Lizzie Blackwood
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lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Lizzie Blackwood
@lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
1.8K followers 1.5K following 3K posts
SFFH/Romance writer, occasional artsy craftsy person, and certified bog witch. Queerer every year. She/her.
Website: lizzieblackwood.com
Mastodon: https://wandering.shop/@lizzie_blackwood
Profile pic by @roricomics.bsky.social
Banner photo by me
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lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
We have one "impede" for today's #WIPSnips! Clearly, some shenanigans are afoot ...
The first guard released me with only a little hesitation. “Of course." They nodded at one of the guards behind me and the rest of the hands holding me let go, followed shortly by the binding at my wrist. "We will not impede your business, Honored One. But you should really be more careful. You trust too easily." Nejra could not have put on a better affectation of a shrinking violet if she'd been an actual flower. "Of course, Officer. I am honored by your vigilance on my behalf."
November 26, 2025 at 4:10 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Fuck it, it's time, we're doing #WIPSnips again!

Still primarily from Shark Smoocher (now known as The Stars Will Be Our Ocean) until I make some more headway in my other drafts. And for "system," what else could I post but a moment with Dani and Patches?
They looked down and their eyes got huge and sparkly. "OH MY GOD IS THIS—" I flailed my hands and they hushed to a whisper, "is this a little Reshketh robot?! How did you get this?" "The voice command input system. I'm told you're familiar?" They nodded enthusiastically. “I've been calling it Patches; it's been helping me out." Their eyes, impossibly, got bigger and sparklier as they lifted the drone into their lap like a puppy. "You named it Patches?"
November 25, 2025 at 3:28 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
One thing I missed in the move craziness was posting NEW CHARACTER ART by @nukeloop.bsky.social of Esti and Dani from The Stars Will Be Our Ocean! I am so incredibly excited about them. 💜💜💜
Two figures on a gray background. On the left is Dani, a non-binary person with medium brown skin and short, tousled hair kneels in a dirty dark blue uniform with googles around their neck and a laden tool belt while being affectionately pestered by a small gray drone that resembles an isopod. On the right is Esti, a Black woman in a dark blue uniform with soft shoulder length hair and gold jewelry standing with her arms crossed looking down and smiling at Dani.
November 23, 2025 at 3:32 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
I'm officially all moved in with my cats, my whole Virginia life packed up and deposited in New York state. Still a LOT of settling in to do, logistics to get sorted (like a, uh... day job 😅), but I'll be more active on here again soon. There's a lot of fun stuff coming in December and the new year!
A beige tabby cat with gold eyes sits nestled in the top tier of a cat tree behind a cutout of a fluffy white cloud, all backlit by sunlight from the open window behind them.
November 22, 2025 at 3:41 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
And as a treat for reading all that, here's an accidental thirst trap from my selfie sesh. 🤣

All my love to you all, and hopefully I'll be more active on here again soon!
A white woman with glasses, brown to blue to green ombre hair, a black floral print dress, and a necklace of bird skulls gives an exceptionally dommy mommy smolder down at the camera with a background of autumn trees and overcast skies.
October 29, 2025 at 8:53 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
It's my 40th birthday today! The start of a new phase of life. I'm moving to a new state, changing jobs and possibly careers, and preparing to publish my debut as an author. It's a scary, exhausting, uncertain time in the world, but I'm daring to be hopeful. 🧵
A white woman with glasses, brown to blue to green ombre hair, a black floral print dress, and a necklace of bird skulls smiles while leaned against a tree in an autumn forest on an overcast day.
October 29, 2025 at 8:53 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
I'm sending all the good vibes and cat purrs your way! Take care of yourselves. 🫂💜
A very fluffy black cat lying on his back on a rumpled gray blanket has his front paws curled and his back feet extended and relaxed on a white person's arm in a black sleeve. His extra fluffy posterior and tail are in full view.
October 20, 2025 at 3:03 AM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
#LGBTQWriteAThon 10:

It's been a hard week and a bad morning, so I'm just going to share a thing that makes me happy, this photo of my little goober of a cat, Nona.

