A.J. Barber (she/they/none)
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ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
A.J. Barber (she/they/none)
@ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
52 followers 59 following 57 posts
Queer indie fantasy writer and pin maker. Author of the Caelish Order series. Find book one, Hunter's Blessing, on Kindle.

📚🌈/📚🏳️‍⚧️ - Queer & Trans Books
💙📚 - Booksky
🌈🚀💫 - Queer SFF Feed
📚🪐 - SciFi-Fantasy-SpecFic
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ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Did you know I sell #Pride #enamelpins over on Etsy? 🌈 I just added two new pin designs in my best-selling flags, but the starburst design that started it all comes in 15 flags!

Everything is 25% off for the month of May so check it out! www.etsy.com/shop/arrowac...

#queerowned #smallbusiness
Image with a pastel yellow background with a rainbow design along the bottom edge. Text reads, "Get ready for Pride with a shop-wide sale! Everything 25% off!" Image with a pastel yellow background with a rainbow design along the bottom edge. Text reads, "Plus two new pins in trans, nonbinary, and aroace flags!" Below the text are six images of pins. The left three are designed like crystal balls surrounded by colored smoke. The right three are octagons depicting a stylized aperture design. Each design comes in the colors of the trans flag (blue, white, and pink), the nonbinary flag (purple, yellow, white, and black), and the aroace flag (orange, yellow, white, light blue, and dark blue.)
May 1, 2025 at 11:28 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Missed a few days, but I'm back with a new snippet from #RivalsWIP (which by the way is getting very close to a finished first draft! Whoo!)

#WIPSnips #amwriting #writesky #queerSFF #queerwriters #indieauthors
Rina spent the dinner instead watching happy faces at other tables, searching for anyone who looked as glum as she felt. Who didn't care about the propaganda that extolled all the wonderful so-called powers that came with a dragon bond. Who didn't want to be a transport pilot stuffed inside a pod twelve hours a day to give her dragon direction and especially didn't want to be a dressed-up weapon the League could brandish to scare every member world into submission.
April 23, 2025 at 2:37 AM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
A little snippet from chapter one.

#WIPSnips #RivalsWIP
Standing here, surrounded by people of half a dozen species, they felt it again. The fear that had plagued their dreams for the last month. The voice that said this would be taken away. They didn't belong here. Only a scant few humans dotted the crowd outside Quinn's own group - and of them all, only Quinn was young enough to compete in the Trials.
April 15, 2025 at 3:08 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Lots of instances of the word chill in this WIP, but most of them are spoilers lol.

#WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #writesky #queerSFF #scifi #queerwriters #indieauthors
"They say a dragon's gaze brings the chill of space with it, like a river of ice down your spine. Is it true?"
April 14, 2025 at 10:43 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Quinn can be a little bit anti-social sometimes, so it's always fun to write a softer moment between them and anyone other than Rina lol

#WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #queerwriters #queerSFF #scifi #writesky #amwriting
Jae heaved a sigh and leaned against the wall, taking the pressure off his broken foot. "Sit," Quinn said softly, joining him away from the crowd. "Before you hurt yourself more." "But Rina and Sthahi--" "Sit." They pressed down on his shoulders until he complied. "I'll go look for them."
April 14, 2025 at 1:51 AM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
So anyway, Quinn's gay.

💙📚🪐 🌈🚀💫 #WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #queerwriters #indieauthors
Rina tsked and pulled Quinn by the hand to the yoga mats at the side of the room. "Sit," she commanded. "Eat." A protest sprang to Quinn's lips immediately, but Rina was already gone, flitting off in the direction of the first aid kit mounted on the wall by the door. She moved so lightly, footfalls almost too soft to hear, a weightlessness to her that went beyond the physical. She was larger than a full Ket, legs longer and thicker, shoulders broader, but she didn't move like it. So many of the Ket moved like predators. Graceful, yes, but also tense, gathering themselves for a sudden explosion of power and speed. Rina instead moved like a songbird, restless and carefree, gliding from place to place. It was mesmerizing, and Quinn didn't realize they were staring until Rina turned around, first aid kit in hand, and jabbed her finger at the yoga mats.
April 12, 2025 at 6:58 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
I'm honestly surprised I had the word goodbye in my WIP, but there it is!

