Minerva Cerridwen’s 2024 Awards Eligibility Post
1: Short story “The Space Between Stitches”, science fiction, about 3900 words.
Published in anthology The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters, Thinking Ink Press, August 2024, USA. Edited by Liza Olmsted and Anthony Francis.
Available formats: paperback and ebook.
The transportation device of a tiny flame-shaped alien called Ibb breaks down on planet Earth. Ibb meets a human and discovers the species’ problem-solving talents. Both main characters of this story are non-binary and the book focuses on neurodivergence, including but not limited to ADHD, anxiety, and autism.
2: Short story “Good-Natured Anxiety for the Queer Creature”, fantasy, about 4200 words.
Published in anthology Queens in Wonderland, No Bad Books Press, February 2024, USA. Edited by Theresa Halvorsen and Chris Bannor.
Available formats: paperback and ebook.
This re-imagining of classical elements from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass into a brand-new, queer story about self-acceptance is a wild ride. It doesn’t require knowledge of the Wonderland universe, but knowing your Lewis Carroll may spark some extra smiles.
3: Short stories in Paranatellonta Issues 369-392
Self-published on paranatellonta.tumblr.com, each photo-and-story combination is available to read for free.
Available formats: digital, only on paranatellonta.tumblr.com.
Paranatellonta is a photography and flash fiction project running since August 2013, posted on the 1st and 15th day of each month. Fie takes a photo which inspires a ten-sentence story written by me, Minerva Cerridwen. The project itself was inspired by Erin Morgenstern and Carey Farrell’s Flax-golden Tales (2009-2014).
Personal favourites of this year include:
371: Aberrant Shrub (sf, about 260 words);372: Extract from A Travel Guide to the Fairy Realm (fantasy, about 280 words);379: The Queen’s Wedding Dress (fantasy, 250 words); 384: Envious Green (fairy tale, 340 words);387: Distraction (fantasy, 340 words).Issues 370, 380, and 390 were special editions where we swapped roles, meaning that for those issues, I took the photo and Fie wrote the short story.
4: Work as a Fan Artist
As a friend of author Clara Ward and a fan of their novel Be the Sea (Atthis Arts, 2024), I got to work on the successful Be the Sea: Audiobook and Hardcover Editions Kickstarter campaign last summer and made a piece of fan art for the book for every day of the campaign. Check out the 26 Sea Creatures of the Day, 8 of which have been made into postcards as backer rewards. There’s crochet, drawing, painting, and origami creatures, and even a Double Chocolate Cookie Fish.
Bonus: Friends’ eligibility posts