Much love to all my queer creative friends out there making at and surviving and finding joy as best they can in these times! 💜
A gray and white tuxedo cat lies belly-up on a figure-8 scratching bed in dramatic morning lighting, all limbs splayed out and toes spread to show pink and gray speckled toe beans.
October 10, 2025 at 1:44 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
#LGBTQWriteAThon Line share:

From Jenna's first outing with Tarek in #TSWBOO, the delightful awkwardness of an elevator ride:
Pale columns of tiny lights began undulating up the walls of the elevator car as the familiar sinking feeling of a slow fall settled into my gut. It was dead silent except for a soft stirring of atmosphere, and suddenly I felt ready to burst. “Thank you," I blurted. “And, sorry." Tarek looked at me, blinked a few times. "For what, and for what?" "For everything, and ... for ... everything, I guess." He slowly turned back toward the door. "You Humans are pretty strange."
October 5, 2025 at 1:29 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
I was lucky enough to win a doodle giveaway for this book a little while back, and LOOK AT THESE DARLINGS! You want this book in SOME form, I promise you, but why not take advantage of this opportunity to get a beautiful signed hardcover while it lasts???
Two pencil sketches on white paper, the one on the left depicts two women in armchairs having tea with a bespectacled doglike person. The one on the right shows Jude dressed as She-Ra and Kye dressed as Catra.
September 16, 2025 at 5:08 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Editing progress!!!

I officially only have ten chapters making up the third and final act of the novel left to go. I am SO CLOSE to being ready to share this with beta readers! And also maybe having time for regular reading and social media again omg. 😭
Dawn of the Final Act - 10 Chapters Remain -
September 7, 2025 at 11:22 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
#PretendPanel 8/30

Haven't mentioned it in this hashtag yet, but my sci-fi Shark Smoocher now has its forever title: The Stars Will Be Our Ocean!

A question if you like: How do you go about choosing the titles of your work?

Here's hoping you all have a lovely September!
White text reading "The Stars Will Be Our Ocean" on a dark blue starry background
August 31, 2025 at 1:39 AM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Oh no! I hope everything goes ok. 💜 Here's a video I took this morning of Selkie delivering The Lament of Second Breakfast.
August 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
#QueerWriters Line share:

From the first encounter between protagonist Jenna and love interest Tarek:
I glared at the back of his head. “You're very confusing." "Not really. My job is to keep you from touching things you're not supposed to, not to be a tour guide feeding your sense of wonder." "You're not even looking at me while I go around touching things I'm not supposed to.” “I never said I did my job well."
August 24, 2025 at 10:59 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
#QueerWriters Check-in:

I've been woefully neglectful of bsky recently since life has been A Lot, but I'm happy to report great editing progress on Shark Smoocher: 15/39 chapters done!

Oops, did I say Shark Smoocher? I meant...

THE STARS WILL BE OUR OCEAN

Because I have an official title now! 🥳
"The Stars Will Be Our Ocean" in white text on a dark blue backdrop of a starry night sky over a beach.
August 24, 2025 at 1:37 AM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
#SummerOfStory 9:

