🏳‍🌈🐲📚 His Orc Lord's Accidental Accountant

• Love a wholehearted cozy fantasy romcom, full of diverse characters & low-stakes adventure, all served up alongside a generous handful of MM spice?
• Absolutely feral about marriages of inconvenience, empathic dragons & their quirky crews, found family, fantasy road trips, hidden disability representation, cross-cultural communication, the absurdities of language (from a serial immigrant who's had to learn four), diplomacy through economics, & ORCS?
• Want to help hatch more MM eBooks, audiobooks, and swoon-worthy collector's editions of spicy MM cozy romantasy?

 
You bet your green butt you do! So strap yourself in for a whimsical ride through a land of magic, adventure, & of course — dragons.

 

If you are looking for some thrilling account of what it's like to experience that very first flight on the back of a dragon; to see the land drop away below as each beat of the great creature's mighty wings takes you ever higher, then —

I fear my tale may disappoint.

Eyes squeezed tight against the sight I can only imagine awaits me, the bunching of muscles beneath my thighs proves poor warning indeed before a sudden, nauseating lurch sends us soaring into the air. Cradled by the massive arms wrapped securely around me, the orc lord I’d just bound myself to shakes with hearty laughter; his wild whoop only underscoring my distress.

"Do you not think it most [kashreé], my fire?" his deep voice shouts into my ear over the roar of the wind.

Despite my poor understanding of the Éldaren we have been forced to settle upon as a common tongue, the pride and exuberance in his tone are unmistakable. I know I am expected to do the unthinkable, and look.

No.

No, I don't think I will.

“I've never seen anything like it,” I answer my new lord truthfully, swallowing back my stomach's instinctive reaction to the dipping and rising of our impossible mount as it surges higher into the sky.

I know, I know — usually this goes at the end, right? Except these are pre-launch stretch goals. Because if we can get a crew together of just:

• 50 pre-launch adventurers, we unlock the additional "Make it an audiobook!" option
• 75 pre-launch adventurers, I can also unleash the supporter-exclusive Collector's Edition hardbacks
• 150 pre-launch adventurers, then friends — we can really go all out!

The last several crowdfunding projects I've run have been cozy little things. 10 days to snag a new eBook and discounted swag; no mess, no fuss, no stress. But this time I want to do something different. Joining the Printopia 2026 Collab is a bigger, bolder new experience for me, and I'd like to run a campaign to match. So instead of just an eBook, instead of just an audiobook - together I believe we can pull off a full hat trick.

Get the early bird eBook, help hatch the audiobook, and snag yourself a snazzy Collector's Edition Hardback that's for supporters only — it won't ever be sold in stores! (Shown: Early concept of dust jacket and sprayed edges. Image of inside cover and foiled jacket coming soon!) One massive month-long campaign, but only if we can round up a crew big enough to get this project in the air!
 
Can we count on you to help?

So I wrote that book. I wrote lots of those books, and I intend to write even more.

But for some folks, text isn't the best method to enjoy a story. Whether because of vision issues, neurodiversity issues (high five to my ADHD peeps), busy schedules, or even just pure personal preference, audiobooks are a way for more people to enjoy my tales — and I think that's pretty rad. But to do it right (because f*ck AI) I need to hire a skilled voice actor. And to make sure they're paid what they're worth, I'm going to need your help bringing this project to life.

💖 What's 'Cozy Romantasy'?

The low-stakes, character-driven charm of cozy fantasy meets all the swoon-worthy romance and sense of adventure you'd expect of a romantic fantasy. There's thrills and a hint of danger, but also found family, an HEA, and characters relaxing together in the sauna tent after a long day spent flying astride a dragon's back. 

Yes — guys kiss in this book, and more. While it's undeniably plot-focused, the relationship is woven deeply into that plot so it's got a couple of steamy scenes as part of the story's natural progression, & so is intended for mature audiences. Still, we wouldn't want to overly shock Great Uncle Mortimer, would we? So here is your warning, Gruncle Morty: This book is MM romantasy where swords cross - and not just the kind made of steel.

