Adregem ཐིཋྀ
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adregem.bsky.social
Adregem ཐིཋྀ
@adregem.bsky.social
570 followers 650 following 720 posts
Professional science writer. Unprofessional novelist. Mom with half an empty nest. Insomniac. She/her. That is not me in the picture.
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adregem.bsky.social
I was like, there's no way I have this word anywhere in any of my WIPs but what do you know ... #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FairyTale #Romantasy #AmQuerying
“Jahnari makes good soup,” Ryan puts in. “And when I first met her, she gave me a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. It tasted like straw, though.” That’s slightly off-topic and maybe a little fiendish, but mediocre cheeseburgers are hardly evil.
November 11, 2025 at 2:34 PM
adregem.bsky.social
Apparently I only use this word in the most boring, expository parts of my stories 🙄 #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #DarkFantasy
We passed the night dry, in a room overlooking a cow pasture. By morning, the pasture had become a marsh and the cows were clustered together on the higher plateaus, lowing miserably, their ankles caked with mud. The rain kept falling into the afternoon and through the second night. We killed the sluggish hours playing dice in the tavern and spinning fictions about the locals.
November 10, 2025 at 2:21 PM
adregem.bsky.social
From Opus Eternal: Tess confronting the grim reality that Lorcan Harte is hot. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FairyTale #Romantasy
“Why are you called that?” I picture him as he was in my dream—with a crown of antlers and a raven on his shoulder—holding a blood-coated sword. It’s … really hot, actually. I’m not even going to deny it.
November 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
adregem.bsky.social
Too many choices for this word. Here's one from Death & the Dreamer, where Tova is about to show the brigands how tough she actually is #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #DarkFantasy
Tova sat calmly in the saddle, her crooked smile a blade of ice in the gloom. She was using her menacing, accented voice, but it was going to take a lot more than accented menace to keep these men from murdering us. The friendly voice laughed. “Is that so, little lady?” “Indeed,” she said. “Line up along the road now, and keep your weapons to yourselves. Once we have passed, you may resume your criminal activities with the next group of travelers you encounter.” Now they were all laughing. “The little lady is tough!” the friendly one crowed. “Why would we do that, sweetheart?”
November 8, 2025 at 2:09 PM
adregem.bsky.social
The Moth King intimidating Sunday with his repulsive horribleness #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FairyTale #Romantasy #AmQuerying
“My enemy?” the king says. His boots shift, and the movement orphans a few tendrils of whatever is crawling all over him. I watch in horror while they tremble at his feet and then right themselves and schloop back into the crowd. “I … I …” I stammer, dragging my eyes away. “I’ve had a few years of swordplay and fencing lessons and that’s everything I know about fighting.” The king is silent. I kind of wish I could see the look on his face, except I definitely do not want to look at his face. “Everyone else leave,” he says.
November 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
adregem.bsky.social
I will be super impressed with anyone who actually has this word in their WIP 😆. Here's my first snip from my #Novelvember story. This is Joric's penultimate encounter with Fion. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #TimeTravelRomance #TimeTravel
“You’re asking me to accept things without providing the reasons why I should.” She let go of his hand. “This has been fun, and you have been honorable, just as you promised. But perhaps—” “If you’re about to say, ‘perhaps this should end here,’ I’m not sure I believe that is possible. I suppose you will find out.” She frowned. “And you will not?” “I already know everything.”
November 6, 2025 at 2:35 PM
adregem.bsky.social
I had a lot of options—most weren't super compelling out of context—but here's one from Death & the Dreamer where they're about to find out who the vultures are eating #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #DarkFantasy #AmQuerying
November 5, 2025 at 2:54 PM
adregem.bsky.social
Sunday and the Moth King having their usual spat about who's gonna kill the Dazbog #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FairyTale #Romantasy #AmQuerying
“Steel is the only thing that can kill the Dazbog,” he says. He seems to have regained most of his composure, and his terrible black eyes are fixed on me again, his face as inscrutable as an unmarked grave. “Steel is an alloy that can only be crafted and wielded by mortal hands. The shadow people cannot wield your sword. I cannot wield your sword. Only you can.”
November 4, 2025 at 1:10 PM
adregem.bsky.social
I use this word a lot less often than I thought I did and only had a few instances to choose from. Here's one from Opus Eternal. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FairyTale #Romantasy
Lorcan slides into the booth and I jump at least six feet. “What the fuck, Lorcan?” I reach into the table caddy and throw a sugar packet at him. “Ow,” he says, though there’s no possible way he could have been hurt by 3 grams of C & H. I deliberately choose to not notice what he’s wearing, which is much less than usual. I guess he was in bed. Still, he’s rubbing his bare arm dramatically and now my eye is drawn to it. He has nice, firm biceps. What the fuck. Does he work out? There’s no way he works out.
