#the heartwood trilogy

[heretherebedork]

Guess who got a new queer fantasy trilogy that I'm gonna read? Got it from a friend after she finished it, liked it but didn't plan on rereading it.

I think a lot of you would like these titles. @benkaben I'm gonna be honest these titles feel very you!

I'll try to remember to post some reviews as I read them

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[artcoffeecats]

Our very own @ashen-crest agreed to read Deny Me, The Nightshade Boy and described it as LUSH and DELIGHTFULLY QUEER and I - 🥺

This is all getting so real and I can't believe other folks get to know my sweet babies so soon.

Preorders opening soooooooon

[artcoffeecats]

This is why I'm so happy with Ingrid and Lucienne as supporting women. They're both terrifying to their enemies. But Ingrid is super awkward interpersonally, and a little asexual, and just wants to make jewelry. Much like Andrew, navigating her softer side is super uncomfortable, but she knows how important vulnerability is to Micah. And then Lucienne is a wild little goblin who hoards baubles and threatens to pierce all your vitals, but damn it if she isn't keeping up with fashion trends and making Andrew drive thru McDonald's.

Actually it's begun to occur to me that Lucienne might be the dark horse of the trilogy. She sees and supports Micah's leadership potential, and knew Andrew was a Druid with so much magic waiting to emerge the moment she met him. She's also probably the oldest out of any of them, but you'll never actually know. Everyone knows if you ask her age, she will probably bite you.

unironic number one most important and useful writing tip I can give you is to make your women weirder. If your female characters are feeling flat or one dimensional give them a odd lil obsession or hobby. ESPECIALLY the sexy characters add a little “strange and offputting” spice in there and I’ll 1000% guarantee they’ll become better. Listen to me. Listen to ME it’ll work or your money back let the femme fatale give live newts to people as thanks and she’s become a more engaging and realized person.

[mrbexwrites]

M&S Pitch Week Roundup

Late to the party, as always! Sorry guys!

Thanks to @moon-and-seraph for organising the event. I really appreciate all the hard work you put into it!

My favs (and there were so many good WIPs out there!):

Supernova by @words-after-midnight

The Masked Ones by @lynsterswritingblog

Rainy Days Dream Away by @pure-solomon

The Heartwood Trilogy by @artcoffeecats

Syndicate by @dontjudgemeimawriter

Alesseia by @alesseia

The Incubucks @incorrectgoddessgang

Broken Whole  by @scribe-of-stories

Call Me Icarus by @andromedaexists

Magicians & Puppet Masters by @valentinerose529

[cjaralore]

Promise Me, Lord Heartwood, the final book in The Heartwood Trilogy by @artcoffeecats, is out today and the entire trilogy is on sale now! https://books2read.com/u/4Ad1g0

Here's my reviews:

🌲 Book 3: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6341659108

❄️ Book 2: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6077379095

🌱 Book 1: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5935860786

[ghostcaterwaul]

for the weirder asks: 1, 5, 18, 22 ^-^

who is/are your comfort character(s)?

I have so many. Lol. I’ll try not to make the list too long.

Kiara Carrera - Outer Banks

10k - Z Nation

Lindsay Weir - Freaks and Geeks

Jasper Heartwood - LA by Night

X - LA by Night

Percy De Rolo - Critical Role: Vox Machina/Legend of Vox Machina

Brigitte Fitzgerald - Ginger Snaps Trilogy

Mitch Kramer - Dazed and Confused

Arthur Stuart- Velvet Goldmine

Shilo Wallace - Repo! The Genetic Opera

Dawn Wiener - Welcome to the Dollhouse

Lux Lisbon - “The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides

Ponyboy Curtis - “The Outsiders” by S.E Hinton

what color are your eyes?

Hazel

what hair products do you use?

As far as styling products? I can’t remember the name of it, but I know the hair wax I use isn’t sold anymore (and it’s out of my budget now anyways) and I finally ran out of it so I don’t know what I’m gonna do when I want big goth hair again. For hairspray I just use suave.

Shampoo/conditioner is Wen because even though it’s pricy, it’s only stuff that actually makes my hair look clean and doesn’t make it feel plastic-y and synthetic (my whole life, my hair has always felt/looked like greasy barbie doll hair and Wen is the only thing that doesn’t do that to it.)

