Rascal Hartley
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rascalhartley.bsky.social
Rascal Hartley
@rascalhartley.bsky.social
62 followers 78 following 21 posts
I write. Supposedly.
dear stupid penpal - out now! 🪐
Artifice & Access - out now! ✨️
Current WIP: 13k

unfortunatelyobsessed on AO3, 2019 Hugo award winner (iykyk), bestselling author (apparently?!)
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
alexwoodroe.com
"...unsettling and immersive sci-fi thriller. Readers will be on the edges of their seats."

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BABY

www.publishersweekly.com/9781787589186
The Night Ship Alex Woodroe. Flame Tree, $26.95 (224p) ISBN 978-1-787589-18-6 Woodroe (Whisperwood) expertly maintains suspense throughout this unsettling and immersive sci-fi thriller about an apocalyptic event in 1987 Romania. Heroine Rosi has “made it a point of survival to think as little as possible about... goings-on beyond what was strictly in front of her.” She’s taken advantage of the logging truck used by her fiancé, Gigi, to facilitate her smuggling business. On a routine excursion in that vehicle, the pair pick up a hitchhiker, Sorin, who claims to be a philosophy student, though Rosi soon comes to suspect that he is a government informant, if not actually a member of the country’s notorious secret police. Before she can test this theory, darkness falls like a physical force from the sky and “swallows the world.” In this new pitch blackness, segments of once solid ground are replaced by an inky substance that drags down all objects that land in it. With the truck’s cabin one of the only safe refuges, this unlikely trio set out to make sense of what’s happened and rescue survivors. Woodroe parcels out reveals about the nature of the dark void gradually but effectively. Readers will be on the edges of their seats. (Jan.)
November 13, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
carlydraws.bsky.social
WITCHKING

grotty fantasy inspired
old fantasy mags and ttrpg books

print? in my US printshop (sale on at the moment!) www.inprnt.com/gallery/carl...

#art #fantasy #bsnm
a warrior faces the witchking black against green or rainbow red
November 12, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
duckprintspress.com
Crowdfunding to fund our next erotic anthology, Monsterotica: Tales of Unusual Courtship and Coupling, is live on Kickstarter! 16 queer monsterfucking stories, gorgeous merch, and a steaming hot collection you won't want to miss. Check out our campaign today! www.kickstarter.com/projects/duc...

🌈📚
Artwork trimmed into a banner with text that reads "Duck Prints Press Presents Monsterotica Tales of Unusual Courtship and Coupling." A bird person is shown, bare except for their feathers and a tastefully placed necklace. They reach one wing-arm to the left and look that way tenderly. Tentacles rise from out of fram to brush their check and carress their side. At the bottom is the Duxxx Prints Press logo.
November 12, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
paulsemel.bsky.social
In my new interview with author Rascal Hartley about their dramatic / romantic #ScienceFiction #CosmicHorror with a little #fantasy epistolary novella "Dear Stupid Penpal," they explain how it started out as "What We Do In The Shadows" fan fiction.
paulsemel.com/exclusive-in...
📖🚀
Exclusive Interview: "Dear Stupid Penpal" Author Rascal Hartley ... .
Exclusive Interview: "Dear Stupid Penpal" Author Rascal Hartley \ In which he talks about this dramatic/romantic sci-fi cosmic horror novella
paulsemel.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
I always love these interviews; I end up learning things about the books we put out that I feel like I shoulda known already😂

@paulsemel.bsky.social has an excellent interview up with @rascalhartley.bsky.social talking about the origins of DEAR STUPID PENPAL & more!

paulsemel.com/exclusive-in...
paulsemel.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
ourladyjack.bsky.social
Excuse me, it is the release day for DEAR STUPID PENPAL by @rascalhartley.bsky.social, put forth by @tenebrouspress.bsky.social, & I really think y'all should all know that.

