S. K. Kruse
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skkruse.bsky.social
S. K. Kruse
@skkruse.bsky.social
570 followers 490 following 320 posts
Human. Planet Earth. Milky Way Galaxy.
Author of "Tales From the Liminal."
www.skkruse.com
https://linktr.ee/skkruseauthor
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skkruse.bsky.social
Dystopian Giveaway on Goodreads from fellow author Gianaclis Caldwell! Get one while still available! www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
Book giveaway for The Binding by Gianaclis Caldwell Sep 19-Oct 01, 2025
Enter to win one of 100 free copies available. Giveaway dates from Sep 19-Oct 01, 2025. I'd love to give you a copy of my alternate history novel, The Bi...
www.goodreads.com
September 19, 2025 at 4:21 PM
skkruse.bsky.social
Could be a forest view
from a plane window! But it's up close #moss from the U.P.
July 22, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
vonbeckford.bsky.social
7.13.2025 Tung is the new kid in Amity Falls a New England town obsessed with witches. But he quickly learns that his new home is full of legends and secrets. And if he’s not careful, they will eat him alive. “Hocus Pocus” meets “Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight” #BluePit📖 #W #F #D
July 14, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
Since time immemorial, little ones have had this existential question: “Where does the sun go at night?” Join little Ro in the US as he uncovers the answer to this mystery with his grandma in India over a geography experiment during their weekly video call. #PB #OWN #STEM #BluePit #Q #POC
the sun is setting over the ocean with clouds in the sky .
Alt: the sun is setting over the ocean with clouds in the sky .
media.tenor.com
July 13, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
abibonetawrites.bsky.social
WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS × JACKAL

A psychological thriller with elements of feminist horror:

🩸female rage
🩸good for her
🩸prey vs predator
🩸social criticism
🩸art as clues
🩸caves
🩸serial killer(s?)
🩸latina FMC
🩸(dysfunctional) mother-daughter relationship

#BluePit 📖 #M #T #H #A
July 13, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
jessiemayontheweb.bsky.social
#BluePit #Q #NF #MG

The Wheel of the Year: An Introduction to Pagan Holidays

Expository nonfiction exploring Pagan holidays and history for young readers of all faiths. Fun crafts and recipes too!
Recycled mini maypole craft Samhain remembrance cookies
July 13, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
gemma-smith.bsky.social
🔪 Ada - a medium & fraud, turns to murder, determined to create a ghost for her show

🪦 Harriet - terrified of spirits, cursed with the ability to hear them

☠️ When her best friend is murdered, Harriet must face her fear & seek out the dead to hunt the killer

✨Dual POV #BluePit 📖 #A #HS #Q
gemma-smith.bsky.social Gemma Smith @gemma-smith.bsky.social · Jul 13
Fame-hungry spiritualist, Ada, has turned to murder in order to create a ghost.

But she killed the wrong person this time. Harriet can truly speak to the dead & wants revenge for her murdered friend.

So begins a hunt between the pair, both determined to see the other one dead
#BluePit 📖 #A #HS #Q
A collage of Victorian-era images surrounding the words 'when the dead talk, secrets don't stay buried.' The images include: a woman holding a candle, a policeman finding a body, four images of seances, a woman stalking another woman in the street, and a slum.
July 13, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
cnno.bsky.social
AMARI X CARIBBEAN FOLKLORE
#bluepit #MG #F #Q

12yo Noelle is the only non-gifted kid at a camp for Magical Knights in training
She must battle evil magicians, nightmare monsters and her own insecurities to save her best friend
Young black girl with folklore characters. Book covers for Amari, the Marvellers and Skandar
July 13, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
insomniauthor.bsky.social
The road that leads to him is paved with blood and pain and death.

THE EMERALD KINGDOM
⚔️ Wizard of Oz x Princess Bride
💔 Love after loss
🫂 Found family
🖤 Who did this to him?
❤️‍🔥 Slow burn with 🌶️

