#i'm reading the preview to this novel on amazon

[beloved-child-of-the-house]

my college roommate (who i was rlly close with at the time until she dropped out to get married to The Worst Man In The World) wrote a novel about a group of people who were close in college and drifted apart and there's a couple in it based on me and my spouse

[artificial-transmutations]

Out Now: Dam Breakers

Hello everyone! I'm extremely excited (and, quite frankly, more than a bit nervous) to announce that I finished my fantasy romance novel Dam Breakers!

For the very TLDR-version: It is available here! Be sure to read the disclaimer below, though.

First of all, thank you! Everyone who reads my stories or likes them shows me that there is at least some interest in my mediocre writing. And even though the novel is not exactly like my stories here (more to that later), it gives me hope that you and other people might like it.

Now, for the actual novel!

Dam Breakers is the tale of Jared, a rather normal modern day college student, and Aleron, an apprentice mage living in a secluded tower with his teacher. One fateful day, they meet and are drawn into a maelstrom of magic, change and love - and dark secrets threatening to destroy everything they loved.

With over 120000 words, this is not only my longest story yet, but also my most carefully crafted one. I will attach an image of my Obsidian graph for the story at the end of the post.

Disclaimer:

As I have mentioned, it is a bit different from the stories I usually post here. First and foremost, it's a lot tamer. This novel isn't meant as a porn piece, but as an intriguing fantasy and romance tale. While there is love, desire and sex, of course, it's way more sparse and less explicit than, for example Closer Than Flesh.

It also features transformation themes, and the concept of change is one of the main focus points of the book, but, again, don't expect 500 pages full of transforming bodies because of it :)

And, finally, for a multitude of reasons, it does not contain AI generated images. I wouldn't be able to generate any that do the story justice, anyway.

Now that you know what not to expect, here are some things you MAY expect:

Transformation. Both in the sense of bodily changes but intriguing character development as well.

Gay Love. This is a story about two men from different worlds falling in love with each other, and their stony road to being together.

Magic. It's a fantasy story, and a truly enchanting one at that, with a fresh concept of magic and change.

Story. Last, but certainly not least, it's a good and interesting read, at least according to my opinion. Since I might be a bit biased here, let me tell you that my beta readers agree.

If you still want to read it (and I hope you do!), then you can grab your copy here:

If you are not in the US, you can just replace the .com with, for example, .co.uk to go to your local Amazon marketplace

I have not forgotten, of course, that I promised a special condition for you folks at Tumblr. Since Amazon makes it a bit difficult to actually implement that, I plan to offer a time limited discount or giveaway in a few weeks. I'll announce the exact time here on my blog beforehand.

If you really want to support me, it would mean a lot to me if you could leave a review on Amazon. That influences the algorithm a lot and helps the book get visibility, which is incredibly important . So, please, if you like the book, leave a review.

Teaser / Preview (mild spoilers)

And here is a short look into the book, from chapter 4. It contains some mild spoilers, but nothing too important. I also added an AI image, which is not in the book (see above).

[...]

Even though the weather was unstable, Jared enjoyed the journey through the vibrant spring land. It was a closeness to nature he had never experienced. Even back home with his parents, in rural Texas, the land had seemed different. Back there, the wilderness had been tamed decades if not centuries ago. There was no wonder, no adventure. Here, there were hills and forests, rivers and bogs, and who knew what else. It was as if Jared was seeing the world for the first time. Not to mention the smell. Jared could not remember a time when he had smelled the spring air like this.

In addition to the landscape, Jared's traveling companion also played a big part. Aleron was an intelligent and witty conversationalist, and Jared learned a lot about his new friend. They spoke of everything under the sun, and Jared told stories of his home, of modern inventions and the differences between this world and his. Even though Aleron was fascinated by his tales, he was also clearly skeptical about some of them, especially when it came to the more complex topics. That was only fair, though, as Jared himself had a hard time believing the fantastic stories of this world, even after having experienced some with his own eyes. Dragons, for example. It didn't matter how often Aleron recited what little information he had about those magnificent beasts, something in Jared resisted fully believing in them. He hoped that he would be able to see one of them for real - although Aleron repeatedly stressed how dangerous they were - in order to be able to fully believe in them.

While Aleron's world was certainly magical, it wasn't all like in the Lord of the Rings. There were, for example, no other humanoid races, as Jared learned. No elves, dwarves or orcs, at least to Aleron's knowledge, which, to be fair, mainly included the Kingdom of Myrthien. Although the Whispering Woods were not technically a part of Myrthien, and were generally considered wilderness, it was clear that they were no part of another nation either. The closest neighboring country to the Whispering Woods would either be the Golden Isles beyond the coast south of Eldoria or the Verdant Lands to the west. According to Aleron, the Verdant Lands couldn't really be considered a nation, too. It was more of a loose confederation of tribal communities, living in the characteristic dense forests of that region.

As Helena had promised, Luminara wasn't difficult to find. The capital of Myrthien was well known and if there was a sign post somewhere, it was sure to point to Luminara.

