Yellow Spring Flower Fields
or Indie April!
Hello friends,
I hope you are doing alright.
Travelling a lot by train means my hours are spent stealing glances at the fields rushing past. They shine as bright as if the sun fell down and tinted them in primary yellow. Burning them not in destruction but in colour.
There is never the option for me to stop, but I know that those fields must be filled with chubby bumblebees doing their endless precious work
Despite the allergies, I really love spring.
Let’s get into the month, grab yourself a cup of tea and tell me what you were up to in April…
Writing
While Project Winter pauses for more pressing matters, I have fun news to tell you.
Prometheus
From now on you can download the teaser of Prometheus here and check out a snippet from every story in the anthology. Get to know our writing and style before the book comes out in October. And while you are at it, you could save the Backerkit to help us be visible before the campaign starts.
I genuinely love this project so much and have met amazing people through Snakeskin Press.
Carved by Water
My characters got proper faces for the first time ever. Icarus did an amazing job, and I’m already thinking about what I could commission next. Check out their art on here and leave a follow.
It is so surreal to see the characters I wrote all lined up, with faces and all, their personalities at display…
Art
Markets
The Aplerbecker Kunstmark is on the 3rd of May, and I’d love for some of you to drop by. It has been a real marathon to finish all the illustrations in time, and as always, done is better than perfect (I’m still learning this one).
Shop
On a whim, I finished my new shop. I’m off Etsy now, and you can find me on Ko-Fi. I’m so happy it all worked out and that I don’t have to pay horrendous fees anymore. You can even pay with PayPal, which for some obscure reason never worked on Etsy. We are wild and free now.
Reading
I have never read so many indie books in a single month, and I can genuinely say there was not a single bad book among them. The logical consequence is to make April into Indie April
INDIE APRIL
Sommertime Blossoms by S. Jean
An achingly beautiful botanical body horror meets romance in just a couple of pages. The blossoming of people and the devotion of the characters to each other made up a wonderful reading experience.
In All My Dreams I Drown by I. C. Arus
We always knew that some kids with bikes and access to a library could go further than any local authority. The Forest Demands Its Due meets Stranger Things vibes in this ghostly YA horror novel, where adults tend to disappear for no apparent reason and everyone in the small town looks the other way.
Where the Tides Meet by Elijah Her
I'm new to the monster romance subgenre, but the cover and the Little Mermaid premise got me. Later, when it was revealed on the first page that lanternfish companions were a thing, I was sold. All jokes aside, it was really good.
Mazarin Blues by Al Hess
Mazarin Blues combines a futuristic dystopia with a 1920s Art Deco subculture, including secret meetings at the local speakeasy. After finishing, I set out to obtain all the works in the Hep Cats universe and will now binge them all.
Tied to Heaven by Vee Debras
A gentle, powerful and loving queer awakening before a Catholic conservative backdrop. I was surprised by its tender and strong emotions. It felt as if way more happened in these few pages. And I'm eager to read more of this universe.
Stories From the Deep by Claudie Arseneault
The Chronicles of Nerezia #4
It's always nice to come back to these novellas, as they are like a cosy comfort blanket. You sort of know how it's going to go, but you sort of don't. You can just relax and enjoy the ride on a sentient waggon.
Silver Blood by T. L. Morgan
Silver Blood doesn't hold back and starts throwing emotional punches right from the dedication. It was the perfect vampire book I didn’t know I needed this month. It is a chonker, but not a page too long!
Skin Deep by Marie Blanchet
There is a soft spot for selkies in my heart. I can do nothing about it. They are my favourite fantasy/mythological creatures. It is no surprise that I loved following Louison on her undercover job on land, slowly discovering more than just what she came for.
April Wrap-up
Mazarin Blues by Al Hess
Summertime Blossoms by S. Jean
Tied to Heaven by Vee Debras
In All My Dreams I Drown by I. C. Arus
Stories From the Deep by Claudie Arseneault
An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
Silver Blood by T. L. Morgan
Skin Deep by Marie Blanchet
Where the Tides Meet by Elijah Her
The Unfathomable Curse by Courtney Smyth
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
TBR: 42
well…
Watching
Lidia Poët
I stumbled across this show completely by accident and fell in love. I fell for Lidia’s clothes and her badassery at the same time. She isn’t allowed to be a lawyer, but she fights against all the men, the sexism and the laws against her, and proves them wrong again and again.
What a month.
There was so much happening behind the scenes that I will only be able to tell you bit by bit in the next newsletters. But life is on an upwards trajectory. Maybe because we are approaching summer, maybe because a freedom has gripped me I didn’t know I could have.
I hope you could enjoy some of the little things this month as well.
Love,
M.K.