b-a-pigeon

[b-a-pigeon]

Indie author followers!!

I'm thinking about offering discounted editing services in the near future in order to build my portfolio a bit more.

I specialize in copy & line editing and have some experience in developmental editing and sensitivity reading for trans (masc) characters. I'm particularly interested in adult fiction, SFF, and queer stuff.

The "catch" here is that, since the point is portfolio-building, I'd want permission to use your work as an example.

At minimum, this means publicly listing your book's title, genre, and author name on my website and freelance platforms I use.

Ideally, this also includes permission to use a short excerpt with my edits visible as sample work to share with prospective clients. (This does not need to have your name attached & can include changing names and identifying details on request.)

Since it's pretty important that your book/pen name turns up some results for anyone researching my past work, I'd want to work on a project that is going to be published soon-ish (or at least has an online presence, like a preorder listing or Goodreads page, that I can link to) and/or with an author who has published before.

I'm still working out some crucial details here (like what my discounted rates even are, lol) & I'll have a more concise/sharable post about it later... but if you might be interested, get in touch!

[b-a-pigeon]

Ghostwriting is fascinating... Many contemporary romance clients are convinced that there should only be one plotline. And that plotline is: what if there was a guy and he was a CEO billionaire, and he was also an asshole or maybe considered a "bad boy" for ambiguous reasons... and he's also a single dad with a preschool-age daughter for some reason... and he wanted to give YOU money and also have sex with you?

Very interesting insight into the uh. economic anxieties informing the horny reading material of the target audience (heterosexual white women)

#The kids are always my fave part to write tbh #As a former preschool teacher every 3-5-yr-old has impeccable comedic timing

[b-a-pigeon]

Twt thread for context — tldr Freydis Moon has been a white person racefaking this whole time!

This Freydis Moon shit has me so pissed off actually... Like I never even read their books! I was just glad to see a poc experience some success in a space as white as queer indie fantasy. Joke's on me I guess lol

#tbc white & latinx are not mutually exclusive #but they explicitly identified as a qtpoc soooo

[b-a-pigeon]

This Freydis Moon shit has me so pissed off actually... Like I never even read their books! I was just glad to see a poc experience some success in a space as white as queer indie fantasy. Joke's on me I guess lol

[b-a-pigeon]

Apropos of nothing... wanting a genre/type of storytelling/writing style to be "taken seriously" or treated as "real literature" & wanting it to never be criticized by anyone are mutually exclusive. Sorry, but that's part of it!

#Not going to elaborate thank you!

[b-a-pigeon]

I have to confess also that it is very hard for me to remember to call the book Taker of the Third Path. In my heart and in basically every conversation I've had with Fell about it, the book is called Tater Tot.

#Because the acronym is TOTTP obviously

[b-a-pigeon]

Relevant to that last post—I am sure many of you know this already, but Fell was my co-author on Hierarchy of the Unseen and wrote Kor's chapters! Taker of the Third Path is a very different book (in tone and genre etc) from HotU, and Linmiru and Kor are similarly very different protagonists, but like... if you enjoyed the prose, the character focus, the world building, the transgenderism of it all, you'll definitely also like Taker!!

#I mean... Kor & Lin are both trans dudes who are kinda lonely and also like to fuck #but that's a standard guy archetype in my world #Also applies to Nikita Heirloom lol

[b-a-pigeon]

Seeking beta readers for a queer fantasy romance novel

Fell A. Marsh's Taker of the Third Path follows Linmiru, a hedgewitch led by his god to an abandoned inn at an ancient crossroads. His task there is to meet the next person to take the overgrown "third path."

Months pass, and a growing connection with one of the inn's guests leads Lin to question his devotion to destiny—but the fate of the world rests on his prophesied meeting with the taker. And when the day finally comes, Linmiru must confront the reality that nothing at the old crossroads has been as it seemed.

If you're into character-driven fantasy, romance that explores darker, heavier themes, queer and trans characters, and some unique and vibrant world building, you'll probably love this book as much as I do!!

No experience required—the goal here is to get authentic feedback from real readers. All you need to apply for a free copy is a love of fantasy and/or queer romance and the willingness to give your honest opinion! The beta reading period begins later this month, so get in while signups are still open!

