#also this would be like a middle grade novel probably

[lost-tardis-room]

in a way thirteen getting stuck in that space rhino prison for tenth months immediately after timeless children is almost a good thing because they reeeeeeeeally needed some time to stop and process that

#i mean obviously it's miserable and lonely and sucks but she probably wouldntve been in the best headspace if there was a whole bunch more #life-or-death fate-of-whole-planets after that yknow #enforced self reflection time #also the way they start reciting h*rry p*tter to themself as a bedtime story is such an iconically thirteen moment yknow? #like only thirteen would pick a middle grade fantasy novel

[chirpingchorus]

chirp

(long and silly rant in tags so maybe don't open them if you're scrolling at a leisurely pace)

#chirp #the photos aren't enough... #i say with 25 queued... #inane and sudden desire to become a gifmaker has overtaken me :0 #would probably take a lot more time + effort than what i already do but i imagine most of these photos have been posted before... #so even if i've never seen them around i sometimes feel bad in posting them #i don't really watch many concerts though #whereas i read the interviews just to try and see what inspired the songs. good album recs from the band. so on so forth. #its worth it bc every few years they'll get an interviewer who's a total music theory nut #still love the guy who confronted thom about his use of pedal tones.... and geeked out about the creep progression. he gets me. #not to mention seeing all the people who interviewed them in their early days bring up stuff like pop is dead ten years later just because #and then there's the fun facts like nigel telling them they couldn't eat until they were done with 2 + 2 = 5. mad dog selway. #thom insisting 5 or 6 times so far that hail to the thief is a sexy record... why... but you get the idea #not sure why i'm saying any of this or what the Point of this set of tag ramblings is supposed to be uhh. #maybe i'll make gifs in the future but there are a lot more interviews to go... and lots of old ones i want to look at again... #and even more to chase down if they're not up on citizeninsane. so i might be all rh'd out (impossible) by then. #i'm also not reading the interviews For the photos or ''clout''... it's for the anecdotes. my doc for notes on them is literally the size o #a middle grade novel... Oops ! but yeah the photos are pretty recent. i've been at this since like december on and off. #and who knows maybe i will grow tired of the pictures or they will somehow cease to be entertaining! #or i will get a life and not spend hours a day reading interviews... it's not too bad an addiction. cause i'll be done soon.

[yurislotusgarden]

TEACHER/PROFESSOR!DAZAI HC'S

ʚїɞ There are hc's just about teacher Dazai but also some including reader so-

ʚїɞ Dazai x reader

ʚїɞ Keep in mind English is not my first language, so you may find mistakes!

ʚїɞ word count: 845

ʚїɞ My current ongoing Christmas event

ʚїɞ Part 2

ʚїɞ Tw’s: None! Just some regular fluff and stuff

ཐིཋྀ The teacher that all students love

ཐིཋྀ Whatever he would be teaching, no one would mind the subject because he manages to make anything interesting

ཐིཋྀ Speaking of, depending on what institute he teaches at, his subject would differ

ཐིཋྀ If he was in middle/high school he would probably be an English teacher (yes he would be the one to tell the class to read books in English but no one would complain because he’d choose interesting ones)

ཐིཋྀ I feel like he would be a professor at a university more though, he’s giving the vibes of a literature teacher, I would say (still could be the English professor ngl but I think only if there was no free spot for a literature one)

(Yes I know many people who write teacher!Dazai make him a literature prof but it just fits this man)

ཐིཋྀ Let's go with the university professor because I have more ideas for that

ཐིཋྀ There’s only 2 options for cheating

ཐིཋྀ There's absolutely no way you're cheating in his class if he doesn’t let you, probably will allow it ONLY if he likes you though💀

ཐིཋྀ Or he would be one of the teachers who would turn a blind eye to it if he sees that you need a better grade at the moment (if you're cheating while having good grades then that's a no-no)

ཐིཋྀ I picture him wearing black gloves, but I'm blaming it on the Beast novel where he has them

ཐིཋྀ Fucker almost never sits in the actual chair when one would expect him to do it (like when students are writing a test)

ཐིཋྀ He just straight up sits on the edge of his desk or on top and does his stuff in silence

ཐིཋྀ While teaching he either sits on the edge of the desk or walks around a little

ཐིཋྀ Cracks jokes all the time and people always laugh at them or at least smile because he knows when to say them and what kind fits the moment

ཐིཋྀ His students would accidentally find out that he has a drawer with sweets (he sometimes uses it for bribery, for example ‘you turn your work in on time = a candy for you’ when he assigns a hard project, it works)

ཐིཋྀ If Chuuya teaches at the same place then no one is escaping their bickering, the students actually made a bet on how long it would take before Chuuya hits Dazai for one of his insults

ཐིཋྀ There was also another bet that came about after the previous one

ཐིཋྀ At first, students were curious if Dazai was taken because 'how would someone like that not be in a relationship guys, he has to!'

ཐིཋྀ Little did they know some other professor heard it and told Dazai about it so he gave subtle hints but not clear enough, confusing people even more

ཐིཋྀ Going back to the gloves part, he once had to take them off because ‘they got dirty’ right before a break, revealing a ring on his left hand, causing the class at the time to erupt in chaos

ཐིཋྀ “Oh, I forgot to tell you all that I'm married? My bad, guys!” -he said right before he slipped out of the class for his lunch break

ཐིཋྀ The whole school knew he was married the very same day 

ཐིཋྀ Then came the other bet, ‘Who is he married to?’

ཐིཋྀ Some students proposed other professors, others said that it could be someone whom they had never seen, and someone else thought it might be a joke from Dazai's side because he found out about the previous bet

ཐིཋྀ They knew it was real when Chuuya of all people confirmed it 

“Sir I have a question, it's unrelated to the lesson though”

“Don't worry about it, what is the question?”

“Is it true that Professor Dazai is married?”

“Yeah, why?”

“HAH?!”

ཐིཋྀ Yeah he also confirmed it was someone they most likely hadn’t met as the brunet’s spouse works somewhere else/stays at home

ཐིཋྀ They would meet you because you either came to Dazai's classroom because mf forgot his lunch or a few of his students came to the room in the middle of a break, and you were there for some reason (in the 2nd option they probably asked you to come to class once so the class can meet you. They adore you either way)

ཐིཋྀ When it comes to you, Dazai is probably so goddamn soft that if any of his students saw him, they would think it's someone else trying to impersonate him

ཐིཋྀ You make him bentos and stuff and he never fails to eat them <3

ཐིཋྀ He appreciates it so goddamn much when you help him when he has a lot of stuff to grade at once because he procrastinated it 

ཐིཋྀ It can be making sure he isn't dehydrated, doesn't forget to eat or sleep, or even help in grading anything 

ཐིཋྀ Give him those forehead kisses after a long day, don't be shy, I dare you he’s so weak for them

ཐིཋྀ I recommend running your fingers through his hair while he's lying down on top of you or on your lap, he will melt

Notes, comments, and reblogs are greatly appreciated

#yuri changing banners? nah #may write more hc's if ppl like this ngl #writing this bs was more easy than it should #blaming the brainrot #bsd x reader #bsd x gender neutral reader #bsd #bsd x y/n #bsd x you #x reader #bungo stray dogs #dazai x reader #bsd dazai #dazai osamu #school au

[joshusten]

honeysuckle (guy/honey, redacted audios)

Guy is having not-so-wholesome thoughts about his recently turned roommate-to-lover.