There was no shortage of smaller and bigger settlements, and about every third or fourth night they were able to sleep in beds. During the other nights, they made camp a bit off the road in order not to attract too much attention. It was one of those nights, about two weeks after they had left Eldoria, that Jared woke up in the middle of the night. Aleron, who was sleeping next to him, was moving in his sleep and occasionally made a sound, which had caused Flicker to gain a bit of distance to the sleeping man.

It was clear to Jared that his friend was dreaming, and he briefly considered waking him up from his nightmare. However, judging by the sounds, Jared began to suspect that Aleron was not having a nightmare but quite the opposite, although the dream seemed to be just as intense.

Quietly, he left the tent, careful not to wake the sleeping mage. Outside, he was greeted by the stars and a clear sky with an almost full moon. The campfire was almost dead, just a few embers and ashes were left. It was a quiet, peaceful night, and Jared decided to go to the nearby lake to drink. Aleron had never once shown a single sign of sexuality before, except for demonstrating a certain uneasiness around nudity and related topics. He never had commented on any woman - or man - in a suggestive way, so Jared had been half- convinced that this whole topic didn't have any relevance to the mage at all.

Of course, for his own reasons, Jared had avoided the subject as well, so, perhaps Aleron thought the same about him. Jared didn't mind that. As magical as this world was, he had yet to encounter a single sign of same-sex attraction. Perhaps this wasn't a thing here, biologically, or perhaps it was socially frowned upon, like in his world's medieval ages - or rural Texas, present day. In any case, there was absolutely no reason to bring that topic up, so he didn't. Not bringing up his sexuality was a sport he was very experienced in for 9 years straight now, after all.

As Jared neared the lake, he was feeling weird and tingly all over. It was not entirely unpleasant, but it stirred a vague memory in Jared. He had felt this feeling once before, but he couldn't quite recall when.

When he bent down to scoop some water into his hand, he stopped before his fingers touched the surface of the lake. The moon was bright, and Jared could see his reflection in the mirror-smooth water quite well. The only problem was that it was not him who was looking back at him.

Of course, there was a strong resemblance, but the details weren't right. His face looked somewhat stronger, his jawline a bit squarer. His hair a bit lighter and styled like the day he first stepped out of the mirror. On his chin, there was a short well-groomed beard even though he had shaved just last morning. It wasn't just his face, though. As he looked down on himself, he looked fitter than he should, as if he was visiting a gym regularly. In fact, the definition of muscle on his torso increased further, just as he was watching. Suddenly, the wonder was replaced by fear. He had felt that way before, and now he remembered when. It had been during his first visit to Aleron's world, when his body was 'destabilizing' as Aleron had put it. Given, the feeling had been stronger then, but it was definitely the same. And now, his body was changing again, and he was weeks of travel from the magic mirror.

Half-panicking, he sprinted back to the tent, not caring about being quiet anymore. Perhaps Aleron knew what to do! He ducked into the entrance and called out to the mage.

"Aleron, wake up!"

Almost immediately, the apprentice jolted awake. "Jared? What is wrong?"

"I... don't know, it's me. Look at me!"

After a few words of encouragement, Flicker began burning brighter, allowing them to see in the tent as well. Aleron looked at the half-naked Jared critically for a few moments before asking: "Okay... what am I looking for?"

"Can't you see? I'm..." However, as Jared looked down on himself, everything was fine again. He was looking at his plain old self, just as he should look like. The tingling feeling was gone, too.

"Oh." Jared felt incredibly stupid all of a sudden. "I... must have been imagining things."

[...]

If you liked the teaser, be sure to give the whole thing a read :)

Let me close with another whole-hearted Thank You for your continued interest!

Stay awesome!

And here, as promised, a peek at the creative complexity of the story:

[castielslostwings]

Please help me tell people about my book!

Hi! I'm publishing a book! It's HERE, just in time for Christmas!! It's GAY!! It's romantic!!! It's HOT! It has firefighters and background sapphic romance, and is exciting AF!!!

I'm very excited, too!

Both U.S. domestic and international friends can order shipped Paperbacks from me directly via my Ko-Fi shop (retailers take less of a cut): https://ko-fi.com/castielslostwings/shop Or you can order on amazon directly, this is the only way to get the KINDLE ebook option: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1945687126

Standard EPUB format is available to download directly from me for $1 cheaper than Amazon: https://ko-fi.com/s/2a82c64d56

And WILL be available at other retailers soon!

Here's the thing: I had a pretty solid platform on Twitter, but since Elon took over, a lot of my followers left, the algorithm crashed, and the whole thing might go under. I don't have the same reach on other platforms, so I need some help! Please share this post if you like GAY SHIT and BOOKS and helping indie content creators be successful!!! Please follow me or check out my ko-fi for updates! Thanks!!! Here's my pitch, hope you like it:

"Fire & Ice": The flaming hot queer romance novel where a foray into BDSM helps two best friends find themselves, each other, and what it really means to burn. Summary: "Firefighter Tripp Truett has somehow tumbled into a whole new kind of relationship with his quirky paramedic best friend, Lee, but mutual relief from their high-stress jobs quickly develops into something more. With all the missed signals and crossed wires, can these two ever figure out that they're so much closer to being on the same page than they think?"

