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Ben Jeapes

@benjeapes.bsky.social
198 followers 241 following 308 posts

Husband, stepfather, ghostwriter and author whose work spans two millennia.

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Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 7h
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'voice' #BookQW #BookSky Dan Mackmain usually thinks before he speaks, and even then he's a man of few words. Some people think he has nothing to say. That's a mistake. For a wide range of UK and international purchase options - wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/book...
Cover art by Ben Baldwin for The Green Man's Debt by Juliet E McKenna. A grey wolf with pale eyes stands in the shadows of a derelict building with a black and white tiled floor. The wolf is looking straight at you. Its snarl reveals blood on its teeth and jaw.

Book extract reads: Somebody knocked twice on the side door, hard and loud. Conn frowned and took his phone out of his pocket. ‘Excuse me,’ he said after checking the screen.
	I guessed he was looking at the security camera feed. Whoever was out there knocked again, much harder this time. Conn walked quickly back down the hallway. Fin and I followed him. Iris stood in the kitchen doorway, looking puzzled and holding the kettle.
	Conn opened the door. ‘Yes?’
	I couldn’t say exactly what I heard in his voice, but I knew I didn’t like it. I stepped behind him, so whoever was outside on the gravel could see that he had back-up. Maybe that wasn’t necessary. The unexpected visitors were two scruffy teenagers, each wearing a backpack.
	The scowling boy had thick dark hair wrenched back with an elastic band. He shoved his hands deep into the front pockets of his ragged black hoodie. ‘Are you Conn O’Cleary?’ he demanded.
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It's Pipes, Mum! Pipes is here! @scriblit.bsky.social · 7h
Book Quote Wednesday & the word is VOICE. It's London, it's 1599, meet two of the most important voices on the theatre scene - Bill and Kit. Kit's been a zombie since 1593. It was a whole thing. From Cursed Under London #BookSky #BookQW Buying links: farragobooks.com/book-series/...
Quote from Cursed Under London. Quote reads: Bill raised a couple of ink-stained fingers in a half-wave of greeting. Before Fang could say anything to either of them, Kit reached across the table and grabbed Fang’s hand.
‘Bill writes and acts a bit for The Lord Chamberlain's Men.’ Lazare continued. ‘He’s the Romeo and Juliet guy, did you see Romeo and Juliet?’
Why was Lazare asking Fang if he went to the theatre as if that was something he’d have the time, energy and patience to bother with? He shook his head.
‘Ah! You should! It’s really sexy stuff.’
‘It’s a tragedy,’ interjected Bill in a plaintive voice.
‘A really sexy tragedy,’ continued Lazare, enthusiastically, ‘with a funny nursemaid. Now, Kit you must have heard of. He’s—-’
‘A genius,’ interjected Kit, before planting a firm kiss on the back of Fang’s hand.
‘I was going to say,’ added Lazare, ‘Faust. Tamburlaine. You know? Or you may have read some of his poems? Maybe his translations of Ovid?’
Kit flicked his remaining deep brown eye up to catch Fang’s gaze. ‘They’re deeply erotic,’ he told Fang before finally letting go of his hand. ‘Much sexier than Bloody Romeo.’
‘It’s not meant to be sexy, it’s meant to be sad,’ protested Bill, as Fang wiped Kit’s kiss-slobber off his hand.
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Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 6h
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'voice' #BookQW #BookSky When bad news travels at the speed of the fastest horse, getting further, accurate information is going to be a challenge. Available in ebook, paperback and audiobook from Angry Robot Books 27th October 2026 www.amazon.co.uk/Riven-Kingdo...
The Riven Kingdom cover art by Alice Claire Coleman is in the style of a stained glass window. Blue-green leaves and vines dotted with golden flowers coil around silver swords in panels on either side. These are topped with a golden sun on the left and a yellow crescent moon on the right. In the centre, rival hands stretch upwards trying to get hold of a crown that's just out of reach... 

