things that get submitted to the creative non fiction section are on the level of middle school "What I did over the summer" essays.

I cannot see the demographics of the people whose essays I'm reading, but guys, if you are wondering if you should submit your work to a literary journal or not, I promise you that just in terms of statistics there are a lot of mediocre cis white men and people in general confidently submitting weird crap that isn't literature to literature magazines. Do it. Submit your work. Please. If you want there to be more diversity in literature, be the diversity. Do it. Do it do it do it.

[lpetersonwrites]

[lpetersonwrites]

diagnoses character with whatever the fuck it is that i got

[lpetersonwrites]

I have so many to add!

Watson's Sketchbook by Molly Knox Ostertag (rep: autism, mobility aid user) is an explicitly queer graphic novel retelling of the Arthur Conan Doyle canon of Sherlock Holmes stories. I love how closely the author sticks to the canon while also making it clear that Holmes and Watson are in love!

Companion to the Count by Melissa Kendall (rep: autism) is a historical romance with an an autistic protagonist. The portrayal of autism felt very real to me, and I loved the romance as well!

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall (rep: PTSD, mobility aid user, addiction) is an angsty historical romance about a trans woman reconnecting with her childhood best friend after the Napoleonic wars, in which he thinks she died. Deliciously good.

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (rep: ADHD) is a smutty adult romance about a nonbinary almost-sommalier reconnecting with their childhood best friend/ex, a pastry chef they haven't seen in years, on a food and wine tour of Europe. Somehow manages to be both a beach read and super well researched.

Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Dr. Devon Price (rep: autism and a variety of intersecting conditions) is a nonfiction book about autism and the many types of people who "don't look/seem autistic." It's the truest thing I've ever read.

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots (rep: chronic pain, mobility aid user) is an adult superhero workplace drama about a bisexual woman who temps as a henchwoman to minor villains and is injured at work by a superhero trying to get at her boss. Following her injury, she realizes how much havoc superheroes really cause and tries to take down the whole establishment. This book is an excellent ACAB allegory.

The Montague Siblings Trilogy by Mackenzi Lee (rep: epilepsy, PTSD, addiction, severe anxiety) is a historical fantasy series that deals really interestingly with race, disability, sexuality, and trauma, all while also being suspenseful heist romps across Europe and North Africa. I encourage you to get past the first several chapters--the POV character gets less annoying eventually.

May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor (rep: autism) features a newly out trans boy challenging his autistic ex for homecoming king. This was the first good autism rep I ever read. It's so good.

When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley (rep: asthma) is an adult historical romantasy about a Puerto Rican iron worker who winds up working with a Coney Island sideshow in 1911, just as a merman has become the sideshow's main attraction. Breath is a big theme throughout the book--the protagonist's struggle to breathe air versus the fact that the merman can breathe underwater.

So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow (rep: sickle cell disease) gives Beth a different arc than Louisa May Alcott did in the original Little Women. In So Many Beginnings, the March family are formerly enslaved Black Americans living in a freedpersons colony during the Civil War, and Beth has an illness that confuses the white doctors, what we would now call sickle cell disease. (Spoiler: she survives.) I learned so much from this book and also loved the ways that Morrow worked with and subverted the original Little Women.

Most Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa (rep: autism) is a Pride and Prejudice retelling with autistic Darcy. This book made me squee so much.

All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle (rep: EDS) is a YA novel about a girl who goes on a reality show with her mother and winds up falling for another teenage cast member, a boy with EDS. It's a sweet book that's at least as much about family as it is about romance.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (rep: epilepsy, addiction, PTSD) is a historical fantasy heist romp around Europe set in the last 1700s. I encourage you to stick with it even if the first several chapters are annoying, because it does get better.

The Breakaway Series by EL Massey (rep: TBI, anxiety, autism) is a series of queer hockey romances that deals well with race, disability, sexuality, and trauma, honestly.

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert (rep: bipolar disorder) is about a Black girl figuring out her bisexuality while trying to prevent her bipolar stepbrother from causing irreparable harm to himself or others. It's a painfully realistic book.

The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner (rep: limb loss, cerebral palsy, lots of unlabeled neurodivergence) is a series about court intrigue, heists, road trips, and geopolitics on an imagined peninsula inspired by medieval Greece.

Icebreaker by AL Graziadei (rep: depression and anxiety) is a queer hockey romance about rival hockey phenoms vying to go first in the draft while playing for the same college team and falling for each other.

