#merchantverse

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Tradewinds Launch - A Fae Tales Novel - Jan 31st

FULL NOVEL RELEASE on JANUARY 31st - EXCLUSIVE to REAM & PATREON ONLY

In the dangerous, ethereal realm of the fae, alliances between the Seelie and Unseelie fae merchants are few. Some say impossible. Matan, a Seelie fae and peacock pheasant shifter with a talent for trade, must keep his Seelie alignment a secret as he embarks on a perilous journey to gather wealth and save a loved one from a terrible curse. He joins an Unseelie merchant caravan of fae who would surely eat him if they learned of his alignment. The enigmatic Udir, a paranoid Unseelie master of poisons and bearded vulture shifter, discovers Matan’s secret and threatens to blackmail him in exchange for vile favours. But Udir’s bravado and bluster hides a painful past and Matan isn’t as innocent or as naïve as he seems. Amid bustling markets, savvy clients, and travelling to new lands Matan has never seen before, Tradewinds is a story of love, found family, trust, betrayal, and the healing that can grow in the shadows of the vibrant, perilous southern fae lands.

Foxhall @ Ream (available on the Gary+Efnisien tiers or higher) Foxhall @ Patreon (available on the Gary+Efnisien tiers of higher)

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Excerpt from Tradewinds, coming January 31st:

A sudden, heavy flapping sound; distressed wing-beats. Matan looked up, alarmed, to see Udir in true-form, winging low towards the caravans at speed. Matan saw dark flecks of liquid shaken off Udir’s body with every stroke of his wings. He was bleeding. He’d been wounded. Pale yellow eyes barely took him in, a beak open and sharp tongue panting. Instead of executing a neat landing, Udir slammed straight into the second caravan, leaving a smear of blood on the tarp. He fell in a flutter of wings as Matan rushed towards him. ‘Udir! Are you all right?’ The great, injured bird said nothing. A patch of ivory-cream feathers on Udir’s chest were stained dark with blood. Udir wasn’t shifting back into hybrid or human-form because he was in too much pain. Everyone knew that when a shifter wouldn’t change back, they were trying to use their true-form to handle the worst of an injury. ‘Hey,’ Matan said, making his voice soothing. ‘Hey it’s okay. It’s going to be all right.’ He had no idea what he was talking about. He stiffened and looked around for any signs of birds or fae approaching, anyone who wanted to do them harm. There was no one around. He carefully tried to reach for Udir, wanting to pull him out of the churned up dirt at least, but Udir’s hooked beak went for him, snapping weakly. Then he stumbled, a wing stretching out to stop him from falling sideways. Matan clambered up the second caravan, ready to wake Biani and Mara, when Red and Kaulo arrived – huge shadows in the sky that made Matan cringe and feel a terrible, primitive fear. They landed, changing into human-form immediately. ‘Pack up! We’re leaving now!’ Kaulo shouted, and he disappeared into the second caravan. ‘Come here, Udir,’ Red said, approaching Udir, a stern look on his face. Udir wasn’t listening to any of them, eyes wild. Red didn’t flinch when he took a nasty beak slash to the arm. His movements were steady as he firmly grasped Udir in his hands. ‘That’s it,’ Red said softly, arm bleeding as Udir struggled in his grip. ‘We’re getting out of here, Udir. Calm down.’

Hurt/comfort in a Fae Tales story? It's more likely than you'd think!

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hiiii! have you considered releasing tradewinds as a single purchase through a site like gumroad?

Hi anon!

So the reason Tradewinds was shelved and not published like 8 years ago, is because I couldn't find an Aboriginal sensitivity reader willing to read m/m with disturbing themes. I had sensitivity readers for the other side of things (like Matan and his heritage), but I kept either not finding anyone, or the one person I found took my $200 USD deposit and vanished and never spoke to me / responded to any of my emails.

As a result, I was uncomfortable distributing it anywhere broadly, even though I was relatively confident the novel isn't offensive, because I just don't know 100%.

I am a lot more confident releasing it via subscription as an exclusive novel, because the people who pay for subscription are often folks who are a) already used to my style of writing and b) generally know what to expect from me, vs. cold audiences who don't. I'm kind of kicking myself that I didn't realise that Tradewinds would make a great exclusive/paywalled release for subscription, because it means it's only ever going to find a very narrow bandwidth of readers.

