Category: Artists

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Pre-Orders Now Open for “Many Drops Make a Stream” by Adrian Harley!

Pre-orders for Adrian Harley’s debut sapphic fantasy novel Many Drops Make a Stream are now open!

A memory-stealing cult.
The ever-watchful City of Eyes.
Making small talk.
Join Droplet as she faces all these horrors and more…

Vigilante shapeshifter Droplet has trained her entire life to take down those with more power than scruples, but she still makes mistakes. When a rescue mission goes wrong, a memory-stealing cult of blood mages escapes with kidnapped captives in tow. To save them, Droplet reluctantly teams up with the outgoing, tenacious Azera. Droplet knows better than to trust a human—she made that mistake once, and that person’s betrayal scattered her community across the known world—and she can tell Azera is hiding secrets behind her sunny smile. But if they can’t learn to work together, even Droplet’s own memories could be lost.

Many Drops Make a Stream, Adrian Harley’s debut novel, is the stand-alone first book in a series of related fantasy-mystery-heists featuring the shapeshifter Droplet and the friends and found family who work alongside her to fight the corrupt powers-that-be. Many Drops Make a Stream is rated general (adult) audiences and features shapeshifting shenanigans, a nascent f/f quarrelers-to-lovers pre-relationship, a wonderful extended cast of family and pseudo-family, necromancy and blood magic and spellwork (oh my!), and one (1) very angry goose.

For this campaign, we’re offering:

Better yet, you can get a discount by picking one of three bundles:

You can learn all about the book, the author, the campaign, and our offerings by visiting the pre-order page NOW!

Want a chance to win a trade paperback copy of Many Drops Make a Stream? Help us spread the word about this campaign by liking and signal boosting our posts on any of our platforms that including “sharing” functionality (such as Tumblr, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook), and you can get up to 4 entries per platform where you share!*

Campaign backers will also get bonuses based on the number of signal boosts our posts receive! All the social media links for sharing are on the linked pre-order page, so help us tell the world about the awesome book, and who knows – you might win a copy! (But only if we fund, ’cause we can’t afford to print the book if we don’t fund, so help us make sure people who want to buy The Awesome learn that The Awesome exists!)

*sweepstakes rules and conditions
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Meet the Merch! Check Out the “Many Drops Make a Stream” Extras

It wouldn’t be a Duck Prints Press pre-order campaign if we weren’t offering some absolutely awesome extras to go with your book purchase! When we open pre-orders for Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley TOMORROW, we’ll also be offering some merchandise – and you’ll be able to choose to buy a package that includes merch, or you can mix-and-match to get exactly what you want, or you can get just the book, if merch is just really not your thing. (You can preview the campaign deets here).

Wondering who Droplet is and why there are so many animals? This is a good moment for a refresher on the Many Drops Make a Stream blurb!

A memory-stealing cult.
The ever-watchful City of Eyes.
Making small talk.
Join Droplet as she faces all these horrors and more…

Vigilante shapeshifter Droplet has trained her entire life to take down those with more power than scruples, but she still makes mistakes. When a rescue mission goes wrong, a memory-stealing cult of blood mages escapes with kidnapped captives in tow. To save them, Droplet reluctantly teams up with the outgoing, tenacious Azera. Droplet knows better than to trust a human—she made that mistake once, and that person’s betrayal scattered her community across the known world—and she can tell Azera is hiding secrets behind her sunny smile. But if they can’t learn to work together, even Droplet’s own memories could be lost.

Shapeshift main character? A chance to show off lots of fun animal forms? Heck YES that’s the direction we went when planning out the extras!

So what have we got for you?

An enamel pin of Droplet mid-transformation from a tiger to her signature goose form, 2 in x 2 in/5 cm x 5 cm, with glitter in the background color, featuring art by Aceriee (Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter). (Manufactured by Alchemy.)

Goose!Dux, the Droplet books’ custom Dux, as a die-cut sticker approximately 3 in x 3 in/7.5 cm x 7.5 cm. Designed by Alessa Riel. (Printed by Vograce.) “Goose” is Droplet’s favorite form (for good reason!) so when Dux got decked out for this book, of course we designed a Dux-goose.

An art print of the front cover (8 in x 10 in/20.25 cm x 25.5 cm), featuring Roui Cris’s (Tumblr | Twitter | Artstation) gorgeous artwork of Droplet and Azera flying over Sacarus, the City of Eyes. (Printed by PrintKeg.)