The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo (rep: mobility aid user, PTSD, ADHD, and dyslexia) is a pair of heist novels set in a fantasy version of Renaissance Amsterdam.

july is disability pride month so that means…

DISABILITY BOOK RECS!!

here are some fiction and nonfiction book recs that i feel have some valuable things to contribute to disability literature! i encourage you to check some of them out!! :)

(alt text included in images)

[lpetersonwrites]

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!!

[lpetersonwrites]

For canonically asexual (but not always aromantic) characters, Claire Kann is a great author to know. I've read two of her YA books: If It Makes You Happy and Let's Talk about Love. The protagonist of If It Makes You Happy is a queer Black girl in a non-romantic, non-sexual relationship with an aroace white girl whom she refers to as her ungirlfriend (the characters canonically do not like the term queerplatonic), and the book explores the tensions in that relationship as the protagonist enters a romantic relationship while continuing her relationship with her ungirlfriend. The protagonist of Let's Talk about Love is an asexual biromantic Black girl who's working a summer job at the public library and falls for her Japanese American coworker. The a-spec experiences of the characters are central to both books.

I know a-spec rep involving robots is tricky and often done badly, but I think Murderbot of Martha Wells' series the The Murderbot Diaries is actually quite good aroace rep. Murderbot is definitely a person, and it's repulsed by romance and sex in a way that feels very real to my sex-repulsed ace self.

Greta, the love interest in ZR Ellor's book Acting the Part is asexual, though it's not a huge part of the plot.

I don't know if you want demisexual or demiromantic rep, but Benny, the protagonist of Venessa Vida Kelley's book When the Tides Held the Moon, is demisexual.

LA Schwartz, whose book My Kind of Trouble is on my TBR, writes a lot of asexual and demisexual rep, though I haven't read any of her books yet, so my rec is more tentative for this one.

In So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow, Jo March is very aroace coded, though since the book is set in the 1860s, she doesn't use that word.

I made a list of all a-spec rep all over the media

Ok, that's an exaggeration.

Its me, im back (i never left)

So a loooong while back, i was wondering "wow man, media is just oozing with romance, ain't it" and that made me think of all the media that isn’t oozing with romance. And i decided that someone should make a list of all the aspec rep in a handy resource for the aros and the aces. Since the orientation gets ignored soo often.

And now that i finally got the time, i made the list!

Its an in progress, non exhaustive list. Comments are on for suggestions/additions/corrections. The kind reddit community has already been suggesting soo many things i didnt know had rep. Feel free to use the resource AND please pass it on to whoever might need it.

Representation is important and every community deserves to have it 🏳️‍🌈

Theres so much japanese media here its crazy though

[lpetersonwrites]

I love Unbroken! Here are a few other YA books I love that feature disabled characters and are either by authors of color or have main characters of color:

So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow (rep: sickle cell disease) gives Beth a different arc than Louisa May Alcott did in the original Little Women. In So Many Beginnings, the March family are formerly enslaved Black Americans living in a freedpersons colony during the Civil War, and Beth has an illness that confuses the white doctors, what we would now call sickle cell disease. (Spoiler: she survives.) I learned so much from this book and also loved the ways that Morrow worked with and subverted the original Little Women. Both the author and the main characters are Black.

Most Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa (rep: autism) is a Pride and Prejudice retelling with autistic Darcy. This book made me squee so much. The author is Latinx.

All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle (rep: EDS) is a YA novel about a girl who goes on a reality show with her mother and winds up falling for another teenage cast member, a boy with EDS. It's a sweet book that's at least as much about family as it is about romance. The author and main character are Korean American.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (rep: epilepsy, addiction, PTSD) is a historical fantasy heist romp around Europe set in the last 1700s. I encourage you to stick with it even if the first several chapters are annoying, because it does get better. The love interest is biracial.

The Breakaway Series by EL Massey (rep: TBI, anxiety, autism) is a series of queer hockey romances that deals well with race, disability, sexuality, and trauma, honestly. The main character of the first two books is Afro-Caribbean, and the love interest in the third book is Black.

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert (rep: bipolar disorder) is about a Black girl figuring out her bisexuality while trying to prevent her bipolar stepbrother from causing irreparable harm to himself or others. It's a painfully realistic book. Both the protagonist and the author are Black.

The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner (rep: limb loss, cerebral palsy, lots of unlabeled neurodivergence) is a series about court intrigue, heists, road trips, and geopolitics on an imagined peninsula inspired by medieval Greece. Many of the main characters are people of color.

Icebreaker by AL Graziadei (rep: depression and anxiety) is a queer hockey romance about rival hockey phenoms vying to go first in the draft while playing for the same college team and falling for each other. The love interest is Black.

