Mel Starkicker
LightNews LightNews
banner
starkicker.bsky.social
Mel Starkicker
@starkicker.bsky.social
250 followers 420 following 900 posts
"I'm a song about the song that once said something new."
Teacher. Drummer. Author. Cocker spaniel fan. ❤️ music.
🏳️‍🌈🥁🎸🐶
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
starkicker.bsky.social
Mel Starkicker @starkicker.bsky.social · 2d
👋 I'm Mel. I write character-driven wlw romance with a healthy dose of comedy and music. Usually slow burn, sometimes sloth burn.
I have 2 WIP in editing, and 2-3 WIP in my brain currently trying to escape.
#WIP #lesfic #amquerying #writesky #amwriting #amediting #writingcommunity 🌈✒️
A screen grab of a synopsis for work in progress #1 . It reads: Julie Gatensby and Isabell Brewer have been friends since Julie saved Izzy from a mishap with some iced tea. When they start a band together, they finally start to feel like the cool kids they knew they were. After a concert at a local bar, their friendship is put to the test—and fails. Several years later, Julie returns home in the hopes of regrouping after a disastrous breakup from her band, her job, and her boyfriend. She also hopes she can revive a friendship that had long since ended. Izzy, however, is less receptive to Julie’s overtures. Years of hurt on both sides make relationships strained. Thankfully, everyone else around them seems to see what the women simply cannot: they are meant to be together. If only Izzy could admit her feelings. If only Julie could get over her self-hate. If only one of them would say what they really want. If only someone would turn off the home shopping channel. And if only everyone would stop telling drummer jokes! A screen grab of the synopsis for my 2nd work in progress. It reads: Jacqueline Lamont likes control. She controls her life, her career, and her emotions by one guiding principle: attachments are dangerous. Fortunately, her career as a well-known folk singer makes that easy. Jacqueline lives out of tour buses and hotels, drifting from town to town and lover to lover, never staying long enough to belong anywhere. She’s happier that way—or so she tells herself. Then a phone call rips her off the road, sending her back to a family she long believed had abandoned her and to a life she never meant to return to. Back in Toronto, Jacqueline struggles to find her footing and maintain any semblance of control. Especially when she keeps running into a charming young nurse who looks oddly familiar and seems determined to insert herself into Jacqueline’s carefully contained life. Shannon MacCartney is everything Jacqueline tries to avoid: rooted and compassionate. Worse yet, she has an unsettling ability to see past Jacqueline’s raised eyebrows, biting remarks, and relentless need for control. Jacqueline’s tight grip on control is challenged, as the universe and an infuriatingly determined nurse show her that letting go might be the only way to get what she truly wants.
starkicker.bsky.social
Izzy and Julie are both into video games given that they grew up in the 80s and 90s. But if we're going modern, I think they'd enjoy Little Big Planet or Borderlands (the pre-sequel and they'd fight over who got to play claptrap).

#AwesomeCharacters
January 15, 2026 at 7:00 AM
starkicker.bsky.social
"This is fine. We can be just friends" — literally all of my characters to themselves/everyone else in the books.

#WritingPrompt 🌈✒️ #lesfic #WritingCommunity
January 14, 2026 at 3:54 PM
starkicker.bsky.social
From WIP #1.
Who doesn't get philosophical at the sight of ducks?

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #WritingCommunity 🌈✒️ #lesfic
a screen grab from a work in progress. it reads: “So what do you say, Jules? When can you start?” “I…” She stopped and tapped her finger on her cell phone for a moment. She looked at a duck that landed in the river and was swimming frantically against the current. Julie wondered why it didn’t just land further up if it wanted to be there. Why fight against the current when you could use the current to your advantage? She shook her head and looked down at the letters still in her lap. “I’ll let you know, Carlos,” she said finally.
January 14, 2026 at 12:59 PM
starkicker.bsky.social
This is tricky. I wonder if I can synthesize a 300 pg answer to 300 char.

