On the last day of Disability Pride Month, I’m here to remind you, as a fantasy author with multiple disabilities, the idea that disabled people can’t be in fantasy is silly (and harmful).
Both main characters of my Lesbians, Pirates, & Dragons series have disabilities, as do some of their friends, parents, and mentors, and I personally think it would be less realistic, if they didn’t.
Happy Disability Pride Month! 🖤
You may have noticed that I’ve been quiet for a few months. If you follow me on social media, you know there’s a reason for that.
The most I feel comfortable saying is that some awful things happened in my personal life this year that triggered PTSD from past abuse and multiple suicidal episodes.
And just as I was starting to feel like I was bouncing back, the awful thing happened again.
So, yeah, I definitely haven’t been in a great place emotionally this year, and it’s hard to be online when I’m barely here at all. But I’m trying to get back to a better place, despite it all.
It’s ironic that I missed Mental Health Awareness Month because of my mental health (and I feel like this isn’t even the first time it’s happened 😅). But this issue is very important to me, so I’d rather say something late than not at all.
If you’ve read my books, you know that representing mental illness honestly—flaws and all—is something I’m passionate about. If we only care about mental health when the person or character is perfect and not when they make mistakes, then we don’t actually care about mental health—because perfect people don’t exist.
I try to be honest about my own struggles with mental illness, just as I try to represent mental illness honestly in my books—even when it’s embarrassing, even when it’s scary, even when it makes me feel unbearably vulnerable, even when it hurts.
With as much as I’ve been unable to see this about myself, it’s important to me that you know you already deserve love, just as you are. 💚
You don’t have to be okay. You don’t have to pretend to be. You deserve love, regardless. 💚
And since I don’t think I’ve said it here, happy last day of Pride! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
April is Autism Acceptance Month, which means it’s time (almost past time) for my annual reminder that autistic people come in all shapes and sizes—including that of a dragon-riding surgeon. 🖤🐉🖤
Emilia Drakon, the protagonist of my Lesbians, Pirates, & Dragons series, is autistic (like me), and though she deals with communication and sensory obstacles from time to time, no one aboard the Wicked Fate treats her like a burden because of it—because she’s not one. 🖤
Every year, I try to say a little about why lesbian visibility is so important to me—as a lesbian and as a lesbian author. I’m not exactly in the state of mind that I like to be in when I talk about these things, but I’m going to try, anyway. 🧡
I spent much of my life believing I was broken—because I didn’t have the right words or examples to make sense of what I felt and who I was. I spent most of my life hating myself for it. Even saying the word “lesbian” was a battle for me.
But I made it through that, and now, I’m passionate about writing the kind of stories I needed back then.
Representation saves lives, and as long as I’m able to write more weapon-wielding lesbians into the world, I will. 🧡
Happy Lesbian Visibility Day! 🧡🤍💖
I’m excited to share that Pirates of Aletharia (Lesbians, Pirates, & Dragons: Book 1) won the 2025 IAN Book of the Year Award in LGBTQ+ Fiction! This makes, I believe, the fourth literary award it’s won. 💙
It was also a finalist in Fantasy!
I’m beyond grateful. 💙
I finally made some book cards for Sapphic Book Bingo! (In my defense, I’ve been sick for AGES.)
If you’re participating in Sapphic Book Bingo this year, here are some of the categories Pirates of Aletharia and Goddess of the Sea fit! 💙
(The dragons would absolutely be offended by us calling them “pets,” but…I think they count. 😅)
Goddess of the Sea (Lesbians, Pirates, & Dragons: Book 2):
❤️ Autistic Main Character
🧡 Tattooed Main Character
💛 Character with a Disability
💚 Takes Place on a Ship or Boat
💙 Established Couple
Hidden Gems:
💜 Pirates
🖤 Unusual Pet(s)
Pirates of Aletharia (Lesbians, Pirates, & Dragons: Book 1):
❤️ Autistic Main Character
🧡 Tattooed Main Character
💛 Character with a Disability
💚 Takes Place on a Ship or Boat
💙 Character is Hiding a Secret
Hidden Gems:
💜 Pirates
🖤 Unusual Pet(s)
You can find out more about Sapphic Book Bingo on Jae’s website! 💙
If you’re at the ReadOUT Literary Festival in Gulfport, Florida this weekend, here’s where you can find me! 💙
P.S. — I’m operating on about two hours of sleep, so fingers crossed my brain even works! 😅
Friday:
I’m a panelist on the Building Queer Worlds panel at 2:15 PM.
I’m also a panelist on the Queering Romantasy panel at 6 PM.
Saturday:
I’ll be at the 6:30 Author Signing, (and I’ll have my gay dragon stickers again)! 🐉
I’m so excited to see you all! 💙
Goddess of the Sea (Lesbians, Pirates, & Dragons: Book 2) is featured in this week’s I Heart SapphFic Reading Challenge category, “Forced Proximity.” 💙
Because, as Judith says in Book 1, a pirate ship is “smaller than any town, smaller than any island.”
You can find more sapphic books with forced proximity on the I Heart SapphFic website!
Pirates of Aletharia is featured in this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category, “Who hurt you?” 💙
I have a habit of writing sapphic characters who are really protective of each other, so some variation of this tends to show up in a lot of my books. (I can confirm it’s in Goddess of the Sea, as well! 💙)
You can find fifteen sapphic books with this micro-trope on Jae’s website!
It’s Banned Books Week, a week set aside each year to discuss the danger of banning books and the importance of the freedom to read. In a time when diversity and authenticity in literature is being attacked by those in power, it’s more important than ever to speak out against censorship.
Representation is important. It literally saves lives.
We will continue to write these books. We will continue to read these books. Diversity should be celebrated, not feared. Reading should be encouraged, not attacked.
I’m happy to stand with GCLS and SASS in defense of our stories. 💙
On the last day of Disability Pride Month, I’m here to remind you, as a fantasy author with multiple disabilities, the idea that disabled people can’t be in fantasy is silly (and harmful). Both main characters of my Lesbians, Pirates, & Dragons series have disabilities, as do some of their friends, parents, and mentors, and […]
You may have noticed that I’ve been quiet for a few months. If you follow me on social media, you know there’s a reason for that. The most I feel comfortable saying is that some awful things happened in my personal life this year that triggered PTSD from past abuse and multiple suicidal episodes. And […]
April is Autism Acceptance Month, which means it’s time (almost past time) for my annual reminder that autistic people come in all shapes and sizes—including that of a dragon-riding surgeon. 🖤🐉🖤 Emilia Drakon, the protagonist of my Lesbians, Pirates, & Dragons series, is autistic (like me), and though she deals with communication and sensory obstacles […]
Every year, I try to say a little about why lesbian visibility is so important to me—as a lesbian and as a lesbian author. I’m not exactly in the state of mind that I like to be in when I talk about these things, but I’m going to try, anyway. 🧡 I spent much of […]
I’m excited to share that Pirates of Aletharia (Lesbians, Pirates, & Dragons: Book 1) won the 2025 IAN Book of the Year Award in LGBTQ+ Fiction! This makes, I believe, the fourth literary award it’s won. 💙 It was also a finalist in Fantasy! I’m beyond grateful. 💙
Britney Jackson 
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