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Spells & Stardust

by J. Scott Coatsworth

Spells & Stardust - J. Scott Coatsworth
Editions:Kindle - First Edition: $ 3.99
Pages: 136
Paperback (Abkhazian) - First Edition: $ 9.99 AUD
Pages: 136

Spells & Stardust is Scott's first anthology - eight sci fi and fantasy shorts that run the gamut from regeneration to redemption.

The Bear at the Bar: A gay fish out of water tale with a pinch of magic.

Tight: What happens when your lover disappears in midair?

Morgan: The year when everything changed.

Re-Life: What if you were reborn in a strange new future?

A New Year: They met every eleven years. And each time, Hank's life changed.

Repetition: What if you wanted to go back in the closet?

Gargoyle: Sometimes you get what you deserve. Sometimes it happens on All Hallows Eve.

Avalon: A few bright moments in the sun, stolen from outside time.

Most of these stories have been previously published in various anthologies and journals. This is the first time they have all been collected in one place.

This book is on:
  • 3 To Be Read lists
  • 1 Read list
  • 1 Currently Reading list
Published:
Publisher: Other Worlds Ink
Cover Artists:
J. Scott Coatsworth

Genres:
Fantasy, Fantasy - Faery & Fae, Fantasy - Fairy Tale / Folklore, Fantasy - Magical Realism, Holiday, Paranormal, Sci Fi, Sci Fi - Near Future, Sci Fi - Time Travel

Tags:
author - american, format - anthology, format - book, format - box set, format - paperback, format - payhip, format - short stories, potential trigger - suicide, what - concept - acceptance, what - concept - danger, what - concept - internal homophobia, what - condition - illness, what - emotion - angst, what - emotion - grief, what - emotion - guilt, what - emotion - hope, what - emotion - love, what - emotion - survivor guilt, what - holiday - halloween, what - holiday - new year, what - topic - genetic engineering, what - topic - magic, what - topic - reincarnation, when - period - near future, where - city - london, where - city - los angeles, where - city - portland, where - city - san francisco, where - city - seattle, where - country - england, where - country - usa, where - general - beach, where - region - san francisco bay area, where - state - alabama, where - state - california, where - state - oregon, where - state - washington, who - description - bear, who - nationality - english, who - nationality - latin american, who - nationality - latino, who - occupation - author, who - type - fae, who - type - wolf

Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 1
Romantic Content: 3
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay
Tropes: Beach Romance, Coming of Age, Coming Out / Closeted, Fated Mates / Soul Mates, Find Love and Come Out, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Hurt / Comfort, InstaLove / Love at First Sight, Love Can Heal / Redemption, Reunited and it Feels So Good, Second Chances
Word Count: 40000
Setting: Various
Languages Available: English
Excerpt:

The edge of the old cement pediment crumbled away beneath Hank’s feet into the river far below, glistening in the light of the almost-full moon. The bridge railing was cold at his back—he could feel it all the way through his jacket and shirt to his skin. He could see his breath glowing in the night air.

The nearly-frozen water rushed by in the river below, flowing under the bridge behind him and on toward the ocean far away in a steady flow, silver in the moonlight and heavily laden with winter rain. As soon as he gathered his courage, Hank would let go of his grip on the railing and fall into those icy waters, to disappear forever from the world of men.

It was New Year's Day, 1986, an hour after midnight, and it was the end of things for Hank.

Or it should have been.

It was also the night he first met Dale.

About the Author

Scott lives with his husband of more than 30 years in a leafy Sacramento, California suburb, in a little yellow house with a brick fireplace and a couple pink flamingoes out front. He has always inhabited the space between the here and now and the what could be. Indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine, he devoured her library. But as he grew up and read the golden age classics and more modern works as well, he began to wonder where all the people like him were.

After he came out at twenty three, he decided that it was time to create the kinds of stories he couldn’t find at Waldenbooks. If there weren’t many gay characters in his favorite genres, he would reimagine them himself, populating them with a diverse universe of characters. He would subvert them and remake them to his own ends. And if he was lucky enough, someone else would want to read the things he wrote.

His friends say Scott’s brain works a little differently – he sees relationships between things that others miss, and gets more done in a day than most folks manage in a week. Although he was born an introvert, he learned to reach outside himself and connect with others like him.

Scott writes stories that subvert expectations, that seek to transform traditional sci fi, fantasy, and contemporary worlds into something new and unexpected. He also runs both Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink with his husband Mark, sites that bring people like them together to promote and celebrate fiction that reflects their own reality.

His writing, whether romance or genre fiction (or a little bit of both) brings a queer energy to his stories, infusing them with love, beauty and power and making them soar. He imagines a world that could be, and in the process, maybe changes the world that is, just a little.

He was recognized as one of the top new gay authors in the 2017 Rainbow Awards, and his debut novel “Skythane” received two awards and an honorable mention.

He runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, and is a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), where he ran the Indie Author Committee for almost three years.

You can find him at Goodreads here, on Amazon here, on QueeRomance Ink here, and on Facebook here.