I guess it comes down to representation. Honest, nuanced, meaningful representation that honours those who came before and those who come next.

Queer writing is resistance of erasure.

#LoreOutLoud 🌈✒️ #lesfic #WritingPrompts
darylmarez.bsky.social Daryl Marez @darylmarez.bsky.social · 1d
Day 014 // WEEK 2: STEPPING THROUGH THE DOOR
---
Repost the daily prompt with #LoreOutLoud to feature your entry in Queer Authors 🌈✒️ Dive into the feed to explore all the amazing stories unfolding during our community event: bsky.app/profile/did:...
---
#WriterSky #Writingcommunity #WritingPrompts
#LoreOutLoud, a community event logo against a globe; Hosted by Daryl. A textured pink and blue sky as the background; Day 014 Claiming Space - What does it mean for you to take up space on the page as a queer writer?
January 14, 2026 at 7:47 AM
starkicker.bsky.social
Izzy is really not a fan of clowns

#QueerPrompts #lesfic 🌈✒️
January 14, 2026 at 5:52 AM
starkicker.bsky.social
Julie and Izzy (WIP 1) are aware of their flaws, but it's the moving past the fear(s) connected to those flaws that's a challenge for them.
#AwesomeCharacters #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
charliedeltawrites.bsky.social ❄️Charlie (Chelizabeth) Delta ☃️ @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 1d
Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters

Let's talk self-reflection. How good is your character at assessing their flaws?

Do they usually have a good sense of how they are coming across to others?

If not, which way are they usually wrong?

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
January 14, 2026 at 5:48 AM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
thecrumpet.bsky.social
ALL FOURS x THE WEDDING PEOPLE

THIS ENDS NOW: A serial marriage-jilter hits a swanky wellness retreat to learn why she keeps fleeing perfect husbands. There's only one cure: facing her nastiest ghost—the slippery, brilliant first love whose poison still runs in her veins. #A #UP #Q #WF BluePit 📖
A collage of photos: a classic red Vermont farmhouse in autumn, with a low stone wall in the foreground; the title of the novel, “This Ends Now”; a dark-haired woman floating face upwards in water, surrounded by white flowers, her eyes open; a blazing bonfire at nightfall; a dark-haired man wearing glasses lying on the ground, in profile, with a dark-haired woman to his side, holding him; the interior of Yale University’s Sterling Memorial Library, showing a Gothic cathedral-like entrance; a man’s hand clasping a woman’s hand, with a snow-covered fir tree in the background.
January 13, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
charliedeltawrites.bsky.social
Rayna Clay hunts monsters. But it has never really been that simple, has it?

#Anthropomorphic has:

💥Subterfuge!

💥Ace people who investigate secret incubi/succubi crimes!

💥Serial killers (who may not be human)!

💥Political intrigue!

💥A vast criminal conspiracy!

#BluePit 📖 #LGBT #F #C
Cover: Anthropomorphic by Charlie Delta Gold on black, a symbol of a sword transposed over an eye.
January 13, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
bywaterbooks.bsky.social
🏳️‍🌈📚 Queer books are resistance.
👀 Read them.
📝 Review them.
👊 Support queer writers & publishers.

#SapphicBooks #LGBTQBooks #QueerLit #QueerWriters #QueerPublishers #BookSky
Square black and white graffiti image with a woman's face painted on a door. Below it is the Bywater Books logo. In green font, it reads: We Won't Back Down.
January 13, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
starkicker.bsky.social
Jacqueline has built her life around control, but when her mother falls ill and she’s called home, a stubbornly compassionate nurse challenges her carefully constructed life.

