iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 25/09/2026

I loved this blurb from Francesca Forrest so much, I had to put it on the front cover! Only a few weeks left to grab the special pre-order price! dancingstarpress.com/product/a-ho...

a promo graphic for A House of Perfect Safety by Virginia M. Mohlere

the cover image of the book is on the left, featuring a young-looking woman with blue hair wearing a blue coat holding a steaming mug. She stands in front of a cottage surrounded by trees and a large garden.

On the right is a quote:
"It's said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but in A House of Perfect Safety, Virginia Mohlere uplifts and honors both. It's a tender, resolute, and moving story that speaks to both the oppressive-systems fighters and the single-starfish rescuers among us."
— Francesca Forrest, author of Lagoonfire

cover art by Dhiyanah Hassan

Available this October from Dancing Star Press

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 02/09/2026

The gracious and wonderful @csecooney.bsky.social provided a lovely blurb for the book! An excerpt of which is in the image here, and the full text of which follows in the thread. Pre-orders are currently 30% off when you order direct from the publisher! dancingstarpress.com/product/a-ho...

Promo image for A House of Perfect Safety by Virginia M. Mohlere
Contains cover image of the book, which is of a woman with blue hair and a blue coat standing in front of a thatched cottage.
Cover Art by Dhiyanah Hassan.

text reads:
"Mohlere’s magic and invention call to mind Diana Wynne Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle, but the deep work undergirding her prose sounds an alternative to LeGuin’s "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," entreating us not to walk away from suffering, but to serve to alleviate it instead—and not only that, but to end it at the source, both individually and in community, for once and for all."
— C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter

Available this October from Dancing Star Press

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 29/08/2026

If you HAVEN'T read it, Bride of the River God is an all-ages fantasy with big myth feels. 👀 trifling gods 🐸 unforgettable animal characters 💗 coming of age 🧚 fairy tale vibes 🥻 author into clothing/costume and it shows dancingstarpress.com/product/brid...

cover image for Bride of the River God by Sarah A. Macklin.
illustration is of a young black woman draped in red coral bridal beads, holding a dripping golden heart in an underwater background, a large fish behind her head.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 23/08/2026

I have my physical proof in hand and she is the most beautiful thing I have ever SEEEEEEEEEEEEENNN! 😭😭😭

A paperback copy of A House of Perfect Safety by Virginia M. Mohlere on a weathered wooden surface.

Amazing cover illustration (by Dhiyanah Hassan) is of a woman with blue hair, wearing a blue coat with maroon trim. Her hands are bluish, and she is holding a cup with steam rising from it. She stands in a sort of garden with a cottage surrounded by apple trees behind her.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 17/08/2026

I have been sitting on this for SO LONG, but it is finally ready to share with the world! Look at this absolutely beautiful cover by @bydhiyanah.bsky.social! For A House of Perfect Safety by @virginiam.bsky.social, coming out this October!

Cover Reveal for A House of Perfect Safety by Virginia M. Mohlere
Cover Art by Dhiyanah Hassan

Arrow book promo image:
In the center is the cover for A House of Perfect Safety. The cover art features a woman with blue hair, wearing a blue coat, with hands that are vaguely blueish. She is standing in front of a cottage.

There are eight arrows pointing to the book that say:
- This book LOVES trees
- justice-loving introvert coded
- SO much caretaking
- body diversity
- magical, shapeshifting house
- why choose the bear when you can be the bear?
- Extremely fae shit
- this book also loves books

Available this October from Dancing Star Press!

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 09/06/2026

Dancing Star Press here! Our queerest title is A Feast for Flies! Sapphic noir space opera on a generation ship with mind-reading, second chance romance, and the best service dog (who is briefly imperiled but does not die). dancingstarpress.com/shop/

A paperback copy of A Feast for Flies by Leigh Harlen on a weathered wooden deck, surrounded by fly stickers.

The cover illustration is of a butch woman with a service dog on a leash, standing in a grimy but neon-lit sci-fi generation ship interior.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 06/05/2026

Happy Small Business Week! A Night Sweeps the Mountains Away (along with all Dancing Star Press titles!) is now available at my FAVORITE small business: A Novel Concept in downtown Lansing, Michigan! www.anovelconcept517.com

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 07/04/2026

Happy publishing day to @ldlewiswrites.blacksky.app! Year of the Mer, her first full-length novel, is out today!

