S. B. Barnes
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sbbarnes.bsky.social
S. B. Barnes
@sbbarnes.bsky.social
140 followers 81 following 190 posts
Author of queer murder mystery romances, queer hockey romances, and more. linktr.ee/sbbarnes
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sbbarnes.bsky.social
S. B. Barnes @sbbarnes.bsky.social · Nov 5
💫💫 Intro post about me and my books! 💫💫
Petrol background with a black bar at the top reading "Who is S.B. Barnes?". Centered is a photograph of the back of a woman's head. She has light brown hair in a fancy up-do with a wire of pearls over the top of her head. Surrounding her are arrows with various attributes. They read: disembodied head, no face, writes, reads, knits, eats, sleeps, teaches, mom of 2 cats and 1 human, German (sort of), teaches two languages, still sucks at punctuation, teaches computer science, still can't do decent graphics, author of queer romance, terminally online petrol background with a centered black bar reading "My Books". On the top right are the covers for "Heart First" and "Second Chance" beside a text box reading "Hudson Valley Murder Mysteries. #1: Heart First (2023), #2: Second Chance (2024)". On the bottom left is the cover of Two for Holding and behind it three blank boxes for the future installments of the series. Beside it is a text box reading "Minor Penalties: #1: Two for Holding (2025), #2: Two for Boarding (2026), #3: Two for Charging (2026), #4: Two for Roughing (2026/7)" Petrol background with a centered black bar reading "Hudson Valley Murder Mysteries". The cover of Heart First is in the top right corner. It shows a bridge over the Hudson River in a grey-ish color scheme as well as the title with the "S" in "First" red. The bottom right shows the cover of Second Chance, which shows a view of the Hudson Valley on the bottom and a mechanic working on a car above it. Surrounding the books are attributes of the books: One couple, multiple books; found family; academic x mechanic; non-LEO main characters; single POV; 3rd person present tense Petrol background with a centered black bar reading "Minor Penalties". The cover of Two for Holding is in the top left corner. On it we see the title "Two for Holding", the author S.B. Barnes and the series "Minor Penalties Book 1". The art shows two hockey players in a locker room. One is shirtless, sitting on the bench in the background, staring at the other. The man in the foreground is wiping sweat from his forehead with his teal and navy jersey. He's holding a hockey stick in a suggestive position. In the bottom right are three blank covers for the remaining three books in the series. Surrounding the covers are various attributes: 3rd person past tense, dual POV, homophobia, racism, sexism, Islamophobia in professional sports are major themes, one couple per book, hockey romances, MCs of different ages, races, religions, sexualities
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Final bonus short story for Two for Holding is available for free on my website www.sbbarnes.com/post/_sean
Sean
A Minor Penalties Short StorySpotted Jax Grant and Tom Crowler getting lunch at a bistro near the Marina yesterday! They were deep in conversation and I think they shared a dessert? Wonder what import...
www.sbbarnes.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:09 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
💫💫 Intro post about me and my books! 💫💫
Petrol background with a black bar at the top reading "Who is S.B. Barnes?". Centered is a photograph of the back of a woman's head. She has light brown hair in a fancy up-do with a wire of pearls over the top of her head. Surrounding her are arrows with various attributes. They read: disembodied head, no face, writes, reads, knits, eats, sleeps, teaches, mom of 2 cats and 1 human, German (sort of), teaches two languages, still sucks at punctuation, teaches computer science, still can't do decent graphics, author of queer romance, terminally online petrol background with a centered black bar reading "My Books". On the top right are the covers for "Heart First" and "Second Chance" beside a text box reading "Hudson Valley Murder Mysteries. #1: Heart First (2023), #2: Second Chance (2024)". On the bottom left is the cover of Two for Holding and behind it three blank boxes for the future installments of the series. Beside it is a text box reading "Minor Penalties: #1: Two for Holding (2025), #2: Two for Boarding (2026), #3: Two for Charging (2026), #4: Two for Roughing (2026/7)" Petrol background with a centered black bar reading "Hudson Valley Murder Mysteries". The cover of Heart First is in the top right corner. It shows a bridge over the Hudson River in a grey-ish color scheme as well as the title with the "S" in "First" red. The bottom right shows the cover of Second Chance, which shows a view of the Hudson Valley on the bottom and a mechanic working on a car above it. Surrounding the books are attributes of the books: One couple, multiple books; found family; academic x mechanic; non-LEO main characters; single POV; 3rd person present tense Petrol background with a centered black bar reading "Minor Penalties". The cover of Two for Holding is in the top left corner. On it we see the title "Two for Holding", the author S.B. Barnes and the series "Minor Penalties Book 1". The art shows two hockey players in a locker room. One is shirtless, sitting on the bench in the background, staring at the other. The man in the foreground is wiping sweat from his forehead with his teal and navy jersey. He's holding a hockey stick in a suggestive position. In the bottom right are three blank covers for the remaining three books in the series. Surrounding the covers are various attributes: 3rd person past tense, dual POV, homophobia, racism, sexism, Islamophobia in professional sports are major themes, one couple per book, hockey romances, MCs of different ages, races, religions, sexualities
November 5, 2025 at 2:51 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Two for Holding is an M/M hockey romance for people who love hockey and romance but can't defend the reality of the NHL

🏒 First in a 4-book series
⛸️ Opposites attract
🏒 Dual POV 3rd person
⛸️ Drift compatible (but for hockey)
🏒 "Practice with me"

#questpit #P #R #A
Petrol background with the headline "Playing defense never won the game...or the guy". The cover of Two for Holding is centered. On it we see the title "Two for Holding", the author S.B. Barnes and the series "Minor Penalties Book 1". The art shows two hockey players in a locker room. One is shirtless, sitting on the bench in the background, staring at the other. The man in the foreground is wiping sweat from his forehead with his teal and navy jersey. He's holding a hockey stick in a suggestive position. Surrounding the cover are various tropes: M/M hockey romance, inexperienced older man/experienced younger man, practice kissing, opposites attract, slow burn(ish), mild animosity to lovers background with the headline "Microtropes except the author doesn't really get microtropes". The cover of Two for Holding is centered. On it we see the title "Two for Holding", the author S.B. Barnes and the series "Minor Penalties Book 1". The art shows two hockey players in a locker room. One is shirtless, sitting on the bench in the background, staring at the other. The man in the foreground is wiping sweat from his forehead with his teal and navy jersey. He's holding a hockey stick in a suggestive position. Surrounding the cover are various tropes: "we have to get along for the good of the team", MC1 teaches MC2 he deserves nice things, inexperienced older man/experienced younger man, supportive best friend, emotional moments in the locker room, standing up to homophobia, "we're just practicing, it doesn't mean anything", mild bashing of St. Louis and hotel breakfasts background with the a centered black bar reading "Minor Penalties". The cover of Two for Holding is in the top left corner. On it we see the title "Two for Holding", the author S.B. Barnes and the series "Minor Penalties Book 1". The art shows two hockey players in a locker room. One is shirtless, sitting on the bench in the background, staring at the other. The man in the foreground is wiping sweat from his forehead with his teal and navy jersey. He's holding a hockey stick in a suggestive position. In the bottom right are three blank covers for the remaining three books in the series. Surrounding the covers are various attributes: 3rd person past tense, dual POV, homophobia, racism, sexism, Islamophobia in professional sports are major themes, one couple per book, hockey romances, MCs of different ages, races, religions, sexualities
November 5, 2025 at 2:36 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
🎊🎉🎊 buy my book so I can hire someone else to make graphics like this because they make me anxious 🎉🎊🎉

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Two-Holding-...

Other retailers: books2read.com/two-for-hold...
Cover of Two for Holding with excerpts from positive reviews
November 4, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by S. B. Barnes
mmbookwormreviews.bsky.social
🌈📚#HappyMMBookReleaseDay 🎉
Rebecca Rathe
Hinsel Meyer
Tessa Kane
Amy Aislin
TJ Nichols
Kevin Klehr
S.B. Barnes
Lyla Dane

Universal Links at mmbookwormreviews.com

#MMReaders #GayRomance #OctoberMMBooks2025 #LGBTQIACommunity #NewMMBooks
October 28, 2025 at 12:19 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Two for Holding is out now! Swipe to read a short excerpt as an enticement or maybe a deterrant. Order here: www.amazon.com/Two-Holding-... or here books2read.com/two-for-hold...
Cover of Two For Holding with header "available now" Excerpt from Two for Holding in which Jax flirts with Tom despite believng him to be a homophobe, like any rational well-adjusted adult would Excerpt from Two for Holding in which Jax tries to convince Tom to get laid for his own good and not at all because Jax has a crush the size of all four Scandinavian states
October 28, 2025 at 6:55 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
in romances featuring kids many readers dislike explicit scenes where the narration doesn't say door is locked

my toxic trait is not caring about the door--I care when one of the kids is small and the characters don't pause to check the baby monitor because that mattress squeak might be the baby
October 26, 2025 at 6:42 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Two for Holding comes out in two days! You can pre-order on Amazon, or send me proof of a donation to You Can Play to win a free copy!

