🎃Annie Laurie ~ #Shield&Scalpel WIP
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holfelder-writes.bsky.social
🎃Annie Laurie ~ #Shield&Scalpel WIP
@holfelder-writes.bsky.social
820 followers 470 following 2.7K posts
Author of LGTBQ+ adventure fiction, auDHD cat mom of 3

they/them | grayromantic asexual agender gremlin | sapphic

clinical mental health therapist by day

Find me at HolfelderWrites.com

!!NO AI!!

(Watson is my fully human cowriter)
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holfelder-writes.bsky.social
HEY. This Sunday, Nov. 16th, I'm at the Scribble House Lit Fest in Pittsburgh, PA. It looks like it's going to be SO MUCH FUN. There's going to be signings, author readings, food, and books galore! You should come! :)

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity
Scribble House Lit Fest Featured Author post Includes a picture of the author, Annie Laurie Holfelder in an orange shirt with a short haircut and glasses. The words "YA Magical Realism & Adventure" are next to the picture, and several book covers are included from the author's Unbreakable Series
November 13, 2025 at 12:07 AM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Every now and then, I discover something I've written and go "huh, that was decent."

Here, have a bit from #ChefsKiss.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity
Hell, it might be even longer since he’s allowed himself to relax in the presence of another person. He’s usually got his mask tied tightly, costume sewed on in such a way that no one can see the real him. But somehow, Sanal has cut through those cords. They’ve seen him for who he is, and he feels himself giving into that.
November 2, 2025 at 5:32 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Okay, fine, I'll make a preliminary moodboard for #ChefsKiss. Here you go...ask me anything about the pictures and I'll do what I can to answer w/o spoilers :)

#PlotTober #WriteSky
A moodboard. The background of the moodboard is a faint image of the progress pride flag. The top left corner reads: Chefs Kiss. Beneath these words are two outlines of a scalpel with the words "Postmortem Justice 2" in the center. The moodboard pictures include a picture of a sliced pizza, a set of crutches leaning against the wall, the feet of a deceased individual with a name tag on the toe, a hand sticking out of water, a picture of the Pittsburgh Steel Tower, and a spooky image of a police cruiser.
October 30, 2025 at 3:55 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Uh, Liam's dad's a dick, just saying.

#WritingPrompt #WriteSky #ChefsKiss
Matthew freezes. A look of disgust comes over his face. “How are you a cop? What made you think you could be a cop? You have no spine, you never did.” The words slap Liam across the face. He stares up at his father. “Excuse me?”
October 29, 2025 at 9:57 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
From #Shield&Scalpel, have Liam's thoughts as he heads to a bar after work.

He's not *wrong*. He's just not *right*, either.

#LGBTQWriteAThon #WriteSky
Liam wraps up his work and swings by his car. He grabs his jean jacket from the back seat – it’s less formal than his suit jacket, but still provides him the protection he needs. After locking his car, Liam heads down the street towards the bar Shirley had chosen. He spends the short walk turning over the case in his mind. He feels uneasy, as if someone is watching him. He doesn’t spot anyone when he looks around. “Idiot,” he mutters to himself. “The killer isn’t stalking you.” He shakes his head and jogs up the steps into the bar. “Fucking scaredy cat.”
October 26, 2025 at 1:31 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
I MET FROG AND TOAD.

They were hanging out at Lib Con yesterday. I was so excited to get a picture with them!

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity
Image is of the book characters FROG and Toad in mascot form with the author/poster in the center.
October 19, 2025 at 7:50 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Uh-oh, Liam made an impulsive, baaaad choice.

Whoops.

#QueerPrompts #WriteSky #Shield&Scalpel
[Redacted] lips curl into that chilling smirk again. “I’d like to see you try.” [they] leans back and laughs. “You’re not cut out to be a cop.” [they] shoulders past Liam. Liam spins around, anger coursing through him. “Where did you get the ketamine?” he asks. It’s a stupid thing to say, and Liam knows it as soon as the words leave his mouth. Fuck. He just let himself be goaded into revealing his suspicions. Damn it. [Redacted] stops and turns around slowly. Liam feels his heart stutter to a stop. Oh. Oh no. I’ve fucked up. [redacted] is staring at him with eyes that speak of murder. Liam wonders if this is what the Mon River women saw before they died.
October 19, 2025 at 2:17 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
COME SEE ME. All set up at CCBC's Library Con. Looks like it's going to be a great time!
#WriteSky #WritingCommunity
Image of the poster, an agender individual with short dark purple hair, purple eyeshadow and purple lipstick.
October 18, 2025 at 3:08 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Welp. We have a beginning. Will it survive to the final draft? Unknown. But it's a start. :D

#ChefsKiss #WriteSky #WritingCommunity
Grief comes in stages. “You’re doing great, Liam! Let’s try a few more steps, okay?” Shock is one of those stages. “There you go, nice and easy.” Fuck, is it hard to walk. “One more, Liam. You’ve got this.”
October 16, 2025 at 4:10 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
This one had me laughing for ten minutes. I still laugh (am laughing right now). It was supposed to be "snorts", but I love the image of Henry just...violently snotting, whatever that looks like, in response to Liam's frustration. Henry would, if Henry could.