Three books on a wooden deck. All are by L.D. Lewis.

The books, clockwise from left:
Year of the Mer
The Dead Withheld
A Ruin of Shadows

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 14/03/2026

My friend @edebell.com of @atthisarts.com went so feral for The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away, I just had to share her review!

Promotional image for The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away by Tanvir Ahmed

Contains the cover image for the book, which features a woman in a headscarf, a white dog at her side, seated on hill overlooking a valley, the mountains and the night sky in the background.

Text in image:
“This is a story for those who have looked love and pain in the face and knew what it could cost and the odds that it would and yet would never, ever, have done it differently.

This is the scream you may just need.”

— E.D.E. Bell, editor, Atthis Arts

Cover Design by Guoldu

Dancing Star Press

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 11/03/2026

@ecatherine.com, Editor at @thedeadlands.com, has been an early champion of The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away, and wrote this lovely review!

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 04/03/2026

LOOK WHAT FINALLY ARRIVED! 👀 All paperback orders should ship out tomorrow!

A small stack of paperback copies of The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away by Tanvir Ahmed.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 24/02/2026

While the pre-order sale is now over, and I still can't tell you exactly when I will have the physical books in hand, the ebook orders are going out now! dancingstarpress.com/product/the-...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 24/02/2026

Today is publication day for The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away! Because the paperbacks are STILL held back by greater than anticipated shipping delays, I ordered some VERY shiny (and rainbowy!) stickers to include with all the delayed copies...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 15/02/2026

A little artist Q & A with the delightful @guoldu.bsky.social, cover designer for The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away! dancingstarpress.com/2026/02/15/q...

banner for Q & A with Guoldu.
Titles read: Artist Guoldu, cover designer for The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away.
There is a self-portrait of Guoldu on the right, as well as an image of the book cover on a tablet screen and a paperback book on the right.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 14/02/2026

My physical proof is FINALLY in hand! Look at it, she is so beautiful!

The first page of The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away by Tanvir Ahmed.

Beneath the Chapter One title, there is a verse in Pashto. Then below that, the text of the chapter begins.

Yes, my Christmas tree is still up in the background.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 11/02/2026

The dog in The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away is a Saluki, or Gazelle Hound! Thought to be even faster than greyhounds over long distances, their ancestors were used for hunting by nomadic tribes. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saluki

Gazelle hound from 1915
photo source: W. E. Mason - Dogs of all Nations

The dog is light in color (photo is black & white), with long legs and a narrow head. Its tail is long and curved.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 10/02/2026

Tanvir's answers in this little Q & A are both lovely and educational. He is an author who thinks deeply both about the history of storytelling and the history of talking about storytelling. dancingstarpress.com/2026/02/10/q...

Image featuring author photo of Tanvir Ahmed, with the text:
Author & historian Tanvir Ahmed, author of The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away
On the right are 3d images of the book The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away, both as an ebook on a tablet screen, and a paperback

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 08/02/2026

I would like to introduce you to Tanvir Ahmed, author of The Night Sweeps the Mountains away! from his author bio: Tanvir Ahmed is a storyteller and historian. His short fiction has appeared in various magazines and collections, including The Year’s Best Fantasy and The Horror Library.

Photo of Tanvir Ahmed, a South Asian man with a beard in a bomber jacket. He is standing in front of a thick metal lattice set with the pattern of the khatam sulayman, a popular design motif in Islamic architecture meant to control djinns. © Tanvir Ahmed 2025

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 07/02/2026

The wonderful @mariahaskins.com also provided a lovely blurb for The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away!

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 04/02/2026

@bogiperson.bsky.social gave us such a lovely review for this book, which we sadly had to truncate for the back cover of the book, but I wanted to share more of it here!

