elisecarlson.com
Books Direct From Authors Around the World
Introducing 33 authors by region of the world and country they call home, including Fantasy, SciFi, Horror, Romance, Mystery, Historical, Comedy and more authors. You’ll find the main queer, disability (including neurodivergent) and BIPOC rep these authors have written listed too, along with where to buy books directly from authors, and whether their books are available in audiobook and or requestable at libraries.
The advantage of buying direct is the author only has to pay payment processor fees for each book sold, instead of giving a store 30-40% of the book’s price. In other words; its the best way to support independent authors! If your budget is tight, whether the author’s books are requestable at libraries is also noted. Depending on library purchasing agreements and whether authors can and have applied for re-imbursement schemes or government grants; we may still get paid for library reads ;).
I almost forgot to say; being opposed to gen ai usage of any kind is a condition of being featured on this blog. (And of participating in the multi-author Itchio Book Bundles I run periodically. More on Itchio indie store here.)
## Asia Pacific
### Aotearoa/ New Zealand
##### **Anna Verner**
Fantasy, Cozy, Horror, Romance
Anna is a little NZ Hobbit, who loves writing fun characters out on adventures, and sometimes has her own adventures out in the world too. She writes all sorts of weird and wonderful characters. Sometimes they are in peril in her cozy fantasy and horror stories, sometimes they are enjoying themselves in spicy hot scenarios.
****
****DirectStore****
****
Character Rep
Neurodivergent
##### **Kenneth Feller**
Fantasy
Kenneth Feller is a cave troll from the South Island of New Zealand. It is human-shaped, communicates vocally in grunts, and has shown a rudimentary understanding of the English language. It writes neurodiverse and queer characters within fantastic, bogan worlds.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****
Character Rep
Aromantic, asexual.
Neurodivergent
* * *
## Australia
##### **Elise Carlson**
Epic +Portal Fantasy & Urban Fantasy
Elise is an Aussie, restless adventurer and passionate educator. They have an endless list of ‘what if?’ questions to explore in Epic Fantasy and Urban Fantasy. They write adventures with strong threads of mystery, in which the found families saving the world just so happen to be queer and neurodivergent, for readers who may age, but will never get old. Their books so far are the complete Ruarnon Trilogy, and Sythe Series (partially published).
Elise lives in Naarm/ Melbourne with three housemates, many pot plants, and period furniture that’s the closest they’ll come to time travel.
Author Website**:** you’re on it!
Direct Store
Library requestable books.
Character Rep
Nonbinary, gay, aro-ace, panromantic, lesbian.
Autism, ADHD, CPTSD.
Aboriginal Aussie, Vietnamese-Aussie, Fantasy/ SciFi world BIPOC.
* * *
##### **Mason Hawthorne**
Fantasy, Horror, Weird, Romance
Mason Hawthorne studied creative writing and literature at the University of Wollongong. His stories are horror, weird, and fantasy but always inflected with the macabre. In his spare time Mason enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and long, meandering landscape descriptions. He has stories in Midnight Echo Magazine, Unspeakable: a Queer Gothic Anthology, The Monsters we Forgot Anthology and Kaleidoscope: A Queer Anthology 2023.
Social Media: Bsky
Direct Store****
****Library requestable.
**Character Rep**
Gay, Trans (binary).
##### **Patrick Charlton-O’Shea**
LitRPG, Steampunk, Magepunk, VRMMO.
Patrick is a mad scientist, mildly rational technician and occasionally lucid author. Their books are always LitRPG, frequently steampunk, and quite often contain positive depictions of rats. They’re books for people who think normal is boring, and would rather walk on the wild side.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library requestable books.
Character Rep
Asexual, aromantic, trans (nonbinary).
Paraplegia/ wheelchair usage, PTSD, bulimia.
Vietnamese.