NSFW CONTENT!! (minors dni pls!)

(suggestive, making out, dirty thoughts, implied sexual content at the end)

3.2k+ words [ao3 link] [masterlist]

[cw/notes: idk man guy is horny and theres a lot of horny stuff but it's not SUPER explicit (i think) and plsplsss im asking for feedback bc this is the first time writing something this suggestive hope u enjoy!! OH also as always theres probably grammatical errors and guy might be OOC]

A HUGEEE thank you to the wonderful @slushiepizza for all the amazing suggestions and support throughout writing this fic!! this rlly would not be finished without ur help thank you for ur service in providing quality guy/honey content SHAKING U RN ILY!!!

Guy is a daydreamer.

Ask anyone who knows him, from his grade school teachers to his apartment neighbors, and they can attest that Guy never seems to run out of topics to talk about. Never a dull moment, much less a dull idea to mull over when he’s around.

In fact, his imagination is something he prides himself in. After all, as an aspiring writer, it’s what gives the very soul of all of the stories he wants to share with the world—whether it’s the exciting plot of a potential novel he has been writing (and rewriting) all night throughout the week or an epic fantasy he was able to make up on the top of his head and narrate to the kids by the playground of the middle-school he makes deliveries to.

Guy is a daydreamer. 

And it might be the very trait that would be the root of his current predicament.

Slow hands, languid movements

“Does this feel good, Honey?”

Heavy breaths, sharp gasps

“You can get r-rougher, babe. I can take it…”

Warm bodies, warmer lips

“M-mhm, Guy…”

Fuck. Their lips…

“Guy?”

Fuck.

“Guy!”

Fuck.

“Hello? Earth to Guy? You with us, buddy?”

Shit. Fuck. Fucking shit.

“Wh-wha-what? H-hi! Yeah, of course I am. I am here. On the earth. Present. With you guys,” Guy cleared his throat awkwardly after seeing the unconvinced, deadpan looks on his co-workers' faces. Rosa specifically had her brow raised in suspicion to which Guy responded with a nervous smile. “Uh, what’s up?”

“What’s up,” The woman repeated, “Is your constant staring into space! You almost burned the dough if it weren’t for me keeping an eye on you! I’m used to your head in another world but you’ve barely said a word for the past few hours!” The others nodded in agreement. 

Rosa's hard eyes softened, “Is everything okay with you? Something botherin’ you or what?”

Right. Dough. Pizza. He’s making pizza. He’s kneading dough. The flour clinging to his hands suddenly felt heavier, the scent of basil overwhelmed his nose and the chattering of the customers increased in volume but that meant that everything was starting to make sense. He took in his surroundings, which were quickly clearing up for him, to finally decipher that he was still in Max’s, in the kitchen and it was still his shift.

Definitely not with his recent roommate-to-lover and definitely not in their dimmed bedroom, straddling them on their bed with a delightfully sinful expression painted on their face as his shaky hands slowly creep up between their—

Oh my god.

The very thought of them already leaves Guy's legs feeling like jelly. These daydreams had been a problem for him for quite some time. It wasn't like it was a crime to get all hot and bothered over his partner! Yet, lately, an unexplainable sense of shame builds inside him whenever his mind wanders to more…impure scenarios with them. 

Because despite what anyone might think of him and how he jokes about it, he's a little scared of being intimate with someone—no—with Honey.

Oh fuck, someone asked him a question.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Just a lil’ tired, I guess.”

And he isn’t lying, really. The fatigue of making pizzas and serving tables was no joke and, with all the very interesting fantasies occupying his mind, his shift slightly just got more difficult to get through than what he was used to. (Thank god he's not on delivery duty right now. He's self-aware enough to know he would get into an accident with his current situation)

His co-workers still looked suspicious but accepted his answer nonetheless, hurriedly going back to their tasks to avoid the wrath of their manager. The man let out a sigh of relief as he resumed his own tasks for the day.

As his grueling shift came closer to an end, he was more than ready to take the apron off and get the absolute fuck out of that kitchen.

—

Guy might actually be the first person in all of Dahlia to dread coming home to an apartment that he shared alongside his (literal!) dream partner who was waiting for him after a long, tiring day at work.

Honey, who was all bundled up in a blanket on the couch, paused the show playing on the T.V. to face their boyfriend and properly greet him, “Hey, welcome home. How’s work?”

“It was shit. Did you eat already?”

He saw them already heading their way to their small kitchen, reaching for something in the refrigerator. “Yeah, I left some for you in the fridge. We can heat it up if you want?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I ate back at the restaurant. What are you watchin’?” But before he could get a reply, Guy’s body stiffened when he felt a light shock from where Honey had suddenly touched his upper arm. 

Light touches.

Heavy panting.

Hot air.

“Oh, f-fuck, Guy. Do that again, hon. Please. Don’t stop, don’t—”

“ —think I didn’t hear you, mister! What do you mean your day was shit?” If Honey had noticed their boyfriend flinching at the mere tap on his shoulder, they didn’t comment on it. 

“U-uhm,” He coughed and shrugged lamely to hide his reaction. “Just the usual stuff.” The man put down all his stuff on the nearby coffee table. “C-can I just lay on your chest for a while? If it’s okay with you.”

Despite Honey’s aloofness, they can recognize when their partner is truly in need (And who could say no when their boyfriend’s usual chaotic self sounds so adorable being shy?) The gentleness in their gaze was enough to calm Guy’s frazzled mind, even just for a bit, before sitting on the sofa and patting on the empty spot beside them, albeit looking quite unsure on how to comfort him.

“C’mere. Do…do you wanna talk about it?"

Guy simply shakes his head before letting himself crash onto the couch and into his beloved's (with the second "e" pronounced!) welcoming arms—or, at least, what welcoming might look on Honey. He can feel the rigidness of their posture, remembering how awkward they can be with physical touch, yet here they are, going out of their comfort zone just to make sure he feels better. 

It makes him guiltier to know why he was acting like this in the first place.

“Can you…talk about your day instead, Honey?” 

They rolled their eyes with a fond smile, “Fine, but don’t think I’m letting go of it that easily, m’kay?” 

As Honey recounts the events of their day (which honestly isn't much), their stiff demeanor eventually relaxed to the point where they were more comfortable with absentmindedly giving affection, unaware that they’d been playing with Guy's hair for the past few minutes. The gentle massages on his scalp were a much-needed distraction for his mind.

That is until he felt a sharp tug from Honey in an attempt to untangle their fingers between his messy locks.

Fistfuls of hair.

Skin on skin.

Arched backs.

"Fuck, keep doin’ that, Honey. Oh–” 

“—shit! Sorry about that. Did I pull too hard?” Honey was already moving their fingers away from his head before Guy quickly (a little too quickly) halted the movement. Guy guided Honey’s hand back to its original place on his head, squeezing ever so slightly.

“No! It's okay, Honey. Just…keep it there.”

Honey gives him a knowing smirk, “You are acting so weird, you know that?”

