Darren Cools
@darrencools.bsky.social
Writer, illustrator, designer. Searching for the ghost.
www.darrencools.com
www.x.com/darrencools
www.instagram.com/d.j.cools
www.instagram.com/wearesuperdrive
www.darrencools.com
www.x.com/darrencools
www.instagram.com/d.j.cools
www.instagram.com/wearesuperdrive
Reposted by Darren Cools
"The key to hacking your way through the current thicket of literary noise ... is the same as the cultivation of other kinds of wisdom: paying attention to the disciplines of truthful friends, the embodied motions of prayer, the humility of the unexpected." slantbooks.substack.com/p/a-way-thro...
A Way Through the Literary Forest
How does one discern what’s actually worthwhile?
slantbooks.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:00 AM
"The key to hacking your way through the current thicket of literary noise ... is the same as the cultivation of other kinds of wisdom: paying attention to the disciplines of truthful friends, the embodied motions of prayer, the humility of the unexpected." slantbooks.substack.com/p/a-way-thro...
Once in a while I read a book that does something similar to a piece of fiction I’m working on. I love these moments. They invariably go in directions I’d never thought of, or wouldn't chose in my own work, and that’s refreshing. It energizes me to push my own a bit further, get a bit more daring.
September 25, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Once in a while I read a book that does something similar to a piece of fiction I’m working on. I love these moments. They invariably go in directions I’d never thought of, or wouldn't chose in my own work, and that’s refreshing. It energizes me to push my own a bit further, get a bit more daring.
Switching from DM'ing to playing a character for this fall season. This is one of my favorite moments of the game: thinking about the who/what/why of my brand new character. I love deciding who I'm going to become... The possibilities are effectively infinite. 🤩
#DungeonsandDragons #DnD #trpg
#DungeonsandDragons #DnD #trpg
September 18, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Switching from DM'ing to playing a character for this fall season. This is one of my favorite moments of the game: thinking about the who/what/why of my brand new character. I love deciding who I'm going to become... The possibilities are effectively infinite. 🤩
#DungeonsandDragons #DnD #trpg
#DungeonsandDragons #DnD #trpg
Please sign up for my newsletter! I'll send out semi-regular updates on the process, offer sneak peeks, and share important dates (like cover reveal and when it's available for sale). I promise I won't spam you, but I'd love to keep you in the loop.
darrencools.com/about
darrencools.com/about
Contact Darren Cools | Darren Cools
Contact Darren Cools for illustrations, graphic design, and young adult fiction and children's picture books
darrencools.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Please sign up for my newsletter! I'll send out semi-regular updates on the process, offer sneak peeks, and share important dates (like cover reveal and when it's available for sale). I promise I won't spam you, but I'd love to keep you in the loop.
darrencools.com/about
darrencools.com/about
I'm several hours into a new phase of editing on my #youngadult #novel, Light in the Canyon, guided by the shrewd insight of @gregorywolfe.bsky.social. I'm beyond thrilled to be under contract with @slantbooks.bsky.social. I can't wait to get my book into your hands.
#ya #booksky #amwritingfiction
#ya #booksky #amwritingfiction
September 10, 2025 at 7:57 PM
I'm several hours into a new phase of editing on my #youngadult #novel, Light in the Canyon, guided by the shrewd insight of @gregorywolfe.bsky.social. I'm beyond thrilled to be under contract with @slantbooks.bsky.social. I can't wait to get my book into your hands.
#ya #booksky #amwritingfiction
#ya #booksky #amwritingfiction
September 8, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Well, I said I was too busy to write, but I had a moment of creative compulsion today and squeezed in the last the #digitalpainting on this drawing I started long ago.
Have I ever told you how much I love her?
#art #illustration #inkdrawing #joanofarc
Have I ever told you how much I love her?
#art #illustration #inkdrawing #joanofarc
July 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Well, I said I was too busy to write, but I had a moment of creative compulsion today and squeezed in the last the #digitalpainting on this drawing I started long ago.
Have I ever told you how much I love her?
#art #illustration #inkdrawing #joanofarc
Have I ever told you how much I love her?
#art #illustration #inkdrawing #joanofarc
I’m too busy to work on my new #solarpunk #novel at the moment — we’re about to move and I start grad school next month — so here’s an old #DnD drawing I made...
