#xan van rooyen

[lgbtqreads]

September 2024 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction Author of WAKE UP, NAT & DARCY Kate Cochrane‘s YOURS FOR THE SEASON, a sapphic romance in which a former Olympic hockey player who has reluctantly returned to her home town for Christmas teams up with her childhood crush to win their town’s annual holiday contest and a fancy romantic prize, despite telling everyone “we’re just friends,” to Errin Toma at Carina Adores, for…

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[transbookoftheday]

My Name Is Magic by Xan van Rooyen

Taika Turunen has no magic.

Despite coming from a long line of powerful Finnish mages, and their name literally meaning magic, Taika can't perform the simplest of spells.

Forced to attend Myrskyjärvi International School for the Magically Gifted on account of their mom being principal, Taika has a hard time fitting in. Sometimes, they wonder if not having magic has something to do with the fact they're neither a girl nor a boy and if they're fated to be "Taika the Talentless" forever.

Life goes from bad to worse when Natalie, Taika's former BFF, is mysteriously absent from class, only to appear to Taika as a liekkiö, a spirit begging for their help. As more students go missing, Taika must take the lead in a race against time to save friends old and new before a powerful group of chaos mages can unleash the legendary Sampo, an artefact capable of either saving the world's waning magic or destroying everything Taika holds dear.

To rescue Natalie, Taika will have to journey to the liminal space between worlds where they'll be forced to battle mythical monsters and their own dwindling self-esteem. In doing so, Taika might just discover that magic-and love-comes in many different forms.

For fans of witchcraft and wizardry looking for a new, inclusive magic school to attend, My Name Is Magic, is a story about finding strength from within and potential where you least expected it.

[unmistakeablewhumpsterfire]

Whump Book Rec - By the Blood of Rowans

Author: Xan van Rooyen (they/them) Description and TW/CW available on their website

My Brief Spoiler-Free Blurb: A story of murder and mystery with a dark supernatural flair ft. queer characters and top tier whump (and the cover art is beautiful too!)

[bookjunkiez]

Silver Helix Virtual Book Tour

Science Fantasy / Aetherpunk Date Published: 12-19-2023 Publisher: Android Press     On the surface, the city of HelsInc appears to have recovered from the war waged between humans and Ethereals, but beneath the scars, the city seethes. The remains of magic festers, causing mutations in human DNA which could give humans Ethereal power-not that the HelsInc government would ever let that happen.…

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in July 2024 🌈

🌈 Good morning, my bookish bats, and happy July! Pride Month may be over, but remember: Read Queer ALL Year. Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Happy reading!

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

❤️ Earth to Alis - Lex Carlow 🧡 Cursed Boys and Broken Hearts - Adam Sass 💛 The Sky on Fire - Jenn Lyons 💚 The Meaning of Liberty - Sage Donnell 💙 Making It - Laura Kay 💜 The Black Bird of Chernobyl - Ann McMan ❤️ A Map of My Want - Faylita Hicks 🧡 The Devil You Know - Ali Vali 💛 The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power - Various 💙 The Second Son - Adrienne Tooley 💜 Cursed Under London - Gabby Hutchinson Crouch 🌈 Forbidden Girl - Kristen Zimmer

❤️ Rise - Freya Finch 🧡 Undercurrent - Patricia Evans 💛 Online Rebellion - Blue Matt Jeff 💚 Wolf Gift - T.J. Nichols 💙 Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream - Tehlor Kay Mejia 💜 Miller: Origin - Starr Z. Davies ❤️ The Shadows Beyond - T.J. Rose 🧡 The Ones Who Come Back Hungry - Amelinda Bérubé 💛 Their Viscountess - Jess Michaels 💙 Fast Holiday - Kerry Lockhart 💜 The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky - Josh Galarza 🌈 The West Passage - Jared Pechaček

