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emkerkman.bsky.social
E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
@emkerkman.bsky.social
71 followers 170 following 42 posts
22 | writer of surrealist short fiction, pirate novels, and weird poetry | 2024 Dell Award winner | short fiction appearing in Apex and Asimov’s

DE TERRA AD INFINITUM | #PlanesWIP
SAIL BY DAWN | #PiratesWIP

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emkerkman.bsky.social
E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥 @emkerkman.bsky.social · Aug 7
#questpit #SF #SFF #A #NA #W #agentguide

DE TERRA AD INFINITUM
💫 ~90k
🌟 Adult/New Adult dieselpunk sci-fantasy
💫 currently standalone, open to sequel
🌟 contains romance, but not romance-centric
💫 knock off pod racing from Star Wars in unique dystopian setting
🌟 bisexual FMC (who gets the girl)
Title page: De Terra Ad Infinitum, Adult/New Adult science fiction by E. M. Kerkman The Pitch: Alexia “Terrah” Terranova moonlights as a pilot, illegally racing planes beneath Helix City, a massive dieselpunk city floating in Earth’s lower atmosphere. During the day, she’s a model student at the Academy of Aeronautics. Terrah is content with her life, but when planes begin exploding during races, she finds herself unwillingly involved in trying to solve the mystery. Forced to unite the two halves of her world—her friends at the academy and her racing team—to survive, the six of them evade blackmail, sabotage, and even an attempted kidnapping to chase the mystery to its source. When the team finally uncovers the secret at the mystery’s core, they realize it could reignite the war between Helix City and their long-dormant enemies. Before they can reveal it to the world, Terrah’s group is violently fractured, and her story becomes one of survival against insurmountable odds. Will she make it back to Helix City in time to save it, or will her home be destroyed before she can warn them about their literal downfall, hidden in plain sight? For fans of: bulleted list: Dieselpunk/Retrofuturism Near-future alternate-Earth and post-apocalypse settings Military Academy inspired settings Cold-War-inspired politics Complex and divided societies New-Adult-aged characters Forgiveness as a tool for growth Losing and regaining friendships Escaping a familial legacy Messy romantic relationships Queer love triangles Found family Multiple POVs Comp titles: moral engines by Phillip reeve, retribution falls by Chris wooding, airborn by Kenneth oppel, skyward by Brandon Sanderson, and leviathan by Scott westerfield Excerpt from chapter 6 Callum stepped inside the Admiral’s office and closed the door softly behind him. The Admiral gestured for him to sit in one of the empty chairs in front of her desk, not looking up as she leafed through a pile of papers. Brilliant white light streamed in through the arched industrial window at the back of her office, casting everything in a ghostly gray. “I have a task for you, Callum,” she said as he sat, finally looking at him. Callum ran his sweaty palms down his thighs. “The girl from the entrance exam.” It was a statement, not a question, and Admiral Astara’s expression softened a bit as she watched him squirm. “Correct. You’re smarter than you look.” She handed him a dark green plasticine folder. “I pulled her file. You might be interested in what’s inside.” Callum didn’t bother to question the legality of it and opened the folder, scanning through it quickly. It was emptier than other files he’d seen, and though the photo in the upper left corner was old, her cold, brown eyes and difficult scowl hadn’t changed at all in the years since it was taken. The name next to the photo gave him pause, even though he expected it. Alexia Terranova. Terranova as in TerraCorp. She really is alive, he thought, and he must’ve said it aloud, as Admiral Astara sighed and leaned back in her seat. “She is,” she replied, “and that poses problems.”
emkerkman.bsky.social
Hey look, it’s me holding up a copy of my story in this month’s issue of @asimovssfmag.bsky.social! My first publication ever available in a brick and mortar store, too! Check my blog/newsletter for more info :)
A photo of author E.M. Kerkman holding a copy of Asimov’s Magazine issue 48 open to page 146, standing in front of her local Barnes and noble.
October 6, 2025 at 7:15 PM
emkerkman.bsky.social
#SFFchat A1: aside from my usual plethora of short stories, my current project is De Terra Ad Infinitum, a dieselpunk alt-earth sci-fi novel about illegal plane racing, flying cities in an apocalyptic world, government conspiracies, and the unavoidably cyclical nature of human history!
September 4, 2025 at 5:22 PM
emkerkman.bsky.social
Oh this is so cool! I’m totally going to do this—I’ll make a thread and then backdate the first few posts :) what a fun idea!
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Sep 2
#SFFChat is BACK for what should be an uninterrupted month!