Basically if I could release it for single purchase - as basically an ebook - I would have released it like 8 years ago, anon. And the reason I have actually released it this specific way is down to the fact that I'm just not really confident offering it for broader distribution.

That might change one day, if I happen to stumble across a sensitivity reader who is okay with my style of writing, who is reputable + has references (i.e. so I know I won't lose a fair chunk of money in the process, because that burned me pretty badly, not gonna lie). But until then, having Tradewinds be limited is the only way I'm comfortable releasing it at all.

Folks are more than welcome to sign up for one month, download the book (and read any other early access they want) and then leave. They can even just put 'I only wanted one thing and now I have it' in the exit survey so I know what they were there for if they want. Then it's still a single purchase (with some early access extras), and they still access the downloadable file. :)

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Excerpt from Tradewinds, coming January 31st!

‘I’ll do anything you want,’ Matan heard himself say, even as frustration pinged at him like tiny bees. ‘You have to,’ Udir said, his teeth gleaming briefly. Anger surged and he ground his teeth together. He could manage this, he had to. He had to keep himself intact, had to get enough money for Latif, and he was a merchant – everything was negotiation, barter, trade. ‘What…what would you want from me?’ Matan said, injecting a tremor of fear into his voice. ‘Are you a rapist, too?’ Udir paused, fingers stilled on Matan’s side. ‘You hate us,’ Udir said finally. ‘You don’t even understand. Yes, there are some Unseelie who feed upon…who feed upon rape and sexual violence. For the record, we don’t like a lot of them either.’ ‘So you just feed on extorting sexual violence?’ Another pause, Udir made a faint sound in his throat. Matan held very still when he felt cold metal press against his ribs. The gun. ‘Don’t,’ Matan said.

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‘Please.’ ‘Yes, okay,’ Udir smiled darkly. ‘The begging is nice.’

I'm guessing Udir is the top in this story lmao

It's definitely what Udir would want you to believe!

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Hi Pia

I'm really enjoying Tradewinds so far! Udir is such a baby, I have such soft feelings for him. And Matan is so sweet, definitely one of your more gentle tops.

I'm trying to pace myself with reading it because I don't want it to end too soon but it's a struggle lol

Yeah Matan's definitely one of my gentler tops! For people who really only like vanilla with very little kink, Tradewinds is the place to be (for now, lol), because like the Perth Shifters series, it doesn't really go in that direction.

I reread it myself recently and it's like, the hints are there though, and they grow over time heh - but I think Matan would always be gentle, regardless.

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Hello! Will there be pdf large format link for Tradewinds?

Hi anon!

On Patreon, Tradewinds will be available in .epub format which is the standard e-reader format (for Kindle app, Books app and more, which are all free to download). All e-readers generally let you adjust the size of the font as well as the background and margins to your comfort levels, so that will actually be way more convenient than PDF!

On Ream, Tradewinds will be available both on Ream's in-built native reader, and to download in .epub format. :D

It's an e-book, so it's coming out in the standard e-book format! I just quality tested it on my apps today.

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The King Albion comment in the latest excerpt made me wonder: when is Tradewinds set in the Fae Tales canon? Obviously after Gwyn's demotion but before Albion ascended, but like, during COFT or sometime in the 10 year gap between COFT and TIP? Or maybe even early TIP, as Albion ascended at the end of TIP2

Hi anon!

So I actually wrote all of Tradewinds in 2014. It's since had several major edits (one in 2015, and one in 2017).

As a result of that, The Court of Five Thrones didn't exist/wasn't finished when I started Tradewinds, and it was pretty much done long before I started The Ice Plague.

So Tradewinds is set during Albion's reign as Seelie King, post Game Theory. I'd need to double check the exact timeline, because honestly the core canon cast aren't really mentioned often.

I know Gulvi is because Gulvi trained with the Council of Lammergeiers (the world's best assassins) and Udir is a Lammergeier shifter, so he's very familiar with that world. And I believe Gwyn and Albion are. But none of them are in the story, and it's very 'separate.'

