#Sci-fi Classic Novellas

[the---hermit]

Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell

This is the novella that inspired the movie The Thing, which I have not seen in any of its versions. I was intrigued by the idea, because it's such a sci-fi classic, and the trope in my opinion is really cool, but this book was a huge disappointment.

This novella is a mix of science fiction and horror, two genres I particularly enjoy. The plot is following a research exploration in Antartica where our characters find a spaceship buried in the ice. They also find one of the creatures that came to Earth buried in the ice, and they have the genious idea of taking the thing to their camp. Soon they find out the thing is not dead, and it can shapeshift into anything or anyone and chaos starts to unfold. As I said this idea, the trope of the book is really cool in my opinion. I remember loving an episode of the x-files that was very much inspired by this trope, to this day it's one of my favoruite episodes of the series. But this novella was a huge disappointment. The writing is terrible, at times it's confusing, the characters are poorly made, I couldn't care less for them, and I felt no empathy or tension whatsoever while reading. What's even more annoying is the fact that there were all the elements for me to love this, but the execution was just absolutely not for me. I am intrigued to watch at least one of the movies this book inspired, to see whether another media might work better for me with this story, but this is certainly not a book I will be rereading. I don't even feel like recommending it to be honest, I know it's a classic, but I am pretty sure this trope has been used multiple times, and I will look for a better execution of it in the future.

I read this book for the classic prompt of the winter reading challenge (I'll soon post an update, since believe it or not I completed the challenge).

[remnantglow]

what are five underrated sci fi books you think more sci fi lovers should read?

ooh that's such a fun question!

on the origin of species and other stories by kim bo-young (PLEASE. TRUST ME.)

the fortunate fall by cameron reed (recently republished lesbian cyberpunk cult classic, raw and heartwrenching, The best cyberpunk piece of media i've experienced to date)

walking practice by dolki min (satirical sci-fi like you've never seen before, gloriously grotesque, bound to be polarizing but so worth the read imo)

the membranes by chi ta-wei (only recently translated taiwanese queer scifi classic, a quiet introspective novella exploring body autonomy and an unforgettably haunting take on cyborgs)

children of time by adrian tchaikovsky (i know including a book that won the Arthur C. Clarke award is a bit of a stretch but i DO think it's still underrated is the thing. it's easily some of the best, most inventive hard scifi of this century)

(+classics bonus - i don't think these are that niche, but babel-17 by samuel r. delany and woman on the edge of time by marge piercy are sooo underappreciated imo)

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Horror

Horror is a genre within creative writing that relies on one thing: instilling a sense of fear in the reader.

The horror genre is multifaceted—there is a kind of horror for every kind of person.

For some, the most effective scare is the idea of being trapped in a haunted house. For others, it’s being chased by a serial killer on Halloween.

Some of the best horror comes from scary things that can manipulate an audience’s feelings, creating a sensation of uneasiness and fear that stretches beyond consciousness and permeates deep within the psyche.

Horror writing is sometimes categorized within the broader category of thrillers, but not all horror follows the thriller structure.

Classic horror fiction—whether expressed as a novel, novella, short story, or film—will tap into topics that reliably frighten most humans.

Common topics include ghosts, werewolves, vampires, zombies, serial killers, murderers, and the fear of the unknown.

These horror tropes can often devolve into clichés.

A downside of horror’s popularity is that many horror books and movies recycle old content in non-creative ways, but when properly executed, horror stories can thrill audiences and even provide commentary on the human condition.

Horror Subgenres

1. Apocalyptic - In this subgenre, the world is ending or society is collapsing. When this happens, it’s usually because of some creature, demon, or religious event (while climate-oriented apocalypses are more sci-fi).

2. Body Horror - Involves the mutilation, experimentation, or violation of the human body. It can focus on disease, dismemberment, infestation, sexual acts, or a complete transformation of the physical form.

3. Comedy - Horror and comedy seem so at odds with each other, but they work so well together (kind of like spice and chocolate). A trademark of comedy horror is how the protagonist somewhat stumbles through the story, arriving at the end through luck and ridiculous happenstance rather than skill or growth.

4. Cosmic/Lovecraftian - With its origins largely attributed to H.P. Lovecraft, cosmic horror makes us feel small against a threat that is ancient, massive, and incomprehensible. Cosmic horror looks at intergalactic entities, ancient gods, the machinations of the universe, and how helpless we are against it all.

5. Dark Fantasy - Another crossover, this time with the fantasy genre. In dark fantasy, you have elements of magic, fictional creatures or worlds, and everything else that makes fantasy great, plus you add in a good dose of scares. This can also involve other subgenres, like body horror.

6. Dark Romance - Another crossover genre, dark romance takes the feel-good romance genre and makes it horrific. While this subgenre can simply include morally questionable characters and a grittier tone than most romance, it can also include kidnapping, forced confinement, BDSM, psychological and physical abuse, and sexual violence or sex where there is no consent. Bear in mind that it still needs to include the tenants of romance stories, though.

7. Extreme Gore - Not for the faint of heart, this subgenre includes books that have detailed torture scenes or otherwise disturbing and depraved acts. This genre is all about shocking your audience with how awful your characters act or are treated.

8. Folk Horror - Embraces urban legends and folktales. These range from old pagan gods in the woods to weird rituals performed by isolated groups or villages. Sometimes there is a supernatural element to them, even if the “supernatural” is simply perceived or believed by some characters (e.g., Midsommar).

9. Found Footage/Documentaries - Though this subgenre is more common in films than books, found footage and documentary horror stories are about a crew of people recording their experiences, usually unaware of the true danger they are about to face.

10. Gothic - The great-grandparent of modern horror, gothic horror is the brooding, atmospheric genre containing what most of us would consider classics (e.g., Dracula and Frankenstein). Sometimes you throw in a dash of romance, but these tales tackle topics like death and mortality.

11. Post-Apocalyptic - After some world-ending disaster, how horrifying have things become? Post-apocalyptic horror shows us a world without rules or structure. It can contain unrealistic elements (zombies, demons, etc.) or realistic possibilities (cannibals, gangs, and so on).

12. Psychological - Places the spotlight on trauma, mental health, manipulation, phobias, and everything else that causes you to become stressed and anxious. Home invasion stories (i.e., The Strangers) fall under this subgenre.

13. Slasher - Involves violent horror that is more about a single killer stalking and eventually killing a group of people (traditionally targeting teens and using a blade). This subgenre isn’t necessarily as violent or gory as others, but uses suspense to make the reader hold their breath.

14. Splatterpunk - Is known for its disregard of limits when it comes to violence—both physical and sexual. Gore and depravity are grossly abundant.

15. Supernatural/Paranormal - Some folks separate these two subgenres into different categories, but there is so much overlap that they’re basically the same. If you have to, think of supernatural horror as stories that involve werewolves, witches, vampires, and other monsters. Paranormal horror, on the other hand, involves ghosts, demons, and haunted houses.

Tips for Writing Horror

1. Read more horror. There’s no better way to understand what a good story looks like than to read one for yourself. Read as much as you can so you are aware of what other horror writers are doing.

2. Focus on your own fears. Much like comedy, horror benefits from authenticity. So get personal: If you can scare yourself, you can probably scare an audience.

3. Create three-dimensional characters. Write characters whose character flaws feed the action of the story. All good literature and film contains well-wrought characters with desires, emotions, and a backstory. The more human you make the characters of your story or screenplay, the more their missteps and bad choices will resonate with an audience.

4. Recognize that the real can be scarier than the surreal. Sure, you can make up an army of googly-eyed bad guys or plant a severed head in your main character’s bed, but will you really scare your reader? Not necessarily. In most cases, psychological horror sticks with audiences far longer than a jump scare or gross-out moment in a slasher film. Toying with people’s real-life fears tends to scare them much more than just grossing them out.

5. Use the environment. Scary movies and television shows can use jump-scares as an easy way to frighten an audience, but writing scary literature requires its own method of manifesting fear. Setup your environment in a vivid way to fully immerse your readers into your setting. Vividly describing an enclosed space can elicit feelings of claustrophobia. A dark and quiet house becomes more frightening when a character suddenly hears the creak of an upstairs floorboard. Being an outsider in an unfamiliar place, like a small town with no cell phone service and where everyone knows each other, is already unsettling—and if you add a malicious paranormal force to such a setting, you can enhance the feeling of isolation and ramp up the anxiety of the scenario.

6. Write longer sentences. You can heighten your readers’ fear by writing paragraphs with longer sentences. Periods provide natural pauses for readers to take a breath, but if you stretch out your sentences, you build anticipation for the reader—which they might not even realize until they reach the end of the sentence. By using tactics like this, you immerse the reader into your horror story, making them feel what the main character feels and creating a heart-pounding connection.

7. Make your readers breathe faster. Whereas long sentences can amplify the intensity of a story, short one-sentence paragraphs can force your readers to take more frequent breaths while following your narrative. Crafting abrupt lines builds tension in your scary story writing, making the readers’ eyes move more quickly down the page searching for the relief that the protagonist is safe. This can make your audience breathe faster, contributing to the feeling of panic and anxiety.

