Rise, the dragon of ynys

Rise has risen!

The Rise anthology came out yesterday!

Cover of Rise: Queer Sci Fi's Tenth Annual Flash Fiction Contest

This anthology is packed with 120 stories under 300 words each, all with a speculative element and queer characters. One of these stories is my little piece “Ace-tral Projection”, and the book also includes L.S. Reinholt’s “Flood”.

You can buy the book in ebook, paperback, AND hardcover format. Find all the info and buy links via the publisher’s website, and add the book on Goodreads here.

The winners of this edition were Aidee Ladnier’s “Getting The Proper Rise” in third place, Sorren Briarwood’s “Dead Name” in second place, and Meghan Hyland’s “So High Up We’ll Never Hear Them Shouting” in first place. Congratulations!

The winner announcement can be found here, judge’s picks were announced here, honorable mentions were announced here, and the full list of stories in the book is on this page.

And we’ll continue celebrating today, because I have great news for everyone in Belgium who wants to buy The Dragon of Ynys at an independent bookshop: it is now available at Boekhandel Grim in Hasselt!

Happy autumn, and happy Ace Week!

P.S. My postcard sets are still available! Read about them here.

Paranatellonta, Rise

Flash Fiction: Rise!

Hi!

It’s that time of the year when the stories are being announced that will be part of the Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction Contest anthology. The theme this year was “Rise”, once again prompting authors to write a story of 300 words, and I’m proud to say I submitted a story called “Ace-tral Projection” and it was selected. This is the fifth year in a row I have a story in the contest anthology! Everyone who’s friends with me on Duolingo knows I do love a good long streak.

You can read the full list of anthology picks via this link – and you may notice that my friend and co-writer LS Reinholt’s story “Flood” made it in there too! *high fives*

In other news, Fie and I posted the 359th edition of Paranatellonta yesterday—remember there’s a new post on the 1st and 15th of every month. Our next edition, on August 15, will be very special, and not just because 360 is a nice round number—we will celebrate that Paranatellonta will have existed for 10 years!!! Keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, you can go read the latest editions via the main page (click on the “[time] ago and x notes” line under a post to enlarge both its photo and text, or click the “Random post” button at the top to be catapulted up to ten years back in time). As ever, everything Paranatellonta is free to read. Enjoy!

Love from rainy Germany, where I’ve been having a very cosy autumnish holiday in the middle of summer (but also some sunny hobbit adventures on mountains),

Minerva

Clarity

Clarity: Release Day!

The Clarity anthology is out today!

Cover of "Clarity"

This anthology is packed with 120 stories under 300 words each, all with a speculative element and queer characters. One of these stories is my little piece “Secundum Artem”.

You can buy the book in ebook, paperback, AND hardcover format, via: AmazonAppleBarnes & NobleKoboSmashwordsScribdVivlio, or add it on The StoryGraph or Goodreads.

Congratulations to the winners, judges’ picks, and honorable mentions of Queer Sci Fi’s Annual Flash Fiction Contest!

The winner announcement can be found here, judge’s picks were announced here, honorable mentions here, and the full list of stories in the book is on this page.

Enjoy all the queer flash fiction!

Love,

Minerva

P.S. Inktober is going well! I managed to draw something every day so far, and am happy with my result today, so I’m throwing it in here as a little extra:

Clarity

Clarity Cover Reveal

Hi!

Not long now before the Clarity anthology will come out – Wednesday, the 5th of October is the day! That means I’ll put up another post to celebrate that day – but for now, I want to show you all the cover.

Cover of "Clarity"

You can preorder your copy via the links on this page. The winners of the contest have also been announced: short summaries of the winning stories can be found here!

And if you want a little flash fiction appetiser, you are of course most welcome at Paranatellonta, where we’ve posted the 339th photo + story combination today.

Now it’s time for me to go draw something – happy Inktober to all of you who are joining the challenge! If all goes well, my first sketch of the month will appear on my Instagram by tonight.

Have a great weekend!

Minerva

Clarity

Clarity about a flash piece

Hi!

Good news: my flash story “Secundum Artem” will be part of the Clarity anthology! That is the book resulting from this year’s Queer Sci Fi flash fiction contest, and I’m very proud to say it’s the fourth year in a row my story made it into the anthology. The book will contain 120 stories of 300 words or less, and is set to release on October 5, 2022.

You can see the full list of included stories in this Facebook post.

If you can’t wait to read a book of speculative flash fiction, find all the info about the previous editions Migration, Innovation, and Ink here on my website!

In other flash news (pardon my bad jokes), there will be an update about Skulls & Spells soon, and as on every 1st and 15th day of the month, Fie and I posted a new edition of Paranatellonta yesterday. The 335th already! I realise now that I’m writing this that we started the project in August, so we’ve been going for a whole 9 years – happy birthday, Para!

Enjoy the summer and stay hydrated!

Minerva

Ink

Release Day of Ink!

Hi!

The Ink anthology is out today and let me start by boasting about my awesome friends! Ink is the collection of 121 stories selected from Queer Sci Fi’s yearly flash fiction contest, and the first and second place went to no other than Ava Kelly and LS Reinholt, respectively! I’m so proud of them – and believe me, both these stories are brilliant. It was a well-deserved win for them both, so I’m glad the jury agreed! I’d also like to congratulate Emilia Agrafojo, who got the bronze medal with “Mixology”. I haven’t read this story yet, but I certainly look forward to it!

You can read all the announcements here: honorable mentionsjudges’ choiceswinners. Congratulations to all!

This also means that the anthology is now available for sale. There is even a hardcover available of this edition, aside from the ebook and paperback editions.

Here are some links where you can buy Ink: Amazon USAmazon DeutschlandiBooksBarnes & NobleKoboScribdThaliaVivlio

You can also add this book to your shelves: GoodreadsThe StoryGraph

And in this post you can read Queer Sci Fi’s own release announcement, with the full list of included stories as well as some story fragments (and a giveaway to celebrate the release): click.

And I’d almost forget to say: my story “Not Alone” is in this book too. Enjoy!

INK (NOUN)

Five definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell:

1) A colored fluid used for writing
2) The action of signing a deal
3) A black liquid ejected by squid
4) Publicity in the written media
5) A slang word for tattoos

Ink features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

Banner for the anthology "Ink"