A crowd had already gathered in the square in front of the Horned God’s shrine. Some people were dressed for the bitter cold. Others had snatched up clothes closest to hand and would soon regret their haste. Lanterns and candles kindled in windows overlooking the square glowed golden with an illusion of warmth. 
Beneath the great hammered silver crescent, the gate swung open. Shrine Father Memlin in his long black robes walked forward with a parchment in his hands. Jadewin noted the profusion of lead seals dangling from braided ribbons threaded through the document’s lower edge. Speculation scurried around the square. 
‘That has to be news from Velasta.’ She instantly regretted speaking to Alory as anxious faces turned towards her. To her relief, Father Memlin raised his voice. 
‘Good people of Hurat! A crown envoy has brought grievous tidings.’ The veteran priest shook his grey head, unable to deny this news. ‘I must tell you, with the most profound sorrow, that our beloved King Venais is dead. He died on the twenty-second day of the last Ice Moon.’
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Vanessa Knipe @vjknipe.bsky.social · 6h
Book Quote Wednesday #BookQW. Today's word is VOICE. Caroline stopped to rescue a motorcyclist knocked off his bike during a massive storm. Soaked to the skin, she shelters him from the storm. But the storm calls uncanny things. UK www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Borrowed... US www.amazon.com/Her-Borrowed...
A Flyer for the book Her Borrowed Grave. The cover shows a silhouetted figure walking over rain-washed cobbles. Behind them is a winged serpent set into an intaglio such as you might find in a signet ring. 
Text Reads: Her Borrowed Grave. Ancient Magic collides with Modern Crime.
A massive boom carried metal clanging on metal, like a swordfight, accompanied by voices shouting insults in a language she didn’t quite catch. The noise grew louder, racing with the rushing water to where she sat. Dizziness swamped her as if she was moving rather than the sounds.
Water curled around them, like a sea serpent, pressing them together. The current so strong, she thought the surface under her would wash away and expose the old Roman road beneath the asphalt. Over the thunder, someone screamed.
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C M Debell @cmdebell.bsky.social · 6h
It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is 'voice' A reunion between family doesn't go so well in The Many Shades of Midnight. #bookqw #writingcommunity #indiefantasy 💙🪐📚
Front cover and excerpt from The Many Shades of Midnight for Book Quote Wednesday prompt VOICE

He backed off a step, his face frozen. “You make it sound so reasonable, Mari. Like he did nothing more than lose his temper. As if he didn’t take everything I had—”
   “Alyas…”
   “As if he didn’t take my name and make a ruin of it. As if he didn’t lie and steal and murder four hundred of his own men to cover it up. As if I brought it on myself.”
   Silence hung between them. The kind of silence there had never been, even after their worst arguments. “I didn't mean that,” she said in a small voice. “You know I didn’t.”
   “Do I?” he asked, and it was like he was talking to a stranger. Then something in his face changed, and he just looked tired. “Am I being unfair, Mari? He’s your husband and this is your life. What should I expect? Can I tell Esar you will come? We are at Camling.”
   He was leaving. She didn’t try to stop him. It would have been awkward and painful, and it wouldn’t have worked. Instead, she plastered a smile on her face and pretended that inside she wasn’t weeping.
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Thomas Wrightson (he/him) @thomaswrightson.bsky.social · 4h
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'voice'. #BookQW #BookSky💙📚 Sedna encounters a strange Human who has secrets behind her watching eyes, and a role to play in things to come. (1/2) #scifi #spaceopera #mystery #sample
The woman, Vorn, was altogether different. Tall and almost frighteningly slender, her traveling clothes woven more for practicality than show. No one could miss the generous size of her breasts, and the cut that showed them and the cleavage off to their best advantage. Nor could her skin tone be ignored, unusually pale compared to the darker tones of Humans. Sedna also noted the languid eye the woman cast around everyone, as if sizing up and judging them in the same moment. It was unsettling to be seen in such a way for anyone, but for Sedna, seeing such complete calm in a Human face was unnatural.
“I’ve heard of Ekri Murderers.” Vorn bowed her head upon Sedna’s introduction. “Such a unique cultural feature. I wondered at first if they were a myth.”
Her voice held a tired, drawling quality. But Sedna wasn’t deceived. There was a sharp intelligence behind the dull eyes and flaccid pose. Quite the opposite of her employer, the bold and bombastic politician. Maybe she was looking at the reason Jaques had made it this close to the Synod.
Sedna spoke with her most detached manner. “Murderer is the only equivalent term in your language. Our role is far more complex than simple killing.”
“I guessed as much. So, what kind of term would you use for someone who simply killed?”
“A killer.”
“I see. And just out of curiosity, what is the native name for your profession?” 
She listened as Sedna told her. “Fascinating. That inflection. Are you a native of the Ekri home world?”
“Spot on. How did you know?”
“In my position, I need to guess things about someone from everything but what they say. How they say something, for instance.”
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Stephanie Burgis @stephanieburgis.bsky.social · 4h
It's Book Quote Wednesday! This week's word is 'voice,' and here's a snippet from A Waltz of Sinister Import, which is out today. Snap it up in ebook or paperback now! books2read.com/waltzSinister #romancelandia #bookqw
The cover of A Waltz of Sinister Import, by Stephanie Burgis, shows a pair of late nineteenth-century dancing slippers hanging over the title and a bat with outstretched wings underneath the author's name. Framing the cover's text are branches with golden leaves. Above, beside, and below that cover image is this snippet of text: Margaret buried her hot face in her hands. “Good Lord, I am hopeless! How am I meant to investigate all these upcoming royal balls when I can’t even act the part of a proper lady for half an hour in a coffee house?”
“Oh, my love.” Lord Riven’s voice was warm and rueful as he rose and circled the table to lean over her, one big hand stroking gently across her hair. “Don’t distress yourself, I beg you. If it helps, I am certain you’ve been behaving in a far more proper manner than that waiter has witnessed in months.”
“What do you mean?” Margaret lifted her head just enough to peer up at him but not dislodge his warm fingers.
“We-ell...” He tilted his head towards the closed curtains behind him, his mouth quirking. “What do you suppose is usually happening when an Imperial archduke escorts an elegant lady to this table and pulls those curtains shut for privacy?”
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Joanne Guidoccio @joanneguidoccio.bsky.social · 3h
It's Book Quote Wednesday! Today's word: VOICE. #Excerpt is from HIPPIE MERMAID, a coming-of-age #fantasy. #bookqw
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Jana Richards, Romance Author @janarichards.bsky.social · 3h
#BookQW “She was killed by General Dietrich,” Monsieur Gagnon said in a flat VOICE. “The general made her his mistress, in much the same way he is trying to do with Madeleine." FLAWLESS  books2read.com/Flawless-by-Jana-Ric… #WW2romance #romanticsuspense #FrenchResistanceRomance
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Hywela-Lyn @hywela-lyn.bsky.social · 2h
#BOOKQW Today's word is #VOICE and the snippet is again from The #Matchmaker'sMare. Megan pays a visit to her horse trainer neighbour. Amazon UK: www.amazon.co.uk/Matchmakers-... Amazon US: www.amazon.com/Matchmakers....
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Brian Anderson @bandersonmysteries.bsky.social · 2h
Today is Book Quote Wednesday, and today’s word is “voice.” For more information or to order, visit www.brianandersonmysteries.com www.amazon.com/stores/autho... mybook.to/e2jmq #BookQW #mystery #MysterySeries #BookSky
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Willa Blair @willablair.bsky.social · 2h
Today's #BookQW word: VOICE WAITING FOR THE LAIRD bit.ly/4o7TK7J #SpookySeason #FriendlyGhost #HalloweenRomance #BookSky
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Linda Griffin @lindagriffinauthor.bsky.social · 1h
"Gentle, wholesome romance of independence and enduring love." ~ BookLife Reviews lindagriffinauthor.com/cherry_creek... #BookQW #HistoricalRomance #GoldRush
Fire roaring in a fireplace. " He saw me, a dark shape curled up near the fireplace, and stopped, staring. “Molly?” he said, and when I didn’t answer, unsure of my #voice, he lit a lamp and carried it over to me. “Why, Molly, darlin’, whatever are you doing here in this cold kitchen in the middle of the night?”
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Tanya Huff @tanyahuff.bsky.social · 36m
Today's word is VOICE. Today's #BookQW from SAVED BY THE SPELL, out Nov 3rd from @dawbooks.bsky.social. A starred review from the Library Journal notes "magical antics" and "wry, realistic humour" but entirely misses that the Timbits in the staff room are stale! Will no one think of the teachers!?
Cover of SAVED BY THE SPELL in the lower left corner -- classroom, eye on blackboard, lots of swirls. Expanded cover behind the quote lets you see that some of the desks are warped. 