💙📚🪐 🌈🧙‍♂️⚔️ #WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #queerSFF
She met no one on the way back to her quarters. Everyone was hiding, no doubt - from Rina and the awkward goodbyes they would have to exchange, from the Ta'Avaari League, looming large over them. From the heavy awareness that had settled over them all that they weren't as off-the-grid as they'd always thought.
April 12, 2025 at 3:52 AM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Don't have many "trips" in my WIP, but I have tons of strips and stripes 😂 Anyway, here's a trip nobody wants to make ☠️

#WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #queerwriters #queerSFF #indieauthor #scifi 💙📚🪐
Quinn didn't bother to answer. Instead, they simply took off at a jog. An eerie silence blanketed the hall, the hush of a station holding its breath. If there were any dead bodies here, they were lost to the smoke. But rather than comforting them by keeping the death out of sight, it only made them more uneasy, wondering with each step if they were about to trip over a pile of unfortunate victims.
April 10, 2025 at 6:25 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Can't go any farther than this without getting into spoilers 🤫

#WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #queerwriters #queerSFF 💙📚🪐
"Help! Anybody?" The voice was closer now, close enough for Rina to recognize it. "Jae!" "Rina?" He sounded like he might cry at any second. "Jae! I'm coming! Keep talking."
April 9, 2025 at 8:24 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Normally Quinn's the confrontational one, but you piss Rina off, and you'd best watch out.
#WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #writesky #queerSFF #queerwriters
"Leave him alone," Rina snapped, jabbing a finger into Ito's chest. His head whipped around, pupils dilating as they focused on her, the rest of him uncannily still. Rina either didn't notice or didn't care. She had a few centimeters on him, though the long black feathers that lay against his scalp began to lift, fanning out into a crest that lent him the impression of added height. "It's just a game. Relax." Ito's eyes narrowed, the second, lateral pair cracking open, revealing an inky black eye without any trace of the amber iris his primary eyes had. "Nobody asked for your input, drifter."
April 8, 2025 at 8:41 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Not many excerpt to choose from today, so here's a little snippet about the wider universe. #WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #queerSFF #queerwriters #writesky
The League was always looking for places to harvest resources, be it planet, moon, or asteroid. Mines and drilling stations would crop up whenever a new deposit was found, and if the veins ran deep enough, it could turn into a bustling spaceport, the kind the Stellar Nomad stopped at to offload cargo and resupply. But inevitably the resources eventually ran out and traders moved on, fewer and fewer deep space haulers making the trek until eventually it became another ghostworld.
April 7, 2025 at 9:37 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
❤️💙
#WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #amwriting #writesky
They almost left it there, left their emotions a dark snarl inside them, unnamed and unexamined, but Rina simply waited, a steady presence beside them. She was shorter than them by a few centimeters, and yet it was Quinn who leaned on her, a hand on either shoulder, fighting for calm with every breath.
April 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
I downloaded this ages ago and only just got around to reading it, and I'm so glad I did!

🏳️‍🌈 Asexual lead
💀 Murdered 10 years ago but Hades brought her back to fight for him
🗡 A war between gods of multiple pantheons but also humans who want to get rid of them all

Death Trace by Zoe Cannon
A book cover depicting a young White woman with dark hair framed by green smoke that shrouds a tombstone. Text reads "Z J Cannon writing as Zoe Cannon. Death Trace. Hound of Hades book one."
April 6, 2025 at 12:31 AM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Little bit of lore before the chaos of the first sim run

#WIPSnips #RivalsWIP #writesky #amwriting #queerauthor #queerSFF
"Our Za'Agila transports cover distances impossible for ordinary ships, which means that if something goes wrong, the Scions can't count on someone to come rescue them. They also are often among the first to survey new worlds, together with terraforming specialists and surveyors from the Department of Natural Resources. They need to be prepared for anything and everything. "Today, you will get a taste of the kind of simulations Scions run every day." The guide laid a hand on the door behind him. "Through this door, you will find a perfect replica of a Za'Agila transport bridge. Although the Scion and their Za'Agila are the ones who fly the transport, they have an entire crew backing them up, from navigators to communications officers to EVA experts. Today, you all will act as that crew. Head on in and choose your station. You'll find manuals at each station explaining how to do your new job."
April 5, 2025 at 9:54 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
🌌🐉

