#stjohnstarling

[ganymedian]

Sorry mister Klimt for drawing your Kiss over and over again but listen . Lord Vane and Father Ardelian

[saintmachina]

May I request a fragrance?

Oh for you St John? Of course!

I must, simply must recommend, even though it might be cliche, Avignon from Comme des Garcon's incense line.

The recognizable smells of frankincense and myrrh open the high mass of Avignon, giving way to the almost eye-smarting, gloriously smoky and resinous heart. A dry vanilla and soft Roman chamomile dull the edges of this reverent fragrance. Beautiful, dark and mysterious.

You also strike me as someone who could really wear or perhaps just appreciate Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade by Etat Libre d'Orange. Apparently, it smells almost entirely of cistus flower (or labdanum), and I've never smelled it myself, but it has a cult following among the fearless.

[elegomez]

Pet play

Writing: 8/10, mostly did a pony play (stretching the definition a bit) piece where the pony play was also a metaphor for the Russian conquest of Central Asia. Would do again, but who knows if that'll make it into the final draft. For dogs and cats - it mostly depends on how it's framed, some writing can squick me out, other's fine, I haven't really gotten to try it.

Personal: ???/10

It turns out that if my higher brain capacity turns off the only thing I want to do is bite. Viciously. As a childhood playmate found out the hard way. While I think pretending to be a German Shepherd practicing bites would be a very funny scene, I don't think I or my Sir would actually get anything but some fucked up joints from it. Watching from the outside is mostly meh for me.

--related mindfuck story! Sir once had a sub who was into petplay! She got a new puppy, and he brought over some milk bones for it. When they started playing for the evening, he had her sit, reached down into the box, and offered one to her. She hesitated, he insisted, she slooowly took it and held it between her teeth until he ordered her to eat it.

Unbeknownst to her, he'd taped some Scooby Snacks to the inside of box.

[whatsuptyler]

Death Won't Stop for Death for the WIP title ask game?

OH BOY OH BOY. so this one is nicknamed "angry dead guy" (and "Death Won't Stop for Death" isn't likely to be final title either). I did some drafting on this to brainstorm, but the long story short is that a man, in trying to protect some friends, gets himself in over his head... and dies.

But death, for Matthew, is not the end. And now that he's dead, he's pissed and he wants to fight back.

Here's a bit of a snippet from when I was brainstorming for it:

It was hard to avoid thinking about the weight of morality when one found themselves dying by the teeth of a beast from Hell. The clichés had all seemed to apply—at first. His life had flashed before his eyes. Things had begun to go dark. But there had been pain. So much excruciating pain. For some reason, he had always thought that death would be like falling asleep. Drifting away into that eternal slumber. It had hurt far too much for that. Until, suddenly, he hadn't felt anything.

Bonus lore: I plan for him to also be a side character in "Death March"!

[indecentpause]

READ THIS BOOK HOLY SHIT IT IS SO GOOD

THANK YOU, by the way!!! 🦇🎉

I made a post about What Manner of Man qualifying for this thing back when nominations were open, but a lot was happening at the time and I'm honestly touched that some people took the trouble to actually do it.

[eruwaedhiel-in-an-impardis]

Omg this little gay priest is killing me, I am equal parts cackling over his naive closeted antics and sobbing over his extreme homoerotic guilt. Being so deep in the closet you don't even realize you're gay to yourself and being so devout you can't even begin to examine queerness in general muchless your own--really striking a chord with me. It's like reading my own diary right before my journey. This man's entire life is about to get recontextualized from fucking birth like he was beaned with a rainbow kaleidoscope and I am *here* for it.

Also the entirely serious unwittingly deeply erotic descriptions of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are so on point, like...baby girl, are you hearing yourself right now?

[digby-official]

near future speculative fiction set on the eve of a third trump term, couched in suffocating layers of apocalyptic imagery. just before midnight a 22-year-old barron (the last trump) gets sucked off by a guy named gabriel

[florasongs]

I bought an indie novel from an author after reading his Dracula Daily-style periodical all in one go (which was only 6 chapters, because it’s brand spanking new), and they’re both so out of my normal field of fiction, but so much fun to read...