“Just indulge in a poor man’s wishes, will you?” Guy dramatically lamented, really wanting to avoid the conversation and go back to relaxing and getting some rest. 

“Whatever you say, man,” They replied, resuming from where they left off with their story. 

As much as Guy would love to listen, his focus started wandering elsewhere as his mind drifted to sleep. 

The ticks of the clock, the scent of Honey’s body wash, the number of their eyelashes.

The texture of Honey's soft blanket.

Messy sheets.

Desperate thrusts.

Sweat dripping.

"Oh god, G-Guy, I think–I think I'm g-gonna–"

"--come?"

"H-huh?" Guy hadn't realized how hard he was gripping the throw pillow on his lap. At this point, he’s going to expose himself one way or another if he keeps being out of it. He tried his best to compose himself, hiding his distress behind a laugh. "S-sorry, Honey. Could you repeat that?"

Honey did a face, softly chuckling for a bit, before repeating their question. "I said; 'I'm gonna go buy a gift for Ollie’s birthday tomorrow morning, do you wanna come? It’s your day off tomorrow, right?”

“Uh, y-yeah. Of course. I’d love to, Honey!”

Honey stared for what felt like forever before making a face again, this time, looking like they had just been enlightened by something and letting out a snort that was so adorable, Guy almost forgot why he was avoiding their gaze.

"Pfft– Guy, you—" Honey said through their stifled giggles (that was a tell-tale sign of the belly laughs they only share with him and no one else). They never got to finish the sentence, trying but, ultimately interrupting themselves with their own laughter.

He smiled, happy to see them show this much emotion towards him when to others they tend to be more closed off (albeit, a little confused about what caused it so suddenly). “I'm what, Honey? Hey! I'm what? Do I have something on my face?”

“You’re—pfft!” 

Familiar playful slaps targeted his thighs with a faint sting he’s too far used to. He notices that their smile had their teeth showing, too busy laughing to cover it with their hand like they often do. 

Guy’s crumbling.

He knew his desires were seeping through the cracks and it took all of his willpower to resist tackling them then and there—to feel every inch of their body and give them every last bit of pleasure they rightfully deserved. But he can't. He shouldn't.

So, he opts for a kiss on the cheek instead. 

Something sweet enough to mask how hard his mind was reeling with overly aggressive affection. As he continued with his fleeting, featherlight attacks on Honey's face, his lips felt the smile that their mouth formed (accompanied by an out-of-breath “Guy, that tickles!”) and he found that pulling away was more difficult than he thought.

After a while of innocent pecks and bubbling snorts, Honey raised a hand to wipe a tear from their eye. They were looking directly at him now, eyes soft with their lips slightly parted and panting from laughing too hard.

Lips. Their lips.

“Guy, you good?”

A man can only have so much self-control before he breaks.

The next few moments felt like a blur. A hitched breath, a tightened grip. His lips hungrily meet theirs and the moan he immediately lets out was almost pathetic. But he couldn’t give a damn about anything other than the pleasurable weight grinding down on his crotch. 

They felt so good. Everything felt so fucking good. The spinning in his mind paired with the aching throb of his cock were all too much to handle that he can’t even tell if this was real or if it was the same fantasies that had been torturing him all day.

No. It’s real. It’s all real.

Despite the haze in his surroundings—despite all the noise—the only thing occupying Guy’s thoughts were the whimpers coming out of Honey that were better than anything he could have ever dreamed of. 

“Fuck,” He swore under his breath, the friction against his growing bulge breaking down any sense of sanity he had left. Guy squeezed their thigh a little harsher than intended, making Honey loudly moan out in surprise.

He took the opportunity to slip his tongue into their mouth, lapping up all the sounds he managed to coax out of them. Honey’s hands found their way to his hair, tugging like last time with more intent than before and it dragged out a needy whine from his throat muffled between their lips.

Unfortunately, the breathlessness he was experiencing isn't the same type he feels when he's around Honey and he remembered that humans do, in fact, need oxygen in their system. He pulled away from them for a quick breath, taking pleasure in how they desperately chased his lips with a soft whine, before immediately aiming at their jaw, sucking, licking, and biting skin as it trails down on their neck. 

Honey is quick to respond, their fingers ghosting the hem of his work uniform before sliding them up, keeping his squirming body steady by grabbing his waist with one hand as the other roams to his chest, the shirt riding up with it and they feel his heartbeat speed up against his ribcage.

The sensation leaves Guy lightheaded. He swore he could see stars, especially after their warm palms stroked past a particular spot he didn’t even know he was sensitive to. The action had him writhing under the weight on his lap and Honey’s sudden thrust against his clothed dick brought out a stuttered gasp from him with his hips bucking up involuntarily. 

“Shit, baby,” Honey whispered, the strain in their voice evident as they grind down harder just to hear Guy’s wanton moans one more time. “So fucking needy.”

Hot breaths.

Bare skin.

Intoxicating scents.

This felt like Deja vu.

Guy had seen this before. He dreamt of it so much that it felt like second nature for his body. During nights when his partner hadn’t been home yet and he was feeling oh so, lonely—so desperate. Nights when his imagination had gone truly wild, the same scenario that he had been replaying over and over again. The one where he would have them in a panting mess.

He vividly remembers what goes next. The movement is practiced—etched into his memory. Every bone, every nerve in his system practically has it memorized in its core. 

He pins them on the arm of their sofa, the air is hot and heavy. One final passionate kiss, one final slip of his tongue, one final grind between their legs, and his hands would reach down, down where they needed him the most to—

“A-ah, Guy, w-wait!” 

And just like that, Guy’s mind snaps back to reality. 

“Fuck, I’m so sorry.”

“I-it’s okay.”

“No, no, I’m really sorry. I–” He hurries to back away, pushing off his body and sitting upright with an arm’s distance away from an equally disheveled Honey. Fuck, they looked so pretty with their lips swollen like that. His eyes guiltily avoided the abundance of purple marks he wasn't even aware he left on their neck. Shit, focus!  “I don’t know what came over me. I’m–”

“Guy, it’s okay, I like it!” Honey cuts him off, not allowing their boyfriend to give himself to blame for something that didn’t even need his apologies. “I like it a lot. I was just…worried. Ever since you came home you were acting kind of off and I don’t want you to go through with this when I feel like something’s bothering you.”

Honey reaches out to him with concerned eyes, which should probably be an indicator for Guy of how odd he has been acting as of late. Their fingers find his knuckles, gently tracing circles on them as they patiently wait for his response.

Guy never knew his heart could beat faster, given how…intimate their latest activities were, but here he is, out of breath and falling in love all over again.

“I-I know this is kinda weird and I’m being really weird and everything is weird right now but I…uhm. Well, I guess you were right about me being all bark but no bite after all, eh?” He cringes at the way his voice cracked at the end and clears his throat for the nth time today.

“Okay, what I’m trying to get to is that…I've…been thinking about you…in a not-so-wholesome way for a while now. And I know, I know, this isn't new. I've flirted with you before and you already said you were okay with it, even with the raunchier ones but I'm just…"

Guy nervously looks away to the side, his eyes downcast to avoid Honey's curious stare. "This feels like a whole new thing now that we’re actually together and it really means a lot to me. Us. You're actually one of the best things to ever come into my life and I don't want my lack of…keeping it in my pants…to make you uncomfortable. I’m sorry for not saying anything sooner."