Does hair dye count as hair products? If so, I almost always use Lunar Tides.

what type of person are you?

I’m not sure? I guess I’m generally a nice person. Too nice sometimes, but I do have a breaking point and it’s not pretty when I reach it. I infodump all the time IRL because I have no filter. I do that thing where I know the other person doesn’t give a shit about what I’m talking about but I can’t get myself to shut up and then they learn all about my current hyperfixation against their will. I’m a mess of a person, honestly. Multiple mental illnesses and chronic illnesses. My usual healthy coping skills stopped helping years ago, so I’ve been barely holding myself together ever since, tbh. So like, I don’t know, I’m generally a decent person until the symptoms start to show, then I’m an absolute nightmare to be around.

[artcoffeecats]

Hi Lexi! I’m loving the writeblr community as well. My trilogy is called The Heartwood Trilogy and stars an mlm couple, half-Fae nobleman Micah, and human Druid Andrew. They live in Saint Paul and have a foot in the human city and the small commune of Folk living in the bluffs of Lilydale.

Lexi is looking for writeblrs

Hello fellow writers👋 my dash is full with bullshit and I need more writing content and writers gushing about their wips, so please interact with this post (comment or reblog) so I can follow you and check out your wip(s)!

Bonus points if:

you are writing fantasy or sci-fi

your wip has queer characters

you love worldbuilding

you write character-driven stories

I am planning to post more about my wip and continue writing it during NaNoWriMo, so let me know if you want to be added to my wip tag list and receive updates from my writing process and fun posts about my characters and world building.

You can check out my ya fantasy wip here

Oh and here is a very short synopsis of my ya fantasy wip “dragon girl on fire” (working title):

Enya Arati, a half-breed of dragon and human, seeks revenge for her murdered family. She flees from her home town Trevena and travels through the magical forest Avni and the high mountains of Zaltana in search of other a dragons or dragon breeds. Humans and magical beings like elafids, dwarfs, giants, faeries and elves either help her or hunt her down. Will she get her revenge and set Trevena on fire? Or will her girlfriend, the siren Meara Kailani, help her forgive and chose a different path?

[artcoffeecats]

If you love bisexual golden retriever energy then Micah is your guy.

If you love grumpy gay then Andrew is your guy.

If you want cozy romantasy instead of existential horror then run, don't walk, to read Deny Me, The Nightshade Boy, available in a stunning paperback edition or in Kindle Unlimited.

PHOTO DUMP!

[helpmeiamprocrastinating]

I’m bored, and don’t want to do the things I need to do, so I’m just gonna talk about my favorite books and tell you to read them.

So, my all time favorite books are the Sunlit Lands Trilogy by Matt Mikalatos. The first one is The Crescent Stone, then The Heartwood Crown, and The Story King came out in June. There are two short stories that are awesome as well.

The Crescent Stone is about Madeline Oliver, who has interstitial lung disease, and Jason Wu, who is the absolute best ever (seriously, adore him with all my heart). Some stuff happens and this dude named Hanali comes and offers Madeline healing if she goes with him to the Sunlit Lands, and Jason goes with her, because he doesn’t want her to be alone (he’s so sweet).

My favorite things about this series:

•The two main characters aren’t love interests, they’re just best friends (people of the opposite gender can be platonically in love)

•The characters are so good. Like, they have personality and they have real world issues teenagers deal with

•Real word problems. The books deal with the fine lines between truth and lie, and how you can find yourself on the opposite side without realizing it

•The magic system is perfect. Like, it’s so cool. I want to be in the Sunlit Lands so much

•There are different people in the Sunlit Lands, and Matt Mikalatos does an amazing job of making different places and people who aren’t shallow. I want to be a Kakri, please and thank you.

And I don’t want to spoil to much, so that’s all I’ll say.

But yeah, go read them. And fall in love like I did.

(Also, the covers are gorgeous, just look them up, they’re so pretty)

[redgoldsparks]

I really enjoyed your book Gender Queer. Can you recommend any other books/comics with non-binary characters?