#Bluepit #F #R #A
July 13, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
theodoresnapdragon.bsky.social
Space station inspections are meant to be safe, but this one is different for Jen. Dr. Isengrim’s research facility is isolated and supposedly solitary, yet brimming with life and secrets. Is Isengrim in control, or is Jen surrounded by UNINTENDED DESIGNS? #BluePit📖 #Q #H #SF #TR #LGBT #OV #BluePit
Moodboard with photos of scientific vials, holes, an x-ray of a skeleton, a wall with “Everyone Makes Mistakes” on it in capital white letters, plants growing in water, and a space theme. In the center the words “Unintended Designs” are written in rough red script. A moodboard over the quote “Impossible is for the Unwilling” with the name Jonathan Isengrim in it. Around it are sketches of vials, needles, a cage, medical tools, and a hand holding a scalpel. A moodboard on a photo of a gold block puzzle with photos of animals, money, a notebook, and people helping each other on it. Above it are two colorful planets and a fork and knife holding up a roof. At the bottom is a photo of eyes in between two photos of a child crouched in a broken home and large hand building back a home. There’s also a symbol of a magnifying glass and the name “Jen Ishii” in gold.
July 13, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
thepoliticsjunkie.bsky.social
When her homeland is conquered, Catalín must conceal her identity as the queen’s healer or be forced to serve the invading empire. As her warden edges closer to unearthing the healer’s status, Catalín soon realizes she’s not the only one with secrets #BluePit 📖 #Q #A #LGBT #F
July 13, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
leeburton.bsky.social
Set in a fictional Newfoundland outport in the 1950s, Found Harbour is a light literary novel which uses folklore and fantasy elements to explore how nostalgia for the past is a yearning for a sanitized fantasy world that never truly existed.

#BluePit 📖 #Q #A #HS #F #Canada
First page of Found Harbour. It reads: Gran yelled out from the porch: “George, George, come quick! The devil just rode past the house on a bicycle.” The devil? Mother had stepped out back to feel if the tablecloth on the line was dry. I left the potato I was peeling in the bowl, hopped up and trotted out toward the front of the house. The devil, it turned out, looked like a thin man in a long brown jacket, its bottom edge hanging down over the top of his bike’s rear tire so it flicked up like a horse’s tail when it touched, trailing mud up his back. The devil was a tall man, his knees stumping up past the handlebars, making it so he had to keep a sort of bow-armed hold on the handles to avoid them, which on the snowy path that went by Gran’s house and that eventually passed our house too and led to the wharf, had his front tires wobbling like the nose of a dog snuffling in the grass. I watched him fighting to keep the bike steady, waiting for him to topple, until he grew smaller down over the hill and disappeared beyond some bushes. I went back into the kitchen just as my mother was flapping Gran’s tablecloth over the kitchen table. It whooshed the hair back over my forehead. “Who was it, Danny?” she asked, smoothing out the wrinkles. “I don’t know,” I said, picking up the small bowl of last fall’s potatoes Father had dug from the corners of the yard that Mother had placed on the chair. “He had a bike? Probably Quentin Porter, then,” she said when I nodded. “Just moved back.” “It was one of the strangers,” Gran asserted, shuffling in through the door. She bent low to the cupboard and took out two bread pans, and eventually found the tin of flour where it had always sat next to the stove. “Who in town got babies now? Kendall Grimes? Seems she’s due again. You tell her not to leave none of the little ones by a window this evening, else come morning she’ll have more problems than just not knowing who the fathers are. She won’t know who her little baby is either.”
July 13, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
arachnereid.bsky.social
Long after the dust settles, what will grow from the rubble?

🌱an informative adventure guide to thriving the apocalypse

An empath leads a tarot-themed odyssey across the former US to bring home a 🗝️ to peace, using psychic powers and earth-based survival skills
#BluePit 📖 #Q #A #bluepit📖 #clifi #SP
a Hermit tarot card of an illuminated figure holding up a lantern in a colorful swamp climate fiction #clifi indigenous futurism plant medicine meditation wilderness permaculture neotribalism community backpacking post-apocalyptic hopepunk a Priestess Tarot card with a figure meditating on a large stone in the woods a Fool tarot card with a hand drawn figure blithely stepping off a gorge cliff in VT
July 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
dhstrange.bsky.social
HOT FUZZ x FIFTH ELEMENT w Eleanor Shellstrop (GOOD PLACE)

💖 disaster bi MC
👽 hot alien LI
🔗 forced proximity
🛏️ there’s only one (sofa) bed
🕺 disco-dancing assassins
🚀 space shenanigans
👑 secret royalty?
🎉 saving the galaxy, probably

#Q #A #SF #R #BluePit 📖 #LGBT
9 images total. Top row: image of planet Jupiter, image of alleyway with neon lighting, image of a person running at night against the back drop of a large white wall. Second row: image of a couple lying on the ground, their heads are touching and they’re both curled in the fetal position in purple lighting, image of two hands clasped against a background of blinds, image of a busy dance club with neon purple lighting. Bottom row: image of a couple walking down a wet alley with hanging lights at night, image of a M/F couple kissing, image of the Milky Way against a mountainous terrain.
July 13, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
diamondf.bsky.social
ATLA x WICKED

Calypso must steal 12 divine amulets in order to regain her powers and seek revenge against her enemies.

