Love song recs: The Lakes of Canada The Innocence Mission After the Storm Mumford and Sons There She Goes Sixpence None The Richer I listened to a lot of The Innocence Mission the last year or so writing Taker of the Dawn. Love and grace. Sorrow and gratitude.

Comfort reads: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Pastel City by M. John Harrison The Hours by Michael Cunningham Poems of Seamus Heaney #FantasyIndiesFebruary 💕 #booksky 💙📚🪐

I think there's some heartbreak in Taker of the Dawn. Not everybody gets what they want, or at least not in the way they expect. There are some unexpected developments though. I wonder what people will make of the ending. #FantasyIndiesFebruary 💕 #booksky 💙📚🪐

I'd love for Idari to known for being open and optimistic. She has a determination that borders on irrational, but it's guided by love and hope. She carries a lot of people with her. #FantasyIndiesFebruary 💕 #booksky 💙📚🪐

I have a secret. I never think of books in terms of tropes. There are kinds of stories I like (they usually involve spaceships and the like), but I don't get as granular as some. I have to admit I really enjoy friends to lovers though. A lot. #FantasyIndiesFebruary 💕 #booksky 💙📚🪐

Thoughts on the NYT AI article today, over at my Substack. Check it out. #booksky 💙📚🪐 substack.com/@darbyharnau...

Free Friday From Taker of the Dawn: Kiss: Idari Marry: Emera Unalive: Devor #FantasyIndiesFebruary 💕 #booksky 💙📚🪐

There's always a little of me in my characters. Idari and I are easily distracted, but also remarkably determined. Somewhere in that chaos is a person who manages to stumble toward grace. #FantasyIndiesFebruary 💕 #booksky 💙📚🪐

Just a month away now from the #Kickstarter for the complete Astra Idari Trilogy. If you love space opera, you'll like this. If you'd be so kind, hit the Notify Me on Launch button. It helps boost the signal! #booksky 💙📚🪐 www.kickstarter.com/projects/dar...

Idari very much believes in soul mates. Her partner, Emera, can perceive time to some extent and had a notion that the two of them would matter to each other. Idari is also a hopeless romantic and is delirious with her luck. #FantasyIndiesFebruary 💕 #booksky 💙📚🪐

What do you mean I have too many sapphic books already? I don't have these! Well, except my own, but that doesn't count. You should all grab this bundle too! 📚💙💕🌈📚🖤♿📚🌈📚🪐📚🌈♠️ #booksky #readersky #readers #books #booksonbluesky #queersky #readingcommunity #writingcommunity

A major focus of Taker of the Dawn remains the romance between Idari, an android, and Emera, a living star. They both see each other for who they truly are, making the trilogy a journey of self-discovery. #FantasyIndiesFebruary 💕 #booksky 💙📚🪐

Continuing to talk about Astra Idari Taker of the Dawn this month, the final book in my epic space opera trilogy. It's sort of if Star Wars and LOTR had a baby. Who was Murderbot. #FantasyIndiesFebruary 💕 #booksky 💙📚🪐

Monthly wrapup: The Astra Idari #Kickstarter is progressing nicely towards launch. Some big milestones in January. I got a good start on Eververse Book Six, but ran into some headwinds this last week. Went to my first live event of 2026, and it was a smash! #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

The cover for WHAT ELEGANT STARS was illustrated by @lyssmenold.bsky.social who also did the rad cover for EMBODIED EXEGESIS: TRANSFEMININE CYBERPUNK FUTURES (edited by AnnLeBlanc). Please hire Lyss, they are great.

Nooooooooooo www.tmz.com/2026/01/30/c...

Coming next year to your galaxy... the complete Stargun Messenger Trilogy in hardcover on #Kickstarter! 👀 It's going to be a special campaign. You can follow to be notified on launch! Click below! #booksky 💙📚🪐 www.kickstarter.com/projects/dar...

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

Idari has a few bad habits, including drinking too much and overestimating her chances. She also reliably never lets anything go. She fidgets a lot with the zipper on her jumpsuit and always with her hair, which ,like her, is a mess. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Thank you so much to David and the amazing crew @fanfiaddict.bsky.social for hosting the cover reveal for the third book in my Astra Idari space opera trilogy... TAKER OF THE DAWN! Art by the one and only Al Hess! #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

My thoughts on recent events. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Taker of the Dawn changed a lot through drafts, as the early ones weren't good due to stress, and very little. I knew the ending from years ago - the final clash between light and darkness goes back decades in my imagination. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Idari looks up to CR-UX, her ship's navigational AI. CR-UX is Idari's world, as she's linked to the ship as its android proxy. CR-UX has an honesty and authenticity Idari fears she lacks, though as she finds in the story, nothing is what it seems. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

