Heather Rose Jones
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heatherrosejones.bsky.social
Heather Rose Jones
@heatherrosejones.bsky.social
Author of queer historic fantasy, amateur historian, Hugo finalist. I blog and podcast as The Lesbian Historic Motif Project, with resources and discussion about sapphic historical fiction.

For more info, see my website alpennia.com
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Skin-Singer: Tales of the Kaltaoven

A collection of semi-cozy shape-shifter stories, set in a low-tech secondary world, with a sapphic background romantic arc.

Originally appearing in the Sword and Sorceress anthology series they are completed with a brand new novelette.
books2read.com/u/bMMqp8
Available now at your favorite digital store!
Skinsinger: Tales of the Kaltaoven by Heather Rose Jones
books2read.com
Reposted by Heather Rose Jones
Tomorrow is the official release date for the hardback edition of HAZE! It's the library and collectors edition, so it has extras: a short story and some illustrations.
November 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
New Lesbian Historic Motif Project blog looking at the possibilities for same-sex anonymous encounters in the 18th century. (The sapphic possibilities aren't really touched on in the article, but are implicit for the discerning reader.)
alpennia.com/blog/masquer...
Masquerading in 18th Century England | Alpennia
This post launches a mini-grouping of articles on theatrical cross-dressing, whether at public masquerades or on stage. While reading this article I kept thinking about the use of masquerades as a dan...
alpennia.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Question for academic-sky: in an essay I'm writing, I make reference to the practice of "reading against the grain" in historic sources. I'd like to cite whoever originated that phrase but (due to a lack of formal historian training) I'm having a hard time tracing it. Any help?
November 10, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Here's a different challenge: how many of these thing do you currently have the technology for in your house at this very moment? I think I manage 10, largely due to having an extensive collection of media-playing devices and their appropriate media.
I have never done (9) (it's anti-social), (13) (Blockbuster never operated in my country), or (20) (those things were *expensive*).

I am teh oldz.
November 8, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Thinking about Trumps appeal of the SNAP issue to the Supreme Court...is there a point at which the Supremes can label the DOJ a "vexatious litigator" and just ignore any further escalations? (I mean, not that this particular court would do so, but in theory.)
November 8, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Reposted by Heather Rose Jones
I have once again failed at "if you feel like you're dragging through the day at half power, check the pressure on your bike tires."

This is not a metaphor.

I swear, I've had more bike tube issues this year than in the previous 5 years put together.
November 6, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Today's Lesbian Historic Motif Project blog finished up our thematic cluster of articles on classical topics with a look at how Ovid continually undermines his official message in Iphis and Ianthe.
alpennia.com/blog/methink...
Methinks the Poet Doth Protest Too Much | Alpennia
As I mentioned in the intro to the previous post, trying to interpolate the historic realities of f/f desire in the classical era is extremely difficult. Ovid's Iphis and Ianthe is multiply distanced ...
alpennia.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I checked my settings and a lot of these had been set to hide content. I changed them all to “warn” (or equivalent) so I can see the dynamics and make my own decisions.
If you aren't seeing skeets from some of your fave people, they might have been labeled "Rude" by bsky mods. Idk what they are thinking, I don't need a mommy to tell me who to be buddies with. Anyway, go into Settings > moderation > bluesky moderation (advanced) and turn Rude off.
November 6, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Audiobooks.com is so excited about the audiobook for Daughter of Mystery that they've revised the 50% off to 75% off! I'd love for this audiobook to do well enough that the rest of the series gets picked up in audio.

And now, back to working on Alpennia #5.

www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...
75% OFF Daughter of Mystery
Margerit Sovitre did not expect to inherit Baron Saveze's fortunes—even less his bodyguard, a ruthlessly efficient swordswoman known only as Barbara. Wealth suddenly makes Margerit a hi...
www.audiobooks.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:22 PM
The saffron harvest begins!
November 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
I'm delighted that @laworldcon has continued this year's experiment with pre-convention online business meetings. I felt it was overall very successful, although I do understand that the choices made to enfranchise some subsets of members were felt to disenfranchise certain others.
November 3, 2025 at 11:47 PM
New Lesbian Historic Motif Project blog in which we consider obscene Roman graffiti from a female point of view.