Esp. since you can buy the ebook directly from them for $3.99. It is that easy to have this queer sci-horror in your life.
Cover art for Dear Stupid Penpal by Rascal Hartley, featuring colorful pixels dissolving into deep space as they drift up from a spaceship console.
November 12, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
ideofmarch.bsky.social
📖🎉 Happy 11/11 Release Day to Dear Stupid Penpal ✍🏼 by @rascalhartley.bsky.social - the first book I’ve written a blurb for 🖤

✨A joyously weird tale of unexpected genre mashups, overwhelming odds, quotable lines, and queer romance that even the most jaded cynic can't help but get swept up in.✨
tenebrouspress.bsky.social Tenebrous Press @tenebrouspress.bsky.social · 2d
🎉🖤RELEASE DAY🖤🎉

@rascalhartley.bsky.social's DEAR STUPID PENPAL is out now everywhere!

Sci-Fi, Cosmic Horror & Queer Romance meld effortlessly in this tale of a deep space mission thought lost forever & the bonds that keep us human at the edge of the universe.

Get it:
store.tenebrouspress.com
Cover art by Carly A-F: against the blackness of space, a lone astronaut sits at their console, which drifts into the heavens in multicolored pixels.
November 12, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
Can't tell you what it means to see so many of our usual readers taking a chance & getting swept up in the cosmic beauty of @rascalhartley.bsky.social's DEAR STUPID PENPAL today.

Some days we need to sit in all our feels. If you're up for it, this is one rewarding ride: store.tenebrouspress.com
Review text: "Wow. Okay, okay. Can we just take a minute and say that again? Wow. Just holy fucking wow." Review text: "Recommended for: Readers who want their cosmic dread served with flirtation, anyone who has ever pointed a telescope and whispered “look back,” believers in the church of found family, chemistry-joke sickos, and people who think bread-making might also be a love spell." Review text: "Transfixed. From the first page of Dear Stupid Penpal, to the very last, I was transfixed. Rascal Hartley is officially an auto-buy for me." Review text: "Dear Stupid Penpal reminds us to keep our cosmic perspective, our place in time's long river. It's a call to reach the offered hand of another, to hold each other close as you face the reality of eternity, and the great unknown promised by the nights sky."
November 12, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
greasygoat.bsky.social
Happy release day !
Go peep my review of @rascalhartley.bsky.social s truly phenomenal book from @tenebrouspress.bsky.social .
Then go buy a copy. And one for your local library.
tenebrouspress.bsky.social Tenebrous Press @tenebrouspress.bsky.social · 2d
🎉🖤RELEASE DAY🖤🎉

@rascalhartley.bsky.social's DEAR STUPID PENPAL is out now everywhere!

Sci-Fi, Cosmic Horror & Queer Romance meld effortlessly in this tale of a deep space mission thought lost forever & the bonds that keep us human at the edge of the universe.

Get it:
store.tenebrouspress.com
Cover art by Carly A-F: against the blackness of space, a lone astronaut sits at their console, which drifts into the heavens in multicolored pixels.
November 11, 2025 at 9:21 PM
rascalhartley.bsky.social
Happy book release day! 🌟⭐️
November 12, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
duckprintspress.com
We're celebrating International Games Weeks with queer games! SO MANY queer games! Visit our blog to see this list in text format and get links on where you can get these video games, ttrpgs, and one (1) card game: duckprintspress.com/2025/11/07/i...
Text, a graphic of an orange gamepad and nine promo graphics of games over the background of the Rainbow Flag. The text reads: Our Fave Queer Games. The games are: Fallen London; Sunless Sea; Coming Out on Top; Nu:Carnival; Case 00: The Cannibal Boy; Night in the Woods; Dream Askew; We Know The Devil; Potionomics. Ten promo graphics of games over the background of the Rainbow Flag. The games are: In Stars and Time; Baldur's Gate 3; 35 Queer NPCs; Overwatch; NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…; Fate/Samurai Remnant; Story Of Seasons: A Wonderful Life; Dream Daddy; Mortal Kombat 1; Fallout 4. Ten promo graphics of games over the background of the Rainbow Flag. The games are: Mass Effect series; Horizon Zero Dawn; Dragon Age series; Scarlet Hollow; Boyfriend Dungeon; Assassin’s Creed Odyssey; Moonglow Bay; Amelie; Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection; Stardew Valley. Ten promo graphics of games over the background of the Rainbow Flag. The games are: Umineko: When They Cry; Void Stranger; Celeste; Heaven Will Be Mine; Adventuring With Pride; Monsterhearts; Songs for the Dusk; Wanderhome; Thirsty Sword Lesbians; The Queer Agenda.
November 7, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
DEAR STUPID PENPAL by @rascalhartley.bsky.social is out tomorrow, & today I wanna showcase some of the details of @carlydraws.bsky.social's gorgeous cover, because sometimes the eye doesn't catch those things against a black sky.

