iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 6h

Happy #orctober everyone! I’ll be celebrating this month by finalizing the first volume (and drafting my second volume) of my queer fantasy starring an orcish soldier that will steal your heart 😏 #amwriting #selfpublishing #queerfantasy #lgbtqauthors

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 30/09/2026

What book are you busy reading (or writing) as it gets chilly outside? 🍂 #booksky #amwriting #queerfantasy #indieauthors

An autumn-themed background with leaves. Foreground text says "Autumn: The time to curl up with a book full of hunky men with swords and a thousand-yard stare."

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 30/09/2026

Sounds like a captivating premise 😊✨

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 29/09/2026

While waiting for feedback on vol 1 from betas, I crossed 200 pages on my first draft of vol 2 yesterday! 🤩 (I know that "page" is not a real length metric, but, hey, I got 200 of them!) #queerfantasy #lgbtbooks #amwriting #progressreport

A snippet of a screenshot from macOS pages with a WIP work that shows the page count, showing 203 pages and 66k words.

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 29/09/2026

Very nice! ✨ Congrats on publishing, the cover looks great! Was it more of an innocent lie, or a sinister one?

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

It's funny when it's not even a white lie, just an optional lie! 😀

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

Haha thank you! He's working on it in book 2 😀 Best of luck to you and your plot-avoidant character!

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

Ooh, that sounds fun! I presume the plot catches up with her eventually?

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

The prince uses a (fairly) innocent lie as an excuse to bring the soldier to his chambers. The soldier calls him out on it, but only because he wishes for the prince to be direct with him. He doesn’t stay upset about it for too long 😏 #booksky #writersky #queerfantasy #lgbtbooks

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

The soldier tells flirty things to the prince in orcish—a language the prince doesn’t understand. When asked about what it means, the soldier refuses to answer, or tells him it means something else. 🧵 #writersky #booksky #queerfantasy #lgbtbooks

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

And was it an innocent lie? Or something more sinister? 🤨 #writerq #writingq #writercommunity #writersky

A decorative background with lines and ink blots. The text says: “Fellow Writers, what’s something your character has lied about?”

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

It’s not even a scary book, but for some reason, that scene where the cab driver describes the shapeshifter in Mistborn: Shadows of Self really left me shaken haha! That book taught me a lot about how to traumatize your characters 😈

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

I didn’t really know what to do with him at the start! It’s always nice when character flesh themselves out as time goes 😊 Thanks for your interest! Any fun side character arcs in your recent WIP?

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

Thank you! 😊🌈 I am currently writing vol 2, and allowing him to discover himself is a lot of fun!

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

It just landed there 😊 I was honestly just doing my best to get the word count under control, to however low I could drag it, kicking and screaming lol. How about you? How do you structure your chapters?

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

The sequel will explore the lives of trans / nb people, and we will be seeing much more of the sexual preference spectrum 🌈 #queerfantasy #lgbtbooks #booksky

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

We get to spend time with WLW as well. They don’t face scrutiny for that, but certain sexist ways are unfortunately still deeply rooted in how the world operates. 🧵 #queerfantasy #lgbtbooks #booksky

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 28/09/2026

The soldier, who is rather famous across the land, is openly gay and few bat an eye, although some choose to ignore this when making their advances. The prince has been courted by men before, and it raised some eyebrows, but not because it was by another man. 🧵 #queerfantasy #lgbtbooks #booksky

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 27/09/2026

Hi! A new queer fantasy author on the scene here, with a debut coming out later this fall! 👑 pampered elven prince X foreign orcish soldier 💥 couple off to a rough start 🌈 steamy, passionate MM romance ⚖️ equal parts romance / plot 🌑 dark secrets, political conspiracies 🎭 aims for laughter and tears

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 27/09/2026

☝️ bonus points if you also have people you know IRL as beta readers going through your characters getting it on 😅

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 27/09/2026

I just checked, we’re sitting pretty at XXXIV. Which I guess could be better? Maybe we could add some filler and make it XXXV 😅

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 27/09/2026

I just woke up and my day is already in shambles

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 26/09/2026

Teacher: All right, class. Today we’re going to be learning about Roman numerals. Me back then: Ugh. What a waste of time. When are we ever gonna use this? Present me, numbering the chapters in my book: Fuck. #indieauthor #amwriting #selfpublishing #booksky

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 26/09/2026

One of the main leads has a subordinate / friend who ended up being so fun to write about that he gets his own little self-discovery arc in the sequel! ✨

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 26/09/2026

Love the cover style 😍 Alphonse Mucha vibes!