The deafening silence that followed his vulnerable confession might possibly be one of the worst things he ever had to experience. Then, a sudden giggle tore through the tense atmosphere.

Honey was laughing again.

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to laugh but w-was that the thing that’s been bothering you?”

They moved closer to their boyfriend, that's currently sporting a comically betrayed look on his face. “I've noticed your hard-on already, Guy. And don’t worry, I've been…thinking about you like that too for a while now.”

Guy wished nothing more than to get swallowed by the ground beneath him.

“I–What the fu–YOU—!” Guy sputtered, not quite sure if he should feel relieved or embarrassed at the moment but one thing stuck to his thoughts, Honey felt the same.

“Honeeeey! You can't just say that and—I can’t believe you would—! Oh, you have no idea how much I've been through today!”

“I'm sorry!” But their shit-eating grin says otherwise and Guy can't help not to get mad anymore with that face. “Besides, it was kinda cute seeing you all flustered for once. Serves you right, you brat.”

“Oh wow, I’m the brat in this situation? You…torment me and now you degrade me with such scornful slander?” The man places a hand on his chest melodramatically. “I’m heartbroken, Honey…and still hard!”

"Hm…Well, then," Honey's half-lidded gaze directs itself to Guy's lips. The sultry tone of their voice tickles his brain in the best way possible. "Do you want me to—"

Guy lets out a surprised squeak as his back suddenly hits their sofa with a forceful 'thump!' Their hand is placed on the side of his head, fingers twisting around his curls. The other found its way on his thumping chest, carefully sliding downwards at an antagonizing pace.

"—lend you a hand? After all, I must’ve been quite the headache for you, in more ways than one." 

“Oh no,” Guy started, easily maneuvering their positions to have his partner on their back “No, no, no, you’ve been teasing me for far too long, Honey.”

“Let me," He drags his hips across theirs and he revels in the way Honey chokes on their breath. “Handle this. Is that alright with you, baby?” He wishes he could take a picture of this moment. Seeing them writhe under him was a sight he never wanted to forget.

Honey gulps before their lips form a nervously excited grin. Their pupils are blown wide in anticipation. "You better get to work then, Guy." 

Then, they slowly lean towards Guy to whisper their next words to his burning ears, “And don’t worry about being rough, hon. I can take it.”

Guy is a daydreamer.

But no daydream can ever compare to the reality he's going to be experiencing right now.

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #redactedverse #redacted guy #redacted honey #redacted fanfic #suggestive #mdni #sten writes! #wow how long since i last used that tag

[belle-keys]

Summary: Virtual Author Talk with Cassandra Clare at San Anselmo Public Library (23/08/23)

Cassie wrote her first “novel” when she was 12 on a Mac computer, the infamous The Beautiful Cassandra that she regularly teases to us. She got into writing fiction professionally full-time after leaving her journalism job in 2006.

Finishing City of Bones took about 3-4 years because it was her first novel. Holly Black was the one who hooked her up with her first agent who then got the book published, which was a really new experience. She said that the publishing process was initially surprising to her because of how crazily long it takes to get a single book published.

Cassie acknowledges that City of Bones is starkly “different” from the rest of all her books in colour and voice, because of how experimental the novel writing process was for her. She said she thinks she’s evolved a lot as a writer since then.

She aims for psychological realism in her books even though it’s fantasy. She tries to see each character as a fully-formed person who can exist outside of the immediate plot. She creates worksheets to write her characters.

She also believes it’s necessary to let your main characters make bad mistakes – she cites Matthew as a prominent example i.e. someone highly reactive to their own mistakes. Matthew is defined by his regret and his need to fix his mistakes. She thinks Matthew is one of the most relatable characters because of this.

She’s very drawn to the found family trope because of how much she moved around as a kid – the stability and love of a found family is something she’s worked to build her whole life. She emphasizes the importance of friendship and its different forms in life.

Cassie cites Magnus as the character who turned out most differently than she had initially planned – she hadn’t originally anticipated how significant Magnus would be in the wider scheme of the series.

Doing The Last Hours was, at least a little, in response to people’s excitement about The Family Tree back in 2013.

Her advice for writing fantasy worlds is to create a flexible and expansive magic system so it can grow with you as a writer. She also emphasizes letting your favorite characters make poor decisions – your characters determine the plot and not the other way around.

Cassie strikes a balance between planning worldbuilding details beforehand and then spontaneously adding in new things in the writing process. The Scholomance is an example of something new that was added later in the TSC writing chronology.

She decided that Sword Catcher had to be in the adult publishing category because when she initially developed the characters, they just appeared as people in their twenties. With TSC, the characters had just appeared to her as teenagers then. Writing characters in these different life stages was interesting and challenging.

Sword Catcher is the first in a duology, but she’d like it to be four books if it’s successful.

Cassie has always wanted to write Shadowhunters in the Roaring ‘20s but she has no idea what the plot would possibly be.

She doesn’t read TSC fanfiction, but her husband has informed her of a popular Magnus X BTS fanfiction on AO3. She stays away from fanfiction, but she is very invested in the fanart of her works. Her favorite artist is, of course, Cassandra Jean, and she also loves Charlie Bowater.

She loves writing with Holly Black and probably would only do more Middle Grade writing with her.

She is very much anti-censorship and anti-banning books, especially because of the form it takes in the US (aka, censorsing books dealing with issues affecting the BIPOC and queer communities).

She doesn’t believe they’ll do another TMI adaptation in any form, even though she doesn’t believe the TMI books’ story was ever truly told. She hopes, one day, that TID can get made as it’s the most adaptable series in her catalogue for logistical reasons.

If she couldn’t be a fiction writer, her dream job would be a travel writer. She intensely loves traveling and making her characters travel as well.

Her favorite author of all time is Dorothy Dunnett. She thinks you should check out The Queen’s Thief by Megan Whaler Turner (I agree). And she’s currently reading Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak (I really enjoyed this one).

#cassandra clare #cassie clare #tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #tlh #the last hours #tmi #the mortal instruments #tid #the infernal devices #twp #the wicked powers #sword catcher #ya fantasy

[writingquestionsanswered]

how to get into reading more? I find it very it hard to get into reading and whenever I try to read books I could never get past chapter one.

Tips for Getting Into Reading More

Reading is a habit, just like exercising or brushing your teeth. The more consistently you do it, the easier it is to do. Reading is also a skill, meaning that doing it consistently makes you better at it. Whether that's reading a print book and training your eyes and brain to read better and faster, or reading an audiobook and training your ears and brain to listen and comprehend better. Try reading a book or audiobook every day for at least ten minutes, and after a while you'll find it's a habit and you're craving more.

Here are some other things you can do during that initial few weeks to help yourself along...

1 - Read Fan-Fiction - Go to AO3 or FF.net and look for fan-fiction of your favorite shows, movies, books, games, etc. AO3 also has podfic available to listen to. Fan-fiction is a fun and easy way to get back into a reading habit since it's easy access (your brain is already familiar with the world and you already love it) and it's free.

