Ashley Van E
LightNews LightNews
banner
ashvanewrites.bsky.social
Ashley Van E
@ashvanewrites.bsky.social
220 followers 390 following 44 posts
fantasy and horror writer • editorial assistant • artist • 29 • 💖💛💙 she/they
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
ashvanewrites.bsky.social
Ashley Van E @ashvanewrites.bsky.social · Oct 17
Current WIP - Mourn for Silver

A woman haunted by her past and shifting relationship with her pyrokinetic childhood friend turned lover reflects on their lives before, during, and after the revolution they orchestrated.
Reposted by Ashley Van E
emrynbird.bsky.social
dark erotic fairy tales and a religious cosmic horror romance, everything in my ebook shops is 50% off until the end of the year 🫀🌿✨

payhip: payhip.com/EmrynBird
itchio: emrynbird.itch.io
eshop storefront showcasing To Wallow With Tongues, Hallowed Be Her Flesh, In the Jaws of an Oak at 50% off
November 29, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
bonedustpress.bsky.social
This #SmallBusinessSaturday consider supporting an indie press!

Grab The Traitor & The Wretch for yourself or for a friend!
A slow-burn queer romance between two henchmen determined to outrun their own terrible fates.

✨10% of every sale will be donated to the San Diego Food Bank until Dec. 31st✨
A photo of the exclusive paperback edition for The Traitor & The Wretch (drawn by the amazing Amy Phillips) showing off the shiny silver foil details. The book is written by Jasmine Walls and internally illustrated by Rowan MacColl. A photo of brown hands holding open the paperback book, showing off one of Rowan's lovely illustrations.
November 29, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
gwillow.me
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
blipstress.bsky.social violet allen @blipstress.bsky.social · 5d
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
ironspike.bsky.social
In self-interest but also general interest, folks: Black Friday is coming up, and small publishers/independent creators will always be a better choice than megacorps.

When the sales drop, please remember that!
November 24, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
annelouiseavery.bsky.social
🦊 Why not buy my book, Reynard the Fox, for Christmas – the perfect stocking filler! Marina Warner described it as "marvellously spirited and adroit storytelling.Reynar" To buy a signed and gift-wrapped book, order directly from me! DM to purchase or go to my Etsy shop here: etsy.com/uk/listing/1...
Reynard the Fox Reynard the Fox Reynard
November 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
lgions.bsky.social
i don't want to have to second guess if every image is ai!! i don't want to edit with ai!! i don't wait to generate anything!!!! i don't want to talk to an ai chatbot!!! go away omg
November 27, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
2 ongoing convos are dovetailing rn:
1. a holiday shopping $ blackout aimed at big business;
2. worry over small presses closing or paring down.

Let's talk direct action: YOU CAN DO BOTH😀

IT'S VITAL TO SUPPORT indie pubs that encourage risk & diversity. Here's a 🧵 of em you can support directly:
November 22, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
letterstothegods.bsky.social
In five (5) days, the submission window for the first issue will open on November 30th, 2025. So, if you're into queer monsters and eroguro, check out the website below for information on the theme, submission guidelines and a wish list, and how to contact the staff.
A dimmed red-hued picture of a femme person cradling the head of a demonic-looking monster, and the follow text: If you’re into queer monsters and eroguro, there are... Five (5) days until the submission window opens! For more information, see letterstothegods.carrd.co
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
nooskadraws.bsky.social
✨BUST COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN!✨

to help me pay for extra expenses in preparation for top surgery in jan, i've decided to open up bust commissions! 🏳️‍⚧️

send me your beloved tavs, durges, dnd ocs, rooks, inquisitors, ocs, and more to: 🌿alex_dingley@hotmail.co.uk🌿(pls don't dm me on here!) (rts = 💖🙏😭)
nooska's bust commissions are OPEN! 1 character: £45 / $59 (USD) 2 characters: £90 / $118 (USD) contact: alex_dingley@hotmail.co.uk payment through paypal invoices Bust commission examples. Left: A digital illustration of Sir Radzig Kobyla from Kingdom Come Deliverance (and also history). He has short cropped brown hair, a brush moustache and goatee. He wears his grey-beige hood lined with red, embroidered with plants and the Skalitz crest. He is surrounded by iris flowers. Right: A digital illustration of Sir Hanush from Kingdom Come Deliverance (and also history). He has short cropped brown hair and a full dark beard. He has hazel eyes. He wears a breastplate adorned with gold metal details. He wears a blue and gold robe. He is surrounded by yellow gladiolus flowers. Digital illustration of two character busts. One is a teal green skinned man with a pink curly moustache and red wavy hair. His eyes are black with blue irises. He grins in a wide smile at the person next to him. The other person is a pink skinned tiefling with white horns. She has light pink long hair, pink eyes and dark purple lipstick. She wears a crown inset with a purple gemstone, and small silver hooped earrings.
November 24, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
🔥 COVER +TITLE REVEAL + SUBMISSIONS OPEN🔥

