Category: Story Teaser

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Teaser for Adrian Harley’s “Many Drops Make a Stream”: Oops…

Exciting news, everyone! The pre-order campaign for Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley has hit the first stretch goal – we surpassed $4,000, and everyone who backs for a pre-order package will get a bookmark! We’re so happy. Thanks to all the backers who contributed to making this possible.

We’re also about a fifth of the way to making our next stretch goal, $5,000, at which point we’ll make a wooden pendant for pre-order package purchasers. So if you’ve been on the fence, there’s no better time than the present to order your copy, and get the book, the merch, and these awesome extras (that don’t cost backers a penny more to receive!)

Now, on to today’s teaser!

A boisterous crowd of blood mages came straight for Droplet and Azera’s table.

Azera has good people skills. Surely she’ll think of a way to get us out of this, Droplet thought.

Five minutes later, still in her seat, surrounded by blood mages, Droplet realized that Azera may have been relying on her to get them out of this.

Oops.

-excerpt from “Many Drops Make a Stream” by Adrian Harley

Read other teasers, get to know the author, learn more about the book, and more – check out our pre-order campaign now!

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“Many Drops Make a Stream” Excerpt: Meet Mr. Sunshine

Droplet, the main character of Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley (pre-orders open now!) is a shapeshifter who can take many forms. Last week, we met her goose form; today, we introduce her most intimidating dog form: Mr. Sunshine, who is a very good dog.

Droplet used the most intimidating dog form she had, more wolf than dog, her shoulder higher than Azera’s waist and mouth sporting a killer’s snarl. This was from a dog named Mr. Sunshine, who’d been so flattered by Droplet’s request to honor him by taking his form that he’d licked her whole head. But nobody needed to know that.

-excerpt from Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley

If you want to see what other creatures Droplet can become, why not pick up a copy of the book and meet ‘um all?

The pre-order campaign for Many Drops Make a Stream is only $100 from meeting our first stretch goal! There’s no time like the present to read all about it!

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Beware the Eyes of Sacarus: Excerpt from “Many Drops Make a Stream” by Adrian Harley

Pre-orders are open now through September 30th for Adrian Harley’s debut novel Many Drops Make a Stream, and we’re back with more excerpts!

In Sacarus, the people weren’t the only ones watching.

The Eyes of the City were not everywhere, all the time—much as the island enforcers would like them to be. But at any moment, a black-ink sketch of an eye could appear on any wall in the city, facing in or out. Watching.

You can learn all about Many Drops Make a Stream, pre-order your own copy, read more excepts, and more, by visiting our website! Take a peek now!

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“Many Drops Make a Stream” by Adrian Harley: Teaser Excerpt!

Many Drops Make a Stream, the debut novel by author Adrian Harley, will be available for pre-orders from September 15th through September 30th. Before the campaign commences, we’ll be giving you a flavor of the story with excerpts and teasers. Yesterday, we shared the cover reveal and the summary. Today, we share a taste of what Droplet is up against as she faces sinister blood mages. If they only used their own blood, that might not be so bad, but…

Every child was taught that blood magic only worked properly with a willing sacrifice—otherwise the spell warped and corrupted in ways even the best mages couldn’t predict. Willing and unwilling sacrifices were as different as summer and winter, in magical theory. But in practice, the definition of “willing” could be stretched. Bent. Manipulated. Much like people, really.

Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley

Pre-orders for Many Drops Make a Stream open on September 15th, 2023! Sign up for our mailing list to be sure you don’t miss out!

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: MouMouSanRen

We’re entering the final 48 hours of our crowdfunding campaign for Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers”! We’ve introduced 19 of our 20 authors. Meet the last (but most definitely not least) – MouMouSanRen!

Untitled by MouMouSanRen

About the Author: MouMouSanRen (she/her) was born and raised on unceded Matinecock territory in what is now known as Flushing, New York. She has been published in multiple non-fiction magazines including Polygon. Aim for the Heart is her fiction debut. She resides in her native Queens, practicing martial arts and taking care of her dogs.

Link: Twitter

Story Teaser:

“Her parents must have gone to Montana,” they whispered, some admiringly, some with fascinated pity. When New Yorkers fled the Eruption, it was to find something more than what the city could provide for them. Some had retreated to well-fed, well-off places like East Asia or Europe, or warm, spiritual places, like New Mexico. They were sometimes drier, sometimes colder, than New York, but they were good lots to end up with after fleeing the city. Only the poorest went someplace like Montana.