8. Leverage fear of the unknown. Fear of the unknown is a common theme that can be tracked throughout many of the best stories in horror fiction and horror movies. When there is something that negatively affects us that we cannot control or properly identify, it creates a feeling of panic and dread. Teasing your readers with something not quite definable or a bad guy no one knows how to stop can increase the level of tension and fear when writing horror stories.

9. Lean into dark imagery and your readers’ collective imagination. Consider what images might be frightening to a reader (and yourself). How much of a description of a clown do you need in order to make a reader feel uneasy? How large and grotesque does a rat need to be? Leaving some of these images more general than specific will allow a reader to fill in the blanks with what is most horrifying to them. Example: If you read the word beast, what do you see in your imagination? Most words carry connotations and personal connections. Allow your words to work for you to create the maximum scare.

10. Want tension? Sprinkle in some foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is a powerful tool in your writing arsenal, but it is particularly effective in horror, especially when writing in third person. Foreshadowing is when an author alludes to a future event by showing us something now. The key to foreshadowing is to use it sparingly. We want to up the tension and the fear our readers are experiencing while they yell at the oblivious protagonist not to open the door. We don’t want the reader to know every single thing that’s going to happen. 

11. Focus on the moment where things shift. You should consider a pivotal scene in your story idea and try to build around that scene or that moment where the plot actually “shifts.” Sometimes that could be reflected in a realization by the protagonist. Other times it can be represented in some type of ironic twist at the end. By looking at that singular element of your story idea, you cut away the fat so that the reader is left only with the most resonant part of the story.

12. Establish the mundane. Mundane is just a fancy way of saying normal, but the message still rings true. Most story structures tell you to start by establishing the Ordinary World: what our protagonist’s normal life is like. This is important for showing us how important the larger conflict is, because it threatens the protagonist’s normal. In horror, establishing the mundane is arguably more important. In a story where connecting with the character and empathizing with them over the godawful stuff you, the author, put them through, the reader needs to understand just how bad life has gotten. Then you can take both your characters and your reader from a place of comfort and familiarity and plunge them into whatever shadowy hell you’ve concocted.

13. Choosing your POV. By choosing to write your story from a first-person perspective, you are putting the reader exactly where your character is. There are 2 types of third-person POV—limited and omniscient. It is advisable to stay away from omniscient. Part of writing a good horror story is withholding information from the reader, which third-person omniscient doesn’t really allow for. Considering the pros and cons of the different points of view, choose the right one for your story.

14. Avoid clichés. Clichés are boring and predictable, and a horror scene that is predictable is likely to not be scary. A good horror story can still use familiar horror tropes, but a great horror story makes them its own. Look beyond the obvious when trying to write a scary scene—what is something readers wouldn’t expect? How can you surprise them with fear? Use enough of the existing tropes to be identifiable as horror, but make sure you insert your own originality into the mix. One of the reasons people gravitate to genres in general is because they have certain expectations for what should happen in the story. Look for ways to flip archetypes on their heads.

15. Practice. If you’re struggling to get a handle on writing a good story that’s scary, practice with story prompts (see some sample prompts below). Writing prompts can expand your range of thinking and open up new avenues of imagination that you hadn’t thought of before.

Horror Writing Prompts

A scary doll comes to life.

A scene from a nightmare comes true the next day.

Days go by, and your parents don’t come home.

You feel yourself slowly becoming a monster.

Your friends start to disappear, and no one else notices.

You’re lost in the woods, and you don’t know how you got there.

You’re inhabited by a ghost that controls you and makes you do crazy things.

You have no reflection in the mirror.

The teacher is a monster, but no one will believe you.

You hypnotize your brother, and you can’t snap him out of it.

A fortune teller reveals that you are evil.

Someone follows you home, and it’s your exact double.

You find a diary that tells the future.

Every time you wake up, you’re a different person.

Your parents explain that you are actually an alien from another planet.

You know someone is watching you day and night from the house across the street.

You realize you are shrinking.

While reading a scary book, you realize that you’re a character in it.

Someone is living in your mirror.

Everyone knows the new neighbors are vampires, and the kids invite you over for a sleepover.

All the cats in a small town vanish in the middle of the night….and all that remains is a set of big, scary teeth smashed into a car door.

A group of friends takes on the zombie apocalypse.

Strange things start happening after the grandfather clock starts to speak.

You finally meet your child’s imaginary friend. Who turns out to be a serial killer.

When a local police officer goes to investigate the haunted house down the street, he finds a young girl who died decades ago.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ⚜ Writing Notes & References

[beartrice-inn-unnir]

10. What is your favorite genre book to recommend to someone who doesn’t usually like that genre?

Usually when people ask me for a rec for a genre they don’t usually like, they are asking for sci-fi, and I start by trying to figure out different access points based on what they already like. I’m not much of a hard sci-fi person, tending more to the space opera and political thrillers, so here’s a few “if you like x, maybe try y”:

If you like romance, give Everina Maxwell’s Winter’s Orbit a try. It’s definitely sci-fi in setting and plot, but it also hits nicely in the formulaic patterns of a arranged-marriage, strangers-to-lovers story that will help you through it even if the sci-fi elements are throwing you off. The author has another similar book that increases the sci-fi elements and is enemies-to-lovers as well, so if you like Winter’s Orbit, Ocean’s Echo is a good next step.

If you like non-fiction, The Martian by Andy Weir is a great pick. I have multiple friends who got into reading again as adults via The Martian. It’s well-written, well-grounded, funny, and very sci-fi. If you’ve already read it, then maybe give To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers a try. It can be described with all the same adjectives, plus it’s a short novella, so if you’re hesitant, it’s less intimidating.

If you like mysteries or political thrillers, boy is there a lot of great sci-fi out there for you. The crux of a lot of sci-fi is space or high-tech settings with a plot that asks questions about personhood, and that mixes really well with detectives and spies wandering around trying to solve problems and find truths. Try Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (it’s partway through a series of great books and novellas, but that one’s the most traditional mystery plot) or A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (ambassador solving her predecessor’s mysterious death while trying to do his job)(I’d also recommend this one if you read a lot of classics) EDIT: just realized I mistyped - book 1 by Arkady Martine is A Memory Called Empire.

If YA/ Bildungsromanen/ New Adult figuring the world out through trial and error is often your jam, try Provenance by Ann Leckie (for the kid who really wants to do things right) or The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (for another kid who wants to do things right, but is also a high-energy chaos gremlin).

If you like fantasy, you probably already have read some sci-fi; it’s all under the speculative fiction umbrella and genres are vague anyway. All the same, I know this is the Locked Tomb Website, but give Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir a shot (it’s got magic and mayhem and an epic locked-room whodunnit mystery). The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord is also good - it has a team of people traveling together and thinking about morals and discovering new abilities, plus some romance.

I’m sure there’s lots of genres I’m forgetting right now, but feel free to send me another ask for any specific one!

[papenathys]

1 & 5 for the book ask thing

1 - Fave Books

Gun to my head, I had to narrow it down to five books and felt like drinking bleach throughout. In no particular order, they are as follows:

Providence Girls by Morgan Dante ( @ghostpoetics on tumblr): A historical cosmic horror novel set in 1940s New England which retells two Lovecraftian horror tales in the form of a tragic sapphic love story. Fucking broke me. Exists at the very specific juncture of my mind between the lesbian eroticism and healing from trauma of The Handmaiden, and the body horror and monster romance of The Shape of Water.

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer: I'll be honest the movie was whatever for me but this book was what kids these days call a serve...a banger even. Don't know how the author described the surreal morphing sentient, geographic, sort of sci-fi sort of psychological– sort of straight up eldritch horror?? but it terrified the shit out of me, because everything was so beautiful, so unsettling and so distorted, that by the end I wanted to be consumed alive by the fungi and the lighthouse moss too. Also the biologist is to me what Camille Preaker and Abigail Hobbs are to vaguely sad white girls on tumblr.

Walking Practice by Dolki Min: An allegory for queer peoples' alienation in South Korea, wrapped up in a gruesome, dark and funny little story about a crash-landed alien that kills people via dating app stalking. Not only was this book fucking fantastic visually in terms of typesetting and illustrations, but also the translation was genuinely great. And while the narration was very funny, there were also many passages that were gut-punchingly tragic and raw, and captured how it feels to be trans, queer and disabled in a homophobic, conservative society.

