Release the Space Divas!

Space Opera Libretti: An Anthology of Modern Comedic Space Opera with Arias. It’s quite a mouthful, but perfect to sing dramatically. And that’s the whole point.

More importantly, the book is out now on Kindle and in paperback!!!

The problem with space opera is that there’s not enough opera in it, and certainly a dearth of coloratura diva sopranos in the third act. This anthology sets out to fix that by placing the music front-and-center. We’ve created a glittery disco-ball of fun. 20 stories designed to amuse. Some actually take place in space. There’s even an actual opera in here. We didn’t hold back. Time-traveling cats that quote opera… Intergalactic singing competitions… An endless song that becomes the soundtrack to countless generations of rebellions… And, of course, invisible space bears made of black holes that may or may not be extinct.

The editors are Jennifer Lee Rossman (who also co-edited Love & Bubbles) and Brian McNett.

Get Space Opera Libretti from Amazon US (Kindle|paperback), Amazon Deutschland (Kindle|paperback), or from any other country’s Amazon, and add it on Goodreads.

Stars from the Stars is one of the stories I’m proudest of having written so far. When I’m reading or watching space operas, the scenes I most enjoy often take place on markets, at parties, in casinos, … where a lot of very different aliens can be encountered. Seeing all those imaginative body shapes, the varied ways in which the aliens communicate, the hints of different cultures and peculiar aesthetics… All those things make it feel like I’m properly in space, ready to immerse myself in that bubbling atmosphere of diversity and to learn about unknown civilisations. Since Stars from the Stars tells the story of a siren who competes in a universal talent show, I could explore a similarly wide range of extraordinary aliens and the acts they might perform in such a competition. Those were a lot of fun to come up with, and I hope readers will have just as much fun discovering them!

A surprise for the holidays: Gay Apparel

‘Tis the season to be jolly!

I have a brand new publication in Gay Apparel: A Queer Holiday Flash Fiction Anthology!

A queer holiday anthology project collecting stories from all over the world. Includes contemporary, historical romance, space epic, weird western, post-apocalypse, gay, lesbian, trans, ace, neurodivergent, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, New Years, and some new holidays, too.

With 24 stories, it can be read as a fun advent calendar with one story every day running up to Christmas, or all at once to bring you fully in the holiday mood.

You can add it on Goodreads here.

My story is called Invite a Creature. No Christmas trees were harmed in the writing of this piece…

Other authors in this anthology include Rachel Sharp, Rose Sinclair, Amy Michelle, Ether Nepenthes (who were all part of 2016’s Unburied Fables), Jennifer Lee Rossman (co-editor of upcoming Space Opera Libretti), Ava Kelly (who was also in 2019’s Migration and will be in 2020’s Neon Horror), and L.S. Reinholt (my co-writer in several projects, including 2019’s Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove).

As you see, the holidays are very much a family affair even in the book world! Or perhaps this is what happens when a project comes to life on Twitter, where we’re all huddled together like penguins in the cold. Big thanks to Rachel Sharp for coming up with the idea and editing all the stories. The cosy cover was made by Rose Sinclair.

Of course your big question is now: where can I get this book?!

Well, Gay Apparel is not being sold at any of the traditional places. Instead, you can get it through me.

How does that work?

Please send an email to minervacerridwen at gmail dot com with subject “Gay Apparel”. Show me proof that you have made a recent donation to an LGBTQIA-supporting charity of your choice. By recent, I mean less than a week before the email. Also tell me if you prefer epub, pdf or mobi format.

If you can’t donate (e.g. because you need a credit card but you don’t have one, or you don’t know any suitable charities, or any other kind of reason) but you still want a copy, please contact me anyway so that we can find a solution together.

There’s also a Twitter hashtag where you can see people talking about the stories and where you can find where to donate if you’d prefer to get your copy from another author: #GayApparelStories. Feel free to use it when you talk about the book and join the fun!

Happy holidays!

Minerva

Release Day at Hotel Stormcove

Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove is out now! This book with bite-sized stories in all genres has something for everyone and lets you expand your horizons.

L.S. Reinholt and I co-wrote the fantasy short Dragon in the Cove. The anthology also contains science fiction, romance, crime, quiet stories like the one about the cat, and so much more.

So far I’ve read about a third of the book and there hasn’t been one story yet that I didn’t like! And for my writer-friends, it may be nice to know that the Atthis Arts team has been an absolute joy to work with.

Get the book on Amazon US, Amazon Deutschland, iBooks, Nook, Kobo, or another retailer of your choice that I didn’t conveniently get the link from yet 😉

Find it on Goodreads here.

Enjoy your stay at Hotel Stormcove!

Steampunk Sherlock Holmes anthology out now!

