how much more staring at a blank document do i need to do before the words finally come to me? would you say ten — maybe fifteen more minutes?

working on the second draft of my current WIP which means I simultaneously love my past self's mind and despise her confidence that future me would figure out the details

crying in corporate speak

took a break from all socials. I was deep in the querying trenches and needed to not to be perceived for a while. you know how it goes. but im back with a new outlook on everything and looking forward to reconnecting/connecting with folks! what'd i miss??

💖 lazy girl writer check-in | week 1 hi, I'm Makenna — professional sit-arounder, fantasy writer, and personal essayist over at Lazy Girl Club on Substack. this is my weekly check-in where I show up to touch grass with other writers and collect internet friends (the best kind)

just posted this article on Substack! substack.com/@makennarae?... #substack #article #writer #author #writing

Any fellow Substacker's out there? substack.com/@makennarae

If you love eerie prose, twisted myth vibes, and stories that linger like a bad dream… this one will crawl under your skin. ------- #thesaltgrowsheavy #bookrecommendation #darkfantasy #horrorbooks #books #readingcommunity

Started the year with a cozy Beauty and the Beast reimagining: Beauty by Robin McKinley. It hits everything I want from a fairytale. --- #bluesky #reading #bookrecommendation #trending #beautiful #writingcommunity

Writers, what are your tips for defeating writers block?

I'm gonna have to decommission ole faithful for #bluepit but rest assured I'm gonna basically completely republish this

JEWISH BLUEBEARD + FEMINIST TWIST Promised to a witch before her birth, Talia must now spend a year with the woman to pay off her parent's debt. But with demons threatening to steal her away, The "witch" might just be Talia's best hope at keeping her head. #BluePit #W #YA #F 📖

Where the Devil Churns 🤖 Near future dystopia 🍄 Space mushrooms 🙏🏻 Cult vibes 💊 Health and wellness 🍃 Crunchy to conservative pipeline 💀 Body horror #BluePit #BluePit📖 #Q #A #H #SF #SP

Thank you #BluePit folks for interacting with me and my work! I compiled the pitches for The Unidentified below. If you’re curious about the book, there’s more info at my site raemariz.com/the-unidenti... and buy link in my bio It’s been fun to see what everyone’s been working on!

It's nearly noon here so let's do post #2. Such Sweet Sorrow is a grief horror - it focuses on loss. Loss of loved one, loss of community, loss of connection. Leaving something that you can no longer return to, no matter how much you want to. Can Rebecca persevere? #BluePit 📖 #A #PN #H #W #LGBT

THE POTION DILEMMA: COZY ROMANTASY ➡️ For those who love the forbidden romance in Mate by Ali Hazelwood and the spellbound twist in A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. 🖤 fated mates 🖤 unknown bound magic 🖤 morally gray mmc 🖤 kn0tting #bluepit📖 #bluepit #A #F #R #W #Q

HALF LIFE x MINDWALKER Taylor’s not threatened by BOIS, androids made to be perfect BFs. The girl he 💘s, head of their BOIS' rights club, would never buy one When Taylor learns he's a BOIS-friend, he's 😡 at her hypocrisy & starts a revolution to prove he's > his programming #BluePit📖 #YA #Q #SF

OCTOBER DAYE X WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE When a blood-drained body is found at the edge of Foggy Dell, a quirky town in Northern California, Maisie—local ghost speaker—and Stacy—biologist and supernatural skeptic—become unlikely partners, investigating the mysterious death. #BluePit 📖 #Q #PN #M

THE LOVELY LONG AGO Accident, suicide or murder . . . ? The rock scene of early 90s Brighton (England) is shaken by the death of a student. A slice-of-life nostalgia trip, revolving around a legendary club. #BluePit 📖 #A #M #Q

Hi, #BluePit! I took a pause on my #comic, Low Magic, and funnily enough, that’s kind of what the comic is about! I’m back on it, hoping to start posting again in Feb, so if you'd like to read about pausing from a stressful magic job to live in the woods, check it out! #F #W lowmagic.the-comic.org

Dominic: The Tale of an Accidental Vampire 1890s London. Dominic Ross is a gentle soul- a student doctor with a hopeful heart, a loyal friend in James, and a life full of promise. It all changes when he meets the dangerous but magnetic Sir Adam Morell. mybook.to/DominicVampire #P #A #H #R #bluepit

The only place depressed goth-girl, Helena, feels at home on the cheery campus is the dark, haunted chapel. When the stones come alive to warn her of a demon invasion, she becomes entangled in a cosmic war. And falls for a gargoyle.❤️ Don't Let the Forest In x City of Bones #BluePit 📖 #YA #F #Q #LGBT

A feared sorceress secretly shelters those who have nowhere else to go. An old witch takes in a runaway princess. And a cursed girl makes a deal to break her family’s curse, only to find herself falling for the one person she’s supposed to hate. #BluePit #BluePit 📖 #P #A #LGBT #WF #F #R

When vampire chef, Corrine enters a cooking competition, the last thing she expects to win is the heart of the human reporter assigned to the competition. #bluepit #w #a #pn #r

Bettina, ex lover of Goddess, exiled herself so her absence would earn favor. The lifespan of her mortal son wanes, while as a Saint she & her daughter live forever. With the aid of an eldritch Archivist she means to make Goddess anoint her son...one way or another. #BluePit 📖 #P #A #F #LGBT

