Welcome to She Wears the Midnight Crown and He Bears the Cape of Stars, two brand-new anthologies that share a common theme – masquerades – but tell different types of stories – wlw in She Wears the Midnight Crown and mlm in He Bears the Cape of Stars. These collections are the latest titles from Duck Prints Press, the indie publisher founded by fans to publish original works by fan creators, and they’re crowdfunding NOW, only on Seed & Spark!
Curious about the collections? Well, here’s a sneak peek of the works of two of our creators!
She Wears the Midnight Crown Contributor Spotlight: Lacey Hays
Biography: When Lacey isn’t dreaming of the stars or magical worlds, she can be found stomping around in the wild areas of Northern Oregon with her wife and son, or sipping on a coffee with her trusty notebook and fountain pens. Her writing journey began in the Star Trek: Voyager fandom and has continued for over two decades. At the moment, she’s plugging away at her first novel—a world that’s taken twenty years to come to life. Lacey is eager to continue sharing diverse stories set in dark, but hopeful, worlds.
Links: Tumblr | Instagram | Twitter | Royal Road | Wattpad
Story Title: Facets
Teaser:
“These are far from simple.” The woman picked up a mask of shimmering emerald with golden feathers and faceted obsidian jewels bordering it. From the top hung a veil of Xxisan silk lace (Demi had sewn it herself in the floral patterns of the Naysan people). It’d taken a few weeks to complete the mask, and it was one of Demi’s favorite pieces. “You might not be the best diplomat, but you’re a wonderful artist. This has tech built in?”
“Yes. The sparkles on the veil are nano holo-projectors. When you wear the veil, each nano holo project a single pixel. Working together, they can change your appearance; you can give the impression of being a fairy, or that you’re glowing from within, or enhance your cosmetics – or make you look like you’re wearing them when you’re not. You can even appear to be another species, though I encourage my clients to present as mythological beings over known beings.” Was she talking too fast? Going on too much? “It’s fully adaptable to movement, too. You could perform an entire ballet and the image would shift and move with you and your facial expressions.”
The woman’s eyes lit up with the flames of an active imagination, and a smile tugged at the corner of her full and very pink lips. A thrill bolted through Demi’s heart, straight down into her stomach. It had to be the thought of selling such a treasured piece, right? She definitely wasn’t experiencing another lightning attachment to a one-off customer at the sector’s largest craft fair. That never ended well.
He Bears the Cape of Stars Contributor Spotlight: M. K. Mads
Biography: M. K. Mads has been writing stories since she was seven years old. While she is most prolific in fanfiction and has works scattered among more than a dozen fandoms, she has been making strides into original fiction. Her favorite genre to read is romance. When she isn’t reading, writing, or falling headfirst into a new fandom, she can be found baking, walking, doting on her niblings, or playing Pokemon Go.
Story Title: The Date & Dasher
Teaser:
If only he had some way of making this whole process go faster so he’d have some hope of making progress. Like…go on a dozen dates every day—maybe even twice that. Be have to be on every single dating app in the area and have a dozen profiles on each one. He’d have to—
Theo stopped and raised his head, blinking vacantly at the movie posters on either side of his lone bedroom window.
Who said he couldn’t?
People would see what they wanted to see. There was no reason itthat wouldn’t apply to online pictures, too. It’d probably be the fastest way to clear out a ton of people.
He fumbled for his phone and called Brian.
Brian picked up on the first ring. “Hey, man, what’s—”
“I have an idea,” Theo cut in. “And I’m going to need your help.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
Intrigued? You should be! But, if you want to read the rest of these stories you’ll need to back our campaign, running now through July 14th, 2022!