     The double doors of the student residence flew open and the first group of students strutted out. Grade nine. So young, so proud, so aware they were among the elite, the forty among the thousands who'd survived the testing and made it into the High School for the Magical Arts, Canadian campus. Sorry, not survived. Yesterday's email from the Board had made it clear that the staff were not to use the words "survived the testing" when referring to our grade nines and they were very tired of having to remind us. 
     Every voice that added another shrill layer to the swell of noise rang out with the kind of confidence that came from being smart and powerful and fourteen -- or thirteen, depending on where birthdays fell. Thirteen or fourteen, this group didn't do self doubt. That would come later.
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Ben Jeapes @benjeapes.bsky.social · 8h
It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is VOICE. Thousands of years ago the King was the god of this land. And here he is again in 21st century Salisbury. #bookqw #yafantasy #salisbury www.benjeapes.com/index.php/th... Hear me read a longer extract at benjeapes.substack.com.
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Ben Jeapes @benjeapes.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
The best writing conveys a sense of wonder. Where does that wonder come from? Well, look around you. #writing #inspiration unitedghostwriters.co.uk/there-is-mag...
unitedghostwriters.co.uk
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Ben Jeapes @benjeapes.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Who do you want to imitate today? GHOSTWRITING NOVELS: A GUIDE FOR GHOSTWRITERS AND THE GHOSTWRITTEN. #ghostwriting #WritingTip #writing www.ghostwritingnovels.com
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Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'push' #BookQW #BookSky We can't always find the nominated word, so when push comes to shove, we can go with a synonym. This unexpected encounter leaves Dan Mackmain badly off balance. For UK and international purchase options - wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/book...
Cover art by Ben Baldwin for The Green Man's Debt by Juliet E McKenna. A grey wolf with pale eyes stands in the shadows of a derelict building with a black and white tiled floor. The wolf is looking straight at you. Its snarl reveals blood on its teeth and jaw.

