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We’ve had a very busy October here at Duck Prints Press. In addition to the release of remaining merchandise from our Pride Dragons Merchandise Campaign, the listing of the Art Prints of Works Originally Published to our Patreon, and the general release of our latest print title, the novelette The Agony of Authenticity by Lyn Weaver, we also released six new short stories to our Patreon, hosted a panel on Writing Tools and Techniques, and posted new artwork by Max Jason Peterson! 

Become a backer of the Duck Prints Press Patreon, support independent queer publishing, and gets lots of awesome stuff! Read on to learn all about our new releases…

SHORT STORIES

Title: Flight Plans
Author: Max Jason Peterson

fantasy, non-binary main character, bittersweet, grief recovery

Excerpt: Liliana’s dad moved her halfway across the country. I tried hard to find her. But there are so many ways to hide. Especially for witches. My spells weren’t enough to see past the cloud of confusion they encountered, and the last thing I wanted was to force my will on hers.

Having nearly incinerated the love of my life, I was loath to try sleeping with anyone else.

Available to all backers of the Duck Prints Press Patreon!

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Title: Ex as in Expired
Author: Nicola Kapron

modern, m/m, vampire x ghost, when your love dies but it’s okay cause you’re immortal

Excerpt: On the last day of every month, Sunny summons his ex-boyfriend from the dead. That’s “ex” as in “expired,” not “ex” as in “former,” because he’s never letting go.

Available to backers at the $5/month level and higher!

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Title: Flying Fish
Author: Lyonel Loy

gen, the inspirational power of friendship, disabled main character

Excerpt: Once upon a time, a gryphon with a bent wing lived in a cave high up on a lonely cliff, deep in the mountains by the edge of the world.

Available only to backers at the $25/month level!

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Title: Dear “Xutuix”!?
Author: J. D. Harlock

gen, epistolary, satire as told through a story rejection letter

Excerpt: Dear *¥+¥!,
Or is it “Xutuix”?
Unfortunately, I am afraid that on this occasion, we will have to reject “Confessions of an Interplanetary Time Dilator on the Carputhian Beat in the Mean Streets of Galaxar.” We usually don’t respond to submissions (especially since we’re only taking nonfiction, at the moment). However, you mentioned you were a resident alien, and we did announce that underrepresented writers would receive personalized feedback on improving their writing moving forward.

Available to backers at the $10/month level and higher!

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Title: Snow Day Memories
Author: Merlin Grey

m/m t4t, slice of life during a snow storm, grieving and quilting

Excerpt: The walls keep them insulated from the cold to some extent, but it’s still chilly, and Marques keeps reminding himself that he can’t just turn up the thermostat or turn on a space heater to solve the problem. Even his briefly considered idea of baking something in the oven to heat up the kitchen is quickly discarded when he remembers that, while the stove might be gas-powered, the oven is electric, so it also won’t work when the power is out. He and Theo already grabbed all the blankets in the apartment, but he mentally casts about for anything they might have missed.

“Do you think there might be any extra blankets in the cedar chest?” Marques asks.

Available to backers at the $10/month level and higher!

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Title: Penis Pals
Author: Imogen Cuppaggio

m/m, first person point of view, the eroticism of falling in love with the cryptid who watches you masturbate in the backyard

Excerpt: When my parents died, I could have decided not to sell my parents’ house, my childhood home. I could have stayed and lived with their ghosts looking over my shoulder, along with the ghosts of all the versions of me that existed there. I was in my twenties and not settled anywhere but starting to get that feeling, deep inside, that I wanted to stop wandering, maybe put down roots.

After selling that house and settling their estate and finding a steady job, I took my time finding the right place. I knew I wanted a backyard and at least a little distance from my neighbors. Not a “nobody will hear you scream” sort of distance, but space to stretch out, not be spied on, and to lower the chances the cops would get called.

Because of the nudity.

Available to backers at the $7/month level and higher!

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ARTWORK:

October Patreon Artwork: Forever Halloween
Artist: Max Jason Peterson

The shared image is a crop of the full artwork.

Available to backers at the $5/month level and higher!

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PATREON PANEL:

Title: Writing Tools and Techniques

Panelists: Dei Walker, J. D. Rivers, Alex Bauer, and Max Jason Peterson

Description: Let’s meet together on the first Sunday of October to have a chat about our favorite writing tools and how we use them! This month’s panelists will talk about different tools they’ve used for word processing, editing, researching, outlining, progress tracking, world building, and more. We’ll weigh the pros and cons of our experiences, what we’ve kept using and what we’ve ditched, what we’ve liked and what we haven’t liked, and how we’ve changed our techniques to maximize the utility of the different tools we’ve used. If you’ve got favorite tools, we hope you’ll attend as well and tell us about them!

