I'm trying to reserve my judgment for TRIGUN STARGAZE until after it's over, but they didn't do one of my favorite scenes justice and I'm kind of mad about it.

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work. "I've attached the draft. Can you please review and let me know if there are any changes I should make?"

#FebOutlining I'm not quite at the outlining stage yet for MageWIP, mostly because it's not high on my priority list. However, I do have a rough list of scenes that I'm slowly filling out and adjusting as the mood strikes me. I'm currently focused on worldbuilding and fleshing out the antagonist.

#pretendpanel While I avoid anything related to real world politicians and events, politics at large inevitably creeps into my work. The antagonist’s actions in COTBM are directly inspired by the current US presidency, for example. In TD, the corruption of political leaders is a more subtle detail.

#TBRuary I’ve been meaning to catch up with SAGA by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, which is, at its core, a story about a little girl.

The entire plot for a vampire novella occurred to me while I was washing dishes after dinner, so I guess I'm spending the rest of my night outlining that.

#FaveLineFriday From COTBM Chapter 12: Her muffled crying filled the room, the only sound in the cocoon of safety he’d carved out for her. While he soothed her, he imagined storming into Marcas’ throne room and putting a bullet between the old man’s eyes.

#pretendpanel Besides the idea that all writing is political, especially from the lens of the marginalized, I don't actively seek to write political stories. If it happens, it happens. I do love to read a good political story, though, with a preference for fantasy or historical fiction.

#FebOutlining I'm awful at comp titles (and anti-comp titles?) because it seems I am less widely read than pretty much every other writer I know. 😂 But for MageWIP, a big comp is X-MEN, which I did not intend at all, but it works really well.

#TBRuary A book with ace/aro rep would've been my best answer for today, but in lieu of that, on my TBR is BURY YOUR GAYS by Chuck Tingle. I recently read his CAMP DAMASCUS and loved it, so I'm sure I'll enjoy this one, too.

#Febchantment As mentioned before, I want a unique but simple magic system without a lot of technical rules. Astrological modalities are the basis, but the inspiration was sewing. Originally, the FMC was going to be able to "see" magical threads that she could use to create, reinforce, and destroy.

Who doesn't love a romcom MMC who sews most of his own clothing, as well as all the cosplay for his TTRPG friends? ROLL PLAY comes out next Friday, in ebook, paperback, and KU! (And the epub will be available to download for any device!) You can pre-order the ebook today: books2read.com/rplay

WIP update: I dragged myself to my computer tonight, not feeling super enthusiastic about writing, but knocked out 1043 words once I hit the flow state with this scene. I stayed in it until the scene was over, too. A solid night's work! #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

Why yes, Daemrin does in fact get bored easily and would rather always be doing someone. 😎 At first, he’ll take any hot chick who’ll join him in bed, but once he’s infatuated with Lex, she’s the only woman in his sights.

Today is the birthday I have chosen for Sable! The butch lesbian pirate who becomes something of a mentor figure to Alexander. Sadly I still don't have art to show you, BUT I do have a piano sketch of the theme I wrote for her! (I'm just a baby composer, be nice. 😆) It will give you her vibes. 🏴‍☠️

I know I said I was going to focus this month on reading only the physical books I own but haven't read yet, but a quick look at my bookshelf reminded me that most of those are horror titles. I'm not sure I'm ready to read more horror after finishing UZUMAKI. 🫠

Finished. My god, this book was something else. I didn't expect a single thing that happened in the story.

#FebOutlining I wish it was easier for me to make playlists! Sometimes I do, but I haven't made any for MageWIP yet. I'm torn between songs with lyrics and instrumental songs from movie/show/game soundtracks, the latter of which would be a lot easier for me to do.

#Febchantment Magic in MageWIP is available only to a few humans and "awakens" in a person at a moment of high emotional stress or trauma. This can happen at any point in their life, and then they have to learn how to use/control it. I'm leaning toward magic ability being random, too, not genetic.

Also a mood reader. Useful Libby tools: put a 2026 tag on a ton of books. Scroll that list for what’s both available and fits the day’s mood. Their hold system is nice too: put 10 books on hold; when they all come at the same time (as they do), check 1 out and suspend the rest until you’re ready.

With all the reading I'm doing this year, I dug up my library card and redownloaded Libby. It's actually hard for me to borrow books from libraries; I'm a mood reader, so I often want to read a book when it's not available but won't when it finally is. We'll see if I'm successful this year. 😅

YESSS!!! I just logged into my D2D account and successfully opted in to distributing my book to Bookshop, so it works!

#FebOutlining MageWIP is set on Earth, so I'll use whatever already exists. For any fictional locations, I name them following typical naming conventions for similar existing locations on Earth, whether that's a city or a school or a café. Usually, I make up names as I need them.

I wholeheartedly enjoyed "Level Up" from @paisley-rose.bsky.social and was even more excited that I got a chance to dig into the book even more with Paisley! Check out our interview here: youtu.be/Tf9n_5JwyAc Highly recommend reading "Level Up" before "Roll Play" comes out on Feb 13th!

#TBRuary I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN by Jacqueline Harpman was originally written in French.

#Febchantment Besides Spark (initiatory), Root (sustaining), and Ruin (transformative) magic being unique and important terms, there are also terms for each type of mage. Spark mages are called Conjurers, Root mages are called Enchanters, and Ruin mages are called Saboteurs.