Apologies for the wait on the monthly prompts, but here's September's list (with alt-text that you can copy/paste as needed).
1. What are you writing? 2. A change your MC has gone through 3. Share something positive 4. Snippet: Beginnings 5. Transformation in your story 6. A book you loved written before 2010 7. Snippet: Drama 8. What are you reading? 9. What’s the first thing you worldbuild? 10. Share something auditory (playlist, theme song, character song, snippet feat. sound, etc). 11. What would your mc be like on social media? 12. Snippet: Description 13. Recommend an indie book! 14. Snippet: Mood 15. Favourite scenes to write. 16. Share a writerly fear! 17. Share a writerly hope! 18. TBR Check-in! 19. Recommend a book published in the last five years! 20. An SFF book in translation. 21. Snippet: Climax 22. How has non-SFF influenced you? 23. Cast your WIP! 24. Ask a question of your own to #sff participants! 25. Least favourite scenes to write 26. Emotion your character struggles with 27. MC won the lottery--what next? 28. Snippet: Smell 29. Friendship(s) in your story 30. Reading plans for October 31. Snippet: Endings
September 4, 2025 at 2:37 PM
emkerkman.bsky.social
Also also, as a fun little extra, a friend of mine did fan art for Black Gold a while back—here’s her interpretation of the MC!

(Also, please go support her art if you like what you see! You can find her on KoFi here: ko-fi.com/cat_psychic)
A drawing of the main character in my most recently published short story, dressed like a cowboy with robot parts visible through the costume, over a simple blue and tan background
September 2, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
apexmag.bsky.social
The Apex Magazine team is thrilled to announce that our Kickstarter for 2026 begins OCTOBER 1ST!! 🎃🍁

We're keeping all the rewards you love, adding exciting new rewards for readers and writers alike, AND reopening submissions! Mark your calendars, and we'll see you at the graveyard smash! 👻🌙🐈‍⬛📅
A parody of the Little Golden Books logo featuring a circle of vintage black Halloween cats surrounded by spilled potions, lit matches, pawprints, and candies. Text reads: "Apex Magazine Kickstarter 2026" "Apex Magazine Submissions OPENING! October 1st!"
September 2, 2025 at 4:27 PM
emkerkman.bsky.social
Black Gold is out today!! I’m so excited for everyone to get to read it—thank you to Apex Magazine for making that possible!
apexmag.bsky.social Apex Magazine and Book Company @apexmag.bsky.social · Sep 2
"He dies in a hiss of air and a trickle of oil drips from his severed esophagus to the ground. I see some of the other men eye it like they’d lick it out of the sand. I would, too." 🤖🏜️

New fiction today by @emkerkman.bsky.social: "Black Gold"

Read it here: www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-...
"Black Gold by E.M. Kerkman. Apex Magazine Issue 150."
September 2, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
scifipit.bsky.social
Dear friends, writers, #agents, interstellar travelers, interdimensional aliens, and otherwise paradoxical time hoppers!

We would like to invite you to set your favorite time-traveling device to October 21st, 2025, for the pitch event dedicated to Science Fiction, #SFPit! 🧵
August 25, 2025 at 3:20 PM
emkerkman.bsky.social
Hi #weeknightwriters! I coach a HS sports team this time on Thursdays so alas I can only pop in right at the end—I have two upcoming short story publications! One is Black Gold, out with Apex Magazine on 9/2. My other, Lolo’s Last Run, is currently out in the Sept/Oct edition of Asimov’s!
weeknightwriters.bsky.social Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · Aug 22
Q5: Share your stories! Tell us about what you’re working on OR something you’ve had published recently & share links if you have them! #WeeknightWriters
Notepad that says "#WeeknightWriters - Tell us about what you’re working on OR something you’ve had published recently"
August 22, 2025 at 1:07 AM
emkerkman.bsky.social
hi y’all!! I’m absolutely blown away by all the amazing #PosterPit posters, and the love you’ve shown my projects #PlanesWIP and #PiratesWIP! I’ll introduce myself properly for all the new folks soon, but for now I just want to thank y’all 🥹 what a wonderful #WritingCommunity
August 17, 2025 at 7:09 AM
emkerkman.bsky.social
#PosterPit #W #SF #SPF #A #NA #PlanesWIP

Racing planes for a living, and newly accepted to the airforce academy, Terrah's living the dream when disaster strikes. Explosions on a flying city always mean trouble.

