Polenth Blake
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polenth.bsky.social
Polenth Blake
@polenth.bsky.social
3.7K followers 1.4K following 2.1K posts
Fantasy and science fiction writer/artist with a tendency towards ecology and quietly strange things. Keeper of invertebrates and fish. Enjoys walking simulators and Second Life. Multiply marginalised.

Website: http://www.polenthblake.com
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polenth.bsky.social
The Narratess Indie Sale is now happening (until August 25th). Werecockroach is $0.99 most places and is part of the science fiction itchio bundle: itch.io/b/3241/narra...

The full list of books with sales links is here: indiebook.sale

#BookSky #BSNM #SFF
A graphic with 16 covers with text "Narratess Indie Book Sale August 2025. Sci-Fi Bundle" Wasteland Heart by Al Hess Secrets of PEACE by T. A. Hernandez Debunked: Volume One of the Terravenum Chronicles by Dito Abbott Walking the Knife’s Edge by Elise Carlson Werecockroach by Polenth Blake The Warm Machine by Aimee Cozza Unburnt by A.M. Weald Cat/Mouse: An Allied Space novella by Eliza Mares Moral Laundry by Conrad Altmann The Edge of a World by JD Rivers Mechanical Heart by Beverly Anne Michel Kotov Syndrome by S. Morgan Burbank Bridges of Smoke by Julie March In Spite of the Inevitable by Morgan Biscup Ancient as the Stars by Maya Darjani A Spark in Space by Janina Franck
August 24, 2025 at 12:46 AM
polenth.bsky.social
Fantasy! The last two photos were a map of an imaginary place (Discworld) and a troll with a bridge. I printed out an internet troll, who is stalking a My Little Pony.
Part of an unfolded paper map of the Discworld. My Little Pony ornament with a pony crossing a bridge. A paper trollface meme is under the bridge.
August 18, 2025 at 10:25 PM
polenth.bsky.social
Worldcon! I had to find Hugo finalists (item and person) and a Seattle volunteer hiding under a table. Kidnapping volunteers is illegal, so I drew one and hid them under the kitchen table. This was accepted as good enough!
The DVD box of Source Code (2012 Hugo finalist) showing Jake Gyllenhaal pushing through weird shiny code squares. A photo of Nnedi Okorafor on the dust jacket flap of a hardback book. Hand drawn Seattle volunteer picture stuck under a wooden kitchen table (they're also getting some volunteer time at What Could Possibly Go Wrong Con, so they're hiding with the bunny mascot). The picture is simple and messy with black pen lines and a rainbow t-shirt.
August 18, 2025 at 10:20 PM
polenth.bsky.social
It's me! Someone wearing grunge is my cosplay for the con. These aren't my clothes and I don't play the guitar. Went for a 90s feel with the look and lighting. Someone (me again) with glitter on my face. It's edible glitter, but I liked how it didn't cover up skin texture. And me playing Monopoly!
A person holds an electric guitar and is dressed in grunge fashion with a flannel shirt, ace pride unicorn shirt, woolly hat, and purple scarf over their face. Their greying hair is messy wavy curls, in the true grunge fashion of trying to look like hair brushes are for other people. The top half of someone's face with eyes closed and shiny colour (red/green) and glitter. A game of Monopoly. My hand is holding a Monopoly chance card advancing me to Marylebone Station. I'm the old metal boot sitting on the chance square.
August 18, 2025 at 10:12 PM
polenth.bsky.social
Book interiors! Sometimes I didn't have the thing, but I did have a book about that. The hammering man refers to art sculptures, but I had a poem that matched the prompt. The volcano is from a Sim City manual. The glacier is one of my ecology books. And the monorail is an old park booklet.
Pages showing Edward Lear poems, focusing on an image where a man hits another man with a hammer. The limerick reads: There was an Old Person of Buda, Whose conduct grew ruder and ruder; Till at last, with a hammer, they silenced his clamour, By smashing that Person of Buda. A pixelated greyscale volcano and fire from the Sim City 4 paper manual. A map of glaciers in Glacier Bay from an ecology textbook. Monorail picture in an old theme park brochure. This is Chessington World of Adventures. The monorail train is yellow with Kodak branding, as they sponsored it.
August 18, 2025 at 10:00 PM
polenth.bsky.social
Book covers! I didn't have some things around, but I did have a book with them on the cover. Jetplanes, a whole salmon, and murder! (We were not allowed to commit actual crimes to do the hunt.)
The book cover of Captain Eco and the Fate of the Earth. An angry superhero with Earth for a head points at pollution. Children look on. On the Earth model thing by them, various climate disasters are shown and there are planes. I placed a rubber band around one of them. The cover of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. A salmon flies through the air in front of a basketball hoop. A rubber band marks the salmon. A hardback of The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie for the murder prompt. The cover is red with gold writing.
