Okay, so the image above kinda buries the lead a little here, but I had to shout about it a little didn’t I?
It’s been a good month for Tepris Press.
As you can see from the image above…I won a thing! YAY! More on that in a moment, but first let’s talk about some of the other stuff that happened.
So, let’s start from the beginning.
Back a couple of months ago, I was told that I’d been nominated into the awards for the Queer Indie Book Awards. My debut novel – The Ballad of the Songbird – Book 1: Hunters – had been entered into the ‘Speculative Fiction’ category.
I was shocked, to say the least!
I joined Queer Indie a while back as it very much aligns with my own ethos. For those of you who don’t know what Queer Indie is, here’s what they say in their own words. (Click on the box to get taken to their website!)
What is Queer Indie?
Queer Indie is a writers’ alliance established to promote queer and ally lit.
Qi includes the full spectrum of authors across all genres and identities.
Our mission is to create a diverse, inclusive, supportive community of radical acceptance.
Every book has a home.
Now, I’m not on the LGBTQ+ spectrum myself, but I have friends who are. When I started writing Hunters, I wanted to include representation of all types in the book series. Not to draw attention to a particular gender identity, but to just establish them as normal everyday sometimes flawed characters who fall in love, have adventures, and pursue the same goals as anybody else.
The main thrust of the narrative is this kind of supernatural cold war taking place between Vampyrii, Werewolf, Fae, Humanity, and a hundred other species. In a stereotypical book, there would probably have been many a black-and-white line drawn. Humans are good. Vampires are bad. Werewolves are good. Trolls bad. Etc. But I didn’t want to be like that. Every race has its good, its bad, and its shades of grey. They’re just flawed everyday people, just like everyone else. They too fall in love, have adventures, and pursue the same goals as anybody else.
Personally, I think that this is what makes The Ballad of the Songbird somewhat unique. The voice of Every character is different. Not informed by species, gender identity, or sexual preference, but informed by the life they have lived.
Take my lead Vampyrii character, Lyssa Balthazaar. She’s selfless, heroic, passionate, romantic, a strong leader, and feels keenly the burden of responsibility for her family.
She’s also bi-sexual…which has absolutely no bearing on the above. She would still be all those things regardless of who she prefers to jump into bed with.
In the books, Gayle’s sister Allyson is gay. I have a transgender black marketeer. Fae are shapeshifters, able to flip gender at will. The Ice Giants are gender-fluid. Interspecies relationships are also not uncommon.
And it won’t stop there. More representation will be forthcoming in future books! (Just wait till Book 4 – DragonSong! LOL)
I think it’s good to normalize all this in fiction.
(I actually wrote another blog post about this a couple of years ago. CLICK HERE to check it out!)
Anyway, after the excitement of the nomination wore off, I admittedly kind of forgot about it…and then this happened…
It’s been a good month for Tepris Press.
As you can see from the image above…I won a thing! YAY! More on that in a moment, but first let’s talk about some of the other stuff that happened.
So, first up my delightful partner-in-shenanigans, Nikki won her first award. The first book in her ‘Acts’ series – Acts of Closure – won the Independent Press Award in the Romance category.
Yup, my delightful partner-in-shenanigans, Nikki won her first award. The first book in her ‘Acts’ series – Acts of Closure – won the Independent Press Award in the Romance category.
I have no idea how many other books/authors she was up against, but this was an awesome win for her. I was sooooo pleased. She had brought in our first award. Tepris Press could now boast an Award Winning Author.
And then…this happened.
If you read my last blog post (CLICK HERE if you didn’t!) then you’ll know that both Nikki and I had short stories included in an Anthology book called Malarky’s ImaginOmnibus: They Walk Among Us!
Upon release, the book went to number one in charts all over the world and ranked VERY high in many other categories. It stayed at the number one slot in the UK and the US for about a week. We were ALL very excited.
So now Tepris Press not only had an Award Winning Author, but now two BEST SELLING authors.
(Okay, so small disclaimer… Malarky’s was actually given away for free on eBook, and at cost in paperback. Still, they list it in the Amazon Best Sellers charts, so we’re taking it!)
And then, last week, the icing on the cake.
Word that I’d won the 2023 Queer Indie Award for Speculative Fiction.
I. Was. Blown. Away.
There were a bunch of other books nominated that I was sure I had no chance against. To come out on top was surprising and humbling. I was buzzing for days. Elated and overjoyed. Still can’t quite get over it now!
If you’re here reading this and you voted for me. THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! Love you all!
So, now Nikki and I have pretty much conquered the world, what’s next?
Well…
Tune in to my next blog post where I will be roadmapping exactly what’s on the horizon for Tepris Press!
Till next time peeps.
Love & Books
