Category: News

Week 43 Round-up

Posted October 24, 2020 by dove-author in News / 0 Comments

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Weekly Accountability

Hi, everyone! It’s that time again! Weekly updates delivered every Saturday!

Completed Projects

  • Entirely different essay WIP finished

Goal Updates

  • Finish that essay!
  • Finish that short!
  • Finish that game!
  • 13/12 books

Writing Updates

This Week’s Fiction Wordcount: Er…

This Week’s Non-Fiction Wordcount: Around 2,000

Liraz Essay: I finished up a draft for a short essay on the way Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor portrays Liraz as ace (or not) because I finally read the book. Yay!

Life And Other Such Important Matters

Well, hopefully this being the second week I’m managing to actually be on time with this is a sign that things are changing! Otherwise there’s very little to report, really. I’ve started work on getting ivy out of the garden, but because reasons and circumstances, I can only get out, like, a handful each week. (Yes, each week.) But every little bit helps! I’m doing this because there is a lot of ivy and we’re trying to make the garden less attractive to unwanted critters. (The house pest is still in the attic. Right above my head.)

Stand-out Positive Moment

I should say “Star Trek: Discovery season 3 episode 2 is here!” because, truly, that show makes me happy, but no. I’m going to say “Watching figure skating with the Fantasy Inn Discord people” because that too makes me happy even though I so rarely get a chance to watch figure skating that I’m mostly oblivious to what I should be paying attention to. I have said “spinny spins” more times than I can count today. XD

I’d like to give an especial shout-out to Suncani for helping me watch all the spinny spins! 😀

This Week on Patreon

All the Patreon posts from the past week, collected in neat and tidy lists, divided by tier.

Free

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How about you? What have you been up to lately? Has anything awesome happened?

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Week 42 Round-up

Posted October 17, 2020 by dove-author in News / 0 Comments

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Weekly Accountability

Hi, everyone! It’s that time again! Weekly updates delivered every Saturday! Actually on Saturday! I think. It’s Saturday, right? (It is, I checked. This is how flakey I still am. I feel like I missed an entire week somewhere.)

Completed Projects

Nope. Got none yet. But I did find my copies of Le Mort D’Arthur? Yay progress of sorts?

Goal Updates

  • Finish that essay!
  • Finish that short!
  • Finish that game!
  • 4/Read 12 books

Writing Updates

This Week’s Fiction Wordcount: 1,116

This Week’s Non-Fiction Wordcount: Er…

DemiPrincess2: I think! I may! Have figured out how to fix what was bothering me too much to continue! We’re giving it a try anyway because it certainly can’t get any worse.

Life And Other Such Important Matters

In true late 2020 fashion, I have no idea what happened last week. Is this the week multiple of my friends got really bad news? Was it last week? I’m terrible with dates and wait we’re already halfway through the month?!

My life has, admittedly, been reduced to “give the cat medicine” and, roughly, “try to adult for the adults who can’t adult” and “deal with the house pests” at the moment. They’re still here. I finally convinced people to report them to someone and now we’re apparently getting professional help. Maybe? I’m not sure. Adulting should come with more information, seriously. But, anyway, point is most of what I remember of this week is trying to shore up the attic so nothing can get in or out.

Oh, and my life is also “frantically try to start prep for 2021 because you’re low-key depressed and ignoring it to function” at the moment, I’m fairly sure. It’s hard to tell. It doesn’t feel much different, but struggling to rebuild what structure I had isn’t helping and I’ve already noticed that a) I’m window shopping for cute things to cheer me up, which is a bad sign on its own, b) it’s not cheering me up, which is a worse sign even if it doesn’t feel like things are bad yet.

And, um, I should probably report on Twi in more detail, so people don’t worry. She’s on new medication now, which I think I mentioned, for her thyroid and she hates it, but I’m faintly hopeful that she’s gained a little weight now and can live her elderly kitty life in some form of contentment and peace. (She really does not like taking pills. Or being held. But she is the sweetest cat, so she lets you do it anyway. That cat has no fight instinct whatsoever, I swear.)

Stand-out Positive Moment

Staying up late with Matt as we tried to watch Star Trek: Discovery only to remember that we don’t actually get access to it the moment it is midnight in Europe and watching another DS9 episode instead because we stayed up for Star Trek and we will not be denied, Netflix! Friends are the best.

Seriously, though, I should make this moment a shout-out to all of my friends, because I love you all and you’re all the best. Whether it’s watching Star Trek with me or delighting in my entirely contextless all-capsing at any random moment about it, or indulging me when I enthuse over Sam’s ads on Critical Role (Narrative Telephone is back next weekish! [squeals with delight]), or letting me ramble about books, or inviting me on exceptionally long-distance socially distant evening walks, or just, you know, in any way reminding me that being nerdy and geeky and silly is fine.

And I need that reminder so much at times. So there. My stand-out positive moment is all the time I get to spend with friends over the internet.

