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September General Imprint Releases: Three New Titles from Duck Prints Press

We’ve got three new short stories out September 28th 2023!

Title: A Ghost for Halloween
Author: K. B. Vimes

General/No Relationship, Family and Siblings, Ghosts, Mourning and Grief, Child Point of View

In the spirit of Color by Owl Outerbridge, The Offered Ones by A. L. Heard, and The Fairy Garden by Rhosyn Goodfellow, K. B. Vimes continues our authors’ tradition of writing compelling stories that explore the fears and hopes attendant with raising children in the modern world.

Halloween is Maggie’s favorite day of the year; she just wishes she knew why her parents hate it so much, why they always refuse to go trick-or-treating with her, why her mother spends the night drunk. At least this year, she’s found another kid to go with her. He’s strange, but Maggie will overlook a lot if it means she gets to have a friend.


Title: Be Not Afraid
Author: Nicola Kapron

M/M, Angels and Demons and the Apocalypse Oh My!, the Hardest Part of the Post-Apocalypse is Finding a Job, There’s Only One Bed (but the Roommate Doesn’t Sleep)

Nicola Kapron returns with her seventh story published with Duck Prints Press, this time exploring how “the end of the world” can mean very different things depending on one’s circumstances.

Tora survives the end of the world, and so does his sister, even though he can’t escape the niggling feeling that one or both of them shouldn’t have. Still, that’s not his immediately problem. No, he’s more concerned about his demon roommate and his odd-job daily gig.


Title: Commute
Author: Eliot Lovell

F/F, the Inherent Awkwardness of Sitting Together on the Train, WLW Disaster Flirting

Fluffy f/f is one of our most popular short story genres. Eliot Lovell’s debut story with Duck Prints Press joins our extensive catalog of works by such authors as A. L. Heard, Violet J. Hayes, Annabeth Lynch, and D. V. Morse. You can check out all of our f/f general imprint titles here.

Eloise intensely dislikes when she has to work in the city, not least because of the commute by train. But the longer the beautiful woman sits across from her in the facing row of seats, the more she starts to think maybe commuting isn’t so bad…


Also Now Available: The Summer 2023 General Imprint Bundle!

The Summer 2023 General Imprint Bundle Includes:

Usually $9.93, you can now get all seven of these stories for only $7.99! Come on over and check out a selection of what Duck Prints Press has to offer!

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5 Interview Questions with Adrian Harley

Many Drops Make a Stream features Droplet, a vigilante shapeshifter, assuming many animal forms while she takes on the corrupt powers-that-be of the fantasy world she inhabits. Today, the novel’s author Adrian Harley joins us to answer five questions about Droplet specifically and in the book in general!

Q: How did you build the world for Many Drops Make a Stream?

A: I’ve been writing in this world since I was 13, full of confidence, when my only guide for what showed up in my fantasy world was “What do I personally think would be cool?” I highly recommend this, it was great fun. The twenty years since then have been a slow process of asking myself questions, which has also been great fun. I asked myself things like “why does this world have half-human, half-animal hybrids?” and “what’s beyond that mountain ridge on the map?” This has resulted in dozens of story ideas, some of which are even drafted, and I hope a lot of them make it to final book form some day.

Q: Tumblr user definitely-not-a-shark asks, “There are so many wonderful animals that Droplet gets to shapeshift into! Which of them is your favorite form, and why is it the shark?”

A: Tragically, a shark form did not make it into the final draft of this book, so it cannot be a shark. I ended up with a surprise favorite form – I loved writing Droplet as a rat. The runner-up is Droplet’s goose form. I have a soft spot for geese. I find their total disregard for people and open hostility very entertaining. I started writing Many Drops Make a Stream before Untitled Goose Game came out, but that sort of aggressive commitment to upending order is something I enjoy writing.

Q: Following up on that, what animal would you love to write that you haven’t written yet?

A: Otters, definitely. Otters or some other kind of mustelid. That bounciness and playfulness would be quite a change of pace for Droplet, but we may see more shapeshifters who would be more at home in an otter form. I’d also like to write Droplet taking on a rabbit form, in homage to Watership Down.

Q: What was the first story you ever wrote?

A: Before I could write, I dictated stories about Land Before Time characters to my mom, who wrote them down for me so I could illustrate them with dinosaur stamps. I don’t remember the first story I ever wrote myself, but it was probably about a cat. I don’t even know how many magical cat stories I came up with as a kid.

Q: What are some hobbies you have outside writing?

