Nina Castle
LightNews LightNews
banner
castlemantra.bsky.social
Nina Castle
@castlemantra.bsky.social
720 followers 700 following 150 posts
SFF writer, artist, teacher #amwriting #amediting, Dog person, ice cream lover, aaaannd romance addict https://linktr.ee/castlemantra
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
castlemantra.bsky.social
Nina Castle @castlemantra.bsky.social · 15d
Like everyone⬇️the Divide, I'm ugly & sick. Unlovable. Especially to my BF, Rem. The raffle for HealthCorp’s miracle💊could heal me & make me beautiful, but I’d have better odds stealing them from the CEO’s playboy son. A⬆️risk of being caught. And 0 chance of losing my❤️to him. #questpit #Q #A #SF #R
Reposted by Nina Castle
christianoxford.bsky.social
After a heist gone wrong binds a thief to the soul of a long-dead hero, she must outrun the law and bargain with a vilified goddess for her life, all while deciding whether the world would be better off with her survival or the hero's resurrection.

#QuestPit #Q #A #F #DF
January 31, 2026 at 5:46 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
dsbcreativewriting.bsky.social
Hopeful rebel and charismatic sailor race to save the cosmos from climate disaster. Optimistic politics, ancient swords, easy romances, and unlikely friendships form a thoughtful romp through the “Veins of the Ether”. What’s more important: a revolution, or what comes after?

#questpit #sff #f #sf
January 31, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
weavinguptales.bsky.social
MERLIN x Indonesian mythology

Deaf-mute chosen one finds the world she’s destined to protect falling to soul-eating demons. They outmatch her, especially *their* chosen one. She & her vigilante knights must defeat them. That’s if she could resist the soul of her evil counterpart #questpit #YA #F
moodboard consisting of 9 pics (a group of swords joined in a huddle (hands can be seen), a river, two hands reaching out for each other against a pinkish sky background, a good masquerade mask on a silky surface with fairy lights, a dagger held behind someone’s back - they’re in a medieval-like dress, the back of an Asian man in a decorated white suit, a skull cradled in the hands of someone in a white-yellowish 18th century dress - they’re also some plants, Indonesian shadow puppets and hands holding a pocket watch against a bluish dress background) in a grid
January 31, 2026 at 7:31 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
luanadarosa.bsky.social
RuPaul’s Drag Race x Comic-Con

When two rival comic artists with romantic baggage are forced to partner on a reality TV competition, their rekindled chemistry goes viral—but the producers are editing their story into something it's not.

#QuestPit #A #R #Q
January 31, 2026 at 7:25 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
anthoniaumoh1.bsky.social
ALICE IN BORDERLAND X HUNGER GAMES

A pro gamer is invited to play an illegal game to afford her mother’s medical bills. Her experiences changes her world view, and unlocks a seal placed on her supernatural abilities throwing her life into complete chaos.
#questpit #fantasy #dystopian
January 31, 2026 at 7:25 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
blairespencer.bsky.social
Meet Hennie: a plus-size American chaos-goblin who hid her hurt behind being “the fun friend.” Grieving her father, losing her mother to dementia, she’s overwhelmed by her family's lies - and desperate for roots. She takes up space. Laughs too loudly. And she’s not apologizing.

#Questpit #A #R #Q
Hennie mood board: chaotic imagery representing Hennie's vibe and mood, including nods to her family secrets, her journey to London, and her penchant for bad decisions. Hennie POV Irritating this man might become her new favorite pastime. She wanted to find his boundaries and stick a toe across them. Maybe a whole leg.
January 31, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
blairespencer.bsky.social
Enter Everett: rigid, rule-bound, and convinced tea cures all - except his disastrous last novel. After the shock of Hurricane Hennie, he sees an opportunity: the perfect muse for his next book. But when feral energy become exactly what he needs, the rule book is out the window.

#Questpit #A #R #Q
Everett mood board: moody, masculine, clean, neutral. Images of a writer's office and notebook, tea, and a library. Includes a link to a playlist he made for Hennie. Everett POV Sunday dinner was meant to be about warmth and connection. For Everett, it felt more like ritual sacrifice.
January 31, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
blairespencer.bsky.social
FLEABAG x ROMANTIC COMEDY

WRITING HENNIE is also perfect for readers who love vivid settings (hello, London) and anyone looking for a romance featuring a plus-size woman where being fat is NOT something she needs to change.