This Week on Patreon

All the Patreon posts from the past week, collected in neat and tidy lists, divided by tier. Also some non-Patreon interviews!

Free

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How about you? What have you been up to lately? Has anything awesome happened?

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October Newsletter

Posted October 10, 2020 by dove-author in News / 0 Comments

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October Newsletter

Hi, everyone! It’s that time again! Monthly news and accountability!

Life And Other Such Important Matters

Let’s see… September was… a month that happened. It’s mostly passed me by in a haze of sleep deprivation and annoyance as I’ve tried to get people to deal with an uninvited house pest. It’s still directly above my head in the attic, but at least we’ve reached a point where I can sleep at night, so I’ve been slowly catching up on things. Or, rather, feeling like I might, possibly, be catching up on my never-ending to-do list. Yay, progress!

Beyond that life itself continues much as it has. I finally convinced people to take Twi to the vet. We’re currently on new medication for her to see if that helps, my sweet elderly bb. I’d say she’s fine to stop people worrying, but she’s obviously not fine-fine. You wouldn’t know from her actions, though. She’s active and about, eating plenty, etc, so I’m hopeful that she’ll get to live a happy elderly few more years. Even if she does hate pills, but then I wouldn’t like them either so I don’t blame her. Honestly, I’m just happy she seems to be doing as well as she is.

Completed Projects

lol I barely managed to get anything done this month because I was either too exhausted to do anything or busy catching up on sleep, it feels like. I did make little bits of progress, but that’s it.

October Goals

  • Finish that essay!
  • Finish that short!
  • Finish that game!
  • Read 12 books

Yep. Short and simple. This should be perfectly doable. We’ll see. I’ve probably said this every month this year and failed in most of them. [sigh] I’m so done with this year.

September Goals

I do not remember, but I’m fairly sure the only one I reached was the reading goal because it’s the only one I consistently reach.

Writing Updates

This Month’s Fiction Wordcount: Somewhere under 1000.

This Month’s Non-Fiction Wordcount: Somewhere under 1000.

Warrior Aces Comp: I have an intro! Sort of! It’s terrible. But it’s a start.

Stand-out Positive Moment

The moment September turned into October. I am that done with September. Here’s to hoping that October will be better!

This Month on Patreon (+ bonus first week of October!)

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How about you? What have you been up to lately? Has anything awesome happened?

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Guest Post at The Book Smugglers

Posted March 17, 2019 by dove-author in Ace & Aro Studies, Essays, News / 0 Comments

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I’ve been particularly slow to update this here because I have had massive update fail, but! Last month, I was over at The Book Smugglers with a guest post about asexual representation in mainstream publishing!

Here’s a snippet to summarise what it’s about:

As an asexual reader and indie author, I see conflicting messages about the state of asexual representation in fiction and my heart hurts. Almost every list of recommendations, every discussion, every moment includes a variation on the lament “There is so little representation” with no elaboration or qualifications. While this essay will prove there most certainly is a lack of representation in fiction, there is also more out there than these articles often suggest and, though it makes little difference to the numbers as a whole, it can have a large emotional impact on individuals, especially those seeking asexual representation. Even if one restricts their search to books published by the Big 5 companies in publishing – that is to say by imprints owned by Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, or Hachette –, there is quite a bit more than people seem to assume.

Working with Ana and Thea has been a writerly bucket list dream for years and I’m utterly delighted with how the post came out. Ana and Thea are amazing editors and have fantastic insight, so be sure to check out all of their blog and their work on other sites such as Kirkus as well!

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News! Joining the Kraken Collective!

Posted July 2, 2017 by dove-author in News / 0 Comments

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Today it is Exciting News Day! *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

Today, you see, is the day that I officially join the Kraken Collective!

Kraken Collective Logo

WHOOHOO! The Kraken Collective is a fantastic group of fellow queer indie sff authors who have all come together to produce high-quality fiction. You should go read their works if you haven’t already because it is amazing! Here let me quote you the about page, because it’s way more elegant and eloquent than my exciting squealing. 😀

The Kraken Collective is an alliance of indie authors who have pooled resources to publish high-quality fiction while retaining complete creative control over our stories. We aim to provide a wide variety of science fiction and fantasy stories, all starring LGBTQIAP+ characters. From alien hunting lesbians to complex political fantasy, The Kraken Collective publishes queer SFF that will blow your mind away and leave you craving more.

Although it begins as a simple cooperative between authors, we aim to grow into an unique publishing model capable of supporting queer indie voices everywhere in SFF. We are committed to building a publishing space that is inclusive, positive, and brings fascinating stories to readers.

I’m so honoured and humbled to be among this group of people, you all, I don’t even have words to express it right now. Or yesterday. Or the day before. Or pretty much any day since Claudie invited me.

What does joining the Kraken Collective mean for my works? A publisher change for some of them and new projects will be Kraken-considered first.

Right now, the goal is to republish A Promise Broken in late August to bring it under the Kraken fold and to keep working on DemiPrincess to publish that via the Kraken Collective as well, but that is… a while into the future yet because it feels like my slowest project ever and I’m determined to finish all three books before I even consider publishing it.