Especially when you live under it.
Text on poster: "De Terra Ad Infinitum: A new adult science fiction novel by award winning author E.M. Kerkman. One central mystery, Two worlds colliding, Three narrative POVs. Terrah always knew she would fly. She never expected to fall." Along the side, the repeating text reads "Omnes aequales sub astris. Pax diu". The background image is a real photograph of a North Vietnamese MiG-17 aircraft being hit by 20 mm rounds from an Air Force F-105D on June 3, 1967. Photo credits: USAF via National Archives
August 16, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
holdencreates.bsky.social
WARCROSS x ONE OF US IS LYING

DEADLY ARCHETYPES is a fast paced, grounded YA sci-fi that features:
- a high-tech, high stakes VR competition game
- an unlikely group of allies
- the ticking clock of a mind control glitch
- hero x villain archetypes
#PosterPit #AG #SF #YA
August 16, 2025 at 4:57 PM
emkerkman.bsky.social
#PosterPit #W #NA #F #R #PiratesWIP

During her world tour, Captain Holloway is captured by pirates. After encountering an assassination plot, a magical curse, an unlikely romance, and an imminent war, she finally takes a side. The wrong side.

It's all Captain Falcon's fault.
The text in the image reads: "Magic, mutiny, romance, and a six-month deadline. What could possibly go wrong?" "Dual POVs, sentient oceans, vengeful ghosts, magical curses, enemies to lovers, and lovers to enemies." "He has a curse to break. She has everything to prove." "Sail By Dawn, a new-adult fantasy novel by award winning author E. M. Kerkman." The background image is of a sailing ship on a stormy sea with dawn light shining from behind it. It is a paining titled "Bird of Dawn" by Montague Dawson.
August 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
emiliayoung.bsky.social
📖🐦‍⬛Mark of a Magpie🐦‍⬛📖

When a small-town thief crosses paths with the kingdom’s big-shot assassin, an unlikely partnership is born; but can their goals align before their egos and secrets land them both a spot on the gallows?

#PosterPit #PosterPitOS #PosterPitA #AG #OS
#A #F #R #DIS
#onsub #editors
*Art by Shibushio on fiverr* The image shows a fake movie poster for the book "Mark of a Magpie" Text in the image reads: Mark of a Magpie, An adult fantasy by Emilia Young, On submission next week, Thief x Assassin, Forced Proximity, Morally Gray, Women's Wrongs Behind the text are two characters leaning over the side of a ship with beautiful skies in the background. The first character is a women, Ryn, who has brown hair in two braids, wearing leather armguards and a tunic, watching the land pass. The second character is a man, Seven, who has black hair and is wearing a tunic with a black turtleneck beneath it. He's watching Ryn with a small smile on his face.
August 16, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
fosterja8.bsky.social
IDLE OF A PSYCHOPOMP
How far would you go to make sure your loved ones survive? For a retired explorer, that burning question never ceases to exist. When he overhears a rumour about a mysterious forest, he ventures back into the wild, desperation overwhelming every other emotion.
#PosterPit #Q #T #A
IDLE OF A PSYCHOPOMP - POSTER
August 16, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
jaystraigis.bsky.social
🌊OF GEMSTONES AND DIVINITY🌊

Kiana robs the wealthy to give to those in need. Emeralda left her noble life behind to be a seafaring vigilante. The unlikely duo must cooperate long enough to take down a bloodthirsty pirate. They get along better than they expected.

~96k

#QueerPit #NA #F #FR #HF
A mock search bar with search suggestions, there is a picture of a crashing wave in the background. The search bar says 'Of Gemstones and Divinity', the search suggestions are: Second world historical fantasy, sapphic rivals to lovers slow burn, pirates and sea adventures, self discover, rebelling against the government, all women pirate crew, duels and banter
August 15, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
tessaswck.bsky.social
Think: A forest that gives birth. The paper-thin layer of skin between life and death. The sacrifices we make to ensure our lineage.

Pairs well with: sandalwood, cedar, bonfire, freshly laid mulch, and pinot noir.

#HuntingSeason #PosterPit #PosterPitA #AG #H #LIT #SPF
August 16, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
wisteraverse.bsky.social
🗡️Murdered in cold blood &resurrected through forbidden powers, Quill becomes a legendary assassin.
🥷When her latest mission sparks the higher power’s wrath, Quill must avenge the death of her people and her own murder. 💀Failure will cost more than just her life.🪶
#PosterPit #P #F
🪐📚 📚💙 🌈📚
“This world, my dear, is the slaughterhouse of noble ideals.” Color Magic Fantasy Heist No Romance! Epic Fight Scenes Feral Feminine Rage Touch Her & You'll Die Title: Killer Quill Coming Sept. 25 2025 Wisteraverse.com Author: Shida Ketzer Guaranteed NO Romance Color composition: Saturated red, black, & white. Figure: Quill's image holding a dagger and a quill wafting tenrils of black magic
August 16, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
delandjessica.bsky.social
A CURSE SO DARK & LONELY X
THE INHERITANCE GAMES

