✨I HAVE NEWS! ✨
My debut novel A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST will be published by
@orbitbooks
in spring 2025, the first in an adult epic fantasy trilogy. This tale of rebellion and revenge is set in a land where ancestors can be summoned in battle, and I wrote it with my whole heart
We're so thrilled to share Orbit UK has acquired an epic fantasy trilogy from debut author M. H. Ayinde, winner of the 2021 Future Worlds Prize.
We'll be publishing book one in spring 2025 and you can read more about the acquisition here
@MHAyinde
It’s here! 🥹 The cover of my debut novel A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST, the first in an epic fantasy trilogy coming next April from
@orbitbooks
UK!
Thank you
@flaptrapsart
for the absolutely gorgeous cover art and
@PetrikReads
for sharing this beauty with the world!
COVER REVEAL TIME! This one is an absolute stunner. I'm honored to reveal the cover art of A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST by
@MHAyinde
! This is an epic fantasy debut being released in 2025 by
@orbitbooks
, and I am looking forward to reading it! 1/2
Cover art by the superb
@flaptrapsart
Today is a Very Great Day! Dreams do come true! 🥹
My influencer culture story “Piggyback Girl” will appear very soon in
@fandsf
(I still can’t believe I get to write that sentence!)
Thank you
@blackpotmojo
for your faith in my snarky little social media tale.
Contract signed! So incredibly excited to announce that my story “Girlfriend Material” will be appearing in a future issue of
@FantasyMagazine
Get ready for some Very Unique Flora!
Seeing lots of editors/agents inviting Black writers to submit. Great! But pls remember some of us aren’t quite ready. Rebalancing the scales must be an ongoing endeavour not a flash in the pan. I’ll still be disadvantaged in 6 months; hope you’ll still want to hear my voice then
Made it round! What a beautiful experience, even if I did spend the entire second half questioning my sanity. 4h 31m 50s. Slightly slower than my first marathon but I’m just glad to have crossed the finish line! The crowd were amazing as always.
#LondonMarathon
Huge congratulations to
@WTalabi
on winning the Nommo award for best novel! SHIGIDI AND THE BRASS HEAD OF OBALUFON is such a brilliant (and fun!) book. More books in this world please and thank you!!!
@africansfs
#Glasgow2024
So excited to share that my story “Fully Comprehensive Code Switch” will be appearing in
@dark_matter_mag
’s Monstrous Futures anthology, edited by
@AlexWoodroe
Get ready to experience the next level in wearable tech!
🎉 Exciting news! 🎉 I’m ecstatic to be able to announce that I’m now represented by the wonderful
@JennieGoloboy
of
@MaassLitAgency
I’m so, so excited to be working with Jennie, and can’t wait for what comes next!
How is somewhere this beautiful real? The Scottish Highlands are breathtaking. Definitely a good place to recharge after WorldCon. Still need to share the billion pics I took at the con, but in the meantime, just look at this view! 🥹
I see Deep Space Nine is trending, which means I’m here to remind you that one of my favourite Star Trek episodes ever is, “Far Beyond the Stars.” Such an important episode that resonated deeply with me, and Avery Brooks’ performance was just amazing.
#DS9
Somebody pinch me, because I still can’t believe it! This Hackney girl won a (big!) thing! Thank you to the judges, sponsors, and publishing partners, and to everyone else involved in running the
@FutureWorldsPrz
I’m over the moon!
“It’s Still Colonialism When It Happens to Elves.” This
#FIYAHCON2021
panel was so good for my soul.
Related topics: It’s still racism when it happens to [insert any inherently evil fantasy species here.]
And it’s still classism when you call them ‘trolls.’ (1/5)
I still can’t quite believe this, but... I’ve got a short story in the January issue of
@fiyahlitmag
! This is my first published work of fiction, and I am so excited to be part of this amazing magazine!
Behold the cover and TOC for FIYAH
#17
! Featuring prose and poetry by M. H. Ayinde, Kalynn Bayron, Kel Coleman, Jade Stewart, Martins Deep, Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí, and K. Cerese Wright
Artwork by the incomparable
@nilaffle
Issue drops 1/1/21
Full post here:
🎉NEWS!!!🎉
A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST is coming to North America with
@SagaPressBooks
!! I’m so excited to be working with
@NiviaEvans
and the team to bring this tale of ancestor magic and stolen histories to readers!🔥⚔️
Birmingham I am IN YOU for
@BritFantasySoc
Fantasycon. I am NERVOUS and I am A BIT STAR-STRUCK
I’ll be on three panels.
12.30pm Sat - World Ending Villainy
4.30pm Sat - Feminism in Fantasy
12pm Sunday - A Conclave of Mages & Sages
#fantasycon
SELF-REJECTION 🧵(Because I count myself as something of an expert! 😅)
We writers with underrepresented identities are more inclined to think we’re not good enough/there’s no place for our work.
