T. Rutherford
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trutherford.bsky.social
T. Rutherford
@trutherford.bsky.social
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Academic by day, fiction writer by night (and on the weekends, and lunch, and in any spare moment).
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T. Rutherford @trutherford.bsky.social · Oct 16
Realized identity is a big theme of all three of my novels so far although diff genres:

OUR ELSEWHERE, speculative women's fiction
FOUR PLAYS, cozy contemporary romance
FAMILY SCIENCE, book-club fiction

Guess I have kept things close to home as a psychologist who studies motivation/identity!
trutherford.bsky.social
About a year ago I started fiction writing and I also increased my fiction reading--reading is craft learning!
These are the books I finished this year (not counting 17+ beta reads, a few DNFs or partial craft book reads, and lots of academic reading for my day job)
Enjoyed most of them very much
A graphic of 58 books read by TRutherford. Mostly romances, cozy fantasy, contemporary fiction, and speculative fiction
December 30, 2025 at 5:28 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
My first #WIPSnips from my new speculative novel.
Dec. 13's word, "control," from Chapter 6 of Anti-Charter Campaign.

#amWriting #WritingCommunity #WriteSky
Now that old spark was back. As glad as Susanne was to see her friend finally excited about something, she couldn’t help the wriggle of anxiety at the back of her mind. Patty had skated by when Britt was on cruise control. The poor paladin was probably in for it now. And the fact that the campaign itself was from some random unearthed box in Britt’s attic didn’t do much to calm Susanne’s nerves. But Suze had been known to enjoy a good creepy story. It wasn’t like she actually thought they’d unleash a real Demogorgon or anything like that.
December 14, 2025 at 4:59 AM
trutherford.bsky.social
Excited to announce that Our Elsewhere has won the general fiction category for the 2025 Book Pipeline Unpublished contest! bookpipeline.com/winners

Honored they recognized Our Elsewhere--a speculative fiction where a widow journeys across worlds via death to find and save her husband.
Screenshot of the contest winner page showing T. Rutherford's picture and bio
December 5, 2025 at 10:45 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
JUMANJI X ABBOTT ELEMENTARY X D&D

When a school librarian and colleagues play a bespoke RPG campaign, they learn their game moves have real-life metaphorical corollaries. They must make the right rolls to defeat the monsters and save their school from an evil charter.

#WIPPIT #A #Spec #F #UP
November 23, 2025 at 5:26 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
I'm between two of these.
October 24, 2025 at 3:26 AM
trutherford.bsky.social
Realized identity is a big theme of all three of my novels so far although diff genres:

OUR ELSEWHERE, speculative women's fiction
FOUR PLAYS, cozy contemporary romance
FAMILY SCIENCE, book-club fiction

Guess I have kept things close to home as a psychologist who studies motivation/identity!
October 16, 2025 at 3:58 AM
trutherford.bsky.social
I just entered #RevPit #10Queries. Enter now for a chance to win free feedback on your query and 1st 5 pages

Excited to see the posts!
reviseresub.bsky.social Revise & Resub @reviseresub.bsky.social · Sep 12
🎉We're baaacckk!!!🎉

RevPit's #10Queries October event opens for submissions October 10!

#amwriting #writersky #writersofbluesky
RevPit #10Queries Returns Enter on October 10. Don't forget to Sign Up for Substack
October 10, 2025 at 4:05 AM
trutherford.bsky.social
From Peter Pan to Scrooge, it takes FOUR PLAYS for Nicole to build her confidence, convince her ex that community theater is good for their daughter, and land the leading man.
FOUR PLAYS is for lovers of cozy slow-burn romance and musical theater.
#DVPit #A #CR #WF
October 8, 2025 at 8:00 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
In FAMILY SCIENCE, developmental psychology meets family drama, as Hannah navigates being a widow, parent, & PhD student, while balancing her deceased husband’s formerly-estranged famous family, her own disappointed parents, and a potential romance whose kid and hers are at war.
#DVPit #A #CR #WF
October 8, 2025 at 6:59 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
What if DARK MATTER was told from a woman’s perspective? And involved collaborative (self) body snatching?

