#SPFBOX

[ladzwriting]

THE FEALTY OF MONSTERS Volume 1

Copies to be shipped within the U.S. are available again! The price including shipping and a physical copy of the book signed by me and @t-hornapple plus free digital files included

Winter 1917. After years on the run from a dangerous cult, twenty-three-year-old Sasza and his father have established themselves among the Odonic Empire’s ruling class. But there’s a problem: Sasza is a vampire, and vampires aren’t supposed to get involved in human governance. What the aristocracy doesn’t know, after all, cannot hurt them. Unfortunately, Sasza is far more involved than a stealth vampire should be. Not only does he work to quell the rumors of the vampires’ responsibility for an unsolved massacre, his lover is also the pro-proletariat Ilya, the Empire’s Finance Minister, who tries to recruit Sasza into the same cult hunting him. Then—the Emperor declares war against the Vampire States. Diplomacy has failed. Sasza quickly learns that he will do anything to preserve peace–including giving in to the monstrosity he spent so many years concealing from even himself.

🩸 Get yours here 🦟

Want more fantasy and horror? Check out my other works.

[nothwell]

Oak King Holly King is in the running for the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off contest and fellow queer author Steve Hugh Westenra was kind enough to interview me about it.

[tommock]

SPFBOX Opening Reads Day 51 (Before We Go Blog)

The Dryad’s Crown & Beyond Misty Mountain Two lighter fantasy novels today, at least in terms of their quick pacing. Both seem like they would appeal to younger audiences!

116) David Hopkins, The Dryad’s Crown

A fey girl born from a tree begins her life passing from one protector to another until a dangerous guildmaster takes her in after she does something inexplicable in her garden.

This has a fairytale beginning. Its prose uses the summarizing style of an oral tradition, which is underscored when the second part of the story is literally related as a bedtime story.

This style is effective for the content, which is active and magical and highly unusual. A woman hears crying in the night and goes to a tree and chops it open and finds a baby inside. She brings the baby home. Four wise people show up later…

Something bad happens, the baby turns into a fish and swims away - wonderfully free flowing magical stuff.

The setting details are spare for now, but they drift in here and there. There is enough for anyone familiar with the genre to get their bearings, but the focus of the narrative is our adventurous girl.

She is lively, that’s for sure. Though the telling of the story slows down somewhat as the narrative proper gets underway, the brief, almost perfunctory declarative narrative style continues.

I have mixed feelings about it. Coupled with the often simple sentence structure, it could begin to wear on me. On the other hand, I may adjust to it in another few chapters, especially if the story continues to be as active as it has been.

Though this hasn’t spent much time on any of its moments to really ground me in the experience of its protagonist, it is developing exceptionally well. I recommend it for the way it moves. It feels light and wonderfully creative.

This also resists explaining everything, which I have found charming. I understand what I need to for now. The story elements feel intuitive. Maybe I will understand more in time.

Though this is listed as an adult novel and is ~550 pages, its simple style and fluid narrative make it feel more like a MG or YA book (assuming our MC ages up). I say this only for descriptive purposes, not evaluative.

The uniqueness of this narrative makes it stand out to me, however it should be categorized. I recommend it especially as a study in fresh, fast, active storytelling. I’m in.

117) Stephen Howard, Beyond Misty Mountain

A humorous, Terry Pratchett inspired adventure begins to take shape in this short fantasy romp.

This has a frivolous and engaging narrative approach that shines most, I think, in its descriptions as it introduces us to our setting. Tho I occasionally thought there was more energy than sense in some of the asides, the over all effect is a fun start.

A prologue introduces our planet world, but the story doesn’t properly start until chapter 1. I would say the tone of the novel doesn’t really come off until chapter 1 as well.

The informationally dense attempt at a humorous tone in the prologue gets stuck in the middle, for me, of being not quite informative and not quite funny. Chapter 1, however, establishes both with gusto.

A few characters and the beginning of an adventure are briefly established before we move on, tho I do feel that the humorous tone has been overemphasized to the detriment of a clear story.

The narration feels to me a bit like it butts in on the characters. It is heavy-handed with them. They seem, so far, more like caricatures, tho not so well defined. It is early days yet, tho.

Tho off to a marginal start for me so far, the fact that this story is leading with humor, and does seem inventive and active, keeps me turning the pages and invites me not to take it too seriously. That’s to its credit.

I’d recommend this to fans of Terry Pratchett, or any other overtly humorous, slapstick fantasy reads. It’s done enough for me. I’m in.

Follow along by joining the newsletter: https://subscribepage.io/wuOG1f

[autumn2may]

Today our judges say goodbye to our First Five to Fall in this year's Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO)! 🐉

https://fantasy-faction.com/2024/self-published-fantasy-blog-off-10-the-first-five-fall

Background image by Kristina Shvedenko.