On goodreads I have a shelf of all the LGTBQ books I have read (https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/26234267-maia?shelf=lgbtq). But here are a few specific titles which have one or more nonbinary characters that I thought were particularly good:

Grease Bats by Archie Bongiovanni (a slice of life comic-  nonbinary main character) (author is also nonbinary)

Heartwood: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy edited by Joamette Gil (anthology of short comics, all with nonbinary authors)

The Avant-Guards by Carly Usdin and Noah Hayes (an ongoing comic series, one nonbinary character, one trans character)

The Raven Tower by Anne Leckie (fantasy novel- nonbinary character is not human)

Providence by Anne Leckie (sci-fi novel, multiple secondary nonbinary characters- it’s a society with more than two gender options)

Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie (sci-fi, first book of a trilogy- the nonbinary characters are AI, not humans)

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz (sci-fi, the nonbinary character is an AI not a human) (author is nonbinary)

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee (sci-fi/fantasy novel- a nonbinary main character)

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell  (a slice of life comic - a nonbinary secondary character)

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (fantasy YA comic - a nonbinary main character)

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden (sci-fi comic - a nonbinary secondary character) 

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon (dystopian sci-fi - a nonbinary main character) (author is nonbinary)

Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story by Jacob Tobia (a memoir) (author is nonbinary)

She Wants It: Desire, Power and Toppling the Patriarchy by Jill Soloway (a memoir) (author is nonbinary)

Femme in Public by Alok Vaid-Menon (poetry) (author is nonbinary)

Pansy by Andrea Gibson (poetry) (author is nonbinary)

Paul Takes the Form of a Moral Girl by Andrea Lawlor (a novel set in 1993, main character is genderfluid) 

I’m sure I’m forgetting some obvious ones, but this should get you started :) 

[artcoffeecats]

DO I HAVE THE FAERIE STORY FOR YOU!

Deny Me, The Nightshade Boy comes out in less than a month, starring sweet but dangerous Micah Stillwater, half-Fae prince, and Andrew Vidasche, a grumpy and haunted human nerd.

Plenty more info at:

http://www.heartwoodtrilogy.com

Hey everyone! I'd love to post some more fantasy for 🌸✨Faerie Friday✨🌸! If you have a fantasy story you want me to promo, reply or reblog, or send me an ask or intro post!

[hell-yeahfilm]

THE STORY KING

A year has passed since the events of The Heartwood Crown (2019), and readers find the surviving characters scattered and still looking for answers. Madeline’s sacrifice broke all magic and bonds, the aftereffects of which the Elenil, Scim, and humans work to reconcile. Some attempt to rebuild, some fight for a new way, while others look for scapegoats. Jason Wu, Darius Walker, Shula Bishara, and Gilenyia will uncover the mysteries behind the creation of the Sunlit Lands and the terrible secret of the Elenil in order to overcome the pain of their personal tragedies. The setting of the story is heavily influenced by recent events and social debates: It weaves in themes and discussion around false truths and those who believe them without seeking further, the systemic nature of White privilege, extremism (the Vain Boys are a group akin to the Proud Boys), and the dangers of being Black in contemporary America—and even touches upon the problem of Asian Americans being treated like a monolith. Christian references are similarly a part of the fabric of the story. Though at times heavy-handed in expressing political views, the novel highlights many important historical and current issues within a fantasy-world context. This trilogy closer will best be appreciated by readers familiar with the earlier volumes.

from Kirkus Reviews https://ift.tt/2TO5i7s

[artcoffeecats]

Here are some snips of eyes and their expressiveness from The Heartwood Trilogy...

His unnatural eyes were telling enough, pale lilac some moments and deep orchid others. But the color was more of a party trick, and he didn’t care about having eyes like an anime character as much as he cared about the growing possibility that he had Fae abilities he’d never known about before. + Andrew’s eyes turned dark and angry. “Didn’t I? Check your phone,” he snapped, still hovering over the door of the Saturn. Snow crowned his head and his cheeks were ruddy, eyes glassy and reflecting the street lights a dozen times over. On the verge of angry tears, in his black double-breasted pea coat, Andrew looked tragically handsome.

Eyes

Writers, if you see this, share a snippet of your characters' eyes. Description, intensity, passion. Show me them peepers!