Villain FMC
Hero MMC
Elemental Magic
Destroy the world, dont save it
Hate at first sight

#BluePit 📖 #Q #YA #F
A vilain rises pitched as ATLA x Wicked Ya fantasy, 106k words the background is our solar system planets aligned in a straight line with starts on the outer edges The pitch: Calypso must steak 12 divine amulets in order to regain her powers and seek revenge against her enemies. Pictures of four books: Heartless Hunter, One dark window, the prison healer, poweless the background is our solar system planets aligned in a straight line with starts on the outer edges Themes: villain fmc, elemental magic, destroy the world, dont save it Tropes: secret identity, forbidden love, hate at first sightthe background is our solar system planets aligned in a straight line with starts on the outer edges First lines: Calypso Morana was five when her world burned. Later that cruel night, with tears and ash staining her face, she vowed every person involved in the destruction of her realm would die by her hands. Thirteen years later, that time has come. The night is still as Calypso plunges her dagger into the bark of a Red Tree, carving deeper as the trunk squirms with each cut. Thick branches above her shake, dropping a crop of crimson leaves in protest. A low warning echoes from the depths beneath the soil as the ground shifts. Slowly a root snaps up, lifting itself to freedom, slithering toward her like an eyeless serpent.
July 13, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
elisawinther.bsky.social
THE RIVER HAS ROOTS x MOON-BRIGHT TIDES

In her darkest hour, Nilah’s dalliance with Death sinks her deep into an ocean of grief. Destruction looms as the only way left is down, but what if that’s exactly what she needs? Will her needs align with her wants?

#Bluepit📖 #A #F #H #W #BluePit
Moodboard for the short story with the working title "A Teasing Fate So Cruel" by Elisa Winther. A speculative horror which includes the ocean, death, and rebirth. The imagines include a face of someone drowning, a glowing mermaid, underwater kelp, and the sea.
July 13, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
murecka.bsky.social
✨Adult historical fantasy with Ukrainian folklore.

Comps: BLOOD OVER BRIGHT HAVEN, BABEL, THE POPPY WAR

🩸secret society
🗝️found family
🤎slow-burn romance
🐺mythical beings as main characters
🕯️high-stakes political mystery
🗡️anti-imperial struggle

#BluePit #BluePit📖 #W #A #F #HS #OV
A collage of nine pictures with turning of 20th century aesthetics, dark alleys, one of man carrying a woman and one pf woman screaming. In the middle is yellow text on black background that reads „through death to freedom” Pitch. In a world inspired by Ukrainian folklore and the turn of the 20th century, Zoriana Spys discovers the secret student society of Kharakternys - people with various uncanny talents whom she'd always thought to be mere mythical creatures, and even though the discovery fractures Zoriana's perception of her people and herself, she must join forces with the society to investigate the Witches' disappearances before they lead to half of the country's extermination.
July 13, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
jundlife.bsky.social
Dune X The Library at Mt. Char

In a city of psychics Sylin was born to be a killer.
She prepares to join the Guild who will do anything to protect her home.
Even turn her Guildmate into a monster.

All while visions of 'strangers' threaten to bring ruin upon them all.

#BluePit #A #F #Q
Even in a city filled with telepaths and telekinetics Sylin was born to be a killer. She is nearing her initiation to the Char-Tesh Guild and is preparing to set off into the desert to defend against the reptilian Stalkers who threaten her home. While this should be a time of pride and passage the Guild is plagued by visions of the ‘Strangers’ who come to bring them ruin. She must rely on her found family and Guildmates to survive a battle they have long odds of winning. At the same time the Guild Masters play a shadowy game of power and politics where the ends always justify the means. Even if it means taking her fellow Guildmate and turning him into a monster.
July 13, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
keltondavis.bsky.social
GODKILLER X BONE SHARD DAUGHTER

A desperate heir. A disgraced warrior. A deadly assassin.

