Author Rohan @rohan-oduill-author - Tumblr Blog

Wake Up!

Heyyy this is an announcement of the next installment of the novella series, SEASONS. WAKE UP! is the winter novella and all my books deal with queer and trans themes, but WAKE UP! is my book with the most explicitly trans characters/concerns. This story in particular is about gambling.

It's an unconventional trans-noir literary (???) thriller, following a middle-aged-ish trans lesbian at an uncertain point in her life. Her lot gets thrown in with a compulsive gambler; a dirtbag trans dude who worships a strange photograph and doesn't give a fuck about anyone, or anything beyond making a killing off of illegal underground games. Not long after she reluctantly takes him in, she is abducted one night to witness him play in a dangerous, high-stakes match.....

If you like a shorter read with trans characters where their transness is not the main tension of the story, if you're one of the five people on the planet who are like FINALLY THE TRANS MAHJONG THRILLER I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR, or if you know nothing about mahjong, and crave something a little more unpredictable with Lynchian elements, give it a go! The book will come out March 31st and is available to pre-order as a special-print paperback, a cheaper mass paperback. Once the book is out, the ebook will be free on Itch. <3 Thanks, all!! ^^

Preorder Sign up for free ARC Add on Goodreads

zillanovikov

It's your friendly neighbourhood Zilla, here with questions for parents. All you millenials who joined tumblr in your teens and now have kids who must never see your tumblr account, this is your time to shine.

The OG Sad Bastard Cookbook was designed for sad adults. Then our friend Rohan O'Duill, former head chef for a bunch of daycare centers, in charge nutrition for scores of kids, had a baby. He discovered that even the chillest guy will turn into a Sad Bastard when he gets zero hours of sleep raising a small poorly domesticated beast.

The Sad Bastard Cookbook For Burnt Out Parents will focus on babies and toddlers.

We need to know - what sections do you want to see?

Please reply/reblog with ideas! We will take NOTES and you will INFLUENCE THE FINAL BOOK.

Our ideas so far: - nutrition - chewability - snacks - desperation meals - how to control junk food from nana (this is one sentence long and says “you can't”) - creating a positive experience around food - you haven't failed your kid forever because she ate a chocolate bar sandwich for dinner - cool recipes that don't fit in other sections

MOAR IDEAS PLEASE TELL US WHAT'S MISSING

bryszket

I want to give a big old wet salty nasty barnacle-encrusted CONGRATULATIONS to @martennorr -- his novel, DEMON ENGINE, published by us earlier this year, has been nominated for five Indie Ink Awards!! <3333333 If you read and enjoyed DEMON ENGINE, it would be an incredible help if you went and voted for it in its nominated categories, as this is a vote-based award! This is a totally free way to help this book get some more visibility. ^^

How the Indie Ink Awards work: Nominated works get voted on by fans, and the top 10 books receiving the most votes in each category go on to be read by a panel who make the final call, based on their impressions of the text X the amount of votes the book has received.

DEMON ENGINE is up for the following awards: Best audio narration, Best friendship, Best setting, Writing the Future We Need: LGBTQ+ Representation, Writing the Future We Need: Trans or Nonbinary Representation

Okay, but what is it? DEMON ENGINE is a nautical t4t dark fantasy following Sally Delavega, a talented, washed-up sea-demon binder who must work together with the Navy that destroyed his life for that One Final Job. What is the hated Navy using as their carrot? The financial means to finally banish the hundreds of ghosts nonstop screaming in his head...

It's sad, it's sick, it's funny, and If you haven't had a chance to check this book out yet, it's also reduced for the rest of the month, both on our Itch and Payhip site, and the audio especially, narrated by the author himself, is fucking fantastic. If you want to review it, and/or see if you like it enough to vote for it, but don't have the cash, I am happy to send you a copy if you shoot me a DM. <3 I really hope some of you will go check out this book, and if you already have and enjoyed it, vote for it in the categories you think it is deserving. <3

Thanks, all!!

martennorr

here, have even more information!!!

bryszket

OH NICE!!! Here are some great pics by the author himself, with more info. <33333333

zillanovikov

merr crismas

this crismas give them the gift they really want ... a link to a free download of a cookbook with advice on how to survive sad bastardom

https://traumbooks.itch.io/the-sad-bastard-cookbook

timrousbeastie

Non-joke addendum:

The Sad Bastard Cookbook is a real thing and it’s free on the internet, for anyone who needs, or knows someone who needs, food ideas for when they’re low on energy or motivation or otherwise having a tough time.

bryszket

New Store!