🧊 ice queen
🎸 musician
🌈 #LGBT
🍤 scampi!
🦥 sloth burn

#BluePit #BluePit📖 #R #W #A #WF 🌈✒️ #lesfic
a picture of a microphone. The title says "Wishing You Knew" a contemporary queer romance. Draft 1 is complete. Ca. 113,000 words. Jacqueline Lamont has built her life around control and distance, but when her mother falls ill and she’s called home, a stubbornly compassionate nurse challenges her carefully constructed life and invites her to risk the connection she’s never allowed herself. Sloth burn, friends to lovers, ice queen, found family, ice skating, shrimp! A synopsis for Wishing You Knew. Jacqueline Lamont likes control. She controls her life, her career, and her emotions by one guiding principle: attachments are dangerous. Fortunately, her career as a well-known folk singer makes that easy. Jacqueline lives out of tour buses and hotels, drifting from town to town and lover to lover, never staying long enough to belong anywhere. She’s happier that way—or so she tells herself. Then a phone call rips her off the road, sending her back to a family she long believed had abandoned her and to a life she never meant to return to. Back in Toronto, Jacqueline struggles to find her footing and maintain any semblance of control. Especially when she keeps running into a charming young nurse who looks oddly familiar and seems determined to insert herself into Jacqueline’s carefully contained life. Shannon MacCartney is everything Jacqueline tries to avoid: rooted and compassionate. Worse yet, she has an unsettling ability to see past Jacqueline’s raised eyebrows, biting remarks, and relentless need for control. Jacqueline’s tight grip on control is challenged, as the universe and an infuriatingly determined nurse show her that letting go might be the only way to get what she truly wants. An excerpt from Wishing You Knew. It reads Jacqueline knew the game. She had been playing it for years, and it always started the same way. First, a drink arrived at her table, and a rush of anticipation followed. Then a gesture. Occasionally, someone’s brave enough to approach her outright—though that was rare. That only happened if she was a semi-regular. New patrons made the locals nervous. It took time for people to suss her out, but they always did. Tonight, it was a Pink Lady, delivered by a waitress over the din of conversation and a Motown song from the jukebox. Step one… Jacqueline’s fingers twisted the glass by its stem. She liked gin. Its taste was clean, sharp, and uncomplicated—exactly what Jacqueline liked in her drinks and her women. She lifted an eyebrow at the waitress. Then her indifferent gaze followed the subtle tilt of the server’s head until it landed on the woman who’d sent the drink. Next came the gesture—a single red rose. Jacqueline toyed with her silently. She lifted the rose, inhaled its scent, then set it back on the table. Her expression barely shifted, but it was enough. Step two… The woman found her courage and approached Jacqueline’s table. She parted her lips to speak, but Jacqueline’s hard amber stare stopped her mid-breath. Jacqueline rose and eyed the woman carefully. The way you would evaluate a cut of meat at the butcher’s counter. The smile on the woman’s face faded, taking her confidence along with it. An eyebrow arched, a twitch of her lips before Jacqueline, in a practised, smooth voice, whispered, “Not here.” Step three… -Wishing You Knew, chapter 1, pg. 1
January 13, 2026 at 9:51 AM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
starkicker.bsky.social
After high school, Julie and Izzy went their separate ways, but their mutual attraction never did. Now they have a second chance to say what they really want.
🧊 estranged friends
🎸 musicians
🌈 #LGBT
🦥 slow burn

