Tag Archives: Anthology

Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: Common Bonds 2, ed. by Claudie Arseneault

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Today on the site, I’m delighted to welcome contributors to the speculative aromantic anthology Common Bonds 2 to take us inside the collection and get a glimpse of their stories! Before we get to that, I’ll take this opportunity to mention that the editors are hard at work on Common Bonds 3 (the cover of which was recently revealed on the site), and you can still support their Kickstarter here!

Now, let’s get to the collection:

 Two friends knitting a sweater within a frame of autumnal leaves. They are painted in blue, and a blue wool thread passes through the bold white title, Common Bonds 2. A subtitle at the bottom says “a speculative aromantic anthology”. The editors are Claudie Arseneault, RoAnna Sylver, and Em Ishii

Common Bonds returns in this second volume of speculative short stories and poetry featuring aromantic characters.

Housed within this anthology are a scientist who makes a terrifying discovery at the bottom of the ocean, a baker who must fulfill a prophecy, a priest and a witch who must form a family to escape a war, and a woman whose survival might just unravel time itself.

Through nineteen stories and poems, Common Bonds 2 explores the bonds that impact our lives from beginning to end: platonic relationships. From friends with benefits to mentors to life partners, this collection explores platonic relationships strong enough to overcome barriers of species, alien invasions, and the power of the gods themselves.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

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Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: Being Aro ed. by Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor

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Today on the site I’m delighted to give a peek into Being Aro, the brand-new YA anthology edited by Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor containing stories featuring aromantic rep across a variety of genres! Here’s the gist:

Explore expansive aromantic love and connection in stories across genres

These twelve stories showcase aromantic people breaking generational curses, finding acceptance, and protecting the vulnerable while highlighting the infinite ways people find connection and love without romance.

A high school matchmaker learns a lesson about love. A rebellious spaceship pilot defies his culture’s compulsory coupling. A boy magically transforms banned romance novels into living dragons. A teen immune to romance, and the zombie virus, fights to survive the apocalypse. Being Aro is full of stories throughout real and imagined worlds that cross genres and disrupt the status quo.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

And here’s some insight into some of the stories, given by the authors themselves!

Continue reading Inside an Anthology: Being Aro ed. by Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor →

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Common Bonds 3 ed. by Claudie Arseneault, Em Ishii, and RoAnna Sylver

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Today on the site, I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Common Bonds 3 ed. by Claudie Arseneault, Em Ishii, and RoAnna Sylver, the third in a series of anthologies starring aromantic main characters! The editors have written up their own intro to present a Kickstarter campaign, so I’ll let them take it away!

Common Bonds strikes a third time with a new volume of speculative short stories and poetry featuring aromantic characters. After a flood of incredible stories in their submission pile, the Common Bonds team decided to build not one, but two glorious anthologies of platonic, aromantic love.

In Common Bonds 3, you will find marine biologists getting trapped in a bubble of magic, a necromancer reviving their toxic ex from the dead, lifebonds with sirens, dreamwitches trapped in a cursed murder town and so much more.

We are very excited to introduce you to the marvellous works within, but in order to do so we need to raise the funds to pay our authors the money they deserve. This is what our BackerKit crowdfunding campaign is for: pay authors, cover artist, and the shipping and printing of initial copies.

And now, our new Common Bonds cover!

Common Bonds 3’s cover is from Hugo-Awards winning Laya Rose. As with previous covers, we have two friends sharing in an activity—but this time we’ve moved into winter and a hot warm drink.

Two friends in winter clothes sharing a hot drink from which steam wafts up. One of them has little horns, and they are painted in pink, sitting under cold blue, barren tree branches. The steam wafts through the title in bright white letters, Common Bonds 3. A subtitle at the bottom says “a speculative aromantic anthology”.

Follow the campaign to help us make this new installment a reality!

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Being Aro ed. by Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor

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Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Being Aro: A Collection of Aromantic Fiction About Love, Connection, and Empowerment ed. by Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor, a YA anthology releasing May 26, 2026 from Page Street YA! Here’s the gist:

Explore expansive aromantic love and connection in stories across genres

These twelve stories showcase aromantic people breaking generational curses, finding acceptance, and protecting the vulnerable while highlighting the infinite ways people find connection and love without romance.

A high school matchmaker learns a lesson about love. A rebellious spaceship pilot defies his culture’s compulsory coupling. A boy magically transforms banned romance novels into living dragons. A teen immune to romance, and the zombie virus, fights to survive the apocalypse. Being Aro is full of stories throughout real and imagined worlds that cross genres and disrupt the status quo.