I've been going through some things lately and did not really have the energy to address the Itch Issue (there's an off joke in there somewhere), but now I've had some time to go and look. None of our titles have been affected, which is miraculous, as having seen their new guidelines, many would be eligible to be axed. I am not sure if it is only a matter of time before our store is affected, so I've taken steps to open a new store over on Payhip. I had actually been approached by them when Gumroad folded, but at the time, I was happy with Itch and didn't want to dilute our authors' traffic. Also I wanted to be loyal, or something. But when you're dealing with sex (fictional or not), it's always only a matter of time before someone somewhere gets their thong in a twist and someone else (who probably doesn't even give a shit), decides that acquiescing to the annoying person(s) is less painful costs less than telling them to go gargle some balls. *sigh* It just makes me mad for the people who quietly want to distribute their work in peace.

In light of all that, I've started a new store for all of the tRaum authors over on Payhip. I have no idea how long this store will last or if Itch will pull their head out of their ass, but for the time being, here it is. If you are looking for an alternative to Itch-IO for downloading all of our authors' works, here it is!! I am also running a VERY SHORT sale (just a few days!) so grab them books cheap while you can. <3

We're a tiny trans press based in Germany, and our niche is no niche--from Gothic horror to genre-bending fantasy to scratchy modern lit, we

Also just like, look at how juicy and nice the new store looks. : O

As for Itch, I'm not going to shutter that store for now. We have so many connections on there and who knows, maybe they will even do the right thing get pressured into doing the right thing. I understand and agree fully with why people are angry and disappointed with Itch--I also understand people who will keep using it (and will be someone who will keep using it).

But we do have an alternative non-mainstream store now, and we hope that some of you will check it out. <3 Some of our books are (as always) free, and all of our books (including our newest release, the audio book for @martennorr 's Demon Engine, are 50% off.

That's it and peace out~ Reposts appreciated! <3

zillanovikov

what if we kissed while sinking a billionaire's yacht?

MY FRIEND DID A THING

her story is about queer orcas eating the rich and it's in an antifascist anthology of lots of other stories that are also pretty great

the anthology launches today, if you to snag a copy (snog a copy?)

AND the kickstarter for volume 2 is almost fully funded! Get a hard copy of Vol 1: What If We Kissed While Sinking a Billionaire's Yacht, pre-order Vol 2, and gets tons of amazing swag. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dontreadthisbook/antifa-lit-journal-volume-2

If you are an author, poet, or visual artist, submissions for Volume 2 are here: https://www.notapipepublishing.com/antifa-lit-journal

bryszket

DEMON ENGINE

time is upon us!!

Running this one by one more time, because DEMON ENGINE, by @martennorr is now officially OUT! We have been admirers of Marten's writing for years, so we are so happy to be able to bring his debut novel to you. DEMON ENGINE is a carefully crafted story of a post-post-post-POST apocalyptic world, kind of like ours, if it had been flooded and there was this interdeimensional tear that allowed alternative-universe intelligent eldritch-ish creatures to come through, which some humans possessed the innate talent to talk to, control, or bind to certain objects, to do certain tasks! Also, there's

-t4t friendship -body horror -intricate and cool nautical world building -SEA PUNS

If you're into the idea of a story that sounds like a sea shanty and combines horror elements with very cool and complex trans characters, and some interesting neurodivergent rep, you should really check this out. <3 You can see the various available formats and platforms by going to our website < HERE >.

Now, people sometimes ask: what platform should I use to best support the author? If you are interested in an ebook, ITCH-IO will give the most back to the author. If you want a physical copy, but don't want to support Zon, Bookshop.org carries the book!

And if you want to be the biggest indie author and publisher champion and also, a fucking angel, ASKING YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY AND/OR ORDERING A PHYSICAL COPY THROUGH YOUR LOCAL BOOKSHOP IS <<<<THE BEST>>>>>>>>>. We do have the book with a major distributor, so your local bookwatering holes should be able to order it if you ask them to. <3

If you'd like to support the book, but don't have the dough, we really appreciate an honest review, too! You can sign up here on this google form to snag an ARC copy. It's totally free and any kind of interaction, be it a boost of this post or a review or a rating, really helps the book.

Thanks all and thanks for the love you've given this project so far. Marten's book deserves the world! <33333

bryszket

Fantasy offerings

Our newest release, DEMON ENGINE by @martennorr is coming out next week (!!!), so I just wanted to highlight this book and also some of our other fantasy offerings. We didn't set out to be a fantasy press, but I gotta say, we've published some damn fine ones.

DEMON ENGINE by Marten Norr is a nautical fantasy with body-horror elements, ghosts, high adventure and t4t platonic friendship! If you like Eldritch, sea puns, fast moving plot and complex, morally ambiguous characters, check this out! One reviewer says: This book is a lot and I love it for that. It has all the good stuff: found family, a queer cast, boats, demon boats, unfathomable transdimensional horrors, and barrels of booze to silence the PTSD demons. You can snag a free ARC copy HERE.