November 3, 2025 at 1:24 PM
adregem.bsky.social
I didn't think I was going to find this one anywhere but here it is in Opus Eternal. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #Romantasy
Seeing the door like that—hanging open expectantly—is slightly world-altering. I’m almost tempted to savor the moment, but that would be dumb. There couldn’t possibly be anything on the other side of it except a dark, hollow space and maybe a couple of cobwebs.
November 2, 2025 at 3:23 PM
adregem.bsky.social
Happy novel writing month! I had only one instance of this word in any WIP, in this abandoned story from 2013. In this snip, Michael is trying to convince Ceri that her mother was lying about her age. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy
The photo was sepia toned and so old it was flaking at the edges. I was bad at judging eras, but even I could see that it predated the 1960s by maybe a half dozen decades. The woman in the picture wore an enormous hat that reminded me of the crazy, old-fashioned things people wear to the Kentucky Derby. She had a splash of freckles across her nose and a small, horizontal scar under her eyebrow. There was no question it was my mother. But what I said was, “I guess that could be an ancestor.”
November 1, 2025 at 2:28 PM
adregem.bsky.social
Sunday's been locked in a room for a couple of days, and she's trying to figure out how much time has passed. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #Authors #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FairyTale #Romantasy #AmQuerying
The room grows progressively colder, then progressively warmer, which seems to suggest there’s a day and a night, but that’s stupid since there’s no solar energy in this place and radiative heating and cooling can’t possibly be a thing. I guess monster kings and talking foxes can’t possibly be a thing either, so I’m not sure why I’m looking to science for an answer.
October 31, 2025 at 12:57 PM
adregem.bsky.social
This is a bit spoilery and not exactly in the spirit of Halloween spells, but it's my favorite instance of the word. Also, sorry about all the F-bombs 😁 #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FairyTale #Romantasy #AmQuerying
My slouch loses fifteen degrees. Fuck Dimple Moth King. And fuck me for thinking he was into me and indulging his Royal Horniness. He’s trying to come off a 150-year dry spell, and I’m pretty sure the main thing he finds attractive about me is that I’m fully corporeal. I’ve almost accomplished parallel slouch by the time the door finally opens and the Moth King walks in with Veradis and a pair of schrats.
October 30, 2025 at 12:12 PM
adregem.bsky.social
In a dark kingdom where light is toxic and steel is untouchable, a mortal woman with a flashlight and a cosplay sword becomes a monster king’s obsession and the realm’s best weapon against a vengeful demigod. ཐིཋྀ THE MOTH KING (109K) #AgentGuide #AgentGuides #Romantasy #Fantasy #AmQuerying #Writers
Image Credits: From Wikimedia Commons Cleora Alienaria Moth (BilliBhai) • Cracked Earth (Patrick Hendry) • Full Moon in Fog (Dinkun Chen) • Sword (Rama) • Samal Fruit Bats (Ranieljosecastaneda) • Lighthouse (Martin Belam) • The Redwood Sunbeams (National Park Service) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
October 29, 2025 at 2:07 PM
adregem.bsky.social
This is the one and only time I've used the word "broom" in the last 20 years and I had to keep it very short, else you'll all know how the Moth King ends. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #Romantasy #FairyTale #AmQuerying
Panic seizes me. My hand grabs a fallen branch with a broom of browning pine needles still clinging to it, and I jump to my feet.
October 29, 2025 at 1:53 PM
adregem.bsky.social
I do use "costume" in a few places but they were all too spoilery so here's one from Opus. Lorcan is pretty much *always* wearing a costume. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #Authors #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FairyTale #Romantasy
Our first customer of the evening is Lorcan himself. He’s wearing something ridiculous: a black jacket trimmed around the sleeves and collar with loopy swirls of gold. It has a feathery embellishment on each shoulder and shiny gold buttons shaped like seashells. I gawk unabashedly at him as he strides through the door. Where did he even get that? He didn’t bring any luggage, and I’m pretty sure there aren’t any shops in town that deal in Gothic fantasy fusion attire.