YOUR BODY IS A FEVER DREAM: A Cosmic Body Horror Anthology from Trans & Gender Nonconforming Voices

A Charity collection coming in October 2026🖤☠️🏳️‍⚧️

Art by @mxmorgan.com

All the info here: tenebrouspress.com/blog/2025/11...
Cover art, a swan alights on a cosmic celestial sea, the sky in the colors of the trans rights flag
November 20, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
bmwillows.bsky.social
The Cardplay Duology ebook box set is on sale for $0.99! With the holidays around the corner, it could make a great gift for the YA Urban Fantasy reader in your life (or for yourself 😉✨)

♠️ amazon.com/dp/B0FC6Y3W51
♥️ amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FC6Y3W51

#BookSky #WritingCommunity
Promo graphic that reads "I got a BookBub Featured Deal?! Cardplay Duology Digital Box Set 99 cents on Kindle (US and UK), or get Bloody Spade and Bleeding Heart for 99 cents each (US and International). Image also has a 3D mock-up of a physical box set featuring art of the story's main duo, Ellen and Iori. Ellen is a girl with long white hair and a scythe, Iori is a boy with cat ears and a cat tail. A black ink-like substance swirls around them. A promotional graphic featuring 3D mock-ups of Bloody Spade and Bleeding Heart's, surrounded by a list of tropes/themes that appear in the Cardplay Duology. Text reads: Abundant hurt/comfort, inky body horror, hot-tempered fire wielder, bird girl with plant magic, a celestial deity with a penchant for murder, a budding QPR, returned magic, slow-burn romantic subplot, asexual panic, monsters born from malice, softhearted scythe-wielding girl, snarky cat-eared thief. Bloody Spade's cover depicts a black silhouette of a short-haired cat-eared boy with a glowing purple spade in front of him. Bleeding Heart's depicts a white silhouette of a girl with deer antlers and long flowing hair with a glowing heart in front of her.
November 17, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
scottedelman.bsky.social
Did you read my post from last week about how contract woes caused me to withdraw an accepted story from F&SF, ending my 54-year quest to be published in that magazine? But wait (as the saying goes) — there's more! Scroll down at the link for an update. www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/20...
A dream denied: My 54-year quest to publish a short story in F&SF ‹ Scott Edelman
www.scottedelman.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
bmwillows.bsky.social
Hey, guess what else: Preorders are officially open for THE HOWLING DARK, my scifi fantasy novel about fugitive werewolf brothers on a perilous journey home across a post-apocalyptic landscape! 🐺🌓

PREORDER: amazon.com/dp/B0G1KFVKVM
ADD ON GR/SG: thehowlingdark.carrd.co
Kindle pre-order promo graphic for THE HOWLING DARK, coming mid or late 2026. Centered in the graphic is the placeholder cover for the book, featuring the protagonist looking with a neutral expression into the camera, holding a spear. He's backlit and framed by leafless branches. He is a 22-year-old white man with long black and white hair, one brown eye and one blue, and a scar over his left eye. He's wearing a parka with a fur-lined hood over a tan sweater. Sylvain is an eclipse-born werewolf who knows neither his bestial form nor the post-nuclear wilds his kind hail from. Raised on the orbital research station Zodiac, he’s grown accustomed to a life of peaceful predictability. Though fantasies of visiting his birthplace may be out of reach due to medical restrictions, he has a loving boyfriend and all of his essential needs are met. What more could he want?In the opinion of his elder brother, the answer is: everything.Believing them abducted as children, Illia has always sworn to someday return with his brother to the mountains they were taken from. And when a peculiar turn in Sylvain’s health brings to light an ugly truth, someday becomes now—whether Sylvain is ready for it or not.Soon enough, the brothers find themselves fugitives on the planet’s surface, pursued by the government and bloodthirsty huntsmen, and under the unexpected guidance of the rebel Sundogs. All that lies between them and home is miles of unfamiliar countryside, toxic wastelands, a parasitic garden of death . . . and the question of how much they’re willing to risk in order to get there.
November 17, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
letterstothegods.bsky.social
Great news: Assistant Editors have been chosen! Their introductions are coming soon. In the meantime, here’s the submission window information for the first issue!

Submissions open 11/30/25 - 03/01/26.