alpennia.com/blog/women-a...
Women and Sexual Graffiti in Ancient Pompeii | Alpennia
Trying to get at the possible experiences of female homoeroticism in Classical Rome requires a lot of interpolation from data that doesn't address that specific conjunction of identities. Here's one i...
alpennia.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Reposted by Heather Rose Jones
Because the huge Anthropic class action settlement limits eligibility to works registered w/ US Copyright Office, non-US writers are mostly locked out. But there's a similar proposed class action covering Canadian authors (click Documents link, then Amended Notice) www.cfmlawyers.ca/class-action...
Anthropic PBC AI Copyright - CFM Lawyers
www.cfmlawyers.ca
November 2, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Once again, I failed to check whether there was a Cal home game before scheduling a UCB library day. (I also failed to check whether the libraries were open today. Which they weren't.) But since the only must-do was returning a borrowed book, it wasn't a complete failure. Why does the world hate me?
November 1, 2025 at 11:23 PM
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast presents what's "On the Shelf" for November 2025. We feature an interview with Anbara Salam along with the usual news of the Project and new releases in lesbian and sapphic historical fiction.
alpennia.com/blog/lesbian...
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 327 - On the Shelf for November 2025 | Alpennia
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 327 - On the Shelf for November 2025 - Transcript (Originally aired 2025/11/01) Welcome to On the Shelf for November 2025.
alpennia.com
November 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Yay, I got trick-or-treaters! My readiness is not in vain!
November 1, 2025 at 4:15 AM
It's the lead-up to the "will they or won't they"** hours.

**Come to my house for trick-or-treating.

I always have something on hand to give out, but most years I only get a couple kids, due to neighborhood configuration and general shift away from visiting random houses.
November 1, 2025 at 12:14 AM
The social historian in me wishes someone would study “memeable poetry.” Or maybe just publish an anthology of source poems for this sort of game. Or would studying it destroy the fun?
my name is Oz
and wen the stone
is broke to bits
and all alone
i lie in sand
it stretches bare
you read my words
you pls despair
Ozyman, Ozyman-
dias does what no mortal can
and his works? are they there?
no, but maybe still despair
October 30, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Heather Rose Jones
#Booksky Did you know we have fun “extras” that our authors have created for their books? Buy a print copy of THE LANGUAGE OF ROSES by Heather Rose Jones @heatherrosejones.bsky.social from our website and get a coloring book that Heather created too! queenofswordspress.com/product/the-...
October 29, 2025 at 9:41 PM
New Lesbian Historic Motif Project blog! I have a couple more articles from the classical era before moving on to a cluster about theatrical cross-dressing in 18th century England.

alpennia.com/blog/lucians...
Lucian's Courtesan-Philosophers | Alpennia
As this article points out, historians of sexuality put a lot of weight on the depiction of women-loving-women in Lucian's Dialogues of the Courtesans  #5, simply because of the scarcity of references...
alpennia.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
New Lesbian Historic Motif Project blog -- the last of my current cluster of Sappho-related articles.

alpennia.com/blog/fan-gir...
Fan-girling Sappho | Alpennia
We know, in the long term, that Sappho left a reputation as a poet. And much of what we have of her work is because it was quoted and cited by other authors--primarily male authors. But in Nossis we h...
alpennia.com
October 25, 2025 at 5:07 PM
What's it like inside your head?
October 24, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Oops, there goes my productivity. My next Libby hold came in much faster than expected. (I probably need to back off on feeling like I need to finish and return as quickly as possible to be kind to the next person.)

Why did I wait so long to get hooked on borrowing audiobooks from the library?
October 24, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Horror story, not “hottie” story. Damn you autocarrot! I’m not sure I e written any hottie stories.
Since it’s horror story season, I’ll note that the closest thing I’ve written to a hottie story is “Skin and Bones” in my collection Skin-Singer: Tales of the Kaltaoven.

books2read.com/u/bMMqp8
Available now at your favorite digital store!
Skinsinger: Tales of the Kaltaoven by Heather Rose Jones
books2read.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:08 PM