This tendency comes from growing up not seeing ourselves reflected. FIGHT IT!
1/8
I’m so incredibly excited to announce that my story “Our Grandmother’s Words” will be appearing in a forthcoming issue of
@BCSmagazine
It’s a story about how language and storytelling connect us to our cultures, and is very close to my heart.
So excited to receive my contributor copy of
@dark_matter_ink
Presents: Monstrous Futures, edited by
@AlexWoodroe
Look! It’s my actual words in an actual physical book, for the first time ever! Can’t wait to read the other stories in this anthology…
Baby’s first WorldCon! I’m lucky enough to be on quite a few panels across four days. If you see me, pls say hi. I am awkward and I have RBF but I’m really looking forward to meeting writer and reader friends IRL!
#Glasgow2024
#ForOurFutures
#WorldCon
Don’t mind me, I’m just a Brit attempting to do a last-minute awards eligibility post despite my very British aversion to blowing my own trumpet. Sorry about this.
Anyway, here are the works I had published this year, all short fiction: 🧵1/6
Today’s nerdy t-shirt. Had some great panel conversations but have reached my max capacity for people-ing. (Which autocorrect changed to “people-omg” … extremely accurate!)
Onwards to Day 3!
#WorldCon
#Glasgow2024
Happy 50th birthday,
@orbitbooks
! Had a great time at the party this week. Such a fun, uplifting night surrounded by wonderful people.
Had to take a selfie when I got home (photobombed by my 8yo) as my name badge says “M H Ayinde, Author” so it must be real, no takesy backsies!
I also finished
#HisDarkMaterials
… honestly, I think this season was my favourite. This has been a solid adaptation but I was not expecting them to be able to pull off the third book so well. Ruth Wilson’s Mrs Coulter remains sublime. The ending totally destroyed me.
CW: pet death
Yesterday afternoon our sweet, grumpy 18yo girl moved on to the next realm. We were all with her, at home, as she took her last breath.
This pic perfectly captures her DGAF attitude. A whole house, but only the pile of clean towels will do.
I miss her so much.
It’s 1am and I’ve had too much caffeine. What a fun and full-on first day of
#WorldCon
Met so many lovely people. Brain too scrambled to write anything coherent so instead please appreciate today’s t-shirt, from one of my fave moments in Star Wars.
#Glasgow2024
This story is about one of the most damaging ways in which colonialism robs us of our connection with our heritage. It’s a personal, painful one, and it was such a joy to be able to share it earlier this year in
@BCSmagazine
Read for free below…
BCS of 2023! "Our Grandmother’s Words"
@MHAyinde
, BCS
#376
. "whatever was written by the white-clad outlander was taken from our minds. I wondered if he were an evil spirit, able to reach inside our heads and pluck the knowledge from within."
I attended the brilliant “Fantastic Worlds” panel yesterday at
@WaterstonesPicc
where I got to listen to the very talented trio
@AndreaGStewart
@tashadrinkstea
and
@ge_summers
talk worldbuilding. I was taking notes!
So good to finally meet Andrea in person for the first time!
Overjoyed that
@fiyahlitmag
won the Best Semiprozine Hugo. Like many, my first fiction sale was to FIYAH, & I’ll be forever grateful for their faith in me. The confidence that sale gave me means more than I can ever put into words. Huge congrats this amazing, tireless team
#hugos
Monstrous Futures epicness has arrived in London, innit! This awesome anthology from
@dark_matter_ink
includes my story “Fully Comprehensive Code Switch.” And check out the shop for more swag.
The cover of my earliest work of literature.
There may be something else COVER SHAPED for a more recent LITERARY ENDEAVOUR launching very very soon. 👀🔥🗡️📖
I’m thrilled to be on the judging panel for this year’s
@FutureWorldsPrz
! Winning the 2021 prize opened a lot of doors for me - and next year, my debut novel comes out with
@orbitbooks
If you’re an unpublished SFF writer of colour based in the UK, send in your work! Link below
Monstrous Futures is out today! I'm so excited to be part of this science fiction-horror anthology, which includes my story "Fully Comprehensive Code Switch." This is a story about fitting in and it's very close to my heart.
Thank you once again
@AlexWoodroe
Our MONSTROUS FUTURES have arrived, courtesy of 29 incredibly talented authors who will haunt you with their dark visions of tomorrow.
Learn more @
Add the book to your TBR @
#Goodreads
:
(ed.
@AlexWoodroe
intro
@AFSulli
)
I love epic fantasy, but the aspect of the genre I find most troubling is the casual way the supposed fantasy creatures of many authors are clear analogues for non-western cultures. Sometimes this is laziness. But sometimes it’s… not.