Order your copy here:
store.tenebrouspress.com
Closeup of some of the retrofuturistic terminals aboard the ship. A human figure is silhouetted in the brilliant pixelated glow of the computer screen. pixels drift into the stars The full cover art
November 10, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
editrixemma.bsky.social
I loved this so much and I wholeheartedly agree, it is a book that transforms you. I read it months ago and still think of it all the time. Absolutely beautiful and weird and excellent.
tenebrouspress.bsky.social Tenebrous Press @tenebrouspress.bsky.social · 7d
From today's newsletter:

"Not as many people will read DEAR STUPID PENPAL as *should*. But the ones who do? Get ready to hear them talking about it a whole lot, for a long time to come. This book changes people. It changed me."

Preorder @rascalhartley.bsky.social's debut:
store.tenebrouspress.com
Cover art by Carly A-F: against the blackness of space, a lone astronaut sits at their console, which drifts into the heavens in multicolored pixels. TEXT: LOST. LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME. FRIENDS & LOVED ONES GONE. BUT SOMEHOW, HE IS STILL THERE. AND ALWAYS WILL BE. Blurb: "Veer from funny to dread-inducing and back again...sits alongside THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR as a blueprint for compelling, propulsive, gorgeous [fiction]." -Emma Cole, Love Never Dies, editor at Harlequin Books An epistolary Cosmic Sci-Horror November 2025 from Tenebrous Press.
November 7, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
jd-rivers.com
After returning from Adabel, Onder is lost. But when a new path opens for him, he is hesitant to walk it. With the future of the tribe on the line, will he be able to secure his own freedom or bow to pressure?

📚🪐📚💙📚🌈📚🤏

Companion to "The Edge of a World"

DL/Buy: jdrivers.itch.io/the-path-the...
Cover for the novelette "The Path, the Sky, and You" by JD Rivers. II's mainly a graphic cover. It has two gold stripes the top, under it tribal like stripe in gold. In the middle under it a stylized sun. Under it a band that is a cross between an amethyst and milky way in blue and gold, with the title "the path the sky and you" in front of it, under it the author JD Rivers, followed by another tribal like band, and then a gold stripe. The main background color is a warm gray. The cover was done by the author with the help of canva resources.
November 10, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
samtasticbooks.com
Sometimes I wonder if our many years of jokes about writers hating writing and doing anything but writing, etc, have convinced people that the writing part is the hurdle and the goal is just to have a thing in hand. But I am here to tell you: the writing is the best part. The act is the thing.
November 9, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
Hails to The Line-Up!
They agree that @rascalhartley.bsky.social's DEAR STUPID PENPAL is a must-read.

This unique blend of sci-fi, cosmic horror, buddy comedy & romance is one of the best things you'll read all...ever.

Out next Tuesday, order now here:
store.tenebrouspress.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
From today's newsletter:

"Not as many people will read DEAR STUPID PENPAL as *should*. But the ones who do? Get ready to hear them talking about it a whole lot, for a long time to come. This book changes people. It changed me."

Preorder @rascalhartley.bsky.social's debut:
store.tenebrouspress.com
Cover art by Carly A-F: against the blackness of space, a lone astronaut sits at their console, which drifts into the heavens in multicolored pixels. TEXT: LOST. LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME. FRIENDS & LOVED ONES GONE. BUT SOMEHOW, HE IS STILL THERE. AND ALWAYS WILL BE. Blurb: "Veer from funny to dread-inducing and back again...sits alongside THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR as a blueprint for compelling, propulsive, gorgeous [fiction]." -Emma Cole, Love Never Dies, editor at Harlequin Books An epistolary Cosmic Sci-Horror November 2025 from Tenebrous Press.
November 6, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
I like to think that, every few books, we yeet a new one into existence that catches even our core audience off guard; the ones who put their full faith in us, knowing that the ride will at least be memorable.

