S.E. Robertson / C.A. Moss
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feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
S.E. Robertson / C.A. Moss
@feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
120 followers 92 following 1.1K posts
A messy human who writes fantasy stories for fun. Tired but never hopeless. they/them

Banner art by https://yirien.carrd.co
Me: https://www.serobertsonfiction.com
My awesome spouse: @infinitesquirrels.bsky.social
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feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WritingPrompt A pretty okay opening line, which aren't my strong suit usually. 🌞

(Scouts are not spies, despite the very loud subtext that their leader is the spymasteriest spymaster who ever spymastered)
Ch. 1 First of all, scouts are not spies. If anyone asks who you are, you're supposed to tell the truth. Most people can figure it out without having to ask, from the gray armor emblazoned with our dragon's head emblem. But some people can't see it, and they ask. And sometimes the scouts don't wear the full kit, especially since we're out there riding or walking in all sorts of weather. Then, more people ask. And you're supposed to tell the truth.
November 13, 2025 at 4:11 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
Heyyyy I just checked in on this, and it passed $3k!!

My donation afterward to Trans Lifeline is heading for $100, and I'm excited~

Thanks to anyone who downloaded The Strangers' Sanctuary!
Screenshot from itch.io: Trans People Take On the World A bundle hosted by Elise Carlson with content from 32 creators. DRM free Buy 32 items for $35 - Regularly ~$121 Save 71%! $3,022.89 raised out of $3,500.00 Buy all for $35.00 32 book covers, all stories with trans main characters or LIs, mostly by trans authors Center Text: Trans People Take on the World The Strangers' Sanctuary, S.E. Robertson What Lies Within, Issy Waldon Synthetic Sea, Franklyn S. Newton Non-Player Character, Veo Corva A Life in Too Many Margins, S.E. Thomson Like Salt and Whi Sky, Merlina Garance A Memory of Blood and Magic, K.N. Brindle My Personal Trainer Cracked My Egg, Fern V. Bedek Enemies to Enemies, Ash Kreider The Poison Fruits, E.M. Haegar The Thread That Binds, Cedar McCloud The Wings of Ashtaroth, Steve Hugh Westenra The Elysium Proposal, A.E. Bross Structural Integrity, Tabitha O'Connell Songs of Broken Bells, Lilly Lockwood Echo Sight, Cian Verath The Uncontinented Stars, Haden Cross Between You, Me and the Moonlit Sea, Linn Silver Secondhand Origin Stories, Lee Brontide Blood On The Snow, Finn McLellan Manipulators War, Elise Carlson Powder & Feathers, Johannes T. Evans Our Simulated Selves, Nikki Null All Roads Lead to This, Kay Claire 1000Lotuses, Lotuscarp.com First Rose, Jake Vanguard A Demon to Save Me, H.S. Kallinger Dragons Soul, J.F.R. Coates Garden of Rotten Roses, Nicole Hidalgo Name Her Holy, Aubrey Ennis Baker Thief, Claudie Arsenault Illusory, M.X. Misfits
November 11, 2025 at 9:01 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
Convincing you to read my novel(s) by the first sentence! Share yours too, if you want!

(EarthLavender being a basic bitch [affectionate] is kind of a plot point)
Chapter 1 Placida gripped her best friend's hands as the carriage rolled toward the harbor. (The Strangers' Sanctuary) Part 1: Agna: Arrival Agna stood outside a stranger's door. (The Healers' Road) Book One, Chapter One. In a Forest Iced coffee in hand, I strode down the sidewalk in my new fall boots. (How I Became a Therapist in Another World book 1)
November 11, 2025 at 4:44 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
Halfway(ish) through the bundle and doing pretty great!

itch.io/b/3352/trans...

(A handful of people have downloaded my traumatized-bisexuals-in-the-fantasy-countryside book; thank you so much 😭)
A screenshot from itch.io: Trans People Take On the World A bundle hosted by Elise Carlson with content from 32 creators. DRM free Buy 32 items for $35 - Regularly ~$121 Save 71%! Raised: $1,692.89 / Goal $2,000.00 84% of goal / 43 contributors A grid of book covers against a pink and blue background. In the center, Trans People Take On the World. (See link for book list)
November 7, 2025 at 2:17 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips “ancestor”. Did not expect to have this one!

