Tag Archives: Retelling

Happy Holigays

Happy 250th Birthday, Jane Austen!

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RIP, Jane – you would’ve really loved how much queer literature is explicitly gaying up your work.

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For generally Austen-inspired work, check out:

I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner

George has major problems: They’ve just inherited the failing family estate, and the feelings for their best friend, Eleanor, have become more complicated than ever. Not to mention, if anyone found out they were secretly dressing in men’s clothes, George is sure it would be ruination for the family name.

Eleanor has always wanted to do everything “right,” including falling in love—but she’s never met a boy she was interested in. She’d much rather spend time with her best friend, George, and beloved cousin Charlotte. However, when a new suitor comes to town, she finds her closest friendships threatened, forcing her to rethink what “right” means and confront feelings she never knew she had.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Happy 250th Birthday, Jane Austen! →

Authors in Conversation

Authors in Conversation: Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko & Liz Parker, Co-Authors of The Other March Sisters

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Today on the site I’m thrilled to be hosting Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko, and Liz Parker, the three coauthors behind the queerified Little Women reimagining The Other March Sisters, which releases February 25th from Kensington! Here’s the story:

The Other March Sisters by Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko, and Liz Parker

Four sisters, each as different as can be. Through the eyes and words of Jo, their characters and destinies became known to millions. Meg, pretty and conventional. Jo, stubborn, tomboyish, and ambitious. Beth, shy and good-natured, a mortal angel readily accepting her fate. And Amy, elegant, frivolous, and shallow. But Jo, for all her insight, could not always know what was in her sisters’ thoughts, or in their hearts.

With Jo away in New York to pursue her literary ambitions, Meg, Beth, and Amy follow their own paths. Meg, newly married with young twins, struggles to find the contentment that Marmee assured her would come with domesticity. Unhappy and unfulfilled, she turns to her garden, finding there not just a hobby but a calling that will allow her to help other women in turn.

Beth knows her time is limited. Still, part of her longs to break out of her suffocating cocoon at home, however briefly. A new acquaintance turns into something more, offering unexpected, quiet joy.

Amy, traveling in Europe while she pursues her goal of becoming an artist, is keenly aware of the expectation that she will save the family by marrying well. Through the course of her journey, she discovers how she can remain true to herself, true to her art, and true to the love that was always meant to be.

Purposefully leaving Jo off the page, authors Liz Parker, Ally Malinenko, and Linda Epstein draw inspiration from Alcott’s real-life sisters, giving the other March women room to reveal themselves through conversations, private correspondence, and intimate moments—coming alive in ways that might surprise even daring, unconventional Jo.

Buy it: Bookshop | B&N | Amazon

And now our fabulous authors will take it from here!

Continue reading Authors in Conversation: Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko & Liz Parker, Co-Authors of The Other March Sisters →

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Fault by Lumen Reese

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Today on the site we’re revealing the cover of Fault by Lumen Reese, an adult sci-fi reimagining of Moby Dick releasing August 24, 2023, complete with an m/m romance between the stand-ins for Ishmael and Queequeg. Here’s the story: 

A grieving mother.
A monster.
A ship crewed by the damned.

The Thing swam out of the magma in the Earth’s core and clawed its way up through the San Andreas Fault on the night that a chunk of the California coast sank into the Pacific. Millions died, including the two children of Lucille ‘Ceely’ Bennett, an accomplished engineer stranded in rural Montana when the cataclysm occurred. Ceely builds a submarine, complete with mechanical arms and a set of harpoons -the biggest on the market- with the intention of going down among the ruins of Los Angeles to collect her daughters’ bodies.

A mother’s love -and fury- drive her to hunt the creature across oceans and decades in this story of grief and revenge.

And here’s the cover, designed by Mihai Costea!

Add Fault on Goodreads!

Lumen Reese is an author of fantasy and science fiction from West Michigan. She identifies as bisexual.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Self Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

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Being a massive fangirl of both this author and this series, I am so thrilled to be revealing the cover today for Self Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore, a trans reimagining of The Great Gatsby publishing September 6, 2022 in Feiwel & Friends’s Remixed Classics series! Check it out:

Stonewall Honor recipient and two-time National Book Award Longlist selectee Anna-Marie McLemore weaves an intoxicating tale of glamor and heartache in Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix, part of the Remixed Classics series.

