Chai and Charmcraft (Excerpt)

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<p>His Imperial Highness Faraj has just met the man of his dreams, literally. Faraj is a prophet as well as a prince, and for years he's been dreaming of the man who tends a blossoming jasmine plant in a shining window. <br /><br />After a blissful night of pleasure Faraj never imagined he might have for his own, he wakes up the next morning to a cat walking on his face.</p> <p>He's never had a familiar of his own before, never eaten breakfast from a community cauldron in a back alley full of children and kittens... and for once his foresight is failing him, because Faraj has absolutely no idea how he can sneak back into the palace without getting caught.</p> <p>His beloved Asharan tells him that it's not a walk of shame; it's a walk of chance, wandering through the city planting little blossoms of connection and understanding with the people of the city.</p> <p>Unfortunately, his grumpy bodyguard Kamil has a very different opinion on walks of chance.</p> <p><em>Chai and Charmcraft</em> is a cozy and queer BIPOC M/M remix of Cinderella, in which your author gleefully flips all the tropes. Ashar loves his community, he loves his life, and he wants nothing to do with the power-politics of the Empire. Most of all, nobody needs a magical makeover to be loved exactly as they are. </p> <p>And their night of joy together is not where the story ends; that's where it begins...</p> <h3>Looking for more?</h3> <p><em>Chai and Charmcraft</em> is the forthcoming first novel in a cozy Middle Eastern trilogy centered in the Catsprowl.</p> <p>Other stories about Faraj and Asharan and their community include "Rahat al-Hulqum" (from the February 2024 <a href=' Valentine's Special</a>) and the three cozy fantasy novellas collected as <a href=' title='Chai and Cat-tales'><em>Chai and Cat-tales</em></a> (available in December 2024).</p>