#WIPSnips #writesky #QueerSFF #queerwriters #dragons #RivalsWIP
"Are you spacers?" Jae sounded way too excited at that, and when Rina nodded, he launched himself at her. "That's so cool! How many worlds have you visited? Do you know any pirates? Are you pirates? Have you ever seen a wild dragon feeding on the light of an uninhabited star?" Despite herself, Rina laughed. "I've never seen a wild dragon, no. It would waste too much fuel to travel to a system where no one lives just to do some sightseeing. I have been to every major spaceport in the Redshift Region, and probably two dozen planets. Maybe more, when I was a baby." "But are you pirates?" "No comment." Rina grinned as Jae's eyes went wide. He spun around, grabbing Sthahi by the arm and shaking her. She gave Rina a disapproving look, but Rina only grinned.
April 4, 2025 at 11:02 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Going back to chapter 1 for this peek at some of Quinn's secrets. #WIPSnips #writesky #queerwriters #indieauthors #queerSFF #RivalsWIP
The Ket stared at the screen, the feathers along her brow lifted in an emotion Quinn could only guess at. Confusion? Consternation? "Excuse me for a moment." Quinn's lips tugged toward a smile as the Ket stood and disappeared through the far door. Cerise snapped her fingers, and Quinn immediately smothered their smile. Smug was the wrong emotion to show here. The others would be putting on displays of innocent, earnest confusion. Quinn, who wasn't nearly as good an actor as them, focused instead on keeping their expression neutral. The seconds ticked by in silence except for the faint buzz of the haptics in Falke's tab as he typed away at whatever he was writing. Quinn scratched at the sensors still stuck to their skin, which tugged unpleasantly with each motion, but left them in place for now. There was every chance whichever supervisor or government official the physician had gone to fetch would want to run the tests again, maybe several times. Quinn would just have to endure it.
April 3, 2025 at 6:40 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Shit's going down in #RivalsWIP 🫣

#WIPSnips #writesky #queerSFF #writer #indieauthor
Rina scrambled to her feet, her mind a static haze as she grappled with the scene before her. A large chunk of the structure was simply gone, warped scaffolding reaching into empty air like a hundred grasping hands.
April 2, 2025 at 6:21 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Jumping on the WIPSnips train as I dive into the second act of this first draft. #wipsnips #writesky #writingcommunity #queerwriters #queerSFF
Her momentum immediately sent her tumbling as zero-G took hold and she lost all sense of direction. This was nothing like the zero-G arena they had in the VIP module, and which Rina had messed around in a couple of times. They didn't let you have jetpacks in there, for one, and yes, she knew Quinn would probably chew her out for calling this a jetpack, but she didn't know the technical name and she was panicking, firing her rig wildly in a frantic attempt to stabilize herself, and-- She slammed into the side of the ship, and her racing thoughts fled on the rush of wind that left her lungs. "Are you okay?" Cadei called, sounding close to panic himself. Rina dragged in a breath of recycled air and scrambled for a handhold as she began to rebound off the hull. "Fine," she wheezed. She found a rail, probably one of the ones Quinn used to get around between hull checks, and steadied herself. "Quinn makes this look so easy." She twisted, scanning for any sign of them. The expanse was dizzying, so big and black it made her feel like a speck. Even knowing it was a hologram, she was overwhelmed. How did you even start to search something as big as open space? The ship. She spotted it in the near distance, floating quiet and dark in the nothingness. It was impossible to say how far it was. A hundred meters? Unless it was bigger than it seemed and it was even farther away, made small by a trick of perspective.
April 2, 2025 at 12:19 AM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
My Spook 🐈‍⬛🖤 #blackcats
A fluffy black cat lying on a purple blanket.
March 30, 2025 at 11:29 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
Gotta love how Nomura drops Paradise of Promise like we should all know what that means, then casually moves on with his life.

Peak #KingdomHearts
Two posts from the Kingdom Hearts X account. Text: Square Enix Team: "Are there any untold stories behind the paopu fruit?" Nomura: "You mean the Paradise of Promise?" SE Team: "Did the word Paopu come from combining the words, Paradise of Promise?" Nomura: "Or was it Paradise of Pure?" SE Team: "Hmm?!" Nomura: "I guess there are no particular untold stories." And there you have it, a fun fact after 23 years!
March 29, 2025 at 6:57 PM
ajbarberbooks.bsky.social
This makes me so happy! I've always been a #blackcat lover, and knowing how many get passed over makes me sad. Here's my baby girl, Spook.
A black cat sitting on a purple blanket staring intently at the camera
March 23, 2025 at 2:44 AM