'Complicated' is relative, and while some reviewers have noted that DEMON ENGINE is rather complex, I'd say our book MAEJ by @dalestromberg is our "the sky is the limit in terms of world-building and complication." If you enjoy the slow, satisfying joy of working out a plot as intricate as a puzzle box, and meticulous, inventive prose, this is the one to check out! MAEJ follows two women who grow up close as sisters in a magical, troubled matriarchy, and the paths they both take as they decide to risk it all to throw their wrenches into the horrible system that powers their world's magic... One reviewer says: This book will blow your mind. It's a shining example of what high fantasy can be, and what it so rarely is.

You can get a copy HERE or grab a free ARC HERE.

Last but very not least, the first book we ever published was a strange, waking nightmare Shakespearean fantasy following a genderfluid boy who can see things others can't and the young pick-pocket who tries to get him to where he needs to be: the Globe Theatre! If you're a theatre or Shakespeare fan, or just like a more unconventional fantasy, I recommend our AIRY NOTHING, by Clarissa Pattern.

bryszket

DEMON ENGINE

time is upon us!! So @martennorr is not only a great human being, he is a talented storyteller and artist, weaving occult elements, political machinations and complicatedly lovable and broken characters together. Our press has been having him in our sights for ages and we are now incredibly happy to officially announce that we are publishing Norr's debut, DEMON ENGINE, on May 25th!

Demon Engine follows a tortured demon-binder forced to join the Navy he hates, to track down an ancient, mind-twisting abyssal creature, thousands of years after our world has been sunk under water. In exchange for his services, he'll get enough coin to banish the hundreds of ghosts in his head, but surviving the mission is starting to look more and more unlikely...

If you like -MOBY DICK ELEMENTS -eldritch -body horror / mindfuck -platonic friendship -books that sound like sea shanties -flawed and complex (trans) characters -closure is a myth -sea jokes!!!

Then you should definitely check this out!! Pre-orders are open for physical and ebook copies, with non-Amazon options! We'll also have ITCH IO ebook preorders up soon and if you'd like to be one of the first to read this story, you can sign up here on this google form to get a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks all and any interaction/repost of this is highly loved <33333

bryszket

Over the years, we've gotten some really fantastic queer fantasy submissions, so despite us never having started with the idea of a fantasy focus, another one is where we're at! DEMON ENGINE is our late May release, and if you are into intricate world-building, ATMOSPHERE, t4t platonic friendship, characters with complexity and ambiguity, and a fast-paced plot, then I really recommend you give this a go.

You can preorder to support the writer, or read the book for free in exchange for an honest review (which also is a great support for the writer and this project!)

This review is by @zillanovikov (who remains one of the best reviewers and blurbers I've ever met)

bryszket

DEMON ENGINE

If you like -MOBY DICK ELEMENTS -eldritch -body horror / mindfuck -platonic friendship -books that sound like sea shanties -flawed and complex (trans) characters -closure is a myth -sea jokes!!!

Thanks all and any interaction/repost of this is highly loved <33333

zillanovikov

Do you like:

Trans/queer books that move you in strange, inexplicable ways and

Items on sale?

You are in luck because all of March, tRaum Books is selling all their weird, confusing, fluid ebooks for $1/each!

You can find them here:

If you like books but $1 is still a lot of money, talk to me and I'll see if I can get you a review copy from the publisher, he's a good sort and does that. Any book on his site, not just mine.

bryszket

Happy spring, all! To celebrate, and also to encourage any readers trying to find non-Amazon alternatives for their indie queer lit needs, we are holding a sale on all of our ebooks--now priced a dollar (or less!) until the end of this March. If there's a title you've been curious about, or you just want to round out your collection, now is a great time!

Our books are roughly in these categories:

queer horror: EUSECT, by C.L. Methvin; Darknesses, by Lachelle Seville; Corrupted Vessels, by Briar Ripley Page.

outside the box fantasy/speculative: Something's Not Right, by yves.; MAEJ, by Dale Stromberg; Airy Nothing, by Clarissa Pattern; Noema, by Dael Akkerman.

surreal/absurd: Love/Aggression, by June Martin; Most Famous Short Film of All Time, by Tucker Lieberman; QUERY, by Zilla Novikov.

queer bildungsroman/slice of life: It Helps with the Blues, by Bryan Cebulski; A/E and Read and then Burn This, by R. Merey.

Regardless of category, all of these books are something off the beaten path, playing with reality, form and comfort; so if you're looking for some fresh queer and trans lit, have a go!

tRaum Books Itch-Io store HERE.

zillanovikov

Sad Bastard Expectations

It's 2025, and we're sadder than ever!

Maybe it's time for a Sad Bastard Cookbook sequel? Maybe a spin-off for parents of small children? Maybe both?