August 18, 2025 at 9:47 PM
polenth.bsky.social
Out and about in Hastings! The batter is a bronze statue called "The Spirit of Cricket" and Bronze Rachel's relative is a winkle statue with a slot for collecting money (Rachel is a piggy bank statue in Seattle).
The top of a bronze statue showing a person dressed for cricket holding a cricket bat up, as though just after hitting the ball. An ice cream van and a shopping centre can be seen behind the statue. A statue with a mirror finish shows a winkle shell (sea snail) held up by fish. A slot in the shell opening collects money for the Hastings Winkle Club. The scene is reflected by the statue, including showing the photographer (me).
August 18, 2025 at 9:36 PM
polenth.bsky.social
It's important to eat and drink! I don't drink coffee, so I stole someone else's to-go cup. I did eat the scone. The salad (something you toss) and the gin and tonic were taken at the supermarket. Another customer was eyeing me with the gin thing, like it was an odd thing to do. #Food
A maroon hot drink takeaway cup for Costa Coffee. It sits on a tray with a blurred street behind it. A plain scone contains cream and red jam. A bag of Tesco beetroot salad sits in a wire shopping trolley with a tile floor below. The salad contains green leaves and shredded beetroot. This is "something you toss" in the hunt. Gordon's gin and tonic in a can on a supermarket shelf. The green basic cans are shown as well as the silver diet tonic version.
August 18, 2025 at 9:23 PM
polenth.bsky.social
Seattle! Local residents might want to put down beverages before looking at these appreciations of Seattle culture. I was not in Seattle, so I had to get creative. Here is the gum wall, something mid-century modern, "the mountain is out" and the Space Needle (made from things).
A wall made by stacking gum pieces like bricks. They're stuck together with icing. A gum container for Wrigley's Extra Refreshers is behind the wall. An old storage box made of dark hardwood sits on an armchair. This was made by a family member during the mid-century modern era and seemed near enough. The mountain is out and proud! An Evian water bottle, with mountain logo, sits outside. It has a rainbow alliance badge attached, a rainbow happy face badge at its base, and a rainbow bracelet around the top. No more sitting in the closet for this bottle. Space Needle made of things! The top is a juicer. A deli pot with people drawn on it sits on the juicer, with a hole in the middle so the top of the juicer shows. A cherry with a cocktail stick sits on the top of the juicer. The base is a curved plastic drink thing with a straw in the middle. Light makes the cocktail stick glow and casts a slotted shadow through the juicer. The model is on a green with mushrooms blanket and a sparkly purple cloth makes up the sky.
August 18, 2025 at 9:10 PM
polenth.bsky.social
Science fiction loves technology! "Microsoft anything" was my old student Office disk. Admire the very 2000s room with the colourful accent wall (those were all the rage for a bit... you were allowed colour, but only on one wall). Also my iPad, landline phone and television.
The disk case and booklet for Microsoft Office, Student and Teacher Edition 2003. The case has a very 2000s office with wood floor, beige walls, and one bright yellow accent wall. The computer monitor is an old CTR monitor. The booklet shows a more casual sofa office, also with a bright yellow accent wall. The back of a gold iPad with a stylus sitting on it. The shiny apple logo is scratched with age. The word "Toadstool" is engraved on the back. Flecks sparkle on the background around the iPad. A modern landline phone handset sitting in the base unit. It sits in a dark corner. A flat television glows in a dark room. The screen shows the blue PlayStation 4 opening screen.
August 18, 2025 at 8:50 PM
polenth.bsky.social
Starting easy with objects from around the house! The stone is a rose quartz candle holder. The glass art is a magnifier and letter knife. The toy money is from Monopoly. And the pipe is the mouth pipe on my bass recorder (most people did utility pipes).
A rough pink stone (rose quartz) candle holder with a lit candle on a purple background. A metal letter opener and magnifying glass with glass art handles. The handles are different colours of glass swirled together. They rest on a rainbow cloth. Toy money made from coloured paper sitting on an old Monopoly box lid. The top of a bass recorder showing the metal pipe. It comes out at the top of the instrument, then bends down, and then bends again so it faces the player. A plastic mouthpiece is fixed to the end of the pipe.
August 18, 2025 at 8:33 PM
polenth.bsky.social
WERECOCKROACH has an aroace agender lead, aliens and gentle vibes. Friendship focused.

www.polenthblake.com/words/cockro...