OUR ELSEWHERE follows as widow Mara chases her husband through death, merging with multiple versions of herself in worlds increasingly different from her own.

#DVPit #A #F #WF #SpecFiction
October 8, 2025 at 5:57 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
When a single mother brings her kid to audition for the local theater, she finds herself pulled into the theater’s community to act, to shape her own identity, and to find love with the leading man.
FOUR PLAYS: Hallmark levels of cozy. For fans of Katherine Center or Emily Henry
#DVPit #A #CR #WF
October 8, 2025 at 4:56 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Her husband died and left her lost.
But when she dies, she enters another world.
He must be here, or in the next.
*She just has to die enough times to find him.*
OUR ELSEWHERE, curio fiction for fans of The Midnight Library or This Time Tomorrow
#DVPit #A #F
October 8, 2025 at 3:55 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Some crying, some laughing, some gushing at the adorable antics of cute kids. FAMILY SCIENCE is a women’s fiction with romance that integrates real developmental science (written by a psych PhD) into a family drama.
For those who like Jojo Moyes, Emma Straub, and Ali Hazelwood
#DVPit #A #CR
October 8, 2025 at 2:52 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips is "pressure" and is found in Chapter 3 of my women's fiction/romance, Family Science.
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity
“It’s a tale that too many young actors can tell. The fame. The pressure. The access. All of it swirls together into an intoxicating cocktail, and like many others, I turned to drugs for escape.” The audience lets out an audible gasp even though Jade Logan’s story was old news. Her tragic downfall from superstardom happened twenty years ago. Why was this on a show today? A twinge of annoyance tickled Hannah’s throat. Heartburn at having to rehash ancient history. But still she didn’t change the channel. She didn’t mute the TV and return to the thick stack of reading for her classes. She watched James’ sister tell her tale. His tale.
September 9, 2025 at 6:21 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
A #haiku for a friend who passed away this week.
He ran a store/gathering space that made a huge difference to many people.

You ran the place that
Played a part in making me--
For good or for ill

#WritingCommunity #AmWriting
September 6, 2025 at 10:01 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Today's (9/4) #WIPSnips, "coffee" is used a ton in my WIP, Family Science.
Here's an instance from Chapter 15
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity
Jade Logan’s Secret Child? The headline invaded Hannah’s phone right when she was glancing at the time. She couldn’t be late for her meeting with Maggie. Not when she actually had a decent idea. Her finger twitched and she had opened the news site—if it could be called that—before she was able to ask herself if she really wanted to see this. When the page loaded, her morning coffee caught in her windpipe. There, under the headline, was a picture of Jade holding her hand out to the camera and looking very paternalistically concerned as she turned back toward where Millie and Hannah stood.
September 4, 2025 at 6:07 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Translating query rejections into dating rejections...

QUERY: "Due to a high volume of queries, I must be extremely selective."

DATING: "Everybody wants me. Why should I settle for you?"

#Revspirations
chloemarcus.bsky.social Chloe Marcus @chloemarcus.bsky.social · Aug 22
Translating query rejections into dating rejections...

QUERY: "I'm sure someone else will feel differently."

DATING: "I'm not interested. But, maybe someone else will be into you."

#Revspirations
August 22, 2025 at 7:16 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips from August 21, "shout"
Here it is from Ch. 6 of Family Science
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity
Hannah had the sudden urge to reach out her arms and swallow her friend in a hug. The pain and longing from Abby was so loud that the shouts and laughs of the children playing faded to a background hum. How had Hannah missed what she was going through before? How had she not known Abby had experienced such a profound loss?
August 21, 2025 at 8:15 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Actually have this one today.
"Career" for the 8/20 #WIPSnips from chapter 3 of Family Science
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity
But what had Jade said? That they left their successful business . . . That wasn’t the story Hannah knew. James’ parents built their career one hundred percent on Jade, taking double ten percents as her agent and manager, curating her America’s sweetheart little girl image until she had aged out of pigtails and no one would consider her for grown-up roles. And so their parents had chased that fame beyond its expiration date, investing everything in Jade and nothing in James. Well, nothing except attempts to get him to work for them too.
August 20, 2025 at 5:57 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
I don't have "trap" as a stand-alone word in my WIP for the Aug. 19 #WIPSnips, but I have "trappings."