A: I absolutely love being outside. I take a lot of walks, and I go on hikes as often as I can. I do my best brainstorming out walking in the woods, too. My main sedentary hobby is reading, closely followed by checking out books from the library that I do not read, which sit on my end table for a month before I return them.

Have you read about the Many Drops Make a Stream pre-order campaign? Have you read the free story opener included in the Duck Prints Press zine?

You have? Awesome! You must have more questions, then – and we’d love to hear ‘um. Comment or drop us an ask, and Adrian will answer you!

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Celebrate National Comic Book Day with Our Favorite Queer Comics!

I asked the Duck Prints Press contributors to name their favorite comics, manga, manhua, graphic novels, and the like, with queer rep…and it turns out, as a group, we really, REALLY love visual stories. So here, to join us in celebrating National Comic Book Day, have 42, yes, over forty, of our very queer favorites!

  1. Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed
  2. My Master is a Naga by darkchibishadow
  3. Nimona by ND Stevenson
  4. Always Human by Ari North
  5. On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
  6. The Tea Dragon Society by K. O’Neill
  7. Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley
  8. Fake by Sanami Matoh
  9. Only the Ring Finger Knows by Satoru Kannagi; art by Hotaru Odagiri
  10. Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu; art by Starember
  11. Global University Entrance Examination by Mu Su Li; art by E Zi
  12. Antidote by Wu Zhe; art by Cha Cha
  13. Fall in Mistaken Love by Hao Le Shen Wen Hua; art by Ba Keng
  14. A Moonlit Spring River by Bai Chuan Studio; art by Zhao Puling
  15. Wandering Son by Takako Shimura
  16. Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout by Yu Tsurusaki; art by Shin Ikezawa
  17. Moriarty the Patriot by Ryosuke Takeuchi; art by Hikaru Miyoshi
  18. Love Me for Who I Am by Kata Konayama
  19. I Want to Be a Wall by Shirono Honami
  20. Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Gus Allen, and ND Stevenson
  21. Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
  22. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
  23. Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
  24. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
  25. My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata
  26. Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnic; art by Taki Soma, Valentine De Landro, and Robert Wilson IV
  27. Fine: A Comic about Gender by Rhea Ewing
  28. Fence by C. S. Pacat; art by Johanna the Mad
  29. Patience and Esther: An Edwardian Romance by Sarah Winifred Searle
  30. My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame
  31. Given by Natsuki Kizu
  32. 10 Dance by Inoue Satoh
  33. Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani
  34. Boys Run the Riot by Keito Gaku
  35. Bloom Into You by Nakatani Nio
  36. The Crimson Spell by Ayano Yamane
  37. Black Wade: The Wild Side of Love by Franze; art by Andärle
  38. The Wicked and the Divine by Kieron Gillen; art by Jamie McKelvie
  39. Young Avengers by Kieron Gillen; art by Jamie McKelvie
  40. Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins by Matthew Mercer, Matthew Colville, and Jody Houser; art by Olivia Samson
  41. The Adventure Zone by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, and Travis McElroy; art by Carey Pietsch
  42. The Old Guard by Greg Rucka; art by Leandro Fernández

We LOVE Graphic Stories! Do you? How about queer ones? Tell us your favorites, we’re always looking for recs!

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Time is Running Out to Pre-Order “Many Drops Make a Stream” by Adrian Harley!

What is Many Drops Make a Stream? Why, it’s the debut sapphic fantasy novel by author Adrian Harley!

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 are open through September 30th, 2023!

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It’s Bisexual Visibility Day! Come See Duck Prints Press’s Bisexuals!

Earlier this week, we celebrated the start of Bisexual Awareness Week by sharing 18 books we’ve read and loved that include bisexual characters. Today, we aim to bring visibility to some titles that aren’t as widely known: our own! We’ve got three anthologies, two novels, and five short stories that feature explicitly bisexual characters. Learn all about ‘um now!

To Fill My Cup by Violet J. Hayes

“Here, Grandma, let me get you a stool.” Talia hurried to bring one from the other side of the island and helped her settle down into it. “Do you want a fresh cup of coffee?”

“No, dear, I’m fine.” One by one, her grandmother picked up each sweet potato. Her fingers were stiff with arthritis, the knuckles swollen. Talia wondered if she could get her plain gold wedding band off even if she wanted to. She turned each potato in her hands, murmuring as she did so. Talia knew she was doing math to calculate the number of servings, but it gave the impression of a sorcerer muttering an incantation.

I think my grandma might be a witch, she texted Rachael, and was surprised when her phone rang a moment later. “Hey, Rach.”