New York City, 1922. Nicolás Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Wisconsin, has no interest in the city’s glamor. Going to New York is all about establishing himself as a young professional, which could set up his future—and his life as a man—and benefit his family.

Nick rents a small house in West Egg from his 18-year-old cousin, Daisy Fabrega, who lives in fashionable East Egg near her wealthy fiancé, Tom—and Nick is shocked to find that his cousin now goes by Daisy Fay, has erased all signs of her Latine heritage, and now passes seamlessly as white.

Nick’s neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious young man named Jay Gatsby, whose castle-like mansion is the stage for parties so extravagant that they both dazzle and terrify Nick. At one of these parties, Nick learns that the spectacle is all meant to impress a girl from Jay’s past—Daisy. And he learns something else: Jay is also transgender.

As Nick is pulled deeper into the glittery culture of decadence, he spends more time with Jay, aiming to help his new friend reconnect with his lost love. But Nick’s feelings grow more complicated when he finds himself falling hard for Jay’s openness, idealism, and unfounded faith in the American Dream.

And here’s the absolutely stunning cover, illustrated by Elliott Berggren and designed by Veronica Mang!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound

Anna-Marie McLemore (they/them) grew up hearing la llorona in the Santa Ana winds, and now writes books as queer, Latine, and nonbinary as they are. They are the author of The Weight of Feathers, a 2016 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist; Stonewall Honor Book When the Moon Was Ours, which was longlisted for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature; Wild Beauty; Blanca & Roja, one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Novels of All Time; Dark and Deepest Red; The Mirror Season, which was also longlisted for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature; Lakelore; and the forthcoming Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix (September 6, 2022). Find them online at annamariemclemore.com and on Twitter at @LaAnnaMarie.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra

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Today on the site I’m thrilled to be sharing the cover of Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra, a pan m/f reimagining of Much Ado About Nothing releasing from Graydon House on August 2, 2022! Here’s the story:

Beatriz Herrera is a fierce woman who will take you down with her quick wit and keen intellect. And after the results of the 2016 election worked hard to erase her identity as a queer biracial woman, she’d be right to. Especially if you come for her sweet BFF cousin, Hero. Beatriz would do anything for her, a loyalty that lands Beatriz precisely where she doesn’t want to be: spending a week at the ridiculous Cape Cod mansion of stupid-hot playboy Ben Montgomery. The same Ben Montgomery she definitely shouldn’t have hooked up with that one time… The things we do for family.

White and wealthy, Ben talks the talk and walks the walk of privilege, but deep down, he’s wrestling with the politics and expectations of a conservative family he can’t relate to. Though Beatriz’s caustic tongue drives him wild in the very best way, he’s the last person she’d want, because she has zero interest in compromising her identity. But as her and Ben’s assumptions begin to unravel and their hookups turn into something real, they start wondering if it’s still possible to hold space for one another and the inescapable love that unites them.

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And here’s a note from author Katalina Gamarra on the book!

Ben and Beatriz was inspired by both my love of Shakespeare and my own life. Writing this book is how I processed being a person of color unwelcome in a WASP family. It’s how I came to terms with the rude awakening I felt as a millennial under Obama when Trump proved just how easily progress can be undone. It’s how I realized it’s VITAL to keep fighting for what you believe, and to prioritize self-respect over family expectations. This book is how I came to terms with many difficult things in my life. I hope it can do the same for you, or at least entertain you along the way. <3 – Katalina Gamarra, author of Ben and Beatriz

And finally, here’s the marvelously detailed cover (look at that pan pride pin!) illustrated by Bokiba, with design and art direction by Kathleen Oudit!

Buy it: Amazon | IndieBound

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Katalina Gamarra earned a BA in English from Drew University, where she received accolades for both creative writing and academic prowess, as well as an award in Shakespeare Study. Before becoming an author, she worked in bookselling and literary scouting. She lives in Boston with her husband, cat, and dog.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Take Her Down by Lauren Emily Whalen

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ICYMI, Shakespeare reimaginings are my jam, so I’m thrilled to be revealing the cover for Lauren Emily Whalen’s Take Her Down, a queer YA Julius Caesar retelling set at a cutthroat magnet school that releases on the Ides of March! (That’s March 15, 2022, although if you preorder from Bold Strokes Books, you can get it in your hands two weeks early!)