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 03/02/2026

You can pre-order your copy here! On sale for 30% off until it comes out February 24th! The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away by Tanvir Ahmed dancingstarpress.com/product/the-...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 03/02/2026

When I first read The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away by Tanvir Ahmed in my slush pile, what grabbed me immediately was the evocativeness of his storytelling. The scene-setting. The establishment of character by tone of voice. The first three paragraphs of the book:

Screenshot of text, which reads:

The first time I met Mina, I saw the story written at the corner of her eye. A diamond in four dots, nested between her right temple and the edge of her eyebrow. To most it would look like a beauty mark. I knew better.

I met her toward summer’s end, as the winds began to settle and the markets swelled with the year’s last eastbound caravans. At the time, I was making a living as a water carrier. I spent most days loping between the public wells and my clients’ houses, waiting with the women and nomads to fill my leather bag, hauling it through the dust and clamor of the streets, forcing a smile as doors opened for me. I made enough for my daily bread, and did not have to ask for alms.

I had several clients in the area of the Gulistan Gate, a quiet neighborhood shaded by fragrant olive trees. The air there was sweetened by birdsong and scents from unseen gardens. I was near to an invisible presence myself, part of the neighborhood’s heartbeat, no different from its sparrows or strays. No one asked who my people were, where I was from, what my story was. It was better that way, I would tell myself: to be forgotten, and to forget.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 02/02/2026

The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away by Tanvir Ahmed, now available for pre-order! ⚔️ Failed rebellions & exile 🏠 When home is another person ⛰️ Set in 19th century Afghanistan 🐫 Caravans & travel by mule 🐕 A very good doggo (who lives!) 🩸 Strange appetites dancingstarpress.com/product/the-...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 01/02/2026

It is cover reveal time! The next book from Dancing Star Press is The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away by Tanvir Ahmed. The cover was designed by the incredibly talented @guoldu.bsky.social, who was absolutely fabulous to work with and whose commissions are currently open!

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 26/11/2025

Looking for gifts? Last minute #Novellavember reads? A rage-filled quest for justice to read surreptitiously on your phone at family gatherings? We've got you covered! Get 30% off through November 30 with the coupon code shopsmall! dancingstarpress.com/product-cate...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 22/05/2025

It's time for yet another installment in the series Tiny Press Press! Today's feature is about Ryszard Merey of the amazing @traumbooks.bsky.social Please check out the interview to learn a little more about him, then give them a follow! dancingstarpress.com/2025/05/22/1...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 08/05/2025

It's time for another installment of Tiny Press Press — a series of Q&As with the people behind tiny presses publishing speculative fiction! This piece features Emily of @atthisarts.com Go check out the interview and give eir a follow! dancingstarpress.com/2025/05/08/1...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 30/04/2025

It's time for a second installment of Tiny Press Press — a series of Q&As with the people behind tiny presses publishing speculative fiction! This first piece features Catherine of @qospress.bsky.social Go check out the interview and give her a follow! dancingstarpress.com/2025/04/30/1...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 23/04/2025

Welcome to Tiny Press Press — a series of Q&As with the people behind tiny presses publishing speculative fiction! This first piece features Claire of @duckprintspress.com Go check out the interview and give them a follow! dancingstarpress.com/2025/04/23/t...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 26/02/2025

Next week, ALL Dancing Star Press titles will be part of a special sale on @Smashwords to celebrate 2025 Read an Ebook Week from March 2 - March 8. Be sure to follow me for more updates and links to the promotion for my books and many more! #ebookweek25 #Smashwords

promotional image for Smashword's Read an Ebook Week event

Text reads:
Smashwords
your ebook, your way.
READ AN EBOOK WEEK
My books are 50% off!
smashwords.com/shelves/promos

Image is of a Black woman lounging on her stomach while reading on a tablet.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 27/12/2024

Got holiday money burning a hole in your pocket? Looking for some tiny novellas to finish out your annual reading challenge? Through the end of the year, get 30% off everything in the store with the coupon code CheeseWeek! dancingstarpress.com/product-cate...

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 13/11/2024

Vitalii (who is finally posting more regularly on BlueSky!) was the amazing Ukrainian artist behind the cover image for A Feast for Flies by @leighharlen.bsky.social! I DEFINITELY recommend commissioning him for your sci-fi art needs, he was wonderful to work with!