🏹 Strong FMC
🏹 Rich Worldbuilding
🏹 Hunt for Redemption
🏹 Cyclical Trauma
🏹 Found Family

#BluePit 📖 #A #Q #AmQuerying
Background: Mountain monastery surrounded by red trees Title Card Text: An Agent's Guide To: The Daughter and the Nameless Son by Kelton Davis | Adult Fantasy | 100k Words | Querying Now! Background: Mountain monastery surrounded by red trees | Six images surrounding a quote (from clockwise): A sunset, a hammer striking hot metal, a red-haired archer, a grizzled old man, red arrow fletching, a red forest. Text: "You might be too broken to help me yourself," she said, all pretense of courtesy gone, "but if you're a shadow of the man he said you were, you ought to still know something at least. "Have you ever heard of an assassin who could change their shape?" Background: Mountain monastery surrounded by red trees Title: Comps Images: Covers of GODKILLER by Hannah Kaner, THE JUSTICE OF KINGS by Richard Swan, and THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER by Andrew Stewart. Arrows connect similarities between comps. Text: From GODKILLER: Cross-Country Quest to Forbidden Land, Surrogate Parenthood (shared with THE JUSTICE OF KINGS) From BONE SHARD DAUGHTER: Disgraced Heir, Strong FMC (shared with both others) Background: Mountain monastery surrounded by red trees Title: Pitch Text: Niozene has never been good enough. As daughter and crown heir to the Mother, a living goddess and ruler of her country, perfection is the only standard she’s ever known. Yet, despite her flawless scholar’s education and a polished career as a ranger, Niozene has failed to convince the Mother to look past her greatest flaw—she lacks the holy power to control the minds of others that ordains her family as living gods with divine right to rule. When a shape-changing assassin nearly kills the Mother on Niozene’s watch, she is stripped of her titles and given an ultimatum: return with the assassin’s head, or face excommunication from both her homeland and the afterlife. Desperate, she accepts the task as a final chance to prove herself and show the Mother she deserves a place as her daughter. Allowed only the help of Sonsan, a surly tracker and criminal also facing excommunication, Niozene dreads that she may have lost her chance at redemption before she has even left home. But when Sonsan reveals that he shares the same strange shape-changing power as the assassin, Niozene realizes his assignment to accompany her is more than coincidence. As they track the assassin deep into a forbidden land, confronting demons, ancient magic, and the ghosts that haunt their dreams and blood, they must uncover the truth behind their quest—and the buried history neither knew they shared—if they wish to live to see their promised redemption.
July 13, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
corrinney.bsky.social
IMPERIAL ASIA story about pheromone powers
#BluePit #BluePit📖
FRANKENSTEIN but in a Cantonese matriarchy

🪭Canton gothic
⚔️cocky swordswomen & kungfu
🪭love or pheromone?
⚔️maggots & mad scientists
🪭violent yearning
⚔️generational trauma
🪭locusts
#Q #A #R #H #F
moodboard by @leonahwrites.bsky.social
Canton gothic, editors interest, shortlisted PNWA finalist, love or pheromone, violent yearning, Chinese lesbians, Chinese women, Chinese moon moths, dagger, clandestine rendezvous, Chinese fan, Chinese building
July 13, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
gabriela-stluke.bsky.social
Dear Citizen of Calasca,
Pack your bags! I am happy to extend an invitation for you to join us on LAST CHANCE MATCH, a new reality holovision program where LOVE ISLAND meets SQUID GAME and BLACK MIRROR. We can promise you’ll find the one who’s to die for.

