Announcing: ISMENE AND THE VOICE

Coming this December: ISMENE AND THE VOICE, by Juniper Calle. Scifi-fantasy, 87K words.

Against the wishes of her employer, a working-class bookseller seeks a seemingly-supernatural union with a sentient library. Scifi elements, fantasy-industrial social unrest, themes of choice when faced with societal expectations.

If you like sentient castles(?), androids, the industrial revolution, books, and transhumanist scifi, I'd love for you to take a look at Ismene.

I've been sitting on Ismene for a while--it was originally a short story, which was okay, but which I had finished too soon and disliked how it was structured. When I went to fix it, it grew. I had no luck querying, to a point, and there's a point where "you should just keep trying" hits "no one ever asked for a full". The industry is difficult, a lot of people write very well, and I want to share my work even if it isn't at the top. This book sort of sums up the hopes and anxiety I've had as a millennial, and I've gone from "well, some of this is too theatrically negative" to "this is going to read as too optimistic". But perhaps someone will find it a comfort, or a pleasant distraction.

I don't know whether this is even a good time to start posting this. Actually I wanted to start putting this up this past summer, but things got delayed as they do. I've commissioned a beautiful cover from an artist (credit pending, they have to decide how they want that) and I'll be posting chapters on Royal Road and selling the eBook.

The book isn't a romance; romance is great, but this story isn't out to be particularly spicy. (The work I'm currently drafting has some spice.) The love is for books; for wonder; for comfort; for pursuits that matter to the person doing them, instead of merely profiting another; for those who support you as a person and allow you to make your own choices without retaliation. The love in this book is for the Castle, for the ability to transcend worldly humanity, and for hope.

I will post some samples in the future!