**************************************** About the author (info dump ahoy!!!!) :

I'm Robin, sometimes known as Wings! I'm a 36-year-old, queer, autistic, disabled mom of 2 humans and 5 senior rescue dogs, former R.N. & paramedic. I'm a hardcore fangirl and a proud fanfic writer (and reader), and while I know some people will judge me for that, I am not ashamed! I started writing as a hobby after becoming physically disabled and unable to work as an RN. Fanfic gave me an audience and an outlet, gifted me purpose and hope again. Transformative fiction is FUN! It fosters creativity and passion, heals wounds, and makes people happy. If someone wants to discredit me for that, then perhaps they aren't the audience I'm seeking.

Ultimately, I know I'm taking a risk, but since people seem to enjoy my fics, this book is my attempt to try and make ends meet through original fiction! I know some people WILL discredit me. But I'm always about being myself and speaking on what I feel matters: Fanfic should be legitimized as a creative medium. I assure you, friends—the thousands of hours I've spent on my fanworks are as REAL as it gets. The intersection of disparaging fanfic + sexism/misogyny can't be overstated—women (esp queer women)'s unpaid work is often treated as a "hobby," not worthy of uplifting. I'm here to uplift! The risk is worth it—I would have nothing without fanfic & I'm proud. Younger creators shouldn't feel shame about writing/reading fanfic. We should ALL approach it as a legitimate medium. In fact, MOST new media these days is transformative "fanwork" of SOME kind, whether it's inspired by, based on, or outright rebooting existing worlds.

Plus, we queer folk simply deserve to see our stories in the mainstream media and to see the characters we fall in love, identify with, and root for to get their happily ever afters.

TL;DR: I'm keeping my name and history. Hopefully, I'll be successful in original fiction, but if not, I'll still be a fangirl. Please consider supporting me + other creators attempting to dip into original works. Follow or subscribe to my ko-fi for previews, updates, access to my discord community where I share exclusive content, and more: https://ko-fi.com/castielslostwings FIRE & ICE IS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH MULTIPLE PLATFORMS! Ko-Fi subscribers will have the option to buy signed copies & merch bundles! The link to purchase will also be posted there first.

A MAJOR thank you to my friends, editors, and to everyone who in my server for supporting and encouraging me to put myself out there and try something new. Love you guys so much. <3 Thank you to @chaoticdean for the beautiful cover. Many more thank yous to come. P.S. If you are reading this and know anyone with a platform who might be interested in receiving a free copy in exchange for promo (only if they enjoy, ofc), please holler at me, I can use all the help I can get!

<3 Wings

[pharawee]

You are the resident Thai novel reader, so I come to you asking for your expertise.

Where can I buy a physical copy of a Dr. Sammon English-translated novel? I could take Spanish too if that's an option.

I would like Manner of Death 2 (Transplant), but I'll take whatever is available.

Is that a thing? I see Amazon has an electronic version of Euthanasia/Spare Me Your Mercy, but I like to feel the weight of my books and I don't eff with Amazon, so any suggestions?

I know I'm asking a lot, so feel free to dismiss this request for information.

Hi! 💜💜

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there's currently no physical editions of any of Sammon's English (or Spanish) novels.

But! There's an English version of the (originally Japanese) Manner of Death manga and that one's very nice.

If you dislike amazon, you can also buy all of Sammon's English novels (along with many more official English translations of Thai BL novels) on MEB, which offers very fair reading previews and reasonable pricing (plus, the app comes with a reader and is fairly easy to navigate).

Afaik the only English translations of Thai BL novels that come with physical editions are some of Pat Rangsimant's novels (through amazon print-on-demand).

[murphychips]

a treacherous descent into werewolf romance fiction

okay so. this story begins with me being on facebook, scrolling through videos, and getting these adverts at the end of EVERY video clip from these sites:

and i mean EVERY single one. and out of deranged curiosity i ended up clicking them and checking out their previews only to find maybe some of the more garbage i've ever had the displeasure of reading. each advert was different and each story varied, but all of them had dogshit quality.

eventually, i wondered who was making this stuff; MULTIPLE apps were being advertised to me under a bunch of different names, and all of them were centred around werewolves or mafia or billionaires. sometimes all three!

so i downloaded a couple of apps to see if i could identify an owner, but those all varied too! most don't even have websites; the app is the only thing they have. almost none of them have author names, or any way to identify the writer, and there's no way to submit to most of them. eventually, i chased up a few of these apps on reviews to find most appear to be stealing content from across the internet:

some of these are stolen from amazon, others are stolen from similar apps are cross-posted, others--as one comment says--appear to be scalping from wattpad (and likely AO3 and fanfic.net, although i'm currently trying to find examples).

HOWEVER

one app that crossed my phone was Letterlux, which does feature a submit page and appears to actually promote original work! the genres remain the same--werewolves, billionaires, mafia, etc--and so i was like alright. this appears to be a publishing outlet of SOME kind. what's the catch?

the catch is the abysmal fucking offerings:

the 'exclusive' contract here is if you do the whole 'submit a thing and they extend an offer', whereas non-exclusive is you just posting the thing. but look at the numbers! look how low they are! $450 if your story is above 200,000 words????????????????? and you have to post EVERY DAY for the update bonus; if you miss more than 4 days, you're out of the running. HOLY EXPLOITATION BATMAN. never mind that for the non-exclusive, you get a measly $250 for 200,000 words and NO update bonus. with the signing bonus of a whole $50, that's $300 for 200,000+ words: a whopping 0.0015 per word.

another app that appears to promote original work is Galatea, owned by inkitt; it appears legit in that it's been advertised by a bunch of different places, i.e. Writer's Digest, and has a fairly slick site, but reviews from users say it's a scam--a less predatory scam than usual, but still a scam.