Dear Mom and Dad, Camp sucks! Why did you send me here? My counselor hates me if I breathe the wrong way. My roommate wakes me up at 6! It feels like I can't stop messing up. And something feels off about the returning campers.... GET ME OUT OF HERE! Some Love, Hannah #BluePit #MG #amquerying #MG

CHARAGMA In a world where all people are marked saved or damned from birth, twins Clara & Mem Blake find themselves on opposite sides of an escalating war between the chosen Elect & the oppressed Reprobates - a war ultimately for the soul of humanity. #Bluepit #Bluepit📖 #W #A #SFF

Last post for today's #BluePit event! Thought I'd round off talking about DAUGHTER OF THE SWORD by sharing the playlist I've made for Bronwyn, the main character: the songs here speak to her character in their lyrics or sound, or inspired me while writing. #BluePit📖 #YA #A #NA #F #HS #W #ND

Heartbroken by the man she loves, Amaya now has to vacate her home, too So, OF COURSE she thinks an arranged marriage will solve all her problems! When Ashraf proposes marriage minus love, it’s ideal & they tie the knot How long before their arrangement becomes inconvenient? #BluePit 📖 #A #R #W

THE WITCHER X CITY OF BRASS X FOXGLOVE KING ❗️warning, this package includes: 🎶 meddlesome bard 🐍 python-wielding bestie bounty hunter 🌊 hot possessed assassin 🎻 his feral cello playing brother 🔥 only one hot spring 🪄 divine bargains 💀 lovers x enemies x …? #BluePit #NA #F #Q

"The Fruit of War: Stone and Flesh" is the first book in an epic fantasy series steeped in gothic themes. It follows Fîeron, an undertaker-psychopomp in a world recovering from an unprecedented war, as he is forced to flee one burden for one far greater -- and darker. #BluePit 📖 #OS #A #fruitofwar

A forgotten princess faces a trial designed to break her. To claim the throne from her tyrannical father, she learns that survival demands cunning, cruelty, and surrendering to the darkness that dwells within her. @bluepit.bsky.social sky.social #BluePit 📖 #A #F #Q #WF

I’m late to the party (Big surprise. I just wrapped ten days of residency!) BUT I plan to participate in #BluePit tomorrow. What better way to kick off querying my MG mermaid novel than with a pitch event? I look forward to checking out all of your glorious pitches throughout the day.

My TBR....where should I start? #reading #readingcommunity #writers #writingcommunity #bookish #bookrecs #advice

Writers, how would you describe your WIP in three emojis? I think this would be mine: 🏰💔☠️ #WritingCommunity #bluesky #writers #authors #fantasy

✨ My 2025 5-Star Reads ✨ Circe Penpal On Writing Pachinko The Salt Grows Heavy Spinning Silver The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes The Game of Thrones (series) ---- #Books #BookRecommendations #CurrentlyReading #2025Reads #5StarReads

love letters to my favorite characters 🖤 #darkfantasy #fantasy #writingcommunity #querying #authors #agents #writers

TRIAL OF HEIRS A princess endures a trial designed to break her. To claim the throne, she learns that survival demands cunning, cruelty, and surrendering to the darkness that accompanies power. 🗡️feral FMC 🖤descent into madness 🕯️ancient magic #GhostPit #A #FA #Q

Once a silent shadow in her father’s court, a princess is thrust into a trial designed to forge her into a ruler capable of cruelty tempered by intellect—and when ancient magic awakens in her veins, she can no longer tell whether her rise will save the kingdom or damn it. #GhostPit #A #F #Q

OwnVoices Nahua romantasy in precolonial 🇸🇻 Itotia’s a healer’s apprentice struggling to meet her mentor’s expectations. Metztli's a worship-hating deity. When Itotia binds them together, Metztli grapples with mortality & Itotia learns the gods aren’t as benevolent as she thought #GhostPit #RF #Q

Dark Matter x The Midnight Library: Phoebe thought things were bad, until she got trapped in a nightmare AND a suburban tract home. That she can't figure out which reality is worse might be her biggest flaw. #ghostpit #A #SPEC

FROM THE ASHES 👿Angry women doing bad things 💋Slow-burn soulmate type love 🐉Retelling myths & monsters 😵Genre-Bending ( #FA #DF w/ Elements of H & R) 🤬Gritty dialogue 🤷‍♀️Memory loss 🐶Found family 💪Strong female characters 🩸Gory battles ☮️Self-Acceptance #PitDark #NA #A

WICKED X R&J X LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS An autistic, transfemme, plant-killing garden witch works with a rival music witch to care for an ancient flower. When a meltdown turns it sentient, she must regulate her emotions to turn it back & prevent a war. #ghostpit #ya #f #q

What happens when you combine 13th century Turkey, Mongol warlords, an arrogant wrestler who thinks he’s the hero, a zealot corn farmer, and a deadpan archer? Oh, and seven headed giants and polyships too. Seven challenges to save their people. WRATH OF THE DAWN x SIX OF CROWS #ghostpit #YA #HF #R

👻 Missing people 👻 human experiments 👻 urban legends come to (after) life Freelance ghost hunters get in too deep when the dead won’t RIP. #ghostpit #a #q #h #uf #pn