She Was a Mayfly - novels don't get better than this
As promised to @wavesketcher-sq, these are pics of my binding of her wonderful novel "She Was a Mayfly". The story would deserve much better, but I wanted it to feel "personal" so I've done as much myself as I could (which is not good for the result). First and foremost, I wanted a physical copy I could put in my bookshelf and take out and read whenever I felt like it. I will be forever grateful for the chance to read it and how brilliant it was (and for the future times I will reread it too).
I also had the invaluable help of everybody in the Renegade Bindery Discord server (@renegadeguild).
To create this book, I had to improve my LaTeX typesetting skills (not learn LaTeX, for that I still have to give credit to @cinnonym and me wanting to preserve their tumblr ficlets, like this great one)⌠anyway I digress, I had to improve LaTeX, learn basic binding, source the right off-white paper from the UK, the right tools and thread from Germany, natural silk thread from Milan, buy a new printer, learn how to make bookcloth, find the right fabric, learn how to do paper marbling (badly), (not manage to) learn how to do suminagashi, build a DIY book press, learn how to sew endbands (badly), and more⌠I started in August.
I can only see two explanations, either the novel is truly amazing, or I am completely crazy. I tend to favor the first option (though they are not mutually exclusive).
I have a companion booklet in the making for Author's Notes and comments, and then I have so many ideas for stories I might bindâŚbut so little time.
Anyway, I am so happy about this. Because this is really what I wanted, a hardcopy to browse and read, and "vandalize" underlining sentences and writing notes in. I am afraid I am a boring alphabetical order woman, so here it is in my English language fiction section, after Carlene Thompson.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Qualityâ Free Actions
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Unfinished Business pt.III (ft. an angsty bamon argument)
âBack in the prison world, if I had kissed you⌠would you have kissed me back?â
Bonnie doesnât look away from the changing screen. âNo.â
âWell. That answered my question,â says Damon, not bothering to mask his offence.
Bonnie points the remote at the TV, shutting the colour to black. âYou had a girlfriend. A girlfriend who loved you so damn much she had to erase her memories just to cope with your deathââ
âExactly, Bon! We were dead! We were trapped in eternal purgatory for all we knew. We could have been having sex like that,â he gestures vaguely upstairs, âevery fucking day!â
âWhy are you angry with me!?â
âIâm angry with everything!â Itâs a shock to the system, this anger. But now he sees it, how it viciously begs for attention, and Bonnie is the only one he has left to listen. âIâm angry that my brother is dead when it should have been me! Iâm angry that I tried to make things work with Elena when I should have been with you, and fine! Yes! Iâm angry with you Bonnie. Iâm angry that you just left! You left me, and all I got was a fucking postcard every couple months. Stupid, impersonal postcards! I didnât care that you were in Paris, or London, or Naples â I wanted you home.â
Read the full chapter here (and leave a comment for pancakes đĽ)
It was lighter outside than he was used to upon waking, and the soldiers were already eating a meagre breakfast.Â
âDĂşnedain!â called one with a salute. âIs it true you have an elf in that tent?â
The soldier to his left grinned with all his missing teeth. âSome men get all the fun.â
Irritation flashed across Aragornâs face, though he couldnât blame the men for making light of what they couldnât understand. Legolas, stubbornly though he would deny it, was a fish out of water in a camp of human soldiers.Â
Aragorn marched on towards the Generalâs tent, eyes scanning for signs of the elegant elf among the bedraggled men. If Legolas willed it, he could become completely invisible to prying eyes, melting into the eaves of a tree like a leaf returning home. There were no trees in the barren land beyond the camp â only blood soaked mud and felled bodies.Â
Aragorn suppressed a shudder. He loathed No Manâs Land.Â
You can read Aragornâs POV chapter here⌠Prepare for more Protective!Aragorn (oh, and please consider leaving a comment đ)
Iâve told you this a million times before but as you are quite literally THE fic writer who inspired me to write fic (and Iâm still going like 9 years later lol), I AM JUST GIDDY FOR YOU. I recently bought you some coffees because I canât pre-order your book easily in the UK (and I donât like buying books from Amazon).
My own manuscript is currently being read by editors at a major publishing house toođ the likelihood of them taking it on is SLIM but thereâs a little hope!! Basically, you deserve this so much and I really am so excited for your first published work.
love, wavesketcher
Thank you!!!! And I'm SO GLAD that you're still writingâ both fic and original!! I hope you have lots of success with your manuscriptâ let me know if there's good news ahead!!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
â Live Streamingâ Interactive Chatâ Private Showsâ HD Qualityâ Free Actions
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
âAnytime today would be great,â Damon hisses. âWeâre kind of in a tense moment here.â
The Plight of Silas, Cuddles and the Bamon Shipper Squad (2020)
âAhhh, the beach.â Beneath the shadow of a straw hat, Silas takes a long sip of his pina colada. âThis is the life.â
Amaryllis (2019)
Heâs started grocery shopping on Monday mornings.
I wonder why (I didn't see it there before?) (2019)
âAss.â
cracking up that this is the first line of a fic that is actually a really emotional exploration of them navigating love
Stefan the Bamon Shipper (2019)
He noticed it first at the dinner table.
Something there (that wasn't there before?) (2019)
âYouâre such an ass,â Bonnie groans.
First lines from my favourite one-shots/ficlets in 'Back To You':
Kryptonite (2019)
The warehouse doors are flung open with a curl of her wrist.
Stop All The Clocks (2019)
The church buzzes with colour: green hats, orange scarves, even a band.
Little Witch (2019)
âIf youâre just going to stand there, I have moreâŚpleasurable things to attend to.â
Forever (2019)
It wasnât supposed to happen like this.
Easy (2020)
Sheâs never seen him like this.
Voicemail (2022)
Her back's against the wall; leather heels reaching up her thighs, black, like her nails and dress and the memory of him.
Close One (2024)
âItâs nice,â he says, looking around at the painted yellow cupboards, âVery you,â and all Bonnie can think is Youâre in my kitchen.
Either (2025)
Blondie is especially persistent today. Damon is leaning against the dormitory doorjamb, watching Caroline thrust mini-dress upon mini-dress at Bonnie.
wrote a slightly steamier bamon scene than my usual and now I'm fully aboard the submissive salvatore train~
(also bonnie being a hot dom!witch just fits, okay)
~~~~~~~~~
âDamon, just, just shut up a second.â
He blinks at her, stunned. Bonnie shuffles on the lawn so that she is kneeling before him; she takes his chin in her fingers, and his eyes flutter.
âIf youâre done talking,â she breathes, âIâm done thinking.â
The vampire nods, rendered for once completely speechless. Itâs a thrilling power, her blood vibrates with it, and Damon just stares up at her. At her mercy.
Bonnie tightens her grip on his chin, angling his head so that his neck is a long, pale column in the moonlight. He is so tense, the vein that runs down his skin is throbbing.
âBonnie,â he whimpers.
âI thought I told you,â she hums in a low voice, âto stop talking.â
A strangled sort of sound escapes his mouth. If she were crueller, she might make him wait for it a little longer â but she isnât cruel, not now, not when she has given herself permission to kiss him guilt free.
Damon gasps as she takes his bottom lip between her teeth. He tries to regain the control heâs accustomed to â his right hand reaching up her neck, his left resting on her waist, lowering to her ass â but she doesnât let him, not this time. There is magic in her touch, and she wants him to revel in it. In her.
âI thought I imagined the way you looked at me when I did a spell,â she says, holding back his chin so that he is blinking up at her, eyes wild and desperate. âEven when we were fighting, youâd get this look.â
âLikeâlike what?â Damon pants, trying to lunge forward.
She smiles, and pushes on his shoulders so that he is lying down. âLike you wanted to undress me.â
âFuck. Bonnie.â
The smile becomes a grin. She is alive with arousal and magic. It sings out of her, into Damon, her fingers on his neck as she grinds against him. He tries to touch her, again, but she slaps at his hand, making him yelp at the electric charge. (Okay, maybe she is a little cruel).
âYou said it yourself, Salvatore. You know how to be patient.â
Damonâs hands have curled into quivering fists at his sides. âNotânot with you.âÂ
She licks at the beads of sweat gathering on his neck, relishing in the way his whole-body shivers under her tongue. Sheâd always imagined her first time with Damon would involve the vampire assuming lead, but this is better. This is taking charge of her own destiny.
âDo you think,â she murmurs, deft fingers unbuttoning his shirt, âthat Stefan will have had the foresight to compel the remaining guests out of the house.â
Damonâs abdomen convulses as she presses a kiss to the taut, damp skin there. âWh-why?â
âBecause,â Bonnie says sweetly, âI intend to make you scream.â
Read the full chapter (and ficlet) here. Comments are always appreciated.