Zabé Ellor

@zrellor

lit agent / wrote SILK FIRE and NO BETTER THAN BEASTS / opinions mine

339 Folgt513 Follower1.347 Posts

Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir zrellor.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· 19d

Shout out to my favorite character I ever wrote:

A young person with red eyes and scales.

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· May 16

Signed some copies of BEASTS at Chevalier’s in LA today. It is so encouraging to see stores still stock this book I care about so much and believe in so deeply.

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Mar 25

Reminder that I wrote a YA fantasy novel about a boy wizard who hooks up with a puppet boy while slowly transforming into an anthropomorphic fox (it’s also about labor unions and how cycles of abuse manifest in politics)

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Oct 24

Paperbacks of BEASTS! One day, I hope I’ll be able to speak more openly about my experiences publishing this book about queer teens in unaccepting communities, the ravages of capitalism, and the cycles of abuse and trauma. For now, I’ll say this is a good and important book that I’m very proud of.

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Oct 5

Anyways, I wrote a book about two siblings surviving abuse that is very good and meaningful irregardless of whether or not it is an “identity book” and it deserves to be seen.

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Dec 20

NO BETTER THAN BEASTS, my queer YA Nutcracker retelling, is an excellent holiday read and also eligible for the Norton award at the Nebulas! books2read.com/u/4jOgZj

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Nov 13

2024 awards eligibility post! SFWA members, I would be so honored if you would consider NO BETTER THAN BEASTS, my YA fantasy retelling of the Nutcracker with angry girls and triumphing over abuse, for this year’s Norton award.

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Nov 11

Spotted a @kadoore.com book in the wild tonight!

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Nov 10

Hello, new followers! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Zabé, the author of NO BETTER THAN BEASTS, a queer YA retelling of the Nutcracker. Unfortunately, because my book is pro-trans, pro-unions, and pro-democracy, I believe its marketing support may have been curtailed in-house at Macmillan

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Oct 10

Doing a book launch event for BEASTS in LA next weekend—if you’re in town and want a signed copy, stop on by Chevalier’s Books at 11AM next Saturday, Oct 19th!

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Aug 29

😏😏😏outlining a bunch more adventures for a certain OT3😏😏😏

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Aug 2

Always good to write something from the POV of an old friend 😉

All because someone’s horny after witnessing a murder doesn’t mean they did it. Death is unsettling; a barely legal blonde boy with his lips between your legs is a comfort. I could make you feel alive—I could make you feel immortal. I could get you to say nearly anything.
What I couldn’t do was fuck out a confession.

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Jun 2

Happy Pride Month! Check out my YA fantasy debut about a pair of queer siblings and the cursed forest slowly turning them into animals!

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· May 20

What TF did I mean when I wrote this note

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· May 17

#FaveLineFriday

You are brave, Vashathke. Like a warrior. Like me.
Never before had she said anything to me that kind.

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Apr 22

An apt NO BETTER THAN BEASTS quote:

A quote from NO BETTER THAN BEASTS:

“Little brother,” he sneered. “So this is what you are on the inside. A skulking foxchild. A scavenger of garbage heaps. Too cowardly to do a real man’s duty. And yet you thought you could run from me?”
Each word hit like a blow, meant to make him feel as small as he looked. But now was no time for such weakness. Nabik lifted the schematic. “Why did you do this to our sister?”
“Don’t make this about Drakne. You’re the one who walked away from us. You’re the one trespassing in my factory. You’re the one hurting our family.” Unsheathed claws glittered on his fingertips.
“I—I hurt our family?” Shame washed through him. He could barely speak the words.
“You abandoned us. Your regiment. Your sister—”
“No,” Nabik said. A thread of steel crept back into his voice. He knew beyond a doubt that Fydir had no right to say anything about Drakne. “You failed us. You failed Drakne. I remember. All the screaming, breaking plates, mocking her behind her—

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Apr 16

NO BETTER THAN BEASTS is now available to request on NetGalley! This YA fantasy novel is a dark queer retelling of the Nutcracker about two siblings who escape their abuser by taking opposite sides in a war. Check it out now!

A photo of the upcoming YA fantasy novel NO BETTER THAN BEASTS

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Apr 2

The weirdo who owns twitter did a thing in the sky

The sky above Los Angeles showing the white trail of a SpaceX launch

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Mar 18

solving *plot problems*

But if she promises to help the FW with some magical artifact and then tells them the real magic was family, that’s going to be trouble.

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Feb 21

That thing where you feel bad for the worst person ever.

“A week had passed since I’d last spoken to another person. This was not an unusual occurrence for a young man of the Dzaxashigé clan who dwelt in Skygarden. So long as no one could touch me, my essence would be safe. Isolation was for our protection, I had always been told, and I had dutifully remained in my isolation suite since my eleventh birthday. My essence shone as brightly as the day I’d been born. I was pure.
But not perfect. The silent week had worn down my nerve and I had bitten my nails to the quick. “ —from STEEL FATE, by Zabé Rion Ellor

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Dec 19

NO BETTER THAN BEASTS (2024)

A YouTube thumbnail from the daily show reading “gay nutcracker panic”

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Dec 7

working title: steel fate

Vashathke knows his duty: marry, give up his life essence, and die young, having secured his wife an heir and his mother an alliance. On his honeymoon, he begins a risky affair with his bodyguard, hoping his new wife will put him aside when they’re discovered. Before he can put his plan in motion, their hovership crashes in a frozen wasteland, a landscape that will test his determination to break free—and show him a path to power.

Daewin has lost her husband to her sister’s violent schemes. Grieving and six months pregnant, she takes a technical position on an oligarch’s hovership, one bound to the remote north. No one from the outside world has entered the Lost District in millennia, but when one of Daewin’s instruments malfunctions, the force field shielding the territory collapses and the hovership crashes inside. Blamed for the crash, Daewin must embark upon a dangerous journey to save the ship and clear her name—and only her sister can help her find the way.

Eprue Zucho has

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Oct 3

Spoilers:

Page reading “Make this a masquerade ball this is a YA novel”

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Sep 15

Ah! I wondered what that was!

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Sep 15

Dropping some snippets!

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Sep 5

Some thoughts on the audacity of creative perseverance, from a recent blog post

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Sep 3

Cover for the novel SILK FIRE by Zabé Ellor

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Aug 7

What the absolute fuck hell is this? I didn’t give these assholes permission to word scrape my book. Jesus christ.

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Jul 29

to be fair it says “unexpected” on the label

A text document warning customers that the Unexpected soup at Trader Joe’s might contain insects

Zabé Ellor@zrellor· Jul 29

a fun thing about being trans and writing a pirate books is you realize you created your whole look because when you were twelve you thought this guy was hot: