Queer Liberation Ecopunk Fantasy with Lovable Cast, Slow-Burn Romance, and a Scary Deadly Gryphon
Hey Tumblr! I am a queer indie fantasy author and I think you're gonna LOVE my next book. If you're pissed about politics, this is the perfect fantasy that touches on some of the fascist ways queer folks are being targeted, with a cozy bow on top... if that makes sense.
Call Forth the Moonlight: A Magiqon's Guide to Gryphon Liberation stars Nico and Ackerleigh, two people leading very different lives in the country of Deubrise. Their fates become intertwined by the imprisoned gryphon Lux, and Nico and Ackerleigh fall for each other while they risk everything to secure Lux's freedom.
Did you know? You can sign up for a free ARC through BookSprout.
But that's not all. Literally, things are amping up as the April 4th release date nears.
Right now, you can head to my website and pre-order a paperback of CFTM which will come directly from me and include exclusive handmade goodies. You can also get your hands on some exclusive short stories by pre-ordering the ebook.
I'm telling you, this might be my favorite story from the last like, decade. Nico and Ackerleigh have really shaped into awesome, loving, and well-developed protagonists with the best neurodivergent rep I've ever done on purpose. The people around them supporting them are well-rounded and could be dropped into any of our lives and fit right in. They're allies at all points in their journeys showing up for the people they love. They're other queer folks, some of them brainy, others young, others old, others curvy, others being victims of abuse.
Ackerleigh and Genderqueerness
One of the most exciting things about this book is when I decided last June that Ackerleigh was genderqueer. He's not a twink, he's not a femboy, he's genderqueer. Plain and simple. He loves delicate fabrics and is a small, ethereal man who does NOT identify as a twink, and doesn't want to be treated like he's fragile or demure. He's a bold, opinionated, and dominant personality.
Ackerleigh identifies as a man, to a degree, but does not want to be constrained by masculinity. He can be soft AND masculine. He can be small AND dominant.
The boys and neurodivergence
As the drafts of CFTM developed, both boys emerged as strongly neurodivergent. Ackerleigh definitely has ADHD and autism whereas Nico is strongly autistic and has C-PTSD.
Ackerleigh is 27 at the time of the story and has his PhD, following the sort of single-minded determination as someone pursuing all the information they can in their special interest to an obsessive degree. He is routine-oriented and not highly social, but highly curious and at times impulsive or easily distracted or else extremely hyper-focused. One of Ackerleigh's most noticeable stims is rubbing his knuckle over his lip. He can have a short temper especially if his train of thought is interrupted or he can't complete a part of his routine. When agitated, his sleep schedule goes out the window and he is known to pace obsessively to the extent that he wears noticeable tracks in his floor.
Nico is 25 at the time of the story. He lacks any sort of grounded dreams for himself, something that I borrowed from my autistic husband - it's not from thoughtlessness or lack of personality, but from feeling like there's nowhere that you can quite fit and a significant lack of confidence in your own abilities. Nico is very sensitive to rejection and has many sensory sensitivities including being around too many people, wearing uncomfortable or scratchy fabrics, and having his hands or clothing wet or dirty. Nico also stims on his scar when he's nervous partly because he gets triggered and thinks back to when his sister nearly killed him accidentally and partly because he likes the smooth texture of the scar on his fingertip. Nico also experiences selective mutism when he's stressed and engages in head-hitting at times especially if he's angry at himself. Nico is overly apologetic and is quick to offer to fix his errors since he always assumes the error is his.
Anyway,
Thanks for staying with me for this long post and I hope you fall in love with Call Forth the Moonlight like I have!