From Evil Overlord for Hire, in the early moments of the fight between Zil (pretending to be the Dark Lord) and a light mage. This is the mage’s graduation party. He’s going to show off, even if his dads want him to mind the antiques.
Snippet: Felix, Felix, Felix. You smart, bizarre man. I couldn’t teleport like the Dark Lord, but the illusion mage could make it look like I could. First, I sheathed my sword before I accidentally nicked someone with it, and limbered up my knees without looking too obvious. Then I raised both hands palm-up. My accomplice obliged, giving me two swirling orbs of crackling energy. The crowd let out an appreciative gasp. I hurled one, then the other at the young light mage, so I could pay full attention when he launched his counterattack. The instant the tingling of the invisibility spell hit my body, I shuffled to the left. My steps were muffled; Magnus was doing his part as well. The crowd dodged out of the way, packing closer along the sides of the foyer, to avoid Sebastian’s projectile. Instead, the ball of light slagged a hole in the wallpaper just under an oil painting of some overdressed ancestors. “Sebastian!” Duke Anton set down his wine glass on a side table. “Did we not *ask you*—”
November 1, 2025 at 12:02 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
We never get trick or treaters on our street, so it's time for fire!!
Fire in a metal fire pit
October 31, 2025 at 11:25 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
Data: It's Good at the Bottom of the Barrel?

- Left KU at the beginning of 2025
- The spikes are group promos (❤️🙏)
- itch.io never took off for me, so its collapse didn't hurt either?
- Oct. 2025 isn't complete, no D2D or itch yet

Still, it's interesting that a small-timer is chugging along.
A chart of total revenue (USD) from Jan. 2023 through Oct. 2025. It averages about $50 per month, very very slowly rising over time, with some peaks every few months (these are group sales).
October 31, 2025 at 10:49 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
Starts Nov. 1! 🌈

itch.io/b/3352/trans...

32 books for $35, including my newest novel The Strangers' Sanctuary - its first time in a sale!

I'll be donating my cut to Trans Lifeline. This is not a charity sale; that's just something I want to do personally.
A grid of book covers and the sale title, Trans People Take On the World.
October 31, 2025 at 3:33 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
Quote post your favorite reaction gif of all time
A pair of screenshots from Parks and Rec. Ron hands a piece of paper to someone just off screen. Subtitle: Not to worry. I have a permit. Shot of the paper: I can do what I want. Ron
October 31, 2025 at 10:57 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
Nervous sword lesbians hooray 🎉😭😭
Commissioned from @inazumasosa.bsky.social

This story (Evil Overlord for Hire) isn't out yet, but I've been posting WIPSnips from it for the last bit. Zil/narrator on the left, Tana/her crush on the right.

aaaaaaahhh!
Art commission by @inazumasosa.bsky.social Two elven women face off, one tan-skinned, short-haired and wielding a sword (Zil); the other one pale with long pink hair and a spear (Tana). They are framed with roses, thorns and banners and overall look like a choose-your-fighter screen from a fighting game
October 30, 2025 at 11:48 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips “spell”.

Plenty in Evil Overlord for Hire. I went with a moment of recovery after the magic fight featured on Blood-Curdling Day. The poultice is basically an enchanted item, which we’ve touched on a couple of times in this setting. I just liked the idea of a sigil instruction booklet. 😅
Snippet: The first flames began to catch in the campfire, adding some much-needed light to our camp, as Aspen gingerly applied the poultice to my side. I had to hiss in a breath as the linen touched it, even with the cool salve spread over the fabric. Studying a booklet from the kit, Aspen traced a sigil over the poultice with light fingers. A tingle of magic accompanied the most welcome cooling sensation I'd ever felt. “Good,” the quartermaster’s assistant muttered. “Okay. Let that work. We'll fix your hand once that's settled. Do you want some water?” All I cared about was the deep waves of delightful coolness rolling into me from the healing spell. I folded my left arm under my head and relaxed for the first time since the start of the party. “Later. Thanks, though.”
October 30, 2025 at 11:00 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
Just a National Cat Day contribution.

Lily is in her Hiding Under the Bed era now, but curled up in a ball sleeping is still Burghie's default state
A tailless brown-tabby cat sitting on the back of a couch, which is covered in an afghan best left undescribed A brown-tabby cat curled into a small ball on a pillow, which features an astronaut cat and cat heads floating in space
October 29, 2025 at 11:56 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips “costume”

This story was born for this one! From Evil Overlord for Hire. Zil’s first outing as the fake Dark Lord, flying solo except for a borrowed horse.