Blue Hunger by Viola Di Grado: Gorgeous litfic novella about a young Italian teacher grieving the loss of her brother, who moves to Shanghai and has a toxic, obsessive, dreamlike affair with a Chinese lesbian, one of her new students. This one is not for everybody because the romance is extremely imbalanced, unhealthy and nasty but also I don't care because the writing was so hauntingly beautiful. Think cityscapes, urban loneliness, lesbian sex in dirty alleys and grief striking you at the oddest, sweatiest, most surreal hour of night.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen: Scathingly powerful political-historical satire novel, about a Viet Cong spy in the South Vietnamese army who escapes to USA during the 1970s fall of Saigon, and once there, finds himself repulsed and fascinated by the heinous facade and global crimes perpetuated by the Western intellectual, political and military complex that he both loathes and lusts after. Easily the best book I read this year, banger from beginning to end, reminded me why I love historical fiction. It TEARS apart American imperialism, the politics of colonial/orientalist academia, propaganda film, and anti-communist fear mongering in the 70s, during the Vietnam war. Delicious and horrifying usage of the unreliable narrator. Extremely relevant, timely read today. If there's one book you take from this list, it should be this one.

5 - Book I would recommend to anyone

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds. It's a YA novel about a teen Black girl who moves to rural Georgia with her parents to look after her terminally ill, estranged maternal grandmother, but ends up having a whirlwind summer as the dark, violent and tragic secrets of her family's past–and that of her mother's childhood hometown–comes to light. This is possibly one of the best young adult books I ever read, it felt like a cross between a coming-of-age film, and a classic historical transgenerational family saga. It was at once a love letter to finding queer and Black joy and community in a conservative Southern town, but also harrowing grief about historic racism and police brutality and how trauma informs identity, as does love. I mean this in the most respectful way possible: in parts this reminded me of Toni Morrison's Beloved, that's how fucking good it was.

[feytouched]

fellow snobbish reader in agony over poorly-written picks!! please do share any of your successes if you're inclined ♥

hello!! here are some books that i actually found interesting / intelectually stimulating / moving and that have gotten me out of reading slumps. there's a mix of classics, nonfiction, short stories/novellas and poetry bc that's where i find the best brain-declogging reads for me. also a few contemporary fiction picks at the end that reignited my faith in current writers

- previously read

invisible cities by italo calvino

ways of seeing by john berger

letters on cézanne or letters to a young poet or the book of hours by rainer maria rilke

on love and barley by basho

the epic of gilgamesh, translation by sophus helle

otherlands by thomas halliday

the last unicorn by peter s. beagle

granted by mary szybist

ice by gillian clarke

the english understand wool by helen dewitt

--- recent(ish) sci-fi/fantasy picks

the tainted cup by robert jackson bennett

emily wilde's encyclopaedia of fairies by heather fawcett

the regency/victorian faerie tales series by olivia atwater

- currently reading, highly recommend

the magic mountain by thomas mann

from my TBR, cannot recommend yet but i'm hoping for the best

i capture the castle by dodie smith

the spear cuts through water by simon jimenez

a winter book by tove jannson

pale fire by vladimir nabokov

the left hand of darkness by ursula k. le guin

jane eyre by charlotte brontë

drive your plow over the bones of the dead by olga tokarczuk

my dark vanessa by kate elizabeth russell

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: Queer science fiction, part 2

There is a lot of queer sf out there, and I read a lot of sf. When I started working on this list, I quickly realized it was impossible to include all that I’ve read and enjoyed in one single rec post. Thus, this is my second queer sci-fi book rec post. For queer sci-fi part 1, click here!

A note: queer here does not necessarily mean “guarantee of an f/f or m/m ship with a happy ending”, but rather simply a significant presence of queerness. Some of the books feature no romance but has a same gender attracted/trans/a-spectrum lead, or features an m/f relationship with bisexual, trans or aro/ace characters, or simply features a world-building which is heavily queer inclusive in ways that don’t always compare to our own ideas of sexuality and gender. I have however disqualified works where the only queer presence is along the lines of ��gay best friend”, word of god, and a blink and you’ll miss it confirmation that never comes up again.

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

Vivian Liao is a highly successful innovator, but she may have bitten off more than she can chew and fears the government may be coming for her. As she goes into hiding, she attempts to pull off one last stunt that could fix everything - but something goes wrong, and suddenly Vivian finds herself waking up in the far future, under attack by an army of robots in space. Hoping to find her way back home, Vivian must assemble a crew of dangerous outlaws to help her hunt down the Empress of Forever, the all-powerful entity who pulled her into the future. Lesbian main character.

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

Novella. On the outpost of a human colony by Jupiter, a man has gone missing. On the case to find him - and figure out why he disappeared in the first place - is enigmatic investigator Mossa. Her search leads her to the colony's university, and with it, her ex-girlfriend Pleiti, expert on Earth's pre-collapse ecosystem. Together they come to realize that the case is much larger than just a missing man, and could decide the outcome of humanity's very future. Sapphic.

My Heart is Human by Reese Hogan

Nine years ago, all complex technology was made illegal. This complicates life for Joel, young transgender single father, as a bionic just uploaded itself into his brain without consent. Scared of losing his daughter, Joel tries to keep the bionic secret while using it to fix his life, but things quickly get more complicated as the bionic gains more and more control of his body. A bit simplistic in writing style but makes a lot of cool parallels of bodily autonomy to Joel’s experiences as a transman. M/M romance.

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez*

A strange child lands on an isolated planet, scaring its inhabitants into handing him over into the hands of Nia Amani. As captain of a transport ship, Nia is not only the planet's only contact with the outside world, she is also a woman out of time, years compressing into months as she travels through space at high speeds. Now responsible for a child who doesn't speak and in a galaxy that wishes them ill, she must rethink exactly what she wants to do with her life, and what she's prepared to give up. Features multiple major queer characters.

The Abyss Surrounds Us (The Abyss Surrounds Us duology) by Emily Skrutskie

Young Adult. Tumblr classic back in the day! Cassandra Leung's family are keepers of sea monsters, genetically engineered and trained to protect ships from pirates. On her first solo mission, Cas finds herself kidnapped by pirates seeking to obtain their own monster. Now they need her help to train it. As Cas seeks to regain her freedom, she must also reckon with unfortunate growing feelings for one of the pirates keeping her under guard. Sapphic.

Ancestral Night (White space series) by Elizabeth Bear

Haimey Dz is part of a three-man salvage crew in space (one of the crew being the sentient spaceship himself). When the small crew comes across a derelict ship that proves the scene of a horrible crime, they must go on the run as they seek to uncover a conspiracy that involves both ancient secrets older than humanity itself, and Haimey's own hidden past. On their tail is a dangerous space pirate, convinced that Haimey is the key to it all. Lesbian main character.

Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch) by Ann Leckie*

A space opera in which sentient spaceships can walk the ground in stolen human bodies, so called ancillaries. One of these ancillaries, the sole survivor after the complete destruction of her ship and crew, is one the hunt for revenge against the most powerful woman in the empire. This series does very cool things with gender!

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

Five New Yorkers find themselves experiencing strangness as the city itself begins to wake up. They are its soul, its avatars and its protectors, and now they must keep it safe as it wakes as something alien and monstrous attempts to kill it before it's even fully alive. Mix of sci-fi, supernatural, and lovecraftian horror. Multiple pov characters of varying queer identities.

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb series) by Tamsyn Muir*

Gideon, raised as a swordswoman by unfriendly nuns, would rather run away and make her own life, but her services are needed. The Reverend Daughter, Gideon's childhood nemesis, has been invited to a trial to win a place as an immortal by the Emperor's side, and she's in need of a bodyguard. Listen, if you’re on tumblr I probably don’t need to explain this book to you. Trust me when I say it’s exactly as good as people claim. Humorous and spooky but also absolutely gut wrenching and clever with a lot of political commentary. There are also, indeed, lesbian necromancers in space.

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (Salvagers trilogy) by Alechia Dow

In a universe run on science and magic working hand in hand, Boots Elsworth makes a living selling fake treasure maps and Nilah Brio is a racer. When one of Boots' maps turns out to be more real than expected and Nilah has to go on the run after having been framed for a murder, the two find themselves on the same spaceship, working with Boots' old captain to find the rumored treasure and reveal the conspiracy its hiding before the people hunting them catch up. Features a main f/f relationship.

The Company of Death by Elisa Hansen*

A wild mix of genres, where a zombie apocalypse has struck and vampires gather up humans to keep their food source from going extinct, a robot travels across America with a young man she’s tasked to keep safe, and former-vampire-hunter-recent-zombie Emily teams up with Death himself to stop the apocalypse. Features bi and ace characters! Bonus rec: the author also runs the youtube channel Maven of the Eventide, where she talks about various vampire media. Check it out!

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Shizuka Satomi is a violin master who made a deal with a devil, and who must now save her soul by delivering the souls of her students in place of her own. Lan Tran is a mother and a refugee of an alien war, hiding on Earth with her children in a donut shop. Katrina Nguyen is a trangender runaway and violin player, in the need of a mentor. As their paths cross, their lives change forever. I would categorize this as cozy, however it does also deal with some pretty heavy themes.