In this queer YA retelling of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, stakes at Augustus Magnet School are cutthroat, scheming is creative, and loyalty is ever-changing.

Overnight, Bronwyn St. James goes from junior class queen to daughter of an imprisoned felon, and she lands in the care of her aunt and younger cousin Cass, a competitive cheerleader who Bronwyn barely knows. Life gets worse when her ex-best friend, the always-cool Jude Cuthbert, ostracizes Bronwyn from the queer social elite for dating a boy, Porter Kendrick.

Bronwyn and Jude are both running for student body president, and that means war. But after Bronwyn, Porter, and Cass share a video of Jude in a compromising position, Jude suddenly goes missing. No one has seen her for weeks and it might be all Bronwyn’s fault.

Will Jude ever be found? Or will Bronwyn finally have to reckon with what she’s won―and what she’s lost?

Content Advisory: Depictions of sexual assault.

And here’s the on-point cover, done by Inkspiral Design!

Preorder: Amazon | Bold Strokes Books

(c) Greg Inda

Lauren Emily Whalen is the author of three books for young adults, including TWO WINTERS, a queer YA reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, available everywhere September 14. Lauren is a freelance writer, professional performer, and very amateur aerialist who is an unabashed devotee of the Bard. She lives in Chicago with her cat, Versace, and an apartment full of books. Say hello at laurenemilywrites.com.

Fave Five

Fave Five: LGBTQ Takes on Cinderella

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Sometime After Midnight by L. Philips

The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode

Cinders by Cara Malone

Cinder Ella by S.T. Lynn

Dithered Hearts by Chace Verity

Bonus: Coming up in July, Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

 

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

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I’m thrilled to be revealing the cover of a YA debut I’ve been highly anticipating, Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron, which releases from Bloomsbury on July 7, 2020! Of course, you may better know this book from its perfectly succinct deal announcement, which described it as “queer black girls team up to overthrow the patriarchy in the former kingdom of Cinderella,” but here’s a fuller picture of the story:

It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again.

Sixteen-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee, and finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all–and in the process, they learn that there’s more to Cinderella’s story than they ever knew . . .

This fresh take on a classic story will make readers question the tales they’ve been told, and root for girls to break down the constructs of the world around them.

And here’s its beautiful cover, designed by Manzi Jackson!

Preorder: Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

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Black Forest Photography

Kalynn Bayron is a debut author and classically trained vocalist. She grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. When she’s not writing you can find her listening to Ella Fitzgerald on loop, attending the theater, watching scary movies, and spending time with her kids. She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas with her family.

New Release Spotlight

New Release Spotlight: Once & Future by AR Capetta and Cori McCarthy

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I really couldn’t not feature a book that’s a genderbent King Arthur legend with a queer female Arthur (aka Ari) in an f/f romance, a gay teenaged Merlin, a nonbinary Lamorak who uses they/them pronouns, and so on and so forth, by two of the best names queer YA has to offer. (Full disclosure but really it’s more like bragging: I did moderate their NYC launch, and it was fabulous.) This book is wildly fun and inclusive and I’m so excited it’s the first in a series. Get thee to it!

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (26th)

Once & Future (Once & Future, #1)I’ve been chased my whole life. As an illegal immigrant in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I’ve always had to hide who I am. Until I found Excalibur.

Now I’m done hiding.

My name is Ari Helix. I have a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start.

When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind.

No pressure.

Buy it: B&N | Amazon | Books of Wonder (signed)

Shopper's Delight

7 New March eBooks for Under $5

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All links are Amazon affiliate. All income goes back into the site.

Smoke & Mirrors by Vesper St. Clair (Historical m/m Romance) – $2.99

Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan (Historical f/f Romance) – $2.99

An Unheard Song by Laura Ambrose (Contemporary f/f Romance) – $2.99

Outside Looking In by A.J. Truman (Contemporary m/m Romance) – $3.99

Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett (f/f Shakespeare Retelling) – $3.99

American Dreamer by Adriana Herrera (Contemporary m/m Romance) – $3.99

Anyone But You by Chelsea M. Cameron (Contemporary f/f Romance) – $4.99