Austin Chant's Blog

Peter Darling is a featured book in Rainbow Crate's July box - if you're not familiar with them, Rainbow Crate is a book subscription box that does gorgeous special editions. This version of Peter Darling is a hardback with a new illustrated dust jacket and sprayed edges designed by Olyfrogg, watercolor endpapers by Matthew Spencer, and a foil hardcase designed by Cho. All the artists did an incredible job. It's a dream come true and so, so cool as an indie author to get an opportunity like this.

If you'd like, you can sign up to get the July box with Peter Darling and a special edition of Fragments of a Fallen Star by Viano Oniomoh on Rainbow Crate's website. For now, the book box is the only way to pick up the special edition - if there are extras once the boxes are shipped out, there may be a few copies available for purchase on Rainbow Crate's website later, but it's not guaranteed.

Hey everyone! If you haven't heard of the Trans Rights Readathon, it's a reading challenge that runs from 3/22-3/31, ending on Trans Day of Visibility. More details and signups on the official website.

To celebrate the readathon, I decided to put my robot horror story High Maintenance up for free/pay what you want on Itch.io. High Maintenance was originally published in Your Body is Not Your Body and this is the first time it's been available to read as a standalone.

Jay is a companion android, wired for domestic bliss.

It's Jay's job to make his boyfriend, Thomas, happy—yet Thomas is never satisfied, no matter how many times Jay is altered to suit his tastes.

Maybe that has something to do with what happened to the man Jay was built to replace...

So if you'd like to add a little trans-authored horror to your TBR this week - or any time - feel free to snag your own copy here!

Hey folks! Caroline's Heart is out this week and I wrote a tie-in short story for my postcard club!

I launched the postcard club, Speculation, earlier this year. Every month, I send out a short story on a themed card card, designed to look like it was sent from the world of that story. Basically, it's weird, in-universe sci-fi/fantasy mail! It's been a really fun way for me to experiment with making print goods and telling stories in a format I would never otherwise get to explore.

If you're interested, you can check it out on Patreon. Signups for this month (the Caroline's Heart card) end on June 30th.

Hi everyone! Exciting book news: Caroline's Heart, is getting a paperback release on 6/15, with a new cover and a bonus chapter.

Caroline is dead, leaving her lover with nothing but the clockwork heart that once beat in her chest. But Cecily, a witch of unconventional reputation, is not one to be defeated by the laws of nature. After years of careful assembly, her resurrection spell is nearly complete and grows more powerful by the day.

When Cecily meets Roy, a soft-spoken cowboy who shares a strange kinship with Caroline, Cecily thinks she’s finally found the key to bringing her lover back-but when Roy is mortally wounded, she finds herself torn between finishing the resurrection spell and saving the life of a stranger.

PREORDER: Paperback | Kindle | Nook | Kobo


Caroline's Heart

Hello all!

I have a new story, "High Maintenance", in this anthology of horror by trans & nonbinary authors. It's a phenomenal collection and proceeds go to support trans youth in crisis in Texas.


Your Body is Not Your Body

Please check it out - I'm blown away by the power of the trans grief and rage in this book and very excited to be publishing again in such excellent company.

- S. A. Chant

Hi everyone! My new novella is out today! You can read an excerpt at my website, check it out on Goodreads, or get it for $1.99 at your ebook retailer of choice.



BUY: Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Google Play

Hi, everyone!

My next book, a spooky trans romance called Caroline's Heart, just went up for preorder. It comes out next week, on October 25th. :)

Preorder links are as follows: Amazon | Kobo (other retailers coming soon).

I have a new novella coming out on October 25th! It's a historical fantasy western with Southern Gothic influences, it has two trans protagonists, and it's quite queerly romantic. Check out the cover (by Natasha Snow) and blurb below:

Texas, 1885. When a witch arrives at Roy's cattle ranch in search of spell components, he sees her as a ticket out of his dead-end cowboy life. Gambling on a miracle, he follows her to the city and finds himself at the mercy of magics beyond anything he's ever imagined.

Cecily lost her soulmate years ago, leaving her with nothing but the clockwork heart that once beat in Caroline's chest. They say it's impossible to bring back the dead, yet Cecily's resurrection spell is nearly complete and grows more powerful by the day.

But when a cowboy she barely knows is fatally injured, the only way to save him is by sacrificing an essential piece of the resurrection spell—along with all possibility of seeing her lover again.

Buy links coming soon; for now, you can add it on Goodreads and (later this month) catch an excerpt as part of Binge on Books's spooky reading series, Sounds Like Halloween!

Fun fact: Caroline's Heart was originally released as part of Magic & Mayhem, a charity anthology benefiting Gay Romance Northwest/Read With Pride. The new, standalone release is revised and expanded.

Hey everyone! Peter Darling comes out in just a few weeks! (!!!) My publisher is giving away a copy of the ebook in their Goodreads group. All you need to do to enter is leave a comment at the link (and you get an extra entry for adding the book): Giveaway Link

Cheers! <3

- Austin