“Hey.”

It only took that single word for Talia to know something was off. “What’s wrong?”


Add Magic to Taste with contributions by 20 authors; five of the stories include bisexual characters

For Add Magic to Taste, 20 authors have come together to produce new, original short stories uniting four of our absolute favorite themes: queer relationships, fluff, magic, and coffee shops! Our diverse writers have created an even more diverse collection of stories guaranteed to sweeten your coffee and warm your tart.


A Mutual Interest by Alec J. Marsh

Tirsa stopped arguing with Jeromy after they reached the outskirts of the city, and by the time they’d made it to open countryside she had fallen asleep, snuggled against the window of the jeep under his coat. He didn’t mind her arguing, not exactly, but she was arguing against her own best interests. She deserved a weekend off.

The traffic grew thicker as they neared the army checkpoint into Kestilav Province, and Jeromy pulled to a stop. Tirsa didn’t stir, and her breathing whistled a little bit. Jeromy’s heart squeezed with fondness.


Commit to the Kick by Tris Lawrence

For eighteen years, Alaric has lived under the cloying politics of family and his Clan community. His freshman year is supposed to be a chance to explore a world where Clan and his shapeshifting Talent isn’t central to his life. But when his inner bear bursts forth during his first football game, endangering those around him, Alaric realizes that it’s not so easy to ignore his past, or his own internalized anger.

In his quest for anger management, Alaric begins to train in taekwondo, and makes new friends in both sports. He finds that he is creating his own small community, where Clan, Mages, other Talents, and even humans come together and build their own found family.

When Alaric receives news that something has happened to his brother Orson, he must return and deal with his Clan and his place in their world. He discovers that old prejudices are still strong between Clan and Mage communities, but that both may be in danger from a creature long thought to be only a legend. Alaric must figure out how to move forward and prevent a war and protect both his home and newly built communities, his found family with him every step of the way.


Bubble, Bubble by Sage Mooreland

“Punk, if you don’t get your rear end down here, we’re not going to be able to go!” Charlotte called up the stairs. “I thought you wanted to do three blocks tonight?”

There was a muffled thump, some child-friendly cursing, and then running feet. “Mama, gimme a minute! Dad’s fixing my costume!”


And Seek (Not) to Alter Me: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, an anthology with contributions by 16 authors and 16 artists; three of the stories include bisexual characters

In And Seek (Not) to Alter Me, 16 authors and 16 artists have come together to create an exquisite, full-color collection of artwork and stories inspired by William Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing. We encouraged contributors to stretch their imaginations, think outside the box, and put their own unique—and queer—twists on Benedick, Beatrice, Hero, Claudio, Don Pedro, and the whole gang! In true Shakespearean fashion, our creators utilize gender, sexuality, romanticism, and a host of costume changes to tell unique artworks and stories—some featuring original characters, some characters from the play—that show Shakespeare’s work in a whole new light.


A Glimmer of Hope by Nina Waters

Gregory Adalwin’s life ended the day in 1746 when his liege lord, Duke Haribert Schultheis-Königsmann, was murdered. With everything he’d spent a thousand years building in ruins, Gregory set out to wreak vengeance on those who had killed the Duke. He didn’t expect to survive. Yet, a century after completing his revenge, Gregory is somehow still breathing. He wastes his days in an alcoholic stupor, clothed and fed and housed at the sufferance of Teyrngar Gwehydd, once sworn to his service, now owed more than he can ever hope to repay. The only things that get him out of bed are the vodka that Mstislav Alkayev sneaks to him and the prospect of spending time with the beautiful pixie Yermolai Praskovya. No one remembers who Gregory is, no one knows him, and no one cares about him. After how Gregory failed his Duke, he deserves nothing more.

Or so he thinks, until someone tries to kill him, and Gregory is confronted by a stupefying question: who on earth could possibly give enough of a damn about him to want him dead?


In Which James Willoby Enjoys a Ball Far More Than One Should by A. L. Heard

It was halfway through the second dance when “the moment” finally came.

James caught sight of him at a distance, a familiar form lurking at the periphery of his vision. As he turned with the dance, James focused on that corner of the ballroom, locking eyes with none other than their host.

Haywood Keating was by all accounts a handsome man. Nearly ten years James’s senior, he exuded the type of charm and confidence only the wealthy could afford, coaxing smiles and earning admiration wherever he went. His dark suit, although perfectly tailored and pressed, was almost boring when viewed among the other gentry wearing their best, but the bright-purple cravat dotted with yellow paisley made him stand out all the same. His hair was longer these days, the dark strands beginning to curl but currently tamed; his footman must have pulled it back and fastened it with that vibrant-green ribbon that complemented his dark complexion. A sight to behold, as always.


