Presenting And Seek (Not) to Alter Me: Queer Fanworks Inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”
Duck Prints Press has launched our second Kickstarter, running now through April 14th, 2022 – And Seek (Not) to Alter Me, a gorgeous collection featuring the work of 16 authors and 16 artists in a full-color, A4 size soft cover size-style book!
Today, we’re highlighting 2 more of our authors…
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Author Spotlight: Nicole Wilkinson
Biography: Nicole has been publishing her writing for the public since she first stumbled into fanfiction back in 2007, when a college friend introduced her to the concept through the world of Final Fantasy VIII slash fiction. Since then, it’s been a roller coaster ride straight through dozens of fandoms, eventually leading to original content published through a variety of means. She’s in her mid-thirties, uses she/her pronouns, and more recently has discovered an intense affection for playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Links: Archive of Our Own | Tumblr | WordPress
Story Title: A Skirmish of Wit
Tags: fantasy setting, masquerade, polyamory, sexual harassment (mild)
Teaser:
“It’s not going to work,” Madeline fretted but a few hours earlier. She glared at their costumes, the heavy silks, and the limiting gaze of the masks. Every inch of her muscled frame was tense with displeasure.
Madeline takes their safety seriously, and the idea of being unarmored and unarmed in the midst of a fraught situation forced her usually sunny facade into a twist of discomfort.
“You’re both at least a head taller than me,” Madeline pointed out, and though her observation wasn’t wrong, it was nothing a little magic couldn’t fix, as Rae reminded her.
Magic couldn’t make Madeline’s stout, muscular frame match the tall, reediness of Hyacinth, or the soft and round curves of Rae, but it could convince curious eyes that there were other, more interesting things to observe.
Madeline gnawed on her worry where Hyacinth was all logic. “There will be so much spellcraft in the air, no one will notice a minor transmutation. Over half the attendees will indulge in illusion if only to seem more desirable.”
“It’ll work,” Rae assured Madeline. She took their hands in hers, tried to warm Hyacinth’s chilled fingers with her own, and swallowed a wince as Madeline squeezed back, a touch too strongly. “I love you both and this will work.”
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Author Spotlight: Juno Caster
Juno is a queer woman in her thirties living in France; she teaches ESL and English literature. She’s been involved in fandom, mostly through writing fanfiction, for twenty years—first on forums and privately hosted websites, then on LiveJournal and FanFiction.net, and now on Tumblr and AO3. She’s mostly into Asian dramas these days; other interests include foreign languages, true crime, and coffee.
Links: Twitter
Story Title: Good Men and True
Tags: modern setting
Teaser:
Next to his partner (in every sense of the word) Verges appeared deceptively unremarkable. He didn’t possess Dogberry’s muscular bulk; instead, he was tall and wiry. His uniform fit him perfectly, and while it was a little creased from having been worn almost a whole shift through, it still looked as neat as the rest of him. He always kept his hair close-cropped, his cheeks clean-shaved; he would have looked austere were it not for the way his blue eyes shone, gentle and observant, from behind his silver-rimmed glasses.
He smiled at Dogberry, who was making a show of savoring his first sip of coffee, then turned his attention back to Margaret.
“You’re looking very sharp.”
“Thank you.”
“Today’s the day, right?”
“Today’s the day.”
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