#Questpit #A #R #Q
Comps for WRITING HENNIE include ROMANTIC COMEDY, FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK, YOU, AGAIN, and HAPPY PLACE
January 31, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
blairespencer.bsky.social
FLEABAG x ROMANTIC COMEDY

Hennie's in freefall when she inherits a London flat from the father she never knew - and gains a downstairs neighbor, Everett, who’s about to be caught in her chaos. Too bad they make questionable choices. Sex tends to complicate things.

#Questpit #A #R #Q
WRITING HENNIE mood board: snapshots of different London locations over the Union Jack and New Jersey state flag
January 31, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
csmallswright.bsky.social
When 12 y/o Bryn & her bestie Alex fall down, they never expected to face their future selves once they're back on their feet. Now, Bryn & Alex are on the clock as they race to solve their past problems before they’re stuck in the future forever in BRYN & ALEX RACE THE CLOCK
#QuestPit #MG #S #SF #W
January 31, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
csmallswright.bsky.social
PRETTY AS FIRE, AND JUST AS DANGEROUS is a story of betrayal.

Devil’s Up began as a game but led to arson. Fires baffle the town & truth or dare becomes truth or scare, as a group of teens get tangled in a web of lies & revenge.

Some will prevail.

Some will die!

#QuestPit #YA #T#CON #OWN
January 31, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
csmallswright.bsky.social
AMARI x LOKI

Kori, 12, finds herself stuck in a cryfest & painful menty b's after her mom dies

When a meteor opens a portal, doppelgängers chase her. Kori learns their fates are bound & her grief transcends the multiverse

Now, Kori must save herself — from herself!

#QuestPit #MG #S #SF #Q #POC
January 31, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
saraduran.bsky.social
Coming soon to agent inboxes!

• • •

ANNIHILATION x BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

💫two exiled men (and their secrets)
💫one lunar prison (and its horrors)
💫a cosmic entity that wants them dead
💫the love they’ll lose if they don’t survive

#SF #H #R #LGBT #amquerying #QuestPit
BABEL ON CALLISTO Querying February 2025 @saraduranauthor sara.duran@bsky.social COMPS The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler, labeled “isolated research station” and “philosophical alien threat.” The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw, labeled “queer, visceral horror” and “love as a consuming force.” The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei, labeled “psychological unraveling” and “fracture under mission pressure.” PITCH “On a lunar prison outpost, two exiled men uncover a cosmic presence waking beneath the ice. As their uneasy alliance against it twists into something tender and terrifying, they are confronted with the one thing they never expected to find on a dead moon: a reason to live. But the ice is thinning.” TASTE “Neither spoke as Elias bypassed the security protocol on the keypad. The metal hatch shuddered as it unlocked, slinking back to hidden panels in the wall. They cleared the first few floors with carrion precision, methodical as Dermestidae stripping a carcass to bone. In Elias’s imagination, the gore thinned into something vaster—the time-lapse unraveling the ruin from above. Wordlessly, corridors were scoured to nothing as he and Jack moved like insects beneath an overhead lens. As the hours dissolved, their work became abstracted into a cold anatomy, intimacy pared away as cleanly as flesh from the frame until only the architecture of survival remained. When Jack hacked into the collapsed doorway to the next stairwell, Elias marveled at the contradiction: how those same brutal hands had, only that morning, traced him with the delicacy of a scalpel.”
January 31, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
nehayazmin.bsky.social
Aaryana is winning the contest that decides who will be the next Queen/King but her enemies—which may include her sisters—are determined to change that

