Elora Bishop's Blog, page 2

Announcing: ONE IMBOLC GLOAMING, the Second Book in the Benevolence Tales! <3

Once upon a time, there was a novella written about a very mediocre young witch named Isabella and the beautiful outcast shapeshifter Emily she fell in love with. It was called One Solstice Night, and though it’s never been a best seller, the people who read it and fell in love with it are among the most vocal and treasured of my fans and friends.

I’ve been under some very hard novel deadlines lately (for the other name I write under One Solstice Night was supposed to be the beginning of an entire series of novellas, The Benevolence Tales, that would follow the wheel of the year and Emily and Isabella as they encountered many adventures. I had so very many of their adventures half finished and waiting for me to get five seconds to rub together and lace them up together, and when I’d finished the most recent novel, I’d sat back for a moment (just a moment! No rest for the fairy!) and thought: goodness, I’d like to see about finishing one of those.

So I’ve set the deadline and set the wheel in motion, and it’s begun.

The Benevolence Tales are my favorite stories I’ve written to date. I know I tend to wax hyperbolic about a lot of my work (you have to love what you do, or your heart’s going to be nowhere near to “in it”), but it’s very true about these two women and their adventures. The Benevolence Tales has the vocalest group of fans and friends, and–at the end of the day–these stories are warm and magical and I cherish them fiercely because they are exactly what I wanted in the world. And that’s why I set out to write them.  And though they’re not best sellers, I still wrote them anyway (when you make your entire living from writing, you have to be very, very selective about what you write–you have to think about putting bread on the table.  With The Benevolence Tales, all I thought about was putting roses on the table, too.  

So yes, I took a step back from my other deadlines and projects, and I’ve done ONE IMBOLC GLOAMING, and on Tuesday of next week…you’re going to be able to go on that adventure, too.

Isabella Fox, mediocre witch for hire, and Emily Deer, the once outcast shapeshifter, have fallen deeply in love. But in the sleepy little town of Benevolence, Emily still feels like an outsider, and, as winter rages on, her wanderlust sharpens.

When the winter festival of Imbolc draws near, Isabella makes preparations for her yearly pilgrimage to Lunarose Abbey, where she and her friends, since their Academy days, have always participated in the annual Imbolc play and kept candlit vigil to the Rose Goddess. This year, Isabella asks Emily to come with her but warns her about the abbey’s odd quirks–like the fact that it’s haunted by a lovelorn ghost.

Every Imbolc night, the ghost roams the ancient halls of Lunarose Abbey, and now Isabella and Emily find the threads of a centuries-old mystery that they long to unravel. But time is running out for a love affair several hundred years in the making…

The novella “One Imbolc Gloaming” is a magical lesbian love story, and the second in THE BENEVOLENCE TALES series.

Add it on GoodReads!

One Imbolc Gloaming will be released February 5, 2013! Sign up to my newsletter to be notified before everyone else when it becomes available!

Download CRUMBS: A Lesbian Hansel and Gretel for FREE! (Part of Sappho’s Fables)

We’re moving forward with the stories in the second volume of Sappho’s Fables: Lesbian Fairy Tales, and I wanted to get a jump on the idea that my wife, Jenn (my co-author on the series! Crumbs: A Lesbian Hansel and Gretel, the first of Sappho’s Fables, available for free–and we have! You can now download Crumbs for free at Smashwords.

I wrote Crumbs in February/March of this year as I left my day job and grew into my role as a full time author–it was my lifelong dream to do this, and–as such–Crumbs holds a very special place in my heart. Writers always remember what they were feeling, and where they were in their lives for every single piece of work they put out, but Crumbs is very special to me because it encapsulates that lifelong dream achieved, and the great vitality and hope I experienced during those days.

If you haven’t yet read Crumbs and do enjoy it for free, please consider reading the rest of our Sappho’s Fables–I think you”ll love them.

Greta’s never ventured beyond the refuge of the Heap. Outside, the Ragers lurk, ever hungry and hunting. But Greta and her brother, half-starved and now alone, must risk death for the dream of safety they hope to find within the metal forest. Once there, nothing is as it seems: in the confines of a crumbling old candy factory, the woman who rescues them with sweet words and sweeter treats harbors a dangerous secret.

A Birthday Thank You, and a Wish

Today is my twenty-eighth birthday, and I have reached my life-long dream this past year: I am a completely self-employed author. Ever since I was a little girl, I knew this is what I was supposed to do with my life, what I wanted with all of my heart, and I have worked every day, countless hour of every day, to get to this place and time. It was a well-earned dream, but I know that many other authors out there are working just as hard as I am, and the going is hard, so this is the truth of it, as simply as I can put it:

I am where I am today because people believed in my stories–because you believed in my stories.