Patreon-exclusive extra: a wooden coaster (4 in./10.25 cm circular) engraved with art TO BE REVEALED. (it. might be a goose. just sayin’. there’s a Theme.) The artwork is by Aceriee, and the coasters will be manufactured by E. Conway, who also works with DPP as an editor.

How do you get the Patreon-exclusive extra? Easy! You just have to do two things: 1. Back our Patreon at the $10/month or $25/month level; and 2. Support this campaign by buying at least one of the pre-order offerings.

We’ve also got some merch-related stretch goals – depending how much money the campaign raises, we may also make a bookmark featuring the front cover artwork, an engraved wooden pendant with the Eye of Sacarus (that’s the eye motif featured on the cover!), and a wooden key chain featuring Goose!Droplet. We really hope we’ll be able to make some of this merch, too.

There is only ONE MORE DAY until this pre-order campaign launches on the Duck Prints Press website. Are you excited? Cause we’re hella excited. <3

(btw, in case you’ve been wondering when tomorrow, I expect to make the shop listings live sometime in the AM, EDT, and to make all the related updates to the Pre-Order Page and announcements on our social media shortly thereafter. Also, hi, I’m Claire Houck/unforth, the book’s editor and owner of the Press. I’m handling our marketing for this pre-order campaign! Nice to meet ya. 😀 )

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Cover Reveal! “Many Drops Make a Stream” by Adrian Harley

Duck Prints Press is over the moon to share the cover for Adrian Harley’s debut wlw fantasy novel Many Drops Make a Stream!

A memory-stealing cult.
The ever-watchful City of Eyes.
Making small talk.
Join Droplet as she faces all these horrors and more…

Vigilante shapeshifter Droplet has trained her entire life to take down those with more power than scruples, but she still makes mistakes. When a rescue mission goes wrong, a memory-stealing cult of blood mages escapes with kidnapped captives in tow. To save them, Droplet reluctantly teams up with the outgoing, tenacious Azera. Droplet knows better than to trust a human—she made that mistake once, and that person’s betrayal scattered her community across the known world—and she can tell Azera is hiding secrets behind her sunny smile. But if they can’t learn to work together, even Droplet’s own memories could be lost.

Pre-orders for Many Drops Make a Stream open on September 15th, 2023!

Between now and the pre-order campaign’s launch, we’ll be sharing story teasers, getting to know more about Adrian Harley, revealing the campaign merchandise, and more! Want to make sure you don’t miss a thing? Make sure you follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter.

And, there’s an awesome, exclusive extra for people who support us on Patreon and back the pre-order campaign, so there’s no time like the present to become a monthly Duck Prints Press backer!

All credit in the world to the amazing Roui Cris (Tumblr | Twitter | Artstation) for their gorgeous work on this cover.

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: Jupiter V

We are on the cusp of the FINAL 24 HOURS of the crowdfunding campaign to publish our next anthology, Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers”! Our project is funded, we’re inching toward our first stretch goal, and we’re delighted to introduce you to the last of our creators, Jupiter V.

Jupiter is doing two interior pieces for the book, and is the creator of the 12-page comic! This teaser is for one of their sketches, not for their final piece. 😀

Where Hearts Cross by Jupiter V

About the Artist: Hailing from Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia (that’s in Canada), Jupiter V is an artist, musician, and creative crackerjack with a career spanning over a decade. Cutting their teeth designing award-winning gig posters, they’ve gone on to illustrate for film, graphic fiction, children’s literature, and more. At times, they have been caught painting murals at the circus (?!) and whooping their child mercilessly in Rivals of Aether.

Jupiter is currently toiling away at their next graphic work of fiction, Wizards 99k, as we speak.

Today is your last chance to back this awesome campaign, support independent publishing and queer creators, and get this amazing book and the accompanying exclusive merch! Don’t miss out – pledge to our Kickstarter NOW!

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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: Artist MidnightSilver and Author Rhosyn Goodfellow

We have 9 days to go, and Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” is 94% funded, and things are lookin’ great…and we still have 11 creators to meet!

Today, we introduce two more: MidnightSilver and Rhosyn Goodfellow. Take a peek at the teasers…

Affaire D’amour by MidnightSilver

About the Artist: I’m MidnightSilver (They/Them). I’m a freelance artist who specialises in fandom art, most often inspired by Supernatural the TV show, and I can usually be found illustrating stories for independent authors—my favourites are those that combine adventure/magic/horror with a boatload of feels! As a bi, non-binary, mixed-race person, I don’t believe in restrictive boundaries, and I love tales that highlight diversity and freedom of expression while at the same time incorporating the fantastical and magical elements that I fell in love with when reading stories as a child. It’s my aim to take all the many wondrous worlds and people with whom we visit when lost in book pages at 2 o’clock in the morning and to share them with you in visual form. It’s a project I never tire of pursuing.