For more information, see letterstothegods.carrd.co

#QueerArt #queerAdultSFF #Horror
Letters to the Gods Left in Fireplaces
A queer lit magazine where the forbidden thrives.
letterstothegods.carrd.co
November 11, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
faithschaffer.bsky.social
⭐🌟 searching by starlight 🌟⭐
Ink drawing- side profile vignette of a woman walking though a windy patch of tall grass. She is carrying a lantern full of stars.
November 12, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
ardenpowell.bsky.social
I don't like going into adaptations with the intent to dissect their faithfulness to the original text. I get excited about faithful adaptations, but that's a bonus. I want to approach an adaptation as a story in its own right, and then look at its conversation with the original text afterwards.
November 10, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
evelynepark.bsky.social
" [...] with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of. "

Acrylic painting on watercolor paper, inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula
November 8, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
riengray.bsky.social
I will never use AI for my covers, editing, translation, or anything else. It is not only useless to me as an author, it is actively hostile and harms every skill related to book production.

If you're an author against AI used to generate writing, you better back everyone else in the chain too.
November 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
dorukgolcu.bsky.social
Hit exactly 8K followers this morning! Let's do an Artshare before the bots unfollow and I fall below 🤪

Share and like each others' art
No AI
No NFT
Werewolves fighting in snow Creepy woman surrounded by ghostly animals Vampire with sword with bats swarming around him Woman with sword with butterflies surrounding her
November 4, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
thequantummage.bsky.social
The stem is hollow, and huge, and grows deeper into the ground than I'd believed you could go. Deeper than light. Hades deep. I prepare for the descent: backpack, and a little food, some water, a rope, and the only lantern.

Just before I start off, I mutter, "Wish I'd planted them right side up."
talesfeathers.bsky.social Tales & Feathers Magazine @talesfeathers.bsky.social · Oct 28
So you've sold your cow for magic beans. You've dutifully planted and watered the beans, kept the dirt free of weeds and built a fence to keep out the rabbits. It soon becomes apparent these beans will not take you to a land in the clouds. What happens instead?

#TinyTalesTuesday #WritingPrompt
October 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
bmwillows.bsky.social
16 hours left to grab these bundles!! ✨
bmwillows.bsky.social Brittany M. Willows 🐝🍁 BUY MY QUEER CATBOY BOOKS @bmwillows.bsky.social · Oct 19
Hello! Good morning! I'm in not one, but TWO Ace Pride Week bundles on Itchio this week! You can either get 26 books for $26, or 50+ for $50! 🖤🤍💜

Bundle 2: itch.io/b/3322/ace-pride-week-itchio-bundle-2
Mega Bundle: itch.io/b/3318/ace-pride-week-itchio-mega-bundle
Ace Pride Week itch.io bundle 1 Oct 19 - 25 | 26 books for $26! Book covers for the following books are listed top left to bottom right: Non-player Character - Veo Corva The Blood Divide - Zan Lowell The Grand Duke’s Masseur Wherever the Stars Call - S. Jean Structural Integrity - Tabitha O’Connell Inarora’s Excursion - Astrid E. Abell The Star-Crossed Empire - Maya Darjani Triple Strike Threads of Fate - G. M. Grey Curse of Souls - Niranjan Courtly Love - T. D. Cloud The Thirteenth Key - Cara Nox Of Spells and Love - Odessa Silver The Thread That Binds - Cedar McCloud Yours Celestially - Al Hess Walking the Knife’s Edge - Elise Carlson Junk Junction - Sara Codair Song of the Wolf - T. C. Smith In the Eye of the Beholder - Beverly Anne Michel Journey Home - Mary Barros Towers of Nine - Alyssa Louttit The Audacity - Carmen Loup Bloody Spade - Brittany M. Willows Lantern - Burgundy Athena Pendragon Blood - D. C. Hart The Dragon Next Door - Vanessa Ricci-Thode A Designer Magick - Fox N. Locke All books by ace authors and/or ft. ace characters across a variety of genres! riyati.ink/ace2025-1 Ace Pride Week itch.io mega bundle Oct 19 - 25 | 50+ books for $50! Book covers for the following books are listed top left to bottom right: Non-player Character - Veo Corva A Dragon’s Treasure - Elis Madsen The Blood Divide - Zan Lowell The Grand Duke’s Masseur Child of the Forest - Audrey Simmons Wherever the Stars Call - S. Jean How Six Saved the Grogs - Blaine D. Arden City of Strike - Claudie Arseneault In Spite of the Inevitable - Morgan Biscup Structural Integrity - Tabitha O’Connell Of Spells and Love - Odessa Silver Inarora’s Excursion - Astrid E. Abell Puppetry - Nina Waters Sidetracked - S. K. Kelley Lost Blades - Liz Sauco Claimed by the Undead - C. L. Carhart The Star-Crossed Empire - Maya Darjani Triple Strike Threads of Fate - G. M. Grey Curse of Souls - Niranjan Courtly Love - T. D. Cloud Song of the Wolf - T. C. Smith Blood - D. C. Hart Chai and Cat-tales - Lynn Strong The Thirteenth Key - Cara Nox The Dragon Next Door - Vanessa Ricci-Thode Walking the Knife’s Edge - Elise Carlson Yours Celestically - Al Hess Pet - H. S. Kallinger The One He Brought Home - Skye Kilaen Junk Junction - Sara Codair Secondhand Origin Storie - Lee Brontido Riyati Rebirth - Kai Zeal Bridges of Smoke - Julie March The Whisperer in White - Y. R. Liu In the Eye of the Beholder - Beverly Anne Michel Peace in the Sky - Caye Marsh A Spark in Space - Janina Franck Journey Home - May Barros Doce Drosera - Anita The Audacity - Carmen Loup Bloody Space - Brittany M. Willows Enemies to Enemies - Ash Kreider Devil’s Deal - Tessa Hastjarjanto Merchants of Knowledge and Magic - Erika McCorkle A Life in Too Many Margins - S. E. Thomson Where We Converge - A. E. Bross Lantern - Burgundy Athena Pendragon A Designer Magick - Fox N. Locke The Harmony of Falling Snow - Andora Brohaw The Thread That Binds - Cedar McCloud Towers of Nine - Alyssa Louttit All books by ace authors and/or ft. ace characters across a variety of genres! riyati.ink/acepride2025
October 25, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
ladzwriting.bsky.social
As the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer, THE CRADLE OF ETERNAL NIGHT is a frostpunk yuri for fantasy readers looking for something darkly beautiful and love watching two women save their world from itself