I'm new here. What's a Sad Bastard Cookbook?

Glad you asked! We wrote a cookbook full of judgement-free recipes you can make when you're suffering from mental illness, physical disability, poverty, or anything else late-stage capitalism throws up that makes basic self-care feel impossible. Some of the recipes were our own, some we collected from the community.

The ebook is free--you can download a copy here if you wanna check it out.

I'm a community! Or at least, a Person! Can I contribute my recipe for survival food?

YES PLEASE.

If you have a survival recipe that you make for yourself, or to feed a baby, toddler, or small child, please share that recipe here.

I’m a fan of the original Sad Bastard Cookbook—when will the new ones be here?

We really have no idea. We’re in the very early planning and writing stages of the two projects, but when we have more information, you’ll probably see it here first!

rohan-oduill-author

Very excited about this.

zillanovikov

well, this situation is shit

i'm not especially engaging with the news, because it messes me up to no good end, but I know that when it's time to march in the streets, my friends will message me and we'll arts-and-crafts ourselves some placards and we'll march

again

and again

in 2017 i was a wannabe-activist and i wasn't in any messaging groups with activists and i wanted to do something but as someone who struggles with "social anxiety" and "what script do I follow in this social situation" I was incredibly intimidated about what something might look like

i rely on fiction to help prepare me for unfamiliar adventures, but while there's a lot of books to prepare me for my post-apocolyse love triangle & for making a rousing speech that somehow sparks a revolution, there's not many books about what activism actually looks like, right here, in this rapidly distingrating dystopia that is our lives

attending meetings and making friends and arts and crafts and community building and showing up, not because you lead a revolution, but because you need to believe that a revolution is possible, and you need to be in a room with people who believe it too or else you'll go mad from pretending every day that the world outside your window is acceptable

so i wrote a book, the book that I needed to read in 2017, that told me what it looks like to resist

it's called query

if my book can help another wannabe activist, someone who wondering what something looks look, who looks to fiction for a script, then i want to help

i've made it pay-what-you-want, if you think it might help to read, please download it for free from here, free is a great option

and take care of yourself, okay? you're not alone. you are not the only person who believes

zillanovikov

it is hard to review a book when all you want to do is unhinged screaming

Blight is FINALLY HERE and I'm not gonna be normal about it.

Book two in The Sleep of Reason series, this book is what happens when right-wing governments stop dog-whistling about fascism and fully commit to the bit. Set in Canada, this book shows how menacing "peace, order, and good government" can be.

It's not all doom and gloom. Sure, there's "Cleaners" and "unencumberances", but in the depths of the fractured cells of the rebellion, the queers finally move past "twenty years of pining". Love is all we've got. Sure, electricity and food is swell, but turns out, the heart's need for love and friendship and connection outlasts the rising ocean, the falling parliament.

Plus, this book is funny, and turns out, you can survive (almost) anything with the application of sufficient quantities of dark humour.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm fully obsessed with these characters, my "original" works are fanfic by another name since I've kidnapped like half of Rachel A Rosen's cast and consider my books an AU. With permission--I haven't even changed any names. So if you like my books, read this.

I know it's book two but I think it would work even if you hadn't read book one? Hard to be certain because obviously I POURED over book one like a holy text. If you dive into book two without book one, tell me how it goes?

I hate telling tumblerinas to buy a book because obviously everyone is broke or they wouldn't be here, they'd be on a real social media site. You can buy the book, obvs, but you can also apply for a free review copy here:

Pls read this book ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhvfsrybhtsdvhbserhj

/unhinged screaming

zillanovikov

Amniotic fluid drained from my lungs; as they filled with air, a nameless horror bloomed, and I shrieked.

Abigail Patel didn't come back wrong.

She was always exactly like this.

My mind began to clear. I was a baby. I’d been born. Something was wrong.

Reincarnation should be a fresh start, a second chance, but Abigail is reborn with all her adult knowledge, cursed to relive childhood, repeat her sins.

Would Faye spare me? Recover herself? Change? I did not believe people changed. My most shameful, my ugliest shortcomings did not feel like choices; they couldn’t be changed like changing a shirt. They were unalterable. To depend on hope that Faye would fix herself in this life, as I never had in the prior one, was to risk too much.

Gyre tells the story of the cycle of abuse, how it perpetuates itself, the way that perpetrator and victim are bound together by the endless loop.

Abigail, ashamed, overwhelmed by self-loathing, doesn't believe escape is possible.

Gyre is a complicated, fascinating read. It troubles you long after you finish reading.

The author (Dale Stromberg) is currently giving away free review copies, for anyone who would like to read something wrong.

Thanks for your interest in receiving an advance review copy (ARC) of my novel Gyre. Enter your email address below, and I will send you an

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