A rock band full of queer, magical girls? Let's go! Kara Buchanan (she/her) chats with Moth (they/them) about the inspiration behind Kara's Magica Riot series and the magical power of being free to be yourself.

Check out the series at https://magicariot.com

Magica Riot and the larger Maidensong Magica universe are the creation of author Kara Buchanan, a former city planning journalist and current musician turned fiction writer. After a dozen years writing about urban issues for various publications in her hometown, she moved to the Pacific Northwest and finally got to be her real self. Taking her love of magical girl anime, her life playing in bands, and her personal experiences dealing with gender issues, she created Magica Riot to bring a joyful, action-packed queer story of self-discovery and adventure to the world. She lives in a modest apartment with her wife and cats.

Show music by Luke McQuillan

Serena J. Bishop (she/her) and Moth (they/them) explore Serena's series "The Kari Chronicles" in a conversation that touches on sensitivity readers for writing cross-culturally, neurodivergence, character=driven outlining, and how writing can be like taking a roadtrip with your characters.

Serena's work is part of a sapphic sale on Amazon in November. Check out her author page.

Bio

Serena J. Bishop writes stories with humor, heart, and heroines. She is a daydreamer who comes from a long line of storytellers. When she’s not writing fiction she enjoys being a nerd, surprising others with her pop culture knowledge, or crafting a new beverage to enjoy (that's not coffee). She currently resides in Maryland with her lovely wife and chihuahua. You can sign up for her newsletter at www.serenajbishop.com or follow her on Facebook, Threads, Instagram, and Bluesky @SerenaJBishop.

Show music by Luke McQuillan https://www.lukemcquillan.com

What makes good queer fantasy? David Brandt (he/him) joins Moth (they/them) for a conversation on everything from queering beloved stories to how to write helpful content warnings,

Find Davi's books: https://dtbrandt.com/books/

D.T. Brandt (he/him) is a pansexual nonbinary author settling on the unceded territory of a Coast Salish nation (southwest BC). He grew up on the land of the Erie and Kaskaskia (suburbs of Cleveland, OH) and earned a BFA in Digital Art he only uses to format his books and color some lineart.

Writing was in his fingers from an early age, but whether or not it’s been worth it is up to you. Inspired by the video games and anime series of his youth and all the aspects of himself he was denied from his conservative Christian upbringing, D.T. is determined to now give his characters the joyous queer lives he (and many others) were (and are being, more by the day) denied.

What's it like to write in an open-source setting created by other authors? Tris Husband (she/her) joins Moth to talk about her new novel, open-source settings, queering intellectual property, and the power of trans lesbian voices.

Bio:

Tris Husband is a disabled transsexual lesbian who writes about utopia, space, gender and very large guns through the lens of queer women. When she isn’t writing, she can often be found covered in cats or lying in bed like a Victorian woman with a fainting disorder.

Buy "Keeping the Peace" on Itch or Amazon

About the book Keeping The Peace

Akakios, child of Diodotos, wasn’t the most reliable friend Isadora ever had. Xe tended to drop in unannounced, never really cared about what was going on in her life, and seemed to only ever want to drink at their favorite bar before disappearing again. So when xe showed up on her doorstep with a gun in xer hand, claiming that xer wife Pelagia had just been murdered, Isadora didn't really know what to do.

With Akakios now dead for a crime xe may not have committed, and everyone from the Archon of Elysium to ruthless gangsters to xer dead wife's family telling her to drop it, Isadora tried to just keep her head down, throwing herself into her work as a independent detective and entangling herself in the petty drama of one of Elysium's most exclusive communities.

Unfortunately, if what she wanted was to avoid confronting Akakios' dark past, the Valley was probably the last place in Elysium Isadora should have been.

Lilly Lockwood (they/them) joins Moth to talk about queer normative high fantasy, how table top gaming unleashes creative power, and the influence of autism in some of the elements in their magical world, Valhoon.

Grab a copy of Songs of Broken Bells; https://books2read.com/songsofbrokenbells

Find Lilly online: https://lillylockwood.carrd.co

https://bsky.app/profile/voicesofvalhoon.bsky.social

Mapmaking book we discussed: https://bookshop.org/a/113803/9781440340246 (affiliate link)

Bio: Lilly Lockwood is a queer, autistic, veterinary student who writes high fantasy in what little free time they can scrounge together. When not writing or studying for exams they can be found birding, playing TTRPGs, reading, or watching movies with their fiancé, three cats, and jumping spider.