#BluePit #BluePit📖 #R #W #A #WF 🌈✒️ #lesfic
And These Words Remain Unsaid. After their band and friendship fall apart, Julie and Izzy go their spearate ways--until a return home reveals their attraction never actually went away, and forces them to deal with the hurt for one last chance at saying what they want. slow burn, (Estranged) friends to lovers, second chances, music, 90s nostalgia, small town & big city, lying to themselves. A contemporary queer romance. Draft 2 is complete. ca 118,000 words The image has a section of writing from And These Words Remain Unsaid. It reads: Her jaw dropped. “Did she say left again?” “It said left,” Julie confirmed. “Why does it want us to go left? Left is east. We’re supposed to be heading west!” “In fifty meters, turn left,” said the GPS, serene and unbothered. “What left? Does it want me to plow through this field?” “Turn left,” the British voice commanded again. The GPS, clearly confused about where the car actually was, began repeating “turn left” at an irritable interval. “What fucking left? There’s no left, Kate! There’s no road here!” Izzy huffed. “Turn left.” “There. Is. No. Left!” “Turn left.” Julie dissolved into peals of laughter. “Where the hell does she think we are? It’s just spinning in circles like it’s drunk.” As if on cue, the GPS spoke again. “Recalculating. In two hundred meters, turn left, then turn left. Then turn right.” “So make a U-turn. Is that what you want? Just say U-turn!” Julie looked at Izzy with apologetic eyes. “I swear she’s not like this in LA. Maybe she’s confused by the metric system?” “Does she think that east is west in metric?” Izzy asked, growing increasingly rattled. “Turn left.” “But there’s no left!” Izzy pleaded almost as if to herself. “I can’t turn left!” she glared at the GPS. “Recalculating…” “I swear to god, if she says turn left, I am going…” “Turn left.” “GAH!” Izzy hollered. - And These Words Remain Unsaid, chapter 22, pg. 181 an image with text and a drumkit. The text reads: Julie Gatensby and Isabell Brewer have been friends since Julie saved Izzy from a mishap with some iced tea. When they start a band together, they finally start to feel like the cool kids they knew they were. After a concert at a local bar, their friendship is put to the test—and fails. Several years later, Julie returns home in the hopes of regrouping after a disastrous breakup from her band, her job, and her boyfriend. She also hopes she can revive a friendship that had long since ended. Izzy, however, is less receptive to Julie’s overtures. Years of hurt on both sides make relationships strained. Thankfully, everyone else around them seems to see what the women simply cannot: they are meant to be together. If only Izzy could admit her feelings. If only Julie could get over her self-hate. If only one of them would say what they really want. If only someone would turn off the home shopping channel. And if only everyone would stop telling drummer jokes!
January 13, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
emmalbwrites.bsky.social
#BluePit📖 #YA #R #LGBT #Q #OV #DIS #ND Erin & Liv Are Not (Not) Together 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ - lesbians, therapy cat, queer care home, exes, fake dating, friendship love, yearning, ghost tour walks, doughnuts, LEGO, found family, foster rep, mental health rep, healing from toxic relationship, queer JOY and CHAOS ✨🍩🌊
a group of people are walking down a street with the words let 's go lesbians
ALT: a group of people are walking down a street with the words let 's go lesbians
media.tenor.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
cjaralore.bsky.social
👨‍❤️‍👨HEARTSTOPPER with MAGIC✨

A runaway teen discovers a world of secrets and magic when he meets the boy he's dreamed of all his life in 🌿GRAVITY'S FIRE🔥.

#BluePit 📖 #W #YA #LGBT #OV #F #R
A collage of images: Left: wavy brown hair, gold eye in sunlight, teen boy smirking with orangish-brown skin, green tank top, and full lips. Right: straight blonde hair, green eye, teen boy with blonde hair, gold feathers, and a green bracelet. Center: dragon, phoenix, hand making fire into shape of heart, gold music notes, walking barefoot on grass, leaves, trees, sunlight through windows, and lightning.
January 13, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
kathyravyn.bsky.social
Final project of my main three WIPs.

Project.Marcella: The perfect daughter finds herself slowly unraveling when the loud, rebellious and openly lesbian girl moves into her small, catholic town. Set in an All-Girls catholic school. Slow burn.