Links: Archive of Our Own | deviantArt

Pierced Hearts by Rhosyn Goodfellow

About the Author: Rhosyn Goodfellow is an author of queer romance and speculative fiction living with her spouse and two dogs in the Pacific Northwest, where she is sad to report that she has not yet mysteriously disappeared or encountered any cryptids. Her hobbies include spoiling the aforementioned dogs, drinking inadvisable amounts of coffee, and running unreasonably long distances very slowly. She’s secretly just a collection of loosely-related stories dressed up in a meat suit.

Links: Personal Website | Instagram | Mastodon | Tumblr | Twitter

Story Teaser:

“The plan is simple,” Porthos tells d’Artagnan the next day. “We spar. You lose. Badly.”

“I don’t see how letting you win a few sparring matches will help.”

Porthos smirks. “Who said anything about letting me win? But you’re missing the truly brilliant part of the plan,” he continues. “If you’re injured, you can ask Athos to help patch you up.”

“Athos has patched me up more times than I care to count,” d’Artagnan points out. “How will this time be any different?”

“This time, you’ll be paying attention. You want to know if Athos returns your affections, and the fastest way to ascertain someone’s true affections is to ask for help tending your injuries. It works especially well with leg injuries,” he adds with a waggle of his eyebrows, “because you can ask them for help taking your breeches off.”

D’Artagnan frowns. “But I don’t have a—” He breaks off with a curse as Porthos drives a knee into his thigh, just below the hip. “Ow! Was that necessary?”

“Quit whining. It’s only a bruise. You’ll need several more if you want this to be convincing.”

Tags: age difference, alcohol use (casual), first kiss, friends to lovers, getting together, love declaration, m/m, meddling friends, pov third person limited, present tense, story diverges from the original work’s canon

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: Author Nova Mason and Artist Amalia Zeichnerin

We are 2/3rds of the way through our crowdfunding campaign for Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” – only 10 days left (we end at 10 AM on July 15th!), and we’re still $600 away from our goal! This is a great opportunity to support a small, queer-owned business with its roots in fandom, as we write and art and publish completely legal fanworks! HOW COOL IS THAT?

If you want to learn more about Duck Prints Press, our owner @unforth, our staff, and our contributors, you should visit our webpage.

If you want to learn more about this book and the people involved in it, you should visit our Kickstarter campaign page.

And, if you want to learn about today’s two awesome, spotlighted contributors, Nova Mason and Amalia Zeichnerin, you should read on…

Three of Hearts by Amalia Zeichnerin

About the Artist: Amalia Zeichnerin (she/her) lives in Hamburg, Germany. She is a disabled queer woman with a chronic illness and lives in a polyam polycule. Amalia mostly writes original fiction (SFF, cosy Victorian mysteries, Queer Romance) in German and has also one English Star Wars fan fiction on AO3, with one of her favorite shippings, StormPilot. Amalia also likes to draw and paint, especially fantasy world maps, character portraits, and sometimes also fanart. Amalia’s hobbies include pen-and-paper RPG and LARPing; these also have inspired some of her writing and artworks.

Link: Linktree

Paris-ish by Nova Mason

About the Author: Nova Mason spent a significant portion of her childhood fantasizing about dragons, spaceships, and other worlds. She is now, allegedly, a grown-up, with two kids, and more varied interests. Dragons, spaceships, and other worlds are still pretty high in the list, though.

Story Teaser:

D’Artagnan stared at the agenda in his hands and shifted against the uncomfortable metal folding chair. Somehow, it didn’t matter when they showed up to the HOA meetings; he and his friends always missed out on the good chairs.

The treasurer, Richelieu, was at that moment scowling and preaching about the evils of outdoor pests. He implored the members of the Paris Neighborhood Homeowner’s Association to ensure that they kept their trash under lock and key until at least 8 p.m. the night before trash pickup, as per the bylaws. D’Artagnan had to stifle a chuckle every time Richelieu said the word “Paris,” halfway between the English pronunciation and a strange faux-French accent. There was nothing Parisian about the neighborhood other than its name and that the ladies’ garden club wore berets and scarves to the annual summer cookout.

Tags: alternate universe, anxiety, break-up, character has a different gender than in the source material, character has a physical disability, getting together, m/m, modern, past tense, politics, pov third person limited

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: Amy Alexander Weston

Amy Alexander has contributed two pieces to the anthology we’re currently crowdfunding, Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers”! To see one, you’ll have to wait to admire it in the book. The other…

Mousquetaires de Marseille by Amy Alexander Weston

About the Artist: Alex, AKA foxymoley, (she/her) is best described as a jack of all trades, but practices digital art more than anything else. She just wants to make things and change the world for the better.

