Soph
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soph-pl.bsky.social
Soph
@soph-pl.bsky.social
890 followers 540 following 1.8K posts
Endlessly curious globetrotter. Lover of smart stories. Spicy romance enthusiast. Combined, shook, rearranged, and caressed them into shape. And now #AmQuerying. Bonus threads on #NixedBookResearch
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soph-pl.bsky.social
Soph @soph-pl.bsky.social · 24d
A disciplined French student falls for leafy, laid-back post-Cold War Berlin—and for her reluctant host, an ex-athlete reeling from a wrecked career and a failed marriage.
The devastating catch? She can’t stay.

#QuestPit #Q #A #R
One summer to learn German To fall for Berlin To fall in love Only One Summer in Berlin Heartfelt & High Heat | ‘90s retro | Destination romance Background image: A couple embracing (Design by Freepik, freepik.com) overlaid with a picture of the Berlin TV tower (Photo by Robert | Visual Diary | Berlin on Unsplash) Snippet: I think that’s when the thaw begins. Not when he pulls me aside and tilts his head down. I briefly think we’ve never kissed in public. And not when he gently presses his lips to mine, giving me the choice to leave it at that. Because in that moment, I burst into flames. It all comes rushing back, like a punch to the heart that leaves me breathless. All the love and longing I feel for this man. Background image: Berlin Victory Column (photo by Robert | Visual Diary | Berlin on Unsplash) Before Sunrise movie poster; Every Summer After (Carley Fortune) book cover; Heartless (Elsie Silver) book cover; Kilt Trip (Alexandra Kiley) book cover. Keywords: slow burn; friends to lovers; heartfelt; multicultural; '90s retro; spicy chemistry; single dad; banter; forced proximity; destination romance Background image: A couple embracing (Design by Freepik, freepik.com) overlaid with a picture of the Berlin TV tower (Photo by Robert | Visual Diary | Berlin on Unsplash) Reader quotes: “Great story with a beautifully crafted relationship” “I found myself rooting for them from the beginning” “Perfect blend of emotional and sexy” “Lots of humor” “The reveal was great” “Felt like I was there” “I liked how the history was interwoven” "A wonderful job of creating ... characters that I care very much about and am sure other readers will, too! ... Can’t wait to see this published …" Background image: Berlin Victory Column (photo by Robert | Visual Diary | Berlin on Unsplash)
Reposted by Soph
nehayazmin.bsky.social
did someone say “fake courting”? #booksky #fantasy

bit.ly/htttbsky
November 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Soph
bookspotlight.bsky.social
He’s had many names, lived many lives, worn many disguises.

🎭 a magician’s last act
💖 a burgeoning romance
🗡️ brothers at odds
📓 21 pages

🔖 universal link: mybook.to/H6oGDdB
💌 itch.io link: rebecca-crunden.itch.io/the-final-ac...
📖 goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...
cover for the final act of jonas black by rebecca crunden; shows a faceless figure in a hat with glasses, black and white colour scheme
November 28, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Soph
bookspotlight.bsky.social
🧙 wild witches
🐦‍⬛ a crow (or two)
🔮 portal fantasy
🐈‍⬛ a cat who wanders in
👨‍❤️‍👨 true love
🗡️ revenge
👑 evil faeries

🔖 universal link: mybook.to/rlEOgP
💌 itch.io link: rebecca-crunden.itch.io/enlil-aris-t...
📖 goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...
Cover for ‘Enlil and Aris: The Complete Collection by Rebecca Crunden’. Cover is purple, yellow and orange with white font. Image shows two silhouettes of men with a crow above them, the sun behind.
November 28, 2025 at 8:02 PM
soph-pl.bsky.social
#XmasDIYChocolates