But yeah definitely not any time near The Ice Plague. :D

(ETA - Falllover helped me realise it's definitely during The Court of Five Thrones!)

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Hi Pia

So looking forward to Tradewinds. Just curious, does it end on a cliffhanger? And it does will there be a sequel? Because I tend to feel less anxious when I know beforehand before going into a fic. Thank you!

Hi anon!

Tradewinds doesn't end on a cliffhanger, the main storyline is resolved.

There are some open endings for some of the other characters, which suggest that it can definitely have a sequel or other parts to the series, but it will mostly depend on how people feel about the first book!

But yeah, no cliffhanger! It has a happy/hopeful ending. :)

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Thank you for recomendation on e-book reader! I found some, but didn't even think about chrome extension that will allow me to read in browser too. Thank you! I definitely don't insist on pdf, just wanted to be ready when the book drops! Thank you once again :)

Woo I'm glad it helped!

Yeah the Chrome / Firefox plug-ins/extensions make things so much easier! That way it's a lot easier than having to like, find a program, install a program, wonder if the program is any good. Plug-ins are light and easy and can be deleted or disabled when you're no longer using them!

(I love browser plug-ins so much)

I'm glad it helped!! I hope it goes well with accessing/reading when it comes out, let me know if you have any issues!

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Hi Pia! Is there a playlist for Matan and Udir, planned or already existing? Thanks!

Already existing!

Probably needs an update because I made it back in 2014 :D

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What is Tradewinds?

Tradewinds was an original Fae Tales novel set in the canonical universe, that has been shelved due to me not being able to find Aboriginal Australian sensitivity readers who were happy to read gay male/male sex scenes.

It was based on a separate cast and set in Australia and Malaysia, with their series being part of the 'MerchantVerse.' Basically how merchants trade, who they trade with, and the stronger Seelie and Unseelie divide among fae.

The story features Matan, a Malay Seelie peacock pheasant shifter and master merchant specialising in selling batik, needing to find a cure for an Unseelie curse placed on his cousin. To go on the journey necessary to get information, he pretends to be Unseelie, and joins an Unseelie merchant caravan of birds of prey (almost all raptor shifters are Unseelie). There, he meets Udir, a Romansh bearded vulture/lammergeier shifter who is frequently down on his luck, and has worked as an assassin in the past.

Udir finds out Matan is actually Seelie, and then blackmails him into sex, thinking that he's being clever, only to not realise that Matan's very clever too.

And then it was basically about Matan and Udir falling in love, Matan going on an Eran-like journey of learning to understand that the difference between Seelie and Unseelie isn't as black and white as he thought, and finding the cure for his cousin, and learning about trading in Australia with his Unseelie merchant friends, while dealing with a pretty awful villain in the meantime.

It's very found family.

I really like the story, and I think with a little reworking, the novel would be super strong. However there's literally only one white main character, and everyone else is either Maori or Aboriginal Australian or Malay etc. so while I was able to get some of the sensitivity reading done, some of it I couldn't get done (and I lost money in the process, because one person said they would sensitivity read for me, asked for a $150 deposit about 7 years ago, and then took it and never talked to me again, which was frankly very demoralising and depressing, because like, as a disabled, chronically ill person with cancer, I kind of needed that money too, lmao).

So...the book is pretty much permanently shelved. I did share some chapters on Patreon under a redundant tier (which would now be the $10+ tier, but I need to edit those posts to reflect that). And everyone who's ever read it thinks I should publish it. I just...don't feel comfortable with that given I'm writing Indigenous side characters.

Sula did a really lovely sketch of Matan though:

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December 2023 Writing Round-Up

Here's the monthly round-up of everything written and posted in December 2023! It's the final round-up of this year! It's been a great month for housekeeping, and behind-the-scenes stuff happening on Patreon (and Ream!) But here's the chapters that were released: Underline the Black 73 

Underline the Black 74 

Underline the Black 75 

Underline the Blue 07 

Underline the Blue 08 

Constellations 01 

The Nascent Diplomat 39 

The Nascent Diplomat 40 (Augus+Gwyn Tier+)

Underline the Blue 11 (Augus+Gwyn Tier+)

Constellations 04 (Gary+Efnisien Tier+)

Chapter Commentary - Underline the Black 31 (Mosk+Eran Tier+)