[faeassassin]

SPFBOX Kickoff and Promos

Woohoo! Look! Deals and Sales!

I put Elemental on sale for SPFBO/Pride for a week. So, grab it off of Amazon, and stuff your Kindle with a few other deals while you're at it. Or, y'know, all my stuff is still available on KU if you do the whole subscription to KU thing. (I don't. My TBR list is trying to kill me already. I'm so far behind...)

Anywho, I love you guys. I want you to find good books. Even if you don't like my books, check out the others and give them a shot. For the love of books and supporting indie authors.

[author-a-holmes]

SPFBO 10 Livestream

I'm going live on the youtube channel "Bald&Balding" with some fellow "Self Publishing Fantasy Blog-off" authors in about an hour. Replay should be available afterwards too.

Feel free to hop in and watch, or join the live chat, if you'd like to see me trying not to panic on a live stream while answering questions about Changeling! ^_^

[faeassassin]

I'm not as active here as I am on Facebook, because I am old and not at all cool. (Also, that's where my writerly friends are these days, which sucks because I'd rather be almost anywhere else.)

Otherwise, yes, hello, that's all me in a nutshell. (And out of a nutshell. Wow, that would be an enormous nutshell if I could fit into it. Yikes.)

I like to gush about my stuff, but it's hard to do since I'm working on the final two books of my series and I'd be giving away all the spoilers if I said anything at all. T_T It's lonely here.

Anywho, welcome back to the tumblr world. Somebody else who replied earlier mentioned SPFBOX. I was also one of the lucky 300 to be accepted with my novel Elemental. I'm queer, the book's queer, I live in a fantasy world, my book is set in a fantasy world, I'm friendly, my book will stab you through the heart and drink your tears (but in a friendly sort of way). Hi.

writers, listen up...

i've fallen out of touch with the writeblr community a lot in the past few years, and i want to rectify that. the community aspect was what made me fall in love with tumblr, and what improved my writing for the better.

the golden days of my writing were when i was highly active and engaged in this wonderful community, but life and work and the horrors of self publishing have overtaken my energy in the past year. however, i have been really struggling with original writing, and i want to get back into the community here.

that said...

you write fantasy with queer characters

are an indie author

post frequently about your wips (taglists are a bonus!)

are queer

are a very active and friendly writer

if any of these apply

please, please reblog and tell me about your wip. gush over it. infodump. characters and ships and worldbuilding and plot, i want it all! this is your invitation to be as selfishly indulgent as possible. let's make some new friends and restore some community!!

boosts appreciated!

[ladzwriting]

Searching for queer fantasy novels to celebrate Pride Month?

(or just because queer characters in fantasy are awesome)?

Ten years of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off features these books with queer rep of all kinds — take a look to find the story you want to read!

SPFBO Pride Showcase

[ladzwriting]

The political intrigue of Fire Emblem Three Houses (Black Eagles route) meets the sanguineous gothic atmosphere of Bloodborne

I had so much fun writing the different ways blood can taste and how not all of hematophagy is created equal

SPFBO Pride Showcase

itch.io | ebook & paperback

Winter 1917. After years on the run from a dangerous cult, twenty-three-year-old Sasza and his father have established themselves among the Odonic Empire’s ruling class. But there’s a problem: Sasza is a vampire, and vampires aren’t supposed to get involved in human governance. What the aristocracy doesn’t know, after all, cannot hurt them.

Unfortunately, Sasza is far more involved than a stealth vampire should be. Not only does he work to quell the rumors of the vampires’ responsibility for an unsolved massacre, his lover is also the pro-proletariat Ilya, the Empire’s Finance Minister, who tries to recruit Sasza into the same cult hunting him.

Then—the Emperor declares war against the Vampire States. Diplomacy has failed. Sasza quickly learns that he will do anything to preserve peace–including giving in to the monstrosity he spent so many years concealing from even himself.

[ladzwriting]

Looking for a grimdark vampire fantasy to read with dads behaving badly and sons seeking comfort elsewhere?

THE FEALTY OF MONSTERS is about a nonbinary vampire far too involved with a government that doesn't know he's not human

$1.99 this weekend on Kobo

Winter 1917. After years on the run from a dangerous cult, twenty-three-year-old Sasza and his father have established themselves among the Odonic Empire's ruling class. But there's a problem: Sasza is a vampire, and vampires aren't supposed to get involved in human governance. What the aristocracy doesn't know, after all, cannot hurt them.

Unfortunately, Sasza is far more involved than a stealth vampire should be. Not only does he work to quell the rumors of the vampires' responsibility for an unsolved massacre, his lover is also the pro-proletariat Ilya, the Empire's Finance Minister, who tries to recruit Sasza into the same cult hunting him.

