Author | Lightnews

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 2d

Ahh, yay! I’m so happy you liked that line!

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 9d

Aw, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you!

1

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 9d

That makes me so happy, you have no idea. Thank you so much! 🥹

1

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 9d

I can’t tell you how happy it’s made me to see my book included on the Ace/Aro Book lists being shared this week. Extra gratitude to Ace/Aro/Demi readers who have written to let me know how much they appreciated Benny & Río’s “alternative love scene”—I wrote it for us.
7/7

1 7

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 9d

The effect, I hope, is just as romantic and accessible to Aro/Ace readers like me who may struggle with feeling a bit disconnected when reading more explicit depictions of s3x.
🖤🩶🤍💜/🖤🩶🤍💚
6

1 6

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 9d

Since so much of Benny’s emotional pain is connected to his asthma, I decided to make Benny & Río’s “first time” an exchange of breath that opened them both to an empathic experience of each other’s love.
5

1 5

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 9d

To satisfy and help heal my own demi heart, I charged myself to write a love scene unlike any I’d ever read—one I’d hoped could convey the same emotional intimacy, tenderness, and transcendence as a s3x scene without the actual act.
4

1 5

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 9d

…it was a feature of my s3xuality that simply required a more profound connection to someone in order to be intimate with them.
3

[SPOILERS AHEAD…]

1 5

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 9d

Many of Benny’s ruminations on s3xual attraction involve the admission that he’s never truly felt it, and it registers in his mind as a vague awareness that something about him is wrong or broken. These were thoughts I’d often had about myself until I discovered this wasn’t a defect… 2

1 6

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 9d

✨Happy Asexual & Aromantic Awareness Week!✨

Though “Demisexuality” as a term didn’t exist in 1911, there are a number of scenes scattered throughout WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON that articulate Benny’s experience of being on the gray-asexual spectrum. This one might be my favorite.

3 7 34

Reposted by Venessa Vida Kelley

Saritza Hernández @litagentsaritza.bsky.social · 12d

Love seeing @venessakelley.bsky.social’s WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON in Swoon’s list of sexy and spellbinding paranormal romance books!

www.swooon.com/book-list/pa...

10 Paranormal Romances to Read in 2025: Our Sexy and Spellbinding Recommendations

These romances include a merman, an alien abduction, and stories that will make Twihards swoon.

www.swooon.com

1 3 9

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 10d

ooh! I didn’t see this! Thank you for tagging me!!

1

Reposted by Venessa Vida Kelley

M ⚡️🐸 @misanalias.bsky.social · 28d

When the Tides Held the Moon by @venessakelley.bsky.social is so beautiful I’m actually weeping

1 1 6

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 18d

Omg I’m so happy you liked it!! Thank you so much for reading it!

1 1

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 18d

This is so lovely!! I’m so happy the book continues to be on your mind! Thank you for sharing it with others!

1 1

Reposted by Venessa Vida Kelley

Zach the Scriptor @scriptorsapiens.bsky.social · 23d

When the Tides Held the Moon by @venessakelley.bsky.social absolutely slammed me would be a gross understatement. Please, read it!

#whenthetidesheldthemoon #fanart #digitalfanart #illustration #queerlit #historical #romantasy #lgbtq #merman #mermanart #commissionsareopen #queerartist #lgbtartist

Benny Caldera, an Afro-boricua man, plays a quatro and sings, illuminated by an oil lantern. His verse is: "Lleva me, Rio, hasta el mar, sobre olas azules de agua cristal! Porque soy un muchacho a que le gusta cantar! Con tritones y sirenas me gustaria bailar!"

Rio, a merman with blue-gray skin and red hair, sings inside his aquarium tank, illuminated by the lantern and the moon. His verse is "Acercate mas, amante del mar. Dijo las olas de agua cristal! El ritmo que sientes, la tentacion fluvial, el latido de mi corazon es tu cantal!"

1 4 12

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 18d

I am obsessed with all of your amazing creations!! Thank you so much for sharing these over here!

1 1

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · 18d

It was so wonderful meeting you! Thank you for taking this fantastic pictures!

1

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · Sep 30

This is so cool! I would read the heck out of an entire book of this

1 1

Reposted by Venessa Vida Kelley

Zach the Scriptor @scriptorsapiens.bsky.social · Sep 29

Singing Each to Each: Night Hunt🧜‍♀️

Off the coast of Aotearoa, Iamiq struggles to balance raising his orphaned sisters and his own needs.

This is a pilot for a much larger project I want to get published.

Part 1/4

#mermaids #mermen #comics #art #ocart

3 2 7

Reposted by Venessa Vida Kelley

👻 joy-o-lantern meads 👻 @capnjoy.bsky.social · Sep 16

A book that helped get me through a particularly dark few days in American life: WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON by @venessakelley.bsky.social. Rich prose, vivid detail, grounded in the actual world we live in but with a tidal pull of solidarity and hope. Oh, also it’s a boricua merman romance.

An illustration from the book, featuring a 1911 Coney Island skyline in the background and an expanse of ocean in the foreground. It’s night. The left side of the illustration is sepia toned, the right is full color, mostly the blues of night with the electric glitter of the rides in the background. In the left corner, it’s just possible to perceive the head and upper torso of two men in the water, embracing. And a the end of a merman tail just surfacing to their left

2 2 13

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · Sep 30

This means a lot! Thank you so much for reading TIDES and sharing it with others! 🥹

1

Reposted by Venessa Vida Kelley

TJ Alexander (they/them) @tjalexandernyc.bsky.social · Sep 10

🌈COVER REVEAL🌈

From the acclaimed author of Chef's Kiss and A Gentleman's Gentleman comes a riotous Regency romp, featuring a charming and unforgettable genderfluid lead.

A LADY FOR ALL SEASONS is out March 10.

Preorder & full synopsis: tjalexander.com#books6

The cover for A Lady For All Seasons. A photograph of a redheaded woman in a blue dress is facing away from the viewer. The title and author name are illustrated as if on the front of a poetry chapbook.

14 47 130

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · Sep 10

Ahh, it’s beautiful!

1 1

Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social · Aug 25

Ahh, amazing! I’m so happy you loved it!

1