👸ambitious FMC w/ soft❤️
🫅brooding LI who’s protective of his siblings
🧜‍♀️sea folk
💘fake courting
🖤slow🔥hate-2-love
💔forbidden love
#QuestPit #Y #F #P
Moodboard titled Aaryana (FMC’s name) with a subheading along the bottom: Heir to the Throne Series. Image 1 is of a young woman wearing a blue hooded cloak and holding two swords. Image 2 is a young woman in metal armour, holding a large shield and getting ready to strike with the sword in her other hand. Image 3 is a close-up of a young woman sitting next to a sword leaning against the wall. The final image depicts a young woman wearing an elaborate gold headpiece studded with blue crystals. Moodboard with seven images and title along the bottom: Heir to the Throne Series. Image 1 is of a young man who appears to have huge angel-wings and a fire burning in the background. Image 2 is a scene of a ship that seems to have crashed against the rocks edging the sea. Image 3 is of a young woman with her arms around a young man. Image 4 depicts a young woman wearing an elaborate gold headpiece studded with blue crystals. Image 5 is of a young woman holding a sword and plummeting in the ocean. Image 6 depicts the outside of a beautiful castle, a huge moon in the sky, and a young woman in a black gown staring at the stars in the sky. The final image is of two ships caught in a storm at sea.
January 31, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
francestiffany.bsky.social
A tragic journey about a woman living with grief while trying to find love.

🔥Behind Her Eyes meets Yours Truly
🔥Authentic characters with flaws
🔥Raw and real emotions

“That was enough to make me wish I could close my eyes and sleep forever.”

#QuestPit #W #T #R
January 31, 2026 at 7:02 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
authorrjwebb.bsky.social
HAZELTHORN X THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH
Journals of a Familiar
Hawthorne has never left the cathedral. Raised in silence and prepared for a future he doesn't understand, everything changes when he meets Violet, a witch with wild dreams of escape.
#questpit #W #YA #H #LGBT
January 31, 2026 at 6:20 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
leonahwrites.bsky.social
As a royal seer, Olek has prophesied her own death. There is nothing she can do to stop it, & she will run to it if it means saving her country & family from destruction. Teaming with her reluctant ally, Olek fights Hellish beasts, love, & a 2-headed dragon.
#questpit #AG #A #RF
black and white dragon based 9 picture moodboard
January 31, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
beemorris.bsky.social
💀LYDIA IS DEAD💀
#QuestPit #AgentsGuide #Q

Lydia is dead... and Charlie knows who killed her.

♥️ dark romance
🦷 magic & witchcraft
🌶️ seducing the enemy
🍽️ cannibalism curse
🫀 body horror
Background of fog moving over the treetops of a forest. Book title reads: LYDIA IS DEAD. 110,000 words, horromantasy, Adult/New Adult Background is dark, blue water. Text reads: The Pitch. Lydia is dead, and Charlie knows who killed her. Her prime suspect? Markus, enigmatic bachelor and Lydia’s ex- boyfriend. Determined to prove his guilt, Charlie launches her own investigation: seduce Markus and uncover the web of lies lurking in Gildervale’s supernatural shadows. But as her attraction to Markus grows, Charlie's grip on reality starts to slip. Are these paranormal horrors real, or is she finally losing her mind? Text reads: Book/TV Comps. Images include covers of popular books & TV including: Shapr Objects by Gillian Flynn, Hannibal TV Show, and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Additional text reads: serial killer mystery, amateur sleuthing, cannibalism, toxic love, body horror, occult, magic and murder Background is a small fire in the dark. Text reads: Themes & Tropes. Morally grey hero, flashback chapters, murder mystery, dark romance, supernatural, generational trauma, genre blending, magic & curses, witchcraft, cannibalism, magic tea, seances, heists, betrayal
January 31, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
charscrawls.bsky.social
❝she is a wisp, a wile, a wonder, someone who i'll probably never have the privilege of meeting, not in this lifetime at least.❞

introducing 𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 & 𝐖𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃, an adult literary romance coming to the querying trenches later this year 🌞

#questpit #W #A #R #LF
January 31, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
wordpamela.bsky.social
12yo sceptic Yanju becomes homeless, grieves, so loses the will to paint. She encounters a ghost, witch and Mamiwata(mermaid). To heal from grief, she must let her spirit guide help fight, and win an art competition to have a home, or else remain homeless and be a ghost #Questpit #MG #F #PR #BVM #Q
January 31, 2026 at 5:05 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
jenniferluce.bsky.social
Hi #Questpit! Nearly done w/ SmoochPit revisions, here's GUMIHO, my Korean folklore-inspired adult fantasy blended w/ horror & romance!

