Venessa Vida Kelley
@venessakelley.bsky.social
🇵🇷💗💜💙 Rep'd by @LitAgentSaritza WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON (@erewhonbooks, 2025), MANU FACES THE MUSIC (@onipress, 2026)
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
7/7
October 21, 2025 at 11:30 PM
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
7/7
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
5
October 21, 2025 at 11:30 PM
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
5
✨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.
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.
October 21, 2025 at 11:30 PM
✨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.
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.
By the way… if you liked K-Pop Demon Hunters, my upcoming graphic novel MANU FACES THE MUSIC is going to be right up your alley… 👀
July 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
By the way… if you liked K-Pop Demon Hunters, my upcoming graphic novel MANU FACES THE MUSIC is going to be right up your alley… 👀
“You’ve got a dark side, guess you’re not the only one / What if we both start fighting what we’re running from”
July 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
“You’ve got a dark side, guess you’re not the only one / What if we both start fighting what we’re running from”
I know at least 492759 people have probably already drawn this exact “revision” to Jinu’s end, but in my defense, I had this sketched out weeks ago and could only whittle away at it between working on pencils for my graphic novel MANU FACES THE MUSIC
July 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I know at least 492759 people have probably already drawn this exact “revision” to Jinu’s end, but in my defense, I had this sketched out weeks ago and could only whittle away at it between working on pencils for my graphic novel MANU FACES THE MUSIC
Of course I saw K-Pop Demon Hunters and lost my chill just like everyone else who’s seen it. Between the music, art design, romance, humor, and all that blessed bisexual lighting, I fell back on my old coping mechanisms.
[Close-ups & Timelapse in thread]
[Close-ups & Timelapse in thread]
July 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Of course I saw K-Pop Demon Hunters and lost my chill just like everyone else who’s seen it. Between the music, art design, romance, humor, and all that blessed bisexual lighting, I fell back on my old coping mechanisms.
[Close-ups & Timelapse in thread]
[Close-ups & Timelapse in thread]
Summary:
A young, queer Puerto Rican woman at the height of a lucrative music career learns she is the last in a line of powerful mediums capable of channeling vast spiritual energy, and that she must use her power to defend the NYC community she left behind from a dark threat.
A young, queer Puerto Rican woman at the height of a lucrative music career learns she is the last in a line of powerful mediums capable of channeling vast spiritual energy, and that she must use her power to defend the NYC community she left behind from a dark threat.
June 30, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Summary:
A young, queer Puerto Rican woman at the height of a lucrative music career learns she is the last in a line of powerful mediums capable of channeling vast spiritual energy, and that she must use her power to defend the NYC community she left behind from a dark threat.
A young, queer Puerto Rican woman at the height of a lucrative music career learns she is the last in a line of powerful mediums capable of channeling vast spiritual energy, and that she must use her power to defend the NYC community she left behind from a dark threat.
On this last day of Pride and Caribbean Heritage Month, I figured I’d remind old & new friends that I’m already hard at work on my next book: MANU FACES THE MUSIC (@onipress.bsky.social, 2026) 🎶🇵🇷
Get ready to see a lot more about this sapphic urban fantasy in the coming months!
Get ready to see a lot more about this sapphic urban fantasy in the coming months!
June 30, 2025 at 3:54 PM
On this last day of Pride and Caribbean Heritage Month, I figured I’d remind old & new friends that I’m already hard at work on my next book: MANU FACES THE MUSIC (@onipress.bsky.social, 2026) 🎶🇵🇷
Get ready to see a lot more about this sapphic urban fantasy in the coming months!
Get ready to see a lot more about this sapphic urban fantasy in the coming months!
I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of community right now, and to that end, I’m very grateful to have Lavender Con to look forward to this weekend. Here’s where to find me at the event. Hope to see you there! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
June 13, 2025 at 3:32 PM
I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of community right now, and to that end, I’m very grateful to have Lavender Con to look forward to this weekend. Here’s where to find me at the event. Hope to see you there! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
It’s also fully illustrated by me. Because adults deserve illustrated books, but also because they let me do it. Lol
June 5, 2025 at 3:00 AM
It’s also fully illustrated by me. Because adults deserve illustrated books, but also because they let me do it. Lol
It’s Pride Month AND Caribbean-American Heritage Month, and if you’re looking for a way to observe both, may I offer my queer historical romantasy about a Puerto Rican blacksmith who falls in love with a kidnapped merman in Coney Island? 🇵🇷🧜🏼♂️🌊💙🗽🎡🌙🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
June 5, 2025 at 2:56 AM
It’s Pride Month AND Caribbean-American Heritage Month, and if you’re looking for a way to observe both, may I offer my queer historical romantasy about a Puerto Rican blacksmith who falls in love with a kidnapped merman in Coney Island? 🇵🇷🧜🏼♂️🌊💙🗽🎡🌙🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Less than a month ago, my queer BIPOC immigrant New York fairytale WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON launched.
Last week it went to reprint. 😭🎉
Thank you to everyone who has taken a chance on this little Boricua merman romantasy. I am beside myself!
Last week it went to reprint. 😭🎉
Thank you to everyone who has taken a chance on this little Boricua merman romantasy. I am beside myself!