2 - Read Short Stories - Short stories are a great way to build a reading habit. You can find free short stories online via a Google search. Wattpad has a short story section and many libraries also offer them in their online catalogs. Or, you can by short story collections by author or anthology. You can also find audiobooks of short stories and recordings.

3 - Read Graphic Novels or Comic Books - Graphic novels and comic books can be another great way to get back into reading. The visual component can help draw you into the story, but the text makes sure you're honing your reading skills. Many graphic novels have audiobook adaptations.

4 - Read Bite-Sized Serial Fiction - Sites like Kindle Vella and Radish offer "bite-sized" serialized fiction which allows you to get absorbed in a story a little at a time. Bite-sized and serialized fiction works great if you're trying to build a reading habit by reading for 10 to 20 minutes a day. You can also find serialized audiobooks.

5 - Read Books That Were Adapted Into Movies or Shows - If you watch TV and movies, there are probably several that were adapted from books. YA books that were adapted into movies and shows (Twilight, Love Simon, The Vampire Diaries, The Hunger Games, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, The Sun is Also a Star, The Hate U Give, Dumplin', and The Princess Diaries--just to name a few) are especially good for getting back into reading because the content and story presentation is accessible and the lengths are usually manageable. But really, any TV show or movie you loved that was based on a book would be a great place to start. Most books that were popular enough to be adapted into a show or movie will also have an audiobook.

5 - Try Audiobooks - If you don't read audiobooks already, they can be a great way to get back into reading. Even if you're not training your eyes to read print, you're still training your brain to engage with a story which is just as important. If you're able to read print books, you might even try reading book one of a series on audiobook, then switch to reading the print version of book two.

6 - Reread Old Favorites - If there are any books you've read before and loved, try reading them again. Sometimes, revisiting old favorites can help us get back into reading because we already know we love the story, and familiar stories can be more accessible to our eyes and brains. Many older books and even classics have audiobook versions.

7 - Read Children's Fiction - Picture books, chapter books, Middle Grade, and YA books can be a great way to get back into the habit of reading. You might even try rebuilding your reading habit/skills from the ground up, starting with picture books, moving onto chapter books, then heading into Middle Grade and finally YA. Children's fiction tends to range from shortest to longest, with picture books being the shortest and YA fiction being the longest, but YA fiction still tends to be shorter than most adult fiction. Children's fiction is also written to be accessible to younger age ranges, which doesn't mean it's not complex or can't be enjoyed by adults, but many readers to find most Middle Grade and YA books to be easier to read than say A Game of Thrones or Outlander. Everyone is different, though, and every book is different. So it really just depends on the book and the reader.

8 - Try Reading Out Loud - If you're able to read print books/stories, some people find it's easier to read out loud. You can even read to your pet, pretend you're reading to a class, or pretend you're the author doing a reading at a book signing. It sounds silly, but sometimes this performative aspect can make it a little more accessible and easier to do.

9 - Audiobook Alternative to #8 - Something similar you can do with an audiobook is listen to a few minutes, pause it, and then talk out loud about what just happened as though you were discussing it with a class or book club. This can help you get (and stay) engaged with the story.

10 - Keep It Fun and Stress Free - The most important thing of all is to keep it fun and stress free. Try not to give yourself a hard time if you drop the ball. Do your best and give yourself grace if you struggle. Putting pressure on yourself or creating unreasonable goals only makes it stressful which makes your brain want to avoid it. Set up or find a cozy reading space if you can. Put on some light music and grab yourself a cup of coffee, tea, or your favorite beverage. Sit outside if the weather is nice. Walking or doing chores is great if you're reading an audiobook. You can also try reading when you're waiting for things. Try instituting a reward system, like eating a special treat whenever you finish a book/story, chapter, or you've read for your ten daily minutes.

Happy reading!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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#writing #writing advice #reading #reading advice #books and reading #wqaadvice

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Let's Talk About Comp Titles

It's time to talk about the very worst part of writing. No, not revising, no not synopsis - comp titles, the worst part is comp titles. A comparison "comp" title is a published work that can be compared to your novel in several ways - similar in tone, topic matter, tropes, etc.

Why do you need comp titles?

If you are traditionally publishing, comp titles will be important at every stage of the journey. First, most agents prefer at least two comp titles in queries. When you get to the stage of selling the book, the editor will also want comp titles to help pitch it to their team. You'll want comp titles when marketing the book to pull in readers who want to find more of what they want to read.

Even if you're self-publishing, comp titles are very useful, so it's a good idea to keep them in mind. Comp titles are a pretty important part of publishing a book.

What can you use for comp titles?

Comp titles, unfortunately, have some pretty rigid set of rules. The general rule of thumb is:

Recently published (within the last 2-3 years is ideal)

Same genre and marketing category (YA books for YA, sci-fi books for sci-fi, etc)

Same format (comp books for books, graphic novels for graphic novels, etc)

All of these rules are pretty important, and also very easy to bungle. It's very tempting to cite an older book for inspiration, because it probably was. It's also tempting to pick a movie or TV series, because it would be easily recognizable.

However, you have to remember that comp titles are for marketing purposes. You want to use them to prove you're familiar with the audience you're writing for as well as appeal to readers who are specifically looking for books (not movies). So while comparing Our Flag Means Death to your book for a quick twitter pitch is fine, you'll want to stick to the rules for querying.

How do you find comp titles? Part One

Ah, the hardest part. We're told to write something original and special to us, and then told to find things that are Just Like It in order to pitch it to someone. Not only does that sting a little, it goes against most of the writing process, so comp titles tend to be difficult to do.

First, take your book and try to boil it down to basic themes. You'll want to lay out:

Genre and sub-genre (Romance and rom-com, fantasy and contemporary fantasy, etc)

Common elements (Court drama? Sword-fighting? Dragon fantasy versus faerie fantasy? Types of magic?)

Audience (Middle Grade? YA? Someone who buys books at the airport, or is hunting for the next massive sci-fi series to follow? Cosy mystery readers and thriller mystery readers might overlap, but you'll want to pin down the biggest group of people who would read your work).

Tropes (found family, enemies to lovers, subverted chosen one, etc. Embrace those AO3 tags, my friend. They will help you seek out the right titles)

Authors you're similar too (harder, but if you know you fit into a certain style, embrace it)

How do you find comp titles? Part Two

The actual hard part - no matter how well-read you are, finding comparable books is actually hard. Here's a few methods, none of them perfect, to try to get started.

Amazon's "customers also bought" recommendations - (obligatory pause for boos) But actually pretty helpful if you've found one book and need similar.

EBSCO Novelist - A search engine for libraries, usually available through your local library if you're in the US. If you can't find it on their website, ask your librarian - or see if a buddy from another county can loan you their card number for access.

Goodreads Lists - There's a lot of bad about Goodreads, but one thing the userbase is great at is creating lists of books by genre, market, and publishing year - and can help you see how they're described.

Monthly New Releases - Multiple cites track new releases by genre, and it's a good idea to get on top of the market you want to sell in as soon as possible.

BookBrowse - Extremely thorough book recommendation site, just don't get lost. It's very tempting to get lost.

Literature Map - Suggests similar authors based on your input.