⚪ Chocolate fondant creams 🍫

Starting on the fondant today since it needs a few weeks to mature.
Fondant is basically… sugar! The things you can do with plain sugar are endless: syrup, glaze, caramel, angel hair… and, of course, delicious fondant!
It might be more than I'll need, but it keeps for months and can be used to glaze pastries 1. Here goes… just 3 ingredients: 225g sugar, 25g glucose (corn) syrup*, 75g water (oz equivalents are easy to Google…) 2. I tipped everything into a saucepan and brought it to 114°C/237°F (soft-ball stage). Sage grandmas might eyeball the temp by the bubbles. I can't, so I use a thermometer*! 3. I immediately set the pan in a bowl of ice water and let it cool to 75°C/167°F… 4. … then quickly transferred the mixture to a stand mixer with paddle attachment, and whisked at speed 6 until creamy white (up to 17 mins; with this quantity I only needed 9 mins) but before it powdered 5. Meanwhile, I carefully scrubbed my hands* 6. Last step: I tipped the sugar paste onto a pastry board and smeared it with the heel of my hand* until cohesive & soft Done! I've stored the fondant in a sterilized jam jar (previously boiled in water) and will let it mature at room temp, in a dark place, ideally for about 3 weeks.
November 28, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Soph
nehayazmin.bsky.social
“I didn’t realize I needed a series like this”
—Goodreads review

Aaryana is winning the contest that chooses the next Queen/King—but her enemies at Court are about to change that…

▶️ bit.ly/htttbsky

🧜‍♀️sea folk
💔forbidden love
💘fake courting
🖤hate-to-love
♥️friends-to-lovers
🤫secrets & lies

#booksky
November 24, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Soph
sagetgreene.bsky.social
EBOOKS & MUSIC 50% OFF 📣

Spend an upcoming winter evening wrapped up in the cozy novella, TOUCHED. Or spend your days off with the entire ETHERI trilogy.

*Sale goes through 12/7 for those currently participating in the mass blackout!*

itch.io/s/169144/hol...
ko-fi.com/sagetgreene/...

💙📚 🌈✒️
50% discount off Sage T. Greene's digital
Visit Sage T. Greene at Ko-fi for 50% discount off digital
ko-fi.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:27 AM
soph-pl.bsky.social
#XmasDIYChocolates

🍊Chocolate-covered candied orange peels🍫

Today, I prepped the orange peels, as they need about 11 days to candy!
Honestly, this part is 90% of the work… after that, it's just 5 mins every other day.
1. With a sharp knife, I scored each orange into quarters and gently removed the rind. (Cue fresh-squeezed juice for breakfast!) 2. Boiled the peels for 10-15 min, to blanch them and soften the pith 3. After dipping them in cold water, I scraped off as much of the pith as I could with a spoon*. It's a balance: too much scraping = torn peels; too little = bitter peels 4. Sliced them into 6mm (1/4 inch) strips 5. I had 200g of peel, so I made a light syrup with 200g sugar + 350g water: brought it to a boil in a covered saucepan so the water wouldn't evaporate 6. Let the syrup cool down below 60°C/140°F, added the peels, covered the pan… Step 1 done! They now rest for 48h * Tips - Many online recipes say to boil, drain, rinse, repeat to remove bitterness, then simmer the peels in sugar and water for about an hour. You can try that but… good luck (see next post) - Incidentally, a cheap spoon is perfect for this, as the thinner edge makes scraping easier I generally buy organic oranges for this. This year, I used regular ones and am crossing my fingers the pesticides stayed in the blanching water…
November 27, 2025 at 11:34 PM
soph-pl.bsky.social
By popular demand 😄… let’s do this!
I’ll be posting a thread for each type with #XmasDIYChocolates

This year's lineup:
🍬 Chocolate-covered candied orange peels
🍬 Chocolate fondant creams
🍬 Hazelnut pralinés
🍬 Mozart-style chocolate bonbons (Nutella + marzipan)
soph-pl.bsky.social Soph @soph-pl.bsky.social · 2d
So, um, unrelated to writing, but I make our Christmas chocolates every year. Like... from scratch.

I'm starting the process around now and thought I could do some threads (tutorial & tips, sort of).
Is that something anyone would be interested in?

(Expect wonky pics 🤪)
November 27, 2025 at 6:37 PM
soph-pl.bsky.social
So, um, unrelated to writing, but I make our Christmas chocolates every year. Like... from scratch.