As for progress, it's inching through the last big scene; we're *almost there* aargh
Snippet: I gauged the distance between my current location and the outer edges of the estate, where the stables and guard stations lay. Listening for oncoming carriages or riders, I waited until the forest around us was still, then guided the big gray horse off the road. He seemed unbothered by the change of scenery, picking his way around the shrubbery under the trees. As soon as I could no longer see the road behind us, I picked a spot behind some dense bushes and dismounted. The horse didn’t seem to mind being tied to a tree for a minute. Witnessed only by the horse, some birds and probably a squirrel or two, I wriggled into the Dark Lord costume Aspen had cobbled together. By the time all but the helmet was buckled up, my heart was racing. This was it. As long as I didn’t shatter the Dark Lord’s reputation among all these powerful people, I would have made myself useful.
October 28, 2025 at 11:02 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips blood-curdling -> terrifying. Though I usually see “blood-curdling” with “scream”, and this is also a scream!

From Evil Overlord for Hire. CW: fantasy violence and burn injury.

whoops, burned/burning in the same sentence. First draft! 🫣
Snippet: Though I wasn’t a mage, I knew that most could work two spells at once with practice – especially if they slung two of the same spells at the same time. Mage Sebastian, newly graduated from the College, managed three. Small ones, mere marbles of searing light. But I didn’t see them till they were halfway across the foyer, and I couldn’t sidestep far enough to escape the two on either side of me. I tried, hurling myself to the left in the bulky suit that was supposed to fool people into thinking it was full plate. Even the real thing was meant to turn away blades, not magic. And so when the leftmost ball of light caught me in my right side, it burned through the armor Aspen had made with a reek of burning leather and conditioning oil. Instinctively I brushed at it to get it off me, which spread some of the energy to my right gauntlet. Both armor and gauntlet melted, and my skin wasn’t far below. Magnus’s spell turned my strangled scream into a terrifying roar and then cut out into silence. Around me, I felt my bodyguards gathering, soundlessly, pulling me to my feet. They were visible in the edges of my eye slit, even though the tingling through my body told me that I was under the invisibility spell. They had to be, too, but at least we could still see one another.
October 27, 2025 at 10:25 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips “total” -> “complete.” And it's seasonal! 🎃

From Evil Overlord for Hire. Just having fun setting scenery. The owners of this castle are a pair of ostentatiously ~spooky~ human nobles and their son, who is rebelling by becoming a light mage. Good times.

factcheck +
The stablehands took our mounts, and we strode through the double doors into the foyer. A few days ago, this space had merely looked dusty, as a few valiant sunbeams struggled through the windows. Now, lit as it was designed to be – by candles in chandeliers and behind smoky-glassed sconces – its effect was complete. Velvet drapes framed oil paintings of disapproving forebears. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves creaked under the weight of leather-bound tomes best left unopened. Mahogany side tables held up collections of magical knickknacks, arrangements of faded dried flowers, and a taxidermied bird skeleton under a glass dome. In this atmosphere, the four of us glided as though we belonged here, and the other jewel-toned and -draped guests seemed out of place.
October 24, 2025 at 10:26 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WritingPrompt

Therapist world: "Demons" are effectively manifestations of the stigma attached to mental situations, so Lavender puts on some tea and checks her notes before the next client comes in with theirs.

Healers/Strangers world: It's humans all the way down, so... 🫤 (snip)
Snippet (not quite final draft of Strangers' Sanctuary) It might not be them. It might not be anything. Inside, Placida washed dishes at the sink; Lundren had taken a turn cooking this morning, and so she had cleaned up, in the unthinking rhythm of their morning routine. She turned, her eyes widening. “What is it?” “I don’t know. Maybe nothing.” He rolled the load of tomatoes onto the counter and ran for his room to put on some better clothes. Just in case. His heart hammered in his throat as he found and threw on a clean shirt, a waistcoat, proper trousers; he’d been gardening in his practice clothes, which now had soil ground into the knees. He ought to wash, but there wasn’t time. If they were coming. If this was it. He splashed a washcloth and dragged it over his face and neck and hands. It wouldn’t matter; it would never be enough. At least it would be over. The waiting. Wondering if they’d seen the article about Tufara. If he’d be allowed to keep this life he — Snippet continues: Squeezing the last drops out of the washcloth as he gripped the basin, he made his galloping thoughts slow down. They would not make him leave. They would not make Tufara leave, which was a more likely goal. He was contracted to the Academy for seven more months, and he and Tufara were adults. Whatever they said, whatever they tried to do, he would not let them take away what he and Placida and Tufara had built. Despite the cold sweat, Lundren returned to the sitting room closer to calm, and put on his best boots by the kitchen doorway. Placida had finished the dishes and now hurriedly wiped down the table, although they’d already cleaned after breakfast. The knock on the kitchen door felt like the last piece falling into place. Lundren’s eyes and Placida’s locked together, and he held them; the instinctive unease was better than looking toward the door. She nodded.
October 22, 2025 at 4:06 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips “field” - Back to some snips, now that there’s more story to choose from. (2 chapters to go!)

