My name is Lara Messersmith-Glavin, and I write weird, dark, sweet little stories. I am the author of the award-winning essay collection SPIRIT THINGS , as well as the political fantasy series The Tellers (RUINER and SABOTEUR ), published by AK Press.

My upcoming queer fantasy novel, HOW THE CHANDLER HUNG THE MOON , is due to be published in Fall 2027 by Forest Avenue Press. Forest Avenue is a wonderful publisher who works hard to support a range of artists and to put work into the world that they really believe in. They are also a very small (select!) press, and they lack the resources of larger publishing houses to throw advance funds at complex projects.

This is where you come in:

HOW THE CHANDLER HUNG THE MOON is a moon myth told through a pack of tarot cards. Each chapter is introduced by a card that I wrote and designed--but they need illustrations to truly come to life. I am lucky enough to be working with a world-class illustrator who lives here locally, Nate Marcel . He is creating dozens of original pieces of artwork to be used as the cards themselves. The pieces he is creating align exactly with what I have always pictured for this project. Now I need to raise the funds to pay him for this incredible, original work.

Here is a small taste:

He is working on scratchboard to give the images the feeling of old woodcuts or lithoprints, and the result is this stark, vivid quality that perfectly represents the themes of darkness and light the story wrestles with.

I have already paid for some of the illustrations, but I need to raise $2500 to fund the rest. Can you help?

Your donation supports local, HUMAN artists and a very small press in a world of AI-generated imagery and industrial publishing. If funds are tight, please consider sharing this campaign with your friends and family. Thank you so much!