❤️ The Hades Calculus - Maria Ying 🧡 Misrecognition - Madison Newbound 💛 One Last Summer - Kristin Keppler 💚 Waypoint Seven - Xan van Rooyen 💙 Hiding Him - Adam Hattan 💜 Thousand Autumns - Meng Xi Shi, Me.Mimo ❤️ The Adventure Zone, Vol. 6: The Suffering Game - Various 🧡 Rowan & Aldred - Lucie Fleury 💛 Yoke of Stars - R.B. Lemberg 💙 Casting Vows - Ariella Talix 💜 Count Felford's Vessel - S. Rodman

❤️ The Actor and His Secret - Ben Alderson, Laura R. Samotin 🧡 How To Die Famous - Benjamin Dean 💛 So Witches We Became - Jill Baguchinsky 💚 The Amazing Alpha Tau Romeo and Juliet Project - Lisa Henry, Sarah Honey 💙 The Noble’s Merman - S.S. Genesee 💜 The Loudest Silence - Sydney Langford ❤️ Life is Strange - Brittney Morris 🧡 Bury Your Gays - Chuck Tingle 💛 I Will Never Leave You - Kara A. Kennedy 💙 The Blonde Dies First - Joelle Wellington 💜 Under the Lupine Moon - A. Knightley

❤️ Benji Zeb is a Ravenous Werewolf - Deke Moulton 🧡 Charlotte Illes Is Not a Teacher - Katie Siegel 💛 The Ghostkeeper - Johanna Taylor 💚 Trespass Against Us - Leon Kemp 💙 Exes & Foes - Amanda Woody 💜 The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl - Bart Yates ❤️ Unbound - J.A. Vodvarka 🧡 StreamLine - Lauren Melissa Ellzey 💛 Time and Time Again - Chatham Greenfield 💙 No Road Home - John Fram 💜 Queen B - Juno Dawson 🌈 A Darker Mischief - Derek Milman

❤️ Beautiful & Terrible Things - S.M. Stevens 🧡 Benvolio & Mercutio Turn Back Time - Elle Beaumont, Lou Wilham 💛 About Last Night - Laura Henry 💚 You Had Me at Happy Hour - Timothy Janovsky 💙 Moonbane - Jamie Jennings 💜 Between Fate & Failure - Amber D. Lewis ❤️ Blessed by the Cupid Distribution System - Robin Jo Margaret 🧡 Between Dragons and Their Wrath - Devin Madson 💛 Twisted Magic - Barbara J. Webb 💙 Rare Birds - L.B. Hazelthorn 💜 At the End of the River Styx - Michelle Kulwicki 🌈 Origin Story - Jendi Reiter

❤️ Eras of Us - Shannon O'Connor 🧡 Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema - Willow Maclay, Caden Gardner 💛 A Wolf in Stone - Jane Fletcher 💚 Toward Eternity - Anton Hur 💙 Portrait of a Shadow - Meriam Metoui 💜 Anyone's Ghost - August Thompson ❤️ Home Ice Advantage - Ari Baran 🧡 Unbelievable You - Chelsea M. Cameron 💛 Incorrect Eyes - Andromeda Ruins

[thebridgeofdeaths]

 Silver Helix

 Silver Helix a Science Fantasy / Aetherpunk by Xan Van Rooyen @RABTBookTours #RABTBookTours #SilverHelix #XanvanRooyen #ScienceFantasy   Science Fantasy / Aetherpunk Date Published: 12-19-2023 Publisher: Android Press   On the surface, the city of HelsInc appears to have recovered from the war waged between humans and Ethereals, but beneath the scars, the city seethes. The remains of…

[stephenembleton]

The Sauúti Collective Cover Reveal!

Being a writer has many unknowns and uncertainties, but knowing the Sauúti shared-world SFF project was generating inspiring works and moving towards its culmination with this publishing deal with Android Press, was something that gave me the impetus (and support!) to keep writing and writing more in the Sauútiverse. To be included, to having a seat at this table of talented writers and collaborators has been one of the best experiences I ever thought was possible with writing (usually a solitary endeavour).

Here’s to sharing ideas and building a world I can say I will always be proud to have helped build. Here’s to watching it evolve and keep moving forward for the next phases. This is encouraging and something I wholeheartedly ensure I do – create spaces for, and promote the works of, and proudly represent African creatives in any way I can, with the tools and access I have (many made possible through my writing).