Book extract reads: The shadows vanished and daylight filtered through the firs. I could hear cheerfully singing birds, and the murmur of a breeze in the needle-fringed branches above me. The hawthorn’s guardian gripped my bruised wrist as I knelt at her feet. I couldn’t fight my way free even if I wanted to. My arm was as limp as old rope. 
She released my wrist, sending a painful jolt through my shoulder and into my rib cage. Her blazing gaze skewered me, furious, as she stooped to seize hold of my jaw, forcing me to look into her eyes, still on my knees.
‘You swore you would not trespass. Do not ever do that again.’
‘I—’ I have no idea what I was going to say.
‘Tell no one of your idiocy.’ She released me with a shove that rocked me back on my heels, jarring my spine from the back of my neck to my tail-bone.
Before I could even gasp at the pain, she vanished.
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Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'push' #BookQW #BookSky In the realm of Arafaze, a small number of priests and priestesses keep magic's secrets closely guarded. Their duty is watching for malevolent incursions from the unseen world and forcing the apparitions back. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GK5RVZWT/
The Riven Kingdom cover art by Alice Claire Coleman is in the style of a stained glass window. Blue-green leaves and vines dotted with golden flowers coil around silver swords in panels on either side. These are topped with a golden sun on the left and a yellow crescent moon on the right. In the centre, rival hands stretch upwards trying to get hold of a crown that's just out of reach... 

‘What do we do?’ Alory’s shiver had nothing to do with the cold.
Jadewin pushed back her hood. The waxing Snow Moon shone above them in a cloudless sky. Its light burnished threads of silver in her dark, coiled braids. ‘We take note, first of all. A phantasm’s form tells us about those whose fears and spite have spawned it. Where the thing goes and where it lingers will tell us more. We have to find this apparition’s source if we’re to extinguish it for good. I don’t propose to banish it tonight to see it return tomorrow.’ 
Alory watched the phantasm walk back and forth across the square, like a dog casting for a scent. 
When she had first seen the apparition, Jadewin could see the buildings behind it, as though she were looking through smoke. As it drew closer, the phantasm become more solid, more horribly real. The semblance of an age-withered woman approached; a short, hunched figure with toothless gums drawing its nose into a hook above a pointed jaw.
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It's Pipes, Mum! Pipes is here! @scriblit.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Book Quote Wednesday's word is PUSH, which gives me the excuse to post Lazare JUST HAPPENING to see Fang washing his chest, pushing his hair back to do so #BookSky #BookQW from Cursed Under London. Buying links: farragobooks.com/book-series/...
Quote from Cursed Under London. Quote reads: Cock-a-doodle-doo, he was attractive. Lazare had guessed from the way Fang had fought that he’d have to have considerable lean strength, but it was quite a different matter being faced with those forearms, those shoulders, that chest and that midriff, still half wet. The man’s skin was far from the sort of perfect porcelain purity that would be romanticised in sonnets. Black hair grew thin as lichen on his chest and thickened as it disappeared in a merrily widening path down the front his breeches. The body hair had bald, discoloured lines of scar tissue cut into it in one, two, three, four… five places on his torso, and several on his arms. Fang had pushed his long hair back to wash his face, and bonjour neck, chin and cheekbones. The bonnest of jours to all of that.
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Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's Book Quote Wednesday and today's #BookQW word is 'push'. In The Waterborne Blade, Alwenna's woken from a familiar nightmare.
Extract from The Waterborne Blade by Susan Murray:

Alwenna woke to stillness. The crumbling, falling nightmare had ended. The same old nightmare, yet still so vivid, so real. The imagined weight of her father’s broken body pressed down on her legs. She could almost taste the loosened earth, the grit in her mouth, the dust caking her lips. Her eyes stung with grit when she opened them and tears streamed unbidden. 

Dust? Grit? 

She raised her hand to rub her eyelids, but something hampered the movement. She jerked her arm reflexively and freed it. Her action set something in motion with a tiny skirling hush that stilled after a moment or two. What? It sounded like pebbles. Or sand. The smell of mouldering plaster rose up around her. She blinked, looking for the chink between her bed curtains where moonlight or firelight always shone, but the night was too dark. Disorientated, she tried to push herself up into a sitting position, only to find one foot was pinned by tangled bedcovers. Impatiently she tugged it and pain ripped through her ankle. She yelped out loud and subsided. More cautiously she explored the darkness with her free hand. She was covered not by woollen blankets, but by a blanket of grit and small stones, crumbled plaster and mortar. This was not her old nightmare. Not now. It had propelled her into a new, waking one.

#BookQW – push

Cover of The Waterborne Blade by Susan Murray. A woman in an ornate gown is moving past the viewer, a long dagger held in her blood-spattered right hand. Cover art by Paul Young.
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L.L. Stephens @triempery.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is PUSH One of my favorite characters--simply loved writing him--is Cullen. In this snip from THE KHELD KING, Cullen and Stefan are resolving a thorny issue: whether Stefan should make Cullen, a Kheld, a lord. #WritingCommunity #bookqw
Left side of image is the book cover of THE KHELD KING, second book of the Triempery Revelations series by L.L. Stephens. Cover is blue and gray and shows a lonely figure looking up at a clifftop city crowned by magic. 