I'm starting the process around now and thought I could do some threads (tutorial & tips, sort of).
Is that something anyone would be interested in?

(Expect wonky pics 🤪)
November 27, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Soph
kateheartfield.com
I'm going to do a little thread on how the money from books works for traditionally published authors because people have questions, and this is always useful info to share IMO. First, a big disclaimer that every contract is different, and there are a million factors that can change things. 1/
November 26, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Soph
sarahmaywrites.bsky.social
Excited to introduce my #amquerying novel BURIED FEELINGS

💁🏻‍♀️💕 Upmarket women's fiction/strong
romcom thread
🇮🇪🪦 Set at an Irish wake
👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏼💕 Forced prox, second-chance love
😵‍💫🧠 Fresh take on mental health/OCD
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒👵🏻 Familial chaos across generations

#upmarket #pitchcard #womensfic #litagents
November 14, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Soph
bookspotlight.bsky.social
🚀 spaceships
🌡️ dark conspiracies
🎭 brotherhood
❌ no romance
🐛 strange creatures
🤖 futuristic
🪐 other worlds
🐈 a rescue cat

🔖 universal link: mybook.to/schU
💌 itch.io link: rebecca-crunden.itch.io/dust-lightning
📖 goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/56...
kindle cover for dust & lightning by rebecca crunden; image shows a dark planet in purple lighting, a moon in the background, volcano canyons below
November 8, 2025 at 6:16 PM
soph-pl.bsky.social
Another curiosity...
A British song about the American Civil War that only made the charts in continental Europe...
🤷

Pretty song, though!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=feY6...
Sweet Was My Rose
YouTube video by Velvet Glove - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Soph
elizabethtitus.bsky.social
Long after #Collapse, an empath leads an odyssey across the former US, using the power of meditation, wilderness survival skills, and archaic tech to save her people.

Her mission grows to offer humanity a way forward in a world desperately in need of change.
#hopepunk #hopepit #clifi #Q #ecofiction
closeup of a pastel drawing by @arachnereid.bsky.social of the lantern in the Hermit tarot card a Hermit tarot card of an illuminated figure holding up a lantern in a colorful swamp climate fiction #clifi indigenous futurism plant medicine meditation climate fiction #clifi indigenous futurism plant medicine meditation wilderness permaculture neotribalism community backpacking post-apocalyptic hopepunk
November 9, 2025 at 4:30 PM
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tjdaviesauthor.bsky.social
My vague era is officially over! I'm beyond thrilled to have found an amazing home for The Lottery. The team at Cranthorpe Millner have been incredible and I'm so excited to get to work with them to bring this story to the world! cranthorpemillner.com/tj-davies-si...
#debutnovel #dystopian
November 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Soph
authorvaughnroe.bsky.social
Cursed to perish unless blood is offered in love, Yverdon—a reckless vampire king—captures the last witch alive to trick death, but when affection blooms, the price for his cure proves a sacrifice he would survive…but not his heart.

standalone

#QuestPit #agented #A #RF #WIP
November 6, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Reposted by Soph
rachelblaine.bsky.social
All Amara wants is to get her period and walk with The Sharks, but her menstrual cycle is not what she imagined. When people start dying, she wonders, is she the one draining the blood of her neighbors? Or are The Sharks holding an even bigger secret?
#questpit #MG #W #H #F
Blood; blood; blood oranges; crime scene; vampire; investigation; menstrual cup; tampons; pads
November 5, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Soph
rachelblaine.bsky.social
ARE YOU THERE GOD IT’S ME MARGARET X TEEN WOLF

Her friends get Bat Mitzvah’s, Amara gets an uncontrollable hunger for blood.

🩸Tween vampire
🫆Dead bodies
👯‍♀️Mean girls

#questpit #MG #W #H #F
Blood; blood; blood oranges; crime scene; vampire; investigation; menstrual cup; tampons; pads
November 5, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by Soph
jjphillipsyo.bsky.social
NEVERMOOR X ANDOR
➥Magic+Spycraft

Hunted for his meteorite wand, 12yo Catch—the only kid at a spy academy for wizards who doesn’t know magic—must master spell-hacked spycraft to stop Acolytes from enslaving Guardian Spirits like Bigfoot & seizing the Minerals of Power.

