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Moon Dust in My Hairnet Moon Dust in My Hairnet (EPUB) Moon Dust in My Hairnet
(AUDIOBOOK) (PAPERBACK)
STAge
“When I spoke with Patricia for
PAGE TURNERS
the first time, it was cement — it
did not matter who else gave me an
Mythic Roads Press is a publisher
offer, I knew she was my partner,”
that doesn’t do things by the book
says Creaden. “A lot of these words
BY CAROLINE BARLOTT
— diversity, and representation
and equality — they feel almost
trite in the industry, they’re just
Growing up, there’s one in almost every class:
CA$30.00
words. And I could feel with
a budding bibliophile that breezes through assigned read- Patricia the heart behind the words and
CA$9.99
ings while devouring books on their own. Some dream of
someday seeing their names on their first published books. how much it mattered to her and why.”
For Patricia Veldstra, it was not so cut and dried. Veldstra hired two sensitivity readers — those who
“I’ve always been a big reader, and I used to do a bit of belong to a specific community or identity to go through
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My Hairnet. While some publishers use sensitivity readers, ebsite run
basic creation of books themselves,” she says.
Accept
there are also those who avoid the practice, seeing it as After completing a certificate in publishing from Toronto
a form of censorship. When Ronald Dahl’s estate posthu- Metropolitan University through distance learning in
mously altered some of his classic books with the help Edmonton, she started doing freelance book design work
of sensitivity readers, for example, many in the industry and while working as a project coordinator with the Book
strongly opposed the changes.
Publishers Association of Alberta.
For Creaden, the practice was something they
She still dreamed of working in publishing, but she re-
sought in a publisher—they believed it would make
alized that the industry is concentrated in the big centres.
their work stronger, and more relatable. “There is a lot And while there are great presses outside of that, including
of effort put into making sure we were not doing
in Alberta, she says, they operate on small margins and
harm — and that was the help I wanted and needed,” therefore the ability to get into the industry is limited.
says Creaden.
“Because of how concentrated the industry is, and how
The main character is autistic and has ADHD, and difficult it is to get started ... lack of diversity in what gets
her internal thoughts take readers through her daily published was and still is a huge problem,” says Veldstra.
experiences: making mental notes of a way a specific
She wanted to help change that, so in 2023, Veldstra
person uses their body language, struggling with
founded Mythic Roads Press in Edmonton.
sensory challenges like loud noises, misreading social
It’s a traditional, royalty-based publishing company and
cues and feeling like an impostor among her highly
one of its main goals is to “publish unique, thought-
educated peers.
provoking stories that resonate with people who may not
Creaden received an autism diagnosis while part way have had the chance to see themselves in mainstream
through writing the book. They already knew they were genre fiction... and to ensure that [the stories] can be read
neurodivergent — having previously been diagnosed with and enjoyed by the largest audience possible.”
ADHD — but this new diagnosis changed their perception Starting her own publishing company was the answer
of their own life and their writing.
to her childhood dream of being surrounded by books —
“I stopped writing for a couple months while I grappled today, she’s involved in all sides of production.
with what that meant for my life thus far, and what it re- Veldstra opened to submissions in March of 2023 and
vealed about the characters I’d been writing,” says Creaden. went through dozens before coming to the manuscript
“When I returned to work, I rewrote that beginning and that would become her company’s first published title,
each draft afterward grew with me in my unmasking.” Moon Dust in My Hairnet.
Pre-publication, Creaden started hearing from beta Non-binary, Marietta, Georgia-based author JR Creaden
readers — one after another.
(they/them) says they initially struggled to find a publish-
Veldstra’s currently working on more titles to be released er that wanted the same things. They wanted to focus on
in 2025 including The Moon the Sun Forgot, written by
an underdog and her experience as someone adjacent to
Calgary author, BJ Wagner.
the fastest and strongest around her. They wanted diverse
“My main goal at this point is just to continue acquiring voices that are often lost in the noise of louder voices
amazing titles and to put them out. I also have the goal of around them — and to represent those voices accurately.
releasing them all in audio book as well. That’s part of the And they wanted to create an accessible sci-fi story
reason I’m taking so much time,” says Veldstra. “And I also written from the perspective of someone — in this case a
believe in quality over quantity. I think it’s important I’m lunch lady — who would not use technical science talk but
bringing in the right books, the right authors, and that I’m share experiences in a relatable way. Creaden also wanted
not rushing anything; so every book that’s published gets the simultaneous release of an audio book, making the
the care and attention it needs to succeed.” ED.
words even more accessible.
48 EDify. OCTOBER.24
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