Right side of image is a text excerpt from THE KHELD KING:

       Cullen’s measuring gaze was followed by a frown. “If I say I’ll be your minister, you’re going to push that lordship on me, aren’t you?”
       Before he was crowned, they’d talked about Stefan doing that sort of thing. Staubauns might fight him every step of the way, but Khelds craved a greater role in Stefan’s government. There was no better way to make a statement.  “It will be to your advantage. Usually the king’s ministers are aristocrats, or the sons of aristocrats, or high-ranking people from the Seven Houses or guilds. I have to make you an Enlad at least.”
       Cullen sighed, but nodded, his eyes again sweeping toward the river. “Then I guess I’m in. If we’re making changes, might as well go full gallop.”
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Vanessa Knipe @vjknipe.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's Book Quote Wednesday. #BookQW Today's word is Push. Caroline witnesses a hit and run and stops to help the downed motorcyclist. He acts like he knows her, but she has never met him. Tomorrow 📚🌃 UK www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Borrowed... US www.amazon.com/Her-Borrowed...
A flyer for Her Borrowed Grave it shows an ebook and a paperback with the same cover. A silhouetted figure walks rain-washed, cobble streets. Behind them is a winged serpent on an intaglio such as you might find on a signet ring. 
Text reads: “Finally. Brown eyes, so beautiful. But here? How?” His voice became querulous.
He reached for her face. Caroline caught his arm with her free hand, pushing it down. 
“No. Please, Donald. You must stay still, moving might hurt your back.”
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Joanne Guidoccio @joanneguidoccio.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's Book Quote Wednesday! Today's word: PUSH. #Excerpt is from HIPPIE MERMAID, a coming-of-age #fantasy. #bookqw #mermaidtransformation
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Julie E. Czerneda @julieczerneda.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Allow me to #push a little more #esen at you, this fine #bookqw... ::giggles::
cover of Spectrum by Julie Czerneda with quote from part where Esen experiences zero g but Paul won't let her fool around.
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C M Debell @cmdebell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is PUSH In The Many Shades of Midnight, Isyr is a rare, priceless metal that also has some other undesirable qualities, as these characters are beginning to realise. #bookqw #writingcommunity #indiefantasy 💙🪐📚
Front cover and excerpt from The Many Shades of Midnight for Book Quote Wednesday prompt PUSH

Gaemo’s gaze flicked from the Isyr weapons to Alyas’s face. He said, “There are rumours, about Isyr.”
   “Are there? How interesting. What’s your news?”
   Gaemo ignored the question. “My king’s father ordered all Isyr in his household to be locked away twenty years ago, and there are whispers that it was not because he feared the attention of thieves.”
   Alyas’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have a point?”
   The ambassador gave him a searching look. “I think you just made it for me. But in answer to your other question, yes, I have news. It’s not good. Are you capable of acting on it?”
   “Stop it, Melar,” Esar growled. He had learned, since Cadria, that pushing only made things worse. If Gaemo had bad news, they didn’t need to complicate things by getting tangled up in an unwinnable argument about Isyr.
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Stephanie Burgis @stephanieburgis.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's Book Quote Wednesday! This week's word is push. Here's a snippet from A Waltz of Sinister Import, in which Margaret has been gifted a mysterious cloak from an unknown benefactor...and you can preorder the ebook now to have it in just 1 week! books2read.com/waltzSinister #romancelandia #bookqw
The cover of A Waltz of Sinister Import, by Stephanie Burgis, shows a pair of late nineteenth-century dancing slippers hanging over the title and a bat with outstretched wings underneath the author's name. Framing the cover's text are branches with golden leaves. Above, beside, and below that cover image is this snippet of text: She whirled the cloak around her shoulders, fastening the silver laces around her throat.
“Good God!” Lord Riven lunged forward, uncharacteristic panic contorting his patrician features.
Margaret clasped his closest reaching hand reassuringly in hers. “I’m fine,” she said firmly. “What do you see when you look at me?” 
“Nothing.” His voice steadied, but his brown eyes still looked wide and half-wild. “Absolutely nothing! I can feel your hand now, but otherwise...” His grip tightened. “I would swear the chair was empty and I had lost you.”
“Astonishing.” Keeping his hand in hers, she stood and pushed her chair away from the table, turning in as much of a circle as she could without releasing him. “And now?”
“Still nothing,” he said grimly. “If you wouldn’t mind removing it, my love? Rather quickly, if you please, for the sake of my nerves.”
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Jana Richards, Romance Author @janarichards.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
#BookQW "I tried to PUSH away my feelings for you, tried to love other women, but none of them were you. None of them compared to you. I thought I’d get over you, but I never did.” CHILD OF MINE  books2read.com/Child-of-Mine #smalltownromance #marriageofconvenience #secondchanceatfirstlove
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Kit Whitfield - fantasy writer @kitwhitfield.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
#booksky #bookqw word: PUSH. From THE SNAKESTONE GIRLS. Letty ran away. The local cunning woman helped her, but now she had to get up to her bedroom window ... somehow. Fun fact: the hare artist, Thomas Bewisk, is who Jane Eyre is poring over as her story begins. Pre-orders: tinyurl.com/nddx4d5p
Text: Letty felt something push her from below. It couldn’t have been the hare. No hare was strong enough to lift a girl on its back. But something dusty sprang under her feet, and Letty found herself up in the air as if she’d leaped there. Only when she thought to grab the ivy branches now in reach did the sensation, like a dream when you wake and remember you can’t fly, suddenly vanish.