✨️ Selected for the 2025 Smoochpit Mentorship Program
✨️ Big 5 Editor Interest
✨️ Won 3rd in the horror category of the 2025 PNWA Writing Contest

#A #F #H #R
An Agent Guide to GUMIHO 86,000 word adult folklore fantasy blended with horror and romance By Jennifer Luce The pitch: Cursed with a vengeful gumiho, Mina has spent centuries feeding it souls to become a god—and now she needs just one more, but when she falls for her final target, she must choose: face her demons and sever the curse before the gumiho consumes her from the inside out, or achieve godhood and lose herself to become something truly monstrous. For fans of... SUCH SHARP TEETH by Rachel Harrison - physical transformation & emotional vulnerability THE FOX WIFE by Yangsze Choo - East Asian Folklore MY DEMON - Redemption through connection THE GLORY - Morally gray anti-hero First Lines Bright droplets of red bloomed against the crisp, white snow. A trail, unbeknownst to my victim, that would lead to his demise.
January 31, 2026 at 5:08 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
victoriajayneoh.bsky.social
#questpit #a #q #rf

A cursed trans runaway prince is caught, assigned a 24/7 guard, and betrothed as his deadname. To cure his curse, the prince must trust his guard and friends to plan a splashy escape w the guard. However, the prince risks his freedom and his friend’s lives should his plan fail.
Under the royal guards gaze bride elf flowers castle dragon fairy trans The next time I open my eyes, it’s early morning. I slip my glasses on and look left. Bright orange light seeps through the red curtains, casting a dreamy haze across the room. Swirling dustmotes catch in the light, like little ghosts. It’s a bit peaceful, actually. It’s almost enough to make me forget that I’m being held against my will. When I look to my right, a ripple races down my spine as I shout: “Who the fuck are you?” A man—no, an elf steps forward. He’s in a royal guard’s outfit: dark purple uniform with a rhomboid panel on the front, gold buttons connected by golden chains dangling from breast to breast. The long sleeves meet at a pair of slender white gloves. His violet eyes glow in the orange light. Elves’ eyes can be violet? I thought that was just for cursed humans. Before yesterday, I’d never met an elf. Now I’ve met two, and both have unusual eyes. I don’t really know what else to think other than, Holy shit, what is happening and who is this? The elf bows, straight, pitch black hair swinging forward with his head. “Greetings, Your Highness,” he says in a voice that melts the ice in my ears. “My name is Darrow Broadside, and I am your new guard.”
January 31, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
soph-pl.bsky.social
𝗛𝗶𝗺⚓The only fight I have left in me is for my son. I've no time for the houseguest the language institute sent me by mistake.
Until we talk. We click. Suddenly, I'm wishing for things again.
But she's not a choice I can make.
Come fall, I'll have to let her go too.
#Questpit #Q #A #R
January 31, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
jannahorton.bsky.social
RED RISING x ROMEO & JULIET

An ambitious, lowborn scholar pretends to be of noble birth to enter an academy for spymasters, but as she rises, her rival vies for her heart, her family ostracizes her, and both rebels & imperials want her dead.

*BIG 5 EDITOR INTEREST*

#A #F #SF #Q #BluePit📖
Top row, left to right: stone busts, clouds shaped as wings, solar eclipse Middle row, left to right: back of woman wearing cape, shadow of a couple kissing, white hood Bottom row, left to right: Romanesque stone statue, black woman wearing veil, lofty cathedral like ceilings
January 14, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
jannahorton.bsky.social
RED RISING x ROMEO & JULIET

An ambitious, lowborn scholar pretends to be of noble birth to enter an academy for spymasters, but as she rises, her rival vies for her heart, her family ostracizes her, and both rebels & imperials want her dead.

✨Big 5 Editor Interest ✨

#questpit #Q #A #SFF
Gold, Romanesque aesthetic Top: painting of flying Pegasus, black hole in space Middle: statue with half head, shadowed couple kissing, sword, woman wearing draping gown Bottom: black woman wearing white hood, statues
January 31, 2026 at 5:13 AM