Elspeth Rowan
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elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
Elspeth Rowan
@elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
86 followers 92 following 45 posts
Writer of Sapphic romances. Transbian IRL.
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elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
Just author things. Using the hot masc lesbian flirting with the love interest to melt the ice queen a little...

#BookSky #AuthorSky #Sapphic #WIP #NovelNovember
The tension is absurd, enough to freeze or burn the city block. Even the air is confused-half of it shivering with Winter, the other half sweating out Summer. I glance at Celeste, waiting for her to escalate, but her eyes are fixed on Raya, calculating. Raya sees it too. “Don't worry,” she says, “I'm not going to drag you in. You're more use to me alive, and besides, I've always had a thing for problematic girls.” She shoots me a grin. "Especially ones who make a habit of surviving when they shouldn't." I feel my face flush, and I want to bite her for it.
November 13, 2025 at 2:31 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
I swear they're gonna kiss soon! I just need to squeeze out a bit more banter first! #WriterSky #BookSky #Romance #Sapphic
“There,” I say. “Done.” She studies the new bandage, then looks up at me with something unreadable in her eyes. “Do you ever get tired of pretending you don't care?” The question is so sudden, so reckless, that I almost laugh. "Do you ever get tired of pretending you do?" Her face closes up, the old defenses snapping back into place. “Touché,” she says, voice soft, and slumps against the cushions.
November 11, 2025 at 4:52 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
Oh, this is going to be so much fun... How much longer until the ice queen Reaper melts for the flirtatious Spring Siren? #BookSky #WriteSky #Sapphic #FeyNonsense
Adele faces us in the cramped foyer, framed by an archway of wrought iron leaves. She's never looked more Autumn: eyes alight with private amusement, smile sharp as the edge of a ledger. “And you, Siren-trusting the Reaper to spare your life. Would your father call that bravery or idiocy?"
November 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
I started a new WIP this week, because of course I did. It's a sapphic (shocker) dark mafia romance with some Fey elements!

Thought I'd share the current attempt at the book's opening! #BookSky #WriteSky #WIP
A snippet of text from a work in progress story that reads: Everyone comes to Eden thinking it’s a nightclub. It isn’t. It’s a confession booth with better lighting, and I’m the sin they all come to buy. I can always tell how a night at Eden is going to end by the way they look at me at the start. There’s a hunger behind every gaze here. Some want me, some want to be me, and the rest—well, the rest just want to see if I’ll fuck up tonight.
October 28, 2025 at 5:04 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
These two are so much fun to write!

#BookSky #WriteSky #WIP
August 30, 2025 at 1:34 AM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

I have discovered I need to find synonyms for this word as part of my revision process... But! Here's one of the usages that will probably survive that.

Bryce contracts a pirate/bounty hunter to remove a "problem".

#WriteSky #Writers
And so he took the quill with conviction, his face an unreadable mask, as with a practiced hand, he dipped his quill in ink, and wrote: Name: Captain Sayidda Vashari Service rendered: Acquisition of person Target: Alixandra Crestspire Condition: Any means necessary. Publicly presumed dead. He paused, then added a final line. Bonus if she never sets foot on Crestspire soil again. He blew the ink dry and folded the parchment, sealing it with the iron crest of his House. The missive would find its way to her. Gold bought silence, and the right coin could move ghosts. “You were born with too much flame, child.” he muttered as he slid the letter into its leather case. “Let’s see if drowning suits you better.” He rang the bell once. A servant arrived, pale and silent. “Send word to the docks,” Bryce said without turning. “The sea is about to collect a very expensive mistake.”
May 22, 2025 at 11:48 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips It was hard to pick a scene with this word. There were a few good ones...

I'm enjoying writing these little reflection chapters after my FMCs dance around their feelings in shared scenes.

#WriteSky #BookSky #Writers
She barely knew Sayidda Vashari. She certainly could not trust her yet, even after their vulnerable night together. There was still every chance the pirate was her father's creature, hiding teeth behind her smiles. And yet... Alixandra closed her eyes, remembering the way Sayidda had spoken: rough, unpolished, real. The spark she felt when their hands brushed had not been a trick of desperation. How her magic, that ancient, stubborn, and proud thing, responded to Sayidda's oath.
May 12, 2025 at 3:21 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips Finally have time to share another little bit of my current #WIP!

Alixandra's handmaiden gets interrogated! 😱

#WriteSky #BookSky #Writer
"We can do this the easy way," Vestra said, an edge of impatience creeping in. "Tell us where Alixandra is, and perhaps you'll see sunlight again." Lyra feigned confusion, a delicate mask of bewilderment and fear. "I don't know what you mean," she said, her voice light and unsteady. "You helped her escape," Vestra insisted, her tone sharpening. "We have witnesses, the entire city buzzing with rumors. She's a danger to herself and others."
May 10, 2025 at 11:17 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips It was hard to pick a scene... but I've been writing some Bryce POV today, so here's something from him!

#WriteSky #BookSky #Writers
The door closed with a soft click, leaving Bryce alone with the growing weight of his thoughts. Alone, he allowed a flicker of frustration to crack his stoic façade. His hands clenched into fists, then relaxed as he forced himself back into the role of a strategist. Alixandra. The name itself was a thorn, sharp and embedded. The escape of his own daughter was not just a familial shame, but a political liability. It emboldened his enemies and unsettled his allies, an expected breach in his fortress of control. His thoughts rolled like a ship battered by a storm. I have her everything. A name. A future. All she had to do was obey.
May 4, 2025 at 11:55 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips I really thought I had used this word more in my manuscript! It's usually such a crutch word for me. Here's the one scene I use it in...