Writer's Digest, The Writer, Poets&Writers - and any other current magazine. They often interview newly published writers and have a good thumb on what's being published.

Your local librarian - Seriously, someone at your library is working very hard to keep on top of new releases, and they would love to help you find what you need. The only librarians that eat people are in Night Vale, so you should be fine. Unless you live in Night Vale, which in that case, my condolences to your interns.

Wrap-Up Questions

Are you sure I can't comp a movie/TV series/manga? It's highly recommended to only comp books if you are trying to sell a book (in a query to an agent, specifically), but hey, I can't tell you what to do. You might have the perfect pitch, and agents are fickle beasts. Whatever works, works.

What if I really want to comp [insert very popular older series here]? The problem with comping Super Popular Thing Everyone Knows is that your book is obviously not Super Popular Thing, so it's not useful to gauge the tone of your work. This isn't true for all things - Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd century Space works, but avoid Game of Thrones. You don't want to rouse the r/freefolk crowd, I promise you.

Is there anything I should not comp? Every single video game comp I've seen has bombed hard. They just don't fly, probably because people who work in publishing don't have time to play video games.

What do I tell my friend who thinks their book is too unique to comp? There's no getting through to them, you just have to let them find that out the hard way. Comp titles are for marketing, and you'll need to market your book. It'll get easier. I think.

Should I read my comp titles? Yes and for the love of nachos, if you don't have time to read it, make sure you have a thorough understanding of the plot. The last thing you want is to query an agent who has a hard no against sexual assault scenes and whoops, one of your comp titles has a notorious sexual assault scene. Spare yourself the grief and make sure your comps are appropriate to your work.

#comp titles #traditional publishing #querying #publishing #writblr

[gisellelx]

What signifies a good fic to you? What is it about your favorite fics that made you like them?

This Q has been sitting a little while but this post on my dash today made me think of it.

Anne Lamott has always been one of my all time favorite writers; I read Bird by Bird in middle school, and I used to talk about her a great deal with my irreverent, very witty, funny role model 9th grade English teacher. This is how I write, and have always written (you'll note that my profile on FFnet and the name of my tumblr both come from her.

I write from character. What I understand myself to be doing as a writer is giving life to characters, whether they are mine, or someone else's. It's getting to know someone, intimately--what is their biggest fear? What is the thing they most love? What are their hopes and dreams? What is their fatal flaw?

I wrote my own stuff for many, many years before starting to write fic, and my reason for writing and reading fic is from exactly that same root. I want to see the same characters from the source, and I want to see them in a way that sheds new and interesting light on who they are. This is a major part of why I don't write, and generally don't read, out-of-universe fic--I'm just not interested in reading about a generic human lead with some characteristics of Edward Cullen. I want to see an author show me something I didn't see before about Edward. My favorite fics do that. By virtue of the situation the characters are in, or the alternate POV they are from, I see something different about the characters, their dynamic with one another, the things they care about most. Going through my FFnet faves to give a couple of examples of what I mean. Going to stick to one-shots so they are easy to grab (which is most of my faves)

Three Men and a Baby by Kristen Elizabeth.

Stephenie Meyer doesn't give a rat's ass about the fact that other people in the family probably also would've liked to have a kid. She sets up this horrific backstory for Esme but then waves it under the rug with "oh well she has her vampire kids now." This story grapples a little bit with how Edward's siblings (and importantly his male siblings!) deal with their own feelings--it sheds interesting light on all four Cullen men through their interactions with an infant Renesmee.

Mamihlanpinatapai by Writing Ficariously

Edward as a father. Enough said. But also thinking in a more complicated way about Renesmee growing up with Jacob around, and how she feels about her parents' relationship and its perfection. This is a running theme that is even more beautifully explored in A Federation of Cassandras but with that one you're signing on for a full (very excellent) novel so beware.

Caterpillar Wine by gallantcorkscrews

Nobody in this fic is with the people they are with in canon and yet. It really thinks hard about the permanence and lack thereof of relationships, questions that canon brings up and never answers. Most haunting to me in this, with a tiny spoiler, is that Carlisle ends up alone, which is revealing in this particular scenario and very in character in my opinion.

Funny that all of these recs happen to at least loosely contain Renesmee--I think she does important work in revealing a lot about others' characterizations. I find her to be an immensely useful character to think and write about.

Anyway. For me, it all comes down to character. Always down to character. With the tiny add on that my brain frustratingly won't let me not be a snob about the writing--I notice how the words work on a page, and if the author has made a homonym error, if the narration is too much "tell" or the characters are saying things for the reader's benefit. I would like to not have that problem, because I have a great appreciation for the fact that there are many people learning about writing itself by writing fanfiction. But I find it difficult to get myself lost in the story the writer wants to tell when my brain is noticing the writing itself instead. So that's always a piece of it, too.

#writing #twilight #fic recs #asks

[jomiddlemarch]

Get to Know Me (Tag Game)

Thanks to @trulybetty for the tag (and the fun!)

1. Were you named after anyone?

I was named after a character in a Henry James novel and using the first initial of my paternal great-grandfather with my paternal grandmother's first name as my middle name.

2. When was the last time you cried?

I mean, it's not unusual for me to tear up watching a show or if I'm moved by something in the news, but a big cry-yourself-out-cry has been quite a while for me.

3. Do you have kids?

Yes, three of them!

4. What sports do you/have you played?

I am not, as they say, sporty. I got a trophy at the basketball shoot-out in 3rd grade and that was probably the peak of my athletic career.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Yes. Frequently.

6. First thing you notice about people?

I think faces, though I also pay a lot of attention to how someone speaks.

7. What's your eye color?

Green.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings. I can't watch scary movies at all.

9. Any talents?

I think it's fair to say I'm a good writer, but I also have a decent singing voice (especially if you're fond of the 1930 Snow White.)

10. Where were you born?

In a hospital (kids, don't give out identifying data on Tumblr!)

11. What are your hobbies?

Reading, writing, going for walks, listening to jazz.

12. Do you have any pets?

Not now but we had a pet parakeet when I was a kid who was named Quimby.

13. How tall are you?

5'0".

14. Favorite subject in high school?

English.

15. Dream job?

I actually really like my current job, so I guess I'll say in an alternate universe, I would have liked to be a diplomat or translator and live abroad. Or a bookshop owner. (You know, Tumblr bog-standard.)

Tagging @asteraceae-blue @vesperass-anuna @tortoisesshells @nervousladytraveler @iamstartraveller776 @artielu @dxmedstudent @amarguerite

#about me #tag games #about me but WITHOUT identifying data

[latin-phrases-showdown]

learning Latin is a very useful skill if you aim on becoming a fantasy writer, I like using Latin root words to come up with made up words for things like spells or made up species in my fantasy world!

It's a useful skill in many domains : law, linguistics, philosophy, literature, theatre, medicine, biology, botany, music, criminology, theology, art, history, geography (why such place has such name for example), learning languages with Latin roots...

My own language has Latin roots and I find it fascinating. We also happen to have quite a few monuments with Latin inscriptions in Europe and I love trying to translate them when I stumble upon some.

As you said, it makes writing but also reading fantasy funnier. Sci-fi too. And old memoirs, in which people would simply assume that educated people can read Latin.