Chapter Commentary - Underline the Black 32 (Mosk+Eran Tier+)

2014-2017 Chapter Commentaries - Full Compilation (Mosk+Eran Tier+)

2023 Chapter Commentaries - Full Compilation (Mosk&Eran Tier+)

Song Spotlight - Full Compilation (All Tiers)

FANFICTION

A Stain that Won't Dissolve 27 

A Stain that Won't Dissolve 28  

Palmarosa 12 

Palmarosa 13 

Palmarosa 14 

Palmarosa 15 

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It was a much quieter month on the writing front. I managed 43,000 words by some miracle, across a bunch of different stories. 

A reminder that enrolment into the Merch Tier to get the May/June rewards is still valid until mid February!

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On the writing side, I wrote across multiple stories: Palmarosa, Constellations, Underline the Black, and Underline the Blue. 

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I had to step back on posting for my own health/sanity. And I'm taking the first two weeks of January off from posting chapters. I'll still be writing, but in between raising a puppy and also just general burnout, I'm still putting some mega health-preservation in place so I don't get really sick. 

You will mostly notice this in the form of one Underline the Black chapter not going up each month, to give me a Sunday-to-Sunday stretch with no chapter updates. I will still be active and around! These aren't holidays from writing or interacting with you all, just from the schedule itself. :D 

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For those who remember the Merchantverse novel Tradewinds, this is coming in book / e-book form to Patreon and Ream only in the Gary+Efnisien Tier or higher. It is a completed Fae Tales Verse story, that focuses on merchant fae in the southern hemisphere, and Seelie vs. Unseelie merchant traders. This will come in January 2024.

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I'll see you all in January 2024! Which is in one hour! Thanks so much for making this year incredible! :D

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November 2023 Writing Round-Up

Here's the monthly round-up of everything written and posted in November 2023! What a HUGE month it's been!

Underline the Black 68

Underline the Black 69

Underline the Black 70

Underline the Black 71

Underline the Black 72

Underline the Blue 05 

Underline the Blue 06

The Nascent Diplomat 38

The Nascent Diplomat 39 (Augus+Gwyn Tier+)

Underline the Blue 09 (Augus+Gwyn Tier+)

Underline the Blue 10 (Augus+Gwyn Tier+)

Constellations 03 (Gary+Efnisien Tier+)

Chapter Commentary - Underline the Black 29 (Mosk+Eran Tier+)

Chapter Commentary - Underline the Black 30 (Mosk+Eran Tier+)

Game Theory Edit - Chapter 3 (Gary+Efnisien Tier+)

Game Theory Edit - Chapter 4 (Gary+Efnisien Tier+)

FANFICTION

A Stain that Won't Dissolve 25 (Alex/Sebastian, Stardew Valley)

A Stain that Won't Dissolve 26

Palmarosa 09 (Astarion/Raphael, Baldur's Gate 3)

Palmarosa 10

Palmarosa 11

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Thanks to NaNoWriMo, I wrote 62,000 words this month. It would have been a lot more, but some real world stuff came and rained on the parade a little. The next two months will have a slimmer schedule to conserve energy and health. :)

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In November, I realised how powerful my Ream account can be going forward (a mirror subscription of Patreon that cleans up very nicely, with its own in-built e-reader), and that has inspired me to create books or compilations of all of the previous Chapter Commentaries so no one needs to search anymore to find them all. They're (almost) all now in book or compilation form at both Patreon and Ream. I will eventually be doing this for Song Spotlights and more :D

I've activated Collections over at Patreon, so for folks looking to quickly find things who don't want to scroll a lot, they can check the Collections tab!

MERCH TIER RELOADED: I've also revamped the Evan+Vexteria tier, so it's now a merch tier as well. Not only do you get everything in the previous tiers, but you also will get a merch drop every 5-6 months, as long as you've been subscribed in that tier, during that 6 month period, for four consecutive months. The first merch drop went out about a week ago.

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On the writing side, I started strong with NaNo, but hit the wall after about 60k. It's been rough. I'll be taking care of my health over the next few months in a more conscious and deliberate way.

Constellations is officially launching on AO3 in December!