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson*

Young adult. Young artist June Costa lives in Palmares Tres, a beautiful, matriarchal city relying heavily on tradition, one of which is the Summer King. The most recent Summer King is Enki, a bold boy and fellow artist. With him at her side, June seeks to finally find fame and recognition through her art, breaking through the generational divide of her home. But growing close to Enki is dangerous, because he, like all Summer Kings, is destined to die. While the main relationship is m/f, it features a worldbuilding where bisexuality is the norm, which is portrayed in its major characters.

The Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne

Nix Marr is a soldier and damned good at it, but that doesn't prepare her for her next mission: bodyguard for Subarch Kessandra, beloved royal and Nix's bitter ex, as she ventures into the underwater city of Fall to seek the cause of a bloody murder spree and a possible deadly contagion. But Kessandra has enemies, the answers she seeks marking her as a possible threat for the nation's rulers. On their way in an isolated and enclosed underwater ship toward Fall, the contagion catches up, and Nix will have to put her hurt feelings aside if the two are to arrive alive. Sci-fi with flavors of horror and the supernatural.

Adaptation (Adaptation duology) by Malinda Lo

Young adult. Strangeness is afoot: all over America, birds are hurling themselves against airplanes and causing crashes. As flights are canceled and travelers stranded, Reese and her debate partner and longtime crush David are forced to head home by car. Accident strikes, and the two wake in a military hospital with no memory of the last month. Returning home, strangeness follows the two, especially as Reese encounters the mysterious and beautiful Amber Gray, who may know more than she lets on. Features a bisexual love triangle.

Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz

Young adult. Fifteen-year-old Kivali, abandoned at birth and adopted by the nonconformist artist Sheila, has as a girl in boys clothes never fit in with the other kids. Sheila has always been supportive, until she one day sends Kivali off to CropCamp. While Kivali chafes at the strict rules of the camp, she also finds herself making friends, and maybe more, for the first time. Strange coming of age story, featuring exploration of gender and sexuality in a dystopian setting.

Isle of Broken Years by Jane Fletcher

Young spanish noblewoman Catalina thinks she’s done for when the ship she’s traveling on is attacked by pirates and she’s captured. Things gets worse when the entire crew is stranded on an inhospitable island where time works strangely, dangerous monsters terrorize the woods and something alien stops them from leaving. Strong Lost vibes. Lesbian romance. Admittedly quite indulgent but very fun and creative.

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries) by Marta Wells*

After having hacked its own governor module, SecUnit uses its small amount of new freedom to secretly download and watch as much media as it can between doing its job guarding humans. But when the scientists it’s been charged with keeping safe come under attack, it must make a choice about whether to continue keeping its freedom secret or risk it all to save them. The series features both novellas and full length novels, and balances humor with scathing critique of capitalism. While it can be debated whether SecUnit counts as agender, asexual and aromantic, as it is a robot (I leave this up to individual judgmenet), however the series also has a diverse cast overall.

The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James*

Young adult. After the spread of a global virus causing infertility, teenagers Lowrie and Shen are now the youngest humans alive as the adults around them race to find a cure. As they investigate the ruins of the world, the two come across records from the past, of how grief stricken people turned to raising artificial children in apps and how these 'children’ developed, and through these records the two learn of their history. Bisexual main character.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah*

In a near future America, inmates on death row or with life sentences in private prisons can choose to participate in death matches for entertainment. If they survive long enough - a rare case indeed - they regain their freedom. Among these prisoners are Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker, partners behind the scenes and close to the deadline of a possible release - if only they can survive for long enough. As the game continues to be stacked against them and protests mount outside, two women fight for love, freedom, and their own humanity. Chain-Gang All-Stars is bleak and unflinching as well as genuinely hopeful in its portrayal of a dark but all to real possible future. Sapphic.

The Disasters by M.K. England

A decade ago, the massive ship House of Wisdom was abandoned in orbit after its entire crew was killed in an outbreak in a matter of hours. Now, Zahra and her people hope to claim the ship as their own by kidnapping the sole survivor to gain access to its systems. But the danger of the House of Wisdom is far from gone. Horror, no major romance but has a major gay character.

Nax Hall may be a hotshot pilot, but that doesn't stop him from being expelled from the prestigious Ellis Station Academy in less than 24 hours. But as he's to be transported back to Earth alongside other failed students, the school is viciously attacked. Nax and the three other students only barely escape, and are left as the only witnesses - and the perfect scapegoats. Now they must go on the run together and find a way to clear their names. Bisexual main character.

Dust (Jacob's Ladder series) by Elizabeth Bear

In a dying spaceship, orbiting an equally dying sun, noblewoman Perceval waits for her own gruesome death. Having been captured by an opposing house, her wings severed and life forfeit, Perceval’s execution is imminent - until a young servant charged with her care proves to be Perceval’s long lost sister. To stop a war between houses likely to doom them all, the two flee together across a crumbling, dangerous spaceship. At its core waits Jacob Dust, god and angel, all that remains of what the ship once was. And he wants Perceval. Sapphic and asexual characters, however be prepared for kinda fucked up relationships.

Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings

Two ships have gotten stuck in a rift in space, isolated outside of time. One of them is the Jonah, a ship dodging a generations long war against an alien species, carrying a small crew of smugglers, an unintended passenger, and a hijacker. The other ship is the Gallion, which arrived from 150 years in the future carrying an alien ambassador - and whose crew is awestruck at meeting the heroes of the Jonah, known to have ended the war. As the two crews struggle to understand each other's timelines, they must also work together to leave the rift before they're stranded forever. Multiple queer characters, however the main romance plotlines are m/f.

One Last Stop by Casey McQiston*

Twenty-three-year-old August has a lot to deal with. She just moved to New York, got new job at a pancake diner, and acquired several slightly chaotic roommates. So what if she likes to flirt with the pretty girl on her subway commute? But Jane turns out to be more than just a charming stranger: she's lost in time, displaced from the 70s, and unable to leave the subway. Romance with a dash of timetravel sci-fi, One Last Stop is a delightful story of love and queer community.

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings*

In an alternate version of our present, the witch hunt never ended. Women are constantly watched and expected to marry young so their husbands can keep an eye on them. When she was fourteen, Josephine’s mother disappeared, leveling suspicions at both mother and daughter of possible witchcraft. Now, nearly a decade and a half later, Jo, in trying to finally accept her missing mother as dead, decides to follow up on a set of seemingly nonsensical instructions left in her will. Features a bisexual lead!

Salvation Day by Kali Wallace

A decade ago, the massive ship House of Wisdom was abandoned in orbit after its entire crew was killed in an outbreak in a matter of hours. Now, Zahra and her people hope to claim the ship as their own by kidnapping the sole survivor to gain access. But the danger of the House of Wisdom is far from gone. Horror, no major romance but has a major gay character.

Alien: Echo by Mira Grant

Young adult. Twin sisters Olivia and Viola's parents are both xenobiologists, bringing them all over the galaxy. Most recently they’ve settled on a new colony world to study its life, but it proves more dangerous than they could’ve ever imagined. Under attack from alien monsters, the sisters must keep each pther alive while also coming to terms with a dark family secret. Sapphic horror. Part of the Alien franchise but stands well on its own.

[mcsm-confessions]

We need more what-book-would-the-cast-read headcanons, stat. Nobody's invented television yet (or perhaps cinemas) so what form of entertainment is both historically accurate and available in-game? Books!

I'll start:

Jesse, as a turbo nerd, loves the heck out of whatever the in-univers equivalent of superhero comics is (knights, not laser beams), owns special editions of the Lord of the Rings, has fun with those campy space-opera sci-fi books and and occasionally picks up the occasional nonfiction book about obscure interesting topics, which her friends will then hear about nonstop for the next week or so. She has a special fondness for Charlotte's Web, which she used to read to Reuben when he was younger. She sometimes leafs through the latest Cosmo in the convenience store magazine rack as a guilty pleasure.

Olivia also enjoys a decent sci-fi novel (albeit less space opera and more hard science), likes murder mysteries, secretly indulges in a few chastely romantic Victorian classics, eats Linux user manuals for breakfast and gets the latest edition of Popular Redstonics mailed to the treehouse every fortnight. She has occasional arguments with Jesse over the organizational system of their shared library, which tends to lapse into chaos when the latter is in charge.

Axel shares Jesse's enthusiasm for superhero comics and is first in the queue to get the newest volumes for the both of them. His memoir and travel literature collection is substantial—his stamp collection sits proudly between—and he secretly reads poetry and has attempted to make his own tentatively awkward verses. He also subscribes to Backyard Demolitionists Weekly in the mail.

Petra doesn't mess with 'stuffy old books written by dead people' (classics), but still rereads Treasure Island and other gallivanting picaresque type novels in her spare time. She digs the Count of Monte Cristo but completely missed the message about the costly and potentially futile price of revenge. Anything history related that doesn't have multiple wars in it is like pulling teeth. She used to secretly look at the Playboys hidden in a chest in her father's room when no one was around.