#FIYAHCON2021
(2/5)
👀Exciting news! My adult epic fantasy novel A SHADOW IN CHAINS has been shortlisted for the
#FutureWorldsPrize
for unpublished SFF writers of colour! I’m delighted, and still in shock.
Congrats to my fellow shortlisted writers; every one of these stories sounds amazing!
So drumroll please… Our eight shortlisted stories and writers for
#FutureWorldsPrize
2021 are:
A Shadow in Chains by M H Ayinde (
@mhayinde
)
The Sawling by Jordan Collins
Frankincense by Salma Ibrahim
In the City of Villages by Franchesca Liauw 1/2
Hi
#WritersofTwitter
I’m Modupe H Ayinde and my epic fantasy novel A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST comes out next year with
@orbitbooks
It has ancestor magic, lost civilisations, BATTLES and more⚔️
[Pls enjoy this pic of me + my long-suffering teen, who’s sick of my demands for selfies]
Hi
#WritersofTwitter
, I'm Mahmud El Sayed, a British-Egyptian writer and translator.
I write about sentient libraries, generation ships and memory taxes. Help me make literary Arabfuturism a thing!
1/
Final t-shirt of WorldCon! It’s been an amazing, uplifting, intense, exhausting few days, but I’ve had the best time with the best people!
#Glasgow2024
I’m a huge fan of Andrea’s writing, so to read this from someone whose work I admire and enjoy so much means the world to me!🥹
(Legit spent 30 mins attempting to adequately put my feelings into this tweet!)
I'm still going through my backlog of ARCs, am in the middle of
@MHAyinde
's A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST and it is 🤯 Meticulously crafted, a masterful raising of stakes, fantastic world building, hitting so many perfect notes. My kids need to leave me alone for a bit so I can read 😅
Best News Ever. Especially this part: “The author will adapt the books herself.”
The Broken Earth trilogy is one of my all-time faves and I am SO GLAD N. K. Jemisin will be adapting it herself.
Cannot wait to see my boy Alabaster on screen!
IT LIVES!
My story “Night of the Living Spa Weekend”, about self-care and lifelong friendship, appears in the latest issue
@fiyahlitmag
Can’t wait to read the rest of this issue, which looks 🔥as always!
Thank you so much
@davaunsanders
for your faith in my quirky little tale!
Such a fun night yesterday at the launch of THE PRINCIPLE OF MOMENTS by
@esmiejp
This book is epic and I am so excited about where the series is headed.
Also had a lot of fun catching up with my fellow
@FutureWorldsPrz
alumni - big things lie ahead for this crew!
Glasgow, here I come! This is what I look like when I’m not smiling! Here also is a reminder of my schedule! If you’re at WorldCon, say hi! I have book cover postcards and ALL the nerdy opinions!
#Glasgow2024
#WorldCon
Me: I’m gonna get so much done on this long-a*** train journey, I’m gonna read, catch up on some shows, prepare for my panels, do a bit of life admin…
Me 5 mins into journey…
What did you look like in 2013?
2013 was a really rough year for me, but I do miss having locs. Also I apparently still wear the same earrings every day!
At
#futurescapes_2022
crying right now at
@clpolk
’s speech. As someone over 40, I so deeply appreciate them talking about their age, and that we have to ignore the voices (often internal) that tell us age matters. And it’s so lovely to see so many other 40+ writers in the chat.
Had a great time yesterday at the 2024
@FutureWorldsPrz
award ceremony! Huge congratulations to winner
@Ese_Journo
and runner-up Farah Rahman, and to all the finalists. So much talent in one room! Can’t wait for what comes next for everyone!
Thanks again
@PetrikReads
for the cover reveal of A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST!
Also, did someone say JoJo’s?! We’re big fans in this house! (Although full disclaimer: these are my middle kid’s manga.)
I usually say “Final Fantasy summons but make it ancestors.” But Stands work too!
There are extroverts in my kitchen. I am leaving them all there while I hide away and watch One Piece because it has been a DAY at the day job and I need to be by myself.
(Trying to learn not to be apologetic when I feel like this, and accept it as part of who I am)
SAINT officially reaches the UK today! I'm still too covidy to celebrate appropriately, so please do so on my behalf, I mean, ideally by buying the book but also running around and screaming is perfectly acceptable
Fantasycon was great fun this weekend. It was my first in-person con, but everyone was really friendly and welcoming. I got to meet lots of wonderful and talented people. Thank you to all the organisers at the
@BritFantasySoc
Great episode, especially the discussion about class, which we don’t talk about enough in publishing.
“Not only are the doors all open for them, they don’t even know there are doors.”
THIS is privilege, and it has a huge impact on confidence and self-belief.
What's the deal with author book events? Are they useful, do they even sell copies, and why do they all follow the same format? 👀
Sam Missingham
@samatlounge
joins us to talk about book events, book publicity, and author empowerment.