#BluePit #BluePit📖 #R #W #LGBT
January 13, 2026 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
clairecommemoi.bsky.social
A BOYFRIEND, IF YOU CAN KEEP HIM is what you’d get if Ali Hazelwood turned National Treasure 2 into a romance novel. #BluePit 📖 #Q #A #R

⚔️Smithsonian x Library of Congress feud
📜Secret alliance
💃Rivals-to-lovers
📚Hunt for Jefferson’s lost library
🧠Mental health rep
Background: shelves full of old-fashioned books. Text: A BOYFRIEND, IF YOU CAN KEEP HIM: A Contemporary Romance Background: shelves full of old-fashioned books. Text: After losing out on her dream job at the Library of Congress, Kathleen “Sour Grapes” Gallagher is done chasing things. Not jobs, not boyfriends, not Beyoncé tickets. If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen, and if not, she never wanted it anyway. So when a disgraced movie mogul taps her for a vanity project tracking down missing volumes from the Library of Congress’s original collection, Kathleen only accepts the gig to appease her well-meaning mentor. Never mind his hints that this might be her chance to escape academic exile. Across the National Mall at the Library of Congress’s archival arch-rival, Smithsonian historian Dr. Grant Ordoñez vows to get revenge on the Hollywood mogul who stalled his sister’s promising acting career by finding the missing books first. As the eldest son of a mixed-status immigrant family, Grant is used to playing catch-up, so he’s confident he can outpace an entitled librarian who doesn’t even have a PhD and seems immune to the concept of actual work. But Grant finds out that Kathleen isn’t some lazy nepo baby when his interference forces Kathleen to actually do her job—and to confront what she gave up by leaving her dream behind. As they chase leads around the Beltway and back, their frigid rivalry turns into a love affair steamier than a summer in the nation’s capital. But with their feuding institutions breathing down their necks, Grant and Kathleen learn that finding what you’re looking for isn’t the same thing as getting to keep it. Background: shelves full of old-fashioned books. Text: I’m halfway across the room when Grant speaks again. “Hey Kathleen, how tall are you?” “Five foot six,” I say automatically. Then I stop and turn around. “Wait, why? How tall are you?” “Five-eleven,” he says. “If you were actually five-eleven, you’d round up to six feet,” I challenge. “That’s small-minded of you.” He lowers his laptop screen. There’s a smile playing around his mouth. “I prefer to play the long game and round down to five-ten. Make the other five-elevens sweat a little.” I laugh. “That’s surprisingly diabolical. And you still haven’t answered my question.” Grant looks pointedly at the books in my arms and thumbs something into his phone. “I just want to be sure I’m giving the U.S. Marshals an accurate description of the midnight book thief.” “Oh my god, it’s not even six o’clock in the evening.” He peers around the desk hutch at me. “‘But wearing high heels, so… five foot nine?”
January 13, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
saranadosfiction.com
ARGENTUM IN AQUA - saranadosfiction.com/2023/12/11/a...
🦇 queer Gothic gaslamp fantasy webserial
🗡 Culturally Significant Knives
❄️ fog-shrouded snowbound streets
🌈 foul-mouthed transmasc assassin x bisexual vampire gentleman magician
🩸 blood, swearing, and tea

#BluePit 📖 #A #F #P #LGBT #Dis #TR
Argentum in Aqua: An Introduction
ARGENTUM IN AQUA (Blood on the Snow, Silver in the Ashes, Fire in the Sky) All student magician Jonathan Fest wants is to keep his head down and finish out his first year of university without fail…
saranadosfiction.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
hopeengel.com
AT YOUR PACE

When college baseball
player Emerson’s best friend learns of his new crush, she sets a deadline for him to make a move before she plays wingwoman. Can Emerson overcome what’s been keeping him single and make space in his life for a girl just as dedicated as him?

#BluePit📖 #Q #NA #R
Mood board with three images: top is a close-up of a shelf of books. The second is to light skinned hands holding and third is a close-up of a baseball and bat on home plate. The background is purple clouds.
January 13, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
ottersediting.com
ANIMORPHS X HUNGER GAMES

Queer and trans teens who transform into animals compete in a series of games known as the Touranimal.