This example is rather well known by people who were taught Latin and enjoyed YA dystopias at a time, but we see it in The Hunger Games : Collins named the sovereign state Panem, as in "panem et circenses", which can be translated as "bread and circuses" or even "bread and games." (Used in politics, it refers to the willingness of a population to comply as long as its basic needs (affordable food and entertainment) are met.)

I won't say her name because she doesn't deserve the publicity and please don't submit phrases only used in her books, but another author used Latin quite a lot in her best known work. Quirinus is an epithet for the Roman god Janus. Janus is a two faced being.

My favorite (untranslated) middle grade sci-fi trilogy is French, but the title of each chapter is in Latin (with a translation) and I absolutely love the format.

I also happen to read crime novels and locutions like modus operandi, rigor mortis, post-mortem, alibi etc. pop in here and there all the time.

So even people who don't think they know Latin probably speak it a little bit.

#not polls

[incorrect-lightlark-facts]

The rest of the sticky notes:

- Kind of fucked up that the dreks used to be people. Fortunately they were Nightshades so it's okay.

- I love the idea of Nightbane as a potent drug with healing properties when processed correctly, because I'm a scientist. The metaphor for Isla as "both curse and cure," however, is incredibly forced. Also not a strong enough motif to justify having the book named after it.

- Please please please stop with the segues into the flashbacks. It reads like a fifth grade essay I'm begging you

- Being able to teleport everywhere kind of kills the tension and urgency

- All Of The Spicy Scenes Are The Same

- Also if the book is allowed to have this many straight-up sex scenes, I kind of feel like they should also be allowed to swear, or at least use less tepid insults. Isla calling Grim a bastard or a son of a bitch would soothe my soul

- I want to scruff Grim like a kitten and toss him in the ocean. He's still not a good character and he has no personality and he's awful. Every time I feel a shred of warmth for Grim I have to remember that it's because my version of him is so unrecognizable against canon that I probably need to start from scratch again just to be able to call him the same character

- Cleo ily never change (but also shoehorning in a dead son just to give her a reason to side with Nightshade is so bland I'm losing my sense of taste)

- GRIM MENTIONS GODS. WHO ARE THE GODS.

- And They Were Married (Oh My Unnamed Gods They Were Married)

- Is. Is this a normal amount of sex scenes for a YA novel.

- Some of this feels like borderline retconning (eg. Isla surviving being shot through the heart in the first book not just because of the Heart of Lightlark but also because of the ill-defined power of the love bond)

- No training montage for Isla learning to steal Grim's powers :(

- There Are Hot Air Balloons. The Event Is Called The Launching Of The Orbs.

- EGG CAMEO

- Grim and Isla have a moment where they both gush about everything they've learned about each other, and it's nothing. It feels like they don't know each other at all, but of course we're supposed to find their relationship heartwarming and intimate

- Am I going to have to make a spicy sideblog for this oh my god

- Pointless baby dragon. Did I zone out at the wrong time or did nothing become of that?

- The Terra fight is also nothing :((((

- Just like the first book, so many bombs are dropped at the end of the book because simply resolving the existing plot threads isn't enough I guess. Anyway the founders of Lightlark came from another world and created Lightlark in its image like reckless teenage gods but anyway GUYS there are HOT AIR BALLOONS

- Unearned final battle. Book once again lacks the guts to kill a major character and expects us to be moved by the deaths of interchangeable background cast members

- Damn crow-caller is right this REALLY aggressively sets up a third book. I'm wondering what middle book syndrome looks like for something like the Lightlark Saga and whether this is it

- This book was Not Good. It feels like poor fanfiction of the first book and I cannot stress enough that I enjoyed every second of it no matter how frustrating it was. Thank you Ms. Aster I owe you my life

#Nightbane #Nightbane spoilers #damn my social anxiety because i want to talk about this so much and like. engage with people #i must yell

[the-sage-libriomancer]

Random media i love and want to recommend:

Saving Me (animated tv show) - A Canadian show about a brilliant 61 y/o inventor who, upon realizing that he's driven away everyone he ever loved, projects himself into the mind of his 12 y/o self to help save his (their?) relationships before they crash and burn. This show gives me super intense Gravity Falls vibes, in the sense that it's basically just what would happen if Ford Pines went back in time to help his child self. It also has a lot of interesting plot pieces that slowly connect over the course of the series. Currently has two seasons.

Daybreaking Romance (manhwa) - A Korean manhwa following three different college couples and their romantic escapades. This is very slice of life but also features comedic misunderstandings of epic proportions and grounded examinations of people, not to mention plenty of nice lighthearted emotional turmoil. Also two of the main characters (Saebyeok and Yeomyoung) are the most autistic twins you'll ever meet. Check it out if you like simping boyfriends, aesthetically pleasing artwork, and misunderstandings that drive you up the wall in a good way (if you're a Miraculous Ladybug fan you'll probably like this one lol). Unfortunately there's no official English translation so you'll have to read it online.

Mision: Yozakura Family (manga) - a recent(ish) Japanese manga about a high schooler who accidentally gets married to the head of a family of spies and is adopted into the family business. Now I've complained about this series in the past, but I'm still recommending it because it's funny and sweet, all of the characters are easy to love, and the main couple are incredibly shippable. Plus its myth arc is shaping up to be incredibly interesting!

The Goes Wrong Show (tv series) - a British comedy series with the premise "what if an amateur theater group tried to put on shows and they went disastrously wrong?" It's the most hysterical, side-splitting show I've ever seen - I'm not kidding when I say every episode makes me choke with laughter. The craftsmanship is also top notch. You will not BELIEVE what sort of things these actors will go through for the sake of the bit. There are two series (seasons) plus a handful of holiday specials and a wholeass movie. Also, the entire series is free on YouTube!

Small Kingdoms (book by Charlaine Harris) - a short story collection, all featuring the same character: Anne DeWhitt, an assassin trainer turned high school principal. The writing is clean and concise, in a way that grips you right from the first sentence and doesn't let go; I also really love the characters, who are delightfully practical and also super endearing. Definitely recommended if you like thrillers, good writing, and short reads.

Eerie Tales From The School of Screams (graphic novel) - a recent horror anthology comic. It's middle grade fiction, but hoooo boy it's the sort of book kids will come back to as adults and be like "holy shit, this was for kids???" You might recognize the author and artist (Graham Annable) because he's done a bunch of comics/comic strips and also worked on movies like Boxtrolls and Coraline. This one has a bunch of body horror and creepy art so genuinely don't read it if you're not interested in horror horror ^^'

#thinking about how much i love all of these #but they're so niche that i can't really recommend them to people irl #recommendations #media to consume #(<-for people going through the tag) #saving me #the goes wrong show #mission yozakura family #daybreaking romance #graham annable

[tc-doherty]

Current Project List

My old pinned post is pretty out of date, so I figured I would put together a new one.

I never end up following whatever order I say that I'm going to follow, so instead of just picking a couple I'm putting them all here in order of how complete they are.

More information is, of course, available on my blog.

Publishing:

New adult F/F fantasy, romance between a dragon and a knight, two books. The first can be read online in full and will be available in paperback sometime early next year, the second is still being worked on but is close to being done.