Contributors include a mixture of established and emerging YA writers, such as Lammy Award-finalist Madeline Dyer, Lammy Award-nominated Rosiee Thor, USA Today bestselling Kemi Ashing-Giwa, and NYT bestselling authors Kalyn Josephson and Laura Pohl.

And here’s the aro-tastic cover, designed by Rosie Stewart and illustrated by Sam Prentice-Jones!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: As the Earth Dreams ed. by Terese Mason Pierre

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Today on the site I’m delighted to offer a peek inside As the Earth Dreams ed. by Terese Mason Pierre, a speculative anthology out this week with House of Anansi Press! Here’s the gist:

A ground-breaking anthology of haunting speculative stories by contemporary Black Canadian writers that explore growth, futurity, and joy.

This bold and innovative anthology of speculative short fiction reveals and uplifts the spectacular imaginings, reveries, reflections, experiments, and hopes of Black writers in Canada. A woman attends her mother’s latest resurrection, only to encounter family she’s never met. A postdoc instructor navigates an almost-life in an Elsewhere realm of safety and comfort. After social collapse, a former sex worker leaves her precarious station, and her memories, behind. A woman isolating from a new virus starts hallucinating. In lyrical fragments, a young nanny accepts a job with a peculiar employer. A medium is tasked with summoning a spirit that hits too close to home. And two teenagers test a friendship over magic carpet flying practice. These breathtaking stories explore natural and urban landscapes, living and dead relationships, economic catastrophe, love, and desire—all while celebrating the persistent and ever-changing self, and envisioning beautiful Black futures.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

And here’s a peek at four of the stories, thanks to its contributors!

Continue reading Inside an Anthology: As the Earth Dreams ed. by Terese Mason Pierre →

Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: This is How We Roll ed. by Rosiee Thor

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Today on the site I’m delighted to give a peek inside This is How We Roll ed. by Rosiee Thor, a YA anthology out today that features queer stories about tabletop games! Here’s the gist:

The magic of tabletop RPGs lives in the creativity of the players. Given the chance to explore gender, relationships, and queer existence across vast worlds with completely different sets of rules, queer players throughout the years have found acceptance, camaraderie, and joy by rolling the dice and kicking ass. This anthology celebrates that TTRPG rite of passage with a diverse lineup of queer authors who are just as mighty with their pens as with swords… and shields… and spells!

This collection of fourteen stories includes critically acclaimed authors such as New York Times Bestseller Marieke Nijkamp, New York Times Bestseller Andrew Joseph White, Pura Belpré Honor winner Jonny Garza Villa, LAMBDA Literary Award winner Rebecca Podos, LAMBDA Award finalist Linsey Miller, Indie Bestseller Margaret Owen, and Morris Award finalist Akemi Dawn Bowman.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

And now, let’s hear from the contributors!

 

Continue reading Inside an Anthology: This is How We Roll ed. by Rosiee Thor →

Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: For the Rest of Us ed. by Dahlia Adler

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Yesterday I had the privilege of releasing an anthology that’s been near and dear to my heart for years, and like all my anthologies, there are a whole bunch of queer stories! Read on for a peek into three of them, but first, here’s a little more about the collection, which released yesterday from Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins!

Fourteen acclaimed authors showcase the beautiful and diverse ways holidays are observed in this festive anthology. Keep the celebrations going all year long with this captivating and joyful read!

From Lunar New Year to Solstice, Día de Los Muertos to Juneteenth, and all the incredible days in between, it’s clear that Americans don’t just have one holiday. Edited by the esteemed Dahlia Adler and authored by creators who have lived these festive experiences firsthand, this joyful collection of stories shows that there isn’t one way to experience a holiday.

With stories by:

  • Dahlia Adler, Sydney Taylor Honor winner of Going Bicoastal
  • Candace Buford, author of Good as Gold
  • A. R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy, authors of the Once & Future series
  • Preeti Chhibber, author of Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot
  • Natasha Díaz, award-winning author of Color Me In
  • Kelly Loy Gilbert, Stonewall Book Award winning author of Picture Us in the Light
  • Kosoko Jackson, USA Today bestselling author of The Forest Demands Its Due
  • Aditi Khorana, award-winning author of Mirror in the Sky
  • Katherine Locke, award-winning author of This Rebel Heart
  • Abdi Nazemian, Stonewall Book Award–winning author of Only This Beautiful Moment
  • Laura Pohl, New York Times bestselling author of The Grimrose Girls
  • Sonora Reyes, Pura Belpré Honor winner of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School
  • Karuna Riazi, contributor to The Grimoire of Grim Fates