Recording available to backers at the $7/month level and higher!

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The front cover of a book entitled The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers. Stylized artwork shows two men in a loose embrace, one shorter, light-skinned, and pale-haired, the taller one dark haired and darker skinned, both in casual modern-esque clothes. The taller one kisses the shorter one on the forehead, his hand clasping the shorter one's cheek. They stand before a blood-red circle with a star on it, and a brilliant blue wave surges behind them.

J. D. Rivers’s novella The Salt in the Sea, successfully crowdfunded earlier this year, is now available to everyone through duckprintspress.com, major book retailers, libraries, and can (probably) be ordered through your local bookstore of choice!

A downtrodden ex-soldier.

After leaving the military, werewolf Victor is shunned in his civilian life. Money is tight, so when an ex-comrade offers him an easy job—getting a package from an island—he jumps at the chance.

A lost inn-owner.

When Selkie Thoma opens the door to a knocking patron, he wants to close it again immediately. Standing before him is Victor, his one-night stand from three years ago. The last thing Thoma wants is to have to explain why he left that night.

As Victor and Thoma cross paths unexpectedly, emotions flare anew. But Victor is only on the island for a week, and Thoma can’t face his past, the consequences of his decisions, or the resulting condemnation from his sea-going selkie family.

A dead body in a post office.

When a corpse is discovered, fingers throughout the community point at Victor. With time running out before justice is served, it’s on Thoma to find out the truth. Because on the island justice is deadly.

Get your hands on this bittersweet mlm fantasy story of missed opportunities and second chances today!

Leftover campaign merchandise is also available! We’ve got the front cover art as an art print and as a bookmark, and you can also get a lovely scented candle from Speculative Wicktion.

Follow the author J. D. Rivers on social media: Personal Website | Bluesky

Learn more about the cover artist planetsandmagic: Bluesky | Tumblr | Twitter

Want to get this book AND support an awesome indie publisher? Backers of our Patreon at the $7/month level and higher can get our publications as freebies – including this one! Become a high-level backer today and get this book at no additional cost.


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Just posting a note that we completed fulfillment of the pre-order campaign of The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers yesterday! All backers who purchased the e-book should have received it in their e-mail, and physical packages were dropped at the post office.

We anticipate making the book available to people who didn’t pre-order on July 8th 2025.

Thank you everyone for your support, and we hope you enjoy the book!


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A graphic with a photograph of a forested island rising from the sea as the background. Top text reads, "Get to Know The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers. In the center is a cover, art showing two men in a loose embrace, the taller with dark hair and dark skin holding the head of the shorter, who is paler and blond. they are surrounded by surging waves. This cover has arrows leading away from it, pointing at text. There are six arrows, and six texts. The text reads: werewolves and selkies and magic (oh my!); strangers to idiots in love to ???????; second chances; m/m grumpy x grumpy; fantasy modern mystery genre mash-up; and hopeful ending. Bottom text reads: pre-orders close at midnight April 15th 2025.

We’re in the home stretch of our pre-order campaign for The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers! We’ve hit our base goal (the absolute minimum we need to get this project off the ground) and we’re almost 2/3rds of the way to raising enough to cover all the associated publishing expenses! Pre-orders will close at midnight, April 14th, in the last time zone in the world – which is to say, 8 a.m. Eastern time on the morning of the 15th! We’d love your help spreading the word for this last push.

What’s The Salt in the Sea about? Well…

A downtrodden ex-soldier.

After leaving the military, werewolf Victor is shunned in his civilian life. Money is tight, so when an ex-comrade offers him an easy job—getting a package from an island—he jumps at the chance.

A lost inn-owner.

When Selkie Thoma opens the door to a knocking patron, he wants to close it again immediately. Standing before him is Victor, his one-night stand from three years ago. The last thing Thoma wants is to have to explain why he left that night.

As Victor and Thoma cross paths unexpectedly, emotions flare anew. But Victor is only on the island for a week, and Thoma can’t face his past, the consequences of his decisions, or the resulting condemnation from his sea-going selkie family.

A dead body in a post office.

When a corpse is discovered, fingers throughout the community point at Victor. With time running out before justice is served, it’s on Thoma to find out the truth. Because on the island justice is deadly.

Visit our campaign page to learn more!

And don’t forget to back our Patreon!



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Did you or are you planning to back our pre-order campaign for the m/m fantasy-mystery novella The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers?

Did you know that Duck Prints Press has a Patreon with backer levels starting at a mere $3/month?