I hope you will support this unique project, and help us continue to encourage new voices to create original African and African diaspora creative works:

🚀📖👀

Edited by Wole Talabi

Cover Artists: Akintoba Kalejaye & Stephen Embleton

Contributors include:

Hugo Award finalist Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Eugen Bacon, Tobias Buckell, Tendai Huchu, Ijasan Adelehin, Stephen Embleton, Akintoba Kalejaye, Cheryl Ntumy, Xan van Rooyen, Dare Segun Falowo, Ikechukwu Eye Kay Nwaogu, Jude Umeh, Ihezue Somto Rodney. Edited by Wole Talabi. Foreword by Fabrice J. Guerrier

[profiterole-reads]

My Name is Magic by Xan van Rooyen

My Name is Magic by Xan van Rooyen was a lot of fun! Despite having no magic, Taika attends the magic school where their mum is principal.

I love that this story is inspired by Finnish folklore. There's a strong focus on protecting nature as magic is being consumed too fast. Even though the cast is big, all the characters feel fully-fledged, and I hope we'll see more of them in a sequel.

Taika is a non-binary lesbian. There's f/nb, as well as a major queer male character. For more HP-like LGBT books, check out my rec list.

[profiterole-reads]

Here's what I personally recommend (but go ahead and try others too, everything looks great):

Failure to Communicate by Kaia Sønderby (bisexual & autistic rep)

Oak King, Holly King by Sebastian Nothwell (gay rep)

Three Meant To Be by MN Bennet (gay rep)

My Name is Magic by Xan van Rooyen (nb rep)

There are some fantastic books up for vote in the Indie Ink Awards, here are some that I've loved or want to check out !

Remember kids, other authors aren't your rivals, they're your community.

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: My Name Is Magic

Author: Xan van Rooyen

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2022

Genres: fiction, LGBT+, fantasy

Blurb: Taika Turunen has no magic. Despite coming from a long line of powerful Finnish mages - and their name literally meaning magic - Taika can’t perform the simplest of spells. Forced to attend Myrskyjärvi International School for the Magically Gifted on account of their mom being principal, Taika has a hard time fitting in. Sometimes, they wonder if not having magic has something to do with the fact they’re neither a girl nor a boy, and if they’re fated to be Taika the Talentless forever. Life goes from bad to worse when Taika sees a liekkiö, and recognises the spirit’s voice begging for help as that of their former BFF and major crush, Natalie Khumalo, whose recent absence from class hadn’t gone unnoticed. When more students go missing, Taika must take the lead in a race against time to save friends old and new before a powerful group of chaos mages can unleash the legendary Sampo - an artefact capable of either renewing the world’s waning magic or destroying everything Taika holds dear. To rescue Natalie, Taika will have to journey to the liminal space between worlds, where they’ll be forced to battle mythical monsters and their own flagging self-esteem. In doing so, Taika might just discover that magic - and love - comes in many different forms.

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer MG/YA Set at Magic School

Gallowgate by K.R. Alexander (MG) It Ends in Fire by Andrew Shvarts (YA) Scholars and Sorcery series by Eleanor Beresford (YA) A Hundred Vicious Turns by Lee Paige O’Brien (YA) My Name is Magic by Xan van Rooyen (YA) Bonus: These are all prose novels, but for a YA graphic novel set at a magical culinary school, check out Basil and Oregano by Melissa Capriglione Double Bonus: The anthology The…

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

the other me by xan van rooyen (trans mc)

this rebel heart by katherine lock (polyam relationship, two bisexual mcs, one gay side character)

iron widow by xiran jay zhao (polyam relationship, three bisexual mcs, mc is also possibly nb or genderqueer)

call down the hawk by maggie Stiefvater (gay mc, bisexual mc, bisexual side character)

the prey of gods by Nicky drayden (can’t remember the specific kind of rep)

it’s not like it’s a secret (lesbian characters and relationship. please maybe note on the poll that the submitter would really really not recommend this book? i think it’s important to let people know of queer books, but also this book relied on so many stereotypes — about lesbians and Asian-Americans — and had a cheating subplot and was just….)

