#stjohnstarling

[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"!

[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. 

[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?

[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...

[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.

[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]

[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]

[emrowene]

Webserials and Why You Should Read Them

Welcome to a short primer on webserials! The concept behind them is pretty simple: webserials, also called webnovels or webfiction, are serialized online novels. If you read long fanfics OR webcomics, you're probably already familiar with the concept. Authors release new chapters on a fixed basis, usually one chapter a week (but sometimes more, sometimes less).

You can find webserials in several places: on big platforms like tapas and royalroad, on individual authors' websites or patreons, or on newsletter platforms like substack.

So now we know what webserials are, but why should we support them?

Because webserials are fun. Because webserial authors are sharing amazing works online for free! Because the publishing industry is disproportionately hard to get into for queer and marginalized folks, and those are the people writing webserials.

To climb a little higher onto my soapbox, I believe webserials are the future of accessible and diverse publishing. There's been more and more discussion about the problems with traditional publishing: how publishers are turning it into a "fast fashion" industry, spitting out books while overall book quality decreases. Regardless of whether you believe that, it's true that the industry prioritizes "marketability" over anything else. Experimental books, passion projects, books that have a lot of heart but no pithy "tropes" -- they stand little chance in the world of traditional publishing, and self-publishing is incredibly inaccessible for most of us. It's expensive, but more than that, it takes an incredible amount of time and effort. It's a business, and at the end of the day, some of just want to share the stories we love with people we hope will love them too. And that's the beauty of webserials!

One complaint I've seen about webserials is that "you never know what the quality will be like" - and I've seen this from people who regularly read fanfiction! Like fanfiction writers, we have our beta readers, we have our editors, we pour our hearts into developing our stories. So give us a try!!

Some recs and places to get started under the cut:

My webserials:

Fractured Magic - A queer epic fantasy series about a broken hero’s hunt for redemption and an elven prince’s quest to rescue his kidnapped king. The two estranged friends are racing against time - and dead gods - to achieve their goals. Will they make up and work together before it’s too late? (This story is currently ongoing)

The Case Files of Sheridan Bell - An old-school detective mystery set in Tamarley, a fantastical city with magical murders and doors to other worlds. Basically (queer, autistic) Sherlock Holmes but with more faeries. The first mystery is complete; the second will be published soon!

Some other webserials I follow/followed from start to finish:

What Manner of Man by @stjohnstarling - a queer gothic romance novel about a priest and a vampire.

The Warthog Report by @warthogreporter- this substack contains a selection of nonfiction writing, misc. fiction writings, and Battles Beneath The Stars, a serialized story about a tournament in a fantasy world, styled like a fighting game script/walkthrough.

Kiss it Better by DogshitJay - A (definitely 18+) queer adult romance about the messy endings and messier beginnings of love.

Warrior of Hearts by Beau Van Dalen - a queer slice of life romance following an online friendship that blossoms into something more. (Beau has lots of other great webserials as well!)

More places to look:

Tapas (Community novels page)

Royalroad (mostly known for its litrpg scene, but you can find other novels and genres here as well!)

The ao3 "Original Works" tag!

[concerningwolves]

Things I have done since I started reading What Manner of Man by @stjohnstarling (just hit the 50% mark in the ebook :3)

Let many cups of tea go cold

Burnt the onions and garlic I was caramelising because I just Had to Keep Reading while cooking dinner

Had a fifteen minute study break Mysteriously metamorphose into an hour

Stayed up far too late reading

Things I regret:

None of them

Truly, zero regrets

I'm enjoying this book so so much

Also the pomegranate scene made me slap the table in sheer delight (if you know then you know. If you don't know: go find out)

Seriously. If you fancy a queer gothic horror novel inspired by Dracula I wholeheartedly recommend What Manner of Man

Now, if you'll excuse me— [incoherent screaming as I forcibly yank myself away from the book to go do Important Adulting Work]

[ramlightly]

Have you or will you read @stjohnstarling's What Manner Of Man? It seems like it might be right down your lane with the whole priest and demon kink thing.

@stjohnstarling's What Manner Of Man? The sequential queer gothic romance novel involving a priest having an illicit relationships with a dark nocturnal lord? That's currently starting the serialization again today so you can sign up and get to read the chapters daily ala Daily Dracula??? That you can read if you click this link right here?

The answer is yes. I'm actually in the middle of reading it now and I've been enjoying it!