EVERYDAY ALIENS is a flash fiction collection about weird aliens. Often experimental.

www.polenthblake.com/words/aliens...

#PrideBookFair #QueerBookSky #BookSky #Pride
The cover of WERECOCKROACH by Polenth Blake is at an angle on a green background. The cover has hand drawn letters and a hissing cockroach drawn in brown and black wax crayon. Captions surround the cover in a childish messy font with arrows pointing at things. Captions pointing at the cockroach: wiggly antennae, cute face, little feets, tough outside, squishy soft inside, danger attack spikes, more little feets. Captions pointing at the title: i love wax crayons, beautiful hand drawn letters. Captions for the book: friendship, this book is ace, aliens wearing hats, gentle, full of yay, sarcastic, buy this book (trust me i'm a professional). The cover of EVERYDAY ALIENS by Polenth Blake is on a black background. The cover has a complex doodle of alien life in rainbow colours on black, drawn by the author. The title and author are in a black box in the centre, with an alien worm separating the two. Captions surround the cover in the same rainbow font. Captions pointing at the book cover read: Xenofiction, Weird, Flash Fiction, Citations, Speculative Biology, Slice-of-(Alien)Life, Poetry, Starfish Aliens and Very Alien Aliens. A caption points across the cover to the worm which reads: Fred.
June 1, 2025 at 8:08 PM
polenth.bsky.social
EVERYDAY ALIENS is a novella-length collection of flash fiction and poetry, exploring the everyday lives of aliens. Humanoid aliens fade into the background as the truly alien aliens take the stage to tell their own stories. #FlashFiction #Xenofiction #SFF

www.polenthblake.com/words/aliens...
The cover of EVERYDAY ALIENS by Polenth Blake is on a black background. The cover has a complex doodle of alien life in rainbow colours on black, drawn by the author. The title and author are in a black box in the centre, with an alien worm separating the two. Captions surround the cover in the same rainbow font. Captions pointing at the book cover read: Xenofiction, Weird, Flash Fiction, Citations, Speculative Biology, Slice-of-(Alien)Life, Poetry, Starfish Aliens and Very Alien Aliens. A caption points across the cover to the worm which reads: Fred.
January 18, 2025 at 12:07 AM
polenth.bsky.social
I've mostly cleared up, apart from the glitter, which will be with us until the end of time. Have a photograph of gingerbread unicorns!
Four gingerbread unicorns. They're light brown and decorated with sweets and glitter icing. They have side symbols (sweets) like My Little Pony. Everything is dusted with silver powder glitter. They're clearly homemade and each one is a bit different.
December 19, 2024 at 5:03 AM
polenth.bsky.social
I make my own cover art. My short story collection "Rainbow Lights" has a chalk pastel and charcoal squid. "Sunstruck" is a combo of hand drawn lines, photo textures and digital editing.