TL;DR, if you write heterosexual steamy werewolf romance, your shit is likely making money for some company in whoknowsistan, who use microtransactions to make you pay for individual books. and i haven't even TALKED about how some of these apps have some of the most crazy IP protection i have ever seen, such as banning you for an hour if you screencap ANYTHING, and hiding recorded videos:

but despite all this, and this horrible rabbithole of novel apps i've fallen down, nothing compares to me having to read all this fiction and realising that we are ignorant to the quantities of sheer bad werewolf writing out there, so much so that i'm honestly tempted to post my own straight-bait just to see how far i can get. things that i've noticed:

all the female protagonists start off as abused or hated and are saved by some Alpha/Alpha King/Alpha Demon/idk man

sometimes the werewolf aspect is just an inner wolf who like. yells at you sometimes?

there's gamma rank werewolves?

there's DELTA rank werewolves?????????????

i honestly think i'm becoming addicted to finding out just how unhinged some of these stories get, but that is beside the point: in the end, for the love of god, don't be a dumbass and use these shady apps, and do NOT submit to places who won't even give you an entire penny per word. also, check your shit; it might have been scalped for someone else's profit. okay. ciao.

[yoonia]

You were reading Werewolves stories? will you recommend me some of them👀

Oooh book rec time!

Yes, I've been reading some werewolf stories (all original fiction and not fanfic btw). The ones I've read so far varies from original novels and wattpad originals so let me list them out for you with my reviews so you can choose which ones you might be interested in:

Original novel:

Mated to The Enemy by Stephanie Noircent; Note: I rated this with 3-3.5 stars on Goodreads. I enjoyed reading it, but I feel like the plot was too rushed for me. It's still enjoyable to read though. This is book 1, btw. Book 2 is out but after reading the reviews on Goodreads, I decided to wait before getting it

Love After Rejection by Marrissa Teng; Note: I haven't rated this on Goodreads, since I originally read this on Inkitt before it was officially published on Amazon. I remember enjoying the story a lot. There were a few parts that I didn't think was necessary (which may explain the mixed reviews) but I guess it did get the plot going and made things less boring going to the end of the book. I'm in the middle of reading this one again because I want to remember why I loved it so much haha. The author is still keeping the original 5 chapters up on Inkitt for free so you can try to read it there for a quick preview to see if it's something that you might be interested in

Wattpad Original:

Lost Luna by Heatherr/xdeafening_silencex; Note: I rated this 3.5 stars. Really good for Wattpad standard, a bit long though because there are so many chapters lol. I really enjoyed it, and I love that the author chose to create her own lore instead of following the general werewolf tropes we often see on these reading platforms. I'm currently reading book 2 while I'm working on Blood Moon Rising haha

Fated Series by Cayleigh Kennedy; I've finished book 1 (Stolen Fate) and book 2 (Tempting Fate) and I've rated both books with 5 stars on Goodreads, so I guess you can get a picture of how much I enjoyed them haha. For this series, they focus more on various shifters instead of just werewolves, which makes it a lot of fun to read, and the first book featured the alpha who is a leopard shifter (!!!! I love it!!). Book 3 is currently ongoing on Wattpad but I'm planning to wait until more chapters are up before reading it

[takiki16]

Umm… so what’s the subby murder bot book that 80 people are trying to read?

I'm tearing my own hair out in frustration, I tell you. I don't know if any of my holds are any good bc I can't READ THEM YET!!!

If anyone is looking for romance novels to read, I've found r/RomanceBooks and their Book Request tag to be very helpful as far as mainstream cishet recs. I scroll through the book requests until I see someone asking for a book that sounds like something I'd enjoy, and then check the comments. If I see a book linked that sounds interesting, I check out the free preview and then place a hold at the library if it's available (or request an inter-library loan if not). Their romance bot unfortunately provides links to goodreads rather than storygraph or similar, so if you are trying to avoid Amazon affiliates be advised.

The book that started me on this trend was found on this thread, and it was For My Lady's Heart by Laura Kinsale. Basic premise is a medieval knight that has essentially taken a vow of celibacy has to escort a princess caught up in intrigue to her castle. The author actually has a good grasp on medieval worldbuilding and writes in Middle English when the characters speak English rather than French, which REALLY tickles my heart. The book doesn't end as well as I'd hoped - a little too convenient, doesn't double down enough on subby murderbot-ness - but the journey and the writing is enjoyable enough that I would recommend it as a fun read.

I also recommend pretty much any of T. Kingfisher's romances, if you don't mind a little bit of...tumblr house flavor, I suppose? The author IS on tumblr and is very much a product of fandom, which might not scratch your itch if you are deliberately looking for contrasting tone, but I DEVOURED Paladin's Grace and the Clocktaur Verse (they are in the same universe but stand alone), since she also does some good horror stuff and has great worldbuilding.