Then—the Emperor declares war against the Vampire States. Diplomacy has failed. Sasza quickly learns that he will do anything to preserve peace–including giving in to the monstrosity he spent so many years concealing from even himself.

[ladzwriting]

Sasza has father problems & daddy issues while he navigates the human imperial court as a secret vampire

THE FEALTY OF MONSTERS Vol 1 Illus. by @t_hornapple

A cathartic grimdark fantasy read for Father's Day weekend

$1.99 thru June 17th on Kobo

[ladzwriting]

THE FEALTY OF MONSTERS Illustrated by @t-hornapple

@jonphaedrus provides the best summary of this grimdark political fantasy perfect for independence day:

“you are the proletariat in petrograd for the october revolution. you go to kill the czar but—oh wait! the vampire."

The way he enjoyed how fun and gross this book about violently preventing a forever war makes me so pleased with myself

$1.99 through July 8th on Kobo

Winter 1917. After years on the run from a dangerous cult, twenty-three-year-old Sasza and his father have established themselves among the Odonic Empire’s ruling class. But there’s a problem: Sasza is a vampire, and vampires aren’t supposed to get involved in human governance. What the aristocracy doesn’t know, after all, cannot hurt them.

Unfortunately, Sasza is far more involved than a stealth vampire should be. Not only does he work to quell the rumors of the vampires’ responsibility for an unsolved massacre, his lover is also the pro-proletariat Ilya, the Empire’s Finance Minister, who tries to recruit Sasza into the same cult hunting him.

Then—the Emperor declares war against the Vampire States. Diplomacy has failed. Sasza quickly learns that he will do anything to preserve peace–including giving in to the monstrosity he spent so many years concealing from even himself.

[ladzwriting]

If you remember playing a Darkest Dungeon DLC called the Crimson Court and really enjoyed the insectoid take on vampires there, I think you might enjoy the bestiapiry and hybrids in the Odonic Empire of The Fealty of Monsters

Volume 1 is out now, cover and interior art by @t-hornapple

itch.io | ebook & paperback

Winter 1917. After years on the run from a dangerous cult, twenty-three-year-old Sasza and his father have established themselves among the Odonic Empire’s ruling class. But there’s a problem: Sasza is a vampire, and vampires aren’t supposed to get involved in human governance. What the aristocracy doesn’t know, after all, cannot hurt them.

Unfortunately, Sasza is far more involved than a stealth vampire should be. Not only does he work to quell the rumors of the vampires’ responsibility for an unsolved massacre, his lover is also the pro-proletariat Ilya, the Empire’s Finance Minister, who tries to recruit Sasza into the same cult hunting him.

Then—the Emperor declares war against the Vampire States. Diplomacy has failed. Sasza quickly learns that he will do anything to preserve peace–including giving in to the monstrosity he spent so many years concealing from even himself.

[ladzwriting]

Thank you for the neverending font of support @chicorybones

It's pride month and if you're looking for a read that's equal parts grimdark, political fantasy, and gothic erotica to read from a trans author with illustrations by a trans artist, please consider checking out The Fealty of Monsters Volume 1

This novel is a retelling the Russian Revolution about a queer vampire who's willing to do anything to stop the Empire's collapse

SPFBO Pride Showcase

itch.io | ebook & paperback

[ladzwriting]

THE FEALTY OF MONSTERS is a gothic horror political fantasy novel retelling the Russian Revolution about a queer vampire who's willing to do anything to stop the Empire's collapse

Illus. by @t-hornapple

For those looking to read queer books for pride, here's a snapshot of the representation

SPFBO Pride Showcase itch.io | ebook & paperback

[ladzwriting]

Sasza's issues with his father come down to the fact that his Rasputin antics might expose them as vampires who should not be anywhere near human governance

A grimdark fantasy retelling of the Russian revolution with queers and vampires.

"If you like political revolutions and queer erotica painted over with blood, then this is the book for you"

THE FEALTY OF MONSTERS Vol 1 Illus. by @t-hornapple

$1.99 thru June 17th on Kobo

Winter 1917. After years on the run from a dangerous cult, twenty-three-year-old Sasza and his father have established themselves among the Odonic Empire’s ruling class. But there’s a problem: Sasza is a vampire, and vampires aren’t supposed to get involved in human governance. What the aristocracy doesn’t know, after all, cannot hurt them.

Unfortunately, Sasza is far more involved than a stealth vampire should be. Not only does he work to quell the rumors of the vampires’ responsibility for an unsolved massacre, his lover is also the pro-proletariat Ilya, the Empire’s Finance Minister, who tries to recruit Sasza into the same cult hunting him.

Then—the Emperor declares war against the Vampire States. Diplomacy has failed. Sasza quickly learns that he will do anything to preserve peace–including giving in to the monstrosity he spent so many years concealing from even himself.