#illustration #dungeonsanddragons #art #characterdesign #trpg
#illustration #dungeonsanddragons #art #characterdesign #trpg
July 15, 2025 at 12:47 PM
I’m too busy to work on my new #solarpunk #novel at the moment — we’re about to move and I start grad school next month — so here’s an old #DnD drawing I made...
#illustration #dungeonsanddragons #art #characterdesign #trpg
#illustration #dungeonsanddragons #art #characterdesign #trpg
Working but I want to be writing.
Boo hoo.
Boo hoo.
June 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Working but I want to be writing.
Boo hoo.
Boo hoo.
I’m pretty sporadic around here sometimes. And that’s ok. I’ve been outside a lot, and I’m also working on my next novel.
A new character has been prodding me to give them a place in my story, and I think I’m convinced, but... who are they?
A new character has been prodding me to give them a place in my story, and I think I’m convinced, but... who are they?
June 9, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I’m pretty sporadic around here sometimes. And that’s ok. I’ve been outside a lot, and I’m also working on my next novel.
A new character has been prodding me to give them a place in my story, and I think I’m convinced, but... who are they?
A new character has been prodding me to give them a place in my story, and I think I’m convinced, but... who are they?
Tonight is #dungeonsanddragons, so here’s another one from long ago when I used to draw for campaigns.
#trpg #dnd #illustration
#trpg #dnd #illustration
April 29, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Tonight is #dungeonsanddragons, so here’s another one from long ago when I used to draw for campaigns.
#trpg #dnd #illustration
#trpg #dnd #illustration
As I wait on query replies, I’m writing Ch 5 of a new #YAnovel — first of a near-future #solarpunk trilogy, featuring secret bike messengers, the twilight between life/death, a boy obsessed with #HenryDarger, and a girl mechanic. (And some fine gym abs.)
SolarPunk? » www.re-des.org/es/a-solarpu...
SolarPunk? » www.re-des.org/es/a-solarpu...
A Solarpunk Manifesto (English) – ReDes – Regenerative Design
www.re-des.org
March 31, 2025 at 10:30 PM
As I wait on query replies, I’m writing Ch 5 of a new #YAnovel — first of a near-future #solarpunk trilogy, featuring secret bike messengers, the twilight between life/death, a boy obsessed with #HenryDarger, and a girl mechanic. (And some fine gym abs.)
SolarPunk? » www.re-des.org/es/a-solarpu...
SolarPunk? » www.re-des.org/es/a-solarpu...
New post up on LinkedIn (hint: it's a ghost story): www.linkedin.com/posts/darren...
Tangled Head | Darren Cools | Darren Cools
Here’s a question that regularly plagues me: I write primarily because I want to (need to?), and I don’t really think too hard about financial returns, at…
www.linkedin.com
March 22, 2025 at 1:01 AM
New post up on LinkedIn (hint: it's a ghost story): www.linkedin.com/posts/darren...
Kinda weird that I'm starting to notice what authors do to seed certain ideas and how they do it as I read.
The veil is pulled back more and more, a little at a time, and it's fun to see.
Does that mean I'm getting better at my craft? I hope so...
The veil is pulled back more and more, a little at a time, and it's fun to see.
Does that mean I'm getting better at my craft? I hope so...
March 21, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Kinda weird that I'm starting to notice what authors do to seed certain ideas and how they do it as I read.
The veil is pulled back more and more, a little at a time, and it's fun to see.
Does that mean I'm getting better at my craft? I hope so...
The veil is pulled back more and more, a little at a time, and it's fun to see.
Does that mean I'm getting better at my craft? I hope so...
Sometimes writing feels like the gym — dreaming of big, noticeable results, eager, hopeful, impatient for success, for crossing that next threshold. But reality is usually quieter, subtler, and takes unimaginably longer than we ever think. And yet, we shoulder the load and head back to it.
March 19, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Sometimes writing feels like the gym — dreaming of big, noticeable results, eager, hopeful, impatient for success, for crossing that next threshold. But reality is usually quieter, subtler, and takes unimaginably longer than we ever think. And yet, we shoulder the load and head back to it.
Reposted by Darren Cools
“Someone with a 1-hr car commute needs to earn 40% more to be as happy as someone with a short walk to work. On the other hand, if someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if they’d fallen in love.” #CityMakingMath
50 reasons to want more walkable streets.
50 reasons to want more walkable streets.