Illustration: a woodcut print of a hare racing along.
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Brian Anderson @bandersonmysteries.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Today is Book Quote Wednesday, and today’s word is “push.” For more information or to order, visit www.brianandersonmysteries.com www.amazon.com/stores/autho... mybook.to/e2jmq #BookQW #mystery #MysterySeries #BookSky
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Sadira Stone @sadirastone.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
#BookQW PUSH Kieran's Light by Sadira Stone *cozy vibes *Halloween *a real 👻 *beach town *over-40 couple *spicy slow burn *PTSD rep *and Snoot, the retired bomb-sniffer K-9 Just 99¢ books2read.com/kieranslight #RomanceBooks #Halloween
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Hywela-Lyn @hywela-lyn.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
#BOOKQW Today's word is #PUSH and the snippet is again from The Matchmaker's Mare as, in the present time, Returning home, Megan thinks she sees something moving in her cottage. Amazon UK: www.amazon.co.uk/Matchmakers-... Amazon US: www.amazon.com/Matchmakers....
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M.L. Humphrey @mlhumphrey.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'push' #BookQW #BookSky From Something Gained by C.K. Carr. Can be read standalone. A second-chance romance set in New Zealand that does have a sex scene in the rain but is mostly full of grief, angst, and friendship. Currently in KU. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...
On the left is the cover for Something Gained by C.K. Carr with a blue ocean and rocks with a solitary tree.

On the right is this excerpt:
She was drowning.
Alone, isolated.
Almost all of her so-called friends had long since abandoned her. They’d been there at the funeral, of course, or called or sent cards and flowers. (So damned many flowers.) And her local friends had come around in the month after Dave’s death, bringing her food, keeping her company.
But when the months passed and she didn’t show any interest in who was getting married or divorced, whose kid was doing what, or who had—heaven forbid—worn a green dress to that black and white charity event in San Francisco, they’d faded away, disappearing back into their own lives and leaving her behind.
Truth be told, she preferred it that way.
She hadn’t wanted to hear about their little problems and dramas when her husband was fucking dead. Did she really care that someone’s son hadn’t made it into the right preschool? No. Because she was never going to have a child to send to preschool. They just didn’t frickin’ get it. Instead of pushing their kids to be perfect they should be hugging them tight and thanking whomever you thank that they had them.
And instead of complaining about how their husbands were too fat or worked too much or spent too much time with the kids instead of them they should be glad they had husbands at all.
She’d kept the words back—barely—but she hadn’t managed to hide her contempt.
So they’d left. Slowly drifted away to their own lives while she remained here, stuck in the home she’d shared with him, unable to move forward.
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Andrew Knighton @aknighton.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'push', & Lena Sturm is ready to push back. #BookQW #BookSky The Executioner's Blade gets its grand launch at FantasyCon this Saturday at 9am as part of the @wtpress.bsky.social book launch - come help us celebrate! www.wizardstowerbooks.com/shop/the-exe...
The cover for the novel The Executioner's Blade by Andrew Knighton. On it, a grey-haired woman with a sword stands with a dragon's tail curled around her. In the background, dragons and fire fly above the rooftops of a city. Next to it is a section of text from the book:

Somebody bumped Lena from behind. The platform was increasingly crowded, people jostling for a view of the arena. A lean man with tattoos down his cheek muttered an apology in a thick Dunvari accent.
“Is a pretty lady under there, yes?” he said, reaching for the edge of her hood.
Lena grabbed his wrist and twisted. Breath hissed between the man’s teeth and he dropped his cup. His companions turned to them, but Lena had a knife in her hand as she pushed the man away, and she shifted into a fighting stance before she even realised what she had done.
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Willa Blair @willablair.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Today's #BookQW Word: PUSH A short story collection spun off from Willa Blair’s bestselling novels! This quote is from 'Heart of Ice' in HIGHLAND SEASONS. bit.ly/4y2fu9E #Anthology #HighlandRomance #FriendstoLovers #SecondchanceRomance #BookSky
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Patrick Samphire 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @patricksamphire.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's book quote Wednesday. Today the word is "push", and we're back with Nik Thorn in his least-favourite and yet somehow also favourite bar. From Nectar for the God. #bookQW books2read.com/NectarGod
Promo image for Nectar for the God by Patrick Samphire, showing the cover of the book and the accompanying text:

