QSFer Kia Leep has a new queer LitRPG Isekai fantasy (gay, lesbian, non-binary) out, book one of the NPSessds SAGA: Glass Kanin.
As a rising actor, Kanin’s body is his career. His identity. His life. All that is taken from him when he dies and is reborn as a bottle of ink.
Now living as the heart of a magical glass servant, Kanin’s new purpose is to perform a senile wizard’s yard work—a role this world’s magic system seems intent on enforcing. All that might have been manageable if a murderous shadow monster wasn’t hunting his very soul.
But he’s not in it alone. Teaming up with an elf whose soul has likewise been trapped in a toy octopus, they recruit help from a devilishly handsome rogue and set off on a journey to break the spell that’s trapped them in this state.
A wizard owns his body. The magic system has determined his fate. A shadow monster wants to control his mind. But as long as Kanin’s soul remains his own, he’ll fight to win back his autonomy—or die trying.
Again.
Glass Kanin’s blend of whimsy, humor, and horror will appeal to Ghibli fans looking for queer characters on a quest for their agency while exploring what it means to be human.
Warning: Swearing, off-screen death
Get It At Amazon
Excerpt
“Kanin! You’re on set in ten.”
Shit. I scarf down the last lump of half-frozen burrito, and it slides down my throat in a spiteful ball of cold rice and processed cheese. At least the next scene involves a lot of grimacing. I toss the wrapper away, and it bounces off the rim of the trashcan.
So, it’s going to be one of those days, huh?
I make the basket on my second shot, then snatch my script from atop the microwave and jog toward the main set. As I go, I flip through the pages to double-check my lines, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got it all down. It’s not exactly prime-time television. That said, I absolutely intend to bawl at all the emotional bits and flex my delts in every shirtless shot.
Don’t judge me. It’s my first lead role, and everyone’s gotta start somewhere.
The set is a bustle of pre-filming action as I stop by the producer. “I thought I wasn’t up until this afternoon.”
Patricia doesn’t even look at me as her fingers dart across her phone. “Larry can’t make it.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Got somewhere more important to be?”
“Got the flu,” she says. “Been shitting his brains out all morning.”
That explains my abbreviated lunch break. “Then we’re skipping to one of my scenes?”
“Nope.” She drops her phone into her purse and gestures sharply for me to follow. “You’ll be standing in for Larry.”
I blink, and Patricia is halfway across the room before I think to catch up. “Uh, but he’s my stunt double. He’s supposed to stand in for me.”
She waves me off. “If you’re able to drag him off the toilet, be my guest.”
“We can wait until he’s back,” I suggest. “Shoot my scenes in the meantime.”
Patricia holds out her hand, and someone deposits a coffee into it like magic. “You already know the scene. The lines. And you can do a breakfall, right?”
“Well—”
“We’re on a deadline, Kanin,” she interrupts with a flat look. “And the network won’t be waiting for us. If you’re passionate about employment, then the show must go on.”
“We really don’t have backups or anything?” I know I’m grasping at straws.
Patricia snorts. “Who do you think we are, Disney? Look, it’s very simple, Kanin. This is a tiny-ass show with a tiny-ass crew, and you’re going to play your own character in an extremely simple stunt scene, or we’re fucked.”
I rake my fingers through my hair, and one of the stylists gasps. I can’t let my show die before it’s even had a chance for the critics to tear it apart—not to mention my career!
“Alright,” I say with a sigh. “What do I need to do?”
Patricia smiles like an eel. “That’s just what I wanted to hear.”
She beckons me over to the set, where the final touches are still being added to the scene.
“The choreography is pretty basic,” Patricia says. “Most actors don’t even use doubles for stuff like this.”
Feeling a little judged, I puff myself up. “Can’t risk damaging the face of the show, right?”
Patricia snorts, as if I’d made some kind of joke. Before I can clarify my sincerity, she hands me the prop gun I’ll need for the scene, and then moves onto laying out all the rolls and breakfalls I’ll need to do. And honestly, she’s right—it does seem pretty basic. Probably a minimal risk of messing up my hair. Hey, if I pull this off, maybe I can become one of those actors who do their own stunts. Fans love that stuff.
“Alright, that’s enough stage direction. You get the pic.” Patricia claps her hands and raises her voice. “Let’s go, people! Time is money.”
The stage lights beat down with a stifling and familiar heat as I find my mark and wait for everyone else to file into place. My feet are only inches away from the Cliffs of Despair—which is to say, a two-foot drop onto a padded blue mat. Beyond that the illusion of the set dissolves into the dimly lit studio, where a flurry of human noise and motion wisps through the dark.
“Hey Kanin,” Doug says, finding his mark as well. He’s all decked out in his extremely villainous vampiric makeup, causing his eyebrows to arc dramatically. “Wasn’t this scene supposed to be with Larry?”
I shrug. “He’s sick, so I’m filling in. But don’t count on me sticking around for the explosion scene,” I add as a joke.
“Oh yeah,” Doug agrees, straight-faced. “Wouldn’t play to your strengths.”
I tip my head. “Acting?”
“Being a pretty face.” Doug winks. “Careful not to singe that perm.”
“Hilarious.” Your stand-up career will never pan out, Doug. “But I’m pretty sure they cast me for my acting.”
Although, being hot certainly doesn’t hurt.
Doug is saved from conceding defeat when Patricia claps her hands and everyone rushes to find their spots. She folds her arms.
“Let’s shoot the rehearsal.”
Ah, fuck. Probably wants to use the practice take as a substitute for more film time. Can’t really blame her, given the time crunch, but I’d rather not have my first attempt at breakfalls and pretending to wield a gun immortalized.
Hollywood, for ya.
“Final touches,” Patricia calls as she settles into her chair.
“Finals done.”
I turn my back to Doug, focusing on the scene. My lines. I soothe all Kanin thoughts away and become Jack Stone: Cryptid Hunter.
“Camera ready?” Patricia asks.
“Ready.”
“Quiet on set.” She waits for the last rustle of papers to die away. “Roll sound.”
“Sound speed.”
“Scene 4, rehearsal.”
There’s a snap as the clapperboard clacks shut.
Silence. The gun feels heavy in my grasp. Dozens of lights blink in my peripheral. The set and everyone backstage are equally frozen, like some kind of liminal space, the moment between inhale and exhale.
And then Patricia calls, “Action!”
Author Bio
Kia is the author of quirky, creepy, and queer fantasy books. Before turning to fiction, they built spaceships to send people to the Moon. When not roller skating or walking their dog, they can be found with a cup of tea working on any of their dozens of in-progress stories.
| Author Website | https://www.kialeep.com |
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| Author Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/people/Kia-Leep/61567753973472/ |