* * *
##### **BG Hilton**
General Speculative Fiction
BG writes speculative novels in which diverse characters must come together to solve a common problem. His series are ‘The South Hertling Chronicles,’ in which a cast of oddballs has to protect an outdoor shopping centre in suburban Australia from malevolent forces. He also writes the Steampunk series ‘Champagne Charlie and the Amazing Gladys,’ which sees a drunken aristocrat and a cranky singer working together against a dark conspiracy.
Author Website
Direct Store
Available in Audiobook.****
****
**Character Rep**
Gay, lesbian, trans (binary).
* * *
## Singapore
##### **Joyce Ch’ng**
Fantasy, SciFi, General Speculative Fiction, Kidlit -Young Adult
Jyce Ch’ng is Singaporean Chinese. They write SFF, kidlit and things in between. The Fire Heart duology is a sapphic YA fantasy with swords and learning about one’s worth.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****
**Character Rep**
Sapphic, lesbian.
Anxiety.
Fantasy BIPOC.
* * *
## Africa
### South Africa
##### **C. B. Lansdell**
Dark Fantasy, Sci-fi, Horror
Coe has spent her whole life in Cape Town. The beaches and historic buildings of her home city influence her world-building. A career illustrator, she currently makes art for her own books and the fantasy worlds of other authors. All her stories follow non-human characters on an alien moon. She gently touches on themes of social inequality and self acceptance, and tracks the spirituality, pains and joys of her knyads.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library requestable and available in audiobook.****
****
**Character Rep**
Demisexual, bisexual, queer questioning, other queer.
### South America
### Mexico/Venezuela
##### **Marat Earendel**
Gothic Romance, Gothic Gaslamp fantasy horror.
Marat Earendel is an Afro-Indigenous, autistic, queer artist and writer whose work lives between gothic horror, existential dread, and the absurdity of existence. With atmospheric prose, he explores torment, desire, and the strange tenderness of monsters. He’s currently working on the Wretched Creatures, an interconnected series of queer Gothic novellas with each volume inspired by different classic monsters.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library Requestable.****
****
**Character Rep**
Gay, Bisexual, Trans (binary & nonbinary).
Neurodivergence, mental health, chronic illness, memory loss.
Black, BIPOC, (Latin American & Indigenous coming 2027).
* * *
## Europe
### Scandinavia
##### **Karen Lykkebo**
Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Cozy, Folklore.
Karen Lykkebo writes a variety of fantasy and horror inspired by nature, mental health, and a yearning for adventure. All of her worlds and stories feature and represent queer love and physical and mental disability. Born and raised in Scandinavia, she loves the deep misty woods and long summer evenings and is drawn to the ancient lore of the north and the healing properties of the growing world.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library requestable.****
****
**Character Rep**
Aromantic, asexual, Lesbian, Sapphic, Bisexual, Trans (nonbinary).
Mental health, anxiety, depression, chronic illness/pain, mobility issues.
Fantasy/ SciFi world BIPOC.
* * *
### Ireland
##### **Janina Franck**
Fantasy, Romance, Mystery/ Thriller/ Crime, SciFi, Adventure.
Janina is a nature-loving story-addict who may have tea and chocolate running through her veins. She writes character-led stories in a variety of genres for those who need a little escape from real life.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library requestable.****
****
**Character Rep**
Aromantic, Asexual, Lesbian, Sapphic, Bisexual, Pansexual.
Mental Health; PTSD, anxiety, schizophrenia.
Latinx, Fantasy/SciFi BIPOC.
### UK
##### **Jessica M Taylor**
SciFi & Humour
Jessica is a Scottish NB and neurodivergent author who’s worked as a TV technician, accessibility adviser, tour guide, railway station historian and circus employee. They write SF with a large dose of satire, focused on a crew trying to keep the galaxy’s tackiest cruise ship from falling apart, and the bonds they form along the way. It’s a dysfunctional found family with many queer and neurodivergent members, but they could just be the galaxy’s best hope.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library requestable.****
****
**Character Rep**
Asexual, Aromantic, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer Questioning.
Neurodivergence (ADHD especially).
SF world BIPOC, 1 MC (Ugandan descent).
