#non binary characters
Carnation Books is accepting submissions of short stories which meet the following criteria:
- Stories ranging from 8,000 to 15,000 words in length
- Focusing on a queer romance
- With a Happily Ever After
- By fanfiction authors (the work can be scrubbed or unscrubbed fanfiction, or an original story)
We are seeking stories in the following categories:
Stories about fandom romance: Characters can be members of fandom, discovering fandom, or meeting through fandom. Think fanfic authors, cosplayers, artists, bloggers, etc.! Do your characters meet online? At a con? Randomly somehow at the grocery store? The options are endless, and we want to read them all!
-OR-
Stories featuring a relationship involving at least one character who is genderfluid, and at least one character who is a paranormal/magical/mythical creature such as: shapeshifters, were-creatures, fae, banshees, incubi/succubi, ghosts, etc. We are looking for paranormal genderfluid romance. The genderfluid character does NOT have to also be the magical/mythical character, but certainly CAN be! It’s up to you! We are particularly interested in #ownvoices stories for this category.
Submissionsmustmeet the above criteria AND fall into one of the above categories, but if your story falls into both categories that is really awesome, please note that in the summary field of your submission!
The following elements are always welcome:
- Erotica
- Representation of characters from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds
- Characters with disabilities
- Trans characters
- Non-binary/genderfluid/gender nonconforming characters (for both categories!)
- Any genre, as long as the story is primarily a romance
SUBMISSIONS PAGE WILL CLOSE ON DECEMBER 31, 2019!
EDIT: This deadline has been extended through January 30, 2020!
We will do our best to respond to all submissions. Please do not send inquiries about your submission. If your story is accepted, we will contact you via email.
We look forward to reading your stories!
Click here to submit your story: http://carnationbooks.com/submissionsfall2019
Hi! We’re making a directory of people who can help with world building! Do you know a lot about meteorology? Do you consider yourself an expert on the book “Children of Hurin?” Reblog this post with what topics you’re able to help with and if your ask box is open for these questions and if you’re open to non-Tolkien worldbuilding questions too.
Do you have a question about the weather of Himring? Do you need help designing clothes for Hobbits? Search this post to see if anyone’s available to help! (or if we have a lot of reblogs, check out our blog and search for that topic!)
Our goal is to, when we have enough reblogs, create individual posts for each topic listing who is available to help with that topic! That way no one has to scroll forever to find someone to help :)
I’m Elwin!
I can help with: finding references in HoME or any of Tolkien’s works, such as Unfinished Tales or the Letters; thee/thou questions; writing adult/E-rated work (no questions from underage people about this please); writing bisexual, intersex, non-binary, and/or polyamorous characters, writing about infertility/childless characters, writing fat characters.
Our Flag Means Death became the very thing SPN fans needed to cope with the bullshit that was the end of Season 15, Destiel and everything CW.
SPN fans, hellers, all of y'all - come over to the queer pirates side. We have representation!
It genuinely is, though.
But at the same time, it sort of underlines just how easy it was to do. Every bit of representation they managed to wangle into OFMD (and there’s SO MUCH of it) is treated with respect and consistency and care. When stuff matters in this show, it matters.
Even though there is great care and attention paid to all the rep on the show, at the same time, it’s done with such a light touch. To the point where it almost feels like a fantasy in and of itself (imagine it - meeting up with your auntie the nun after however many years as a non-binary person and she just accepts you as-is, no arguments or shaming or telling you you’re going to hell or anything?! wow, what a dream world!).
David Jenkins might say ‘fuck your history books, Blackbeard’s now a leather daddy’ but his writing shows how effortless it can be to infuse positive representation and how little it takes to be kind.
David Jenkins gives us so much in OFMD, just because he can, and with this show and Rhys and Taika (and seriously - the whole fucking cast, every last one of them), I think it’s going to be even harder for those arguments against representation to stick.
Because, lookit - these two guys who are definitely grown-ass men with full lives of their own, figuring out that they’re in love with each other. Just two regular guys.
And it’s just a thing like falling in love, like people do, and it’s magnificent. Each of them is very much their own person, with their own way of doing things, but they see something in each other and it’s just immediate and just chemistry and fate and they just KNOW.
And that same level of attention and care and detail feels like it’s being applied to every last character and scenario in the show. And as a writer who has lost the will to live on more than one occasion because of Buckleming and the terrible things they do to show canon, I can tell you, OFMD is such a gift.
If your character uses they/them pronouns, you probably already know that it can be used for a singular noun of unspecified gender. However, a lot of readers don’t know that.
As a writer, it’s not your job to explain grammar, but you can make it easier on the reader by making the link between the antecedent and the pronoun very clear
This is unclear:
“Jo has a few close friends. They enjoy watching movies with them.”
This is clearer:
“Jo enjoys watching movies with their few close friends.”
In the first sentences, both of the “they/them” pronouns could have been referring to either “Jo” or their “close friends”. In the second one, the pronoun “their” very clearly refers to the noun “Jo” and none other.
Tl;dr: If you can help it, keep the pronoun grammar clear.
-Mod Fray
One of the biggest things I’ve noticed while betaing and editing is that pronoun use can be very vague. It’s not a problem when you’re talking about two people and one uses she and the other he (or some other singular pronouns zie, hir, or xe) because it’s obvious who the pronoun is referring to.
When they is used, or two people have the same pronoun, that casual vagueness can become a problem because it’s suddenly no longer a one-one match for pronoun-person. Reading over your writing specifically to see if the pronouns are attaching to the right people (and fixing it if it’s unclear or causes confusion) is a good idea.
And, as always, the more you do it, the better you’ll get and the easier it’ll become to automatically do it.
I also find it’s very helpful to add a nice little “they both” or “they all” whenever referring to groups of people, especially when a they/them character is present.
- “He nodded to them and they continued down the hall” could refer to the they/them character continuing down the hall or both characters continuing down the hall.
- “He nodded to them and they both continued down the hall” or “He nodded to them and they led him down the hall” both specify that the they/them character is going down the hallwith the he/him character.