I made my way down the steps, pushed the door open, and stumbled into the poorly-lit interior. To say Dumonoc was cheap was like saying that a volcano was warm; it wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t exactly capture the essence of the situation. The interior was almost entirely dark, other than the bar and a couple of flickering candles at shadowed tables, and Dumonoc didn’t provide those. If you wanted light, you brought your own. Most people didn’t bother. Probably so they wouldn’t have to see what was floating in the beer.
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T. Frohock (she/her) @tfrohock.com · 07/10/2026
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'push' and one of my favorite characters, Condesa Christina Banderas of the Scorpion Court, intends to push Guillermo for the joy of watching him squirm. awfulagent.com/ebooks/where... #BookQW #BookSky
Christina regarded the jacinth in the same manner Guillermo imagined she might appraise a turd dropped on her table. “Where is your pet rogue? I’ve yet to see a stone he cannot read.”

She knew Diago was no longer rogue. Her comment was another dig. She meant to push him. That much he expected. How far he intended to let her go depended on his mood, and he wasn’t feeling affable about delays.

“Diago is currently away on business. That left me two choices: find a rogue to assess the stone or come to you.”

“And we certainly don’t want word to get out that your defenses are down, now do we?”

Jab, jab, jab, he thought. Poke me one more time, and I’ll poke back. “I don’t care if you put it on the wireless the minute I walk out the door,” he lied smoothly. He’d be damned if he intended to give her the satisfaction of scoring points off him. “Heads will decorate my borders when I find the culprits.”
ON SALE FOR $4.99 OCTOBER 1-31
DURING KOBO’s SPOOKY SEASON SALE
WE’RE PRICE-MATCHING ACROSS PLATFORMS
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veronicascottauthor @veronicascott.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
#bookqw 'pushy' from DERIUS (Intergalactic Dating Agency), a second chance scifi romance. Available wide. #booksky www.amazon.com/Derius-Soldi...
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veronicascottauthor @veronicascott.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
#bookqw 'push' from DANCER OF THE NILE, romantasy set in ancient Egypt. (If you love ancient Egypt don't miss out on my Kickstarter for the Special Edition of the DANCER OF THE NILE TRILOGY. The campaign is live now!). #booksky www.amazon.com/Dancer-Nile-...
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Linda Griffin @lindagriffinauthor.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
"Told with rich insight into the human condition, Reckless Disregard & Other Stories vividly portrays life's defining moments." ~ Indies Today mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/reck... www.lindagriffinauthor.com/reckless_dis... #BookQW #ShortStories
Toddler girl in purple sunsuit and sunglasses standing on the street. "All of it, all the labor, pushing for hours until she was desperate for it to be over, all the worry, the endless diapers, the joy and exhaustion, the interrupted sleep and the peace of nursing, holding her in her arms, it all came to this, to a silence so vast she was swallowed up in it, pressed down by it, unable to rise."
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T. Frohock (she/her) @tfrohock.com · 07/10/2026
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'push' and I'd like to push a couple more Los Nefilim books at you if that's okay. This scene is from Los Nefilim prequel and is with Miquel and Diago: awfulagent.com/ebooks/los-n... #BookQW #BookSky
 Diago could hide his torso but not his face. In just a couple of hours, he needed to tell Guillermo’s council about Alvaro. These were Los Nefilim’s most influential nefilim, and while most would understand, others on the council, especially those who harbored more hardline views about the daimons, would make assumptions about his allegiance to the daimonic courts. He had to impress them, and not with his family’s mark on his face like a brand.

 A hard rap on the bathroom door caused him to start. He jerked his robe closed.

 Miquel didn’t wait for an answer and came inside. “What’s going on?”

 “We need a lock on that door, that’s what’s going on.” He tried to push his husband out.

 “Stop. I gave you a bath last night. I know all about this.” He traced the outline of the bruise on Diago’s cheek with his fingertip. “What are you doing in here? Scaring yourself with worst-case scenarios?” 