The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo (rep: mobility aid user, PTSD, ADHD, and dyslexia) is a pair of heist novels set in a fantasy version of Renaissance Amsterdam. Multiple major characters in the ensemble cast are people of color.

6 Books to Celebrate Disability Month

July is Disability Awareness Month and we thought it would be fun to highlight some of our favorite books. If you haven't read any of these yet, run to your nearest local bookstore and buy a copy. 

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens

This anthology explores disability in fictional tales told from the viewpoint of disabled characters, written by disabled creators. With stories in various genres about first loves, friendship, war, travel, and more, Unbroken will offer today's teen readers a glimpse into the lives of disabled people in the past, present, and future.

The contributing authors are awardwinners, bestsellers, and newcomers including Kody Keplinger, Kristine Wyllys, Francisco X. Stork, William Alexander, Corinne Duyvis, Marieke Nijkamp, Dhonielle Clayton, Heidi Heilig, Katherine Locke, Karuna Riazi, Kayla Whaley, Keah Brown, and Fox Benwell. Each author identifies as disabled along a physical, mental, or neurodiverse axis—and their characters reflect this diversity.

All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis.

A Black, autistic teen tries to figure out what happened the night his older brother was unjustly arrested in this “propulsive” (Jas Hammonds, award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments), moving story about brotherhood, identity, and social justice. All Aiden has ever wanted to do was play football just like his star quarterback brother, Brandon. An overstimulation meltdown gets in the way of Aiden making the team during summer tryouts, but when the school year starts and a spot unexpectedly needs to be filled, he finally gets a chance to play the game he loves. However, not every player is happy about the new addition to the team, wary of how Aiden’s autism will present itself on game day. Tensions rise. A fight breaks out. Cops are called. Brandon interferes on behalf of his brother, but is arrested by the very same cops who, just hours earlier, were chanting his name from the bleachers. When he’s wrongly charged for felony assault on an officer, everything Brandon has worked for starts to slip away, and the brothers’ relationship is tested. As Brandon’s trial inches closer, Aiden is desperate to figure out what really happened that night. Can he clear his brother’s name in time?

Check out K. Imani's Review.

You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh

Seventeen-year-old Jamie Taher-Foster has big plans for senior year. She's made a list of things and places in Toronto she and her boyfriend of three years, Ben Cameron, need to check off before graduating. And the biggest plan of all: a very special night for the two of them at the upcoming Winter Formal. But then Ben arrives back home after a summer away with an unthinkable announcement: he wants to break up. And when Jamie discovers him with Olivia Chen the next day, she is determined to get him back. Even if that means fake dating the younger, curly-haired, TikTok dancer Axel Dahini, whose bicycle she accidentally ran over. Though she and Axel have nothing in common aside from their shared Arab heritage — she's a messy, type A with anxiety; he's carefree but meticulous — their forced time together brings them to better understand one another. And for Jamie, it just might mean learning that not all experiences or people need to be crossed off a list.

The Luis Ortega Survival Club by Sonora Reyes

Ariana Ruiz wants to be noticed. But as an autistic girl who never talks, she goes largely ignored by her peers—despite her bold fashion choices. So when cute, popular Luis starts to pay attention to her, Ari finally feels seen.

Luis’s attention soon turns to something more, and they have sex at a party—while Ari didn’t say no, she definitely didn’t say yes. Before she has a chance to process what happened and decide if she even has the right to be mad at Luis, the rumor mill begins churning—thanks, she’s sure, to Luis’s ex-girlfriend, Shawni. Boys at school now see Ari as an easy target, someone who won’t say no.

Then Ari finds a mysterious note in her locker that eventually leads her to a group of students determined to expose Luis for the predator he is. To her surprise, she finds genuine friendship among the group, including her growing feelings for the very last girl she expected to fall for. But in order to take Luis down, she’ll have to come to terms with the truth of what he did to her that night—and risk everything to see justice done.

Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

Scars exist to remind us of what we’ve survived.

DETACHED

Since Shelbi enrolled at Windward Academy as a senior and won’t be there very long, she hasn’t bothered making friends. What her classmates don’t know about her can’t be used to hurt her—you know, like it did at her last school.

WASTED

Andy Criddle is not okay. At all.

He’s had far too much to drink.

Again. Which is bad.

And things are about to get worse.

When Shelbi sees Andy at his lowest, she can relate. So she doesn’t resist reaching out. And there’s no doubt their connection has them both seeing stars . . . but the closer they get, the more the past threatens to pull their universes apart.

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes...except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.

Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption—yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)

These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.

Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed...or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

Check out our discussion of this novel here. 

