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Deb E. Howell

@deb.deberelene.com
1.5K followers 1.7K following 977 posts

Writer, mum, general dog's body at work & around home. 🇳🇿📚🐴🎶 linktr.ee/DebEHowell Leftie. Hopeless idealist. Boring AF Middle-aged Cis-Het White Woman (BUFFER). Also on: mastoart.social/@debehowell Not looking for random DMs.

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Reposted by Deb E. Howell
Magenta Kaos of Bright Hairy News @xkaosmagex.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Dirty Work confirms everything us political tragics have been talking about over the last 3 years. Awesome to see that Grenon and the #AtlasNetwork get a mention. This book could really open the eyes of undecided voters. Highly recommend sharing your copies with friends and family! #nzpol
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 11/09/2026
Got to love some Bloodywood.
youtu.be
Bloodywood - Aaj (Live at Sonic Temple 2026)
YouTube video by Bloodywood
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 11/09/2026
I may have pulled the finger as I passed an ACT van on the motorway this morning…
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Merideth [introvertebrate] @stellarplexus.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
“You can ask a machine to sound like [the great writers], to bring your idea to life in someone else’s voice. Sure. But don’t fool yourself. You aren’t writing. You’re shopping.” A positively exquisite look at what it means to write, and be a writer.
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 11/09/2026
Oh, go on, then: Hit me with the first line of your novel, published/finished or not. From Magician's Touch (Book 3 of Deadly Touch series): The last time they’d had to pretend Jonas was dead, the answer had been simple: kill him. reamstories.com/deberelene
reamstories.com
Ream
Discover stories on Ream, where readers can subscribe to authors and buy published ebooks.
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JT Hume MIS Writer Podcaster @jthume.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
For those who read serialized #fiction, Chapter One of Finding Salvation is available for free: Patreon: www.patreon.com/jthu... Substack: jthume.substack.com/... Chapters will come out weekly. Please follow on your preferred platform. TIA LYL #free #serial
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 06/09/2026
Threatening me with a good time? Oh, for shame.
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Te Pae Tawhiti Distant Horizon Awards @tepaetawhitiawards.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
As if our pannel couldn't get any more impressive, we are honoured to have Jade Kake join as for the award gala. An architect and writer and of Māori and Dutch descent, Jade's tribal affiliations are Ngāpuhi, Te Whakatōhea and Ngāti Whakaue. She is the author of ... (1/5)
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Te Pae Tawhiti Distant Horizon Awards @tepaetawhitiawards.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Build your reading list! 1/2 Looking for great quick reads? We've got you sorted. Amazing speculative showcasing fantasy, horror, New Zealand culture, and a whole lot of heart. Winners announced at the Hamilton Book Month Award Gala, 22nd August! Ticket link: www.eventfinda.co.nz/2026/te-pae-...
Outstanding Achievement for Short Story finalists on a lime green background with purple and green tentacles and logos for: Te Pae Tawhiti, copyright New Zealand and Creative New Zealand.2025 Te Pae Tawhiti Finalists
Short Story: The Cold Burns by Anne Wilkins
on a lime green background with purple and green tentacles
Quote: I make little ghosts with every outward breath. They float to the top of the hatch, where they disappear. It’s damn cold in here...

Published in Clarkesworld Magazine
December 2025
Logos for: Te Pae Tawhiti, copyright New Zealand and Creative New Zealand.
2025 Te Pae Tawhiti Finalists
Short Story: Wild@Heart by Michael Botur on a lime green background with purple and green tentacles

Quote: It’s January, a sizzling Saturday. We’re wrestling rubbish out the side of a cliff above the glittering Pauanui marina... 

Speculative literary fiction 
November 2025
Logos for: Te Pae Tawhiti, copyright New Zealand and Creative New Zealand.
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Basil 🌱 @basil-mage.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Endless cycle
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 01/08/2026
And Waitati Weather Station: 9.2°C 😉
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David Moscrop @davidmoscrop.com · 01/08/2026
I’m delighted when people buy my book, but infinitely happier when they read it, however they manage to get a copy. Public libraries are life!
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Greg @gsinger.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Same vibe: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." - Stephen J. Gould
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Te Pae Tawhiti Distant Horizon Awards @tepaetawhitiawards.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
This horizon isn't so distant ;) Join us for the inaugural Te Pae Tawhiti Awards at our showcase gala! An evening of connection, celebration and communication! Moderator Lee Murray (ONZM) & expert panellists Pip Adam, Jade Kake, David Hair and Gareth Ward discuss how Aotearoa's speculative (1/2)
Te Pae Tawhiti award gala poster with a styalised gold honeycomb on a light green background to showcase the Te Pae Tawhiti Award gala panel with moderator Lee Murray (ONZM) and expert panellists Pip Adam, Jade Kake, David Hair and Gareth Ward.
 
Event details: 
22nd August
6:00pm – 9:00pm
Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts


Logos: Hamilton book Month and Te Pae Tawhiti tentacle
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SpecFicNZ @specficnz.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
"Riveting, tender, and terrifyingly real." --Mia Fontaine, New York Times bestselling author Grab your copy here: jennywilliamswriter.weebly.com/house-of-lia... #bookrecs #newrelease #nzwriter #bookstagram #bookclubbook #specficnz
Happy New Release! Jenny Williams' novel, House of Liars, is out now. Yellowface meets Her in this literary psychological thriller of motherhood, desire, and machines that might know us better than we know ourselves. Book cover shows a dancing black and white fox on a red background.
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 24/07/2026
I once wrote a story about a Kiwi morning TV show host falling for her occasional French chef guest host. I've popped it up here: fictionite.com/f/culinary-d... if anyone feels like a short (2149 words), light-hearted, romance short story. #ShortStory #ShortFiction #Romance
fictionite.com
Culinary Delights (version 1) – Culinary Delights (version 1) – fictionite
A Kiwi Breakfast Show host has fallen in love with her guest French chef
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SpecFicNZ @specficnz.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Congrats Tim Jones! You can see the winners here: nationalflash.org/2026-nffd-co... #congrats #flashfiction #membersuccess #specficnz #ilovereading #ilovewriting
Congrats to Tim Jones whose flash fiction 'Before the earthquake' won 3rd prize at the 2026 NFFD NZ! Dark green background, SpecficNZ black and grey logo.
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SpecFicNZ @specficnz.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Congratulations to all the finalists for the inaugural Te Pae Tawhiti Awards! See all the finalists here: tepaetawhitiawards.nz/2025-te-pae-... #finalists #tpt #specficnz #ilovebooks #ilovespecfic #congrats
Te Pae Tawhiti 2025 Finalists announced. 17 book covers shown on a purple background with twinkling stars and purple and green tentacles.
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SpecFicNZ @specficnz.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Check it out here: akiwisbookreviews.wordpress.com #bookrecs #bookreviews #findyournextfave #ilovespecfic #specficnz #memberreviews
See reviews by Cat Randle on recent member releases at My Opinion on Various Books.
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Aaron Dick- Author @author-aarondick.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Great news everybody! Some very deserving writers in New Zealand have been spotlighted by the Te Pae Tawhiti awards! 🪐📚💙📚🇳🇿 #TePaeTawhiti
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Pat Brittenden @patbrittenden.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
#BHN Marama called greedy by Ryan Bridge, Luxon calls Green Lunatics and all manner of insults show you they're scared #nzpol #nzpolitics @chewienz.bsky.social @iamprettyawesome.bsky.social
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 23/06/2026
Sure, seems legit … Apparently they love my *second* book in the series (which, fair, it is superior to book one, but still …) Stay wary, fellow writers.
Email from "Hachette Book Group" apparently, with the email address being "hachette_bookgroup1 at aol dot com". Something tells me that Hachette don't email from aol dot com email addresses.
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Jeremy Ghooooost Shipp @jeremycshipp.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
As always, today is a good day to support artists, writers, creators. If you have the means, maybe consider signing up for a Patreon. Buy a book, a game, a painting. Commission a new piece. Tell a creator what they mean to you. Signal boost their work.
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 12/06/2026
Oh, darn. It doesn't work *that* well ...
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 12/06/2026
Just commenting here so I can find me (weird, I know, but I'd like to share a thing to Mastodon).
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SpecFicNZ @specficnz.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Join NZSA and Joshua T. Calvert on Thursday 18 June to hear how to write for SpecFic Readers. authors.org.nz/event/webwor... #professionaldevelopment #writingtips #specfic #ilovespecfic #knowingyourreaders
Joshua T Calvert is giving a presentation with NZSA about writing for SpecFic Readers on Thursday 18 June.
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 12/06/2026
Hopefully on its final editing pass … We shall see. Still awaiting some feedback.
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 12/06/2026
Self-editing, currently.
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 12/06/2026
🫂
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 12/06/2026
And now I have the Puscifer song in my head. Not complaining.