Did you know that people who support our Patreon at the $10/month level or the $25/month level get a bonus, exclusive freebie for every single campaign they back?!

Duck Prints Press keeps our lights on month to month with the income from our Patreon, which ensures the Press has a minimum, reliable, steady stream of money coming in that we can use for software subscriptions, paying editors and authors and artists, maintaining the physical equipment the business needs, covering registration fees for events, taking care of gas when we travel to vend, and more. Every single backer helps, and we want YOU to become one of those backers, if you’re able (or spread the word if you’re not – that helps too!). Backers get behind-the-scenes access, Discord privileges, free short stories, coupons for our webstore, and more – with increasing benefits the higher the backer level!

The bonus merchandise for The Salt in the Sea? An acrylic pin on translucent blue iridescent plastic of this gorgeous blue-wave version of the scene divider we’re using in the book! (“Transparent” places, which will be translucent blue, are shown with checkerboard so it’s clear where the design is and isn’t.)
Artwork of a stylized wave shown just before it crests and crashes, colored in shades of blue from very pale to dark.

Already pre-ordered The Salt in the Sea? It's not too late to become a Patreon backer and get the bonus merchandise! Not yet pre-ordered The Salt in the Sea? Support us on Patreon at any level and get a coupon code you can use immediately to save money when you pre-order the book!

Pre-orders for The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers close at 8 a.m. Eastern on April 15th. Pre-order your copy today!


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A photograph of waves crashing against rocks, overlaid with text that reads: The island doesn't like visitors. Every time I ship over, it tries to dispel me, but in a battle of wills, I win. The salt in the sea by J. D. Rivers. Pre-orders close at 8 a.m. Eastern time April 15 2025.

“The island doesn’t like visitors. Every time I ship over, it tries to dispel me, but in a battle of wills, I win.”

We’ve been talking a lot about The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers as we wind down into the last 4 days of our pre-order campaign. Thoma and Victor, the m/m main characters, have been featured in quotes in and in the blurb. But an important, maybe the important secondary character? The island on which the story takes place! Concentrate enough memory and magic in a place, and even the very ground beneath one’s feet can take on a will of its own…

Blurb for The Salt in the Sea

A downtrodden ex-soldier.

After leaving the military, werewolf Victor is shunned in his civilian life. Money is tight, so when an ex-comrade offers him an easy job—getting a package from an island—he jumps at the chance.

A lost inn-owner.

When Selkie Thoma opens the door to a knocking patron, he wants to close it again immediately. Standing before him is Victor, his one-night stand from three years ago. The last thing Thoma wants is to have to explain why he left that night.

As Victor and Thoma cross paths unexpectedly, emotions flare anew. But Victor is only on the island for a week, and Thoma can’t face his past, the consequences of his decisions, or the resulting condemnation from his sea-going selkie family.

A dead body in a post office.

When a corpse is discovered, fingers throughout the community point at Victor. With time running out before justice is served, it’s on Thoma to find out the truth. Because on the island justice is deadly.

Learn all about The Salt in the Sea on our campaign page!


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A graphic with text over a photograph of rolling waves and wave-frothed water. Text reads, Eyes dark as the night, hungry and powerful, stared him down. "I just want you." And while the music thundered on, Victor raised Thoma's chin and kissed him. Pre-order m/m fantasy novella THE SALT IN THE SEA by J. D. Rivers TODAY!

There are under six days left to pre-order The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers! We’re thrilled to share that we’ve hit our baseline goal for this campaign! We’re still a long way from hitting our primary goal of $2,200, which includes enough to cover all the expenses that Duck Prints Press will incur publishing The Salt in the Sea, but hitting our baseline means we’ll be able to move forward with publication! Thank you to everyone who has helped spread the word and who has backed so far. Today, we share a teaser from a pivotal moment for our two lead characters…

Eyes dark as the night, hungry and powerful, stared him down.

“I just want you.”

And while the music thundered on, Victor raised Thoma’s chin and kissed him.

Learn more about The Salt in the Sea today, before time runs out!


duckprintspress: (Default)
A graphic with a photograph of a forested island rising from the sea as the background. Top text reads, "Get to Know The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers. In the center is a cover, art showing two men in a loose embrace, the taller with dark hair and dark skin holding the head of the shorter, who is paler and blond. they are surrounded by surging waves. This cover has arrows leading away from it, pointing at text. There are six arrows, and six texts. The text reads: werewolves and selkies and magic (oh my!); strangers to idiots in love to ???????; second chances; m/m grumpy x grumpy; fantasy modern mystery genre mash-up; and hopeful ending. Bottom text reads: pre-orders close at midnight April 15th 2025.