[nothwell]

From Victorian penny dreadfuls to 21st century fanfiction and everything between and beyond, St John Starling chats with Sebastian Nothwell about serial fiction, Gothic romance, and bold strategies for telling stories.

St John Starling (he/him) is the author of the queer Gothic romances What Manner of Man and The Sacred Sins of Father Black. You can connect with him here @stjohnstarling and join his newsletter at stjohnstarling.substack.com

Sebastian Nothwell (he/him) is the author of Oak King Holly King, Mr Warren's Profession, Fiorenzo, and other queer romance novels. You can connect with him at sebastiannothwell.com

[sweetlyfez]

Thank you @stjohnstarling for sharing this in today's newsletter

"Some words I have found helpful to think about, from Margaret Killjoy’s Nov. 6th newsletter: "A therapist friend of mine reiterates to me all the time that acting with agency is the primary way to avoid being traumatized by negative experiences. Whether you win or lose, the act of fighting is enough to help our brains process what has happened.""

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

can you recommend your favourite queer historical/fantasy novels or series for me?? desperate for some new books to read 🙏

Anon I'm so mad, I had a couple of rec lists floating around but what do you know, tumblr has eaten them!! So I'm putting together a new one for you. I should pin this somewhere really.

Queer historical romances

Anything by Cat Sebastian. Seriously. Anything. My personal favourite series is "Seducing the Sedgwicks", and her two most recent 50s-set books are both exceptional.

Equally, anything by KJ Charles. Again, they're all brilliant, so it doesn't really matter where you start. I really liked Band Sinister.

Olivia Waite does lovely f/f historical romances. I really enjoyed The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics.

Sebastian Nothwell (hello @nothwell) writes brilliant historical romances (and also has a couple of fantasy romances too). Planning a re-read of some of his when I've actually got time 😅

Solomon's Crown by Natasha Siegel, loved this one a lot

The Gentleman's Book of Vices by Jess Everlee (there's a f/f sequel coming out soon!)

Queer fantasy romance

I am utterly obsessed with A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows. I loved it. It's like it was crafted just for me. Also, the sequel just came out!

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland, SO indulgent and tropey and fun, I had a blast reading it. (hello @ariaste). Also, Alexandra's next book is about to come out - it's called Running Close to the Wind and its about PIRATES. YES.

The Last Binding series by Freya Marske. Absolute best of the best. Everyone loves them.

(See also, Swordcrossed, also by Freya Marske, coming out later this year)

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh. Short, sweet, and engrossing. Finishing this book is like stepping into sunlight for the first time after being lost in the woods for hours.

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. It's a classic for a reason.

Queer fantasy/sci-fi with romantic elements, but isn't a straight-up romance

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune. I cried.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree, extremely cosy domestic fantasy in the traditional D&D style, about an orc who sets up a coffee shop.

A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock. Frankenstein-style horror but with queer people and plants. More horror than fantasty, tbh.

Our Hideous Progeny by C E McGill (waving at @c-e-mcgill) is classic gothic horror/sci-fi, but this one is Frankenstein but with dinosaurs. And queer people. Very light background romance. Loved it.

OH WAIT ETA: What Manner of Man by @stjohnstarling - not sure if this fits your needs as its more horror romance than anything else, but its basically "dracula, but gay", and it's very good.

[ganymedian]

Some more Lord Vane??!!!? @stjohnstarling @beastliness

Inspired by leyendecker of course

[lycanlovebites]

Dearest sister Vera,

oh my fucking god. Oh my god. jesus fucking christ. oh my god. Fucking shit jesus fuck oh my fucking jesus fucking christ. god in heaven. holy fucki ng shit.

Faithfully yours in Christ,

Fr. Victor Ardelian

(Aka here’s some art of Victor Going Through It. Those uh. Those demons of yours, Victor.. the deeply repressed gay thoughts demonic influence… uh how’s that uh going for you right now??)