#QuestPit #MG #F #Q
NEVERMOOR X ANDOR ➥Magic+Spycraft Hunted for his meteorite wand, 12yo Catch—the only kid at a spy academy for wizards who doesn’t know magic—must master spell-hacked spycraft to stop Acolytes from enslaving Guardian Spirits & seizing the Minerals of Power. 
#QuestPit #MG #F #Q
November 5, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Soph
arachnereid.bsky.social
"Dirty hands, they can heal
Fertile soil feeds your soil
If you stand, you can grow" -Toni Hill

A local Portland activist group for neighborhood climate resilience & local artists created this hopeful song about the power of communities growing & sharing food
💚🌱
#Hopepit #MusicChallenge #UrbanFarms
November 6, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Soph
camalin.net
It's so exciting to be writing my first novel: #Ellamir, a #Regency adventure #romance, featuring characters exceedingly similar to some of the most memorable #JaneAusten creations, trying to maintain decorum in an increasingly chaotic high #fantasy world. Coming in 2026!

#Fiction #BookSky #Authors
On the left, a portrait of a young woman in Regency dress looks out at the viewer, while on the right, the novel's tagline reads: "Handsome, clever and rich, Miss Ellamir Oakhall lacks neither fortune nor consequence and is decidedly not in want of a husband..." Below this, the novel's title: "Ellamir" by C A Malin - the Bluesky tag @camalin.net and the hashtag #Ellamir
September 1, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Soph
sagetgreene.bsky.social
OUT IN 4 DAYS 📣

A family of royals aims for perfection and tradition, but a series of whirlwind romances could send the veneer of perfection and desire for tradition up in flames.

🌼 cozy vibes
🤫 secret relationships
🌈 queer rep
💕💕💕 3 couples at different stages

#P NOV 9
#QuestPit #A #R #F #RF
November 5, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Soph
bvbodegom.bsky.social
Forgot to add that #amquerying this one! #QuestPit #Q
bvbodegom.bsky.social B. van Bodegom 📃is querying & writing @bvbodegom.bsky.social · 23d
CABIN IN THE WOODS × JOHN DIES AT THE END

When their detective friend is murdered during their annual gaming retreat, 5 dads must rely on years of #TTRPG experience—and puns—to solve the crime before they're all killed off like NPCs in a badly written supernatural campaign.

#QuestPit #A #H #M
The image, made with free non-AI stock pictures, shows a horror-comedy novel cover titled "DAD BODIES." The top of the cover reads "THE GAME JUST TOOK A DAD TURN" with "DAD" in a different color. The background features a haunted house with multiple towers and illuminated windows against a dark backdrop. At the center is a 20-sided die (D20) used in tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, with visible numbers including 1, 7, 13, and 19. The die is surrounded by red blood splatter effects. At the bottom of the cover are six men with expressions of terror and shock. One man is wearing a white shirt over his head. These men are the dads referenced in the title.
November 5, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Soph
elizamaresauthor.bsky.social
#QuestPit #W #A #DF #R

All her life, Selba's seen smoky visions of the future, but never anything helpful. She can't predict weather or luck, & certainly not her BFF's tragic death. But when her dead friend returns & asks her to join the war effort, Selba's finnicky Sight might just save the world.
A moodboard with nine images: A detail from "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan" by Ilya Repin, showing the elder Ivan's grief-stricken gaze as he clutches his dead son; a volcano spewing lava; a gravestone overgrown with ivy; an illuminated manuscript with golden inking; curls of gray smoke; a detail from a painting showing a woman's hand holding open a book, she wears jeweled rings on her ring and pinky fingers, and a brooch with a huge pearl adorns her bodice; a crown and a rose laid on a brocade cloth; a wall made of weathered skulls; a close up of a knight's armor showing the arm pieces and chestplate, all ornately carved.
November 5, 2025 at 7:19 PM