Rhiannon Held's Blog

It’s been a quiet year or two for my longer work, but I had two novelettes published as R. Z. Held last year! They’re both available to read totally free, so if you are going to be nominating for any awards this year, I urge you to take a look! I know, come nomination time, I often haven’t read as much in that length category myself, so I’m here to help you out with that.

Twice-Marked, Wild Against City, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, novelette

To Sacrifice Others, Giganotosaurus, novelette

If you’d like a list of some other really awesome short speculative fiction to look at to inform your nomination reading, I am going to be using this one myself.

Base Instincts, the final long novella in my Amsterdam Institute series, is available now in ebook! It has my usual archaeological world-building, even more snarky AI, romance, an emotional support cat, LGBT characters, and a protagonist who learns how to fight for her own peace.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to wait to start a series until it’s complete, now’s your chance! You can pick up the collection of the first part of the series, Idyllian, in both print and ebook.

In PURE MOTIVES, Chloe and her partner, Logan, escaped the authorities from two planetary empires willing to kill her to neutralize her hijacking implant, which allows her to control others through their own implants. Now their temporary refuge has been shattered—criminals known as the Hawks have kidnapped Logan and will kill him unless Chloe hijacks a true AI ship and uses her to touch off an inter-empire war. Chloe plays along while her allies work to rescue Logan, but between authorities and criminals, it seems there will be no peace for her in the universe…unless she goes to the edge of death to forge it herself.

Pure Motives, the latest long novella in my Amsterdam Institute series, is available now in ebook! It has my usual archaeological world-buildng, as well as snarky AI, sexytimes, and a protagonist who learns to fight for herself…and forgive herself.

Pure Motives is a good entry point to the series, as it introduces a new protagonist, but if you’re a completionist, you can pick up the collection of the first part of the series, Idyllian, in both print and ebook! Or you can win a copy on my actual play D&D stream, the Dungeon Scrawlers, on Wednesday April 13, at 6:30 pm Pacific Time.

Chloe thought pilot training and its accompanying implant would allow her to support her extended family in the Free Trade Zone; instead, she accidentally receives an experimental hijacking implant. Once people discover she can control others through their implants, nowhere is safe for her. From a Pax Romana research facility to a Libertad Fransa pirate ship, everyone wants to either drug her into submission or use her hijacking abilities for their own gain. With the help of her few allies, including a true AI ship, can she break truly free, or will she once more exchange one prison for another?

I’ve excited to announce that I’m going to be releasing the newest Amsterdam Institute novella, PURE MOTIVES, on April 5, 2022! This one explores a new protagonist and a new setting, so it’s a good entry point to the series for new readers, but it’s got all the snarky AIs, quiet protagonists doing their best, themes of self-identity in the face of technology, action, and sexy romance you’ve come to expect!

Preorder the ebook here.

Chloe thought pilot training and its accompanying implant would allow her to support her extended family in the Free Trade Zone; instead, she accidentally receives an experimental hijacking implant. Once people discover she can control others through their implants, nowhere is safe for her. From a Pax Romana research facility to a Libertad Fransa pirate ship, everyone wants to either drug her into submission or use her hijacking abilities for their own gain. With the help of her few allies, including a true AI ship, can she break truly free, or will she once more exchange one prison for another?

It’s been…a year, but I still have some creative things I accomplished, and as other writers have pointed out, any creative accomplishments are worth celebrating in the current timeline!

Short stories:

“Two Ruins Make a Beginning,” R. Z. Held, in the Derelict anthology

“Lend a Hand,” R. Z. Held, in the Beyond Ballyhoo anthology

The collection of my first four space opera novellas came out this year in print! (And ebook, if you know that you want all four!)

I’m also part of a D&D authors stream, Wednesday nights at 6:30 Pacific Time on Twitch! This year, I DMed an archaeology episode, if you’ve ever wondered how a real archaeologist might do D&D archaeology. I’ve also released a variety of short, tie-in fiction related to the game.

You can also catch up on all the back episodes if you like!

The wait is over! If you prefer print to ebooks, you can can now get the first four novellas of my space opera Amsterdam Institute series in a combined volume. If you’re new to the series, you can also buy the combined volume as a Kindle or epub ebook for a substantial discount compared to getting the novellas individually!

Print from Amazon (print distribution beyond Amazon has encountered some problems, I’ll update you all once that’s straightened out)

Combined ebook

If you’re a reviewer, for the month of August 2021, you can also grab a copy from NetGalley, courtesy of SFWA!

Nanite and implant internal technology began in the Pax Romana planetary empire’s army, but it hasn’t stayed there. Across four novellas and more than a century, two natives of the conquered planet Idyll must each contend with technological abilities thrust upon them without their consent.

Genevieve, living in a time of war on her planet, was infected with nanites from a dying super-soldier—nanites that remade her in the image of those super-soldiers. Sienna, caught between the now-aging empire and even more violent rebels, was captured and used in a prisoner exchange in the place of a dead Pax Romana spy—leaving her with that spy’s implant in her head, leaking memories.

Can Genevieve and Sienna remain themselves with internal technology taking over their minds? And what can they do when the abilities granted by that hated technology are the only thing that can save the ones they love most?

If you’ve ever wondered what kind of archaeology D&D characters might do, wonder no more! I ran a one-shot campaign for my streaming D&D author group, all about excavations taking place at the ruined city of Myth Drannor.

Want more fantasy archaeology? My collection including a novella revolving around excavating a werewolf archaeological site is on sale for a mere $1.99 until April 7!

Want more actual play streamed D&D with nuanced characters created by authors, including one archaeologist author? Check out the other videos on our channel, and join us live on Twitch, at 6:30 pm Pacific Time, on Wednesdays!

Despite all the craziness, I’ve had a number of fiction pieces come out this year, and as we head into awards season, I hope the craziness has allowed you all the space to read lots of great speculative fiction this year so you can nominate it! If you’ve read and enjoyed, or would consider reading, my work (several are available to read for free!), here’s a list of my eligible pieces for this year (all of them are under R. Z. Held).

Short fiction category (under 7,500 words)

A Tally of What Remains, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, September 2020 (free to read at link)

Truth as a Prize, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 2020 (free to read at link)

Novella category (17,500 to 40,000 words)

Clean Install, Book 1 in the Amsterdam Institute series ($0.99 for the month of December and always free on Kindle Unlimited)

After the Warding, Hybrid Fiction, serial, March to August 2020

Great news for the audibook lovers among you–the full-cast recordings of my books are now available through Audible!

Curious about what I’ve been writing lately? Now’s an excellent opportunity to try a sampling of it out! Until Sunday, August 23, two of my short stories are FREE and two of my novellas/novella collections are only $0.99!

As tie-ins with the Dungeon Scrawlers D&D stream (check that out too!), we have:

An Irregular Community. Original fantasy. This story features not only the usual band of misfits in the form of the Westgate Irregulars, but fan-submitted characters as well! FREE.

Nanite Irregulars. Space opera. The Westgate Irregulars in spaaaaaace, giving a peek into the world of the Amsterdam Institute series. FREE.

Then, as a sampling of my other main series, we have:

Clean Install. Space opera. The first in the Amsterdam Institute series of novellas, featuring the world hinted at in Nanite Irregulars. Nanites + adventure + questions of self-identity + also wings! $0.99.

Lady’s Children. Urban fantasy. This collects two novellas (and several bonus short stories) that follow side characters in the world of the Silver series of novels. If you want to see how to dramatize archaeology while remaining true to its spirit, check this out! A human archaeologist excavates a werewolf archaeological site from the nineteenth century. $0.99.