Illus. by @pompoison.bsky.social
$0.99: books2read.com/thecradleofe...
A square graphic with three images on top, two on the bottom, and a slice in the middle with a close up of the blue cover of The Cradle Of Eternal Night. The top three graphics are a lunar eclipse, two girls ready to kiss, and an arm reaching out in the dark. The bottom three graphics are a close up of a hairy armpit, a section of a painting of leaves, and another eclipse. The text overlaid says: POV: your next read is THE CRADLE OF ETERNAL NIGHT.
October 24, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
elizmanderson.com
and here's a static cover reveal post for people who want to skip the book trailer and/or hate videos! cover art by Lucy Rose

THE LORD OF THE WOOD releases in July 2026, from @hanoversquarepress.bsky.social! #author

preorder now: gatheringvolumes.com/item/44euZQq...
the cover of E.M. Anderson's The Lord of the Wood, framed in gold with gold flowers against a dark teal background around the edges. The cover is teal with a stag of flowers and foliage growing from a twisted tree with flowers growing around it and black ooze dripping from a branch overhead. the title "The Lord of the Wood" is in large white serif text to the left, with foliage growing through the letters closest to the tree, and the author "E.M. Anderson" is in all-caps yellow text at the bottom. the tagline, in smaller yellow text, reads, "Even a beastly woodland protector needs saving..." "When lonely clockmaker Arthur Throckmorton loses his way in an enchanted forest, he meets the hero of his childhood bedtime stories: the Lord of the Wood. But instead of the mythical figure of his dreams, the Lord of the Wood is a grim man turning into a beast and losing power over a dying forest. If they can’t save the forest before he becomes a beast completely, Arthur will lose the man he's falling for—and never see his family again." Text is in a textbox against a murky image of a forest, with the cover of E.M. Anderson's The Lord of the Wood below the text, all against a dark teal background with gold curlicues in the corners. The cover of E.M. Anderson's The Lord of the Wood on a dark teal background with golden leaves overhead, surrounded by yellow text reading: plant magic; sentient forest trying to oops! murder people; intensely homoerotic shaving scene; the one who heard the stories and the one who was in the stories; hopeless romantic who's clueless about his own sexuality; Beauty & the Beast inspired by not a retelling; dual-POV brother/sister; love interest turning slowly into a beast; wound-tending.
October 14, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
riengray.bsky.social
if you read novels to improve your writing but not poetry, you're probably missing an entire facet of your craft that's never been honed
rachelfeder.bsky.social Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · Oct 13
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
October 13, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Reposted by Ashley Van E
cait.bsky.social
the protagonist isn't always the hero. they are just the person the book is about. sometimes authors write books about people who are bad and it does not mean that the author is bad
rachelfeder.bsky.social Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · Oct 13
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
October 13, 2025 at 9:03 PM