Embassytown.

This was just a great Guest Post on my Substack! Check it out, Bert-Oliver gives some very practical guidelines on how to leverage the power of conlang.

It is yet another of these days in which I need a mildly impossible-to-get political history book, and am outright shocked by its price. Why?

It feels strange to ask, but this book means everything to me 🙏🏻 DANCE WITH ME is eligible for a nomination for #IndieInkAwards and your vote could help it find its way in. I would be endlessly grateful for your support. Details in the reply 🙌🏻

The eARC has been unleashed. To those who waited in the dark: it is yours. Check your emails 👀 Thank you. For your faith, your curiosity, and your courage to enter this world before all others.

Editing another Guests Talk for my podcast, and this will be the last episode of Season 2. I can't believe BOOKS UNDONE is going strong into its 3rd year!

Two days, and the doors to The Towers of the Orders of Alchemists will open. The eARC will be unleashed. The omens of war are near. This is the last call. Sign up for the eARC! 🔗👇🏻

Cyberpunk, a genre with enormous gravity, one that all but subsumed the high-minded optimism of the sci-fi that preceded it. This week we have an extra essay from guest writer @henryneilsen.bsky.social Don't miss it: liviajelliot.substack.com/p/slow-down-...

I just finished THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, and it was super fun! Out of my usual preferences, but ultimately an absurdist comedy about the meaning of life and the pointlessness of the universe. My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

This week's essay covers discusses how the order in which a character thinks about the world can be used to introduce a secondary world. And yes, it's a paragraph from my upcoming book THE OMENS OF WAR. Read it: liviajelliot.substack.com/p/worldbuild...

Read a book’s blurb and label the story for what it is, not for who wrote it.

War is the rule. Peace is just the intervals in-between. Across ages, across worlds, across societies. ⚔️ THE OMENS OF WAR: A COSMIC HORROR FANTASY ⚔️ releases on February 2026. Sign up for the eARC if you're keen on reading it before anything else. Check my profile!

In first-person narration, the prose itself showcases the narrator's mental state. This week's essay analyses one passage written in such a way, then outlines what you should consider when plotting this type of scenes. Read it: open.substack.com/pub/liviajel...

Courage is just the fear of fools, for bravery comes not from strength but ignorance. ⚔️ THE OMENS OF WAR: A COSMIC HORROR FANTASY ⚔️ releases on February 2026. Sign up for the eARC if you're keen on reading it before anything else. Check my profile!

I'm planning a merfolk cosy story, so I sort of got lost googling "cool underwater creatures" under the excuse of plotting. But truly, some actual, living underwater creatures seem straight out of a fantasy book and/or a ghibli movie!

⚔️ THE OMENS OF WAR: A COSMIC HORROR FANTASY releases on February 2026. ⚔️ Sign up for the eARC if you're keen on reading it before anyone else. Check my profile!

⚔️ Cover Reveal ⚔️ Book one of Records of The Orders comes our way in February 2026 and I cannot wait! Lovecraft meets George R.R. Martin meets Marcus Aurelius and Jean-Paul Sartre in this genre-bending cosmic horror fantasy. Cover design by @liviajelliot.com herself!

⚔️The omens of war will be heard by all ⚔️ Lovecraft meets George R.R. Martin meets Marcus Aurelius and Jean-Paul Sartre in this cosmic horror fantasy. Grim but never gratuitous, morally grey, and psychologically intense. Coming February 2026! 🔗👇🏻

The boundaries between the mind and the universe are thin. One tear and you’ll glimpse the void. ⚔️THE OMENS OF WAR: A Cosmic Horror Fantasy ⚔️ Cover Reveal 2025.10.14

📢SURPRISE! 📢 I'm doing a surprise AMA at the @GrimdarkEpicFan Reddit! Come and join in for a chat about my upcoming book, The Omens of War! Here ➡️https://www.reddit.com/r/GrimDarkEpicFantasy/comments/1o3djhj/hi_all_this_is_livia_j_elliot_ask_me_anything/

Fear is infinite. Fear is the best and worst part of human nature. Fear itself is the only thing you should fear. ⚔️THE OMENS OF WAR: A Cosmic Horror Fantasy ⚔️ Cover Reveal 2025.10.14

A glimpse is all you get. But it’s enough to make you question reality. ⚔️THE OMENS OF WAR: A Cosmic Horror Fantasy ⚔️ Cover Reveal 2025.10.14

How much can we dream? What does creation mean? Can *we* be someone else's dream? Join me for a Guests Talk roundtable on The Circular Ruins by #JorgeLuisBorges, featuring: Jarrod, Jose, @afictionalescapist, @philipchase90, and @p.l.stuart Watch: youtu.be/3098M_MLuew

Can reason hold against eternity? Can you stare at the absurd, and survive... sane? ⚔️ The Omens of War: A Cosmic Horror Fantasy ⚔️ Cover reveal 2025.10.14

Even empires crumble when the beyond looks the wrong way. Cover reveal coming soon. The Omens of War are nearing.

"Who are you?" What a complex question! It's a maze of self-doubt, dreams and hopes, expectations and reality. More often than not, it's incredibly difficult to answer. I wrote a short-story about it: open.substack.com/pub/liviajel...