Featuring:
⚔️Dual POV
🫂Found Family
💪Underdogs
🌈Sapphic Romance
🥰Self-Acceptance
🐾 Cute Animals

#BluePit📖 #W #YA #F #ND #LGBT
A collage of photos representing AnimalsWIP. From top to bottom, left to right: a bird of prey flying, a green maze, a stadium full of a crowd, a green snake viper, a clownfish, and a dog running an obstacle course.
January 13, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
isaacxisaac.bsky.social
Gay crimes!
Trans wrongs!
Enemies to enemies!

Back again with my #OV #LGBT #HU #YA(?) #W IP for #BluePit 📖! A romp through a colorful, heightened #HS torical playground.

Can one defeat the patriarchs with the very weapons of masculinity? Well, one angry trans boy can sure try stabbing them a lot.
"L'entrée du prince de Ligne à Londres 1660", painted by François Duchatel in 1660, depicting the arrival of a great procession of ambassadors walking in fine clothes and riding in coaches, watched by a huge crowd of Londoners. Text over it reads: THE DUEL IN 1660: a queer swashbuckling farce. "The arrival of King Charles II of England in Rotterdam, may 24 1660" by Lieve Verschuier, showing many ships with the Flag of Holland/States Flag. The grand ship bearing Charles II has his royal arms carven on the stern. Text over it reads: England, 1660: the restoration of the monarchy. In Charles II's triumphant wake, a Royalist family quietly returns, but not with their single daughter—instead, with their single son. 15-year-old Alexander—vain, hot-tempered, and warm of heart—expects to strut in as an aristocratic peacock. But when his ambitions are frustrated, he's sucked instead into intrigues of questionable honour and forced to reckon with what it really means to be a man. "Man Writing a Letter" by Gabriël Metsu, painted around 1665. A Dutch young man, beautiful and androgynous with long blond hair, wears black doublet, breeches, and stockings and a luxurious white shirt and falling band. His expression is tranquil and far-off as he writes a letter on a table draped with an imported carpet. Text over it reads: Pray enjoy this tempest in a teapot, crafted of the purest tropes and set in the Age of the Rakehells, featuring: glamour and grime of 17th century Westminster. goofy action punctuated by primal screams of rage. problematic characters for miles. petticoat breeches parkour. queer mentorship. romantic friendship (or maybe 'tis just gay, oops). boys who cry. a lot. and somehow, everything turning out all right in the end. Detail of "View from the Mussel Pier in Amsterdam", painted by Ludolf Bakhuizen in 1673, showing a peaceful sky over a ship with two gulls. Text over it reads: Alexander stood at the edge of the deck, one hand clutching the railing, the other fastened tight on the brim of his hat as he leaned out over the waves. He was not much afraid of falling in, though he had never swum anything choppier than a pond. Rather, he was afraid that his Acadian fur hat, the most expensive for sale in the shop on the Kalverstraat, might fly off his small crown and flap with its feathers all the way to water—which, like the sky, could not quite decide between blue and grey. There was no one to see him aside from the sailors and now Klein, climbing up from below. Still, he had meticulously dressed that morning, down to every last ribbon. He’d had a very specific vision of himself when the suit was being ordered: the azure he’d picked was not just brighter than everything around him on the fluyt but even the true sky itself, and he sparkled with silver, when the wind tugged his doublet and loose breeches, and gold, when the little light managed to catch on his sword’s hilt. It was imperative, one must understand, that he look extremely stylish doing battle, should pirates suddenly appear to satisfy his fantasies. And indeed, at fifteen, he thought himself quite the dashing young man—not the boy he was.
January 13, 2026 at 5:17 AM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
catherinewinters.com
When 16-year-old Nia picks the wrong pocket, she unlocks a magical talent she didn’t know she had. Now she’s posing as an heiress, a con man’s gone missing, and Nia and her friends are on the run with a living doll, pursued by gangs, magehunters, and the governor herself. #BluePit #YA #A #F #LGBT #W
A mood board of eight tiles and a centre square with lockpicking tools and ancient writing: 1. Always have an escape plan. 2. A swindler never lets herself feel like a fraud. 3. Don't look for the easy grab, look for the easy mark. 4. Never get involved with golems. The pictures depict, clockwise from upper right: A) A city of canals and towering footbridges. There are minarets and steeples and red-tiled roofs. B) A market selling elaborate lanterns, all aglow. C) A porcelain and gold hand, reaching upwards. D) Two figures leaping across rooftops against the coming dawn. E) A pocketwatch--or is it? Constellations and continents cover the front, the body of the watch engraved with runes. It's sitting on ancient parchment. F) A wax stamp with removable chits that function as coins in a card game. G) The lords of the city overlooking grand canals and issuing edicts. They are dressed in fine red robes and silks. H) Assorted bones and shells used for divination and more.
January 13, 2026 at 5:09 AM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
roseauthor.bsky.social
THE RATING
In a dystopian society where inhabitants are ranked by beauty, an 18 y/o separated from her identical twin must choose between her duty to the system and her duty to herself.