I browsed around a little more and put a hold on The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne, Hot Blooded by Heather Guerre (although her werewolf romance VERY much turned me off, just couldn't stand the MMC), and His Secondhand Wife by Cheryl St. John, but have NO clue if any of them will actually deliver the very specific content I'm looking for in a romance novel. Unsatisfactory state of affairs ;_____;

If you want fanfic to tide you over, I put this list and this list together for femdom stuff!

[belovedblabber]

the locked tomb! or if someone already asked, dragon age!

Thank youuuu for asking!

Favorite Male Character: It's John, we all know it's John. I stand by my cancelled wife <3

Favorite Female Character: I legit do not know how to answer this because that list is, so long and frequently neck and neck but today while zoning out I ended up thinking about Harrow and had a resurgence of how much I adore her so I'll say Harrow rn!

Least Favorite Character: I'm not sure honestly, I don't really think I have one? Maybe currently Paul just because we don't know them very well yet and also I'm so mad to have lost Pal and Cam so let's go with Paul

Favorite Ship: This is another tough one oh god. I love Harrow/Gideon, and Harrow/Ianthe, and Gideon/Ianthe in a 'gay sex won't fix this situation in fact it may make it worse but I think we should give it a shot anyway' sorta way fghj. Idk if that last one is a ship or a 'I think they make each other worse and I love that' thing. Also between Gideon/Harrow and Ianthe/Harrow I like. Gideon/Harrow more in terms of just pure shippines, I guess? I want them to be happy and kiss but I'm aware that may be a tall order. I'm terrible at answering ship questions especially with this series dfghj. Also the entire dios apate trio situation is just the absolute tastiest although I've been thinking a lot about John and Augustine in particular lately I think just because that's where my brain is kicking around atm. I love them, obsessed with that fucked up lil' jaugustine dynamic it makes my brain spin

Favorite Friendship: Gideon and Palamedes, I know we didn't get to see much of that dynamic but what we did see was so sweet and I love it. Also Harrow and Palamedes. I LOVE Palamedes he's up there as one of my fave characters

Favorite Quote: This one is just cruel I have so many I legit cannot pick. But currently I have the whole quote that ends in "Something will satisfy them eventually, but nothing satisfies me. Nothing" stuck in my head and am wanting to draw smth from it so I'll just go with that, John that was sooo sexy of u babygirl. (Also "Is that the truth, or the truth you tell yourself?" "What is the difference?" said God'" hit me like a sack of bricks the first time I read it and continues to do so. But I also have so many other fave quotes asdfg, I just need to leave it off here or I'll write a novel length list of them).

Worst Character Death (if any): This one is ALSO hard but I will say that the one that shocked me the most was honestly Jeannemary. After that it was hard to rattle me although oh god Gideon's death at the end of GtN did have me crying

This made me so happy you have no idea Moment: When I read the NtN preview on amazon and saw that it opened with a John thing and I got so excited that I shrieked out loud alone in my dark room and then messaged my partner rapid fire while literally vibrating and then was so jazzed that I couldn't sleep. Because I'm a freak.

Saddest Moment: How do I pick? The one freshest in my head is the creation of Paul because OUCH

Favorite Location: Canaan house, I love the vibes in a way I can't articulate

[cherokeegal1975]

These are my books on Amazon

The covers could use some work, but the content is good. I especially care about my two novels since those two are the more difficult book projects. The art journals are good, though I have seen better. I think it's partly due to lack of experience as far as layouts. I know Blurb offers good ones, but they don't suit my purpose of showing off every detail as much as possible. I did better in The Art Journal than I did in Running Horse Creations and used fewer words...mainly because I only made it as something to do and fully counting on the fact that no one will buy it. Basically, mental thumb twiddling since I haven't had much time or energy to really do a good artwork in months.

So check them out, much of the artwork you see here:

CherokeeGal1975 - Hobbyist, General Artist | DeviantArt\

...will be there in my art journals. So, you can get a preview that way.

Same goes for my novels. I'm aware that's not the best way to sell a book by giving away the whole thing for free, but my resources are limited so I do what I can.

I'm still looking for feedback on my novels always. I generally get only a comment or two every other year or so. Weirdly enough, it's mostly Unexpected Cargo that gets the most attention which is why I try to promote it more frequently.

So, check them out, see what you think. I'd love to read your honest reviews. A good many of my artworks are here too so you don't have to worry about going to DeviantART if you don't want to, though I don't know how easily you can find them. I've never tried to look my own posts up.

[annwhiskers]

Welcome!

I'm Ann. I write and publish illustrated novels under the name Ann Scarlett. If you want the full story of any of the characters that you see on this blog, you can find my books through my linktree :)

This is mostly a regular oc blog where I post art and doodles of the characters, or answer questions. Feel free to ask any questions about the characters and stories, or about me, if you wish.

Because I have a years long backlog of art to post, I don’t post in chronological order. One day, I could post art I made a week ago, the next, I might post something that’s three years old. I always tag in what year I made it, if you’re curious.