Links: Archive of Our Own | Instagram | Tumblr

Learn all about our campaign, and check out all the other awesome art and story teasers, by visiting our Kickstarter page!

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: Author Aeryn Jemariel Knox and Artist C

Another day, another two creators from Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” for y’all to meet!

untitled by C

About the Artist: A massive drinker of coffee and a lover of old TV shows and movies, C is a small-time concept artist and illustrator who likes to dabble in all things literature and history. When she’s not busy drawing and nodding along to Bruce Springsteen while researching the Kentucky Cave Wars, she’s trying to save up for grad school to become to a forensic artist so she can draw some more.

Link: Tumblr

Fast Times at Treville High by Aeryn Jemariel Knox

About the Artist: Aeryn Jemariel Knox first identified as a writer in second grade. With both parents involved in theater and a house full of bookshelves, they grew up surrounded by stories, and as soon as they could hold a crayon, they felt the urge to tell their own. In 2001, they discovered the wide and wonderful world of fanfiction; since then, they have gone by Jemariel in fandom spaces across the internet, engaging with their favorite media and communities in the best way they know. Previous fandoms include Harry Potter, Star Trek (The Original Series), Torchwood, and BBC’s Sherlock, but their most prolific writing and strongest community ties are in the Supernatural fandom. Now, nearly a decade after their last original fiction attempt, Aeryn is eager to explore the wider writing word.

A native of Portland, Oregon, Aeryn currently lives in the suburbs with their husband and 16-year-old cat. For a day job, they work as a tech writer and general paper-pusher for an energy drink factory. Their favorite stories, both to tell and to read, are stories about love, identity, and magic.

Links: Archive of Our Own | Tumblr

Story Teaser:

As the last bell rings, Dorian stands in an empty bathroom peering into the spotty mirror, fists against the cold ceramic edge of the sink. Three separate people want to decorate his face, all at the same time. He’s a scrappy asshole, but he’ll be lucky if he can get out of this as more than bloody pulp.

Whatever. He’s gotten this far on a devil-may-care attitude. Maybe if he can take the punk chick—Portia—the other two will fold. Athena hadn’t looked like the fighting type, and Leg-boy… that’s another story.

The others have already gathered by the time he finds the bleachers, the three of them in a loose clump under a banner proclaiming “Go Muskets!” strung across the back of the sagging wooden structure. The football team is practicing at the far end of the field, but the bleachers themselves are empty.

Portia catches sight of him first. “Look who didn’t chicken out,” she shouts, deliberately loud enough for his ears.

As one, the others turn to Dorian, who feels his legs turn to jelly and his stomach to ice. He should have expected this.

“You all… know each other?” he asks in a tremulous voice.

“Yeah. We freaks gotta stick together.”

Tags: alcohol use (casual), bullying, drunkenness, gay character, found family, friendship, high school setting, homophobia, homophobic slurs, homosexual character, lesbian character, m/m, misunderstandings, modern, pov third person limited, present tense, underage drinking

It’s a great Sunday to help support an anthology full of great stories and art! Come check out our Kickstarter now!

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“Aim For The Heart” Creator Spotlight: Jagoda Zirebiec

Today’s creator spotlight for Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” (the awesome fanwork-ful anthology that Duck Prints Press is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter!) has made three contributions to this anthology, creating two full-page art pieces for the book’s interior AND making the bookmark!

Meet Jagoda Zirebiec…

Bookmark:

This bookmark, 2 in x 9 in (5 cm x 23 cm), will be printed on thick paper in high gloss, will have contributor signatures on the back, and will have a shimmery gold tassel to accent the rich yellow and orange tones of the artwork!

We’re also giving you a teaser for one of Jagoda Zirebiec’s interior contributions – to see the other, you’ll have to buy the book!

Knight Commander by Jagoda Zirebiec

About the Artist: Hiya! I’m Jagoda or MizuShiba. I am a game dev artist currently working on a few unannounced titles. In my spare time I love to join collaborative projects like this, or charity Zines. This is my first project with DPP and hopefully not last!

I’m located in Poland and currently live here with my family. Aside from art, I’m interested in collecting dice and playing ttrpgs with friends.

Links: ArtStation | Tumblr | Twitter

Our Kickstarter is SO CLOSE to being funded – so come on over, learn all about it, appreciate this creator and our others, and maybe grab yourself a copy…