Sadhbh Frost (she/her) is the author of "The Wolf Bane." She and Moth discuss the healing power of dark humor, lesbian romance, and writing a novel with multiple viewpoints that explores themes of corporate villainy, magic, family secrets, and more!

Follow Sadhbh on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/sadhbhgirl.bsky.social

"The Wolf Bane" tells the story of Dale, who since her divorce, has locked herself away inside her gloomy apartment, losing herself in work. Helping a stray dog one night draws her into a high-stakes fight over a beautiful nonbinary runaway.

Cassiopeia is wolf-touched—host to an animal spirit that is claimed to bring power and wealth. Locked in a centuries-old family curse, they only seek a life outside of their destiny and life-long captivity. Seizing an opportunity to escape, they find themself lost and alone in the city.

Armed factions descend to fight each other for control of the wolf-touched. Their growing connection can't protect Cassiopeia and Dale, but an offer of sanctuary comes from strange beings with an agenda of their own.

Trans for werewolf romance blends with modern fantasy, action, mad science, and weird horror in The Wolf Bane, a story about building trust and ripping the opposition into pieces.

Sadhbh is a non-binary trans woman who has written all her life but finally found a voice reading indie books from the trans writing community. Her writing is heavily influenced by her love for weird horror and mad science, and while the circumstances may be absurd the focus of her writing is on the individuals caught up in the chaos. She watches an alarming quantity of awful horror movies while drafting, which may explain some things about her notions of storytelling. Sadhbh wrote frequently for the “Mad Scientist Journal”, contributing semi-regular advice columns as Dr. Oort and 3 short stories—two of which were included in the anthologies “That Ain’t Right” and “Fitting In”. She also dabbled in writing comics, most of which were illustrated by her wife, Wendi Strang-Frost, who graciously provided the beautiful cover for The Wolf Bane. Sadhbh lives in a small satellite community near a big university town, where she annoys her wife and their cats with endless amounts of nonsense.

Sophia Turner (she/her) joins Moth to discuss coming back to the love of reading and writing through a trans lens with special attention to trans lesbian relationships, consent, writing emotional resonance, and erotic embodiment. A joyously philosophical, fun, and spicy conversation for writers and readers of trans books.

Sophia is a trans woman and Kiwi now based in on Ngunnawal land in Canberra, Australia. She’s a programming language designer turned author with a love of all things trans and lesbian.

Get her novel, "Machines of Consent" a t4t lesbian title. The e-pub is everywhere and onhttps://transistance.itch.io/machines-of-consent and paperback https://a.co/d/4x3y3xk.

Check out Transistence Press, Soph's micro press: https://transistance.press

Follow Soph on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/sophiajt.com

Music by Luke McQuillan

Dreaming of writing but haven't in many years? Moth and author Aubrey Ennis talk about Aubrey's mesmerizing debut novel, "Name Her Holy" a space fantasy with a sword lesbian, trans rep, and magic. Aubrey shares their process in returning to writing in a conversation meant to encourage other queer and trans writers.

Aubrey Ennis (she/they/him) is a queer writer and artist from Eastern Pennsylvania. They went to school for art and design, and are currently working in commercial design while writing on the side. Name Her Holy is their debut novel.

Find Aubrey and their books at https://aubrey-ennis.carrd.co

Hardback of "Name Her Holy" coming in October and available for pre-order here: https://ko-fi.com/aubreyennis

Name Her Holy:

Where the weave between worlds thins, a long buried shadow rises from its grave among the stars and seeks vengeance on the Vale.

A Herald has been named to mark its ascension— a woman resurrected by The Seeker’s hand and placed in the pious care of the Vigil Order. A once disgraced daughter of her noble house, Kye Liatris is crowned a living saint, one tasked with stopping the coming cataclysm. Kye has lived on borrowed time since, aiding the Vigil while quietly enduring worsening ailments.

When a strange blight brings death to the valley of Jude Arendell’s home village, she finds herself swept up in the Vigil’s fight. But in taking up her mother’s sword, Jude learns that her family legacy was not as it seemed.

As stars extinguish and the threads that bind the Vale swiftly unravel, so do the long trusted stories of history past. Now Kye and Jude must decide whether to follow their divine callings or scorn the gods and place their trust in each other.

Show music by Luke McQuillan