Linktree

Books

I post my books chapter by chapter for free on RoyalRoad, Tapas, ScribbleHub and Inkitt. (Currently only my first book, Please, Go Home.) These are less edited versions of the ones available on Amazon and also don't have any art.

Here’s chapter 1 as a preview.

Navigation

If you're lost, here's how to navigate this blog!

#whiskers art: all of my art.

#character introduction: If you're curious about any of the characters you see here and want to know who they are and what they're about, scroll through this tag until you find them. If I've posted one, you'll see an illustration of them accompanied by a short introduction. If not, you can ask for a little intro.

#aw please love: this tag is for everything related to my Please, Love series. A romantic fantasy story with werewolves, vampires, witches and faeries focusing on two families dealing with their issues and trying to stay alive. It currently has 1 book out and I’m writing the second.

#aw team of thieves: this tag is for everything related to my Team of Thieves series. A grounded romantic urban fantasy story with superhumans, villain and hero relationships focusing on the villain, and some polyamory. It currently has 1 book out.

#aw merfolk: a future project about merpeople that I draw things from sometimes.

#aw demons: a future project featuring demons that I also occasionally draw things of.

#aw elves: a future high fantasy project about elemental elves. This one's the lowest in my priority list right now, but it exists.

#oc: [name]: the name of the character in the post, this tag will have everything related to them.

#pl spoiler: anything that could be a spoiler for people who haven’t read the Please, Love books will be tagged with this.

#tot spoiler: anything that could be a spoiler for people who haven’t read the Team of Thieves books will have this tag.

#art school: everything I made for art/design school, which can overlap with my personal art and characters.

#portfolio: full projects I’d made for my portfolio.

#aw: [year]: the year I made the piece in.

If anything is unclear, please let me know!

[tigger8900]

Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel, by Jason Reynolds

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When 15-year-old Will's older brother Shawn is shot dead, he knows what he has to do. Rule #3: if someone you love gets killed, find the person who killed them and kill them. And that person was Riggs. Had to be. Armed with Shawn's handgun, Will sets out to get revenge. But it's a long way down from his apartment on the 8th floor, and there's no telling who he might run into.

This is the first graphic novel adaptation I've ever read that I've actually liked. I don't know if it's because it's also the only time I haven't read the original novel(I've heard of it and I know what it's about, but I've never read it) or if it really is just that good, but I was blown away by the quality. In my mind, there's three things that go into a good graphic novel adaptation: the art, whether or not it made use of the strengths of the visual medium, and faithfulness to the original.

Starting with the art, this book was drawn and painted in a beautiful watercolor style by Danica Novgorodoff. The softness of the art was a perfect contrast to the difficult subject matter, providing a cushion for the reader. When moments became sharper the art changed to reflect that, with some parts shown in stark silhouette or drawn as black-and-white sketches. I have nothing but compliments about the art, and I'm glad they didn't choose to go with a more traditional comics-inspired style, because I believe that would have cheapened the violence.

This book also made excellent use of the visual medium to enhance Reynolds's verse. When Will describes the territories in his neighborhood, the thoughts are scattered over a map taking up an entire two-page spread. Lingering effects reach from one panel into another, and silent panels provide a moment for the reader to stop alongside the characters and reflect. Monochrome vs full color is also used to great effect, signifying what's past and present, even as the time periods blur together in the same image.

I can't speak to the faithfulness of the adaptation, because as I said I haven't read the original novel. I did peek at the preview on Amazon, and recognized much of the text. From what I can tell, my conclusion is that this adaptation is different — particularly, the addition of some dialogue to the graphic novel version — but not necessarily unfaithful. I'll leave it to others who have read both to judge for certain, though!

[olderthannetfic]

Ok, but now I'm curious: who is the male author that writes m/m and doesn't want women to read his books? I have no intention of buying his novels (and pay for it with my womanly money and hold it in my womanly hands!), but now I'm extremely curious and want to read the free preview on Amazon. Usually authors who throw this kind of tantrums are never that good.

--

[juleskelleybooks]

If you've been intrigued by Welcome to the Show but didn't want to go through Amazon, I have great news for you! Its exclusive enrollment in the Kindle Unlimited library has expired as of today, and it is available to purchase directly through my Payhip Storefront.

Your download gets you all three virtual file formats - epub, mobi, and a reader-optimized PDF. There is also the option to download a preview file, which is the whole dang first chapter.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW

Rockstar Keith and actor Adam have the kind of relationship that keeps tabloids in business: Passionate and dramatic. They’ve mostly managed to keep their taste for threesomes a secret, though…until they meet Sebastian, a budding journalist who fits perfectly between them. Being together shows each of them new, wonderful parts of themselves, but navigating their careers and a long-term threeway relationship in the public eye of 2012 is playing with fire—and if the paparazzi doesn’t destroy them, their inner demons just might.

Note: This high-heat romance title was previously released as LoveGames by M Jules Aedin in 2012. This edition has been rewritten with mostly new content, including a brand new ending.

Content Advisory: This novel contains themes of mental health, polyamory, light D/s roleplay, and communication/consent. It includes graphic sexual content, graphic mental illness, and one scene of miscommunication surrounding consent toward the end that could be upsetting to some readers.