WIP update: I didn't think I'd get much written today, but I knocked out 782 words for COTBM Draft 1 as I worked through a very emotional scene (the MCs' first fight as a couple). I feel like I'll need to add more interiority on a second pass, but so far, so good! #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

I think readers will know Daemrin and Lex pretty well by the end of their book. They're both very open people, and I am trying to explore their interiority pretty thoroughly. Jason and Ayana, on the other hand... Let's just say I've already read some egregious misinterpretations. :)

I'm thrilled to share this breathtaking art of Grisira and Deleyora, the POV characters from my book WIP, by @8thcreation.bsky.social. Inspired by an actual scene in the novel. I'm completely over the moon; they really understood my vision for the piece. Look at how beautiful my book children are!

I’m gonna try to read only physical books I already own but haven’t read yet for the rest of February, starting with this famous manga. I don’t know how successful I’ll be, because I love the ease and portability of ebooks, but consider this an accountability post for the attempt! #Booksky 💙📚

#FebOutlining MageWIP started out as a college AU of characters from my Vampire: the Masquerade game. 😂 I wanted to explore their relationship in a context outside of the game, but they ended up taking on personalities of their own, becoming their own, unique characters.

Hello, friends! Now that we are well into 2026, we at Hook & Quill asked ourselves what we want to focus on in the new year ❤️ #indiewriter #indiepublishing #writingcommunity

#Febchantment The magic in MageWIP is based off the three astrological modalities: Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable—and that's it. Nothing else from astrology factors into the magic. I didn't want a complicated system, so I stuck only to the modalities and expanded from there. 🧵

#TBRuary I have had JAPANESE DEATH POEMS: WRITTEN BY ZEN MONKS AND HAIKU POETS ON THE VERGE OF DEATH on my shelf for a while. The writers are Japanese, and editor/translator Yoel Hoffman was born in Romania and grew up in Palestine.

The website for Felcrown, the megadungeon that became a city, is up! Later, it'll have weekly episodes of my story, but right now it starts off with a Dev Blog entry introducing what Felcrown is and my plans including building a whole TTRPG campaign setting on the Blog. walkerharris.net/felcrown/

#FebOutlining I use both a classic beat sheet following K. M. Weiland's story structure, which uses 3-Act Structure. Once I identify the major plot beats, I fill in the gaps with a basic scenes list.

#TBRuary Kevin Kwan's SEX AND VANITY does double duty for this prompt because the main character is *two* different races than me: Chinese and white.

#Febchantment I prefer softer magic systems, but there are some rules to the magic in MageWIP. It falls into three types, Spark, Root, and Ruin—the details of which I will get into later—and what is possible is restricted by type. A mage can also wield only one type of magic, too.

I feel like I made good progress on this. I switched it from single to dual POV, changed the hook, and added a new subplot to the first half of Act 2. Now I have to do more worldbuilding before I can continue.

I decided to take a break from COTBM today and rework some plot ideas I have for MageWIP. Unfortunately, I’m starting by fleshing out details for a character who won’t show up until Book 2. 🤪

Hello #FebOutlining! I have a few projects that need outlining, but the one I'd like to work on for this prompt game is an urban fantasy romance I am calling MageWIP. I have a rough outline for it already, but after chatting with @jaekoyanagi.com, I will be redoing it.

Hello #TBRuary! I'm Ange, and I like to read... an assortment of books, honestly. Horror, contemporary, fantasy, romance, historical, literary fiction. As long as it's good, I'll read it. I deleted my whole TBR at the end of 2025 and started over, so right now, there are 29 books on it.

Hello #Febchantment! I'm Ange, and this month, I'm using this prompt game to build the magic system for a new project I am calling MageWIP. It takes place in a fictional city (name TBD) on an alternate Earth, where magic infuses the world but most people don't know it exists. However... 🧵

Finally, I don't feel embarrassed to share my reading summary from @thestorygraph.com. 😂 Here's January! I participated in the pages challenge to form a daily reading habit, after reading so sporadically for the past six years. I love the calendar view so I'm definitely keeping it up! #Booksky 💙📚

January review: • 15,566 words written for CRUCIBLE OF THE BROKEN MOON • Four chapters added to COTBM • Preorders opened for THE DEVOURING February goal: • Continue drafting COTBM • Prepare ARCs for THE DEVOURING #WritingCommunity

WIP update: Two friends and I did a virtual write-in on Discord where we hung out in a voice channel (mostly muted except for the occasional comment) and worked on our WIPs for two hours. I added 516 words to start COTBM Ch 12, which more than I expected to do today! #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

Ayana, 34. Forensic Pathologist. Cuts up dead bodies. Jason, 36. A Normal Guy. Lex, 25. Princess of Belenos. Kidnapping victim. Daemrin, 28. Criminal Scum. Will kidnap your daughters.

New post on my author blog! amshilling.com/2026/01/31/c...

Absolutely losing my shit over this goddamn JANE EYRE reference in this kinky, smutty dark romance book. 😂😂😂

#JanuaryWorldbuilders Good old Microsoft Word and a notebook. Like @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social said, too, the worldbuilding prompt games/questions here on Bluesky also help a ton.