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 26/09/2026

My two leads help each other with these! The prince asks him for help with combat training. Although he has talents, he can barely hold a sword. The soldier is a horrible dancer. At one point, the teacher / student dynamic between them switches for a bit. #amwriting #queerfantasy #indieauthor

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 26/09/2026

We know they're perfect to YOU, but what's an example that makes them imperfect? #writerq #writingcommunity #booksky #amwriting

A text on a paper texture decorated with lines and ink blots that says: "Fellow Writers: What's that one thing your character CAN'T do?"

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Reposted by Balthazar Howle

DD Ward ..."Interim Pirate Queen" @ddwardiswriting.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Have you talked about your book yet today?! Drop and give us... Title: Captive of the Crimson Countess Genre: Dark Sapphic Romantasy Word count: 110k+ Funniest moment: see the snippet below 🔗: www.patreon.com/collection/2...

Captive of the Crimson Countess

The Vampire: Countess Erzabet Battoria menaces the warrior: Lady Blair Wander. In the background Princess Nadia weeps, the scars showing on her back.

Hester stared at Blair, not blinking. Blair thought Hester looked as though she were in shock. Blair crooked her mouth into a smile, she dropped into a bow.

“Thank you for your kind words. I hope you enjoyed the show.” Blair looked at Hester. “I hope you all enjoyed the show.”

Hester made a small noise, and then whispered, “You have an eyeball on your face.”

Blair ran a hand over her face and found the offending bit of monster gore. She removed it and tossed it aside.

“Thank- you Hester.”

Hester nodded wordlessly.

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

I’ve recently had a discussion about this, I believe every writer is either an overwriter or an underwriter and everyone is just fighting opposite issues 😅

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

me while drafting: yes 😊 more words! ✨ there's no such thing as too many, the more the merrier 🤩 every single one of them is important and beautiful! ☀️🌈🌸 me while editing: 🔪 #amwriting #selfpublishing #indieauthor

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

(Fantasy) accidental anachronism 😭 my constant struggle ”the rock was the size of a basketball” - no, it wasn‘t “he needed a shower” - he better get inventive with a bucket and some nails then “her energy was electric” - I guess electricity has always existed but, like, do they know what it is?

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

It’s been a minute since I watched iZombie but I remember it being so underrated!

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

Very cool! I bet that makes for some really fun fight scenes.

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

They are so difficult to write, yes! 😅 constantly tip-toeing the balance between flowery and clinical

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

Agreed on all these 😊 it‘s a genuine tool! And I found it helps balance out the plot and character work. I hope for a future when more writers feel empowered to blend it more with (for lack of a better word) traditional storytelling!

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

Most likely just self-editing at the moment 😊 will see how it goes with next volumes down the line!

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

I love closed-door AND also smut, but I also genuinely believe that you can have a compelling story and character growth with spice on page. Spice can be additive, showcase your characters and their dynamics, and enable their growth! Would you read a story like this? #BookSky #lgbtqfantasy

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 25/09/2026

That’s an interesting contrast! How does he cope with being surrounded by water so often? Or is he only in trouble once he’s in it?

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 24/09/2026

Currently waiting for the betas to come back before feedback implementation and final edits 😊✨

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 24/09/2026

Thanks a bunch! I love all of these characters and hope everyone else will fall in love with them as well when the book’s out 😊

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 24/09/2026

Oh yes, my favorite compound that instantly brings me from tired and unfocused to overstimulated and unfocused! 🤩

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 24/09/2026

Some of my side characters you might want to meet... My debut is coming out later this fall! #queerfantasy #lgbtbooks #amwriting #indieauthor

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 24/09/2026

Sounds like a tough time! I’m sure lots of readers will resonate with that. Is that his main character arc, or something he struggles with on the side?

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 24/09/2026

Thanks!! 😊 I try to get him to face his shortcomings without losing the initial love for it

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 23/09/2026

When I write Acts 1 & 3, I'm locked in. I know where I am and where I need to go. I'm focused. Determined. Let's. Go. When I write Act 2, I turn into one of those people at the airport who have apparently just left their house for the very first time. #amwriting #indieauthor #selfpublishing

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 23/09/2026

Super powerful but also whimsical at the same time! 😊

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 23/09/2026

It's surprisingly fun to write scenes involving conflict! Although I generally seek out feel-good stories to relax, there's nothing I enjoy more than writing a tragic scene 🎭 On the other hand, any kind of "a character enters a new location" kind of scene kicks my ass. #amwriting #fantasywriter

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 22/09/2026

Raise your hand if you've read this post and immediately ran to your table of contents 🤚

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Balthazar Howle @balthazarhowle.com · 22/09/2026

CW: Death The soldier has to train to the point of exhaustion every night to be able to fall sleep, because he grieves a close friend and struggles to understand what led to his death. Sometimes things start out bad and then only get much, MUCH worse… #queerfantasy #indieauthor #lgbtbooks

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