Nikkei
2004
This four-volume manga series follows the dramatic exploits of housecat-turned-teenager Nikkei, his family, and some killer vampires.
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Welcome to my mental breakdown
You have reached the landing page for the works of Z.M. CELESTAIRE. Z.M. is a queer fantasy author and illustrator located in Minnesota. They have a handful of published works including The Heartwood Trilogy and Call Forth the Moonlight.
Most of the other works featured on this site are ancient and really embarrassing, but are an important component of how Z.M. has gotten to where they are today.
Z.M.’s writing projects are comprised of ‘manga’ (novels that used panels and speech bubbles to tell a story) and prose, and vary in length from small novellas to multi-part novels. Most of these projects include fantasy elements and all but two of them are urban fantasy, set in our own world with magic existing in or around real things. Most of Z.M.’s stories tackle themes pertinent to their real life, including the death of a pet, feminism, Christianity (I have long since become an atheist, don’t worry), dream interpretation and the loss of friendships, and queer rights.
Below you will find a chronological list of all of these projects. Each title links to a page where you can read more about the projects.
The projects will be separated for your exploration based on chronology and length.
Nikkei
REBELS
2006
Erik Atwaters is a vampire police chief bent on revenge for the death of his girlfriend, involving the witnesses in a political standoff by kidnapping them to his montain cabin.
REDEFINING EVIL
2007-2012
The Evereaux family is trying hard to outrun a traumatic past with vampire police chief Danyil Kaehn, only to run into the jaws of a ruthless and psychotic vampire Danyil must protect them from.
CADENCE
2008
In a world of magical element kings, four special children hold the fate of the kings in their hands, and the love of one of the children and the king might destroy them all.
Farewell, Fairytale
2009
Sophie Lemars has her head in the clouds, but when an injured wolf turns out to be cursed thief Fyodor, she gets more than she bargained for.
Sun-Walking
2010-2013
Lucienne Chantos lives in a dark world where the only light is manufactured by the mysterious Sun-Walker. When she abandons her betrothal to go become one, a whole new world of light opens before her.
Unface
2011
When Ashlyn Taylor gets trapped in a half-dream cityscape, she must hunt down the dream master before she turns into one of her dreamy unfaces forever.
Dumping a Dragon
2014
Noeli Corazon kind of believes that her boyfriend Sivarthis is actually the dragon he says he is. But when her sister gets kidnapped by a dragon, Noeli must team up with her recently dumped dragon boyfriend to rescue her.
Code: Compromised
2019
University student Micah has always loved Master Code Summoner Andrew Vidasche. But Micah’s childhood Codey, Peel, turns into a dangerous Error bent on destroying Andrew.
The Heartwood Trilogy
2022-2024
Half-Fae Micah Stillwater is intent on making the Folk of Lilydale play nice with the humans in the city below, but to do so he must harness his own unique and volatile nature.
Call Forth the Moonlight
2023-2025
The lives of a lonely ocky farmer and a magiqon professor are united by a passionate desire to free a dangerous, intelligent gryphon.
All To Paint You Broken
2025
Sepia absolutely deserves to be a paint mage now, but is stuck in limbo in their apprenticeship. When a scared and desperate woman walks in to their shop, will Sepia be willing to risk it all to help her?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Z.M. (they/them) is a writer, artist, and therapist. Writing and art have been a hobby for some twenty years now since they were a goofy little middle schooler. Z.M. grew up devouring urban fantasy authors like Charles De Lint, Holly Black, and Patricia C. Wrede.
Z.M. lives in Saint Paul with their spouse, human child, and fur children.
You can find all of Z.M.’s published books on Goodreads.