“A little bit.”
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Ben Jeapes @benjeapes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is PUSH. Just two teen boys chatting like teen boys do, neither knowing it's the last time things will ever be normal again. #bookqw #yafantasy #salisbury www.benjeapes.com/index.php/th... Hear me read a longer extract at benjeapes.substack.com.
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Ben Jeapes @benjeapes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It used to be "Our records show you may have been involved in an accident..." Then it was PPI. I have a sinking feeling that this might be the latest thing: claiming for copyright abuse. #anthropicsettlement #copyright #piracy www.benjeapes.com/index.php/20...
benjeapes.com
The new PPI? Claims against the techbros for copyright breach | Ben Jeapes
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Ben Jeapes @benjeapes.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
My reading in September: Foul-mouthed old biddies, sloppy slobby spooks, and what could possibly go wrong with plotting treason? #detective #spies #historical #reviews benjeapes.substack.com/p/read-in-se...
benjeapes.substack.com
Read in September: Foul-mouthed old biddies, sloppy slobby spooks, and what could possibly go wrong with plotting treason
The Pretender, by Jo Harkin
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Ben Jeapes @benjeapes.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Brooksie Elk is writing a novel about a deer whose name is stolen by a famous singer. She's found a book that can help her. Chapter 10, which covers libel, is especially helpful. #ghostwriting #WriteTip #libel www.ghostwritingnovels.com
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Kit Whitfield - fantasy writer @kitwhitfield.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
#booksky #bookqw word: TREAT Janet, the fairy-smith's wife, is trying to talk her friend Franklin into forbidding his daughter's relationship with an unsuitable boy. She probably shouldn't be doing it in a fey-haunted forest. Buy Here: tinyurl.com/nvvetupj
Tellher how Ephraim Brady treats his wife, and tell her Anthony
will never stand up to him. Tell her she can get a better lover,
Mister Franklin. Take my advice.’
The wind sighed in the leaves overhead, and the forest rocked.
It was a gentle motion, not swaying the world, and the birds
cooed and chirruped to each other above them. Franklin still
hadn’t found an answer when they heard the sound of hooves.
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Ruth Frances Long / Jessica Thorne @rflong.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
#Bookqw word is Treat and at The Teacup Dragon Sanctuary on Starling Island, Portia, Jade and Noah are starting to settle in. The Teacup Dragon Sanctuary is out now and only 99p. #Bookstagram #BookstagramIreland #writersofinstagram #StarlingIsland
Bookqw from The Teacup Dragon Sanctuary, out now, in which Noah offers the dragons dates as a treat and Portia is suddenly distracted by thoughts of a different kind of date with Noah.
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Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'treat' #BookQW #BookSky If you've been thinking about getting yourself a little morale boost with this ebook bargain, today's the last day to do it. Price-matched on other platforms as well as here on UK Kindle. www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...
Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a creature crouching in a low tunnel entrance lined with grey stones and partly hidden by green undergrowth and white flowers. The creature has pale skin covered in sparse black hair and it looks a bit like an ape, a bit like a bear, and completely unlike either of those.

Book extract reads: 	I put down the tin and put the kettle on to boil. Then I washed my hands. The formula tin emphasised the importance of keeping things clean. Taking the bottle out of the packaging, I fitted it together. The packaging said I should sterilise it before using it for the first time, but I didn’t have time if I was going to shut the screaming changeling up with a feed.
	I didn’t only want some silence. I knew the changeling wasn’t a real baby, but on the way here, I had decided I’d better treat it like one. When whoever was behind this wanted their creature back, I needed it to be healthy. Especially if I had to trade the thing for Fin, or for whatever I needed to know to get her back from wherever she was stuck. That was my priority now Alice was safe with her parents. I’d just have to hope this little monster was as resistant to germs as I am, generally speaking.
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Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'treat' #BookQW #BookSky They say, if you want to really know someone, watch how they behave towards people who they think don't matter. The Riven Kingdom will be published on 27th October 2026. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GK5RVZWT/
The Riven Kingdom cover art by Alice Claire Coleman is in the style of a stained glass window. Blue-green leaves and vines dotted with golden flowers coil around silver swords in panels on either side. These are topped with a golden sun on the left and a yellow crescent moon on the right. In the centre, rival hands stretch upwards trying to get hold of a crown that's just out of reach... 

Book extract reads: The woman brandished a letter in the light of the oil lamp hanging over the door. ‘The boy wasn’t injured. The lightning strike didn’t touch him. Now the shock has faded, he may recall further details of that day. I insist on asking him myself.’ 
‘You may consult his account of that day held by the high shrine’s infirmarians. They wrote down the recollections of everyone they treated who witnessed the tragedy.’ Brother Haber tucked his hands inside the sleeves of his thick black robe. ‘I can vouch for the boy’s honesty.’ 
No one could argue with that. The Moon God granted his priests the power to hear falsehoods. Everyone saw such magic at work when the nobility held assizes to punish criminals within their fiefdoms, where the justiciars delivered their verdicts in the crown’s name. A priest was always on hand to unmask anyone telling lies. Just as a pale-robed priestess used the power the Goddess granted her to endorse truth. 
‘Your obstruction is unacceptable.’ The woman took a half-step sideways. 
Startled, Reske thought she was going to force her way past the priest.
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Vanessa Knipe @vjknipe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Today is book quote wednesday #bookqw and today's word is 'treat'. As we just over a week away from publication, here's a hint as to why the book is called Her Borrowed Grave. Pre-order for 99p/¢ here: UK www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HL4PFK8... US www.amazon.com/Her-Borrowed...
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