For those who remember the Merchantverse novel Tradewinds, this is coming in book / e-book form to Patreon and Ream only in the Gary+Efnisien Tier or higher. It is a completed Fae Tales Verse story, that focuses on merchant fae in the southern hemisphere, and Seelie vs. Unseelie merchant traders. This will come either in December 2023 or January 2024.

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Sending out love to all who are enjoying the stories and worlds, and to those who contribute to this writing existing in whatever forms you do. I'm endlessly grateful. If anyone ever has any questions about Patreon / Ream etc. or the Schedule and so on, let me know and I'll help out. :D

I'll see you all in December! Which is now! We've just passed our first heatwave, which saw a fire severe enough and close enough to the suburbs that several members of my family needed to evacuate. They are safe, thankfully. My flowers are doing well, and I've kept everything alive despite the heat, and the stonefruit is officially in season. Cherries, nectarines, peaches, apricots and more? Summer might be oppressively hot, but the fruit is wonderful.

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I saw a thing about Tradewinds - which I have never heard of - and got stupidly excited. What kind of story is it?

This tag is gonna be your friend when it comes to all things Tradewinds, and why it’s not been published.

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omg whats tradewinds?? (im a new reader so im sorry if this has already been answered) i wasnt aware you had another faetales story out there, is it posted on another website? do i have to buy it? if so, where?

Hello new reader!

As it said in the previous post, Tradewinds isn’t available for wide release at all. It’s not on AO3 or anywhere else, and was only available for a certain tier of Patreon supporters for a limited time.

As also said, the reason it hasn’t been released (it was never intended to go up on AO3, but to be released as a novel and self-published, so it’s complete) is because I can’t locate an Indigenous Australian sensitivity reader who is happy to read m/m explicit sex scenes. Until that happens, the story is benched, I’m afraid.

I actually have a blurb already (and a synopsis, etc. All the technical specs for release). It’s also been looked over by a professional editor in the m/m industry who says it’s basically ready to go. The cast is primarily Malay and Indigenous Australian, as it’s set in the Southern Hemisphere and dealing with an entirely new array of fae and fae traditions etc. (though it’s still a Fae Tales story):

Matan is a pheasant shifter aligned withthe Seelie fae, living in a world of fairy-tales and magic.  A successful trader of fine silks inMalaysia, Matan has been raised to believe that Seelie are the heroes of thefae world, while the Unseelie are the villains, untrustworthy and devious bynature. When Matan unwittingly creates a terrible situation for his family, hefinds himself in need of money, and fast. The easiest solution is to join anUnseelie caravan of bird of prey shifters, the Golden Raptor Guild. There,hiding his true identity and pretending to be Unseelie, he meets Udir, abearded vulture shifter and gun-toting poisons trader with a murky past. Udirquickly unveils Matan’s true Seelie identity and blackmails him into doingwhatever he wants, whenever he wants it.

As the caravan travels along thewind-swept coasts of South-Western Australia, Matan comes to see that Udir isnot who he first appeared to be, and that the other members of the Guild arenot the villains he expected. Matan navigates Udir’s tragic past – which neverquite stays in the past – the politics of Unseelie trading, his own commitmentphobia, all as he becomes increasingly unhappy lying to the people who arebecoming the closest thing to a family away from his own family. His easysolution becomes trickier and more dangerous at every turn. Matan is left withonly one question: how can he be loyal to his family as well as be with Udir,while his very place with the Guild is based on a lie?

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Trust me, I want to get it out there! But I’m pretty stymied right now, and I’m not willing to just take the risk and publish it, in case I’m committing a huge cultural faux pas (or multiple) without realising - I’ve done a fuckton of research and been careful not to use any actual Dreamtime stories (I’ve kept the Dreamtime as a separate realm in the Fae Tales verse) etc. but that doesn’t mean anything, I need to get it looked at. And unfortunately, that’s something I can’t magically make happen. I’ll keep an eye out on databases of sensitivity readers and keep my fingers crossed but so far, no dice.

The good news is once I do find a sensitivity reader (actually I’ll need two, but Malaysian sensitivity readers are available and I’m not too worried about finding/paying one) the novel is complete, part of a series, and really close to being ready to publish. It’s just…yeah, I can’t push that through alone. :)