I love to travel, which always informs my writing to some degree. A big factor in why I enjoy live events as an author more than I'd think is I get to go places, many times new ones, and meet new people. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Character's weaknesses Idari's weakness as a person is a tendency to think she can do (or maybe get away with) anything. It costs her plenty, but it's also a strength that keeps her moving forward. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Saturday Snippet One of my favorite parts of Taker of the Dawn is the pirate moot in chapter 12. This is the best insight into Pujar culture in the trilogy, and just a ton of fun with twists and turns. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Idari used to handle stress by drinking (lots), but now she mostly invests all her energy and anxiety into completing her mission. In Taker of the Dawn, she has to be all in. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

I'm currently catching up on a lot of reading, which I slacked on the last six months or so. I picked up some books in Ireland, including Kevin Barry's short story collections, The Poems of Seamus Heaney, and I'm looking forward to getting to those. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Sat down to read Absolute Batman Ark M #1 to get me back in the mindset of writing superheroes, and what continues to sink in about this legendary run is it's not about superheroes. It's about ordinary people facing super greed, hate, and evil.

I would just generally like to improve this year. I have been suffering from stress and grief for a long time now. Your resistance to things diminishes, and I've been too quiet about too many things. I kind of want to start shouting. Really loud. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Idari's pet peeves include someone sitting in her chair (it gets to be a lot of people by book three), and boundaries. She never really has any, thanks to being an android who shares a link with her ship's AI. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

There are some great indies who deserve all the praise. @al-distortion.bsky.social @adamcbassett.com @ajcalvin.bsky.social @joeprosit.bsky.social @enkaydotzip.bsky.social @clh2oars.bsky.social @ormakal.bsky.social and so many more! #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

The most interesting lore in Taker of the Dawn is likely the backstory of Gen Avar. Avar emerges as the Big Bad in book 2, and who they are, and why they do the bad things they do, comes out in a startling scene in TOTD chapter 2. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Saturday Snippet The opening of chapter one from Astra Idari Taker of the Dawn, the third and final book in the trilogy. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Free Friday First look at the upcoming hardcover box set of the complete Astra Idari trilogy. This is the centerpiece of my next #kickstarter, launching soon. Very happy with the set. Endless thanks to Al Hess who created the artwork for all the books! #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

My strength as a writer is I have no quit in me. Whether it's enduring a career that for 20 years resisted being a career, or writing bits and scraps in hospital rooms and nursing homes as I did Taker of the Dawn, I always keep going. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

First line of Taker of the Dawn: 'Oh, dear.' Readers of Stargun Messenger might be able to deduce who it is speaking in the prologue 🙂 #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Tropes you'd like to see more often Second-chance romance. Unreliable narrators. Secrets and lies. All things I'd like to work in a mystery novel someday. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

#writing habits (when things are working): Start about 8 or 9 Go over yesterday's work before I pick up where I left off Struggle to stay focused Work until noon Go back to it about 1 Struggle to stay focused Go until 3 or 4 #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Idari's goal in Taker of the Dawn is simple: she carries the entire record of her dying universe in her android memory. She must deliver it to a cosmic forge constructed by ancient universe-smiths, or else when the light goes out in existence, it goes out forever. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

Before Taker of the Dawn speeds forward, it begins with a look back to a key moment between Idari and CR-UX. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

I'm looking forward to some health and recovery this year. My mom passed in September and the last few months have been a struggle to say the least. I wrote TOTD in the hospital, ICU, and nursing home, in bits and chunks the last two years. I'm glad to see it done. #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

I'm Darby Harn, author of Dead Malls, Ever The Hero, and more. This month I'm talking about my next release, the third book in my Stargun Messenger Trilogy: Astra Idari Taker of the Dawn. TOTD will be part of an epic #Kickstarter this spring 👀 #fantasyindiesjanuary #booksky 💙📚🪐

I have a sale of standalone books on itch-io as part of the Winter Sale, most of which are queer! Do check them out! Deeply discounted! #booksky #queersky 📚💙💕🌈📚🖤♿📚🌈📚🪐📚🌈♠️ 📦

Finally starting #StrangerThings season 5 and noticed episode 1 begins with a flashback to 11/12/83. This is my birthday (I turned nine). Because I've got the 80s on my mind, additional fun fact: this is actually two days after my novel Dead Malls begins. 🧵 #booksky 💙📚🪐

Are you subscribed to my newsletter? If you're not, it's not only the best way to stay up to date with me, but also where you get amazing perks, like being the first to see the official cover for the third and final book in the STARGUN MESSENGER trilogy! #booksky 💙📚🪐 darbyharn.com/subscribe/

Cannot. Wait. #Supergirl youtu.be/YqdAEdkHrwo?...

Dead Malls is part of the Smashwords 2025 End of Year Sale! Find your next favorite book at smashwords.com/sale! #deadmalls #EOYsale25 #ebook #sale #books2read #indiebooks #Booksky 💙📚🪐

Got the proof copy for Stargun Messenger and book three and it’s so… yellow. #soon #booksky 🪐📚