#bluepit📖 #bluepit #NA #R #H #SF #SP #W
Above view of paradise dock on a beach with words overtop. Find the one who's to die for An agent's guide to LAST CHANCE MATCH New adult dystopian romance thriller with horror elements Above view of paradise dock on a beach, blurred, with words overtop. Pitch: Calasca’s government uses science to appoint soulmates, but the 0.6% of the population who don’t receive a match face extermination at thirty. A new reality show, Last Chance Match, sets out to change that and gives the matchless another shot at life. Down-trotted waitress, Cera accepts the invitation, but is quickly deflated when she’s paired with the cocky and entitled Ryde. The show takes a dark turn when a fellow contestant is killed after being eliminated, forcing Cera and Ryde to fight for their happily ever after—and to make it out alive. Above view of paradise dock on a beach, blurred, with words overtop. Comps: THE VILLA by Ruth Kelly - dating show setting, twisted games, desperation to win HEART OF THE SUN by Mia Sheridan - 'enemies' to lovers, second chances, dystopian love story THE KILL FACTOR by Ben Oliver - winning = freedom, life or death consequences, strong female protagonist LOVE ISLAND - Love Island-inspired dating show SQUID GAME - games created for a killer time BLACK MIRROR - dystopian future with sci-fi twists Above view of paradise dock on a beach, blurred, with words overtop. Snippet: The silhouette of a woman approaches us, but her flawless skin is a dead giveaway that it’s a humanoid. The older you get, the easier it is to spot them; their skin is free of blemish, not even a tiny scar indented into their bodies. Their eyes are shiny—too shiny—and their smiles lack depth, character, and warmth. Though the government will never admit it, they’ve started to release more and more of these bots into Calasca to act as companions for the matchless. They’re chameleons, taking on whatever persona they need to hook into you. The most unsettling part about them is how predatory they can be, entering the neighborhoods of the low-end and matchless. They even have a slot on their abdomens for payment. I shiver when the humanoid’s too-perfect eyes land on me, its bone-chilling grin never faltering. “Contestants,” it says so matter-of-fact, yet there’s a sweetness to it. An eerie kindness I can’t ignore. God, I hate humanoids.
July 13, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
quietsnooze.bsky.social
BLOOD ON OUR NAMES: a fey courtly murder plot where a trio of strangers with secrets that could betray one another flee fate, only to end up in the arms of destiny.

Magic. Meddling. Monstrosity.
Three implausible allies.
Only one second chance.

#BluePit📖 #wip #F #A #BluePit #Dis
BLOOD ON OUR NAMES by Vanessa Stefaniuk A book cover illustration with the silhouette of a many eyed raven perched on a rocky surface in front of a grassy hill. Juxtaposed in the sky is a smirking man with dark hair and the pointed ears of an elf. There is an overlay on the raven silhouette of three characters: an elf in the front holding up an axe as she prepares to stripe, her hair orange, her eyes focused, her earasaid plaid wrapped over her shoulders. A half-orc with ear caps to point out her ears looks upward in anticipation, ready for a fight. The hag child is a man turning to look over his knitted sweater covered shoulder, his ears wreathed by rowan berry and flowers and leaves as he turns his red eyes upward. The fight has a dnd quality of having just rolled initiative.
July 13, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
elainebuckner.bsky.social
Jane Eyre Retelling

Luna's rearview mirror reflects a shattered life, but Thornfield Hotel offers a fresh start. As concierge, she's swept into a world of secrets, seduction & murder w/ the enigmatic E Rochester at its center & her heart & survival in the crosshairs.
#BluePit #BluePit📖 #A #H #R #Q
Poster-style image with a couple embracing
July 13, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Reposted by S. K. Kruse
goodwords.bsky.social
THE SPELLSHOP x HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

A curmudgeonly witch with a chronic illness must work with a cheerful thief to stand up to a greedy pharmaceutical company.

#BluePit 📖 #Q #A #F #R #OV #DIS #chronicillnessrep #cozyromanticfantasy #revspirations #writingcommunity
Meet the Main Character: Linatta Mosset: curmudgeon, witch, plant-enthusiast, and a secret harborer of a sense of humor. Her best friend is Toad, a cat-shaped familiar with a snarky (but loveable) attitude. Her chronic illness makes life challenging, but her journey is full of heart and humor. Despite a past riddled with heartbreak, she falls in love with a charismatic thief. Snippet: “Hmph. Really, Linatta? I chose you for your good sense, and only a ridiculous witch would believe that hats are harmless. Everyone who wears them is untrustworthy.” Despite Linatta’s best efforts to lock away the name, it slipped from her mouth, “Charly never wore hats. That didn’t make her trustworthy.” Toad leapt onto Linatta’s lap and placed a paw over her heart. In his sincerest voice, he said, “Charly was different. She probably wore hats in secret.” First Lines: Potions Unincorporated Twelve vials sat on a shelf where one hundred should rest. Linatta Mosset picked up one of the tapered glasses—thumb-sized and filled to the brim with a warm, green liquid. She uncorked it and took a hard swallow. Bitterness struck first, but it disappeared after a few seconds and slipped into a nutty and earthy aftertaste. Comps: Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune (The Humor & Heart) + Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree (The Cozy Fantasy Vibes) + The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (The Romance) = Potions Unincorporated. Covers for each of the novels are next to each other on a green slides with plants.
July 13, 2025 at 2:35 PM