When a ballerina is kidnapped by fantasy fugitives desperate to recover their leader’s magic trapped inside her, she unearths their secrets to facilitate freedom, but bonds w/ them & falls for 1 instead

#PosterPit #Q #YA #F #M #R #FT
Pretend movie poster for #Posterpit featuring an image of a dark forest in the background with the silhouette of a ballerina's legs en pointe in front with rope tying the ankles together. Ice is creeping in from the bottom, purple swirls of magic are by the legs, and a giant feather is on the ground beneath the feet. Words at the top read, "Mental health rep," "Slow burn," "Found family," "Forced proximity." The top center reads, "One kidnapped ballerina, Four fantasy fugitives, And her quest to escape" next to a badge reading, "Killer Nashville Claymore Finalist." Center reads, "Jessica DeLand's Wake" centered between words reading "A Curse So Dark and Lonely" and "The Inheritance Games," both bracketed separately by feathers. Bottom reads, "YA Contemporary Fantasy, AAPI/ADHD Writer, 26 Full Requests, 4 Previous Offers of Publication, Querying Now."
August 16, 2025 at 4:00 AM
emkerkman.bsky.social
#PosterPit #W #SF #SPF #A #NA #PlanesWIP

On the floating city she calls home, Terrah just wants to race planes and join the air force to make a better future for her family. Then things start exploding.
Text on poster: "De Terra Ad Infinitum: A new adult science fiction novel by award winning author E.M. Kerkman. One central mystery, Two worlds colliding, Three narrative POVs. Terrah always knew she would fly. She never expected to fall." Along the side, the repeating text reads "Omnes aequales sub astris. Pax diu". The background image is a real photograph of a North Vietnamese MiG-17 aircraft being hit by 20 mm rounds from an Air Force F-105D on June 3, 1967. Photo credits: USAF via National Archives
August 16, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
jaystraigis.bsky.social
⚔️OF GEMSTONES AND DIVINITY⚔️

An honorable thief and a noblewoman vigilante must work together to end a pirate’s reign of terror.

🌊 ~96k
🌊 Slow burn rivals to lovers
🌊 Second world historical fantasy
🌊 Pirates and sea adventures
🌊 Rebellion and self discovery

#Queerpit #NA #F #FR #HF
A mood board for the aesthetics of my novel, Of Gemstones and Divinity. There are nine pictures in a grid, all are warm toned. Upper left: a map, candle, scroll, and coins on a wooden table. Upper middle: pirate ship on the sea in front of the horizon. Upper right: a spyglass overtop of some maps. Center left: close up of a pile of coins and glass bottles lying on sand. Center middle: two women laying together in a nondescript setting, both appear contemplative. Center right: an overflowing treasure chest sitting on sand, a spyglass and seashells are nearby. Bottom left: the deck of a ship, facing the door that leads below deck and the stairs that lead to the helm. Bottom middle: black boots stepping toward the camera. Bottom right: the deck of a ship, facing the corridor area between the cabin and taffrail.
August 15, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
amaracavahlo.bsky.social
IRON WIDOW x THE CLONE WARS

When her squadmate is murdered, Ahrin will risk anything for revenge, even her chance at knighthood. But this murder is the key to a tangle of secrets spanning star systems and centuries: ‘anything’ is a much higher price than she could imagine.

#QueerPit #SF #YA
Illustration of a longsword silhouetted by a glowing green symbol of three concentric ovals. Title: "Odyssey's Wake", YA sci-fi by Amara Cavahlo
August 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
jeanniemarschall.bsky.social
THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST❌UNDEAD FOLK

What is an aging witch to do when two newcomers upend the age-old agreements between her world and the Other People? Well, there's magic to turn to, the forest, your community ...and your dead wife, of course.

#A #F #H #MYTH #N #QueerPit
August 15, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥
christiemadrian.bsky.social
When an accident turns Chess into a reaper, she must learn to control her power, manage a ghost dog with boundary issues, help her ex-friend's spirit, try not to fall for her annoying Grim, & save the thin veil between the living & the dead all before her chem test on Friday. #QueerPit #YA #SN #F
Four pictures of a girl dressed in black in various poses and expressions. The last at the bottom shows her with a skeleton dressed in a black hooded cloak with a scythe.
August 15, 2025 at 1:09 PM
emkerkman.bsky.social
Alas I will not be doing #Queerpit this year (I do not have a finished manuscript, oops) but if you are drop a like so I can support your pitches!! And best of luck to all of you! #WritingCommmunity
August 14, 2025 at 5:40 PM