Also, once-a-fucking-gain, y'know a real easy way to find out why there're more AFAB trans folk now than there used to be? Fucking *listen to us* saranadosfiction.com/2024/08/20/a...

#SundaySnips Millie buys lunch and flirts with the food cart owner. From my WIP about a freelance demon trapper in a world powered by bottled magic. #WritingCommunity #Writingprompt #Writesky #HQpress

snack #teratophilia

You are not ready. Prepare your eyes... @nushdeco.bsky.social you are amazing. Thanks so much for bringing Kallista and Geni into visual form in such stunning fashion. At long last, here's Captain Kallista Audax and Doctor Eugenia 'Geni' Philistos from A Prayer for the Pirate Queen 🏴‍☠️💜⚓️

YO. This story is a fucked up (highly complimentary) reflection on toxic masculinity through the lens of one existing Among but not Of it (could it be a trans narrative??? who would think that.) Enjoy several flavors of horror, blended into a sublimely creepy cocktail with a very satisfying finish.

Here, go read the first couple chapters of The Ninth Drift here. I will upload 3 there when I finish it. www.royalroad.com/fiction/1485...

#SFFChat Thanks for hosting Steve! I’ve still got commissions open if anyone is looking for a hand drawn map 👀

#SFFChat Outro Thanks for chatting! It's always so fun! The Need for Dandelions is my second book and it's coming out at the end of March! Be on the lookout for ARC applications soon! 🌸

Thanks for the questions, Steve! I'd love a boost for my debut novel, THE DEVOURING, which is available now for preorder. It's a cosmic horror/revenge thriller about a married couple who uncover an occult conspiracy at the heart of their city. books2read.com/u/mvDRWX

#SFFChat Outro. Thanks for hosting, Steve! Sharing here my latest Ashrah drawing, which I'm quite happy (which isn't something that usually happens) 💜 bsky.app/profile/saya...

#SFFChat Q4 A snippet from Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn. Here we see Grilled explaining his thoughts on the matter of marriage+monogamy to Felli (Peaches) who grew up isolated in a semi-noble house and never knew that only nobles did that by default

I’ve always loved this interaction between Líadan and Vasil as he lets her in on the history with his old love

#SFFChat Q4: From a bonus chapter I wrote that goes in between The Wings of Ashtaroth and The Crown of Asmodeus. It's a pretty sad one (CW for dementia)

#SFFChat Q4. After leaving the Netherrealm, Ashrah starts studying concepts so far unknown to her. (Yes, she calls him "Master Kurtis Stryker" every single time 🤷🏽‍♀️) #ChroniclesOfTheRealms #SayaAshrah #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #QueerWriters

#SFFChat4 True love is calmly helping your partner, through a panic attack/flashback. Ellis and Sebastian are relationship goals for everyone. CW: references to sexual assault

#SFFChat Q4 So, this is from an older short story of mine. It is a father answering his daughter's questions on romantic love.

#SFFChat Q4 Here's a snippet from a favorite moment of mine in The Need for Dandelions. Sasha accidentally gives Galen a love confession bouquet of flowers before he has fallen in love. I just love to put Sasha in embarrassing situations!

#SFFChat An excerpt from The Witch of Eden Hollow I love writing Avery and Tristan's relationship, and this snippet from their first anniversary is one of my favorite examples of how sweet they are together. 💕

#SFFChat Lex, the FMC of CRUCIBLE OF THE BROKEN MOON, talks about love and marriage with her mother, Neve. As Belenosi noblewomen, they do not expect to find one hand-in-hand with the other, even though that's what Lex wants deep down in her heart.

#SFFChat Q4 going with this little one talking about Sam's bracelet, people recognize it as an engagement symbol, but jokes its that AND a hacked radio

#SFFChat A4 I'm currently in the early stages of revising this book, so this is about the only sample of "love" I have right now. Narok being bullied by his teammates. 😔

“Just don’t expect him to love you. He doesn’t do that.” Akieryon looked to where Tempest and Caspar stood beside the fireplace, their heads bent together, conversation animated. They looked closer than brothers, two hearts in counterpoint to the world around them. He gestured. “Is this not love?”

#SFFChat This is the kind of love you'll find in Prophecies. For context: Alakshi just finished off the troll the MCs were fighting. Her spear, inherited from her late mother, broke; Jorang was at least partly responsible, out of spite that he regrets now. Alakshi struggles with self-cutting.

#SFFChat Q3. Oh, I know many! Today, I'll shout-out @sdsimper.bsky.social and her amazing works of dark fantasy with great romance (even if things aren't always flowers and sunshine... but hey, it's dark fantasy, what did you expect?!)!

#SFFChat Definitely not in the "genre romance w/ happy ending" sense, but I loved the believable messiness & dysfunction in @haileypiperfights.bsky.social's A Game in Yellow and the suffocating Gothic yearning of @leemandelo.bsky.social's Summer Sons.

#SFFChat Well okay I see other people tagging their oomfs, so I'mma do it too. I read @audconnelly.bsky.social 's Wings in the Valley a while back. In the beginning, I really liked the relationship between Feliks and Bryony, but the romance between Feliks and Honey was a perfect slow burn.

#SFFchat oh, I LOVED 'The Spear Cuts Through Water' by Simon Jiminez for a book that was both excellent fantasy AND a good love story, with neither overwhelming each other.