Content warnings will be available soon on SuncatcherPress.com

I'm J.A. Skald, indigiqueer writer of MM-focused fantasy filled with swashbuckling adventures of guys who'd save the world for each other. I am also CJ Pines, my (slightly) more mild-mannered alter-ego writing contemporary MM romance filled with heart, heat, humor, and — above all — hope.

For the bingo-readers: I prefer they/them, have ADHD, am indigiqueer/mixed, hard of hearing, pan, depend on a cane, and a serial immigrant. I also like apples.

I'll answer to either 'Skald', 'CJ', or 'Hey, you!' and am responsible for most of my covers and graphics, unless otherwise noted (such as in a book's Credits page). When not writing, I can usually be found wandering around the UK, exploring villages and castles, playing role-playing games, brewing cider, and chewing through a massive stack of classic fantasy books, games, and movies. Failing that, you might try checking down at the local pub (especially if the footy's on).

The original cover image and character art are by the fantabulous Samiligia, and the little dragon silhouettes in the section titles are courtesy of GreenSkyStudio. The rest is by me through my own studio, DuckandCovered.com (I'm scheduled out for the next few months, but you're welcome to add yourself to the waiting list there if you like.)

I have, do, and will again. If you are familiar with my books, you already know I'm a fiend for character growth as a major driver within a story. First person turned out to be a fun new brush to paint my worlds with, especially for this tale.

His Orc Lord's Accidental Accountant in particular started as a writing exercise to see if an archaic trope could be rehabilitated, then grew and grew and grew into something exploring diversity, migration/immigration, language barriers, intersectionality, global citizenship, and massive, mischievous, millennia-old dragons. While I'm still a third-person POV writer at heart, I fully enjoyed how first-person POV allowed me to challenge a character's preconceptions, showing his biases to readers in a way that didn't present his feelings and assumptions as omniscient fact.

Same post-post apocalyptic world, same Song-based magic, same monstrous mega-fauna, same factions, same troubles brewing... but elsewhere. No fae snow queens and monster hunting paladin-bards here; His Orc Lord's Accidental Accountant is a book about discovery, diplomacy, and the everyday adventures of the people who keep the world running (when your 'everyday' is spent as part of an orcish merchant caravan flying on the back of a dragon, that is!)

For fans of my Songs of a Sunless Land series, don't worry. The new second editions of the Anthems of Spring trilogy are in the works for release next — you guessed it — spring (naturally). But it's been a rough couple of years, and I think we all need a spot of coziness now and again, don't you? 

Sometimes the world isn't a nice place, making what we choose to do with our time in it, and who we choose to surround ourselves with, matter all the more. A small light shines even brighter in the darkness, right? So this is a story about finding that light, seizing it with both hands and refusing to let it go out. It's about dragons, and love, and adventure — and also about journeys and connection, too.

It's the kind of book I need right now. And from what folks tell me? I don't think I'm the only one.

It's the story of what happened after Ragnarök, from an immigrant author who lived on top of a viking barrow-grave for a few years:

Once upon a time, the world ended.

The moon and sun were caught, swallowed up, devoured. All creation burned, the old gods and their heroes dying by the score. Yet, humanity did not end with them. There were those who managed to escape the destruction, though few would call them lucky. It was no haven the refugees found after their long and treacherous journey, but a realm ruled by monsters, magic, and a season of deadly, creeping Mist.

Scattering swiftly across this sunless land, humanity proved eager to tame their new home, much to their former allies' dismay. Mages became monarchs, pledging powerful protections. They built fortified cities, walled and warded against all manner of danger. Boundary lines were drawn where the edges of power met, sparking countless wars banked only by Mistide's inevitable return…

But that is the concern of the characters in my other series, 'Songs of a Sunless Land.' This one is about a flying caravan of merchants, whose greatest worry is generally finding a nice spot to land for the night, keeping the wild wyverns from nesting in the stew pot, and how much to charge those heroes for all the adventuring gear they always seem to run through faster than a dragon in a pastry shop.

Not in the slightest (though I won't say no if you want to, just be warned they are dark fantasy). His Orc Lord's Accidental Accountant is a whole new standalone book, exploring a magical world of love, language, and logistics through the eyes of Clerk Tal & Prince Surak, Atago, and their entire orcish flight crew.