As a reader, I tend to immerse myself with total trust in the author at the start that may erode as the reading continues. But as a writer, I generally try to open my stories with this in mind. Below are the opening paragraphs of my sci-fi: what promises do these convey to you?
As the ship containing Earth’s first interstellar diplomatic envoy approached the alien space station, most of us staff stood crammed like livestock in the cargo hold. Only the Ambassador and his top aides were permitted in the control room with the captain and crew and their beautiful panoramic viewscreens. The rest of us were told to gather what meager belongings we’d been permitted to bring and stand swaying in uncertainty, ready to disembark. We may all have been there to secure the future of Humanity with ties beyond our dying planet, but still, only some of us were cut out to have our faces remembered by history. Not that most of us had the capacity to feel insulted right then. For all that new tech and trade could do for our world, our salvation still came in the form of a species, the Reshketh, who vastly outranked us not just in power, reach, and technological advancement, but in physicality as well. They were tall, strong, descended from obligate carnivores complete with fearsome teeth. The joke that maybe we were there as flesh offerings to our new acquaintances made the rounds more than once, and each time the laughs became a little sharper, a little stiffer, a little more forced. I knew better, I hoped. I had been studying Reshketh culture religiously for the two months since it had become my job to make sense of it, and as such, I was reasonably sure they had no interest in devouring human flesh. Reasonably.
August 9, 2025 at 3:09 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Please enjoy some Nona being fancy with her feets. 💜
A gray and white tuxedo cat with a white blaze down her nose is reclined beside a woman in black leggings and purple top. The cat's eyes are nearly closed, her front legs are outstretched and pointed such that they overlap at the paws, one back leg is stuck out straight with toes extended in a stretch.
July 25, 2025 at 7:44 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Since I have a lot of work to focus on and potentially a busy August on here, I'm probably going to be extra quiet for a bit. But I'll leave you all with some feline blessings on your timeline before I put my nose to the grindstone! 😸💜
A fluffy black cat lounges fully relaxed in a magenta flower-shaped bed by a humidity-fogged window. A gray and white tuxedo cat sits in the background behind him looking at the camera.
July 21, 2025 at 7:46 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
#QueerWriters Line share:

Starting the last round of edits before beta reading this weekend, so here's an early snip!
The now-profusely-sweating aide that had called me out on the ship had been waiting for me at room assignment and followed me like a nervous hound, waiting to lead me to my doom. Esti offered me a sympathetic look as I resigned myself to follow him, but no more. This, I had to do alone.
July 20, 2025 at 2:38 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Spent today finishing this cool scarf! When all else fails to fight off the existential dread, you can try making cool shit. Create! Express! Scream into the void like a spray of paint and glitter at an unfeeling brick wall! It doesn't have to be good or pretty, it just needs to be yours. 💜
A woven scarf that's mostly gray with stripes ranging in color from fuchsia to blue and a tapestry/embroidered common blue violet with leaf accents is arranged on weather-grayed deck planks.
July 4, 2025 at 8:59 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Not doing any particular challenges this month, so I think I'm going to just try to post a nice little photo every day. Today we have a tree from a local trail that has a ... nose? Belly button? Whatever it is, I wanted to boop it.
A dark lichen and moss covered tree trunk in a predominantly coniferous patch of woods featuring a perfectly round burl that looks like a cartoonish belly button or nose.
July 1, 2025 at 3:13 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Back again, #WIPSnips, with a little "damage" control from my sci-fi.
Martin drank his now-cold coffee in sullen silence. “He might appreciate this information. He might also decide this is the last straw, that we can't continue negotiations at all until mitigation measures are in place. He's already in full damage control mode trying to figure out how to address the Reshketh's ... social differences ... without compromising on his directives or principles, and it's not pretty."
July 1, 2025 at 1:27 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Tiny Potato logic had gotten me through many a tough spot. 😆
A little pink blushing blob with the caption, "I am a tiny potato and I believe in you. You can do the thing."
June 27, 2025 at 4:18 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Best of luck! 🤞 Here is milady of the dramatic lighting this morning:
A buff color tabby lying on a rumpled gray blanket gazes wistfully into the distance as morning sunlight illuminates her from behind. A buff color tabby lying on a rumpled gray blanket gazes upward in a perspective that makes her look a little frog-like as morning sunlight illuminates her and her whiskers from behind.
June 24, 2025 at 1:38 PM
lizzieblackwood.bsky.social
Hello, #WIPSnips! It's been a while, again...

In today's snip, Jenna shows up to a fancy dress ball fancily dressed.

(Yes, my sci-fi has a fancy dress ball in it because I say so! 😆)
“I have a surprise for you as well." "More than this?" He took in the length of me, crown to toe, smiling. “I may not survive the shock." "You like it?" "You're stunning." My face passed within inches of his as we turned, and I smiled and craned my neck briefly, passing at a whisper's breadth instead. "I could say the same about you," I said as he stumbled slightly from the tease, "but that's not the surprise."
June 22, 2025 at 3:22 PM