Did not die but almost fainted in the
#RoyalParksHalf
today! Take them heat warnings seriously, kids!
Such a beautiful route. Finished in 2:01:28, which I’m really pleased with for my first race following my foot surgery.
“The worldbuilding is lush and sweeping, and the complex relationships make for a riveting read.”
Such a lovely write-up of my story “The Invoker and Her Quartet,” from the Spring 2023 issue of
@kaleidotrope
Magazine. 🥹
(Link below!)
Twitter friends! In 20 days, I’ll be running the London Marathon for the mental health charity, Mind. I’m running in memory of someone very dear to me, who contracted and died of Covid-19 while staying on a mental health ward. (1/2)
Do YOU want a tale of self-care, lifelong friendship, and, um, a very unique spa? Well do I have the story for you! “Night of the Living Spa Weekend” will be out next month in
@fiyahlitmag
I’m so excited to be back in this phenomenal magazine — and just look at that cover! 😍
My story “The Invoker and Her Quartet,” about ancestor magic and sibling rivalry, is in the current issue of
@kaleidotrope
!
… And if you like ancestor magic and messy family dynamics… well, this is what my longform fiction is all about. ⚔️
The current issue of Gamut magazine includes my story “The Techwork Horse” and features cover art inspired by that tale! This story is set in an early version of the world of A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST (very mild thematic spoilers therein.)
Beautiful artwork by
@multigrade
For July, Gamut Magazine has a special theme—it’s all 𝘍𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘈𝘚𝘠 & 𝘚𝘊𝘐𝘌𝘕𝘊𝘌 𝘍𝘐𝘊𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕!
From clones to crystal horses, 𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗨𝗘 𝟳 explores the dark side of these speculative genres.
Read it ➡
📖 If you have yet to subscribe,
As was mentioned in this panel, very often these creatures are from the east or the south. They’re ugly. They’re violent. And the “humans” (often from a giant quasi-European continent) are by contrast refined and civilised.
#FIYAHCON2021
(3/5)
This is even extends to the names of the these creatures’ homelands, and the frequency with which their languages/voices are called “guttural” (and the sounds of those languages, which to my ear echo a number of non-western languages I could name.)
#FIYAHCON2021
(4/5)
Carry yourself with the confidence of someone who sees themselves reflected everywhere, every day, in every possible light, and who’s never had to explain who they are or meet certain expectations or dispel any stereotypes (easier said than done, I know!) YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH! 6/8
The gorgeousness has arrived! I’m currently reading this book and it is SO GOOD! The way
@AnnabelCWrites
describes magic makes every scene feel so vivid. Plus a magical city, a chaotic disaster wizard, and a magic system with secrets. Get it on your TBR!
Check out the epic cover for The Outcast Mage by
@AnnabelCWrites
!
A mage bereft of her powers must find out if she is destined to save the world, or destroy it, in this spellbinding fantasy debut perfect for fans of James Islington and Trudi Canavan.
Out January 2025
Anyways, get ready for working-class protagonists, an underdog with mummy issues, a morally grey monk, and SO MUCH ANCESTOR MAGIC, all set in a queernorm world inspired by multiple precolonial cultures
I’m off to hide in a corner & continue crying 20yrs worth of happy tears 😭
Me: think I’ll just delete this chapter
[one day later]: Ok, I’ll keep it, but limit it to 2k words
[3 hours later]: Ok this chapter is now a 5k word saga, fml…
In case you’re wondering how I approach self-editing…
This is a great, important piece. As someone with an African name (Yoruba) I know what it’s like when people mock your name, or decide to call you something else because they don’t want to learn it.
Oops… I think this might be a thread. (1/5)
So honoured that my story “The Techwork Horse” from
@fiyahlitmag
Issue 17 is featured on The
@locusmag
2021 Recommended Reading List, along with so many other wonderful stories. Congrats to all the writers named here!
I’m sad and I’m angry, but I’m not surprised. What’s happening right now is the culmination of years of wilful demonising of some of the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society. All of it a deflection from the real issue.
It’s my middle kid’s last day of primary school today. He held my hand for our entire walk there (and his sister’s hand, for a bit.)
I used to find the morning school run so stressful. Now I just wish it would last a little longer for him. Emotional day. 🥹
My copy of the latest
@shoreinf
has arrived! This issue includes my story “The Walls of Benin City,” about the survivor of an apocalypse searching for the last outpost of humanity.
Buy this fab issue here ->
New story day! “Our Grandmother’s Words” is a tale of creeping colonialism and insidious magic, and is available to read here:
This is a very personal story for me, and I’m really excited to share it!
New Issue: BCS
#376
out today, featuring stories of characters struggling to preserve their culture by M.H. Ayinde and
@KelHuttonAuthor
, a 1hr podcast of the Hutton narrated by Laurie McDougall, behind cover art by Erin Costello: