Ross McDermott
LightNews LightNews
banner
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
Ross McDermott
@beyondtheonions.bsky.social
840 followers 480 following 1.3K posts
I write ✍
Author
TUSK: A Beringia Story - https://a.co/d/eJgOYf1
The Murderous Villain Rosco Pitt - https://a.co/d/fx8xng3
Weathervane - a.co/d/3iPzhvE (horror)
(poetry) - Beyond the Onions https://a.co/d/j1SWuiC
https://gravatar.com/beyondtheonions
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
Ross McDermott @beyondtheonions.bsky.social · Mar 25
"Words lament, pages weep,
Never written if never read."
~ Ross McDermott - Beyond the Onions

TUSK: A Beringia Story - #historicalfantasy
a.co/d/9owR2nQ
The Murderous Villain Rosco Pitt - #western
a.co/d/4dskZHv
Weathervane - #western / #horror
a.co/d/eymNU43

#booklovers #storytime #booksky
Reposted by Ross McDermott
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #benefit #writing #amwriting #western #horror #fiction #wip Sunsetter -
#sequel to the #novel Weathervane: A tale of ancient evil in the wilds of the west a.co/d/4KHttZd

*Maddie makes a choice...
#books #booksky #writingcommunity #booklovers
“Right then. It’s decided. The lassie and I will make a run for sacred groond.” McTavish’s declaration carried the sound of finality, but it appeared Maddie, sitting crisscross on the cot shaking her head, was unconvinced. We’d been discussing our options since I’d returned to the shack on the heels of meeting our new arrivals at the mercantile. I told them everything, with the exception of my brief and startling conversation with Mihai Georgescu, as that knowledge would really serve the benefit of no one, in my assessment. I told them of the Setters, the arrival of Percival and Mory and Sara, though I minimized it with briefly a mention, stressing that while their presence remained a mystery that riddled my mind, it was not the most pressing issue that their arrival here presented. “From what I understand, this woman, Millie Bonner, has a strong dislike of you McTavish, having been the defender of the man that killed her brother, and you, Maddie, I’d imagine you drew her ire the day of the hanging, when she perceived your actions as a betrayal. “That is the only reason I suggest the sacred ground. The decision I will leave up to you both. For me, my option is only one: wait by day, hunt by night. My foe is near, I will remain and I will complete my task or die trying.” After several seconds of listening to the wind rising outside and the snow turning to ice and pelting the wall of the shack, Maddie broke the spell. “I will remain with you, Francis.” excerpt from #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
January 5, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Ross McDermott
acturek.bsky.social
#fantasy #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #WIPSnips #benefit

As the Council discusses events Rushak has reported, he notes a councilor who differs from his countrymen.

- Brother’s Keeper, first book of my fantasy WIP about two brothers bound by a misunderstood power
One of the councilors stirred impatiently, shifting his gaze in Rushak's general direction without really looking at him. He was unusually broad and blunt-featured, his close-set eyes squinting from sun-darkened flesh. A scar on his face, another unusual trait, began at his hairline, skipped his eye, crossed the bridge of his nose and continued to the edge of his upper lip, pulling his mouth into a perpetual, scornful twist. It marked him as a warrior, probably an antler chief, wounded in some distant battle without the BENEFIT of the River's healing Water to ease his mending. His thinning hair, pulled back, revealed an ear that was missing its tip. Brother's Keeper A.C. Turek
January 5, 2026 at 12:47 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#Elevators rise
lit as fireflies
climbing to the skies
the night the world forgot
Ticket holders only
scanning cards-'Admit One'
and there stood but one lonely
#oddball who forgot to run
when tickets were awarded
he didn't hear the starter's gun
the night the world forgot

#vss365 #vssdaily #poetry
January 5, 2026 at 12:57 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#2wordprompt #standard #partner #writing #amwriting #scifi
The droid, not my standard partner. A beat-cop's job sure wasn't what it used to be. I observed its near-human appearance. The Deidra 5000 was reminiscent of the philosopher Pinocchio. Like Pinocchio, Deidra too could walk and talk and fly. "Do...anything...I...try." She blinked. It took forever. ~Beyond the Onions~ Ross McDermott
January 5, 2026 at 12:21 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #benefit #writing #amwriting #western #horror #fiction #wip Sunsetter -
#sequel to the #novel Weathervane: A tale of ancient evil in the wilds of the west a.co/d/4KHttZd

*Maddie makes a choice...
#books #booksky #writingcommunity #booklovers
“Right then. It’s decided. The lassie and I will make a run for sacred groond.” McTavish’s declaration carried the sound of finality, but it appeared Maddie, sitting crisscross on the cot shaking her head, was unconvinced. We’d been discussing our options since I’d returned to the shack on the heels of meeting our new arrivals at the mercantile. I told them everything, with the exception of my brief and startling conversation with Mihai Georgescu, as that knowledge would really serve the benefit of no one, in my assessment. I told them of the Setters, the arrival of Percival and Mory and Sara, though I minimized it with briefly a mention, stressing that while their presence remained a mystery that riddled my mind, it was not the most pressing issue that their arrival here presented. “From what I understand, this woman, Millie Bonner, has a strong dislike of you McTavish, having been the defender of the man that killed her brother, and you, Maddie, I’d imagine you drew her ire the day of the hanging, when she perceived your actions as a betrayal. “That is the only reason I suggest the sacred ground. The decision I will leave up to you both. For me, my option is only one: wait by day, hunt by night. My foe is near, I will remain and I will complete my task or die trying.” After several seconds of listening to the wind rising outside and the snow turning to ice and pelting the wall of the shack, Maddie broke the spell. “I will remain with you, Francis.” excerpt from #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
January 5, 2026 at 11:53 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#Hastags lean as sign posts
skewed by winds of inspiration
weathervanes lining highway's edge
#clueless in their spin
and the final destination
that always lies beyond
the sign post up ahead.

#vss365 #poetry #writing #amwriting #skywriters
January 4, 2026 at 12:34 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#vss365 #2wordprompt #vssdaily #home #generous #size #lounge #poem #poetry #writing #amwriting #writingcommunity #rhyme #dark #blueskypoetry

~the bloom~
The sudden lunge was futile the parry had struck #home the needle found its destiny plunging deep, to seek the bone leaving but a freckle-wound, diminutive in #size dipped, he #lounged in coma cold and paralyzed ‘Not the man he thought he was…’ Too late, he realized How #generous once the blue Now blooms to black in staring eyes. ~Beyond the Onions~ Ross McDermott ~
January 4, 2026 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Ross McDermott
aspenbrave.bsky.social
#BraveWrite #vss365
#PoetryCommunity

dismissed shamed ignored
put away for what?

a day month year
as sand trickled
what was left unsaid

memories scrapped
a hope my writing
wasn’t what?

#balderdash
you tried to wipe
off your floor?

maybe if you’d
read even one word
you could’ve seen our world
A young girl with her hair blowing across her pensive expression
January 4, 2026 at 6:26 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #home #writing #amwriting #western #horror #fiction #wip Sunsetter - continuing the tale of an ancient evil in the wilds of the west; #sequel to the #novel Weathervane.
*a homecoming... for some.
#books #booksky #writingcommunity #booklovers
The land had a similar familiarity to my eyes having lived eleven years in the region, but that time seemed so long ago that any attachments I entertained were self-induced thoughts of comfort. The reality is I had little recollection of anything before the night my father came home. That critical moment in time had banished any joy from my heart that my childhood could have conjured. While our journey may have been a homecoming of sorts, for both Maddie and McTavish, my affections for the land did not run so deep and caused me to wonder, ‘where is my home? ‘Was my home Setters Manor? Was it in the darkened catacombs that lay beneath?’ I found no solace in these thoughts. Though I had at one time embraced the place of my rearing, now, in the real world, it was not a place that my emerging mind would call home. excerpt from #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
January 4, 2026 at 10:18 AM
Reposted by Ross McDermott
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
Alcoves echo
#abstractions
among kisses
moist as mists
where freedom
cascades
and faith foams
in torrents of love
lost to moments
of time.

#vss365 #poem #poetry #writing
January 3, 2026 at 9:16 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
I haven't seen the sun since last year!
And the moon...
the moon has abandoned me too!
What's a scribe, so uninspired,
what's a scribe to do!

#skyscapes #photography #sun #moon #inspiration photos by me 🙂 #rhymetime
January 3, 2026 at 12:35 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
The hall filled with hum
a buzz and a drone
A lonely guitar
strikes ominous tones
blue mist fills the air
and the fragrant of hash...

and some bloke on the mic
sings complete #balderdash. 😁

#vss365 #poem #poetry #rhymetime #writing #amwriting
January 3, 2026 at 10:33 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
The weeble wobbles, yes
to and fro, side to side
add another weeble
and watch the wobbles
heads collide
energy kinetic
destined to subside
our eyes #consume the wobble #wars
while weebles seek a place to hide.

#2wordprompt #poem #poetry #writing #amwriting
January 3, 2026 at 10:12 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #calm #writing #amwriting #western #horror #fiction #wip Sunsetter - continuing the tale of an ancient evil in the wilds of the west; #sequel to the #novel Weathervane.
*a reunion, a communion, dancing in the abstract for a moment in time...
#books #booksky #writingcommunity #booklovers
It was, for a moment, in the forest of Follows Drifting Feather that I felt I had found grace. She soothed me with soft thoughts and calmed my anxious heart with assurances of her well-being, despite the attack of the top-hat man. She reached up and touched my face, gazing at the darkness of the mask around my eyes, lightly touching my crooked nose, whispering she could ‘fix it.’ We danced in the light. Our melding twirled as a drifting feather, in a warm, airy breeze, surrounded by the dark on an empty dance floor. We glistened bright in that darkness and danced alone, Drifting Feather and I, and found in the calm of our communion an effervescent spring of soothing bubbles, where the darkness of the dance floor around us mattered not. excerpt from the #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
January 3, 2026 at 9:51 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
Alcoves echo
#abstractions
among kisses
moist as mists
where freedom
cascades
and faith foams
in torrents of love
lost to moments
of time.

#vss365 #poem #poetry #writing
January 3, 2026 at 9:16 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #begin (vibe) #writing #amwriting #horror/western #fiction #wip Sunsetter
*blurred lines and parallel beginnings – the Setter wine.
“This is vile,” she said. “What is this… this is the Setter wine you’ve spoke of, eh?” “Yes,” I replied, nodding slowly, picking up on Maddie’s disapproval. “It will do no harm, and could very well aid the man in his recovery. It’s never harmed me and I’ve been drinking it for much of my life.” “Life!” Maddie exclaimed, rising quickly from the cot and throwing the flask across the jail-cell floor. “That tonic is the serum of death corrupted. It is the very elixir that creates the very thing you hunt! Francis, that is not wine. That is the blood of the fallen!” I looked at Maddie for a moment. It struck me that she thought I did not know. I had always known. Even as a boy when I’d taken my first sip and retched so pathetically at the table of the Setters – even then a part of me knew. “I was just a boy.” I plead my case though she had made no accusation. “Yes, a part of me knew, but how, as a boy, could I have ever conceived its totality? I was alone and lost in a frightening world; I wanted to survive, what would you have had me do?” Maddie nodded, contemplating my reply, then she stared at me, cold and dark, no warmth found me with those hazels. “So was Noah,” was all she said. excerpt from #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
January 1, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Ross McDermott
scifansat.bsky.social
Calling all writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy and More: Submissions are open for January’s #SciFanSat issue until 01.22.2026 at scifansat.com/landing.html!

Let’s start the new year with a cold open. This month’s theme is ICE!

#SFF #AmWritingScifi #AmWritingFantasy #WritingPrompts
SciFanSat: The Monthly Magazine for Science Fiction, Fantasy and More! January’s theme is ICE. The deadline for submissions is January 22nd, 2026.
January 1, 2026 at 11:15 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#vss365 #dream #poem #poetry #writing #amwriting #goodmorning #bluesky

~Easy Glide~
Under cover of a moonless night, Satin sails plume full in flight, And softly slip in slumber’s tow. This ship of dreams we need not row. The silver seas do not restrain. The howling winds ask no refrain, But allows the dream an easy glide, As it whisks around our sails inside. The cozy sway of rolling swells Are soon forgot, harsh ringing bells Disrupt the air with screeching sound, A grinding halt, the ship’s aground. Jerked awake, sleep lost its charm. A sluggish hand chokes the alarm. Morning, like a bitter frost, Dissolves the dream, our ship is lost. ~Beyond the Onions~ Ross McDermott ~
December 31, 2025 at 12:42 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
existential yawns
thrown exhausted to the dawn
right where they belong

#2wordprompt #haiku #belong #throw #amwriting #poetry #rhyme #writing
jason-h-abbott.bsky.social Jason H. Abbott @jason-h-abbott.bsky.social · 5d
Write. Create. Be inspired. The #2WordPrompt for 31-DEC-25 is:

Belong & Throw

#Prompt
December 31, 2025 at 12:23 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#HappyNewYear 🍻🎉🎈 to all!
#WIPSnips - #end - the last of the year.
#wip Sunsetter, #sequel to #novel Weathervane
#horror 🧛 #western 🤠 #fiction #writing

“The night has come to me, no need to chase it, and as we Sunsetters tend to do at night: I wait.”
~ Francis Morgan Slayter, Sunsetter
My wait came to an end with the rising light of the moon and the shadows of fingers that crept from the dark forest to tickle the glowing light of my fire. My wait came to an end when the pale apparition of a child suddenly appeared hovering feet above the ground to dart among the pine boughs and streak around the perimeter of my camp. My wait came to and end when the voice erupted in the night, shaking the ground and causing the very air to tremble: “Sunsetter!” It bellowed, starting as a growl and rising in crescendo. excerpt from #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
December 31, 2025 at 12:01 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #writing #horror #western #genre-bending #fiction #blueskywriters
*One would think the word #sun would be plentiful in my #wip Sunsetter, and guess what? It is!
#dreamscape I've tried to grab a snippet not previously posted... but tbh I'm not sure. #Enjoy!
*Francis tries to sleep
“You should sleep little man. You have not rested in days.” She opened up the slot again and directed me to look. I frowned at her, feeling the jab of the “little man” taunt, but complied with her request. I saw the pre-dawn sky, appearing as bruised as it did on the evening past, but the light was in the east and a penciled line of gold was shimmering across the horizon. I felt my mind let go in that moment, as my eyes chased that golden hue. My exhaustion took hold and as Maddie had recommended, I found and unfolded a cot that was shoved behind a desk and without removing my winter gear, collapsed on the expanse of cold canvas. I slept. *** …and sleep escapes me on this night, I toss and turn and wonder: is that the dawn of morning light? Is that the sound of thunder?... The weathervane. The head of the goat, spinning in flaring tendrils of small flames, etched upon the iron, the black inverted star framed in a circle of the serpent, swallowing its tail. The face of the fallen drifted and flashed then melted and moulded long to drip on a field of white, the black of the iron turning blood-red and staining all I could see. A spinning and a swirl and my dreamscape becomes a landscape, a rolling horizon of cotton-grass hills, rocks and shrubs, sedges and lichen, darkened to a shadow, while the final dip of a falling sun sets the sky ablaze… *** I awake to the light of day streaming in through the open jailhouse door. I squint my eyes to see better in the glare of morning sun and catch a mirage of Maddie leading her horse past the opening. excerpt from the #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
December 30, 2025 at 12:01 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
~Don't worry, me happy 😀

Silver solvent trails
#travel traces cheek to tongue

Taste of bitter swallows
and sweet sorrows come undone

A tears-and-time #solution
of emotion's evolution
A #durable resolution
for days without the sun.

#vss365 #2wordprompt #poem #poetry #writing #skypoetry
December 30, 2025 at 11:40 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
Mr. Newsman
Time to snooze, man
Cuz' you simply can't see
I want the who's, the where's, when's and how's
But leave the why's to me.
Too many times now, caught in lies, wow
yet once the press was free?
Now it dwells in silos
of #ridicuality.

#writing #poem #making_up_words #mediacracy
December 29, 2025 at 3:50 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
High winds
lights flicker
waiting on the power
waiting on the hour

of the coming storm.

#photography #urban #ice_storm #rhymetime
power lines coated in thick ice - London, Ont., Canada, 2025 photo by Ross McDermott
December 29, 2025 at 1:46 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
Threads of deception gather on the ground
coiling in the essence of serpentine.

Gossamer piles, delicate they pose,
crush as glass against the very #soles
who dare lay bare and tread
in search of buried truths.

#vss365 #poem #poetry #message #media #oligarchs #struggle #writing #spot_the_lie
December 29, 2025 at 1:29 PM