books2read.com/ap/nA70Oy/Po...
Two book covers. Left is a colourful squid drawn in chalk pastels on a black charcoal background. The text reads "Rainbow Lights" and "Polenth Blake" in a formal serif font. Right is a blue/purple blue jay bird illustration with vines. The eroded san-serif font reads "The Bigfoot Mysteries #1", "Sunstruck" and "Polenth Blake".
December 3, 2024 at 4:22 AM
polenth.bsky.social
A video of some very tiny fish! These are my danio fry from a few days back, with some bonus moss/algae action at the end. #FishKeeping #Aquarium
September 13, 2024 at 1:03 AM
polenth.bsky.social
As we're describing our social media strategy through the medium of pictures, here is mine. (I made the fractal and took the cat photo.)
A kaleidoscope fractal where the repeating sections are a closeup photo of a black and white cat face. Infinite pink cat noses at every scale.
August 26, 2024 at 9:00 PM
polenth.bsky.social
A picture of my writing desk! I took the picture fast enough to stop the tea getting cold, because I'm not a monster. Ask me anything about items on the desk! Learn my secrets!
A black writing desk photo taken at an angle. A keyboard with rainbow lights is on the keyboard shelf and a monitor showing my author website is on the main desk. Other items include various colourful stim toys, plushies, dowsing pendulums, a fiberoptic flower ball, a rusty steampunk lamp, sweets and a mug of tea with owls on it. Work items are pots of pens, pencils, paint brushes and feathers, plus various notebooks. A cuddly owl sits in the in-tray because he hasn't been processed yet. It's tidy and free of dust. The bookshelf in the background is not.
August 8, 2024 at 12:17 AM
polenth.bsky.social
It's apparently #MakeATerribleComicDay2024 so I have made a comic with one of my favourite things! 👁️
A rough hand-drawn comic. Panel 1: "I MADE A COMIC" filled with branching lines. Panel 2: "IT HAS" and crosshatching. Panel 3: "PANELS" and wavy lines. Panel 4: A large panel filled with colourful eyeballs. Their irises are the only colour in the comic. The top says "AND EYEBALLS" and the bottom "WHICH MAKES IT THE BEST".
June 24, 2024 at 11:46 PM
polenth.bsky.social
"Werecockroach" is a sci-fi / fantasy novella about an agender aroace person. Also aliens and werecockroaches!

The photo shows the crayons used to draw the cover, the food is a toast sandwich, and I took the photo. #PrideBookFair #QueerAdultSFF #Pride #BSNM
 
www.polenthblake.com/words/cockro...
A photo with two wax crayons in a cardboard egg box. The crayons are worn down from use. Slightly blurred in the distance is a toast sandwich on a chipped plate.
June 2, 2024 at 12:10 AM
polenth.bsky.social
Werecockroach is $0.99 until 22nd January 2024! Get it while it's cheap, but still just as full of cockroaches and aliens. Features an agender aroace lead. This is part of the Kraken and Friends queer book sale.

Site: www.krakenfriends.claudiearseneault.com

#AspecAuthors #BSNM #SFF #Insects
A promo picture with the cover of Werecockroach (a cockroach in wax crayon). The text around the cover reads: Kraken Collective & Friends. Rin moves into a new flat on the day the aliens arrive, only to find that something odd is going on with their new flatmates. 99 cents. www.krakenfriends.claudiearseneault.com
January 18, 2024 at 12:45 AM
polenth.bsky.social
This is my majestic mind horse. Some time back, someone on Twitter wanted to see people's mind horses after learning that some people draw from their mind with no photo references. I really didn't use any photo references for this super realistic horse!
A silly horse that looks like it was drawn badly with a mouse in a graphics program. It has a round fuzzy black body with purple spots. The legs, head and tail stick outwards from the body. "Mind Horse" is written above the horse and one leg has the artist signature of Pol '22. There is nothing majestic or realistic about the horse.
August 1, 2023 at 2:45 AM
polenth.bsky.social
Here is a happy rainbow cat. I drew him.
A rainbow cat painting. The cat is sitting and facing the viewer with his tail wrapped around his feet. He looks happy. The art is black ink outlines with acrylic painted fur in patches of rainbow colour. Like a tortie only more rainbow.
July 16, 2023 at 12:54 AM
polenth.bsky.social
I wrote this novella about people who can turn into cockroaches and first contact with aliens! Nobody dies and it's actually rather gentle. The lead is aroace and non-binary. I drew the cover. http://www.polenthblake.com/words/cockroach.html
The cover of WERECOCKROACH by Polenth Blake is at an angle on a green background. The cover has hand drawn letters and a hissing cockroach drawn in brown and black wax crayon. Captions surround the cover in a childish messy font with arrows pointing at things. Captions pointing at the cockroach: wiggly antennae, cute face, little feets, tough outside, squishy soft inside, danger attack spikes, more little feets. Captions pointing at the title: i love wax crayons, beautiful hand drawn letters. Captions for the book: friendship, this book is ace, aliens wearing hats, gentle, full of yay, sarcastic, buy this book (trust me i'm a professional).
July 12, 2023 at 6:04 PM