From my WIP, Good Thyme With Bad Company:

Iom’ren turned his head to look at Grilled. Those eyes. In the ringslight, Iom’ren’s eyes and Noklopan facial jewels shone like stars. Aloutia’s stars, pink and pure, the essence of goodness. The starlight which everyone wished would glitter upon each other’s paths. Yet those eyes held nothing but pain. Sorrow. A tear fell down his cheek, diverted by the jewels, and fell upon the fresh snow at the same moment a drop of blood fell from the quillon. Grilled wanted to say something—anything—but what does one say to a soul bearing such powerful, striking eyes?

Tagging @rtisticwriter @kittensartswriting @nightfoxproductions726 but anyone can participate if they want!

[artcoffeecats]

Deny Me, The Nightshade Boy

Out September 8

Flirting over tea. Swordfights. Cute cats. Trans bestie. Secret sapphic romance.

Join the ARC team now 🖤🖤

Here are my main boys! An online exclusive that didn't make the cut into the book.

[artcoffeecats]

15 Questions 15 Mutuals

Rules: Answer the questions as yourself or as an OC of your choice

Thank you for the tag @mariahwritesstuff!

My 15 NO PRESSURE tags are: @vicstmichael, @saphoblin, @vvitch-mist, @regalserpent, @alwaysastrophel, @talesofsorrowandofruin, @toribookworm22, @minutiaewriter, @aquil-writes, @islanded-in-a-stream-of-stars that's all I can come up with thanks feel free to do it even if I didn't tag you hehe

I'll answer as Micah Stillwater and Andrew Vidasche, MCs from THE HEARTWOOD TRILOGY.

1. Are you named after anyone?

Nope I don't think so! I'm not supposed to know but my name is an anglicized version of my original Japanese name Myoku

My middle name, Phalen, was my maternal grandfather's name.

2. When was the last time you cried?

I don't know, probably ten minutes ago, or a couple hours ago, or yesterday. What? My boyfriend says crying's manly.

I don't cry.

Andrew.

Fine. When we watched Marley & Me.

3. Do you have kids?

Not in the traditional sense, but we have a shapeshifting wolf that calls us Dads! hehe

What he said.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

Um, I'm not very good at it tbh

Fluently.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

I will stare deep into your eyes the moment we meet! And probably secondly boobs.

Whether or not you're in my way, most likely, otherwise probably nothing.

6. What's your eye color?

Ugh I don't want to talk about my eyes they're purple

Poop brown.

Ol poo eyes

Thanks love.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

I'll watch scary movies if we can cuddle during them

What about...scary movies WITH happy endings? I don't know, I'll watch both EVIL DEAD or PRIDE & PREJUDICE, it all depends.

8. Any special talents?

Hehe. A few. I can grow plants at will, and heal people, and charm people. Oh, and I can talk to cats.

I mean, I'm alive. Isn't that enough?

He can also shoot a crossbow and swordfight and do like any European accent you ask him to but YOU KNOW

I guess...

9. Where were you born?

My mother's magical Redwood domain in Washington

Liverpool, unfortunately

10. What are your hobbies?

I like making bubble tea! And hanging out with cats! And playing PC games! And painting! And cooking with my dad but I'M BAD AT IT

I like computer programming, reading, history, and...I don't know, drinking whiskey?

11. Have you any pets?

I have a cat named Cinnamon and I'm going to go ahead and count Andrew's cat Arwen as mine too hehe

Ingrid would say that our shapeshifting wolf daughter is a pet...but otherwise just Arwen who IS NOT MICAH'S CAT

12. What sports do you play/have played?

Well in the Redwoods I did lots of skirmishing, and then I tried out for football in college and FAILED MISERABLY

Haha what's a sport

Andrew you did fencing

That hardly constitutes

Haha okay babe

13. How tall are you?

5'11 sadly

6'2 I think?

He's TALL

14. Favorite subject in school?

Haha uh...recess? Really I guess I liked my psychology classes all right, and English

History and Math

You're such a jack of all trades babe

Haha look who's talking.

15. Dream job?

Ummm I guess I got it when I managed the bubble tea shop but HAD TO GIVE IT ALL UP BECAUSE MAGIC

I would teach university history classes or write books on folklore

Spoiler alert: he's gonna do that