I write lesbian YA and fairy tale books in a world that told me, repeatedly before I put them out there, that “no one” wanted to read such things. I make my living on the exact opposite of that statement. People have responded to my stories, to my leading ladies, and they have responded resoundingly and brilliantly, and every day I get fan emails and tweets, and there is such a vibrant community behind me, it takes my breath away. I write my stories with my whole heart, because I believe the world needs them, and people respond.

It is very difficult for me to articulate how much that means to me, how humbled I am by that, how seriously I take that. I am so grateful for you. Yes, you. The person reading this. The person who might not have heard of me, but is going to try out one of my stories, the person who has been a fan from the inception, reading everything I’ve put out, the book blogger who has supported me by posting a review, the fellow author who has shared my stuff because s/he believes in it, too. There are so many people who are happy my stories exist, who support my work, and I am honoring you by writing more every single day, by having a publishing schedule that’s tight and story-filled, by putting out more and more stories of strong girls who love girls and women who love women.

From the bottom of my heart: thank you. Thank you for thinking lesbian stories are worth reading, that they’re equal to other stories. Thank you for treating me like all the other authors who write stories, for not putting me into a “I can’t read that, it’s lesbian and I’m not” slot. Thank you for giving my stories a chance, for loving them, for supporting them, for spreading the word on them. This, my life-long dream, has come true because you believed in it, in me, enough.

Here, on my birthday, I raise the gratitude again. It’s the perfect day to think about gratitude, but I think about it every day. That I am where I am because people believed.

Thank you from my heart.

If you’re thinking: “Elora, it’s your birthday, I’d like to celebrate it with you!” first off, thank you. my books (and my books as Sarah) on your social networks, your blogs–anywhere you felt compelled to share. Maybe buy another copy for a friend, or–if you haven’t read anything of mine, yet–give one of my stories a shot. If you’ve loved something in our Etsy shop, consider treating yourself.

And thank you for being.

Once Upon a Lesbian, Or: On the Reclaiming of Fairy Tales

Tonight, I’m thinking about fairy tales.

I grew up devouring fairy tale tomes, reading every version of classic and not-so-classic and not-so-heard-of fairy tales until my little brain was steeped in princesses and gems and frogs and gleaming palaces. But even from a little girl, I knew I wasn’t like the other girls: I was, in fact, different, and over time, it began to hurt that there were no princesses or heroines or witches or strong women in these tales that were at all like me. Because all of the love interests were princes or brave tailors, and not a single love interest was a woman.

It might seem like a little thing, but if you’re gay, you understand it, and if you’re not gay, you’ve seen it. It’s a straight, straight, straight, straight, straight, straight world out there, and for all of the queer boys and girls, growing up and searching for a familiar face in the old stories…there weren’t any. There aren’t any.

If fairy tales ever taught me anything (and they’ve taught me many, many things), one of the most important is this: if the world is not the way you’d like, try to change it.

My story is a quest story, and–I suppose–a little like a fairy tale itself. Along the way, I made friends with a few dragons (I’m not the slaying type), and fell in love with and married a beautiful princess. I continued to study the fairy tales and immersed my life in them. I even went so far as to ink them on my skin forever, but something was still not right.

They were still not my stories.

I’ve spoken before about how reclaiming archetypes is one of the most subversive and empowering things a queer person can do. And, once, my wife and I had retold our favorite fairy tales the way we’d always wanted them to be retold. I wondered…could we do it again? Could we do it on a bigger scale? Could we tell the stories the way we’d always hoped for, wished for, wanted? So we set out into the world, and we did exactly what our hearts had been asking us to do all along.

We began the Sappho’s Fables series: fairy tales retold as lesbian.

From the very beginning, we worked our hearts out. We knew the exact stories we’d always wanted, and we knew we couldn’t be the only people in the world who’d wished for courageous women finding each other and–through their own courage and tenacity–saving themselves (and, perhaps, the world). We took our favorite aspects of some of the most well known fairy tales, the heroines that had always haunted our hearts and thoughts, and we set out to retell their stories.

Now, we’ve done three stories, have a volume of the retold novellas out, and we’re well into the ambitious project. The response has been at once fierce and passionate and supportive: people have wanted these stories, have waited for these stories, and the Sappho’s Fables series, thus far, has been overwhelmingly supported by the community, by queer folk, by straight folk.

I’m thinking about fairy tales tonight, because I often think about fairy tales. Telling these stories, creating these worlds, is my full time job, and one that I take very seriously, and am very grateful for. It’s almost my birthday, and every year around this time, I get a little navel-gazey and thoughtful, and I think about the years that have gone before me, of the other birthdays I’ve had, of the old fairy tale books I was lovingly given by my grandmother and my mother and my aunts, of the stories that touched my lives, of the heroines who invaded my heart and never, ever left it. I’m thinking about the stories I’d wished I had that I can’t mourn for, anymore. Because I’m finally writing them.