From Evil Overlord for Hire. Zil is pretending to be the Dark Lord; her co-conspirator Felix is doing the voice. They have not discussed enough of this situation in advance. 🙃
Snippet: “Good evening, sir knight,” Felix intoned, and I accentuated it with a polite inclination of my head. Which of course took the knight’s face out of my narrow field of view for a few seconds. Not ideal. I needed all the clues I could get. And I got them shortly after, as soon as my view slid up over an extended gauntlet and an unmistakably roguish smile. “May I dare ask you for a dance?” Problem one: I didn’t even know how to dance like these fancy people *outside* a suit of armor. Problem two: If I stepped out there on that floor, I’d either have to stay silent the whole time, banter in my own amplified squeak, or bring my honor guard to waltz along behind me. “Certainly, good sir!” Felix blared. A fantasy of punching him right in the helmet flashed through my head as I bowed.
October 20, 2025 at 10:56 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
🍂
A trail through a wooded area, bending uphill to the right around some rocks. Everything is strewn with fallen leaves, and sunlight peeks through the canopy.
October 19, 2025 at 1:46 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
Biggest purchase yesterday was a quilt hanger, because I have made more quilts than we have beds/couches by a factor of ~3.

Here we have Quarantine Project, Took Me 10+ Years, and First Project from Designer I Got Hooked On. (actual names ⬇️)
A hanger over a door with 3 quilts, top to bottom: a mosaic of assorted hexagons, brightly colored solids on a black background forming half an X pattern, and a series of fox heads against a light green background.
October 12, 2025 at 2:54 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
It's that time again! Cozy the Day Away is this weekend at cozyfantasysale.promisepress.org.

I have my whole Healers series on sale at 99c each (ebook only), along with book 1 of Therapist. @infinitesquirrels.bsky.social's Tales of a Stranger Sister is also at 99c.

Along with 100+ other books!
Promo graphic for How I Became a Therapist in Another World. An ereader mockup with the cover is on the left. Tagline: Not the chosen one, just doing my best. How I Became a Therapist in Another World. Ebook 99c (or equiv.) for [embedded banner for Cozy the Day Away, Sat/Sun 11-12th Oct. cozyfantasysale.promisepress.org] On left: cover art: franlangleyart.carrd.co * Novella series * Queernorm fantasy world * Isekai with a twist * Empathy as a superpower Promo graphic for the Healers series. An ereader mockup of the three covers is in the center. Along the sides: * Road trip fantasy, then settling down in a new town * Queernorm world, 1 bi lead * Big feelings & flawed characters (not quite cozy) but small scale * Quiet moments & high personal stakes * Learning to get past differences & become better people * Found family & community Along bottom: Each ebook 99c (or equiv.) for [embedded Cozy the Day Away banner: 11th-12th Oct., cozyfantasysale.promisepress.org.] All retailers, all regions Cozy the Day Away Sale (logo of a cartoon axolotl reading a book in a comfy chair) A one-day sale specifically for the cozy fantasy genre. Sat/Sun Oct 11-12th cozyfantasysale.promisepress.org The cover of Tales of a Stranger Sister by J. Robert Matthewson. A girl and a boy in old-timey clothing sit by a body of water, along with their cat. In the reflection, the girl appears to be someone else.
October 11, 2025 at 1:52 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips "prize", cheating this time with a book that's out. I've been feeling down about this series lately and want to revisit it positively. (also it's on sale this weekend 😜)

This is the only time I've written fake dating, and I enjoyed it probably too much haha.

From The Healers' Purpose.
Snippet: Of course, she was carrying four more books. It seemed she was determined to spoil him. She set down her load, and he slipped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. “Thank you, darling,” he said in Yanweian. Maybe he was milking the role. “Of course, dear,” she said. He was wearing a little thin this afternoon, and the pet name hit him harder than it should have. He was glad to let her finish the purchase as he leaned on the counter. The bookseller wrapped up her gifts, and after a round of thanks, Keifon and Agna headed for the street with their prizes. “The bookseller was nice,” he remarked, reaching for something easy and neutral. “That’s what money does.”
October 10, 2025 at 11:23 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips “store” - from Evil Overlord for Hire.

Zil and her fightiest team member have a heart to heart over a campfire, as one does. We’ve already seen the scene Aspen describes in book 7, where he was an extra.