@rascalhartley.bsky.social's DEAR STUPID PENPAL is one. I'm dying to see yr reactions🖤☠️
Cover art by Carly A-F: against the blackness of space, a lone astronaut sits at their console, which drifts into the heavens in multicolored pixels. TEXT: LOST. LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME. FRIENDS & LOVED ONES GONE. BUT SOMEHOW, HE IS STILL THERE. AND ALWAYS WILL BE. Blurb: "Veer from funny to dread-inducing and back again...sits alongside THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR as a blueprint for compelling, propulsive, gorgeous [fiction]." -Emma Cole, Love Never Dies, editor at Harlequin Books An epistolary Cosmic Sci-Horror November 2025 from Tenebrous Press.
November 3, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
leootherland.bsky.social
I'm at it again with the book reviews. Check out my adoring rambles about Dear Stupid Penpal by @rascalhartley.bsky.social, published by @tenebrouspress.bsky.social:

www.leootherland.com/post/dear-st...
Dear Stupid Penpal Review
My review of Dear Stupid Penpal by Rascal Hartley.
www.leootherland.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
Test pressing looks damn gorgeous. @rascalhartley.bsky.social’s genre-blurring Cosmic Sci-Horror Queer Romance epistolary novel DEAR STUPID PENPAL is out in less than two weeks!
Preorder it here: store.tenebrouspress.com
Front cover Back cover
November 1, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
"A joyously weird tale...that even the most jaded cynic can't help but get swept up in" - @ideofmarch.bsky.social

Thrilling Sci-Fi, Cosmic Horror, & Love that spans light years🚀💀

@rascalhartley.bsky.social's brilliant DEAR STUPID PENPAL launches November 11: store.tenebrouspress.com
Cover art by Carly A-F, in the dark of deep space a lone astronaut sits at a console in their spacecraft, multicolored and pixelating into space. blurb by Emma Cole
October 27, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
Our 35th(?!) book is out next month. Here’s the full cover wrap for @rascalhartley.bsky.social’s DEAR STUPID PENPAL, featuring stellar art by @carlydraws.bsky.social

Cosmic Horror x Queer Romance in an entirely epistolary story. You gotta read it to believe it🖤☠️

Preorder: store.tenebrouspress.com
Cover art by Carly A-F, in the dark of deep space a lone astronaut sits at a console in their spacecraft, multicolored and pixelating into space. blurbs by Emma Cole and Ide Hennessy
October 18, 2025 at 6:12 PM
rascalhartley.bsky.social
Hate when I have two ideas for a scene and one is obviously better but the other has a very funny joke. Like how am I meant to choose in these conditions
October 11, 2025 at 3:52 PM
rascalhartley.bsky.social
Preorder DEAR STUPID PENPAL ✌️ store.tenebrouspress.com/products/dea...
In the style of a terrible clickbait ad. There's a very stereotypically-dressed vampire on the left (pale, black hair, cape with red lining) holding a copy of Dear Stupid Penpal. On the right it says "Romance? In MY queer horror book?" Beneath that: It's more likely than you think. As a fake yellow button with red words: PREORDER NOW!
September 27, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Reposted by Rascal Hartley
tenebrouspress.bsky.social
Terror in the cards.
Terror in the stars.
Still to come this year, incredible fiction from @momoshaty.bsky.social & @rascalhartley.bsky.social!

CLAIRVIOLENCE: TALES OF TAROT AND TORMENT is out October 21st.

DEAR STUPID PENPAL is out November 11th.

Preorder:
store.tenebrouspress.com
Cover art for CLAIRVIOLENCE: by Bri Crozier; flora and fungi sprout from a diseased illustrated heart; a green snake slithers out. Cover art for PENPAL, by Carly A-F; pixelated colors drift out into the blackness of space from a computer terminal as a lone silhouetted astronaut looks on
September 25, 2025 at 4:59 PM