October 28, 2025 at 11:38 AM
adregem.bsky.social
I don't use "blood-curdling" but this snip has "screaming" and a shriek that scared forest creatures. Here's Sunday recalling the mist demon that kidnapped her little brother. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FairyTale #AmQuerying
It reached for Leo with foggy arms tipped with long, curling nails. I ran towards it, screaming Leo’s name. It looked up, its mouth widening into a toothless snarl, and emitted a shriek that sent birds flying from the treetops. Then it wrapped its arms around my brother, engulfing his small body in a swell of heaving fog. It stepped back into the space between the trees and vanished.
October 27, 2025 at 2:24 PM
adregem.bsky.social
My characters aren't big on hats I guess. Here's one of my very few uses of that word from the Moth King. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FantasySky #Romantasy #AmQuerying
He’s wearing a tunic—like everyone else around here—but without the gold belt and trim that sets his boss apart as a pompous asshole. The sleeves appear to have been torn off, as if he got overheated one day and decided to tailor it with brute force. He has a close-cropped do-it-yourself haircut and the kind of messy suntan you get when you don’t bother with sunscreen and your hat only protects part of your face part of the time.
October 26, 2025 at 2:29 PM
adregem.bsky.social
I had to dig into an old WIP for this one. In this story, wealthy people live in a tower above the clouds and technology exists that can make you immortal but it's only available by lottery. #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SciFi #SpecFic #SFF
Before the French doors close behind me, I swear I will find some way to turn her into an old lady. Someday, she will look in the mirror and see the thing she fears more than anything else staring back at her from beneath the folds of wrinkled, papery skin that is the natural end-state for everyone not lucky enough to be born in the clouds and win the lottery.
October 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
adregem.bsky.social
There’s nothing like a shadow cast performance of Rocky Horror to make you feel 🎃💀👻
Rocky horror shadow cast performance floor show
October 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM
adregem.bsky.social
Sunday didn't really think this one through #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FantasySky #Romantasy #AmQuerying
"It's hidden," I lie. "You don't think I'd be dumb enough to come here with it in my pocket, do you?" I laugh in a way I hope doesn't make it obvious that it's totally in my pocket.
October 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
adregem.bsky.social
I'm not gonna say which WIP this is or who these two characters are because that would be so, so spoilery but this is my one and only instance of "gradient" across every WIP #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Fantasy #FantasySky #FairyTale
He kisses the corner of my mouth and gets out of bed. The sunbeam crosses his bare shoulder, sketching a gradient from light to shadow that feels almost aggressively symbolic.
October 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
adregem.bsky.social
Tova couldn't convince the brigands to leave her party alone, but she seems to have it all under control #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #FantasySky #DarkFantasy
I reached for the hilt of my dagger, but didn’t find any comfort in its presence in my hand. My heart felt like it was in the wrong part of my chest. For a drawn-out moment, the only sound I was aware of was breathing. My breathing. Win’s. The snorting of three gigantic horses. Tova made a dismissive motion with her hand. “Very well,” she said. “Do whatever it is that you do.” Then, in a low voice, she said, “Win. Do not meet their charge. They will fall from their mounts before they reach us. You may dispatch them once they are on the ground.” “What?” Win said, incredulous. The horses charged.
October 22, 2025 at 2:21 PM
adregem.bsky.social
Sunday finds out where Jahnari lives #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #FantasySky #Romantasy #AmQuerying
A few seconds later, Jahnari comes wandering up the road. She’s carrying a staff that’s about two feet taller than she is and she has a basket on her arm. She sees me and pauses. “Chi … chicken legs,” I stammer. She whips her head around and looks back at the house, as if she’s startled by the accusation and is checking to see whether it does, indeed, have chicken legs. “So?” she demands. I point stupidly at the house. “Why is it on chicken legs?” Jahnari shrugs. “In case I want to move.”
October 21, 2025 at 12:35 PM
adregem.bsky.social
Soryl's been robbed, I guess she's going to have to accept the dead girl's job now 😬 #WIPSnips #WIP #AmWriting #WritingPrompts #Writers #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #FantasySky #DarkFantasy
Everything in my kitchen had been moved. Violently. My plates and bowls were shattered, my kettle was overturned, and my washing barrel lay on its side in a pool of water. But the destruction wasn’t random. If I hadn’t been so appalled, I might have said there was a kind of poetry in it. The broken pieces of my life weren’t in random places, they were arragned in an elegant, fan shape. The debris field stretched from one side of the back wall to the other, but as it spread across the room into the kitchen, it narrowed until it was less than a foot wide. It was almost like an arrow, pointing directly at the place where my money used to be.It was almost like an arrow, pointing directly at the place where my kitchen clock used to be.
October 20, 2025 at 1:24 PM