From Chapter 14 of Family Science.

#AmWriting #WritingCommunity
When the food arrived, they had moved on from sharks to robots and to day-to-day lives. Hannah’s qualifying study, Millie’s crafting creations, and Jade’s and Roxy’s foundation—the speeches they gave, the parties they had to attend. Millie listened rapt and Hannah's stomach sank. Her daughter was way too interested in the trappings of this celebrity life.
August 19, 2025 at 10:29 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Back on here on and off. Working on book #3, a family saga/romance, and it did actually have one instance of the 8/18 #WIPSnips word, "bow"
Northing too exciting, but here it is from Ch. 13 of Family Science
#AmWriting
Hannah shrugged and motioned toward the restaurant. Its patio hovered over the beach like the bow of a ship. White cloth-covered tables clustered behind the railing. “I’ve always wanted to eat here. Thanks for inviting me.” “Of course. I’ve been here a few times. It’s great. People are too busy looking at the ocean to notice who they’re sitting near.” Jade smiled apologetically, like she was used to making excuses for the attention.
August 18, 2025 at 4:37 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Jojo Moyes X Ali Hazelwood (minus the spice)
Hannah was married and pregnant by the end of college, unable to pursue her dreams of grad school in psychology.
Now she's widowed & raising 8yo Millie alone as a dev psych PhD student, trying to form a family for them both
#PosterPit #PosterPitW #C #R
Poster background is pink marshmallows. The text is: The best children get two marshmallows (crossed out) families Title: Family Science She studies what she lives Family Saga * Romance * Single Mom * Psychology * Campus Life * Famous In-laws * Kid Drama Coming Soon
August 16, 2025 at 4:53 PM
trutherford.bsky.social
Nicole will do anything for her daughter, including letting her audition for the local theater.
When she finds out parents who act don't have to volunteer backstage and shush the kids, she's in.
*Cozy slow-burn romance
*Plus an adorable kid & plenty of musical theater
#PosterPit #C #R #PosterPitQ
Readers say: "It's a love letter to theater" and "The parent-child relationship brings all the feels" Title: Four Plays When a single mother brings her kid to audition for the local theater, she finds herself pulled into the theater's community to act, to shape her own identity, and to find love with the leading man Querying now at an agent near you Slow Burn * Cozy Vibes * Self-Discovery * Friends to Lovers
August 16, 2025 at 4:33 AM
trutherford.bsky.social
Mara Alexander's husband died.
She realizes she has died too. And she's found herself in a world slightly different than the prior, merged with another version of herself.
If it happened to her, it must have happened to him.
She just has to die enough times to find him.
#PosterPit #C #F #PosterPitQ
Her husband died and left her lost. But when she dies, she enters another world. He must be here, or in the next. She just as to die enough times to find him. Title: Our Elsewhere Curio Women's Fiction for fans of The Lost Bookshop or This Time Tomorrow Querying Now
August 16, 2025 at 4:20 AM
trutherford.bsky.social
Haven't done one of these in a while. Will try to be more active on here.
#WIPSnips for June 1 from Ch 11 of my WIP cozy slow-burn romance.
Stagger.
He kept pace with Kim despite the fact that he staggered under the weight of a giant shaggy dog costume. He half stepped, half dragged the costume around the rows on the stage. Nicole could read the expression on his face. The same one he wore as Hook when he was unable to free his wig from his stubble. He was clean shaven, but the fluff and fur still committed an assault, batting at his cheeks with the movement of his steps.
June 1, 2025 at 8:43 PM