Lukas is invested in a wide range of literary fiction, from historical novels to the weirder avant garde novellas, and has a soft spot for little felines in his books. He's not the most well versed in philosophy but had a brutal period in his late teens when he discovered Schopenhauer. East of Eden has a special place in his heart for certain familial similarities, but he's never thought to voice that out loud. On the rare occasion that he's really irate he'll burn through a standard slasher horror novel and then discreetly return it to the library. In the future, a whimsical passage in his authorized biography will note that he's one of the few authors who isn't on outrageous (or any) quantities of drugs when writing.

Ivor reads romance novels, the sappiest, bodice ripping Mills and Boons stuff. He hides it under extreme lock and key and would probably vaporize whoever found out about it. It's another thing he has in common with his mother, which he is apparently unaware of. He also composed atrocious poetry in his sulky teenage years, which was burnt long ago. Those Gary-Stu edgy grim fantasy protagonists appealed immensely to him, and was a phase that lasted until he got the chewing out of his life from Ellegaard when attempting the same mannerisms in the lab.

Aiden doesn't read and is proud of it because he's an arrogant numbskull.

~~~

[mermaidsirennikita]

NOVEMBER 2024 LGBT+ ROMANCE RECS

It's always important to support diverse books, y'all. This isn't new.

But on a financial and outspoken level, it's going to be important in the coming days for Americans (and honestly, unfortunately, non-Americans too) to support queer (and BIPOC) books.

So, with no preamble.... And I do want to make clear, I'm a cis white woman (sexuality: God, I don't even know anymore)... Queer books I think you should try—

F/F:

Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring-Blake. Contemporary. CHRISTMAS. Charlotte heads to her best friend's house for the holidays, only to find that her best friend's sister brought HER best friend... Brighton, Charlotte's childhood sweetheart who left her at the altar years ago. Angst, lots of holiday dating, and hot hot sex ensue.

Seas and Greetings by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy. Contemporary. Christmas-adjacent. A high-end influencer embarks on a brand cruise with a stern, super hot bodyguard. But someone is threatening to expose her secret... (not her bisexuality).

This Will Be Fun by E.B. Asher. Fantasy. Years after their fearless leader is killed saving the world, a fgroup of heroes must come back together to... save the world again? Sort of? Two core romances, one of which is m/f and one of which is f/f—a nerdy witchy agoraphobic type comes back into play with the assassin she used to hook up with on previous quests.

Set the Record Straight by Hannah Bonam-Young. Contemporary. Christmas! A pair of friends do the classic fake dating thing when one of them needs a girlfriend for a work function and the other needs a girlfriend to show up her ex at a holiday get together. Bi awakening, very sweet, novella.

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera. Historical. Latina and Afro-Latina leads. An heiress strikes a deal with an older businesswoman; she'll give the businesswoman the property she wants in exchange for an introduction and adventure in sapphic Paris before our girl has to marry a man. Truly excellent content.

The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton. Sci-fi. A scientist ends up accidentally launching herself and her friends into space, and their only help is the hologram of the ship's former captain, who mysteriously went missing with her entire crew years ago. Also, she's a hot ice queen.

A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland. Historical fantasy. A midwife helps a mysterious fisherman's wife give birth, only to find that the woman's origins may be more mystical than they seem. Spoiler alert: lesbian selkies. Also spoiler alert: Comeuppance for a shitty, shitty husband.

A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger. Historical paranormal. A sex worker is transformed into a vampire and enters into a looooong term sapphic love triangle with the villain of the novel and the uptight, persnickety mentor who's taken her in. Kinda like Interview with the Vampire, but hotter and gayer (yes) and way less of a sausage fest.

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. Historical fantasy. A young debutante in a "Midsummer Night's Dream x Pride and Prejudice" type world ends up hexed and in a back and forth with a mysterious lady duke rumored to have committed at least two murders.

The Conquering of Tate the Pious by Sierra Simone. Historical. A medieval abbess has to defend her nunnery against the villainous lady conqueror who's come to town. "Defend" can mean many things, FYI.

The Fiancee Farce by Alexandra Bellefleur. Contemporary. A fun little fake dating inheritance game book, in which a cover model/heiress convinces a woman who's already been pretending that she's his girlfriend to quiet questions, to... You know. Fake being her fiancee. In a farce.

M/M

The Will Darling Adventures by KJ Charles. Trilogy, historical. A WWI vet gets entangled with capers and espionage, while falling for a former Bolshevik upper class danger man. SO FUN.

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles. Historical. A romcom in which a prickly upper class man strikes a deal... of a carnal nature... after catching a fortune hunter trying to seduce his niece.

The Witch Walker Series by Charissa Weaks. Fantasy. Multiple romances, and the primary is M/F, but there are multiple POVs and a prominent, excellent, villain second chance romance between two men, both of whom have POVs. Additionally, the hero of the M/F romance has recently been revealed to be bi through the offshoot Tales from Tiressia. Yay!

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian. Historical. 1950s reporters begin as friends, then become roommates, then become... more than roommates.

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian. Historical. A baseball player on a rough streak and a grieving and snippy reporter following him around on the sports beat get entangled.

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian. Historical. A former highwayman-turned-cafe-owner agrees to mentor a dandy in the art of highwaymanery so that he can steal from his horrible father. Has deminisexual rep, as well as disability rep.

Glitterland by Alexis Hall. Contemporary. A bipolar down on his luck author hooks up with a working class club kid, then accidentally ends up in a relationship.

Saint by Sierra Simone. Contemporary. A monk ends up touring monasteries with his reporter ex-boyfriend. Lots of exploration of mental health here (and it's super hot).

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles. Historical. A new baronet moves to the marsh to care for his messy family, only to find out that one of the leading members the local organized crime family is that guy he used to anonymously hook up with.

The Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles. A veteran turned nobleman employs a secretary in order to help him hold on to his title (his family hates him) only to realize... that secretary... is hot.

Snow Place Like L.A. by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy. Contemporary. Christmas-adjacent. A costume designer runs into the one who got away and is SUPER BITTER. But, you know. It's a time for forgiveness.

Mafia Target by Mila Finelli. Dark/mafia. An assassin after a prominent don's son gets obsessed in a different way, and their game of cat and mouse becomes something more.

Band Sinister by KJ Charles. Historical. A flustered young innocent ends up having to head over to the Dangerous House after his sister has to rest there following an injury. Finds out that the group of scoundrels there are both better and worse than he thought. Sendup to gothics!

Heated Rivalry and The Long Game by Rachel Reid. Hockey contemporary. A pair of connected books about the long-term relationship between two hockey rivals, which begins as a hookup situationship and turns into something more... One of my ultimates!

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall. Historical. After the woman he proposes to runs away, a stuffy duke enlists her fabulous twin brother to help him catch her... Demi rep.

Trans and NB

The Prospects by KT Hoffman. Baseball contemporary. The first trans man in the league ends up on the same team as the guy who abandoned their friendship years ago—leading to a rivalry... which leads to another thing.

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore. Light paranormal. A ghost-seeing trans guy ends up having to return to helping with his family's funeral home... And falls for a volunteer... only that volunteer's husband is currently haunting him. Jewish rep.

Most Ardently by Gabriel Cole Navoa. Historical. YA. A Pride and Prejudice retelling in which we have Oliver Bennet, a trans boy trying his best, and Darcy, the dude he hates.

A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell. Historical. A widow ends up on a long distance bicycle race with a rakish former artist turned bicycle fiend, who happens to be trans. As a note, the author is married to a trans man who happens to be a queer historian!

Chef's Choice by TJ Alexander. Contemporary. A down on her luck woman agrees to pretend to date a Frenchman from a billionaire family as he embarks on an ancestral cooking challenge. Both leads are trans.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall. Historical. After faking her death at Waterloo in order to transition, a woman ends up tending to her former best friend as he recovers from PTSD and a laudanum addiction. He doesn't recognize her at first. At first... Disability and addiction rep.

For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes. Contemporary. A trans woman hooks up with a stranger, only to discover he's just been hired as a higher-up with her company.

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston. Contemporary. Exes (one of whom has come out as NB since they broke up) end up on the same European food and wine tour years later, and agree to reestablish their friendship (dating back to childhood) in a competition to see who can hook up with the most people.

His Valet by S.M. LaViolette. Historical. An NB valet (uses she/her pronouns in respect to the era) pretends to be a man while infatuated with her boss. In order to have a few nights with him, they take up the identity of a mysterious widow... And it spirals BIG TIME from there.

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian. Historical. A marquess believes his new best friend is a man—they're actually in disguise (uses she/her pronouns in respect to the era). After he discovers their true identity, the friendship yields to more...

Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall. Historical. A genderfluid dandy sets out to grudgingly help her ex seduce a castrato soprano... Only to capture their attention herself.

Queer Non-Monogamy (Everyone Is Together To Be Clear)

Triple Sec by TJ Alexander. Contemporary. Open poly triad romance. A bartender meets a sparkly lawyer, only to find out that the sparkly lawyer has an NB spouse. While our bartender dates the lawyer at first, she soon begins recognizing a tension between herself and her new girlfriend's prickly, aloof wife...

The New Camelot Trilogy by Sierra Simone. Dark contemporary, closed triad. A retelling of King Arthur set within the presidency. Super sexy, super angsty, suuuuper poly.

The Lyonesse Series by Sierra Simone (ongoing). Dark contemporary, closed triad (presumably). A retelling of Tristan and Isolde, in which a bodyguard falls for his boss, then is sent to collect said boss's fiancee... And the shit really hits the fan. Again, super hot, really intense.

The Thornchapel Series by Sierra Simone. Dark light paranormal. Closed(ish) triad with a secondary but prominent monogamous f/f romance. A group of childhood friends get back together just in time for a mysterious magic to begin wreaking havoc on the land... VERY dark academia with some pretty intense taboo (message me if concerned).

Consort of Fire and Queen of Dreams by Kit Rocha. Fantasy, closed triad. A princess sets out to marry a dragon shifter known for killing his previous spouses—except she, with the help of her handmaiden and lover, sets out to kill HIM.

Give Me More by Sara Cate. Contemporary, closed triad. A married couple and their best friend set out on a road trip together, only for things to become... blurred.

[simonnebethel]

Writeblr Introduction

Just learned what a writeblr intro is so I'm gonna make one before I go to bed lol

I've already done something like this a few days ago but that was when I had no clue what I was doing lmao, so might as well make a more in depth one

About me:

20, she/her, bi

American

I write mostly fantasy and urban fantasy, and honestly i dont think i've ever written a story that was non-fantasy lol

Started writing when I was 10, but it was mostly Warrior Cats fanfiction on Wattpad lol. I went through a writing slump for most of highschool but last year I decided to get back into it since I'm not doing anything else lol

I like to read fantasy and classic lit, also anything with vampires. I also have a soft spot for slowburn romances where the main characters dont kiss until, like, the 4th book heehee

In love with anything gothic, vampire, and wlw 👩‍❤‍💋‍👩

I think one of my more niche interests is any early 2000s fantasy/sci-fi movie with a nu-metal/rock/alternative soundtrack like Queen of the Damned and The Crow. They are just...*chefs kiss*

My current stories:

A Chant for Blood (Formerly known as Account of Calamity)

Account of Calamity is a gothic victorian fantasy about a Grand Marshal, Karliah Helisende, and a blood-drinking fiend, Yorick Gwynplaine, who work together to investigate the mysterious portals that spawn dangerous creatures into the city of Isarnan, all the while Karliah is being haunted by the mysterious ancient temple that watches over her every move.

I'm currently working on the second draft, and I may start looking for beta readers once I'm finished, although I know I'm not far from finished with this novel. I also plan to make it a 4 or 5 book series, and slowly add a slowburn romance.

12/30/24 - Second draft has been finished!!

Looking for beta readers! Look here!

Our Demonic Hearts - The Craven Pact Series #1

Our Demonic Hearts is a urban fantasy about a cambion woman, Ana Kravens, haunted by her past. Taking place in a small Mississippi town, a man she went through a traumatic incident with, Beau Motloe, shows up on her doorstep one day with a deal; help him find his missing mother, and he'll give back the memories she lost during the traumatic incident. Her father, a demonic creature of unknown origin, wants nothing more than the Motloes dead, claiming that they were the very reason his daughter was almost killed 6 years ago. Ana goes against her father's wishes and accepts Beau's deal, suspecting that her father isn't telling the whole truth about that fatal night.

It is completed and available on Wattpad and Royal Road!! It was just a small project I had done for Nanowrimo, and has been edited at least once before being published. However, I plan to make it a trilogy and maybe have some spin-offs. This story is fairly new, but most of the characters are at least 5 years old and I love them very much <3

My Plans for 2025:

Finish my fantasy romance novel, To Hear a Lovebird by February 28(currently sitting at 48k out of an estimated 60k!)...and give it a new name 😅

Start the first draft of The Craven Pact #2, which is called Our Sacred Memories!

Down the road, I may start another short story...I am not sure.

Create a Instagram account for writing...I'm not sure. We will see.

Begin the next editing phase for my Victorian fantasy novel, A Chant for Blood! I am itching to get back to working on it. I have many plans for it.

What I planned for 2024:

Finish the second draft of A Chant for Blood and look for beta readers(In the beta reader phase!) ✅

Start the second novel of The Craven Pact Series(Outline complete)

Write a short story/novella or two taking place within the A Chant for Blood universe. My brain is currently exploding with ideas rn ✅

Write a short story about Ana Kraven's mom and how she met Marchosias, Ana's father. ❌

Plan something for Nano?? Idk where I'll be in November lol (Finish a project I started in february, which is To Hear a Lovebird!)(14/22 chapters done!)

I'm interested in following other writers and reading everybody's stories! I would also be interested in a beta read/beta swap ^^

Other sites I'm on:

Wattpad: LillithOfBees

Royal Road: SimonneBethel

Bluesky: Simonne-Bethel

18+ Writing discord!!!

[immaterial-pearl]

Recs of my fav things with mental illness/trauma/neurodiversity representation that lets their characters be unpleasant and full people:-).

These are a collection of things I personally found relateable, over the course of my life. Almost all of these are aimed at adults (but not all!) and it's okay to disagree with me on wether these are good or not, but I put them on this list because I like them and I like how they portray complex mentally ill characters.

Here’s a randomizer that picks one at random!!!

Pieta, by Nanae Haruno. Genre: josei manga (josei is manga aimed at women, usually ones in their 20's). Two girls who struggle with mental health fall in love.

Dungeon Meshi, dir. Yoshihiro Miyamjima, original story by Ryoko Kui. Genre: fantasy anime. After his sister is eaten by a dragon, a man does his best to get her body back and revive her. In order to survive he decides to cook monsters with his party, instead of trying to travel with food from outside of the dungeon. Personal note: autism meshi. My personal favourite is Kabru, because he's literaly me when it comes to Being Totally Normal About Human Interaction.

Burnt Sugar, by Avni doshi. Genre: literary novella. A woman starts losing her grip on reality as her mother starts losing her memory. My personal opinion: it's just amazing, god, one of my favourite books ever, no book ever portrayed psychosis in such a personally relateable way, even tho I differ from the protag on so many levels.

Promising Young Woman, dir. Emerald Fennel. Genre: a deconstruction of revenge films. A woman traumatised by her friends suicide tries to avenge her.

Simon Snow triology, by Rainbow Rowell. Genre: ya fantasy and romance, deconstruction of chosen one stories, wizard school. Note: the exploration of ptsd mostly happens in book 2 and 3. The first book differs both in subject matter and tone, and was written originally as a stand alone. A typical chosen one protag defies the narrative set on him. Personal note: the way trauma reflected on protag's relationship with sex was so well thought out. Reread this out of nostalgia recently and found myself stunned on how uniquely well it's written.

Fleabag, screeplay by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Genre: dark comedy, drama. A woman who seems aware of the fourth wall tries to cope with her best friend’s death.

Revolutionary Girl Utena, dir. Ikuhara Kunihiko. Genre: magical girl anime deconstruction, fairy tale deconsturction, psychological horror. A girl who wants to become a prince gets tangled in messy drama of the student council, after she wins a duel and accidentally becomes engaged to a girl they refer to as the rose bride. Personal note: FAVOURITE SHOW EVER, a queer classic, ectetera, the most complex show ever written in my personal opinion, the entire narrative is about patriarchy's evils, and damn, no show since did it better imo.

Boy meets Maria, by Peyo. Genre: romance manga. A boy falls in love with a member of his high school's theatre, who turns out to be a boy.

The Locked Tomb, by Tamsyn Muir. Genre: sci-fi fantasy horror. In a planet system of necromancers, a girl from a planet with a single living necromancer gets picked to be said necromancers swordwoman, when she tries to become a saint. Personal note: you will not believe the amount of Insane Undead Lesbians this series has. READ IT.

Bojack Horseman, main writer Raphael Bob Waksberg. Genre: dark comedy, animated sitcom. A horse/man way past his prime still lives off of money from playing in a 90’s sitcom.

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, by Nagata Kabi. Genre: manga memoir. A depressed woman who has trouble with forming relationships tries to have her first time with a sex worker.

Pinky and Pepper forever, by Eddy Atoms. Genre: horror, dark comedy comic. Two art student girlfriends try to survive art school, and later meet again in hell.

A pale view of hills, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Genre: literary fiction. An imigrant woman, recalls her first pregnancy and a short friendship she had back in Japan.

Neon Genesis Evangelion, dir. Hideaki Anno. Genre: mecha anime, psychological horror. A boy is forced to pilot a robot by his absent father who runs a para-military organisation. Personal notes: second favourite anime of mine, every character is their own shade of unwell, there is a reason this is a classic.

Fight Club, by Chuck Palachniuk. Genre: thiller, literary fiction. A white collar man loses his apartment and moves in with his strange working class friend. Personal note: even if you've seen the film, read the original.

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath. Genre: literary fiction, semi-memoir. A talented writer fights her suicidality and depression.

Crying in H-Mart, by Michelle Zauner. Genre: memoir. The author recalls her mother's last months and death.