(Visitors = former Earthlings. Isekai and all. These two are otherworld elves.)
Snippet: Aspen took a deep breath and steepled his fingers between his knees, gazing into the fire. “I saw the Dark Lord's face once.” In my exhausted state, it seemed for an instant as though he had read my mind. But no, he was continuing our conversation from before, in a slightly odd way. “I was assigned bodyguard duty for him on a trip into town. Captain Vorgarag wanted me to keep an eye on the budget. And, well. I wasn't about to say no. We went around several of the shops and the library. He was just buying things for himself, ordinary supplies. Food and books. We could have gotten him anything he wanted back at camp; I think he just wanted to experience it. And in one of the stores...” Aspen rested his chin on his crossed arms, but I could still see a blush high on his cheekbones. “The shop owner asked us all to show our faces. To be honest, part of me wanted to strike her down for daring to ask such a thing of the Dark Lord. But he did as she asked. And...” I had a feeling I knew what he'd seen, but I just listened. To let him tell it in his own words. “He's just... he's just a man.” Aspen gave a strange little chuckle, finally raising his head to meet my eyes. “A human, even. A Visitor, I suppose, that's a bit different, but just...” “Yeah. Just a guy. He's quite nice.”
October 5, 2025 at 12:55 PM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips “river” - From Evil Overlord for Hire. Near the beginning, as Zil flashes back to her journey away from home and toward her new life as a minion of the Dark Lord.

Just a simple one this time. 🏞️
Snippet: I hadn’t seen the ocean since I turned west around the southern edge of the mountains and struck inland. Instead, I saw an endless tapestry that made up the world. Mountains cleaving the sky in two; the edge of the swamplands that stretched to the far south, where the air never grew cold; rivers and lakes and rolling hills; a grand patchwork of farms and pastures as far as the eye could see. My Clan Ravaro heart was supposed to pine for the sea, where we had made our fortunes for thousands of years. Somehow, I didn’t miss it. When I wrote back to my parents, turning over my missives to the ravens from my campfires or from the stables of roadside inns, I didn’t admit to that. I asked them how my brothers were doing in running the store alongside them, and wished them all well.
October 1, 2025 at 10:50 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips “paw”: From Evil Overlord for Hire, the first attempt at disguising someone's bare face w/magic. Felix is an illusion mage with a talent for weirdness; Magnus is a sound mage.

Magnus is also a human-sized opossum, so I might change this from “paw” in editing. They’re more like hands. Ish.
Snippet: Felix cracked his knuckles and stepped forward, dropping a half-bow. He held a hand up and concentrated. When the captain nodded toward the mage, Tanathil turned to face him. I let out a gasp despite myself. That was… well, one could say that was *closer* to Sir Solan’s face, superimposed over Tanathil’s. If you’d only seen Sir Solan from very far away and under three feet of water, sketched his likeness into a wax tablet, and then left it out in the noonday sun. Tanathil’s eyes darted between Magnus, Aspen and me; I saw them as Sir Solan’s dark ones, not her own crystalline green. And they didn’t quite move in sync with the rest of the face. Magnus flinched more than I did, and so she focused on him. “What? What is it?” “Let me try something, how about that.” The beastfolk mage uncurled a paw. “Go ahead, say anything.” “Like what?” She clapped a hand to her throat as a fairly close likeness of Sir Solan’s voice came from it. “Oh. Gods. Uh… something something, all will fall before the might of the Dread Army. No, that’s not it. What should I say? I’ve heard Sir Solan say maybe five words, ever.” “It sounds good, though,” I offered.
September 30, 2025 at 11:01 AM
feelingsandmagic.bsky.social
#WIPSnips “leave”: from Evil Overlord, in which Zil comes up with the premise of the story in the most obvious way possible 🙃

This is a “telling yourself the story” style first draft; I hope to refine a lot of things in edits. This might stay, though, because I enjoy the silliness. We'll see.
Snippet: The next night in my tent, with a lamp by my side and a writing board propped in my lap, I scribbled and doodled to wiggle my thoughts free. Overlapping ideas crowded one another out and covered one another up on the paper. A party of nobles, helpfully indicated by a few tiaras and capes. The Dark Lord, horned and armored, shadowed in pencil shading. Add sad face to the Dark Lord. Start over on the other side. Crowd, rushed and scribbly. Dark Lord out on the edges. Not the center of attention, just making an appearance. You couldn’t miss him in his gear. No one would even recognize him without it; few had ever seen his face. I paused, tapping my pencil against the page. All you really needed was the armor. You could send anyone in there; no one would know the difference. Shaking my head, I moved over to the opposite edge and sketched another crowd. What would that accomplish? Aside from not making the Dark Lord unhappy? And he was more busy than ever these days. Taking one more thing off his shoulders would leave more time for overseeing the town planning. It was a ludicrous idea. It might work, but…
September 24, 2025 at 12:21 PM