#WritingLifeMonthly #Shield&Scalpel
"Fuck," is all Liam says. Henry snots.
October 16, 2025 at 2:51 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Liam & warm weather do NOT get along. His undiagnosed POTS reacts poorly to heat and humidity, and he usually crashes badly.

#LGBTQWriteAThon #Shield&Scalpel #WriteSky
June comes, bringing with it unseasonably warm weather. Liam expects Stephanie’s full autopsy soon, but knows that he has to be patient.
October 12, 2025 at 11:19 AM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
I forgot about this one! I had to edit it a bit to match the current iteration of #Shield&Scalpel. I like this one :)

#LGBTQWriteAThon #WriteSky
Moodboard with black background. There are two rows of 4 photographs each. In between the rows are the words: Annie Laurie Holfelder; Shield & Scalpel; An Original Story. Each image looks like a polaroid camera picture. The top row from L to R has a picture of gloved hands picking up a scalpel; several scalpels laid out; a woman of South Asian descent in a lab coat smiling at the camera; a mountain sketch in the colors of the agender flag. Bottom row, L to R: a detective's shield; a dark haired man in a black shirt with his hand covering his face; a person's legs in dark jeans sitting next to a duffle bag; the trans flag held up to a window with a plant in front of it.
October 9, 2025 at 3:27 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Forgot about this one yesterday! Have a moment between Sanal and Liam in #Shield&Scalpel.

#LGBTQWriteAThon #WriteSky #WritingCommunity
“We should get along well, then, so long as I don’t end up making you trip and practically fall onto a corpse.” Sanal glances away, a touch of embarrassment in their eyes.
October 6, 2025 at 2:03 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
My dad was into shelled nuts for a while, and then wasn't, and I picked up the things. this is what it looks like, and can apparently be used for seafood as well.
Vintage metal nutcracker with two picks, surrounded by various nuts and seafood that can be cracked by the tool
October 5, 2025 at 10:04 AM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
them eyeballs be gaspin'!

😂

#Shield&Scalpel #WritingCommunity #WriteSky
Liam’s eyes fly open with a gasp
October 4, 2025 at 11:56 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Our house is A MESS right now (moving) and so im often writing in the bed. We get a couch next week, hopefully, so that will help.

This is Callie, my mom's pupper, now ours. She loves to snuggle while I write!

#WritingLifeMonthly #WritingCommunity #WriteSky
White goldendoodle on several blankets
October 3, 2025 at 2:05 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
HERE YOU GO!
Miniature display of prepping for making a roast, with a slab of meat, asparagus, carrots of orange and purple, red onions, potatoes, apparently and butternut squash A scene of various miniature bears around a table with a gingerbread making scene on it. A miniature chicken pot pie with a slice taken out of it. Next to the pie sits the slice on a small dish
October 3, 2025 at 1:45 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
And so it begins.

#PJ2
"Postmortem Justice 2: Plot Doc"
October 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Introducing: #Shield&Scalpel, the story of a how a transmasc detective solves a deadly serial murder with the help of an agender aroace pathologist, and accidentally falls in love along the way.

Here's a cover mock-up instead of a moodboard. :)

#LGBTQWriteAThon #writingCommunity #WriteSky
Light gray background. Top: the words "Postmortem Justice Book 1" in red, with the red outline of a kitchen knife under the words Middle: A sketch of a detective's shield, a sketch of two hands putting on latex gloves. Underneath the words "Shield & Scalpel". Underneath a sketch of a gun, a sketch of a scalpel, and a sketch of handcuffs. All in black. Bottom: An outline of the Pittsburgh skyline in gold. Underneath are the words "A. L. C. Holfelder", also in gold
October 2, 2025 at 4:33 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Ah, yes, "river", a word which appears 37 times in #Shield&Scalpel.

Here's some of the intro to S&S.