A Promise Broken is going to look much the same as it does now, I expect. I’ll be rereading it again for typos (so if you found any I still managed to miss, now is a terrific time to let me know!) and I’ll be redoing the metadata to be in line with Kraken’s guidelines. And do you know what that means?! <3

That means MOAR BOOKS because I get to do something that I have wanted to do and been terrified of doing in any kind of official-like fashion and that is including reading suggestions in my books! You know how a big trad publisher sometimes puts tiny little book adds at the end of their books to go “If you liked what you just read, you may like this as well”? Well, I really love those AND NOW I GET TO DO IT WITH MY OWN BOOKS. OFFICIALLY. Spreading Moar Book Love and getting you all even more books you might be interested in reading.

Uh, yes. This may be one of the things I’m most excited about because I’m weird and silly and I LOVE RECOMMENDING PEOPLE BOOKS because getting that one book into the hands of a person who adores it is THE BEST feeling.

But, yes. I’m currently hard at work trying to juggling all the things and getting A Promise Broken rereleased in a little over a month from now. I’m really excited to be working with everyone at the Kraken Collective (they’re great people and their books are awesome and if you like mine I’m pretty sure you’ll adore all of theirs too?) and I look forward to publishing great fiction with and alongside them! <3

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More than a Story at Queer Girl Cafe

Posted April 4, 2016 by dove-author in Ace & Aro Rambling, Events, News / 0 Comments

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My guest post for Queer Girl Cafe is up!

More Than a Story

This little girl grew up thinking that she was straight. She’d been taught that there were only three sexual orientations people could have: heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual. Now, she knew that she wasn’t interested in girls at all, so by process of elimination that left heterosexual. No one around her ever challenged it. All the media she was surrounded by told her that what she liked was an idealised heterosexual relationship.

But she isn’t heterosexual. She’s demisexual. What she loves about the One True Love trope isn’t the ideal of a monogamous heterosexual relationship. It’s the fact that, for her, this is how romance and sex works. An absence of any sexual attraction to people unless she’s formed a strong emotional bond with them (and sometimes/often not even then).

I didn’t even realise it was going to go live today! (That just goes to show how frazzled I’ve been this past week or so.)

So! Because we’re talking stories, here’s another one. It’ll be a very short one, I promise. I was terrified of this essay/guest post. When I contacted Nita about whether she’d like my contribution I cried and shivered and sweated my way through writing the email. And this was knowing that Nita was welcoming of (heteroromantic) demisexuals like myself!

Initially, I was thinking I’d write a piece about that fear and why I had it and how it’s difficult for some people to use the word ‘queer’ because they’re so strongly and firmly told that they are not queer enough. (That’s… one of my first experiences with trying to use the word ‘queer’ and why I only ever use it when I’m absolutely, 100% certain that it’s safe to do so. Hence the anxiety attack when contacting Nita.) But I could never get those experiences to mesh well with the positive, encouraging tone I wanted.

And then… I threw it around entirely, struggling even more mightily and finally figured out that I needed to start it like it was a story. I hope the format will resonate with others and that someone out there will find it useful! It was still terrifying to write. I’m kind of glad I didn’t realise it was going live today and that I didn’t notice until I was at work. It meant I got immediate distraction and, um, did not duck under a blanket and hide for the rest of the day. (And soon I get to hide because it will be time for bed. Yay, time zones! Wow, I never thought I’d say that.)

But there you are! Two stories for the price of one! Many thanks to Nita Tyndall and everyone involved with Queer Girl Cafe for having me and making me feel welcome! ^_^

 

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On Serialised Fiction at Earl Grey Editing

Posted March 20, 2015 by dove-author in Events, News / 0 Comments

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Elizabeth from Earl Grey Editing kindly let me do a guest post on my first experiences with serialised fiction in honour of publishing A Promise Broken last month.

(Meep! My first guest post that’s not solely about my own writing.)

I hope you’ll enjoy it! And if you’re new to Elizabeth’s blog, please do check it out. She’s awesome.

Thank you for having me, Elizabeth! <3

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Interview at The Bibliophibian

Posted November 22, 2013 by dove-author in News / 0 Comments

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Nikki from The Bibliophibian was kind enough to host an interview with me today.

Nikki is a dear and good friend, with a wonderful taste in books. (We were discussing that taste earlier today in another post, actually!) I always enjoy hearing what they have to say, whether about books or something else, and wish I were even half as smart, insightful and good with non-fiction words. <3

They also deserve a better introduction than I’m able to provide. (In my defence, I’m not good at introducing people on a good day and I think I might be coming down with something. 🙁 Not during Nano, body! Especially not when I’m horribly behind!) But, anyway, Nikki is lovely and their blog is well worth reading. And if you want to read the interview they did with me… You can read that here.

I hope you’ll enjoy it and Nikki’s other posts!

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