You can also read it for free on my blog, albeit more slowly.

Middle grade fantasy, four books. The first is currently serializing online and will be available in paperback in early 2025. The second is still being worked on but is close to being done, books three and four are still in planning stages.

Close to publishing:

New adult, fantasy road trip novel. Needs a couple tweaks, one - two drafts, but is very close to being done.

New adult, M/M fantasy, love story over time. Might need one more draft for some tightening, but is basically done.

Needs a few more drafts but the story is complete:

New adult F/F fantasy romance featuing organized crime and illegal horse racing.

Young adult F/F fantasy, fairy tale retelling.

Needs to be rehauled:

New adult F/F fantasy western, fairy tale retelling kind of.

Young adult fantasy road trip novel.

Partially written to some amount:

Middle grade fantasy adventure.

Anthology of original, interconnected fairy tales.

Middle grade fantasy action adventure comic. Shonen and xianxia inspirations.

Young adult M/M fantasy political war drama.

Young adult F/F fairy tale retelling, same universe as Temitope but is not otherwise connected.

Will be multiple books/ a series:

Young adult M/M fantasy, witch/knight romance. Will be broken down into two books.

New adult F/F and M/M fantasy political war drama, will be turned into a series with Northbound as number one.

New adult fantasy cozy mystery series, very early planning stages.

Planning stages or ????? publishing status:

Young adult? Animal fantasy road trip novel. May not ever be published, I just like the idea. A full draft is written, I will try rehauling it.

Young adult fantasy political war drama in a language that doesn't technically exist, probably will be not published but you will hear about it.

Middle grade dog sled race adventure novel, early planning stages.

Multi-generational socio-political fantasy drama. Will not be published but I do not shut up about it.

Young adult? M/M/F Fantasy war drama romance. Early planning stages.

Young adult M/M fantasy political drama, I might just roll this into The Northbound universe.

#writeblr #TC's writing

[sweatyflytrap]

Tag Game!!

Tagged by the cutest loveliest @xiaoluclair 🩷

'rule(s)': either or!

hardcover or paperback? ( Used to love a pretty hardcover as a teen but we had character development. It's just so much easier to carry a paperback and the folds and so on just adds more character)

bookstore or library? (Honestly both are fun, i don't live near a good library anymore, miss just sitting and reading in one for hours 😭😭 my mom takes me to bookstores when I am very down and i just sit and stare at them for hours and then buy one)

bookmark or receipt? (I have so many bookmarks because people keep gifting them to me as i am their reader friend™ but always just end up using random shit like rubber bands, reciepts, clothing tags to keep track of the pages)

stand alone or series? (Can't stand series anymore💀if you can't tell a story in one book then u don't have a story, you just have ramblings of a very boring man)

nonfiction or fiction? (I do read alot of nonfiction but it's mostly for knowledge purposes and never all that fun for me. was reading about sugar and its horrors so i could have logical explanations in my head to control my sugar intake and not because i actually care about sugar and its horrors)

thriller or fantasy? (Love both in equal parts and can't seem to find good ones for either these days but that's probably also on me for being all burned out on reading)

under 300 pages or over 300 pages? (While i don't mind longer books, shorter are just less scary and also less of a commitment. Also have alot of choice words about popular authors with too much leeway and not enough editing being done to end up with longer books but that's whole another rant)

children’s or YA? (I am adding middle grade into children's and while i am fine with reading either, definitely more hesitant and sus of YA because it's more often than not just not it but also it's a huge genre and there are some good works and also alot of entertaining shit here and there)

friends to lovers or enemies to lovers? (BOTH? EITHER? idk they both have such different vibes of angst and fluff u can add and it's all delicious. The familiarity and fear in friends to lovers to the vulnerability and perception of the whole in enemies to lovers. Also shoutout to brocedes for truly making me appreciate the beauty of friends to lovers to bitterly divorced, sometimes i lie on my bed thinking having a mental breakdown about Greece and that picture of nico and lewis on the unicycle)

read in bed or read on the couch? (I read on my bed mostly and fall asleep and wake up and continue reading)

read at night or read in the morning? (Now i don't do this on purpose but i always always always end up in my 3am sleep addled hyper brain scrolling, find something that looks interesting and instead of waiting just download and start reading it and stay up till 12pm the next day reading and cry on gc and then sleep the entire day, it's an established pattern since i was a teen and i have accepted it for what it is)

keep pristine or markup? (I am the heathen who used to write with pen right in her novels in college, i give zero shits about keeping shit pristine and honestly find the insistence to do so in online circles very weird 😭)

cracked spine or dog ear? (something about a well loved book with a broken up spine and dog eared pages is so so so lovable but I do try to not crack the spines because idk how to patch shit up and i don't want my faves falling apart on me)

Tagging @skitskatdacat63, @fractalkiss, @geneticcatalyst, @toppingjeffsatur and @danielverstappen and whoever else would like to do this really

#i would start tagging all my mutuals but idk if you all even do tag games 😭 #also this was so fun #talking about book habits is always so entertaining #thanks for tagging me xiao 🩷🫂

[brightbeautifulthings]

Dark Waters by Katherine Arden

"He could make a hard decision; he could do a dangerous thing. He could keep going even though he was afraid. That wasn't nothing."

Year Read: 2023

Rating: 4/5

About: Brian, Ollie, and Coco have spent the winter holed up reading ghost stories and looking for clues about how to defeat the Smiling Man. He's already come for them twice, and it's only a matter of time before he tries again. When a weekend getaway opportunity comes up, they all jump at the chance to hop aboard a boat and go sailing on the lake, far out of reach of anything sinister that's coming for them or their families. But when something huge and with a lot of teeth attacks the boat and leaves them stranded on a haunted island, they realize there's nowhere the Smiling Man can't reach-- and they're going to have to be brave and clever to escape him again. Trigger warnings: minor character death, drowning, severe injury, poisoning, threats.

Thoughts: I accidentally read this in a day, but in my defense, it has chapters from the previous books at the end, so it looks about forty pages longer than it is. With that in mind, I'm having a bit of trouble gauging the pace. My sense was that the ending was rather quick, but I can't tell whether that's because it needed to be developed more or because I was simply expecting it to be longer. Regardless, however, it's a middle grade novel, so brevity is probably a blessing there. There's a plot twist near the end that is definitely under-explained, but I'm hoping we get to see that in more detail in the next book.

While this isn't quite on the level of Small Spaces for me, I liked it so much more than Dead Voices. You know me; I love a good water monster, and while this one's biology is a bit unusual (for spoilery reasons I can't explain), it works. As expected, Brian gets a chance to shine here as the lead character, and I'm always impressed by the cleverness and resilience of this group of characters. Even as an adult, I'd have probably been dead a long time ago. This is less water horror than abandoned island horror, but I expect that will appeal to the target audience. There's also a truly beautiful gay pirates subplot that I would read a whole novel about, and it really strikes an emotional chord at the end of the book. As a warning, it leaves off on quite an intense cliffhanger, and I'd probably be more bothered by that if I didn't have Empty Smiles sitting in my to-read pile.

#book review #dark waters #katherine arden #small spaces #middle grade horror #4/5 #rating: 4/5 #2023