#WriteSky #BookSky #Writers
“Maz…” she replied with a careful breath, “I’ve stolen crowns, burned entire cities, and slit a dozen throats for less than he’s offered me, us, to fetch his daughter. Which means she is either dangerous, or worth loving, maybe both. Bryce Crestspire might be a predictable, ruthless noble most of the time, but… Here, look at these terms.” She turned the letter toward Maz and gestured for her to read it for herself. With a quiet grumble the first mate pushed herself off of the door frame and picked up the letter, reading it for herself. Her brows furrowed together as she read the end of the letter. “These terms… Fake her death rather than return her? He wants her gone, but not dead. That’s…” she trailed off. “Suspicious.” Sayidda finished for her. “Bryce can be ruthless, but apparently also sentimental.” “Or it’s a trap,” Maz added, returning the letter to the desk. Sayidda rose from her chair, pacing the small confines of her cabin. The rich burgundy of her coat caught the lantern light as she moved, casting her shadow large against the wooden walls.
May 4, 2025 at 12:10 AM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips Flipping through all the times I used "over" in this #WIP... And the moment I found the first yearning scene, I knew I had to share!

#WriteSky #BookSky #Writers #Sapphic
Steam curled around the mirror, softening the sharp lines of Alixandra’s reflection, but not enough to blur that copper sheen of dragon scales along her collarbone. She reached up, fingers brushing over the metallic pattern, the ridged texture foreign and familiar all at once. Fragile armor forged from something ancient in her blood. Something she never asked for. She should have been terrified of being seen, of being found. Of whatever power had surged from her in that tavern. But beneath the fear, curling low and unwelcome, was the memory of a confident grin. A voice low with amusement. The woman with storm-dark eyes and a pirate’s grin. Alixandra swallowed hard. What would her touch feel like here? The thought should have shamed her, should have been easy to cast aside. But it clung to her like the mist in the air, warm and persistent. And worse, if Sayidda Vashari was truly working for her father, then none of it mattered. Every glance, every spark of intrigue, was just a hunter’s game.
May 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips I apparently have not used cup in this #WIP yet, which was surprising! So, "glasses" will do as a synonym.

Sayidda is so much fun to write!

#WriteSky #BookSky #Writers
“I’m not a princess!” She hissed. “Could have fooled me,” Sayidda replied. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. The movement brought her face closer, and Alixandra caught the scene of salt and spice. “The way you carry yourself speaks of someone used to being obeyed.” “Perhaps I am simply confident,” Alixandra countered. Sayidda’s eyes narrowed as she studied Alixandra’s face. She searched for something beyond the careful mask she now wore. “Confidence is it? I’ve known confident women, darling. They rarely jump at shadows or clutch their cloaks like they’re hiding the crown jewels beneath.” Heat crept up Alixandra’s neck. Sayidda signaled to a barmaid with two fingers, and Alixandra’s spine stiffened. “Hey! I didn’t agree to…” “Consider it payment for information,” Sayidda interrupted smoothly. “That is why you’re here, isn’t it? Not for my charming company alone?” The drinks arrived quickly, dark amber liquid in chipped glasses. Alixandra eyed hers suspiciously while Sayidda took a generous swig. “It won’t bite,” the pirate said, nodding at Alixandra’s untouched drink. “Though I make no such promises about myself.”
May 1, 2025 at 10:02 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips There's a few explosions in my current #WIP, but this scene is from one of my favorite chapters, as the FMCs begin to fall for each other...

#WriteSky #BookSky #Sapphic
Caution flared as Alixandra’s practice grew bolder. A quick surge of fire, bright and uncontrolled. Sayidda’s instincts screamed, but her curiosity was stronger. She leaned in, drawn to the elegance and risk of magic, drawn to the woman who wielded it. She found herself at the edge of the cliffs, her focus so intent that she almost missed the danger beneath her own boot. The rock shifted. Alixandra’s head snapped up. Sayidda tensed, ready for the confrontation. She knew the girl had her father’s cunning; it was possible she had been the mark all along. But when the response came, it was more raw than anything she had expected. More brilliant. It was magic, not malice, that turned the cove into a burst of heat and color. Alixandra’s surprise unleashed a wave of draconic energy that swept across the sand, blue crimson power scorching its way into the ground. Water exploded upward, super-heated and blinding. Sayidda saw it unfold with a clarity born of instinct; even so, she did not run.
April 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips for April 28th! "talk", from my current WIP "The Price of Her Return".

#Booksky #WIP #Sapphic
She laughed softly as she rolled up the parchment, a private acknowledgement of the challenge. The messenger watched her, shifting uneasily under her scruitny. "What are you waiting for?" she asked, her tone one of amused impatience. "Your answer, Captain." He replied, swallowing hard. Sayidda regarded him for a moment longer, savoring the anticipation and the growing tension. She tucked the letter into her coat, its promise held close, and nodded. "Tell His Grace we'll talk terms soon enough." The messenger began to balk, there were terms already in the letter after all. Sayidda merely held a gaze and interrupted. "Never accept the initial offer, it's the first rule of piracy." The crew muttered in agreement, and the messenger swallowed hard again. He offered a meek nod and scrambled back to the ship's side, clambering down to his boat with a speed born of fear or excitement, or both. Sayidda turned back to the helm, nodding at her first mate at the wheel. Bryce's missive had changed the game.
April 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM
elspethrowanauthor.bsky.social
Working on my first serious attempt at a novel, "The Price of Her Return". Here's a little teaser...

#booksky #books #sapphic
April 26, 2025 at 9:01 PM