* * *
##### **Russell Phillips**
Military History
Russell is a non-binary autistic person with a life-long interest in military history. They write deeply researched 20th century military history, with a particular focus on less well-known topics.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library requestable and available in audiobook.
* * *
### France
##### **A.M. Weald**
Romance, General Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, SciFi.
A.M. Weald is a freelance editor, a semi-retired archaeologist, and a neurodivergent xennial who writes emotional, character-driven fiction in a mix of genres from the romantic to the speculative, including contemporary romance, sci-fi survival horror, and grounded romantic fantasy. She strives to write real, relatable characters, and to make readers cry.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****
**Character Rep**
Gay, Sapphic, Pansexual, Bisexual, Nonbinary.
Mental health, neurodivergence, and chronic pain.
### Netherlands
##### **L. B. Shimaira**
Gothic, Dark Romance, Horror, Historical, Paranormal.
L. B. Shimaira (she/they) is autistic and queer (polyamorous, pan grey-asexual, idemromantic, and quoigender). She writes dark fiction often inspired by her own dreams and nightmares, giving them a vivid sense of realism. Polyamory tends to sneak into her longer works, even if just a notion, and her novels always have LGBTQ+ main characters.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****Library requestable.
**Character Rep**
Bisexual, Pansexual, Sapphic.
Trauma/PTSD.
* * *
## Germany
##### **M. K. Nedjelkovic**
Fantasy, SciFi, Adventure, Horror.
M.K. writes fantasy, science fiction and horror. Their writing is influenced by growing up queer in Italy, having an immigrant background, and a love for languages. M.K. is now based in Dortmund (Germany) and lives a mysterious life with two cats and a partner. Besides being an author, M.K. is also a freelance illustrator and artist.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****
**Character Rep**
Asexual, Aromantic, Bisexual, Pansexual, Trans (binary), Trans (nonbinary), Queer Questioning.
Neurodivergent, mental health, chronic pain, amputation.
Fantasy/ SciFi world BIPOC.
##### **JD Rivers**
SciFi, Fantasy, Romance
JD loves everything weird and cute, consumes cooking shows as if it were its own competition, and was indoctrinated into the speculative fiction life as small kid with fairy tales. They write stories straddling different genres, always queer, always fantastical, always with a dash of romance. Often with characters trying to figure out the world around them, while collecting people, they will call family, on the way.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library requestable and available in audiobook.
**Character Rep**
Gay, Bisexual, Trans (binary).
Anxiety, mental health.
Fantasy/ SciFi world BIPOC.
* * *
* * *
## North America
### Canada
##### **Bianca Sommerland**
Fantasy, Romance, Polyam, suspense, sports, fantasy.
Bianca Sommerland is Canadian, queer, and an MM and Polyam romance author who writes both contemporary, and fantasy. Sometimes their romance is on the dark side, while other stories have some fluffiness thrown in, just because. Their books often have a twisted edge, with characters who grow with their chosen family and find hope even when it seems impossible. From romance based around their favourite sport of hockey, to exploring the deepest pits of hell, they love exploring different themes with one common goal. Real love isn’t just worth dying for, it can be what it takes to survive long past the HEA.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****
**Character Rep**
Gay, Lesbian, Pansexual, Bisexual, Trans (nonbinary), Queer Questioning.
Neurodivergent, mental health.
* * *
##### **Claudie Arseneault**
High Fantasy, Cosy Fantasy
Claudie Arseneault is an easily-enthused aromantic and asexual writer with a never-ending cycle of obsessions but an enduring love for all things cephalopod and fantasy. She writes queer fantasy that centres platonic relationships and blend high stakes and cozier, warm moments, and is equally known for editing several aromantic SFFH anthologies.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****
**Character Rep**
Aromantic, Asexual, Trans (nonbinary), Bisexual, Gay.
ADHD, Asthma.
Fantasy world BIPOC.