Happy Easter!

Both volumes of Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of Steampunk are now available as ebook and paperback!

Volume 2, Mechanical Men and Otherworldly Endeavours, contains The Adventure of the Purloined Piston Valve by L.S. Reinholt and me. An original Sherlock Holmes story with a hint of feminism and some interesting inventions!

Get it now from Amazon US, Amazon Deutschland or a retailer close to you, and find it on Goodreads here.

Volume 1, Tales of a Retro Future, can also be found on Amazon and Goodreads.

The World’s Greatest Detective in the Retro Futuristic Realms of Steampunk!
Imagine a slight change to our historical timeline where the Industrial Revolution heated up much quicker than expected. Technological marvels such as airships, trains, battleships, and submarines came into being much earlier. They were followed by steam-powered wonders such as mechanical men, flying ships, and even crafts capable of reaching the deepest fathoms of the sea or traveling to distant celestial orbs.
That is the world where Sherlock Holmes and his Boswell, Dr. Watson, find themselves in Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of Steampunk.

Mechanical Men and Otherworldly Endeavours – Volume two of the anthology features stories with a focus on robotic creatures and otherworldly adventures. See Holmes team up with intelligent animals from an alternate Earth, switch bodies with Dr. Watson, and travel to another dimension.

Table of contents:
• The Adventure of the Purloined Piston Valve by L.S. Reinholt & Minerva Cerridwen (The Dragon of Ynys)
• The Deductive Man by Paul Hiscock (Under the Weather)
• The Adventure of the Tiger’s Topaz by Derrick Belanger (Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Primal Man)
• Sherlock Holmes and the Moongate Sabotage by Derek Nason (Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells Vol. 2 )
• The Adventure of the Brompton Mausoleum by Paula Hammond (Alternative Truths)
• A Second Case of Identity by S. Subramanian (Airship 27: Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective)
• Doctor Bear, I Presume! by Harry DeMaio (The Casebooks of Octavius Bear)
• The Adventure of the Violent Violets by Dr. Watson (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
Plus an introduction by Editor Derrick Belanger

Love & Bubbles Preorders!!!

Yes yes yesss! You can now preorder Love & Bubbles! It’s available both in paperback and ebook format. In the Gumroad shop you can also find some awesome Love & Bubbles-themed t-shirts and Jaylee James’ previous anthology, Circuits & Slippers. There’s only one of the cross-stitch artworks by Jennifer Lee Rossman left at the moment I’m typing this, so be fast if you want that!

Get ready to dive into romance with these thirteen stories of queer love under the sea!

Love & Bubbles is a short fiction anthology of love stories united by an underwater theme and featuring characters from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

In these pages you’ll go on a deep-sea voyage to study a brand-new species alongside a cute, distracted scientist. Discover your magic with a water witch and the help of a cute mermaid. Explore the waters of an alien ocean. Get summoned to the surface with a grumpy old merman and his non-binary water demon neighbor. Swim with a catfish goddess, rescue a dolphin… and so much more!

That line up there about the grumpy old merman and the water demon? That’s my story, Summoned!

You can add Love & Bubbles on Goodreads here. On Amazon it won’t appear before the actual release date in September 2018 – just so you know not to go looking there yet. Preorders will be exclusive on Gumroad.

To those who have backed the original Kickstarter: you should have received an update email with a code for a 10% discount to thank you for supporting us from the very beginning.

To everyone else: thank you for your interest in this anthology! I’m very excited about it!

And if you are a book blogger, instagrammer, or youtuber, and want to participate in a cover reveal, author interview, or receive an ARC, please email jaylee@jayleejames.com!

THE DRAGON OF YNYS on Goodreads and on sale

You can now add my novella to your shelves on Goodreads! Click here to find it.

If you ever hesitate if you should publish a Goodreads review for a book you’ve read, know that the answer is yes. Reviews will show on your Goodreads friends’ feeds, giving them the chance to discover independent books. They’re a handy tool for readers who are checking out a book and want to find out if it’s something they might enjoy. And I’ve heard many other authors say that on Amazon, books with more than 50 reviews will be promoted more, based on their algorithms (though I can’t immediately find a reliable source for this). So even if your review is just a few words, they are of enormous value to authors.

That said, I also want to tell you that The Dragon of Ynys is even more on sale than it already was! Aside from the preorder sale, Less Than Three Press is celebrating its ninth birthday this month. That means there’s an extra 29% sale in April, and with every book you buy from them, you’re entered into a raffle (read more about all that here!). For my novella, this means there’s a 40% sale in total, so it’s only $1.80 if you buy it this month. And then it’s just a month and 10 days’ wait until it arrives in your mailbox ^^