#SFFChat Q3: I'd like to shout out @danifinnwrites.bsky.social , whose Grey Angel I read last year and adored! For a book with a small cast, it presents a number of different romantic and sexual relationships, all thoughtfully and with care. Nothing feels sudden or unearned, and the character work

#SFFChat @applesncinnamon.bsky.social writes some of the most wholesome relationships I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I’m very excited for their upcoming book. A Need for Dandelions because I’m sure the MCs in that one will be just as cute together as Micah and Terran from Sweet & Wild

#SFFChat Q3 Ah, there are so many! One of my favorites is @sethhaddon.bsky.social and his World of Reforged series. I love how the fantasy setting weaves together so effortlessly with the romance.

#SFFChat A3: I really enjoyed The Last Binding series by Freya Marske (adult historical fiction fantasy romance) and the Hart and Bannen series by Megan Bannen (adult fantasy romance).

#SFFChat It's impossible to pick just one! 😭 I'll narrow it down to 3 micro reviews: 🏳️‍🌈Sweet & Wild by Alex Larkspur is SUCH a sweet romance story! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️The Flowered Blade by Taylor Hubbard has terrific enemies to lovers! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️A Bone In His Teeth by Kellen Graves is incredible if you want a darker vibe!

#SFFChat I'm going to say @authorkaraj.bsky.social because their reanimator series is very good and Oliver and Filipe are adorable (and they come to mind quickly because of the latest release)

I think Lois McMaster Bujold is the gold standard @amalelmohtar.com was my hipster answer Shout out to my girl @gwenleonhard.bsky.social for a more monstrous answer

#SFFChat Is this the part where I glower at you angrily bc that bit with the text alerts in TK almost killed me?! Sadistic. On the non-SFF side of the genre pool, I'm chewing through a stack of mysteries by @thorncoyle.bsky.social with an amateur sleuth lead who's in a respectful, stable, committed

#SFFChat Q3: I'm gonna be cheeky and rec @clh2oars.bsky.social 's Baker Thief for the way it uses Romance tropes and structures to highlight platonic relationships and arcs, a joy to my aro heart.

To shout at more length: this book is a beautiful series of interconnected stories set in an impactful moment in time on a distant, future world. Humans, modified humans, & aliens connect through different shapes of sex and love, in ways that will affect all their futures. It deserves more acclaim!

#SFFChat Q3 I'm gonna shout out our host @stevewestenra.bsky.social this time because The Wings of Ashtaroth has a number of romantic subplots and from what I recall a lot of them go horribly wrong, which I find way too fun

#SFFChat this is the hurdle where I fall :') one thing I'm doing this year is trying to read more romance - both in SFF and out of it. So first: S/O to @saranadosfiction.com bc Archer and Sabbat are two absolute goobers and it's fun to read them both pining obliviously ❤️

#SFFChat A3 I really enjoy L. Rowyn's romantasy. Most of it is polyam and queer, and generally very well done. Andy Brokaw @andybwriting.bsky.social only has one book out so far, but I'm very much looking forward to seeing what else they write.

#SFFChat A3 Kinda usual, but I'll shout to Bragg for the Hearts of Heroes series especially. Trans-inclusive, with lesbian romances in all books thus far. Also @gmgray.bsky.social for M/M slow-burn rep!

#SFFChat Lois McMaster Bujold!!

#SFFChat Q2. Ashrah loves herself, and that's quite important! Self-love is the central pillar of her arc because she most certainly doesn't love herself at first. Her first "external" love is her sister, Sareena. Romantically, she loves her wife, Nitara. Later, she learns to love Askaly as a (1/2)

#SFFChat Q2 The Good Thyme Inn polycule! They were the group who started the "love is free and infinite" phrasing that spread over the years The lines are only showing who's in a sexual relationship. Everyone is friendly with everyone else (Shallot and Parsnips are parental figures)

#SFFChat Reed is rather isolated, but his love is for his fortune weaver conclave, who are all deceased. He is driven to resurrect them. Daryifel loves her longterm girlfriend, but also is in love with a terrible sentient cave...or rather, is in love with the power and danger it represents.

#SFFChat2 Penny has wanted Thomas since the moment she saw his basic bitch Tinder profile picture. She's been obsessed with him since he took her hand so gently with murder on his mind. She loved him since the moment he [EXTREMELY REDACTED]. She's besotted. She's doomed.

#SFFChat Pherul isn't really close with anyone. Rithucaride is tight with all their friends- the essential social unit for faeries is a clique instead of a nuclear family - and they're especially close with their bestie Letherdon. I'm open to that relationship becoming romantic or sexual over the

#SFFChat A2 Narok & Kas are each other's chosen soulmates (but they're also kinda connected by Fate/Destiny/whatever it's a whole thing). Outside of their romance they have some close friendships. Narok has his Mercy teammates while Kas has her childhood friends, Isabella & Lenore.

Owen and @coricatchthorne.bsky.social's Emile hiding under the blankets from Mila (and also possibly Kenzie depending on her mood.)

#SFFChat Q1 I've written whole essays on this topic, but I'll keep it short here😂 The Aloutians believe "Love is free and infinite" They don't do marriage or monogamy... unless they're Olivians, because Olivians are biologically wired to be monogamous, lol.