* * *
##### **Kaya Skovdatter**
Paranormal Romance, Horror, Weird Fiction, Erotica
Kaya Skovdatter (She/They) is a nonbinary trans (and otherwise queer), disabled, neurodivergent Danish-Canadian writer, editor, publisher, reviewer, and occasional anthologist. Kaya’s body of work is broadly spread across surrealist spec, Horror, Weird Fiction, and Paranormal Romance/Erotica, with a focus on lived queer experience, and intersections of queerness and disability, cycles of growth/decay, transformation and renewal, memory/legacy, personal history, and how we embody cities and they embody us.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library Requestable.
**Character Rep**
Aromantic, Asexual, Lesbian, Sapphic, Pansexual, Trans (binary and nonbinary), Other Queer.
##### **KQ Watson**
SciFi, Dystopia.
KQ Watson is a one legged Canadian who likes The Dark Crystal more than she will ever like you.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****
**Character Rep**
Asexual, Other Queer.
Amputation, seizure condition, depression.
**CW:** The queer characters are hedonistic drug dealing overlords, which one could argue is a negative depiction. The content in this novel may contain repression of queer expression or unfavourable depictions but those actions do not reflect the views of the author. Love is love and Trans rights are human rights.
* * *
##### **Cheyenne Brammah**
SciFi, Fantasy.
Cheyenne Brammah is a Canadian science fantasy author and also a lover of yarn. Known for obsessive worldbuilding, her work focuses on dangerous and sometimes dark and gruesome events happening on worlds with alien cultures and incredible technologies, where things can go from bad to worse and the ending may or may not be happy.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library Requestable.****
****
**Character Rep**
Polyam.
Mental health, chronic pain.
* * *
### United States
##### **H.S. Kallinger**
Urban Fantasy, LGBTQ/Queer, sci-Fantasy, Psychological Horror
H.S. Kallinger is a disabled, queer, neurodivergent author, parent, gamer, weirdo, and geek who’s been telling stories to entertain people as long as he could speak. He loves, writes, and wishes he lived (non-dystopian) sci-fi and fantasy and treats daydreaming like a superpower–or therapy. Vampires are a special interest and find their way into most of his stories. Genre boxes are confusing, and he can’t figure out how to stay in them, so he doesn’t really try. A scientist at heart, he enjoys looking for the ‘why’ behind everything. Unifying themes to his works include LGBTQIA+ characters, which he’s passionate about, healing and finding happiness. He majored in Criminal Justice with a minor in psychology and lives in Kansas, USA with his husband, children, and benevolent kitty overlords who fill him with love.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****
**Character Rep**
Gay, Lesbian, Sapphic, Pansexual, Bisexual, Trans (nonbinary), Queer Questioning and more.
Neurodivergent. Mental health (PTSD, depression, dissociative episodes).
* * *
##### **Jesse Pohlman**
Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Adventure
Jesse is a Queer, Pagan Sci-Fi/Fantasy author from New York who explores themes of self-identity, good governance, and the meaning of teamwork.
Author Website
Direct Store****
****
**Character Rep**
Sapphic, Pansexual, Bisexual, Queer Questioning.
Neurodivergent.
Fantasy/Sci-Fi World BIPOC.
* * *
##### **C. R. Collins**
Epic Fantasy, Fantasy Adventure, Urban Fantasy.
C. R. Collins is a tree hugging indie author with a passion for nature and wildlife. Her Tales of Ardonna series offers fairy tales for adults: eco-friendly, hopepunk, epic fantasy adventures set in an improbable world with norms outside the familiar status quo.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library Requestable.****
****
**Character Rep**
Gay, Lesbian, Sapphic, Pansexual, Bisexual, Trans (binary and nonbinary).
Neurodivergent.
Fantasy world BIPOC.
* * *
##### **Artemis Quinn**
Dark Fantasy
Artemis is a nonbinary artist and author from the USA, telling stories about flawed people with deep scars. The goal of the work is to make those who are typically overlooked feel not only seen, but understood. There is beauty and sorrow in darkness, and there is fear and cruelty in light; their stories are deep, dark, and comforting.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library requestable and available in audiobook.****
****
**Character Rep**
Asexual, Pansexual, Trans (nonbinary).