Sometimes, finding some books in print can be quite difficult, even when searching for second hand books. Now, hunting for an odd, old Spanish version (the original!) of a very specific book with a low print run is near impossible.

⚔️ THE OMENS OF WAR: A COSMIC HORROR FANTASY ⚔️ Two nations on the brink of war, two strategists bent on achieving the impossible, two alchemists for whom the world is just their playground. Interested on the eARC? 🔗👇🏻

So, in quite an unexpected turn of things, I sold my first short story! I am particularly proud of that one; it's not a genre I usually write on, but I love it. I'll share more details soon! I promise!

It seems that after I embarked in a quest to convince my partner to read The Book of The New Sun (and succeeded), he's now on a similar quest but to convince me to read Malazan 🤣 I don't think my TBR can afford to be crashed by a 10-book series at this moment 😅

Excited to help reveal the title of a highly anticipated 2026 release! The Omens of War by @liviajelliot.com! Lovecraft meets George R.R. Martin and Jean Paul Sartre in this cosmic horror fantasy! Expected releases Q1 2026!

Lovecraft meets George R.R. Martin meets Marcus Aurelius and JP Sartre in this genre-blending cosmic horror fantasy. Morally grey and psychologically intense; brutal, but never gratuitous. THE OMENS OF WAR - RELEASE Q1'2026 Want the eARC? liviajelliot.com/omens-arc

Grim fantasy meets cosmic/psychological horror. A military setting, nations at the brink of war, morally grey leaders, and eldritch beings bound to unleash chaos in their eternal pursuit of arcane knowledge. ⚔️Records of The Orders, Book 1 ⚔️ Announcements Coming Soon! 🔥

I don't want to tease much, but my newsletter subscribers may be up for a treat very soon 👀

How do you narrate when your character is emotionally overwhelmed? How do you make it impactful? In today's essay, I'll take you through a step-by-step transformation of a single moment: from flat telling to vivid showing. With examples and homework. Here: open.substack.com/pub/liviajel...

Fear underlines everything. It's the reason to warre, to seek peace, to study (or not), to seek improvement or deny it. Fear is such a fundamental element to the alchemists of The Orders. THE GENESIS OF CHANGE is free for newsletter subscribers at: liviajelliot.com/newsletter

Morally grey, psychologically intense, and written for readers who want something more than just another epic quest. ⚔️Records of The Orders, Book 1 ⚔️ Announcements Coming Soon! 🔥

The peace between Firard and Sestel teeters on the edge of collapse. Morally grey, psychologically intense, and written for readers who want something more than just another epic quest. Records of The Orders, Book 1 Announcements Coming Soon

This week's essay is an invited post by @bertoliverboehmer.bsky.social author of the Galacticide series - and we're diving straight into conlang for world-building, including practical advice and tons of examples. Don't miss it, it's free: open.substack.com/pub/liviajel...

At night, someone talks while weighed down by memories of running away... for no purpose, or so they say. REFLECTIONS is a literary, psychological #interactivefiction that remembers that you finished it *and changes* for the reread. Free to read via #UnearthedStories.

CHAOS IS ONE STEP AWAY Lovecraft meets George R.R. Martin meets Marcus Aurelius and Jean-Paul Sartre in a genre-blending cosmic horror fantasy. More news Soon™️

So, @someokiedude.bsky.social recommended my latest podcast episode, so now you ought to watch it!

Books are mirrors, and reading is more than a search for pleasure, entertainment, or escapism. Reading is an act of self-discovery, whether we like it or not. We have to ask ourselves why a book offended us. Listen to the episode: youtu.be/E3c7rfCrfQ0

"This is a BEAUTIFUL story by all means. One that pulls at your heartstrings, and manages to hit home with a strong message pertaining to this very day and age that we currently find ourselves in." An amazing review of DANCE WITH ME by @indyman.sffinsiders.com ! Read it 👇

So... it seems Australia Post is no longer accepting parcels for the US while they work on compliance. Therefore, I've decided to close my little shop for signed copies of DWM and Genesis. I use AusPost to ship, so I can't do much for now.

"Some days, I feel so powerful [but] sometimes I can barely keep this clock ticking on time! It's natural, Lyra, and the best thing you can do is admit that we're as fluctuating as the wind itself." DANCE WITH ME - a dark, psychological fairytale. Details in bio.

Check these amazing recommendations for the Narratess' Indie Sale happening right now! 👇🏻

The @narratess.com Indie Book Sale is up, and my novella THE GENESIS OF CHANGE is there alongside many other books! Check it out and stuff your ereader full of awesome books! indiebook.sale

This weekend is the @narratess.com sale, and my novella THE GENESIS OF CHANGE is there alongside many other books! Check it out: indiebook.sale PS: It's PST hours, so Aussies be warned it's the next day for us 😅

Speculative fiction doesn’t always follow the rules—but maybe that’s the point. In this series, we’ll explore how to read stories on their own terms, not just through our personal expectations. Check this week's essay: liviajelliot.substack.com/p/reading-cr...