Claudie Arseneault's Blog, page 2
October 28, 2017
A Week in Asexual Characters – Céline
tw sexual coercion, sexual assault, discussion of corrective rape in this post.
Today’s character is in a tiny piece of writing I did, which appeared in Circuits & Slippers, an anthology of sci-fi fairy tales retellings. I’m not big on fairy tales, so I cheated and retold a legend from Québec in which the MC is a magnetic skater who travels away from his small colony planet to a big international tournament. In the original legend, he parties all night and sleeps around before the competition...
October 27, 2017
A Week in Asexual Characters – The Spinster (Denise Jalbert)
Today’s post is a little different from the others, in that I am reposting something I wrote for the Patreon tied to reclaiming tropes.
It is framed as talking about aromanticism, since the Spinster is a Baker Thief character, a novel with an aro lead, but this old crone stereotype is very much an ace thing too, and Denise Jalbert is both aro and ace.
So, on with the post!
Spinsters are older ladies (although depending on historical context, “older” can be quite young still) who have gone u...
October 26, 2017
A Week in Asexual Characters – Brune
So by now I have written characters that feel naturally ace, characters that counter ace-related tropes, and a lot of smaller incidental ace characters that are fun and remind me I exist everywhere.
But.
What I have yet to do is properly reclaim some of the nastiest tropes. Or, well, it would be more accurate to say I have not yet any villains canon ace or aro. I have always loved villains, both mine and those in other stories, but for a long time it felt wrong to say “yes, this shitty main...
October 25, 2017
A Week in Asexual Characters – Adèle
Aesthetic by me! I’m learning 
October 24, 2017
A Week in Asexual Characters – Cal
Aesthetic designed by RoAnna Sylver Unlike Henry and Nevian, Cal is a character I decided to make aroace. Isandor has existed for a long time, and there were multiple instances of me stopping, looking at my cast, and considering how I could make it more diverse. What could I change? What would it affect and how would it ripple out? How did it modify backstory, the storylines I wanted to do with them, and how all of that fits with the way these identities were normally represented. Now, aroman...
October 23, 2017
A Week in Asexual Characters – Nevian
And here’s Day 2! This time we move on to Nevian and some discussions of his storylines and how his aceness fits into this. There is some very mild spoilers for City of Betrayal so if you like to keep very spoiler-free, maybe wait before you read? But I did keep it vague. 
October 22, 2017
A Week in Asexual Characters – Henry Schmitt
Asexual Awareness Week is here! I don’t usually do much during this time, but I’ve decided to spend the week talking about my ace characters and what it’s been like, writing them! I’m partway through writing the series and it’s very interesting to look back and discover how my process and priorities have evolved. I hope you enjoy too!
Henry Schmitt
Aesthetic designed by RoAnna Sylver Henry Schmitt is the MC of Viral Airwaves and my first published ace character, but the path to getting his...
October 11, 2017
Double Cover Reveal Goodness!
October 11th is National Coming Out Day in the States, but apparently this year it’s also Cover Reveal Time! At least in my circle of Awesome Writer friends. ^^ So today, you have a two-for-one cover reveal.
September 8, 2017
City of Betrayal Cover Reveal
It’s time!
Patreon and newsletter subscribers have had the privilege of seeing this cover earlier than anyone else, but here it is, the full wrap-around cover!
Have you basked it its glory yet? Appreciated the incendiary sky and the ridiculous amount of (hand-drawn) details on the main building?
I am, it is needless to say, all heart-eyes over this second Isandor cover, once again by my endlessly talented sister, Gabrielle Arseneault. City of Betrayal comes out October 22, and I am incredibl...
August 5, 2017
Exploring Gumroad: Your 101 Guide to the Platform’s Extensive Options
Early in July, in the wake of yet another debate surrounding Amazon’s overwhelming presence in the book industry (and its importance to self-publishers), I discovered Gumroad (you can all thank Bogi Takács for that). What followed was several days of investigating how it worked and what it could do (and how to handle taxes with it), and I’ve compiled a lot of this information in a post. Because, honestly, I need to share the love and possibilities.
I will say, however, that I don’t think Gumr...