My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russel. Genre: literary fiction. After her ex teacher is accused of sexual assault, a woman recalls her high school romance with him. Personal note: this is heavily inspired by Lolita, and even though I've read both I kind of prefer this book, fight me.

Summer, 1993, dir. Carla Simón. Genre: drama. A young girl spends her first summer in a new home after her parents die. Personal note: good representation of a young child processing trauma is so rare!!!!

My Broken Mariko, by Hirako Waka. Genre: josei manga. After her friend's death, a woman goes out of her way to find out why she died, disbelieving her friend would kill herself.

Everything, everywhere, all at once, dir. Daniel Kwan and Schienert. Genre: sci-fi. A woman discovers multiverse time travel while trying to do her taxes, and processes her troubled relationship with her daughter.

[remnantglow]

hi! sorry to bother! any sci fi recommendations with women in them? gay women would slap but i don’t want to be too demanding.

that is not too demanding at all! all of these are heavily focused on women & almost all have gay protags:

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone - poetic romance novella about two women on opposing sides of a war spanning all of time, unfolding through letters

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson* - a tense, dark story about a world in which travel between parallel universes is monopolized, and a woman who is dead in almost every single one

Ammonite by Nicola Griffith - 90s lesbian/feminist scifi classic; thoughtful social sci-fi set on a world where a virus killed off all men and most of the women, about an anthropologist who's come to study the inhabitants and test a vaccine

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey - domestic thriller about a brilliant scientist whose husband clones her to make a "better" (more docile & housewife-y) version of her - and is then killed by the clone, leaving the two women to cover up the murder

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling - unsettling, claustrophobic horror about a caver on an alien world, her untrustworthy handler being her only contact with the surface world

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed* - bleak, heartwrenching 90s cyberpunk about a lesbian news reporter in a dystopian regime who uncovers more than she bargained for

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki* - emotional & hopeful scifi/fantasy mix about a trans violin prodigy, her teacher who has a deal with the devil, and an alien running a donut shop

some more, rapid-fire: Dawn by Octavia Butler* (iconic classic sf, first contact); The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin (social sf, envoy-on-alien-world); The Seep by Chana Porter (utopian, unique take on alien invasion); The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa (space opera, spy thriller); The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart (time travel, murder mystery); The Outside by Ada Hoffman (cosmic horror); Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta (dystopian YA, mecha); Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy* (classic sf, time travel)

(*books with an asterisk are ones I'd particularly recommend looking up the content warnings for, as they can get quite heavy)

[gutsby]

Guts you are a fucking insane writer and I'm so grateful we have you, like your works are absolutely incredible they are hot but also like lyrical.. so beautifully written.. you know? Thank you for sharing with us. do you have any advice for someone who has wanted to give writing fics as an outlet a try but feels like they're not creative or talented enough? Tips/tricks sorta thing? Love u madly deeply

FIRST, I LOVE YOU.

SECOND, thank you so much!!! I’m so so glad you enjoy my brainrot stories and I hope to keep them coming for y’all!! 🥹🩷🩷

THIRD, THAT’S SO EXCITING!!!! Fic writing (or any kind of creative writing, really) is the fucking best, and I’d be happy to share some tips!! Pick and choose whichever ones speak to you, but I hope these can be of some use 😩

No matter what you or anyone else says/thinks, YOU ARE CREATIVE AND TALENTED ENOUGH. Wherever your writing goes, whatever you choose to do with it, is enough. I know writing (and sharing your ideas) can seem daunting, but please don’t ever count yourself out of an opportunity just because you’re worried your work won’t be up to snuff!!

READREADREADREADREADREAD! READ!!! Not only fanfic, but flash fiction, short stories, novellas, novels, ANYTHING. I cannot overstate the importance of being an avid, active reader when it comes to improving your own writing. I sometimes struggle to find the time to read and write and work and live life, so I try to set reasonable goals. If nothing else, I read at least 5 pages per day of the book I’m reading, or I pick a short story and go with that. Lately I’ve been trying to expand the kinds of short stories I read, so I have a handful of websites to find what I like: (I’m on mobile so apologies if the formatting below is fucked 😭)

Project Gutenberg (good for finding classics and other popular stories)

The New Yorker (free 30-day trial and I think you get a few stories for free every month after ??)

Lightspeed (I’m not big on sci-fi/fantasy but trying to branch out!)

This loooooong list of literary magazines - not all are free, but many of them are

Write on the Tumblr app (or Notes). I may be one of the only freaks that does this, but I write every single one of my stories on mobile. I just prefer it to typing on a computer. It also may help with making the writing process seem less scary - at least for me, something I’m typing up on my phone doesn’t feel as “important” or intimidating as sitting down to stare at a blank computer screen or paper!

Find a beta reader/share with friends. I haven’t done this myself because I’m a PUSSY and still kinda scared to share my stories with people I know, but getting feedback from a semi-neutral third party can help improve your writing a ton! And also may be less scary than dropping your first fic to a whole online audience if you haven’t done it before !!

Follow whatever the fuck you feel inside at the moment and run. And run. And run. Seriously. I’ve heard this referred to as ‘pantsing’ (?), and it may not work for everyone, but I think some of my best stories came from a single dumbass idea (or even a line) that I let flow and grow and be whatever my brain wanted it to be. No planning or outlining. With ‘Cowboy Killers’ I just really, really, really wanted to use the line, “I’m gonna lay this motherfucker out” and have Reader throw a drink in Joel’s face, and that was it. No thoughts, just profanity and dumb, drunk antics. Don’t be afraid to start somewhere strange or random or really simple and build your story from there.

Speak your dialogue. Something that can be particularly tricky starting out is getting your dialogue to sound like real people are speaking it. You can have characters pontificating and waxing poetic all day long, but the truth is that most of us don’t talk in super long, flowery monologues. We use slang and sentence fragments and sometimes totally nonsensical sayings, and we struggle to find our words. Feature those things in your dialogue, and it should sound more natural, especially when you’re saying it out loud to yourself while you write.

I think this tip is from Stephen King (whose book on writing, cleverly titled On Writing, has some fantastic insight if you want more tips), but when it comes to picking an ending for your story, don’t go with the first one you think of. Odds are your reader is going to be thinking the same thing as you, and it’s nice to give them a little surprise if you can ;-)

There are SO many more pieces of advice you’ll glean over the years—just be patient with this process and with yourself and try to have fun with it!!! Alright shutting the fuck up now I hope this was helpful! Best of luck with your writing!!! 🫶🏼🩷🩷

[whatcha-reading-today]

Great reads of 2024

Bye 2024, while you were a long and grueling year but at least there were some great reads to pass the time. In total, I read 333 books according to goodreads. I read a ton of horror, sci-fi, romance, and horror romances and will list some of my favorites and surprises by genre.

Favorite horror stories:

For being creeped and disgusted. Most of these stories deal with some real world nastiness like homophobia, transphobia, and racism.

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle: Misha is a screenwriter being forced to kill his popular gay characters but what's that? His monsters are coming to life? Such a fucking blast.

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due: our MC is sent to a 'reformatory' where boys behaviors are 'corrected'. This is pretty horrific and forces the reader to confront the horrors of racism.

Compound Fracture & The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White: I recommend all three of AJW's books, CF is more thriller while TSBIT is full on body horror and violence.

Fluids by May Leitz: The most disgusting book I've read this year! Want to read about lesbians doing absolutely awful things to themselves and others due to desperation? This is for you!

The Library on Mount Char by Scott Hawkins: God has a bunch of children stuck in a library and bad shit is happening. Think a speedrun of Gideon and Harrow. Wild and fun.

The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo: This novella focuses on our nurse MC forced to help an Appalachian town in the 1920's. There's racism, transphobia, and some horrific transformation sequences. This has one of the most memorable sex scenes I've read this year.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters: A classic haunted house story. The creeping and building dread is so wonderful.

Favorite Romances:

These are sweet and fun romances. I enjoyed the audiobooks for each of these stories.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch: this is such a cute story that involves the princes of Christmas and Halloween. I'm not over that every time our Halloween prince curses silly plastic decorations appear.

Swift and Swaddled by Lyla Sage: Super sweet western romance with our golden retriever MMC and black cat FMC. Cute!

Favorite Horror Romances:

Come for the gorgeous covers, stay for the body horror, the rot, and violence that may end in romance.

Tenderly, I am Devoured by Lyndall Clipstone (ARC-TBR July 2025): gothic romance that I found so engrossingly written. Highly recommend if you're looking for an incredible gothic romance.

My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino: Leah wishes her brother away, at which point he's kidnapped by the Lord of the Wood and has to reclaim her brother. Beautiful and sad, more horror than romance.

Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt: This is cult horror, our MMC is a sacrifice slated for his father's cult and our FMC just wants to help.