He Bears the Cape of Stars, an anthology with contributions by 17 authors; three of the stories include bisexual characters

He Bears the Cape of Stars is one of our two paired masquerade-themed anthologies. It features 17 stories exploring mlm relationships developing, growing, and changing while the characters attend or participate in masquerades!

The collected works in He Bears the Cape of Stars feature men and masculine-leaning genderqueer characters, with a spectrum of sexualities, and these diverse individuals inhabit worlds ranging from a science fiction setting where everyone must be masked to breathe, to a fantasy world where no one wears a literal mask but everyone shows the world a false guise, to an iteration of the real world where all the characters truly want is to take their masks off and show the world who they really are. Our contributors stretched their imaginations to present innovative stories exploring what a masquerade can be…and, of course, tell rich, engaging tales of wonderful queer folk finding love, companionship, acceptance, the queer platonic relationship of their dreams, or the found family they deserve.


No One Right Way by R. L. Houck

Sometime a little past 9 p.m., Rachel swanned into the bedroom from the bathroom. She paused suddenly a few steps past the doorway. Nikkōka glanced up, noting she wore the shorts-and-T-shirt combo she normally donned for bed. Her mouth was pinched with anxiety despite her confident stance.

“I am horny, and I am going to get off,” she announced.


Did you know? You can read many of these stories RIGHT NOW, and claim the others as freebies, by becoming a support of Duck Prints Press on Patreon!

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Five “Top Fives” with Adrian Harley!

We sat down with Adrian Harley, author of Many Drops Make a Stream, their debut sapphic fantasy novel (pre-orders are open now!), so we could learn about five of their favorite things in five categories!

Read on to learn some more about Adrian—who knows, maybe you share some favorites!

Five favorite queer books

  1. The Locked Tomb series, by Tamsyn Muir
  2. Rust in the Root, by Justina Ireland
  3. Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir, by Akwaeke Emezi
  4. Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, by Ashley Herring Blake
  5. The Teixcalaan Series, by Arkady Martine

Five places you love to write

Here’s where I admit that I am very boring and write in one of two places: 

  1. My favorite chair inside the house
  2. Out on my porch

But someday I’ll change that! To round out the list, three places I plan to write:

  1. The cafe attached to the bookstore downtown
  2. Overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway
  3. The forest park near my house

Five writerly goals you have

  1. I’d love to write an epic high fantasy someday—one of those sprawling epics that goes for 500,000 words at least.
  2. I want to publish more books in the same universe as the Droplet series. I have a few drafted and many, many more plotted.
  3. I would like my readers to be inspired to write fanfic. If my fiction ever gets requested at Yuletide, I’ll know I’ve made it. If my fiction ever gets too big for Yuletide, I don’t even know what I’ll do.
  4. I’d like to write faster! Ideally, I’d like more hours in the day, but given the impossibility of time travel, I’ll settle for more words per fixed 24-hour day.
  5. I would like to always incorporate weird animal facts in some way.

Five works that inspired you to write Many Drops Make a Stream

  1. The Animorphs series, by K. A. Applegate
  2. Leverage (TV series)
  3. The original Abhorsen trilogy, by Garth Nix
  4. Thief of Shadows, by Elizabeth Hoyt, was the most direct inspiration. The romance channel in my slack group kept calling this book Regency Batman, and we’d discuss shifter romances, so the logical mashup of Shifter Batman popped into my head.
  5. Following on that, I think my fifth spot has to be the entire shifter romance genre, for making me go, “but why would you have them turn into just one animal?? You could have every animal! Why limit yourself?” This is before I realized I was nonbinary.

Five ideas you have for future books starring Droplet

  1. One of the first things in my notes for Book 2 was “BABY HEIST.” I’ll let you all guess what that means.
  2. Azera starts [Many Drops Make a Stream] having been jilted by her rich fiancée. At some point, that rich fiancée is going to need Azera’s help…
  3. Droplet’s old organization has been scattered across the world, but many of them are still working to take down the rich and powerful. An old friend will show back up in future books.
  4. There will be at least one murder mystery.
  5. Business people will learn more about shapeshifterkind, and nobody will be happy about this.

Thanks for your time, Adrian!!! And, dear person reading these awesome fave fives, don’t forget to check out the book!