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!




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A photograph of an open hard-cover book resting on a white surface. It's sunny and bright. A blurred-out background suggests the outdoors. Text over the image reads "Author interview! Meet J. D. Rivers." The Duck Prints Press logo is at the bottom middle of the image.

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.
A photograph of a light-brown dog lying flopped on a grained wooden floor. It looks at peace.


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!

 



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A graphic of text over a photograph of an old rotary phone on a wood counter before a wooden wall. Text reads, Thoma wanted to phone Clair and lament about what had happened, but she’d only laugh at him and tell him he’d done it because he wanted to “climb that hunk like a tree.” from "The Salt in the Sea" by J. D. Rivers, a m/m fantasy-mystery novella. Pre-order today!

What are best friends for, if not some light-hearted mocking? The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers is a bittersweet m/m fantasy-mystery about old wounds and new opportunities… but “bittersweet” doesn’t mean we’re not allowed a splash of humor or five! The Salt in the Sea is a novella about building a life in the aftermath of disaster, about isolation literal and metaphorical, and about second chances. Oh, yeah, and there’s also a corpse to deal with…

Read the blurb, learn about J. D. Rivers, check campaign progress, and more on our pre-order campaign page!




duckprintspress: (Default)
The front cover of a book entitled The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers. Stylized artwork shows two men in a loose embrace, one shorter, light-skinned, and pale-haired, the taller one dark haired and darker skinned, both in casual modern-esque clothes. The taller one kisses the shorter one on the forehead, his hand clasping the shorter one's cheek. They stand before a blood-red circle with a star on it, and a brilliant blue wave surges behind them.

The Salt in the Sea by J. D. Rivers is Duck Prints Press’s next novella release! Meet Thoma and Victor, two men with complex pasts that include a previous bittersweet encounter with each other. The Salt in the Sea is a novella about building a life in the aftermath of disaster, about isolation literal and metaphorical, and about second chances. Oh, yeah, and there’s also a corpse to deal with…

Blurb:

A downtrodden ex-soldier.

After leaving the military, werewolf Victor is shunned in his civilian life. Money is tight, so when an ex-comrade offers him an easy job—getting a package from an island—he jumps at the chance.

A lost inn-owner.

When Selkie Thoma opens the door to a knocking patron, he wants to close it again immediately. Standing before him is Victor, his one-night stand from three years ago. The last thing Thoma wants is to have to explain why he left that night.

As Victor and Thoma cross paths unexpectedly, emotions flare anew. But Victor is only on the island for a week, and Thoma can’t face his past, the consequences of his decisions, or the resulting condemnation from his sea-going selkie family.

A dead body in a post office.

When a corpse is discovered, fingers throughout the community point at Victor. With time running out before justice is served, it’s on Thoma to find out the truth. Because on the island justice is deadly.

Our pre-order crowdfunding campaign for The Salt in the Sea begins April 1st 2025 (no foolin’!), with a minimum goal of $900 US. You can learn more about the campaign, and sign up for our newsletter to make sure you get notified when sales go live!

The cover artist is planetsandmagic.

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Exciting news about our Kickstarter campaign to fund the publishing of Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” – we’ve been selected as a #ProjectWeLove!



This means that all three of our anthology campaigns on Kickstarter have earned this distinction, and we’re really proud of our track record in this regard. Being a Project We Love means a lot more people will see our hard work ’cause we’ll be prioritized in search results, so it’s really great news for our campaign going forward.

We’re also 69% funded. 😀 😀 😀 😀

And now for today’s teaser…J. D. Rivers graces us with an original story inspired by The Three Musketeers!

When We Lit Up the Night Sky by J. D. Rivers

About the Author: 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 | Twitter

Story Teaser:

Closing the door felt final, and Elenar didn’t know if he should exhale or inhale.

The glider hummed at the end of the path. Arden had already started it up and was shoving their bags into it.

At their backs hung an Imperial Planet Buster, like a ragged third moon between the white, fluffy clouds. It wasn’t there as a response to the recent talk of pirate activity.

Elenar drew a shaky breath. The air tasted of rain, heralding the coming spring flood. The small green fruits on the orange trees were in dire need of it; they should— Ah, no, that was over now.

Tags: angst with a happy ending, criminal, established relationship, grieving, m/m, m/m/m, mistakenly believed to be dead, miscommunication, non-fanfiction story inspired by the source material, past tense, pov third person limited, science fiction, twosome to threesome, violence (non-graphic descriptions), idiots to lovers

Find out what Kickstarter loves about our campaign by reading it now!


 

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