Favorite Romantasies:

More fantasy than romance, these fantastical stories are both book 1 in a series and do a great job of setting the stage for some elaborate fantasy and eventual romances.

Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole: super fun, our FMC is a healer and the MMC is the prince and also a sort of demigod.

Nightstrider by Sophia Slade: This is a great start to a fantasy with two worlds--ours and a dream world. Little romance here but a really fantastical set up.

Favorite General Fiction:

Foster by Claire Keegan: this book is like 80 pages and is so good. We follow a girl sent to live with some older foster parents because her family are about to have another kid (I believe they already have like 9?). This was just so beautiful.

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg: An exploration of queerness, gender, and power in the 1990s. This is a tough read but such an important part of queer history.

Blackouts by Justin Torres: A conversation between an old and a young man who explore and examine what it means to be queer interspersed with blackout poetry.

Horse by Geraldine Brooks: This explores the life of a horse through multiple perspectives. I'm not a horse girlie and I can't stop thinking about this freaking horse.

Favorite Nonfiction:

Truman by David McCullough: this behemoth covers ALL of Truman's life from birth to death and between. I found it enlightening especially before visiting Hiroshima.

Who Would Believe a Prisoner?: Indiana's Women's Carceral Institutions, 1848-1920 by The Indiana Women's Prison History Project: This is a collection of published articles by inmates at Indiana Women's Prison on the history of Indiana's Women Prison. The abuse and the ugliness surrounding the history of the prison is well explored.

Who's Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler: I loved that Butler isn't fucking around this book. They postulate and describe where hatred and fear of gender come from and smashes every logical fallacy you can think of.

American Predator by Maureen Callahan: A detailed account of the murders and manhunt of Israel Keyes. Fast paced and quick true crime read.

Favorite Surprises:

These are all new authors for me. For all of these, I picked these up on a whim and was blown away.

The Theseus Duology by Mary Renault: a lovingly memoir-esque story of Theseus.

Death in the Spires by KJ Charles: this is a dark academia murder mystery. Think 'I know what you did last summer' but in old timely London. I've only read Charles' romances and oh boy was this a delight!

The Borrowed Hills by Scott Preston: this is about sheep farmers who plan a heist and things just go horribly wrong. So artfully written, such wonderful creeping dread.

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim: this is a courtroom thriller told from the perspective of several characters. Sort of slow moving in parts but I found this to be a breathtaking read.

[simon-roy]

The idea of logging on a colonized alien planet brings my mind back to the planet Lalonde from Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn books - a world that had very hard wood as its only meaningful export, and was also stuck developing its economy from agriculturalism (due to investment shortages, though).

All this is to say - Hey! What are some foundational inspirations for your sci fi verse? You gotta have some like recommendations of classic or older sci-fi for us, right? What are some of your suggestions of books and authors to read?

OK SO - My sci-fi tastes have sort of ended up in some very specific niches. Growing up, I was a Larry Niven +Jerry Pournelle man, in part because my dad amassed a huge collection of their books - then gave 90% of them away before i was old enough to read them. So one of my teenage missions was rebuilding that library, trash and all!

Stuff like Footfall, Ringworld, Gil "The Arm" Hamilton, Protector (yes i attempted to name a comic series similarly, and paid for it) "The Mote in God's Eye"... you name it, I read fuckloads of these books. And while they tend to land on a sort of human chauvinist "mankind will win based on his inherent adaptive human-ness, and the aliens will fail because of their rigid alien-ness", this shit was very foundational to me.

Their more collaborative series, The Man-Kzin Wars and War World, also loom large in my teenage mind. The Man-Kzin wars are super fun - humans meet a race of tiger-men, and go from being NWO peaceniks to roughneck cat-skinners in a generation! PEACE AND LOVE WONT DEFEAT TIGER MEN!

Similarly, war world (like lots of that 70s/80s military sci fi) was a sort of catch-all for western military nerds to play with their favorite factions - it was a planet where all the un-ruleable ethnic groups and nationalities had been deported by the authoritarian earth government, and left to rot... until a race of genetically engineered fascist super men land on the world, and start trying to rule the place. Pretty fun shit.

As I got older, I turned hard into William Gibson, and read the absolute shit out of both the Neuromancer trilogy and the Bridge trilogy, as well as his short stories. Bruce Sterling was part of that wave for me, too, and I religiously sought his old paperbacks out too. In terms of novels, "Distraction" is my favorite coherent Sterling Novel - though the short stories in the "Schismatrix" novel/collection of his remain my absolute favorite space opera pieces.

At this age, too, I found my top-top fave Sterling Stories - "Taklaman" and "Bicycle Repairman", both gritty pseudo-cyberpunk stories of the highest degree, in this collection:

This thousand-plus page collection of short stories and novellas was basically my bible for a few years - i put sticky notes on each story i loved and meant to return to, until the book was so festooned with sticky note bookmarks i abandoned the practice altogether. If you have the chance, just buy this book and chew on it for a few years.

As i got into my 20s, Charles Stross became my lode star - his books like Accelerando and Glasshouse were total game changers for me. They come with their own peculiarities, but I loved his transhuman/posthuman musings (or at least i was obsessed with his stuff for a good few years - the venn diagram of his obvious interests and my own overlapped enough that his books were great fodder for a growing sci-fi loving brain).

But since then, my main literary squeeze has been the great man, JACK VANCE. Working on Prophet, my friend @cmkosemen made a remark about how much the early issues of the series reminded him of a book series called "Planet of Adventure" or "the Tschai Cycle", by Jack Vance. The book has a beautifully simple setup - a man from an entirely undescribed spacefaring human civilization crash-lands onto a weird planet. But on that planet, he finds four separate civilizations, each who possess a population of enslaved humans, culturally and physically molded to the needs of their masters. And each book of this series covers our generic hero's interactions with each bizarre expoitative culture. I was extremely intrigued.

Soon thereafter, I found my current absolute favorite book - "THE DRAGON MASTERS". A book about an isolated medieval world... which gets visited, once every few generations, by a black pyramid starship, flown by a reptilian race known as the Greph. The greph capture humans to (surprise surprise) breed them into hyper specific slaves... who in turn become Greph-like in their thinking and demeanours. But the last time the BLACK PYRAMID landed, a bunch of angry medieval dudes stormed the thing, blew it up, and captured a bunch of greph... who became the breeding stock for a whole new human world of slave labour. By the time we meet this planet, the two rival lords of the human-populated regions have been breeding greph slave warriors, or "dragons", for generations, for combat against one another. But soon, the black pyramid will return...

I love this book I even spent a good few months during covid talking with the Vance Estate and several publishers about developing it into a graphic novel, but nobody could quite agree on how it could get made with old Simon getting a paycheque... so sadly it fell apart. There are concept drawings floating around my patreon and other corners of the internet. But one day I'll use 'em...

My other favorite books of his, to name a couple of the MANY books of his I love:

THE BLUE WORLD: A caste system of humans, descended from a crashed prison ship, live on floating settlements on an ocean planet, paying protection to a giant long-lived intelligent crustacean. But one man is tired of giving up all his crops to this tyrannical megafauna...

THE MIRACLE WORKERS: Rival lords on a planet descended to medieval tech (surprise surprise) fight using armies... and rival SORCERORS who employ the powers of suggestion to voodoo each others' warriors... but when facing non-human intelligences, these sorceror's skills fall short.

But there are heaps more, and I love most (thought not all) of the ones i've read. They're generally short, concise, and full of all sorts of bizarre bullshit.

THere are more books i've read and enjoyed in my life, of course, but these are the core ones that I think of when I think of my career as a sci-fi reader... let me know what your top recs are!

[withlovelunette]

writeblr introduction!

I really want to make writer friends so I’ve recently decided to involve myself more in the online space! Feel free to interact with the post if you’re a writing/writing craft blog so I can give you a follow!

About my writing / favourite genres to read

- Fairytales and folklore are very central in both my own writing and what I enjoy to read.

- Literary fiction with morally grey or even morally reprehensible characters.

- Mythology incorporated into the story.

- Classic and gothic literature are also some of my favourites to read!

- Fantasy (usually classics) and sci-fi, though I don’t write a lot of sci-fi myself.

- Not much of a romance reader, but I enjoy a good romance subplot and period pieces, as well as queer themes!

- Steampunk settings :)

About myself

I’m a norwegian-icelandic writer, but I primarily write in english. I’m a huge book lover and folklore enthusiast, to the point where I’m currently studying it in university. I’m also an artist in my spare time, and have an interest in philosophy, psychology and (personality) typology! I’m game tag friendly and more than happy to talk about writing craft and personal projects. Hopefully I’ll be able to make posts about my WIPs one day, but I’m hoping to make some friends on here regardless!

Updated with WIPs list!

Matryoshka Doll & Wooden Soldiers (WIP)

A fairytale retelling of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King! Tag: #md&ws

Animal Arbiter (WIP)

A gothic folk-horror novella! Tag: #animal arbiter