[lpetersonwrites]

Hey look, I'm in this! In addition to my contribution to A Truth Universally Acknowledged, I'll have a short story coming out very soon on the Duck Prints Press Patreon!

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

[lpetersonwrites]

A few days ago, I finished reading When the Tides Held the Moon, the debut illustrated adult historical romantasy from Venessa Vida Kelley, aka @vkelleyart. It’s a beautiful story of queer love, found family, and the tug of war between the mutual care of working-class solidarity and the corrupting influence of upwardly mobile greed. 

The book is about a gay, demisexual Puerto Rican immigrant named Benny who’s hired to build an iron cage and then is horrified to find that his handiwork is meant to hold a merman whom he names Río--and whom he finds himself falling in love with. Benny is surrounded by a diverse ensemble cast of sideshow performers who take him in as one of their own. As a reader, I fell in love with Benny, Río, and the whole sideshow, all of whom benefited from Venessa’s careful research and loving approach to characterization. 

At the same time that I was reading When the Tides Held the Moon, I was also wrestling with whether and how to outline my next manuscript, and as such, I was thinking a lot about plot structure, particularly in the terms laid out in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. And hot damn, this book does plot structure so well. To start with, the catalyst, debate, and break-into-two are so clear and compelling. And then, as a bookend, the ending, especially the gathering the team and high tower surprise(s) beats, is so dramatic, forcing the characters to really earn the conclusion. 

Analyzing plot structure might not be the most romantic way to enjoy a book, but that’s the headspace I was in, and I came out of the reading experience loving the book with my heart and admiring it with my brain. I highly recommend When the Tides Held the Moon and will be lending my copy to multiple people in the near future. You don’t have to be a writer to fall in love with this book--but I think writers can get even more out of it because it’s such a masterclass in plot.

[lpetersonwrites]

I love Bunt! I'd definitely add Acting the Part and No Better Than Beasts, both by ZR Ellor.

Books for International Nonbinary Peoples' Day 💜

What's your favorite book featuring a nonbinary character?

💛 Vesuvius - Cass Biehn 🤍 Ander & Santi Were Here - Jonny Garza Villa 💜 Mooncakes - Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu 🖤 Felix Ever After - Kacen Callender ✨ Ollie in Between - Jess Callans 🖤 Hammajang Luck - Makana Yamamoto 💜 Love & Other Disasters - Anita Kelly 🤍 Firebird - Sunmi 💛 Bunt! Striking Out on Financial Aid - Ngozi Ukazu & Mad Rupert

💛 Stars in Their Eyes - Jessica Walton & Aśka 🤍 Paper Planes - Jennie Wood & Dozerdraws 💜 Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything - Justine Pucella Winans 🖤 I Wish You All the Best - Mason Deaver ✨ Donut Summer - Anita Kelly 🖤 Lunar Boy - Jacinta Wibowo 💜 The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester - Maya MacGregor 🤍 Love at Second Sight - F.T. Lukens 💛 These Vengeful Gods - Gabe Cole Novoa

💛 The Sunbearer Trials - Aiden Thomas 🤍 Lakelore - Anna-Marie McLemore 💜 The Wicked Bargain - Gabe Cole Novoa 🖤 Spell Bound - F.T. Lukens ✨ This Feast of a Life - Cynthia So 🖤 Okay, Cupid - Mason Deaver 💜 A Gentleman's Gentleman - T.J. Alexander 🤍 Mallory in Full Color - Elisa Stone Leahy 💛 Triple Sec - TJ Alexander

💛 They Bloom at Night - Trang Thanh Tran 🤍 Single Player - Tara Tai 💜 Love, Misha - Askel Aden 🖤 Homegrown Magic - Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos ✨ Murder in the Dressing Room - Holly Stars 🖤 Costumes for Time Travelers - A.R. Capetta 💜 Godly Heathens - H.E. Edgmon 🤍 My Best Friend's Honeymoon - Meryl Wilsner 💛 How to Survive a Slasher - Justine Pucella Winans

💛 A Single Brutal Fate - Lee Paige O'Brien 🤍 Roll for Love - M.K. England 💜 Let Them Stare - Jonathan Van Ness & Julie Murphy 🖤 We Are Villains - Kacen Callender ✨ Chaos King - Kacen Callender 🖤 The Trial Period - Auburn Morrow

[lpetersonwrites]

I would absolutely add Lucy, Uncensored by Mel Hammond and Teghan Hammond to this list!

Fave Five: Queer YA Friendship Novels

The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland Golden Boys by Phil Stamper The Lost Coast by A.R. Capetta Hot Boy Summer by Joe Jiménez

[lpetersonwrites]

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!!

[lpetersonwrites]