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New Patreon Backer Reward Story: “A Cup and Company” by A. J. Ash

Title: A Cup and Company

Author: A. J. Ash

Genre: Modern/Contemporary Romance

Rating: General Audiences

Relationship: f/nb

Character Features: barista, face blind, non-binary, graduate student

Tags: angst (minor), coffee shop, past tense, meet cute, pov third person limited

Teaser:

“Hello, and welcome to Corner Café!” exclaimed the barista. “What’ll it be today?”

“Just make me whatever,” Zoe grumbled in response.

“Oh,” said the barista, tone shifting from chipper to knowing. “One of those days, huh?”

This story is available to all our backers on Patreon right now! Become a backer, and happy reading!

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: Sebastian Marie

Duck Prints Press (the indie Press founded by fandom folks to publish the original work of fandom folks) is nearing the end of our current crowdfunding campaign to publish our next anthology, Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers”! Four days left til the Kickstarter ends, three creators left to spotlight, and a little over $3k to go to hit our first stretch goal!

Here, check out another story teaser, this one by Sebastian Marie! The tag line on this one, per Sebastian, is: THE MUSKETEERS IF THEY WERE HOT BUTCHES FROM FLORIDA. If that isn’t an elevator pitch to get your attention, I don’t know what is…

Pensacola’s Most Wanted by Sebastian Marie

About the Author: Sebastian Marie (he/him) is an engineering student with a penchant for writing off-the-wall fantasy, darkly comedic prose, and sickeningly indulgent short stories. He has a lot of opinions about dragons, pirates, and sword fighting. Track him down on Ao3 and he’ll share these opinions through fanfiction for various fandoms including BBC Merlin, The Mechanisms, and Our Flag Means Death. His original works often combine fantasy and dystopia into what he calls “queer fantasy hopepunk,” something that will be explored in his future novels. He loves to write conflicting traditional and non-traditional family dynamics, especially where they intersect with queer relationships. And if he can throw werewolves and brujas into the mix? So much the better. When not writing, frantically studying dirt, or reading, he can be found singing loudly, sewing impractical coats, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and going on long rambling walks while plotting stories (and occasionally falling into rivers).

This is his second time writing for Duck Prints Press, having previously contributed to She Wears the Midnight Crown. This brings his grand total of published works up to two! He’s looking forward to more, as soon as he gets some sleep.

Links: Archive of Our Own | Tumblr

Story Teaser:

“So,” Connie drawls, wrapping herself around Darcy, her wife of two days, as they enter their private dormitory. “You gonna explain to me exactly how you managed to get all those recommendation letters?”

Darcy is still riding the highs of A: marriage, B: watching an excellent con come to fruition, and C: as a direct result of that con, successfully enrolling in the New Pensacola branch of the Florida Academy for Fighting Arts (FAFA for the initiated) after a full year of waiting. She just smiles and wraps a hand around her wife’s waist. “Are you insinuating, Mrs. Batz, that there was foul play involved?”

“I know there was some funny business, Mrs. Batz, what with who your aunt and uncles are. I think I deserve the story.”

“Hey, I didn’t know they were infamous when they adopted me.”

“Story, now.”

“Okay, okay.”

We’ve got this whole story, and 19 other fabulously queer tales, AND a whole delightful pile of queerified musketeer art, in this anthology – don’t miss it! Visit our campaign page now!

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: E. V. Dean

There are only FOUR DAYS left on the campaign to fund Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” – it ends on Saturday, July 15th at 10:15 AM Eastern Time! This is a perfect moment to get your pledge in and make sure you get your copy of this awesome book and gorgeous merchandise. And don’t forget to peek at our add-ons – there’s a lot of great stuff in there, including the only opportunity we’ve given to buy print copies of our past anthology And Seek (Not) to Alter Me: Queer Fanworks Inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” (only six of this add on are left!) and the chance to buy items from the limited quantities of merchandise we have left from some of our past campaigns!

RUN, DON’T WALK (okay, wait…) CLICK THE MOUSE OR TOUCH THE SCREEN, DON’T AMBULATE, TO CHECK OUT OUR KICKSTARTER NOW!

And don’t forget to help us spread the word!

Anyway, onward. Today, for our fourth-to-last spotlight, meet E. V. Dean!

Heartbeat by E. V. Dean

About the Author: E. V. Dean is a writer with a decade of fanfiction writing under her belt. She’s embarking on her original fiction adventure with the angst tag kept within arm’s reach. Her favorite excuse not to write is watching Jeopardy.

Links: Instagram | Tumblr

Story Teaser: 

Athos cups Aramis’s jaw as he wipes the blood away with a wet cloth. He moves gently across his cheekbone, his hairline. His touch is as gentle as if it could cause agony, even though Aramis is deep in his slumber and he can’t grunt or flinch or feel a thing. It’s good, Athos tells himself. He’s not in any pain for a while.