beating heart baby by lio min (trans mc)

the borrow a boyfriend club by page powars

may the best man win by zr Ellor (trans mc, bisexual mc, nonbinary mc, queer side character)

a promise broken by Lynn o cochroft (trans, aroace guy is one of the two mcs)

not your sidekick by cb Lee (lesbian mc, sapphic relationship, trans side character)

always the almost by Edward underhill

the spirit bares its teeth and hell followed with us both by aj white

a day of fallen night and the priory of the orange tree by Samantha shannon

generation one by pittacus lore (gay mc, not a huge part of the plot though. but confirmed in-text)

last night at the telegraph club by malinda lo

you’re not supposed to die tonight by kalynn bayron

lady midnight and sword catcher both by Cassandra clare

Star Wars: black spire by delilah s Dawson (aroace mc)

Star Wars: the empire strikes back 40th anniversary short story compilation (idk if it counts as a queer book but one short story was a sapphic love story)

one of us is lying by Karen mcmanus

two tuns of fun by

birthday by Meredith russo

invisibly breathing by

i’ll give you the sun by judy Nelson (i think! not sure if i’m remembering her name right)

brooms the graphic novel by jasmine walls

this queer girl is going to be okay by dale walls

two mummies / two daddies (kids picture books)

death’s country by rm romero

redsight by Meredith mooring

the death i gave him by em li xu (tumblr would LOVE this book)

Been outside by shaz zamore

ALSO: a note to op. this blog is such a great idea, but have you considered setting up a google form for submissions instead? they work for people who don’t have Google accounts, and you can export the entries to a spreadsheet automatically instead of manually that way too. if you let submitters view previous responses you can prevent repeats too?

I've queued most of these! Exceptions below:

-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary short story compilation: since only one of the stories is queer, I'm not going to include it. This is absolutely arbitrary, I realize, but for short story collections, I'm looking for them to be mostly queer.

-Two Tuns of Fun: I couldn't find any book by this name.

-Two Mummies / Two Daddies (kids picture books): are these individual books? I couldn't find anything with these exact titles.

-Beating Heart Baby and The Priory of the Orange Tree were already queued (they were both in my initial batch of queued books prior to going live with the blog).

The google form is a good idea and something I'll consider! At the moment, it doesn't save me any work, and actually creates more. I would need to check every submission anyway to make sure it's correct and in the format I want it in. Currently I've got a Google Sheets spreadsheet with all books (both queued and posted) for people to check if their suggestion has already been submitted. Thanks for the idea, though!

[weirdletter]

Three-Lobed Burning Eye Magazine, Issue #32, edited by Andrew S. Fuller, November 2020. Cover art by Rew X, info and free version: 3lobedmag.com.

Three-Lobed Burning Eye (3LBE) is an online speculative fiction magazine, bringing you stories of horror, wonder, and the weird. 3LBE launched in 1999, and has published authors Laird Barron, Gemma Files, Kelly Barnhill, Mari Ness, Cody Goodfellow, Nadia Bulkin, and Kealan Patrick Burke. Each issue features six short stories. Beginning with issue 20, we offer audio readings, ebook formats, and online (responsive) format for mobile devices.  Our current publishing schedule is twice yearly, usually Spring and Fall, with a print anthology every other year. All issues of the magazine are free online.

Imago by Octavia Cade Sonata Apocalyptica by Xan van Rooyen The Bombardier by Vajra Chandrasekera Prelude to Byzantium by Claude Lalumière A Consensus Told in Chromatophores by Andi C. Buchana The Bee Queen by Kristi DeMeester

[writeforsoreeyes]

transreading - The Other Me

[image description: cover of The Other Me by Suzanne “Xan” van Rooyen. Two teenagers are shown facing forward, only half of each displayed. One has long, curly red hair and looks straight-forward, clear-eyed. The other has an asymmetrical fringe and a brooding gaze.]

An important note before I begin: the transgender POV character realizes they are trans over the course of the narrative. Since the character’s chosen name is a bit of a spoiler and only appears on the final page, I will use their previous name “Treasa” here. However, I will be using he/him pronouns for Treasa in my review.