And that’s the most daunting thought, I suppose. I can no longer mourn the childhood of lesbian-less stories, because my wife and I are writing them. But we aren’t the only ones. There are so many good people, so many brilliant authors, who are telling their stories the best they know how, pouring their hearts out onto the pages, changing the world that they so desperately had wished for, growing up. Making it anew.

Reclaiming it.

When we have kids (may heaven help the world: they’ll probably be little hellions ;D), I’m proud to say that they’ll have fairy tales about girls who love girls, they’ll have stories where heroines save themselves, they’ll have novels that feature women like their mothers, and the invisibility so insipid before will be eradicated.

So I’m thinking about fairy tales, tonight, and a world that supports lesbian ones.

That, in and of itself, is one of the best happily ever afters I’ve ever known.

Release Day: Sappho’s Fables, Volume 1: Three Lesbian Fairy Tale Novellas (The First Volume in the Sappho’s Fables Series!)

Jenn and I are incredibly pleased to present our first collection–all three of the first Sappho’s Fables (fairy tales retold as lesbian) novellas in one omnibus edition, including a print version! It contains Seven (Snow White), Braided (Rapunzel) and Crumbs (Hansel and Gretel).

Available from:

Amazon (Kindle)

Barnes and Noble (Nook)

Smashwords (All other eReaders/Online Reading)

Print Version!

Sappho’s Fables, Volume 1: Three Lesbian Fairy Tale Novellas

by Elora Bishop and Jennifer Diemer

The Sappho’s Fables series takes well-known, beloved fairy tales and retells them from a lesbian perspective. Volume One contains the first three novellas in the series: SEVEN (Snow White), BRAIDED (Rapunzel) and CRUMBS (Hansel and Gretel), compiled together in an enchanting omnibus edition.

* SEVEN: A Lesbian Snow White

The strange witch girl Neve has skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and a dark secret. Her father Lexander, an alchemist, harbors an evil obsession, and Catalina, his newest bride, made the grave mistake of becoming his wife. When Catalina finds herself falling in love with his daughter, Neve, instead, the deepening bond between the women sets in motion the final chapter of a story that began long ago, with a desperate longing and a handful of apple seeds. Together, Neve and Catalina must venture into the Huntsman’s haunted forest to undo what has been done and set themselves free.

* BRAIDED: A Lesbian Rapunzel

Zelda is cursed to spend her days on a platform in an ancient, holy tree, growing her hair long enough to touch the ground. But it wasn’t her curse to bear: Gray, the witch’s daughter, was meant for that lonely fate. Gray visits Zelda each day, mourning their switched fates, and falling deeper in love with the cursed girl, until one night, at the Not-There Fair, an extraordinary creature outlines a magical plan that could set both of them free. Will Gray’s love for Zelda be strong enough to survive the strange dream world of Chimera, or will Zelda remain a prisoner of the curse forever?

* CRUMBS: A Lesbian Hansel and Gretel

Greta’s never ventured beyond the refuge of the Heap. Outside, the Ragers lurk, ever hungry and hunting. But Greta and her brother, half-starved and now alone, must risk death for the dream of safety they hope to find within the metal forest. Once there, nothing is as it seems: in the confines of a crumbling old candy factory, the woman who rescues them with sweet words and sweeter treats harbors a dangerous secret.

The Very Big, Epic Post of Lesbian Fairy Tales and Awesomeness: Sappho’s Fables, Volume 1 and the Novellas of Volume 2!

So my wife, author Jennifer Diemer and I are well under way in our ambitious (read: slightly CRAZY AND SPARKLY) project known as Sappho’s Fables, where we take many of the most well known and beloved fairy tales and retell them from a lesbian perspective.

A recap! March saw me releasing the first novella of the series, Crumbs: A Lesbian Hansel and Gretel. My second Sappho’s Fables novella, Braided: A Lesbian Rapunzel, came out in April, and a few days ago, Jenn released Seven: A Lesbian Snow White. This means that all three novellas in our first volume are now out, and the first volume can be released!

This Thursday, June 7th, marks the release date of Sappho’s Fables, Volume 1, which will contain all three novellas: Crumbs, Braided and Seven! It will be available in all eReader formats, and in print!

(SPARKLE NOTE! So, I have a feeling that this book will be out in the wild before the actual release date–maybe a day or two before! We wanted to do something special for our mailing list subscribers–we’re going to be sending out a letter the MOMENT we see the book out in the wild, so those subscribed will get a chance to get to the book first! Want to be on the list? It’s a simple signup–we just need your name and email addy, and you’ll be the very first to know!