Cover image for A Feast for Flies by Leigh Harlen, just the art with all the text removed.

Scene is of a woman in uniform with a dog on a leash by her side, looking down a busy corridor, which is the interior of a generation ship. Many of the surfaces are showing age and wear, but there are plenty of neon lights to distract you. Flies buzz around the scene, and are more dense around one person in the background in particular.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 31/05/2024

We are over the moon that A Feast for Flies by @leighharlen.bsky.social is included in this year's Pride StoryBundle! Check out all the amazing stories here: storybundle.com/pride

Text reads: The Pride 2024 Story Bundle is Here!

Includes cover images for the 13 books in the collection: Champion of the Crimson Wolf, The Lever, Off-Time Jive, The Deep & Shining Dark, A Feast for Flies, Pluralities, We're Here, Little Nothing, Rabbits of the Apocalypse, A Death at the Dionysus Club, Black from the Future, Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea, Through the Doors of Oblivion.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 12/04/2024

Space noir! Generation ships! Mind reading! Shady crime bosses! A gay bar you'll want to hang out in! Support doggos! Don't have your copy yet? Pick it up here! www.dancingstarpress.com/product/a-fe...

A paperback copy of A Feast For Flies by Leigh Harlen against a green space/aurora background.

Text reads:
NOVELLA
A Feast for Flies by Leigh Harlen
November 2023
Sapphic space noir — A woman with the ability to read and erase memories tries to free herself from the clutches of a corrupt police force.
Dancing Star Press

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 03/02/2024

In case you missed it, A Feast for Flies by Leigh Harlen has been recognized on both the British Science Fiction Awards longlist and the Locus Recommended Reading List! If you are reading for either prize, now is a great time to pick up a copy! www.dancingstarpress.com/product/a-fe...

Paperback copy of A Feast For Flies by Leigh Harlen on a distressed background. Text reads:
BSFA Longlist for Best Shorter Fiction

Locus Recommended Reading List (Novella)

Use code ReadingSeason to get 30% off the ebook at dancingstarpress.com

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 14/11/2023

A Feast for Flies by @leighharlen.bsky.social is out TODAY! 🚀 Generation ships 🔎 Space noir 🚨 ACAB 🎰 Casinos & crime bosses 🌺 Weird plant bullshit 🐕 Support doggo 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 Sapphic second chance

Cover Image for A Feast for Flies by Leigh Harlen
Cover text reads: Gripping, lovely, and thrilling all at once. - Joan Tierney, author of The Killing Grounds
Cover image features a woman in uniform, support dog by her side, standing in a walkway aboard a decaying generation ship, neon lights and flies buzzing all around.

Cover image by Vitaliy Ostaschenko.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 07/11/2023

Join us for a virtual book launch of A Feast for Flies by @leighharlen.bsky.social! Hosted by Argo Bookshop, and in conversation with @sillysyntax.bsky.social. The event is November 16th at 7 p.m. EST. Tickets are free, so RSVP below! www.ticketsource.us/argo-booksho...

Image text: Book Launch, Leigh Harlen, A Feast for Flies, with Suzan Palumbo, 7 p.m. November 16, 2023. Online, free.

The image contains the paperback cover image for A Feast for flies, author photos for Leigh Harlen and Suzan Palumbo, all on a purple cyberpunk vibes background.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 05/11/2023

Check out the Q&A with cover illustrator Emily Cheeseman here: www.dancingstarpress.com/2018/05/10/q...

Cover illustration for A Ruin of Shadows by L.D. Lewis, without the text and other cover elements. An older Black woman in tactical gear stands in a lush jungle, holding a black mask in one hand. Stone ruins and an electric pink/purple sunset are in the background.

Illustration by Emily Cheeseman

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 05/11/2023

Thread for A Ruin of Shadows by @ellethevillain.bsky.social! 🧑🏿Older Black woman badass protagonist 🗡 Assassin army 🧞 Wise-cracking djinn 🦏 War rhinos 🏞 Lush world-building ⚔️ fighting, revenge, chases, escapes! ✨ a little bit of magic, a bit more gore

Cover image for A Ruin of Shadows by L.D. Lewis. Subtitle: A tale of assassins, betrayal, and djinn.

