So, The Book Bazaar Summer Bonanza is FULLY FUNDED NOW!
Yes! All eleven projects have been funded, and y'all, I can't tell you how happy and excited I am! We're a group of indie authors and small presses consisting of a lot of marginalised folk, so it's awesome to see the support!!
We only have eight more days to go in the campaign, and there are STRETCH Goals to meet!!
The awesome Spooky Pickle had interviewed me about this project that you can check out here!
Since the memes are formatted weird, here are those for your entertainment!
Alexander: So what do you do? Lucas: I work in genetic research, and I’m currently trying to eliminate all Cancers. Alexander: Wow, impressive. Lucas: Then I’ll move on to Leos
.
Niek: I think I’m having a mid-life crisis. Irene: You’re like 15 years old Niek: I MIGHT DIE AT 30!
Daniele: I’m going to take you out Alexander: great, it’s a date! Daniele: I meant that as a threat. Alexander: See you at five!
Niek: Hey, Alexander? Can I get some dating advice? Alexander: Just because I’m with George doesn’t mean I know how I did it.
Lucas: I know you snuck out last night, Niek. Alexander: Play dumb! Niek: Who’s Niek? Alexander: NOT THAT DUMB!!!
Lucas: Why is Amir so sad? Zain: They took one of those “Which Character Are You?” quizzes Lucas: And…? Zain: They got Alexander.
Alexander: Good responses for being stabbed with a knife? Lucas: Rude. Amir: That’s fair. George: Not again. Daniele: Are you going to want this back?
Alexander: Okay okay stop asking me if I’m straight, gay, bi, whatever. I identify as a FUCKING THREAT.
Alexander: I’d like to offer you moral support, but I have questionable morals.
Ngl, I have a whole file full of memes for characters from various books (mine, that is)
I have been writing a lot of fanfiction since I finished revisions for Blade Reforged, giving my brain a break from serious stuff. Fanfics are fun! These days, I write fanfics for the MDZS and SVSS fandoms. I'm a die hard Jiang Cheng and Shen Jiu fan and I'm wholeheartedly dedicated to giving those bois some happiness!
I'm also reading a lot of danmei these days, and man, I really like some of these! There are a lot of problematic relationships, but there are also some rare ones where you just keep rooting for the main couple from the get go and the relationships are just awesome. In most of these, what I like best is, even when the romance is important, it's not the only thing that matters. There's a plot that's not just there for the purpose of bringing those two together, which I like very much.
Pluto has been not very well, these days; she got a fungal infection, but it's clearing up, thankfully. This is an old pic of her sleeping on my Thousand Autumns box set.
Clearly, I need to get more box sets. (Ignore the extremely messy room, please!)
Fuck GenAI. I hate it being inserted into everything for no reason, like man, read the room, we don't want your planet burning plagiarism machine or its hallucinations.
I hope to hire my artist for some human made character art, but it all depends on meeting my stretch goals, so y'all, please, pretty please, back my project while there's still time!!
Week 2 has started on the campaign, and can you believe 8 out of 11 projects in The Book Bazaar are already funded? Even the ones that aren't funded yet are getting closer!
The other day, I was thinking of how this series took shape in my mind. When I started writing the first book, I had no idea how it would turn out, or even that it would be a series.
The first draft was finished in three weeks in 2018, and when I started writing, I only had a rough idea of a morally grey immortal MC, a child, a journalist, and a tyrannical regime. Everything else came about as I started writing.
I am a pantser, have always been, so finding the story as I write was not something new. What was new was this was only the second original book I was writing.
Before this and The Deathless Ones, which was the first, the only books I’d written were based on Hindu mythology, so writing something wholly original was a relatively new experience. Writing Sci Fi was completely new. Even with all the research I did, I wasn’t sure if I got anything right, but my alpha readers, one of whom was a doctor and the other a researcher in genetics, both reassured me. Their enthusiasm went a long way in creating this series.