~*~

With Sappho’s Fables, Volume 1 almost released, this means that the novellas from Volume 2 are coming! (“Wait, volumes? Huzzah!” you say. Yes! To see the stories and titles, and the volumes coming up, look to the bottom of the page here!

So, without further ado, we’re revealing the covers for the novellas of Volume 2! As with the last volume, each novella will be released individually, until they are collected together in one volume: Sappho’s Fables, Volume 2!

We already revealed Shimmer: A Lesbian Rumpelstiltskin to you, but here it is again, in case you missed it!

Follow the Wolf: A Lesbian Little Red Riding Hood

Thirteen: A Lesbian Twelve Dancing Princesses

And the compilation’s cover! Sappho’s Fables, Volume 2!

~*~

Jenn and I can’t express how grateful we are for the resounding and incredible support people have given Sappho’s Fables. It’s been both humbling and gratifying to see how deeply these resonate with not only members of the GLBTQ community, but with straight people as well. Our fans encompass a broad spectrum of humanity, and every day, we are grateful for the encouragement and the overwhelming awesomeness you bring to the table in support of our work. I know I keep saying it, but I have to keep saying it, because it’s true: we couldn’t do ANY of what we’re able to without you, and your unending and dauntless love of what Jenn and I are trying to do here: put out stories about ladies who love ladies, who know a little magic and monsters, who kick butt and take names. Thank you from our hearts.

Release Day: Seven, a Lesbian Snow White (The Third Novella in the Sappho’s Fables Series!)

My wife, author Jennifer Diemer‘s, novella Seven, the third novella of our Sappho’s Fables (Lesbian Fairy Tales!) series, is released today! Seven is a lesbian version of Snow White~

The strange witch girl Neve has skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and a dark secret. Her father Lexander, an alchemist, harbors an evil obsession, and Catalina, his newest bride, made the grave mistake of becoming his wife. When Catalina finds herself falling in love with his daughter, Neve, instead, the deepening bond between the women sets in motion the final chapter of a story that began long ago, with a desperate longing and a handful of apple seeds. Together, Neve and Catalina must venture into the Huntsman’s haunted forest to undo what has been done and set themselves free.

Available for purchase from:

Amazon (Kindle)

Barnes and Noble (Nook) (Coming soon!)

Smashwords (All other eReaders/Online Reading)

Release Day: Braided, a Lesbian Rapunzel (The Second Novella in the Sappho’s Fables Series!)

My novella Braided, the second novella of our Sappho’s Fables (Lesbian Fairy Tales!) series, is released today! Braided is a lesbian version of Rapunzel~

Zelda is cursed to spend her days on a platform in an ancient, holy tree, growing her hair long enough to touch the ground. But it wasn’t her curse to bear: Gray, the witch’s daughter, was meant for that lonely fate. Gray visits Zelda each day, mourning their switched fates, and falling deeper in love with the cursed girl, until one night, at the Not-There Fair, an extraordinary creature outlines a magical plan that could set both of them free. Will Gray’s love for Zelda be strong enough to survive the strange dream world of Chimera, or will Zelda remain a prisoner of the curse forever?

Available for purchase from:

Amazon (Kindle)

Barnes and Noble (Nook)

Smashwords (All other eReaders/Online Reading)

Release Day: Braided, a Lesbian Rapunzel (The Second Novella in the Sappho's Fables Series!)

My novella Braided, the second novella of our Sappho's Fables (Lesbian Fairy Tales!) series, is released today! Braided is a lesbian version of Rapunzel~

Zelda is cursed to spend her days on a platform in an ancient, holy tree, growing her hair long enough to touch the ground. But it wasn't her curse to bear: Gray, the witch's daughter, was meant for that lonely fate. Gray visits Zelda each day, mourning their switched fates, and falling deeper in love with the cursed girl, until one night, at the Not-There Fair, an extraordinary creature outlines a magical plan that could set both of them free. Will Gray's love for Zelda be strong enough to survive the strange dream world of Chimera, or will Zelda remain a prisoner of the curse forever?

Available for purchase from:

Amazon (Kindle)

Barnes and Noble (Nook) (Coming soon!)

Smashwords (All other eReaders/Online Reading)

BRAIDED’s Release: Delayed a Day

I’m so sorry, guys…Due to slight technical difficulties (nothing major or to worry about~ Braided‘s release day must be pushed back by a day. Instead of releasing tomorrow, April 3rd, it will be released on Wednesday, April 4th!

(Braided is part of the Sappho’s Fables series–lesbian fairy tales!)

The lesbian Rapunzel is coming VERY soon! Stay tuned for magic!