Central image of book cover is an older Black woman in military-style dress, holding a black mask in one hand, against a backdrop of lush jungle greenery, grey ruins, and an electric pink and purple sunset.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 03/11/2023

Read a Q&A with the artist behind the gorgeous cover image, Chelsea Geter: "If I had to choose a favorite type of project... Anything that breathes life into representation that I wish we all grew up with as kids." www.dancingstarpress.com/2019/07/23/q...

Image text reads: The Fantastic Art of Chelsea Geter

Banner composed of three images, from left to right:
a Black elf with elongated ears, wearing ornate armor with a small dragon perched on his shoulder
The cover image for She Who Hears All Whispers: A Black woman in dark robes, a fireball hovering over her upturned hand, smoke billowing behind her
Two men fighting side by side, one a white vampire with arm outstretched, the other a Black man with prominent facial scar, holding a gun

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 03/11/2023

Thread for She Who Hears All Whispers by @davaun.bsky.social! 🔥 a story of revenge set on fire 🦀 coastal ecology 🦠 a magic system powered by disease 🧟‍♀️ body horror 🌊 what horrors lurk beneath the waves? ☄️ magical battles 👩🏿 dominated by Black women

Book cover image for She Who Hears All Whispers by DaVaun Sanders. The central image is of a Black woman in voluminous robes, floating over a smoking city, a fireball levitating over her upraised palm.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 01/11/2023

Check out a Q&A with Olusayo Ajetunmobi, the amazing artist behind the cover of Bride of the River God here! www.dancingstarpress.com/2022/12/09/q...

Text in graphic reads: Nigerian artist & storyteller Olusayo Ajetunmobi, cover illustrator for Bride of the River God. There is a small illustrated image of Olusayo, as well as a reproduction of the central image of the cover of the book Bride of the River God: a Black woman, draped in red coral beadwork, holds a dripping golden heart. She is underwater, and a large pink, red, and orange fish swims behind her.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 01/11/2023

Check out an interview with Sarah, @killianfantasy.bsky.social, here: www.dancingstarpress.com/2022/12/12/q...

Text in graphics reads: Author & illustrator Sarah A. Macklin, author of Bride of the River God. There is a small black & white picture of Macklin smiling at the camera, and two images of the book Bride of the River God, one as a paperback, another as an ebook on a tablet.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 01/11/2023

Thread for Bride of the River God by @killianfantasy.bsky.social! 🐠 all ages fantasy novella 🐟 petty, petty gods 🐸 talking animals, some helpful, some tricksters ⚡️big myth vibes 🐡 coming of age 🚫 there may be a bride, but there is no romance in this picture

The cover image for the book Bride of the River God by Sarah A. Macklin features a Black woman, draped heavily in a red coral bead headdress and necklaces, holding a golden heart dripping golden blood. She is standing underwater, and large pink, red, and orange fish swims behind her.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 25/10/2023

If you pre-order directly from the publisher, not only does more of you money go directly to Leigh (and the publisher!), but while supplies last you will also get this great fly sticker from local designer Rose Soma! www.dancingstarpress.com/product/a-fe...

The book A Feast for Flies by Leigh Harlen lies on a wooden background.

The book cover image features a woman in uniform, whose blue hair has shaved stripes on one side, holding the leash of a spotted dog at her side, as they stand in the passageway of a ship.

The book is surrounded by stickers of brightly colored flies.

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Dancing Star Press @dancingstarpress.com · 25/10/2023

Thread for A Feast for Flies by @leighharlen.bsky.social, out November 14! It's got generation ships, crime bosses and corruption, psychic abilities, a very good support doggo, and two women who are SO TIRED of the compromises they've had to make to survive in such a brutal system.

Image features the book A Feast for Flies by Leigh Harlen on a starry background.
The text reads: Coming soon! Available November 14, 2023, from Dancing Star Press.
There are curly arrows pointing to the book that say:
cyberpunk/space noir
sapphic second chance
support doggo
ACAB

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