Lynn Strong (who uses any pronouns, or none, with the pen name) has been a professional nonfiction writer for over 25 years. But Lynn had never ventured beyond fanfiction until Wyngraf Magazine accepted a story for the February 2024 edition.
Well, Lynn thought, I guess I need a website, then.
(Hi!)
Rahat al-Hulqum
Rahat al-hulqum is both a tasty confection that’s often flavored with roses and the nickname of one of the two main characters of Lynn’s Wyngraf story. Lynn hasn’t seen enough fairytales where Prince Charming wasn’t an athletic young white guy with gleaming teeth and confidence in spades; the main difference Lynn saw between Prince Charming and Gaston was who held the camera.
So Rahat, this story’s Prince Charming, is a sweet, shy, fat, middle-aged bureaucrat, with a tendency to wander off chasing visions without telling his devoted staff where he’s going. (And Asharan, who also insists to his author that he isn’t anything like a Disney princess, adores Rahat despite his insecurities about how such stories usually go.)
They’re both men of color in a world that takes a page from Ancient Egypt and another from the Mughal Empire, where the language of power isn’t based on French or Latin; it’s based on Arabic with occasional nods to Farsi. Tel-Bastet’s name (though possibly not its geography) is based on Bubastis aka Tell-Basta aka Per-Bast, an ancient city that worshipped the Egyptian cat goddess… though obviously the real Tel-Bastet came with a lot fewer magical cat-people. (But possibly just as many actual cats!)
Lynn is gleefully working on a sequel that seems to be aiming to become a novel, and we’ll see where that goes. In the meantime, this site may see some recipes, some musings on how to make life cozier with multiple disabilities, possibly the occasional preview… who knows? (There’s a reason these stories have so much cat in them.)
Lynn Strong 