[character by @stjohnstarling. Also apologies for tagging you in so many of my posts good sir. In my defense I have a devastating hyperfixation on WMOM and the gay little priest]

[sunlaire]

9 Books I want to read in 2025: tagged by @johnnyy-guitarr and @futuristicdoormats789 (thank y'all, I've been wanting to sit down and do this all week, this was really fun ahhh <333)

An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean, Antarctic Survivor by Michael Smith (let's gooooo, when I saw there was a crean book I added it to my list, hype hypehype)

I May Be Some Time by Francis Spufford

What Manner of Man by @stjohnstarling (vampire seduces priest, yes thank you, I will be reading that)

Ada Blackjack by Jennifer Niven

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid (listen, I could only hear Jacob geller reference it so many times before I succumbed to curiosity)

Shackleton's Boat Journey by Frank Worsley (and after this, I want to read his Endurance book too)

The Wager by David Grann

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

This Savage Kingdom by @dravenscroft

Tagging: @antarcticlovebirds @moongazeonastarfillednight @incesthemes @strogoff-era and bonus, because I think it would be really funny if they responded @pjackk (if any of y'all have already done this,,, sorry. But also could you link me to the post? I'm a curious person 👀)

[beastliness]

me when I'm editing: Father Ardelian is teeny tiny 🤏 borrower-sized

@stjohnstarling reviewing my edits: he is literally not that short. he is only slightly smaller than average

me: Father Ardelian carries all his possessions in a thimble and he sleeps in a matchbox

St John: HE IS A NORMAL HEIGHT FOR AN ADULT HUMAN

me: [currently in the act of inserting a line where Danny folds him in a handkerchief and sticks him in her pocket]

[the-golden-comet]

Yep. That’s my Modus Operandi 💫

Peter Hart is available both online for free, and on Amazon Kindle eBooks for $5.00, but I always direct my audience to my AO3 first. I treat my Amazon Kindle as optional supplementary income, and I am thankful I can do that (although I ALWAYS appreciate when people support me further by purchasing a digital copy)

Why? Because I care about people enjoying my stories more than anything else. I am honored to write as a hobby. But, I also know my worth as an author, plus I get additional copyright protection on my IPs. I didn’t want to do Patreon or Kofi, because I don’t want to promise a product or put my writing on a crunchy deadline. I can write on my own time, freely, and that is so liberating 💖

Instead, since it’s on Amazon, I can say, “Hey, you don’t have to buy my book. It’s available for free on AO3. However, if you wanna show additional support, you can do it here.”

The best way people can pay me is through their interactions, their love of my story, and even in some cases their fanart/fanfictions. As an author, it means DEEPLY to me that my stories inspired you to create more art. That’s what art is all about; sharing our loves and inspirations. If I can move someone to the point of drawing Peter, or their favorite scene, or even making a fanfiction/fanwork, that’s the highest honor I could ever ask for 💖💫

YOU! 🫵 ONLINE INDIE AUTHOR!

Have you considered simply posting your story online for free?

If you widen your scope of awareness beyond the realm of books, most natively online creators (your favourite YouTubers and podcasters, webcomics, Homestuck, etc.) have something they initially made for free.

When you publish a book, you’re left sitting there waiting and fretting, you see purchases and a few reviews, but you don’t get a lot of reader reaction.

Whereas, if you were to post a chapter at a time online for free, you can see people keeping up with it, you get live reactions, it’s a much interactive, more communal experience.

If your background is fanfiction, you already have experience doing this!

If you’re expecting a handful of sales per month and that income isn’t vital to you, you might be trading the lion’s share of the enjoyment of writing for the price of a few cups of coffee.

If you have a serious commitment to making writing your career and your source of income, this post isn’t about you. I’m talking to those who look into yourselves and find your goal is to have your writing read and shared, and to participate in a community of like-minded peers

I think online writing communities would be so much healthier if there was more separation between hobby and commercial writing, and authors didn’t feel pressured to go professional. 

People are taking a risk by reading your book, gambling on the time and effort they put in being worthwhile, and that risk becomes way lower when the book is free.