Treasa feels like an alien at his all-girl Catholic school in South Africa. He doesn’t understand the girls there and even feels different from his female best friend. He’s obsessed with Resa, the alien male lead of a sci-fi show he follows, but does Treasa want to be with Resa or be him?

His confused feelings come to a head when Gabriel (who bears a striking resemblance to Resa’s actor) starts playing piano accompaniment at Treasa’s choir practices. Gabriel, meanwhile, is dealing with his own trauma and feels uncomfortable being held up as Treasa’s ideal.

I related a lot to Treasa’s connection with a fictional character and the way he explored his own identity via writing fanficton. Throughout The Other Me, Treasa is working on a fic in which Resa is romantically involved with Tristan, Treasa’s original character. Treasa projects a lot of himself and his developing relationship with Gabriel onto Tristan and Resa respectively. As someone who also first explored my gender through writing slash fic, I thought this was a really great characterization that’s not often seen, but a fairly common experience.

The writing in The Other Me is clean and the story is easy to follow. Treasa and Gabriel’s storylines are given equal weight (though I’ve focused a lot more on Treasa here) and their perspectives are distinguishable from the other. The pacing is good for the most part, though I thought the ending felt a little rushed.

If you like reading messy relationships and high school drama, this might be right up your alley. However, readers should expect the same kind of slut shaming and misogyny that they might also hear in the halls of a high school. Unfortunately, it’s not often challenged.

The story suffers from a “I’m not like the other girls” vibe. While such a feeling is a common experience among many AFAB trans and nonbinary people, it’s somewhat problematic here because the “other girls” in the book are a bit of a monolith. Thus, the concept of womanhood in the book is very narrow.

By and large, the female characters are feminine, straight, and at least a little catty-- the epitome of stereotypical teen girly girl. The book doesn’t really explore the many different ways there are to be a woman; Treasa just rejects the singular way presented. The only times that other types of womanhood are discussed are in passing and usually in the context of “why can’t you be like that instead of trans?” This likely echoes the experience of many AFAB trans and nonbinary people, but to me the narrative would’ve been stronger if Treasa were more aware of the options available for women and still stood fast in his identity.

One element that I thought was particularly well done was Treasa’s relationship with his mother. She is protective and reluctant to recognize that Treasa is an independent-minded teenager, not a small child. Their dynamic felt authentic, with a lot of raw emotion. The power struggle between them over Treasa’s bodily autonomy is likely to resonate with a lot of trans readers.

Something that people may struggle with is Gabriel’s father. It’d be generous to say that Gabriel and his father have been fighting since Gabriel’s mother’s death. It might be more accurate to say that his father is outright abusive. However, the story humanizes the father by revealing The Reason for his behavior. Despite this, I think most readers would still find his father’s actions unforgivable.

Gabriel doesn’t exactly forgive his father either. While it seems he may like to reconcile with his father eventually, his feelings on the matter are understandably complicated. I could relate to this storyline and the broken parent-child relationship felt realistic to me, but other readers may be put off by any attempt to explain or excuse abuse.

A final note: I feel wholly unqualified to comment extensively on the racial dynamics of a country that is not my own. That said, this book struck me as very white for a story set in South Africa, which is around 80% Black. Not to say there are no Black characters at all-- there’s a few minor characters, to my best knowledge-- and not to say that there aren’t plenty of books by white Americans guilty of the same issue. It’s just something that stood out to me, (along with the rather jarring line “I make like a Kenyan and sprint out”).

With all this in mind, if you are looking for a gay trans man coming out narrative and you are prepared to read through some challenging content, I think The Other Me is worth your time. Right now, it’s even available for free on Kindle Unlimited.

[queerbookdom]

Cover Reveal: My Name Is Magic by Xan van Rooyen

I have been graciously asked to help with the cover reveal of the second book being published by the incredible publishing imprint Tiny Ghost Press, My Name Is Magic by Xan van Rooyen. Tiny Ghost Press is a relatively new independent publisher which specialises in queer young adult novels with a spooky twist. Their first release, The Alpha’s Son by Penny Jessup, was published last February and…