✨ Learn More & Sign Up Here ✨

#beta readers #call for beta readers #seeking beta readers #lgbt fantasy #queer fantasy #trans fantasy #writeblr #writblr #writers on tumblr #indie authors #indie author #lgbt books #queer books #trans books #lgbt authors #queer authors #trans authors #authors on tumblr #taker of the third path #fell a. marsh #fell marsh

[b-a-pigeon]

Tragically Tumblr is not letting me send boops (I get error messages every time I try on both desktop & the app) but please trust that I am booping you all in return in spirit <3

[b-a-pigeon]

I've been putting off explaining what the Camp Nanowrimo project is actually about because it's hard to explain without the context of rose garden book, which doesn't exist yet (and is also hard to explain), but I'll try!

Rose garden book is about a court wizard who must kill a prince as part of a deal with an angel; in that story, the elves, who also work for the prince, discover her plans and blackmail her.

This project is the "prequel" to that and basically follows the two elves as they're displaced from their home and travel toward the capital of the nearby human-majority empire. It's a much smaller, quieter story than the source material; it's more about family and trying to survive in a hostile world than life-altering magic or assassination attempts (although both of those things are relevant at times). That's why it's a novella; the scope and stakes are so different here.

I'm not sure what I'll end up doing with this! Might serialize on Patreon, might publish (simultaneously or before rose garden), might ultimately decide that I just wrote this to explore the world and characters and it doesn't need to be published. I'll keep you all updated regardless!

[b-a-pigeon]

I have historically not done a lot with fantasy races, but I am having sort of an elf moment. Aside from how fun it is to play with the role of racial stereotyping in-universe, I also just love to take these noble, wise, preternaturally beautiful, allegedly superior creatures & make them kinda grimy little freaks and con artists etc <3

My Camp Nanowrimo project is the second thing I've written recently with elves who take advantage of fantasy orientalist stereotypes to grift the humans. They're always like... well this is the mystical way we do things in the mysterious and unknowable East (and then make up some bullshit). I have no idea how I arrived at this idea or why I keep returning to it other than that I think it's funny

[b-a-pigeon]

My Camp Nanowrimo project is the second thing I've written recently with elves who take advantage of fantasy orientalist stereotypes to grift the humans. They're always like... well this is the mystical way we do things in the mysterious and unknowable East (and then make up some bullshit). I have no idea how I arrived at this idea or why I keep returning to it other than that I think it's funny

[b-a-pigeon]

happy camp nano everybody ‼️‼️ LETS ALL THINK ABOUT A GUY‼️‼️‼️‼️

#Currently thinking about a guy (elf)

[b-a-pigeon]

Decided kind of last minute to do Camp Nanowrimo—I'm writing a novella (30-40k words, by my estimation, but who knows) about the elves from rose garden book. Sort of a prequel, if I can call it that when the actual story is still unfinished!

[b-a-pigeon]

Every year I forget about trans rights readathon until it is basically over but if any of you are looking for recs... Hierarchy of the Unseen has two trans protagonists & was written by two trans people so it's basically quadruply trans if you think about it

#Unrebloggable bc it's a bad joke <3

[b-a-pigeon]

Here's what I've been up to lately, other than moving!

Working (editing) a lot, but I think this big contract I started last month is actually a scam :')

Listening to audiobooks. In the past month-ish: half of Braiding Sweetgrass; The Unbroken and The Faithless; The Archive Undying; a few chapters of Eye of the World*

Not writing but thinking about writing. I'm not feeling ready to commit to any of the big projects (Heirloom or Rose Garden) but I'm still posting Heirloom vignettes monthly on Patreon and vaguely considering a Rose Garden prequel about elves (??) which would probably also be for Patreon

Also thinking a lot about rebranding/starting over/new pen name/etc. No real moves on that because I need to find time to write before I find time to worry about those things, but it is a goal for this year!

*Resisting the urge to give my opinions on all of these but I will say that audio is probably not the medium for Archive Undying and, controversially, Wheel of Time seems pretty derivative thus far, which is fine, because I would like to keep to my streak of not reading any Branderson Sanderson books

#I would def pirate any brando sando work I decided to read btw. Mormon church is NOT getting my money!! #It's shocking to me that this is a controversial position to be honest

[b-a-pigeon]

[ID: a book cover. it shows a golden lute against a black background, flanked by red foliage and shiny blue crystals. The text reads "The Spirit Well," "Lutesong Book Two," and "R.K. Ashwick." end ID]

One week until The Spirit Well release!!

If you want to read about Emry, Cal, and Aspen's next adventures but don't have the book funds, you're in luck! I still have free ARCs available.

If you want to get a sticker, a bookmark, personalized note from me, and an exclusive illustrated interview with Emry Karic (digital PDF), I still have pre-order gifts available!

I've also got a very exciting day-of event that I'll talk more about tomorrow. 😊

#Omg so soon?? #Hell yeah