This little book was a passion project for me, and I'm thrilled that literally anyone who isn't me has read it and enjoyed it.

[silver-wield]

As another massive tifa and cloti fan and ffvii in general, I admire your collection of books and merchandise! Do you have any ranking or top recommendations for someone who wants to start collecting? I mainly mean books of all sorts but feel free to reference anything else!

Thank you 💖☺️ I love my books too ❤️

There's a lot of new merch coming out that's on the high price tag side, so if you want to start a collection I think the first thing you should do is decide what you want to collect.

Aside from my OG Tifa and dissidia Cloud I don't have any big play arts Kai dolls and I decided when I started collecting I wouldn't go into the play arts Kai side because those get really expensive and there has to be a limit when you're buying merch or else you just spiral into hoarding and trying to build the biggest collection you can imo.

I'm fussy about fanmade merch too. I only buy good quality ones that I really like. I have a couple of lamps, some pins and a bracelet.

With my official merch, I hunt most things on eBay or cdjapan.co.jp does proxy sometimes and they find it if it's not too old. My theatrhythm statics were really hard to get hold of, but I wanted a set because Nojima has them too 🤣

With the new lines it's best to hunt around and not just go with the first price you see. My Cloud statuette I got a little bit cheaper than retail but I almost forgot to check SE direct and nearly paid more than they were selling it for, so definitely definitely double check before buying. With things that come in sets you should decide if you want the entire set or if you just want a couple of characters. One of my Cloud and Tifa minis has a set of twelve and I also wanted the set that had Balthier and Fran in it, but Fran's one was super expensive at the time and in the end I gave up. I probably would buy all of those eventually but I'm saving my money for remake merch for now. I'm betting they do a grunt Cloud and cowgirl Tifa statuette.

As for the books, the shipping cost on them usually costs at least half what you pay for them, and SE direct is always late. I think the only book I got on time that didn't come from eBay was my world preview book. The older ultis I got off eBay and haggled for when I could.

With those I think it depends what info you wanna learn more about. The AC reunion files is already translated, but the others aren't in English except for the archive books, world preview, material ulti and ulti plus.

The archive books are really nice if you wanna read more about all the games. They're a set of three, although I only have the one for 7,8,9 atm. Most of the books repeat the same info, so unless you're into collecting books (I am 🤣) it's really only the art style ones like the material ulti that have all the concept artwork that are worth buying. They're really pretty ❤️

The AC reunion files, material ulti, world preview book and archives are the prettiest and have info in English you can read. The others need Google lens to read but they have some nice info if you put the effort in.

The novels are harder to get now than when I bought them. I got the kids are alright and otwtas from Amazon for £20. Picturing the past is in the world preview book and it'll be in the translated version of trace of two pasts when it comes out, so it's up to you if you get the JP version as well. ToTP is supposed to be out in November 🤞

I think it comes down to deciding what you wanna see on your shelves and then searching for it. I have things bookmarked for ages and if I lose out on something I wanted I just wait a while and then look again. Patience is really important. I never impulse buy. I always check my budget and never go over it.

I lost out on a few Tifas I wanted, but I got them eventually. My heroines set took ages to get, so did my OG Tifa mini play arts Kai. I hadn't even planned to collect until I saw that and decided I wanted her, then I had to get Cloud. I got Cloud, lost out on Tifa, found another one and two years later I have two display cases full of stuff 🤣

I also don't have the full of from the 10th anni, but I don't want them. So, don't feel like you need all of one set if you don't want them all. It's your collection.

Imo best books are:

Material ulti

Material ulti plus (that's not out in English until Feb 2023 but it's the same as the JP one)

Archive ultimania vol 2

AC reunion files

Best Tifa:

Statics (although they're not out yet either)

Trading arts vol 2

Mini play arts kai

Best Cloud:

10th anniversary

Remake static

Remake mini

One thing to check is the faces on them. Cause of you don't like the face there's no point getting it 🤣

Top left: Tifa trading arts vol2

Top right: mini play arts Kai (these have changeable faces)

Middle: 10th anni.

Bottom left: remake static

Bottom right: remake mini (these are a set of five that shouldn't cost more than £50)

Hope all my rambling helps ☺️

Happy collecting!

[tempenensis]

Hi, I forgot to include the link for the post I'm talking about so I’m resending the ask, sorry about that. About the tweet and your notes given in that post, I think I know why they’re different. There are quite a few other tweets (1), (2) that also mentioned the same thing about the reifu pattern on vol 16 as in that it represents "loneliness" based on the kanji. The image they referenced is taken from the Chintaku Reifu Cards [鎮宅霊符カード] series. A preview of the cards can also be seen in this link. I'm not proficient in nihongo so I don't understand the summary by Amazon JP but according to "Google Translate"-san, it seems to say that the "Chintaku Reifu Cards" is a series of 72 reifu or talisman cards for warding against disasters and it's based on the 64 hexagrams of I Ching with the year divided into 72 to represent the seasons with the religion god as the North Star in Daoism. Please correct me here cos I strongly suspect I have misinterpreted the summary.

