🌙 Eid Mubarak! 36 Queer Muslim Books for Your TBR

Gift for a friend.

If the only valid queer rep is explicit queer rep, that's a huge problem. There are lots of old books that simply could not include explicit rep. There are lots of new books that it wouldn't make sense for the rep to be explicit. There are a lots of settings where they're not going to take a moment and go "by the way, I'm bi, not gay."

There has to be room for subtextual and interpretative queerness, even when discussing a canon where queerness is never acknowledged as existing.

There also has to be room for people to disagree with those interpretations, and of course some interpretations will be more supportable, canonically, than others, and sometimes we simply won't be able to say "this character is that rep (as opposed to some other rep)" conclusively.

There has to be space in our readings of books to be comfortable with this ambiguity, and there has to be a minimum good-faith acceptance that if someone says "that book was queer to me," even if the book isn't explicit queer and doesn't read queer to someone else... that doesn't change the nature of the queerness.

Some of y'all really need to accept that there's not only one way to read a book, and there never will be, and that's okay.

Sample Chapter 1 of The Salt in the Sea!

We are entering the second – and final – week of our pre-order crowdfunding campaign to pay for the publishing of The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers – and we’re 90% of the way to our baseline goal, and almost 40% of the way to our main goal!

Interested in the book but on the fence? Then allow us to wet your appetite: you can now read the first chapter of The Salt in the Sea completely free! Download the chapter 1 sample here!

Visit our campaign page to read the blurb, meet the author, check out the merchandise, and more!

💙💜💖 Bi Books Coming Out January 2025

Sample Chapter 1 of The Salt in the Sea!

We are entering the second – and final – week of our pre-order crowdfunding campaign to pay for the publishing of The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers – and we’re 90% of the way to our baseline goal, and almost 40% of the way to our main goal!

Interested in the book but on the fence? Then allow us to wet your appetite: you can now read the first chapter of The Salt in the Sea completely free! Download the chapter 1 sample here!

Visit our campaign page to read the blurb, meet the author, check out the merchandise, and more!

Really excited to share that we've now hit our baseline goal for this campaign!

The baseline goal was the absolute minimum I needed to cover unavoidable publication expenses, such as book printing, that haven't already been covered. It doesn't mean the cost of making the book is completely covered (for example, I've already paid for the cover art) but it does mean we have enough to move forward, which is to say: we're funded! At least minimally!

But we'd love to be more than minimally funded, so please do help us keep spreading the word - and check out the chapter 1 sample link in the post! :D

Thanks to everyone who has helped spread the word so far. <3

Though an unseasonably warm day, it was lovely. I hope to see days like that make a quick return.

In addition to what I read in March, here are the trans books (trans authors or trans characters) I've read since the last TDOV. Each one is special to me for different reasons, and I hope to find more favorites in this upcoming year.

And yes, I included my own book because I had to read and listen to it all for audiobook production. Which if you didn't know, Paige Reisenfeld is donating all her proceeds from this title to the Human Rights Campaign. So check it out on Audible!

I really wanted to read more for the Trans Rights Readathon, and in general during March. But I've been really looking forward to Love After the End, and Galaxy The Prettiest Star, and both were well worth the wait.

Axton Landing and St Lawrence Ripples are local books, the first one is a historical fiction based on loggers in the mid 1800s, and the second one is a collection of local (mostly) true stories. I was surprised at how profound Axton Landing was, it touched a lot on the Underground Railroad, women's suffrage, slavery, workers rights, and many other issues plaguing the time.

New Releases - March 4, 2025

I cannot quite believe it, but there are a dozen new books that we are watching for this week. It's a phenomenal week for YA.

Okey so, ı never draw a duck before in my whole entire life. So ıdk if she look good😭🙏 anyways this is Lotus she is Ravion's therapy duck after he lost his late wife(she isn't a baby but isn't really old. Idk how animal age work for ducks but ı can say she is like 6 or 9 to human age?)

Omg it’s a goth chick! (It’s a duck but same difference)

Happy International Asexuality Day! Meet 19 Asexual Creators We’ve Published!

Duck Prints Press has many asexual, demisexual, graysexual, and other aspec people who write, art, design, and edit with us! The below graphics highlight 19 of these awesome folks. You can find the works listed below in our webstore and/or on our Patreon! Anthologies and novels are also available through many major retailers and libraries.

And lastly, our owner Nina Waters (fandom name: unforth; real name: Claire) is asexual - Duck Prints Press is an ace-owned business!