🌸Complicated sister relationship
🪷Weird cult vibes
🥀Yearning
🌺Dual timeline

#Bluepit📖 #Q #YA #SP #DIS #WF
Cool-toned images of white marble building, lotus flower, angel mural, cliffside village, and blue waves. Cut-out of a faceless women with text reading “Beauty is but a reflection of moral purity,” a quote from “The Rating.”
January 13, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
ivytwoods.bsky.social
An #editorsguide to 🌲THE LAND OF UNDYING SUMMER🌲
This romantic fantasy has:
🐻‍❄️ Canadian subarctic inspired setting
🌋Roots in animistic religion
⚡️A physics based magic system
👵🏽 Crotchety immortals
🏠 Complex family dynamics
🌎 Accessible worldbuilding

#bluepit📖 #A #F #R #FR #OS soon 👀
On a background of a foggy coniferous forest. The background of the four images fit together to show a stream with rocks working its way between two hills in the forest, both covered with trees. In white text: An Editor’s Guide To The Land of Undying Summer by Ivy T. Woods Adult Romantic Fantasy 108,000 words On a background of a foggy coniferous forest. The background of the four images fit together to show a stream with rocks working its way between two hills in the forest, both covered with trees. On the left side of the picture is an ink drawn map of a continent. In white text: Pitch When a half-dead priestess is forced to work with a wandering mage to figure out why mages are dwindling among her people, they develop a reluctant camaraderie. But when he kills a guard, her people’s distrust escalates into a full-scale uprising, leaving the two loners to save the living, the dead, and each other. Though not necessarily in that order. On a background of a foggy coniferous forest. The background of the four images fit together to show a stream with rocks working its way between two hills in the forest, both covered with trees. In white text: Comps The atmosphere and vibes of: - The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordon - Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang The Humour Of: - Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher On a background of a foggy coniferous forest. The background of the four images fit together to show a stream with rocks working its way between two hills in the forest, both covered with trees. In white text Chapter One - The End of Darkness No Guide could resist the Call of Return forever. But this time, when Tilaani’s trembling hands closed on the spiked rocks of the Wolf’s Fangs, the agonizing need for the missing part of herself had dulled to an aching throb. The Call would take her eventually. But not today. Today, she was already running late. “Shit!” Tilaani snatched her cloak from the icy stalagmite she had been using as a hanger and staggered to a slim crack in the cliff face. It had been a century since the passage had opened in one of El’Drek’s rages but the frozen stone was still jagged, tugging at her shirt as she sidled through, thin cloak clutched in one hand. Wind whistled through the crevice, peppering her exposed skin with hard snow. It melted, steaming as it touched her. Time within the cavern had always been malleable, misaligned with the world outside. Shinac had always claimed the shifts were random but Tilaani had her doubts. It always seemed to stretch whenever she was in a hurry. She wouldn’t put it past any of the dead—either Blessed or Barred—to extend time merely to inconvenience her. And now, backing up this theory, the sun was high overhead and the few hours she had spent being lectured by the Ancients had become nearly an entire night and day in the land of the living. Allak would be insufferable if she was late.
January 13, 2026 at 5:30 AM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
annavernerauthor.bsky.social
Something is killing sheep. Raven and Trig are sent to investigate, but all is not as it seems.