#WIPSnips #WritingCommunity
Another reporter slides up to him, yelling something that Liam tunes out. He shakes his head and waves the man off. He gets their obsession, even if he hates their presence. It’s not every day in Pittsburgh that the detective unit pulls the body of a naked young woman out of the Monongahela River. It’s even less common that the woman in question was stabbed multiple times. Suicides do happen in the city of bridges, but this one...this was no suicide. Nor was it the first.
October 1, 2025 at 2:22 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
Using the new office space to get some work done on #Shield&Scalpel. Still fixing that timeling!

#WritingCommunity
An image of a computer, a coffee cup that reads "this witch needs coffee", a black lamp, and a view of grass through a window.
September 25, 2025 at 2:26 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
I can do this one!

Here is Liam "discovering" the new forensic pathologist working with Rajan, a certain Dr. Sanal Chand.

#LoreOutLoud #WritingCommunity #Shield&Scalpel
Liam freezes one step into the room. There’s a strange woman standing behind Rajan’s desk. Liam stares wide-eyed at the stranger. She is leaning against the counter behind the desk, twirling a pen in her fingers and staring intently at the file in her other hand. She appears to be oblivious to his presence. He doesn’t recognize her – she’s not one of the usual staff. He doubts she’s a temp, either, based on the dark dress pants and colorful blouse. Liam wonders if she’s the new forensic pathologist he’d heard rumor of. After Dr. Kemp retired a month ago, the ME’s office had been looking for a replacement. Liam had heard they had hired one, and that she was...a lot. Stern, unforgiving, strict were some of the kinder words Liam had heard circulating about her. Bitch was one of the more colorful ones. Liam takes a shallow breath. He has no idea what he’s supposed to do here. Does he say something? Does he have the right to shoo this person from behind the desk? Does he back out of the room and hope she doesn’t notice him? What the hell is he supposed to do? He’s good enough at crime scenes, with other cops, and with Rajan, but he has no script here, no idea what he’s supposed to say or do or – “Can I help you?”
September 25, 2025 at 1:57 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
I'm late, but here's a snippet from the new, improved beginning chapters of #Shield&Scalpel.

#WritingCommunity #SaturdaySnippet
“Wait a moment!” Dr. Chand’s command makes Liam pause, turning back to face her. She drops the file she had picked up and walks around Rajan’s desk. “You’re bleeding,” she states as she approaches Liam. Liam glances down at his hands. Shit, he forgot about that scrape. It’s not bad, but it is deeper than he thought. It’s bled a good bit across his palm and down his wrist. “Can I have a look at that?” Dr. Chand asks, reaching one hand out slowly towards Liam’s bleeding hand. Liam shies away from her. He doesn’t like being touched by strangers. “What?” “Your hand. Can I take a look?” She wiggles her fingers at him. “I won’t bite, I promise.” He stares at her for a moment. “It’s just … it’s just a scratch, really.” He glances down at his hand. “I scraped it on the building outside. There were … too many reporters.” “Did they follow you from the river?” Dr. Chand asks, her eyes fixed on his hand. Liam nods. “Yeah. They … yeah. Look, I’ll be fine. I’m sure there’s … something in the car to take care of it.” He backs up a step. “I’ll be okay.” Dr. Chand raises an eyebrow at him. “I’ve had more than a few people on my table who died from sepsis due to cuts like this. Staphylococcus aureus waits for no man.”
September 21, 2025 at 3:21 PM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
THIS IS ALL YOU GET. THIS IS ALL I CAN GIVE YOU.

#LoreOutLoud #Shield&Scalpel #WritingCommunity
Liam lets himself start to hope
September 21, 2025 at 2:59 AM
holfelder-writes.bsky.social
The ending to this chap that I wrote sticks with me. Liam is struggling w/ recognition for his work & for recognition as a man. While Henry doesn't know that Liam is trans, he uses invalidating language to talk about Liam. It hurts more than Liam wants to admit.
#LoreOutLoud #Shield&Scalpel 🌈✒️
Apparently annoyed that Liam isn’t rising to his bait, Henry shakes his head. “Well, go be useful and try to find this woman’s ID, alright? And stop falling over at every inconvenience. You’re such a girl, kid.” Liam turns on his heel and stalks away from Henry’s desk. He doesn’t react otherwise – he’s learned how not to, by now – but Henry’s words still feel like a punch to his solar plexus. Those jokes – he’s heard enough of them, and the wounds they make have never healed. Never. No matter how far removed he is from the days of wearing clothes that felt wrong and feeling like his skin didn’t fit right, all it takes is one fucking comment to make him feel that small again. Blinking back the stinging of a few wayward tears, Liam makes his way to the missing person’s files. He can’t make Henry like him, but maybe, if he works hard enough, he can make the man respect him.
September 1, 2025 at 12:54 PM