May 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Less than a month ago, my queer BIPOC immigrant New York fairytale WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON launched.
Last week it went to reprint. 😭🎉
Thank you to everyone who has taken a chance on this little Boricua merman romantasy. I am beside myself!
Last week it went to reprint. 😭🎉
Thank you to everyone who has taken a chance on this little Boricua merman romantasy. I am beside myself!
I hardly know how to process this, so I’m putting it here: The @nytimes.com’ glowing review of WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON showed up in the Sunday paper today 😭
May 19, 2025 at 12:26 AM
I hardly know how to process this, so I’m putting it here: The @nytimes.com’ glowing review of WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON showed up in the Sunday paper today 😭
This is ✨44✨🎂🥳
(Also, my debut novel WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON launches tomorrow!)
(Also, my debut novel WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON launches tomorrow!)
April 28, 2025 at 3:25 PM
This is ✨44✨🎂🥳
(Also, my debut novel WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON launches tomorrow!)
(Also, my debut novel WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON launches tomorrow!)
Note: 25% off a $30 book (priced for the expense of producing a fully illustrated book) is actually quite significant — more so if you’re a Premium member!
April 23, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Note: 25% off a $30 book (priced for the expense of producing a fully illustrated book) is actually quite significant — more so if you’re a Premium member!
Book Summary for WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON:
April 23, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Book Summary for WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON:
✨ATTN: BARNES & NOBLE MEMBERS✨
Only days remain to get a significant discount (25-35%!) on WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON through Barnes & Noble with the code: PREORDER25! Get it in before April 25th!
Preorder here: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-the-t...
Only days remain to get a significant discount (25-35%!) on WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON through Barnes & Noble with the code: PREORDER25! Get it in before April 25th!
Preorder here: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-the-t...
April 23, 2025 at 4:15 PM
✨ATTN: BARNES & NOBLE MEMBERS✨
Only days remain to get a significant discount (25-35%!) on WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON through Barnes & Noble with the code: PREORDER25! Get it in before April 25th!
Preorder here: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-the-t...
Only days remain to get a significant discount (25-35%!) on WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON through Barnes & Noble with the code: PREORDER25! Get it in before April 25th!
Preorder here: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-the-t...
Stay tuned for a blog post a few weeks from today which will explain how the tracks apply to the story. (I wouldn’t want to spoil anyone!)
April 22, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Stay tuned for a blog post a few weeks from today which will explain how the tracks apply to the story. (I wouldn’t want to spoil anyone!)
SIDE B: OCEAN INSTRUMENTALS showcases instrumental, acoustic, and ambient music, much of which was the soundtrack as I was writing.
April 22, 2025 at 3:57 PM
SIDE B: OCEAN INSTRUMENTALS showcases instrumental, acoustic, and ambient music, much of which was the soundtrack as I was writing.
SIDE A: SIREN SONGS are mer-tastic vocal tracks evocative of aspects of the story and characters
April 22, 2025 at 3:57 PM
SIDE A: SIREN SONGS are mer-tastic vocal tracks evocative of aspects of the story and characters
🧜🏼♂️🌊ONE WEEK UNTIL PUB DAY🌊🧜🏼♂️
To celebrate WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON releasing in a week, I’m sharing the official playlist! It’s overflowing with music evocative of the book’s romantic story and setting, and you can listen at the link: tinyurl.com/WTTHTMTunes
[Tracks in thread]
To celebrate WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON releasing in a week, I’m sharing the official playlist! It’s overflowing with music evocative of the book’s romantic story and setting, and you can listen at the link: tinyurl.com/WTTHTMTunes
[Tracks in thread]
April 22, 2025 at 3:57 PM
🧜🏼♂️🌊ONE WEEK UNTIL PUB DAY🌊🧜🏼♂️
To celebrate WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON releasing in a week, I’m sharing the official playlist! It’s overflowing with music evocative of the book’s romantic story and setting, and you can listen at the link: tinyurl.com/WTTHTMTunes
[Tracks in thread]
To celebrate WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON releasing in a week, I’m sharing the official playlist! It’s overflowing with music evocative of the book’s romantic story and setting, and you can listen at the link: tinyurl.com/WTTHTMTunes
[Tracks in thread]
The brilliant conversation partner line-up continues…
April 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The brilliant conversation partner line-up continues…
I will have zero chill with these conversation partners. Come to a signing to hear us discuss merpeople, history, sideshows, and ✨romance✨!
April 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
I will have zero chill with these conversation partners. Come to a signing to hear us discuss merpeople, history, sideshows, and ✨romance✨!
I can’t believe I get to share an actual BOOK TOUR for WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON! See where I’m headed this Spring and Summer — I’d love to meet you at a signing!
@erewhonbooks.bsky.social
@kensingtonbooks.bsky.social
@erewhonbooks.bsky.social
@kensingtonbooks.bsky.social
April 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
I can’t believe I get to share an actual BOOK TOUR for WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON! See where I’m headed this Spring and Summer — I’d love to meet you at a signing!
@erewhonbooks.bsky.social
@kensingtonbooks.bsky.social
@erewhonbooks.bsky.social
@kensingtonbooks.bsky.social