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Arachne 🏳️‍🌈 @cayemarsh.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
A very sweet book about misrepresenting yourself to someone in order to fleece them, and then gradually coming to wish you really hadn't done that. 😬
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 11/06/2026
Clever can be fun, but I have to say that the books I fall in love with are the ones with characters that are just great to "hang out" with, even in the middle of world-destroying chaos. So, it's important to be able to trust them. Therefore, it really depends how the secret is kept/revealed!
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 11/06/2026
#WIPSnips 10th June: Clip Editing makes it still count as a WIP, yeah? Because I haven't used clip in my baby WIP. But it turns up a few times in Magician's Touch. #WriteSky #Romantasy #FantasyBook 🇳🇿📚
“Llew needs you alive. Whatever else you gotta think or do to be okay with bein’ here, start with bein’ here for her. That’s all she needs from you.”
“Yes. I get it,” she clipped the words. “But I made a stupid mistake, and I’m supposed to just walk away as if I didn’t just forfeit my own life with my own idiocy?”
Jonas met her contemptuous glare deadpan. “We all make mistakes.”
“Yeah, but—”
“You’re not supposed to?”
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 10/06/2026
This is lovely.
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 10/06/2026
Well, his uncle turns up in the next paragraph & reminds him he has responsibilities. But for a brief moment there, life was perfect.
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 09/06/2026
Another great video from Struthless. This one about AI. Can it be used for good? Sure. How to we ensure that's the case? youtu.be/11FIIPmdpHo
youtu.be
The Al question no one wants to ask
YouTube video by struthless
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 09/06/2026
#WIPSnips for 9th June: Warmth Well, go on then. Let's go for the opening paragraph for the whole book. And, yes, I have chosen to have a Prologue *gasp*. #FantasyBooks #Romantasy #AmWriting
Ekon sauntered along the dusty track between forest and sand dunes, thumbs hooked behind belt, lips curved in a satisfied grin, sandals scuffing the occasional stone, and kilt swinging softly about his thighs while his mind replayed sensations of skin-on-skin and exploratory kisses. The sun’s warmth and the cloudless sky cemented his mood. Life was good.
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 08/06/2026
#WIPSnips 8th June: Smell A nice easy one for a baby WIP with a werewolf in it, so I had a couple of options to choose from. #FantasyBooks #Romantasy #AmWriting
Ekon kept pace beside the human, or beacon, as he sensed her to be. A beacon of power. In his wolf’s body, he was aware of the faint perpetual whine and ever so slight glow above the human, as of the sun’s energy being drawn to her, as he had been. It was an immense amount of power. He could smell her straining against it; something he wasn’t sure she was aware of. Certainly, she lacked an odour of panic that his human mind would have empathised with given her situation. Then again, he was vaguely aware of his human mind questioning his own lack of self-preservation in his willingness to be by her side. But the draw – the purpose – was inescapable.
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SpecFicNZ @specficnz.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Head to specfic.nz to read these recent reviews of AJ Woolf's Lone Fighter Blue and Heather McQuillan's Truth Needs No Colour. Lone Fighter Blue is also a finalist in the Sir Julius Vogel Awards! Get your hands on these books here: www.ajwoolf.com and www.cloudink.co.nz/books/truth-... #bookreviews
Check out our book reviews from members! Book covers of AJ Woolf's Lone Fighter Blue and H McQuillan's Truth Needs No Colour.
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AK Faulkner ➡️ NYCC @ravenswordpress.com · 07/06/2026
He reads a big book He reads a little book He reads an old book He reads a new book He reads a book that reminds him of the good times He reads a book that reminds him of the better times
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Alex @mplsalex.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
I think every city should just hire a handful of artists who go around making permanent art all over the city. No committees, no long processes - just give them a wage, an annual budget, and have them go make cool shit.
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Te Pae Tawhiti Distant Horizon Awards @tepaetawhitiawards.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Te Pae Tawhiti is proud to present the finalists of the 2025 awards! See the full list at: tepaetawhitiawards.nz/2025-te-pae-... Thank you to the committee and our judges for making these awards possible! #NZBooks
Te Pae Tawhiti 2025 Finalists Covers2025 Te Pae Tawhiti Finalists - Outstanding Achievement for Adult Novel