www.amazon.com/dp/B0FWF1GQP...
October 26, 2025 at 8:35 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Now pre-orderable on your platform of choice! Out October 28th!
www.amazon.com/dp/B0FWFJ4CB...
October 16, 2025 at 11:24 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
As far as I can telll, microtropes are just...things that happen. Preorder Two for Holding here to get it four days earoy! ninestarpress.com/product/two-...

Art by @tuiskuh.bsky.social
Microtropes for Two for Holding
October 5, 2025 at 11:34 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Out on October 28th! Pre-order here and get it early! ninestarpress.com/product/two-...
Trope map for Two for Holding
October 1, 2025 at 8:25 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Mourning that I won't get back to these guys till December
Excerpt from hockey romance Two for Charging Excerpt from hockey romance Two for Charging in which the love interest's comically big dick is revealed
August 7, 2025 at 7:04 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
is anyone else essentially a cat on the hunt for the right napping spot except it's writing programs and utensils that allow you to focus for ten minutes put together?
August 6, 2025 at 10:26 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
So tomorrow's my birthday and I am working my way through the second round of edits on this book. And if you follow me on social media a really cool birthday gift would be to shoot me a question anywhere about this series!
Cover and trope sheet for hockey romance "Two For Holding"
August 1, 2025 at 7:14 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
July 15, 2025 at 1:51 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
am i doing this trope sheet thing right?
cover art by @tuiskuh.bsky.social
Cover for a hockey romance novel with one player sitting on a locker room bench shirtless while the other uses his jersey to wipe sweat off his brow. Title: Two for Holding. Author: S.B. Barnes. Tagline: Playing defense never won the game...or the guy. Tropes: mild animosity to lovers, m/m hockey romance, inexperienced older man/experienced younger man, slow burn (ish), opposites attract, practice kissing
July 5, 2025 at 6:24 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Both books available for 3.24$ each on Smashwords! If you want to read about an anxious academic and a gray ace mechanic falling in love and solving crimes, look no further! www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/99625
Book covers of Heart First and Second Chance with the Text "Half-Price at the Smashwords Summer Sale"
July 1, 2025 at 11:33 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
the only things tagged "foryou" that are actually for me are those sped up videos of pastry in the oven
June 29, 2025 at 11:14 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
love writing wish I could do it without using so many words
June 24, 2025 at 10:09 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
hemingway said "write drunk edit sober" but I choose to follow the cersei lannister method of "doesn't matter what part of which process, have a glass of red wine handy"
June 19, 2025 at 6:48 PM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Ideally I don't want to have a legacy as a person/creator, just my books. Those I hope provide comfort, distraction, amusement, catharsis.
professoremily.bsky.social Prof Elfmily & Spoopdolph the Red-Nosed Catdeer @professoremily.bsky.social · Jun 14
Happy Saturday once again, #PretendPanel! 😁

I'm very curious what answers I'm going to get for this one...

Saturday, June 14: What kind of legacy do you hope to leave behind as a writer/creator? What kind of mark do you hope to leave?

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #Writesky
#pretendpanel prompt for Saturday June 14: What kind of legacy do you hope to leave behind as a creator?
June 15, 2025 at 5:51 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
If you're interested in queer academics not trusting the police to competently solve murders, both Heart First and Second Chance are 40% off for the whole month of June! ninestarpress.com/product/hear...
Book covers of "Heart First" and "Second Chance" side by side. Below them text "40% reduced in June! Use coupon code "PRIDE2025"" in fluorescent pink
June 15, 2025 at 5:50 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
Proud to announce Second Chance has now sold 69 copies. Nice.
Book cover for Second Chance by S.B. Barnes. Tagline: Will solving the crime mean losing his lover? Cover shows the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York in the lower third and above that a mechanic in coveralls working on a car
June 13, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by S. B. Barnes
courtneymilan.com
It does suck that "AI" now means both generative AI (boo hiss) and a whole basket of incredibly useful machine learning techniques.
June 3, 2025 at 2:26 AM
sbbarnes.bsky.social
There are two wolves within me. One wants to gain enough recognition that people read my books. The other one wants to continue being totally unknown online.
June 3, 2025 at 6:51 AM