T.R. Steele 🍂
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authortrsteele.bsky.social
T.R. Steele 🍂
@authortrsteele.bsky.social
66 followers 230 following 55 posts
he/him 🏳️‍⚧️ | ♎ | author of fantasy and gothic fiction ⚔️ | words in/coming from A Coup of Owls Press, Hearth Stories, Tales to Terrify, Heartlines Spec, Plott Hound Magazine, and smoke and mold

https://linktr.ee/trsteeleauthor
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authortrsteele.bsky.social
Here is my awards eligibility 2025 post! I'm really happy I've had so much published this year. Thank you to all the magazines who believed in my work.
A text box that mimics the look of lined paper on a green, crumpled paper background. Above, it reads "Awards Eligibility 2025" and "T.R. Steele." The text box, it reads "The Owl-wife (Coup of Owls Press, June 2025), Under the Skin (Heartlines Spec, Issue 8, Summer 2025), At the Edge of the Tale (Plott Hound Magazine, Issue 2, Summer 2025), Fully-Formed (Hearth Stories Magazine, June 2025)." The silhouette of grass runs along the bottom border. The silhouettes of a small flock of birds fly above the grass.
November 13, 2025 at 1:55 AM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
Hi! Here are publications, and all the links can be found here on my website: authortrsteele.wordpress.com/publications/
A text box that mimics the look of lined paper on a green, crumpled paper background. Above, it reads "Awards Eligibility 2025" and "T.R. Steele." The text box, it reads "The Owl-wife (Coup of Owls Press, June 2025), Under the Skin (Heartlines Spec, Issue 8, Summer 2025), At the Edge of the Tale (Plott Hound Magazine, Issue 2, Summer 2025), Fully-Formed (Hearth Stories Magazine, June 2025)." The silhouette of grass runs along the bottom border. The silhouettes of a small flock of birds fly above the grass.
November 13, 2025 at 1:53 AM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
Speaking of novellas... this is art representative of my fantasy novella about a struggling young trans man knight who is called upon to kill a unicorn that is herself slaying dragons important to the local ecosystem. I commissioned this beautiful piece from @milirine.bsky.social!
A young man with dark reddish-brown hair dressed in armour with a sword at his waist stands beside a beautiful black warhorse in a woodland scene. In the distance, an ethereal, fawn-coloured unicorn stands among the plants. The colours are cool-toned greens and browns, and the scene is lush and detailed. Bordering the art are oak leaves, acorns, yellow celandine flowers, dandelions, and more. Two white hares blowing medieval-style horns perch on top of the frame, while two brown hares blowing longer horns crouch below it. On either side of the frame, the mirrored image of a green wyrm-like dragon curls its tail among the plants.
November 1, 2025 at 10:59 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
My submission to @augursociety.bsky.social's microfiction contest! #AugurMicros2025 🌊
An image of a body of water at dusk, with a pink and blue sky and a moon reflecting the setting sun, giving it a pinkish tinge. Overlaid text reads: "Alive Again by T.R. Steele With the rivers unearthed, the water took its first breath in a long, long time. It was dusk on the day of the unearthing. The shores were crowded, but we’d arrived early, holding hands as we waited. The tired flow eased into riverbeds throughout the city that had been cleared and raised and tended back into being with the help of a thousand thousand hands. Ours were only a few of many. As the rivers streamed into the lake, the sigh billowed around us, sound and feeling both, an utterance not heard for an age. The waters were alive again."
September 10, 2025 at 2:54 AM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
This one from Anne Carson is an all-timer in my eyes:
A screenshot of the poem "O Small Sad Ecstasy of Love" by Anne Carson (born 1950). It reads: I like being with you all night with closed eyes. What luck—here you are coming along the stars! I did a road trip all over my mind and heart and there you were kneeling by the roadside with your little toolkit fixing something. Give me a world, you have taken the world I was.
April 15, 2025 at 9:45 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
Thank you to Eli Spencer (@eli__spencer on IG) for this commission of Finola, the "cursed" trumpeter swan-maiden from one of my short stories who learns that maybe being a swan isn't so bad after all... ✨
An illustrated headshot of Finola the trumpeter swan by Eli Spencer. She has tears in her big, beautiful eyes and dripping down onto her feathers. A star is to the left of her beak.
April 3, 2025 at 4:59 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
🪨🔥 BARROWBOUND 🔥🪨

Lorcan returns to his hometown to find that the otherworldly barrow in the woods, the same barrow that claimed the love of his life 5 years ago, is awake again. With nothing left to lose, he decides to enter the underworld and look for her.