50 Reasons Why Everyone Should Want More Walkable Streets
From making you live longer to making cities more resilient: If you want a reason to make your city more walkable, it's in here.
www.fastcompany.com
March 9, 2025 at 3:09 AM
“Someone with a 1-hr car commute needs to earn 40% more to be as happy as someone with a short walk to work. On the other hand, if someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if they’d fallen in love.” #CityMakingMath
50 reasons to want more walkable streets.
50 reasons to want more walkable streets.
#querying is hard. It can feel pretty dark and hopeless, getting nothing but form rejections day after day.
But today's my birthday and I'm in #NYC for the first time in 21 years.
And I believe there's someone out there who'll read my pitch and think, maybe there's something here...
But today's my birthday and I'm in #NYC for the first time in 21 years.
And I believe there's someone out there who'll read my pitch and think, maybe there's something here...
March 7, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Reposted by Darren Cools
Here's why querying writers should always shoot their shot if they think an agent is a good fit: I stayed up all night reading a requested MS and sent out an offer first thing this morning for a project I had NO idea I wanted.
March 5, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Here's why querying writers should always shoot their shot if they think an agent is a good fit: I stayed up all night reading a requested MS and sent out an offer first thing this morning for a project I had NO idea I wanted.
It’s been really hard to find time to draw and I really miss it... so here’s an old favorite.
#illustration #inkdrawing #ghoststory #ghost #art #digitalcolor
#illustration #inkdrawing #ghoststory #ghost #art #digitalcolor
March 5, 2025 at 6:14 PM
It’s been really hard to find time to draw and I really miss it... so here’s an old favorite.
#illustration #inkdrawing #ghoststory #ghost #art #digitalcolor
#illustration #inkdrawing #ghoststory #ghost #art #digitalcolor
I’m diligently #querying for my #speculative #YA novel. If you’re looking for something unusual, quirky, and genre-blending — light #sci-fi #mystery #paranormal #literary — I’d love to hear from you.
February 28, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I’m diligently #querying for my #speculative #YA novel. If you’re looking for something unusual, quirky, and genre-blending — light #sci-fi #mystery #paranormal #literary — I’d love to hear from you.
Today's the day.
I've finished revising my novel.
Let the querying begin.
Wish me luck, I really believe in this book.
#amquerying #writingcommunity #yafiction #speculativefiction #booksky
I've finished revising my novel.
Let the querying begin.
Wish me luck, I really believe in this book.
#amquerying #writingcommunity #yafiction #speculativefiction #booksky
February 19, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Today's the day.
I've finished revising my novel.
Let the querying begin.
Wish me luck, I really believe in this book.
#amquerying #writingcommunity #yafiction #speculativefiction #booksky
I've finished revising my novel.
Let the querying begin.
Wish me luck, I really believe in this book.
#amquerying #writingcommunity #yafiction #speculativefiction #booksky
When they tell you not to listen to the naysayers, to ignore those who say it’s not working, it’ll never work, they don’t tell you that those people are often the ones closest to you. And that makes it all so much harder.
Just keep going.
Just keep going.
February 9, 2025 at 5:40 PM
When they tell you not to listen to the naysayers, to ignore those who say it’s not working, it’ll never work, they don’t tell you that those people are often the ones closest to you. And that makes it all so much harder.
Just keep going.
Just keep going.
Closing in on the final pages of revision on my novel, and I'm getting all caught up in the drama of the climax. Not even sorry.
#amwriting #amwritingfiction #yafiction #speculativefiction
#amwriting #amwritingfiction #yafiction #speculativefiction
February 7, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Closing in on the final pages of revision on my novel, and I'm getting all caught up in the drama of the climax. Not even sorry.
#amwriting #amwritingfiction #yafiction #speculativefiction
#amwriting #amwritingfiction #yafiction #speculativefiction
Now that I finally got a #D&D group together and started playing again, here‘s an #illustration for years ago, when I used to draw scenes and characters from our games (pre-covid)...
#dungeons&dragons #art #lineart #digitalcolor #inkdrawing #design #characterdesign #rpg #tabletoprpg
#dungeons&dragons #art #lineart #digitalcolor #inkdrawing #design #characterdesign #rpg #tabletoprpg
January 27, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Now that I finally got a #D&D group together and started playing again, here‘s an #illustration for years ago, when I used to draw scenes and characters from our games (pre-covid)...
#dungeons&dragons #art #lineart #digitalcolor #inkdrawing #design #characterdesign #rpg #tabletoprpg
#dungeons&dragons #art #lineart #digitalcolor #inkdrawing #design #characterdesign #rpg #tabletoprpg