A truce between the Elves and the Humans complicates things even further for Raven. How long can she stay hidden from her birthright?

It is the final book in this duology.

#BluePit 📖 #F #R #H #W
Book cover for The Kings Raven by Anna Verner. It has an orange background. In the foreground near the bottom are two crowns, one is good with jewels, one is black and thin. There is a black feather falling down. The tagline says kings battle but Queens win wars.
January 13, 2026 at 6:43 AM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
charliedeltawrites.bsky.social
Rayna Clay is a world-weary monster hunter with a reckless streak that tends to get her in trouble.

Simon is a naïve incubus having second thoughts about the deadly conspiracy he's found himself wrapped up in.

The question is, is there enough time left for them to stop it?

#BluePit 📖 #LGBT #F #C
Rayna Clay, Fullbody painting of a woman. She's white, with short brown hair, grey eyes, and dressed in modern clothes (jeans, boots, black tshirt, and brown leather jacket). She's holding an expandable security baton in one hand and wiping blood from her lips with the other. Art by Aowna Cover: Anthropomorphic by Charlie Delta Art By Conrad Altmann
January 13, 2026 at 6:46 AM
Reposted by Mel Starkicker
smoking-gnu.bsky.social
G'morning #Bluepit!

For your consideration, I present to you an #Agentsguide to

CAVERN CLIPPER
(TREASURE PLANET x JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH x THE LAST EXILE)

#Bluepit 📖 #A #SF #F #W
Background, Flying sail ships amids obscuring clouds. presenting an Agents Guide to: Cavern Clipper. Status: first draft being edited Image Credit: “The Stormriders: Steampunk Pirates” by neko1206 on Deviantart. Background, cavern lit up by bright orange-yellow light. The Pitch: A RECENTLY DECEASED HUMAN (SAM) AND A FORMERLY CAPTIVE CERUNAN (NYXEL) NEED TO DELIVER A MESSAGE CRITICAL TO HUMANITY’S SURVIVAL, ARE THROWN TOGETHER ON A PIRATE HUNTER SHIP AND ARE BEING PURSUED BY A RELENTLESS PIRATE FLEET - BUT THE LIVING MAZE OF CAVERNS THEY MUST TRAVERSE TO GET THERE MAY BE MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE PIRATES. Background, massive square cavern in background with small forest and deer in foreground. Comps: TREASURE PLANET X A JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH X THE LAST EXILE Tropes and themes: • TRANSMIGRATION (ISEKAI) • AIRSHIPS • PIRATES • CAT AND MOUSE BATTLES • A MESSAGE THAT MUST BE DELIVERED! Background, Cavern with a skull face being watched by a woman. Excerpt: “CAPTAIN!” SAM SHOUTED AND POINTED TO THE SIGHT. HE SAW HER REACT, BUT DIDN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT HER RESPONSE WOULD BE. INSTEAD HE SPUN AROUND TO TRY AND FIND NYXEL. HE SPOTTED HER ON THE MAINMAST, SCANNING THE DECK AND LOOKING FOR TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY. “NYXEL! THE CABLE!” SAM SHOUTED. HE SAW HER HEAD SNAP TOWARDS HIM AND HE POINTED TOWARDS WHERE THE LAST CABLE WAS EMBEDDED INTO THE DECK, THEN SWUNG HIS HAND AROUND TO THE SLOOP. SHE FOLLOWED HIS HAND, THEN NODDED AT HIM AND LAUNCHED BACK INTO THE AIR, GRACEFULLY CURVING TOWARDS THE SLOOP ONE FINAL TIME.
January 13, 2026 at 6:58 AM