Selfishly, though, he’d rather have his groans and screams than this uncertain silence.

He carefully wipes the blood from Aramis’s eyelid, so that when he wakes up, he can open both his eyes and focus them properly: on Athos, on his surroundings. On the world that is too close to slipping away from him. Athos makes sure there are no cuts around his eye, but luckily all of the blood came from the gash on his forehead. Aramis will be inconsolable about the scar, as if that small mark could make him any less beautiful.

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: Author Catherine E. Green and Artist Cris Alborja

There’s only a few days left in the campaign to crowdfund Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” – gosh, I can’t believe it’s almost over already. Here’s our last two-fer creator spotlight! 😀

Want to get a copy? Make sure you back before the campaign ends at 10 AM Eastern on July 15th, 2023!

Start your engines by Cris Alborja

About the Artist: I’m an illustration and comic artist from Spain. I’ve got a nursing degree, but I decided to pursue my passion. I have studied Illustration at EASD Pablo Picasso in A Coruña and comics at O Garaxe Hermético in Pontevedra. I have done cover art for an anthology called Infiniteca by Retranca Editorial and comics for Altar Mutante, Nai dos Desterrados, and Abraxas en Cuarentena fanzines, as well as in Gaspariño 21 by Retranca Editorial.

Link: Instagram

The Serendipity of a Late Train by Catherine E. Green

About the Author: Catherine E. Green (pronouns: xe/xem/xyr or they/them/their) is an agender person, one who’s had an on-again, off-again love affair with writing. Xe began writing when xe was a wee thing, when xyr other major pastimes were playing xyr mother’s NES and roughhousing with the boys next door. It’s only in the past few years that they have begun writing consistently and publishing their writing, fanfiction and original writing alike, leading to their first published short story titled “Of Loops and Weaves.”

Outside of writing, xe is a collector of books and sleep debt and an avid admirer of the cosmos. Playing video games, reading a variety of fiction genres (primarily fantasy, queer romance, and manga and graphic novels of all kinds), and working on wrangling their own personal data archiving projects occupy most of their free time. Xe has also started meeting up with a local fiber arts group and is excited to be crocheting xyr first scarf.

Story Teaser:

Oh, no. This is not happening.

Athos picks up the threads of Porthos’ insults. “One has to wonder if this is the same girl who gave me lip for interrupting her, frankly, dangerous stunts? Weaving sloppily through bunches of brand-new skaters, nearly bowling into several of them, and then acting like it was no big deal?”

“Excuse me?” Lottie replies, sharp and in disbelief.

Aramis starts in, “Or the girl who arrives late to tryouts—”

“It’s not my fault the train out of Gascony was late!”

“—and then proceeds to make a huge commotion thereafter. No doubt, a calm, polite conversation with our NSOs would have sufficed,” Aramis finishes, nonplussed.

“Don’t forget: this is the girl who insulted my plumage!” Porthos cries, gripping said rainbow-colored plumage to her chest.

Lottie raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me for mentioning it was a tripping hazard.”

“Like you’re one one to talk, girlie!”

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: Shea Sullivan

There is ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT in the crowdfunding campaign for Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers”! And we’re funded! Are you excited? We’re excited. We really hope you’ll keep sharing this around, as our base goal was only the beginning, and we’d love to get this awesome book into the hands of a whole mess more people. 😀

The campaign ends Saturday, July 15th at 10:15 AM Eastern Time – back now to be sure you don’t miss out on this debut opportunity to get this wonderful anthology!

Love and Graffiti by Shea Sullivan

About the Author: Shea Sullivan is a life-long writer living in upstate New York. As a late-blooming queer person, she enjoys writing about complex characters coming into themselves and finding comfort in being exactly who they are.

Shea’s day jobs in computer programming and middle management have molded her into the patient, sarcastic, big-hearted, frustrated human she is today, but it’s what she does outside the 9-5 that really excites her. When she’s not writing, she can be found painting, napping, making quilts, watching documentaries, and trying not to adopt more animals, usually with a cup of tea in hand.

Story Teaser: 

“When you think of me, what do you…?” I hardly know what I’m asking. I feel young, suddenly, more uncertain than I have in a long time. “Do you think I’m…?” Disconnected? Corporate? Boring?

Alix turns their head and I can just see them in the soft light through the window. They blink slowly, then smile. “Is it a two-for-one crisis Friday? She really got under your skin, huh?”

“Shut up,” I grumble, poking them in the side. “There’s just. I used to do more, when we were younger. I used to be more fun.”