CPTSD, depression.
* * *
##### **Aimee Cozza**
Cyberpunk, soft Science Fiction
Aimee Cozza writes and illustrates science fiction, fantasy, and horror, usually with a bittersweet twist or ending. Her series The Machines follows traumatized robots and cyborgs as they find themselves through love, friendship, and an unbridled desire to be free to be themselves.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library Requestable
**Character Rep**
Gay, Lesbian, Sapphic, Pansexual, Bisexual, Trans (nonbinary), Asexual, Aromantic
Neurodivergent, physical disability (usually aided by cybernetics) and chronic illness.
##### **M.C. Burnell**
Epic & Gaslamp Fantasy
M.C. Burnell is a Chicago-dwelling former lawyer with a passion for food, big cities, and words. When they’re not baking or practicing longsword, they’re telling stories. They write fantasy across subgenres with complex plots seen through multiple POVs in unique, queer-normative worlds, and their stories are heavy on found families, intrigue, and memorable rebels.
Author Social Media: Bsky
Direct Store****
****
**Character Rep**
Gay, Trans (binary & nonbinary), Pansexual, Bisexual, Queer Questioning, Aromantic, Asexual.
Fantasy BIPOC.
* * *
##### **Christa Mandler**
Eco-Fantasy, Space Opera
Christa writes eco-space-fantasy for middle-grade readers (ages 10-14), but grown-ups are welcome too! Her specialty is science-based worldbuilding, using her degrees in biology and environmental science to inform her world and the creatures that inhabit it.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library Requestable.****
****
**Character Rep**
Neurodivergent.
Fantasy/ SciFi world BIPOC.
* * *
##### **O.H. Phukdischidt**
Romance, Fantasy.
O is a queer author who specializes in fantasy romance, though they hope to branch out to more specific fic soon. They reside in Arkansas, USA and wrestle with many pets and a neurospicy brain. Writing queer-normative worlds is their favorite. Equal parts fluffy and dark, their books focus on found family, love, romance, and how that can look different to different people. However, corrupt governments in need of toppling are also a fave.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library Requestable.****
****
**Character Rep**
Gay, Pansexual, Bisexual.
Mental illness including depression and anxiety, neurodivergent including autistic and ADHD, physical handicaps due to injuries.
Mixed Heritage MC.
* * *
##### **Kai Zeal**
Dark Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy, LGBTQIA+ Fantasy.
Kai Zeal is a married disabled, queer, neurodivergent cat mom and scholar who writes an entirely too long contemporary low dark fantasy series exploring themes of identity, legacy, generational trauma, and finding one’s path in life across a range of queer, neurodiverse, and socioeconomic statuses.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library Requestable.****
****
**Character Rep**
Aromantic, Asexual, Queer Questioning.
AuDHD, Autism, PTSD, anxiety, depression, chronic low self-esteem.
* * *
##### **L’Poni Baldwin**
SciFi, Fantasy, Horror, MLM Romance, Dark Fantasy, Cosmic Horror, Interracial Romance, African Mythology.
L’Poni Baldwin is an artist, writer, gamer, game developer and dragon enthusiast and writes about too many dragons, often wanting to pair them with black people. L’Poni writes interconnected short stories taking place in a universe full of powerful space dragons, and likes to intertwine African mythology and eldritch ideas into a cosmic setting. The stories also range from modern day dragon romantasy in Italy, political intrigue similar to Gunslinger Girl and Code Geass, slice of life, and many more. L’Poni also likes to write about her black femboy dragons.
Author Website
Direct Store
Library Requestable
**Character Rep**
Bisexual, Gay, Other Queer.
ADHD.
Mixed African Italian, black, African.
## Further Reading
Queer Normative SFF Direct From Authors
Diverse Books links to pages where books are organised by LGBTQIA+ identities, some neurodivergent and general disability book bundles, with bonus SFF bundles.