#WSPit #WSPitQ #WSPitW #A #F #LGBT
February 26, 2025 at 7:35 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
⚔️✨THE UNICORN'S BANE ✨⚔️ a fantasy novella with gothic vibes

SPEAR x TLoZ: TWILIGHT PRINCESS

A troubled young transgender knight looking to prove himself is sent to a small town to hunt and kill a unicorn laying waste to the ecologically important dragon population.

#WSPit #WSPitQ #A #F #LGBT
February 26, 2025 at 7:22 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
🐎 🩸CAN'T MAKE THEM DRINK 🩸🐎 a gothic historical fantasy and horror novella

WHAT MOVES THE DEAD x THE SCORPIO RACES

An unnamed narrator, desperate for work, is blackmailed into caring for dangerous horses by the wealthy lady of a decaying estate.

#WSPit #WSPitQ #A #H #F #Hi #LGBT
February 26, 2025 at 7:19 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
🐎 🩸CAN'T MAKE THEM DRINK 🩸🐎 a gothic historical fantasy and horror novella

An unnamed narrator, desperate for work, is blackmailed into caring for dangerous horses by the wealthy lady of a decaying estate. #questpit #Q #OS #F #H #HR
A teal square image. A silhouette of a running horse appears above a quote that reads "In the dark, the horse's eyes glittered. She huffed again, lips curling back. I saw a needle-pointed canine resting on clear, pink gums, and the sight cut through me." Below lies a silhouette of feather-like grasses that cover the bottom half of the square. A teal square image. A silhouette of a crescent moon is to the left of a list of elements of the novella that reads "Trans man MC, carnivorous horses, historical gothic, horror and fantasy, decaying estate, eerie countryside, atmospheric, literary writing." A silhouette of a lake with hills and trees covers the bottom half of the square.
February 12, 2025 at 11:02 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
⚔️✨THE UNICORN'S BANE ✨⚔️ a fantasy novella with gothic vibes

A troubled young transgender knight looking to prove himself is sent to a small, forest-bound town to hunt and kill a unicorn laying waste to the ecologically important local dragon population. #questpit #OS #Q #F
A moss-green square bordered by intricate floral designs. Line work art of a unicorn is positioned above a quote from that reads "The unicorn needed culling, and soon, before summer came and the dragon hatchlings emerged from their dens." Below this quote is line work art of a sword. A moss-green square bordered by intricate floral designs. A list of elements included in the novella read as "Trans man MC, deadly unicorn "antagonist", ecological themes, ancient woodland, atmospheric setting, poetic, literary writing, depiction of depression, anxiety in a fantasy world." Below this quote is line work art of a sword.
February 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
✨ A SORCERESS COMES TO CALL by T. Kingfisher

This version of The Goose Girl weaves a narrative of found family, magic, horror, and community. I loved that one of the heroines was in her fifties; not common in fantasy novels! A genuinely amazing reimagining of the fairy tale.
The cover of T. Kingfisher's A Sorceress Comes to Call (featuring two golden trees and a series of star-like sparkles on a dark purple-brown background) is on a pale lavender background in a doorway-like frame. The author name is to the right of the cover, and the title is to the left.
February 1, 2025 at 7:53 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
🐉 ORMESHADOW by Priya Sharma

One of the best books I've read. A miserable (in the best way) work of gothic fiction. It's got everything that makes the genre great: a horrible family, a depressed protagonist, a damp and gloomy landscape, a folkloric underpinning woven into the land - perfection!
The cover of Priya Sharma's Ormeshadow (which depicts a spit of rocky land jutting out into the sea, and a large golden circle encircling the title and author name) is on a light grey background in a doorway-like frame. The author name is to the right of the image, and the title is to the left.
February 1, 2025 at 7:53 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
⚔️ SPEAR by Nicola Griffith

I was never into Arthurian legend (not my vibe), but this novella intrigued me, so I picked it up and I'm so glad I did. A sensory delight, this grounded historical fantasy novel feels so much more human than the bloviated narratives I usually expected from such stories.
The cover of Nicola Griffith's Spear (which depicts a grey cauldron, and in the cauldron is a smoke-like artistic depiction of trees, a castle, and a person on horseback holding a spear) is on a red background in a doorway-like frame. The author name is to the right of the image, and the title is to the left.
February 1, 2025 at 7:53 PM
authortrsteele.bsky.social
🌳 THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST by Premee Mohamed

No notes on this one - a perfect fairy tale-inspired fantasy horror novella. I read it one wonderful sitting. The forest in this book quickly became one of my favourite fictional forests (and I have many favourite fictional forests).
The cover of Premee Mohamed's The Butcher of the Forest (which features a dark green forest scene and a unicorn, fox, crow, and rabbit, all with skulls instead of regular features) is on a beige background in a doorway-like frame. The author name is to the right of the image, and the title is to the left.
February 1, 2025 at 7:53 PM