Bufflehead drake

2025, watercolor and gouache

I cannot tell you how many delicate paint layers went on his face to try to achieve that feather iridescence.

An Interview with THE SALT IN THE SEA Author J. D. Rivers!

We’re currently crowdfunding The Salt in the Sea, a m/m fantasy-mystery novella by J. D. Rivers (it’s about 80% funded – you should check it out and help us make it 100%!), so what better time to sit down and learn more about the author? Join us to learn more about JD and her work!

About J. D. Rivers: J. D. writes speculative fiction where they fall deeply and madly in love and find a dead body, not necessarily in that order. She collects hobbies as others collect books and has an unhealthy addiction to watching competitive cooking shows. J. D. lives close to the woods with her husband and the cutest dog in the world.

Links: Personal Website | Bluesky

J. D.’s Past Projects with Duck Prints Press:

An Interview with J. D. Rivers

How did you pick the name you create under?

Shortening of my given name + inside joke + translation of my last name .

What do you consider to be your strengths as a creator?

World building and developing ideas from start to finish.

What do you consider to be your weaknesses as a creator?

Grammar… seriously that stuff is complicated and my brain lies to me all the time about does something sound correct.

When and why did you begin creating?

I’ve never not created. I’m one of those writers who started as a child and never stopped dreaming about about adventures and writing them down. I always only wanted to tell stories.

Are you a pantser, a planner, or a planster? What’s your process look like?

Pantser, so much a pantser – I start writing the story without really knowing what will happen. I usually know the ending and where the characters start out, and then I need to figure out all the rest. When that draft is written, I completely rewrite it, regardless of length. After that I figure out all the missing points, bad transitions, missing world building and research. Usually there is another rewrite… and then when I’m lucky comes the editing. Or I rewrite it another round…

What is your “dream project” – the thing you’d see as the culmination of your work as a creator?

That shared sci-fi universe romance series, one day, one day.

What’s your favorite part of the creation process?

Developing the story. It is always such a fun to explore the world and the characters and the ideas that come with both.

What are your favorite snacks and/or drinks to consume while creating?

Lots of tea and coffee.

What are your goals as a creator? 

That others read my stories. Those stories fulfill a need for me, and I hope I can fulfill the needs of other peoples also.

When you look at your “career” as a creator, what achievement would you most like to reach – what, if it happened or has already happened, would/did make you go “now – now I’m a success!”? 

Quitting my day job. Being able to do that would be great.

Tell us about your pet(s).

Finn is the best and cutest and most handsome dog in the world. Period.

If you could give one piece of advice to a new creator who came to you for help, what would that advice be?

Let it go. Writing is a craft and no one is perfect from where they start out. Give it time, work, read, learn and grow. Accept that it is a process. And finish it. Whatever you need to do, finish the story.

What’s one thing (style, genre, etc.) that you think you’ll never do, and why not?

Contemporary romance – I need to add magic. And gore.

What book or media franchise or other creator’s work do you always come back to? How many times have you rewatched/reread/reviewed it?

Hot Fuzz. Moana. Frozen II. Ghibli movies. And I have watched them way to often.

What motivates you to create?

Being able to read the whole story for myself.

Now that you know about J. D., learn more about her book! Check out our crowdfunding campaign for The Salt in the Sea now!

🌈 Hey Reading Rainbows! It’s time for our recommendation post for next month’s theme!

Here are twenty books that we think also fit the April theme of On My Way to the Castle.These books involve royals and castles. At least some of each book takes place in a castle. These are a mix of Adult and Young Adult titles.

What other book would you add to our On My Way to the Castle theme?

First Row: Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell, Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie & Elliott McLemore, Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Prince & Assassin by Tavia Lark, Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron.

Second Row: Lord of Eternal Night by Ben Alderson, A Taste of Gold & Iron by Alexandra Rowland, The Princess & the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, A Veil of Gods & Kings by Nicole Bailey.

Third Row: An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows, The Fate of Stars by SD Simper, The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon, Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by Melanie Gillman.

Fourth Row: Master of One by J. Jones & Dani Bennett, Ash by Malinda Lo, So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens, Princess Princess Ever After by K. O’Neill, The Alchemy of Moonlight by David Ferraro, Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller.

ID: Twenty books in four rows: the first and fourth row have six book covers which stretch across the entire width of the graphic. Rows two and three have four books with two on each side. In the middle of these is a light green-blue ombre background. A Rainbow Crate logo with no text is at the top. Text below reads “April 2025 On My Way to the Castle Book Recs” in all caps. All text is in black font, except for “On My Way to the Castle” which is in purple. End ID.