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N

 

Continue reading Inside an Anthology: For the Rest of Us ed. by Dahlia Adler →

Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: Crime Ink: Iconic ed. by John Copenhaver and Salem West

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Today on the site I’m delighted to be offering a peek inside the anthology Crime Ink: Iconic ed. by John Copenhaver and Salem West, a collection of crime fiction inspired by queer icons. How awesome does that sound?? Here’s the gist:

Crime Ink: Iconic is a bold and electrifying anthology that brings together a powerhouse lineup of some of the most compelling voices in queer mystery writing today. Within its pages, master storytellers like Ann Aptaker, Christopher Bollen, Marco Carocari, Katrina Carrasco, John Copenhaver, Meredith Doench, Diana DiGangi, Margot Douaihy, Christa Faust, Kelly J. Ford, Katherine V. Forrest, Stephanie Gayle, Robyn Gigl, Cheryl Head, Greg Herren, Renee James, Kristen Lepionka, Anne Laughlin, Mia P. Manansala, Jeffrey Marks, Ann McMan, Penny Mickelbury, David S. Pederson, J.M. Redmann, Jeffrey Round, and Baxter Clare Trautman deliver gripping, fearless tales that redefine the genre. This collection is not just a celebration—it’s a statement: queer voices are, and always have been, at the heart of crime fiction.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Now peek inside, with a behind-the-scenes look brought to you by editors John Copenhaver and Salem West, and, of course, some of the illustrious contributors!

Continue reading Inside an Anthology: Crime Ink: Iconic ed. by John Copenhaver and Salem West →

Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: Blood, Sweat & Queers ed. by Margaret Hall and Jamie Ryu

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Today on the site I’m delighted to crack open the lid on the coffin of Blood, Sweat, & Queers ed. by Margaret Hall and Jamie Ryu, a collection of LGBTQ+ vampiric love stories releasing October 7, 2025 from Contrarian Publishing with a portion of proceeds going to the Trevor Project! Here’s the gist:

CRACK OPEN THE COFFIN AND UNLEASH THE VAMPIRE.

An ancient beast stirs in the shale beneath an oil rig. A dancer languish in a lakeside cottage. A man swipes right, hunting flesh with a predator’s patience. A woman reels from government-sanctioned body horrors.

All queer. All ravenous. All vampires.

Vampires have always been vessels of longing, craving not only blood, but sex, power, and the sanctity of the taboo. And what hunger is more righteously denied, more persistently policed, than queer love? Like the vampire, the queer spirit endures, unkillable and unashamed.

With a foreword by vampire scholar Margaret Hall, Blood, Sweat & Queers presents decadent tales of queer love from eight LGBTQ+ authors, all intertwined with the eternal allure of the vampire— stories of desire unbound, of passion unending, and hunger that threatens to consume everything in its path. Crack open the coffin, if you dare.

And here’s some insight into the stories from its illustrious contributors!

Continue reading Inside an Anthology: Blood, Sweat & Queers ed. by Margaret Hall and Jamie Ryu →

Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: Be Gay, Do Crime, ed. by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley

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Today on the site I’m delighted to offer a peek inside one of the best-named queer anthologies of all time, Be Gay, Do Crime ed. by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley, which releases June 3rd from Dzanc Books! Here’s the gist:

A follow-up to their runaway success Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women, editors Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley return with Be Gay, Do Crime, a celebration of queer chaos from an all-queer author lineup featuring Myriam Gurba, Emily Austin, Alissa Nutting, and Francesca Ekwuyasi

A trans woman makes increasingly frequent hoax calls to a business where she’s had a negative experience, watching the consequences with perverse joy. A group of aging queers turns to bank robbery to stop the sale of their bungalow complex to a development company. As the president prepares to give a speech, two women lurk among the journalists, ready to shoot him. And an aspiring author takes to stealing items from strangers’ homes in a kind of cosmic redistribution each time one of her relationships fail.

In sixteen brilliant, wild-eyed stories, Be Gay, Do Crime delivers a celebration and reckoning of why queer people turn to crime–unintentionally, as a means of survival, as protest, as rescue, or to right injustices big and small.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

And here’s a bit more about the stories, as presented by its fabulous contributors!

Continue reading Inside an Anthology: Be Gay, Do Crime, ed. by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley →