Pen Names and Release Day: Cage the Darlings by Elora Bishop (My Second Novel)

Today, I come bearing tidings of sparkly joy. And a STORY.

I write primarily young adult novels. The Dark Wife, while read and loved by a very diverse (and ever growing) group of people, was a young adult novel at its core. The upcoming Ragged is YA. My books after that are YA.

But I love writing more than YA. I grew up on fantasy and science fiction, and love both of these genres more than life itself–they are my life’s blood, and while I certainly write both of these into YA, I want to be able to do both adult and YA. So I began to release other things. Still lesbian things, but novellas that aren’t considered YA, like Sugar Moon, and my upcoming short story collection, Love Devours–it isn’t YA either. Both of these can certainly be read by a YA audience, there’s nothing shocking or explicit about them. Unless you’re homophobic, in which case THERE IS PLENTY SHOCKING SINCE THEY ARE ALL ABOUT LESBIANS. 😀 *sparkly smile*

When I released Sugar Moon and began to make plans for Love Devours, I thought I would do everything under Sarah Diemer–my real name. But my audiences are different, and I’m a Virgo rising (that explains everything, doesn’t it?), so I began to realize that a pen name to differentiate the two separate genres of my fiction would be ideal. So, I began to write under another name.

I am Sarah Diemer–and I am also Elora Bishop.

As an indie author, all of my sales come from word of mouth, from people being fans and being incredibly supportive and wonderful. I began to build my fan base as Elora, and I have met the most wonderful, supportive, enthusiastic and passionate women (and men!), as I have as Sarah, which is just the most heartening thing in the world.

So, all of my adult novels, novellas and short stories will now be published as Elora Bishop, and all of my YA stuff will continue to be published under Sarah Diemer.

What does this mean for the rest of the Maja (Sugar Moon) Trilogy and Love Devours?
Since I’ve already announced them as under Sarah Diemer, they will be released as such, and will be my only adult books under that name.

Will you be posting about your Elora stuff here on Muse Rising?
Not really–I want to continue to keep them a bit separate! So, if you’re interested in fantasy and paranormal lesbian stories by yours truly, please follow me on Twitter (@EloraBishop), “like” me as Elora on Facebook, add me on GoodReads, or add my Elora blog to your feed.

What’s the difference between your Elora stuff and your Sarah stuff?
My Elora books are adult (but can be read by anyone, really), and my Sarah books are YA.

To be honest, Elora’s stuff is also more fairy tale/high fantasy/paranormal than my Sarah stuff, which is created for the YA audience, and–therefore–“edgier,” and darker. If you love dragons and princesses and kick ass warrior queens and thieves and castles and palaces, you will love my stuff as Elora. 🙂 ❤

There is a hole in the world of lesbian literature–one I am acutely aware of, and one that I am making it my life's work to fill. We deserve magical stories. If there are worlds, in fantasy and sci-fi, where extraordinary things happen, why do we assume it would be IMPOSSIBLE that there's a world where there is no WORD for being gay? Those are the stories I'm creating with Elora–kick ass heroines save themselves, fall in love with princesses and have magical talking animal companions, because, really, ANY NOVEL IS AUTOMATICALLY MADE BETTER BY A TALKING CAT, you heard it here first. ;D

My Elora stuff is funny, magical, heartfelt and filled with love. I hope you enjoy. ❤

Today, therefore, is the release day of my second novel–my first novel as Elora Bishop, Cage the Darlings. It’s an original fairy tale about a thief girl who falls in love with a blackbird shapeshifter, and is a magical, lesbian love story. ❤

On Amazon for Kindle — $5.99
On BarnesAndNoble.com for Nook — $5.99
On Smashwords for online reading/other eReaders for $5.99
Print edition coming Monday!

Only a blackbird girl can set her free…

Envy is a lucky lady with a secret vice: she’s one of the best thieves in the kingdom–something her current employer, the king himself, has no knowledge of. When one of her more audacious gambles gets her caught, Envy thinks her luck’s run out. Infuriated, the king banishes her to Bran Tower, a haunted, forgotten prison of no escape.

But, by day, a mysterious blackbird brings Envy crumbs of food–and, by night, the beautiful ghost Merle befriends her. Or so Envy thinks. When Merle, no ghost at all, reveals her terrible truth–cursed to spend daylight as a blackbird, night as the mortal woman she once was–Envy confesses, too: that she’s fallen for the blackbird girl.

But love has made them reckless in a forest of dangerous men. On the night of their planned escape, Merle is kidnapped by a band of brigands seeking the treasure of her father, the Blackbird King. Envy is brave but is now faced with an almost impossible task: to journey through the cursed forest in the hopes of saving her beloved Merle.

CAGE THE DARLINGS is a magical lesbian fantasy novel.

~*~

I also have a novella out as Elora–a magical, HOLIDAY lesbian love story. ❤

One Solstice Night, a holiday story of a witch, a shape shifter,
love and the Winter Solstice is now available!

On Amazon.com for the Kindle — $2.99
On Barnes and Noble for the Nook — $2.99
On Smashwords for online reading or any other eReader — $2.99
Paperback — $7.99

To the cozy little town of Benevolence, the Wolf of Winter is a distant memory. Two generations ago, this nightmare creature crept through the streets and brought with it a blizzard of catastrophic proportions.

So goes the story. Isabella Fox finds the legend hard to believe. A witch for hire, she’s just moved to Benevolence because it’s the only place in the world where nothing ever happens. As the new village magicmaker, she’s expected to cast only one spell a year–freeing up her time to pursue new dreams, and perhaps love.

As the Winter Solstice celebration draws near, Benevolence flurries with the magic and wonder of the holiday season. But not all are welcome to partake in the town’s festivities. Outcast shapeshifter, Emily, lives alone in the mountains. She is a mystery to Isabella, until they happen upon each other by chance in the snowy wood…

On the night of the Winter Solstice, love is in the air…but so is the cold, sky-piercing howl of the Wolf of Winter.