[beastlyartblog]

PASSIONS OF WHICH WE WERE TOO MUCH AFRAID

rather haunted-looking Father Ardelian from What Manner of Man by @stjohnstarling (winged version)

[the-golden-comet]

If you like a writer specializing in gay romances, gay art, music, and positive vibes, definitely swing by and say hi! 👋

I’m sick of being told that tumblr is dead and new artists/writers can’t thrive on here. This is the only website that has ever supported my work - work that is too queer, erotic, and genuinely subversive to survive the omnipresent corporate algorithm. The fact that there are people out there making posts and memes and fanart about my book blows my mind. 

(Staff has done everything in their power to run this website into the ground, so I don’t want to heap uncritical praise on them of course.)

[fellamarsh]

another thing i've been trying to do recently is read more self-published stuff. "but fell," you say, "you're a self-published author. surely you've been reading self-published stuff all along" and then i laugh for so long in response we both become uncomfortable.

see, the fear (which has for a long time been killing my mind) that i'll read other self-published stuff and find out that it's so much better than mine that i might as well stop writing forever kept me from doing that basically ever. i have a hard time not unfavorably comparing my work to others and had convinced myself i was being smart by withholding an avenue of de-motivation (reader: i was not being smart). it also doesn't help that i'm pretty low income and have a hard time spending money on books i haven't already read, and that self-published stuff isn't always available at the library---but really a lot of it was just me being a coward. which i'm working on. i could talk about how this particular cowardice is Very Silly, but i think enough has been said about it on writeblr and in the Writing Space in general that i don't feel the need to (though i will if anyone wants me to).

instead, i wanna talk about the self-published things i have read in the past few months and ask about the self-published things you love!

so: what happened was i got real sick, and while i was real sick i (naturally) read over 200,000 words of ace attorney fan fiction in the span of a few days. eventually i got bored of it (and also maybe annoyed at how people were characterizing some of my guys), but i still wanted to read something gay and romantic and nice, something i knew was gonna end happily, which isn't my typical fare.

now you may be saying (having gotten over all the uncomfortable laughter from earlier) "fell, you write gay romance. what do you mean that's not your typical fare?" listen. until a couple months ago i hadn't read a cut and dry romance novel since before i finished college. for context: i graduated in 2015. i know it doesn't make sense. i'm a guy who doesn't make sense.

but in this case it worked to my advantage. not the not making sense thing, but the not having read Published Romance in 1000 years thing. I didn't know where to start. I was very skeptical of everything the library had Available Now in the Gay Fantasy Romance category. what if it was all bad and also not good?

and then i scrolled past the familiar cover of our very own @ashen-crest's A Rival Most Vial.

now this was comfortable territory! this was a novel by a very nice writeblr person whose posts i enjoy! i already loosely knew the plot, i was familiar with the characters, i knew the names of things like rosemond street and the griffin's claw and that ambrose had blue hair and that at the end of it all there would definitely be Boyfriends. i didn't have to worry that this would be bad! i only had to worry that it would be really good!

but i wasn't worried about that, because i was officially Not Writing at the time, and because why the hell hadn't i read this book yet Ash literally emailed me some very kind words last year when my cat died??

Y'all, I devoured ARMV. If you haven't read it yet---especially if cozy fantasy is more your thing than it is mine---you should check it out Immediately. It was fun! It was heartwarming! It was sweet and earnest and confident! I was delighted to find it was occasionally hot! Ambrose and Eli snuggled up into my sick exhausted heart and found a permanent little place there. (Especially Ambrose. I have such a thing for Stiff Guys who Kind of Suck for Tragic Backstory Reasons and are So So Lonely They Don't Even Realize It. gawd)

(And a very small part of my brain spent the whole time wondering why I had been so afraid to really engage with the work my community is doing. The community that I'm in. The one I'm a part of. Why?! Maybe more on that later.)

But from there the curse was broken! I immediately devoured @stjohnstarling's What Manner of Man in a similar sort of frenzy (and hooooly shit guys am I excited for the expanded, finalized version to come out at the end of next month!) and started digging into @lurinatftbn's The Flower that Bloomed Nowhere (which I can already tell is going to be an All Time Favorite).

And now I want to ask you what your favorite self-published books are so that I can read them, too, but I think I will in another post that doesn't dedicate so much space to talking about my various and sundry Issues and isn't Terminally Long