people frequently ask which character is most like me and in some ways it is aiden (depression, autism) and in some ways it is eric but it’s also mike because i too have trouble identifying feelings that aren’t rage

it’s wild to think sometimes about how long it’s been since i first started working on this series. and how much has changed for me since then.

A number of weeks ago, I mentioned that I keep a "craft journal" — a journal that's about the books I've read with analysis through the lens "how can this inform my writing?" Many iterations later, have a free PDF of what I'm calling "Reading Selfishly:" dl.bookfunnel.com/6dvlo8cnxx

i gotta write like 3k today. it’s just me and my one-man scottish black metal band with 31 monthly listeners against the world

🔭 Gemini Meteors over Snow Capped Mountains Image Credit & Copyright: Tomáš Slovinský apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25121...

i am making a list of leo cohen songs for the book and unfortunately this is absolutely a leo song (you know i’m bound to lose but gambling’s for fools that’s the way i like it baby i don’t wanna live forever) youtu.be/3mbvWn1EY6g?...

i am distinctly not a baking guy but double chocolate cookies were requested by my child for a cookie exchange and that’s what she got 🤌

the places i end up having to try to write as a parent (the kumon waiting room)

today the dentist said to the hygienist, “look at this cute little molar!” and i misheard her and thought i had a cavity. no, she was just really impressed by how cute that specific tooth was? adding this to my list of awkward compliments along with your agent saying your book proposal is good.

my problem is that i'm smart enough to know that i'm not smart enough to write the kinds of things i want to write 🧐

cat’s out of the bag! two more penalty box books on their way to you 🫡 this one stars leo cohen and answers the age-old question: “what if you said ‘i can fix him,’ but instead he made you worse?”

i’m not a religious guy but sometimes you hear a song so good that you just want to go outside and look up at the sky and raise your hands up idk

in case you guys ever thought i was a serious person i currently can’t charge my phone because i dropped it in dirty pasta water earlier.

BUYING myself a treat

explaining to my therapist today my plan to hit my deadlines and manage the rest of my life and he waited for me to finish and said, “well i have to say, as your therapist, i am not a big fan of your plan to sleep LESS”

i have such a hard time with friends to lovers because i really just love writing arguments 😬

i wrote almost 2k so far today and they still haven’t kissed yet 🧍🏻

every time i start a new book i make a pinterest board that mostly has silly little memes on it anyway here is a selection for my current wip

yesterday my mom made a joke about how taking care of things for her and my dad with early onset dementia is my second job and it was a real haha 🫩 moment but also it’s kind of my fourth job when you factor in the day job, parenting, and writing. when will i burn out? we will see

my friends, correctly: ari, no me:

you know when you are Perceived and it’s both cool and also terrifying at the same time

I absolutely love Game Misconduct the post this is about. Definitely on my rec list always.

this hits better with the music (it’s mclusky’s lightsabre cocksucking blues) but

i have written 1,000 words today for the first time in such a long time AND i filled in a bracket placeholder scene doing it.

i’m so horrible at secrets i want to blab IMMEDIATELY

why is this album only available to listen to on youtube or by cd ordered from belgium 🧍🏻

my child is currently obsessed with the eurythmics’ “sweet dreams” and today we listened to it in the car on repeat for 45 minutes

“i have a few questions, first of all how dare you” the feedback i live for tbh.

I also have etymology for the title adjective at the end of each book, because each protagonist is an amalgam of characters across time (and then I made them lesbians), so showing the evolution of word association makes sense to me:

in case you ever thought i was a serious person i was awake for about two hours at 2am last night because my brain would not stop singing “tête de moine, tête de moine, i want a rosette of tête de moine” to the tune of that “berries and cream” song 🫠

i wrote a little post with some recommendations if you’re interested in learning more about hockey culture because i love bibliographies! the full list of recommendations is here: www.instagram.com/p/DR-bY9KgT_...

sometimes i wonder what it’s like to be interested in something normally and not have to read everything you can get your hands on about it for years and then writing a romance novel about it

looking at my author to do like: pay for The Art ask agent about [redacted] finish writing the better to eat you with work on unsportsmanlike conduct regardless of the response to [redacted]

Because a lot of people are talking about the gay hockey show and subsequently the books, here are a few of my m/m hockey recs: My mm hockey romance recs! -Totally Pucked series by Jesse H Reign -Penlty Box series by Ari Baran -Gravity by Tal Bauer -The Rest of the Story Tal Bauer

time for a new pinned. hi! i’m ari. i am a queer, nonbinary (they/he) jewish author of contemporary and fantasy romances. currently, the penalty box series is available through carina press. more info and links: linktr.ee/aribaran

i have been having an incredibly hard time writing anything recently, but the last couple of days have been a really kind and much needed reminder why i do this in the first place.

i’m finally commissioning game misconduct art and i found an absolutely perfect reference model for mike and i am stupidly so excited about it.

multiple people whose opinions i respect are either currently reading game misconduct or are starting it soon and i do not know how to express the level of terror i feel lmao

at some point i am gonna bite the bullet and self publish (because i think my fantasy novel ideas are things that will sell to readers but. not necessarily to publishers) but right now i’m waiting to hear from my agent about my proposal and i’m stressing

[jeff foxworthy voice] you might be a hockey author

when someone asks you how many teeth your mc is missing and you have a reference picture ready to go

also, the vibes of the current project

50k into a fantasy, 10k into a hockey book, absolutely nothing finished 🤓

Day 19 📚🏳️‍🌈 Home Ice Advantage by @aribaranwrites.bsky.social - work rivals to lovers with a backdrop of pro hockey. Part of a series, I've only read this one so far. I love a cranky protagonist, in much the same way I enjoy those videos of cranky dads loving the pets they initially didn't want.

i’m always surprised when something at my day job is so bad it genuinely upsets me, a person who has been reading and writing about horrific occurrences for years 😔

if my brain could chill on the churning up ideas beyond my talent and intelligence level front so i could get back to trying to finish literally anything that i’m not giving away for free that would be awesome thanks

this is referring to old man yaoi and it isn’t wrong

not writing this book but also why is this leo unsportsmanlike conduct about devon unsportsmanlike conduct…. open.spotify.com/track/5CgFJ4...

thinking about leo cohen and the book i will probably never be able to write

This is a really fucking good book if you’re so inclined to reading