The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
Lifelikeness by Alex Lodge
Dancing in the Purple Rain by Judy L Mohr
Galaxy Grifter by A. Zaykova2025 Te Pae Tawhiit Finalists - Outstanding Achievement for Young Adult Fiction

The Lost Saint by Rachael Craw
Truth Needs No Colour by Heather McQuillan
Wyld Witch Weather by Janna Ruth2025 Te Pae Tawhiit Finalists - Outstanding Achievement for Middle Grade Fiction

Draconic Search and Rescue by Robinne L Weiss 
Eye of the Dragon by Susan Brocker
The Secret Green by Sonya Wilson  
Welcome to Miracle by Shara Curlett
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 07/06/2026
Jumping in "early" with #WIPSnips "Guide" since it's already nearly 4pm in NZ, & my evening will be full. It's easy to find "Guide" in my WIP series titled "Guardians & Guides" 😁 Zane turns up again, and Anaïs has a brief internal conversation (italics) with her protective amulet, Damita (~~).
“Zane?”

But like the others, the prince pressed his fingertips to the amulet and thanked Anaïs before walking off as if he hadn’t otherwise seen her.

Guardian or Guide?

~Guardian. Of the Seas.~

I wonder if he’ll like that. He’s always lived at the castle.

~He will flourish, as all do who find their calling.~
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 06/06/2026
Since I *happen* to have popped in, and I have a paragraph with "happen" twice, so that's a little bit fun, I guess … #WIPSnips for 6th June: Happen. Meet Zane.
“Oh. That’s a shame. Especially at our age. You know.” He hooked a shoulder up, about as awkward a move as one could expect from totally-self-assured-life-will-always-work-out Zane. “Did you see Aaryn and Jazmeetha have hooked up? And Brem and Edwald.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “You should dance with someone. Me, for instance. I mean, you don’t have to, but I happen to be free at the moment, which, as you know, is not a condition likely to continue for long, and I would accept your request.” He lifted his chin, rested a hand on a hip and let the other hang almost casually in a I-can-easily-deny-it, showing-off-my-wares splay, then relaxed into an I-haven’t-really-given-up sag. “If you happen to ask, that is.”
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 04/06/2026
I have hope that AI being used to this extent won't be a long term thing. The real costs are starting to come through and many people will get a shock at what they've been getting for free. But if these companies hope to become profitable, they have to start charging actual cost + profit …
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Arachne 🏳️‍🌈 @cayemarsh.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
FINALISTS ARE ANNOUNCED!!!
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Deb E. Howell @deb.deberelene.com · 03/06/2026
Can we agree that the profit motive & centering shareholder value over all else is a failed ideology, yet? Can we pursue real values now?
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Helen Whistberry @whistberry.northsky.social · 01/06/2026
For the month of June, ALL of my books are 50% off in my itch shop! or you can grab all 10 books for $10! Best time yet to grab any or all if you enjoy fantasy or horror or mystery or illustrated books! More info on each of the titles in thread below 💜 itch.io/s/187094/whi...
Image of 10 books covers for books by Helen Whistberry: Wren's Aria, shows a brown wren among red poppies; Roadkill, shows a highway with animal skeletons on it; The Final Voyage of Avery Mothmere, has a black cat playing with an old-fashioned sailing ship; When Your Heart is a Broken Thing, has a white rabbit crying red tears and a red rabbit with skeleton exposed crying blue tears; Once Upon a Wave of Witches, with co-author Eli Belt, has a green kraken tentacle sweeping through turbulent blue waves; The Tail of Nightshade, has a gray mouse among purple nightshade blooms; The Melody of Trees, has a red fox among twining tree branches; The Weird Sisters, has a full moon behind tombstones with a hand visible lying on the ground; The Avenging Angel, has a full moon behind a mansion; The Ghostly Groom, has a full moon behind a tombstone with a black bird on top of it.
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⸸ Andrea Celeste ⸸ @andreaceleste.meangirls.online · 02/06/2026
since it's pride month you can give money to a trans woman by buying my music! any support is much appreciated 💞
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Animation Obsessive @ani-obsessive.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I Am Frankelda is a boldly handmade film. It's all texture and jitter -- even the camera gets jostled. The film celebrates the natural flaws of stop motion. They aren't simply problems that need to be fixed, as we explore: animationobsessive.substack.com/p/how-perfec...
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