When after three weeks of frenetic writing, the first draft of The Elitist Supremacy was done, I was astonished. Because the story wasn’t done, and I had to face the fact that I may have started a series without meaning to. Also, because I finished it so quickly.
While I let it simmer, I started working on other original works, before I started on a round of edits and finding betas. I joined critique groups, had my work torn apart by discerning eyes, learned both how to take and give feedback, and learned more about the business side of indie publishing.
In a way, writing this book is what launched my career and what made me the writer and person I am now. It's also only the second book I published under my Niranjan pen name. The first book, Blue, was a novella, so this one was actually my debut under the new pen name.
This July will be six years since the original publication date of July 2020. It feels the perfect time for a makeover. I have grown as a writer since writing this series. The craft of writing improves with efforts to learn and practice, so the strides I've made as a writer since is only natural.
Have a look at the cover ideas I had originally (at that time, I hadn't started thinking of another pen name either)
There are a lot of things I would have done differently about these books, about the covers, the marketing, even finding an editor, if I was doing it now.
But the one thing I won't change is the story or the characters and their dynamics. No matter how imperfect, they are, I love them as they are. This book represents the best of me at the time, and it was with both immense joy and pride that I brought this project before y'all.
Having it fund quickly only made me even more happy and proud of this venture and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. You're all awesome and I adore y'all.
But there are more queer projects that need your support this month, including the awesome Space Wizard Fantasy. I have nearly all books published by them because they're awesome.
With the state of the world currently, queer folks and other marginalised creators need their voices heard more than ever, and Space Wizard Science Fantasy is one avenue for them. They're so close to funding already, so just need a little push!
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/space-wizard-science-fantasy/space-wizard-science-fantasy-year-5-part-1
We also have Prometheus, a Queer Futuristic Horror Anthology featuring stories with a diversity of representation from 16 authors who all come under the LGNTQIA+ umbrella.
Common Bonds 3 is an anthology of aromantic stories. Aro people and stories often get lost in the void, and this anthology is an attempt to bring those voices to the fore.
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/claudie-arseneault/common-bonds-3-an-anthology-of-aromantic-sff
Black Hole Guns for Hire is bringing out a special edition of a a queer military sci fi novel, with an audiobook voiced by various queer artists, and a hard cover with sprayed edges and a paperback.
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/is-friday-productions/black-hole-guns-for-hire
Aloe is Book 2 in the Tales From The Night Garden series, an LGBTQIA+ contemporary dark fantasy following two ace-spectrum, nonbinary leads.
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/artemis-quinn-and-auden-eris-everen/aloe-tales-from-the-night-garden-vol-2
As a queer person of colour, representation has been hard to come by while I was growing up, so much so that, I came to terms with my sexuality and gender in my forties. I remember bursting into tears after a friend told me about certain gender identities which I realised was what I was.
I come from a country where being queer was a crime till very recently. Even though that is no longer the case, there is still a stigma against queer people by a large part of the population. I remember even my mom was unhappy with The Elite and the Rogues because it is queer, even though she loved the story.
Representation is life. To every queer child, adult, and young adult, we need these stories in the mainstream. This pride month, remember all we have gained and the attempt to destroy our hard won rights. Supporting queer and marginalised creators and stories is also a way of protesting against an establishment that wants to sweep us under the rug.
We're 110% funded already!! And we have 30 days remaining in the campaign!
Just a reminder that all early bird backers will get a cool badge as well as two of my books as rewards.
All returning backers will get an exclusive short story in epub form. Likewise, all those who followed before launch and backed will get another exclusive short story in epub form.
So, in addition to the usual backer rewards, there are a lot of incentives for backing the campaign!
I've fallen sick with sore throat and fever and am in bed having chicken soup as I type this. Going to spend the rest of Sunday being a vegetable.
Hope you're all having a better day than me because being sick sucks.
Take care of yourselves and stay safe and don't forget to take a look at the other awesome projects on The Book Bazaar Summer Bonanza!
