wen-yi lee
@wenyilee.bsky.social
860 followers 100 following 45 posts
🇸🇬 writes sff // THE DARK WE KNOW (Gillian Flynn Books) // WHEN THEY BURNED THE BUTTERFLY (@torbooks 2025)
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COVER REVEAL❤️🦋

WHEN THEY BURNED THE BUTTERFLY is my sapphic adult fantasy about a girl gang in 1970s postcolonial singapore, and i got the mean pyro femme art of my DREAMS. it's out oct 21 from @torbooks & you can preorder now!!

🎨 @carissasusilo.bsky.social (art) & esther kim (design)
i've heard a bit about this book and it's so so delightful 💕
A Mexican x Chinese inspired 🚀adventure where three lonely children must fight a ruthless bounty hunter, outsmart a galactic corporation, & stop squabbling in time to save the Cicatariz, a shapeshifting, sentient weapon disguised as a young girl—all before their parents find out. #DVPit #MG #SFF
Reposted by wen-yi lee
Had the honor of reading an ARC of When They Burned the Butterfly by @wenyilee.bsky.social, a sapphic historical fantasy in 1970s Singapore. It's got it all: toxic yuri, a charismatic butch, and dangerous pacts with otherworldly entities. It releases 10/21 and I want everyone to read it!
ahh thank you for reading!! (you're the first person to call it toxic yuri😌)
sapphic fantasy fall (girl gangs & golems edition) ✨

on BUTTERFLY release week, come join @maddiesmartinez.bsky.social and I over on IG on 26 Oct to talk about our sapphic fantasy books and our joint publishing journeys!
the sapphic historical fantasy in post/colonial Asia conversation ✨️ I'll be having a virtual launch for WHEN THEY BURNED THE BUTTERFLY with Vaishnavi Patel on 21 Oct!!

link in bio to register :)
announcing the WHEN THEY BURNED THE BUTTERFLY preorder campaign!!

send me your preorder receipts now till Oct 21 (with an exclusive for certain Singapore bookstores) & get some pretty gifts ft. all southeast asian artists!

links in bio 🦋✨
less than 1 month till Butterfly is out and we have another excerpt for youuu
"There, on her mother’s stomach, where her hands had fallen away, was the bloody outline of a butterfly."

We're excited (and...scared? A little intrigued?) to share an excerpt from @wenyilee.bsky.social's adult fantasy When They Burned the Butterfly!! 🦋🔥

reactormag.com/excerpts-whe...
Read an Excerpt From When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee - Reactor
Loner schoolgirl Adeline Siow has never needed more company than the flame she can summon at her fingertips…
reactormag.com
Reposted by wen-yi lee
In a newly integrated insect metropolis, generations clash around art, technology, and capitalism. Boris, a rural vesper, chases modernity to the city, but tradition is there first.

Next week. "Laurie on the Radio" by Sam Davis!!

Art by Michael Hirshon
Edited by @annvandermeer.bsky.social
thank you!! (and yes he's an icon)
Reposted by wen-yi lee
Full article on the making of if @wenyilee.bsky.social 'When They Burned The Butterfly' cover on Reactor!
How does a gorgeous cover like When They Burned the Butterfly come together? Author @wenyilee.bsky.social, illustrator Carissa Susilo, and art director Esther Kim discuss the process (+ some early concept sketches)!

reactormag.com/from-concept...
From Concept to Cover: When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee - Reactor
Capturing the perfect vibe for a book cover is a collaborative process...
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thank you, it was so fun to put together!
if you ever wanted to know how an author & publishing team design a book cover: enjoy!!!!!

(in which I talk about wong kar wai inspirations, we share BUTTERFLY cover sketches, and my artist @carissasusilo.bsky.social actually sets something on fire)
How does a gorgeous cover like When They Burned the Butterfly come together? Author @wenyilee.bsky.social, illustrator Carissa Susilo, and art director Esther Kim discuss the process (+ some early concept sketches)!

reactormag.com/from-concept...
From Concept to Cover: When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee - Reactor
Capturing the perfect vibe for a book cover is a collaborative process...
reactormag.com
. @torbooks.bsky.social has a free extended preview of my forthcoming sapphic fantasy BUTTERFLY up online!! ❤️✨️

us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
Reposted by wen-yi lee
i've been chewing on this essay for a long time ~ deeply grateful to @ruadanbooks.bsky.social for giving it a home and to @mariahaskins.com for her careful editing 💚

ruadanbooks.com/missing-myth...
thank you for reading and writing about her!!!
christina called my main character a bitch and i said yes correct thank you 🫶🏼
Reposted by wen-yi lee
New from this post is perhaps my favorite novelette of the year to date, “The Name Ziya” by @wenyilee.bsky.social, a story of academia and colonialism that’s gripping from the start and remarkably emotionally complicated for the lead reactormag.com/the-name-ziy...
The Name Ziya - Reactor
A girl reckons with what she must lose--and who she has become--in order to be accepted at the empire's most prestigious university.
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thank you so much!!
wait that's so cool thank you!!
ALL THE LOVE TO YOU AT LAST
my favourite short story i've ever written is out now on reactor 💖 it's fantasy dark academia about access to colonial institutions, assimilation, complicity, cultural names & identity (with a sapphic mc!)
A girl reckons with what she must lose–and who she has become–in order to be accepted at the empire's most prestigious university...

"The Name Ziya" by @wenyilee.bsky.social is now free to read at Reactor!
Art by Holly Warburton
Edited by Sanaa Ali-Virani

reactormag.com/the-name-ziy...
The Name Ziya - Reactor
A girl reckons with what she must lose--and who she has become--in order to be accepted at the empire's most prestigious university.
reactormag.com
Reposted by wen-yi lee
I honestly forgot I had this account. Reading an ARC of @wenyilee.bsky.social’s adult sapphic Southeast Asian fantasy that’s filled with fire and longing. And butterflies.

#felireads #booksky #reading #books
Reposted by wen-yi lee
We are floored in the best way: AMPLITUDES: An Anthology of Queer & Trans Futurity is a USA Today Bestselling book!

We are THRILLED for @leemandelo.bsky.social, @dianapho.bsky.social, and all of our amazing contributors, and so happy to see queer & trans stories supported now more than ever! 💜
dark academia fantasy short story out june 18th!!
A girl reckons with what she must lose–and who she has become–in order to be accepted at the empire's most prestigious university...

Next week. "The Name Ziya" by @wenyilee.bsky.social at Reactor!
Edited by Sanaa Ali-Virani
Art by Holly Warburton