I'm also not an expert on Daoism philosophy, its folklore practices or the I Ching (they are very complicated and difficult subjects only fully understood by religion experts and university researchers) but luckily there are some for-dummies posts on talismans here (1), (2), (3). Notably they talk about the “Chintaku-nanajuni-reifu” [鎮宅七十二霊符], a set of 72 talismans composed of stylized star diagrams and talismanic script. As mentioned by one of the links, the deity associated with the Chintaku-nanajuni-reifu is Chintaku Reifujin in Japan, Myōken Bosatsu in Buddhism or Zhenwu (Xuan Tian Shang Di) the Perfected Warrior in Chinese Daoism. The title of the 72 talismans (Taishang zhenzai lingfu in Chinese) is only one of the many names attributed to them but basically they are meant for stabilizing the fengshui of the home and safeguard the household against unclean things and disasters. The "Taishang" refers to Taishang Laojun (太上老君), the revered Daoist god who also made a cameo in the Journey to the West novel. The famous philosopher Lao-tzu (Li Erh) is said to be his incarnation and legend has it that he wrote the Tao Te Ching and left it with the border guard before disappearing over the horizon of the western borders on his water buffalo, never to be seen again. It’s not known exactly who created the talismans in the first place but onmyojis were known to adopt them in their arsenal too. If you compare the preview image of the Chintaku Reifu Cards with the Taishang zhenzai lingfu, you will notice that the patterns for both sets are actually the same. But the pattern for the “loneliness” reifu from the cards and tweets actually has a different meaning in the Taishang zhenzai lingfu (cropped from the Zhihu answer which has all the 72 talismans). In the out-of-print “Taoism and the Arts of China”(p. 310), the talisman is said to protect against “abnormalities in the shape of pigs, cats, dogs, or all those that eat their own young,” which is what the Chinese sources are also saying. The sitting figure in the middle of the illustration on the right is Xuan Tian Shang Di or Chintaku Reifujin. "Google Translate"-san can help verify the text itself if you don’t mind machine translation. For further comparison, here’s the Chintaku-nanajuni-reifu from Hoshida Myoken Shrine in Osaka. You can make out the words for the talisman from the picture and they should have the same meaning.

Sad to say, I still don’t know why the reifu cards have such a different meaning. Maybe there will be an answer for those who have much better nihongo-tsu. All I can say (after such a long-winded ask, gomen again) is that for people who want to adjust the fengshui of their homes, it’s probably better to consult certified experts rather than tinker on their own. The Komatsu-ji Minamiboso that have been mentioned by one of the links above is a Shingon Buddhist temple with info about omamori and nice cat pictures (scroll down). For the more adventurous, you can read about the 64 hexagrams and 8 Trigrams of I Ching here: (1), (2).

Btw I will have to decline translating the mountain of archaic words from the Chinese sites == It’s just pain (to infinity), trust me.

Btw again, there’s an interesting tweet about the talismans in jjk ch2 referring to the Chintaku-nanajuni-reifuas well which includes link to a Taisho-era book about it.

Oh, no, no, thank you for the long winded ask. Now I understand where the disparity comes from. Onmyouji talisman is also derived from reifu and they may have different meanings from the one originated in Chinese.

(Also looks that there is a bit difference between kodoku reifu and the cover pattern , forgive my nitpicky eyes)

[seventhstar]

reading update 10/7/2021!

I've read three books:

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wrecker

Hmm. I gave this 3/5. It's a long, slow story about a golem and a jinni who find themselves in 1920s NYC, each of them embedded in a different immigrant community. This is a fantasy, but it reads a lot more like literary fiction, and it's very much character rather than plot driven. Overall I think it's a beautifully written and well-researched book, but while I admire it I didn't really find myself entertained by it.

I think I found myself feeling a little distant from the characters. I can't say that either Chava or Ahmad evoked strong feelings in me. I probably wouldn't have finished it if it weren't a recommendation from a friend who is good at recommending me books.

If you're interested in this book, I recommend you check out a preview of it via Amazon or read a couple pages at the bookstore first!

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

5/5. These are both novellas about a cleric named Chih, who belongs to an order that records history. I really enjoyed these. The first one uses descriptions of objects and dual POVs to unfold the story of the Empress, piece by piece, and the conclusion is very satisfying. The second is about Chih having to stall for time by telling three tigers a story, and again the interplay between the version Chih tells and the version the tigers tell is really entertaining. The first Nghi Vo novel I read, The Chosen and the Beautiful, had great prose but skimped on the magical elements that made it special; I enjoyed these a lot more. Can't wait for the third one.

Current TBR:

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

The Councillor by E. J. Beaton

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

The Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat

???

???

I went ahead and threw the two books I bought on my TBR, since nothing on my backlist was really appealing to me and I also don't feel like starting a new series (and my backlist is like, chock full of book 1 in fantasy trilogies or quartets).

Not sure if I'll end up adding any more books, because this list is already pretty long and 2021 is almost over. In addition to the above books, I'm probably going to pick up The Bone Shard Emperor on release, and I preordered all three MXTX books and will likely read them over the holidays.

Feel free to send me book recs if you have them! I read primarily fantasy and science fiction, both adult and YA, as well as period and contemporary romances.