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DM Shepard

@dmshepard.bsky.social
126 followers 115 following 52 posts

Alaskan Electrical Engineer | MS Warrior | Indie Escape Contributor | President of Fortymile STEAM Non-profit | Author of the Dark Land series

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Reposted by DM Shepard
#SmallPitch @smallpitch.org · 15/07/2026
And the submission window is now CLOSED! We almost made it to 800 pitches (the current count is 799). The publisher request window will open in 24 hours (if not sooner). We will announce it here when it opens. Good luck everyone!
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8poJ37h/ Most vampire novels are set in glamorous locations, mine is set in the cold Yukon winter of 1898.
tiktok.com
Most vampire novels are set in glamorous locations (with a few exceptions), mine is set during the Klondike gold rush in Dawson City. #booktok #vampireromancebooks #darkromance #vampirenovel
TikTok video by Daniella Horror Author
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Incredible view of Denali on the flight north to work. #cometoworkwithme #womeninstem #writinginspiration ##ALASKA
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Spring may be just a few weeks away, but we're still in a deep freeze up north at work. #arcticcircle #arcticadventures #womeninstem #writinginspiration
Round thermometer displaying minus forty Celsius and Fahrenheit.
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Roasting the tomatillos and Anaheim peppers for tonight's dinner of pozole. Happy Valentines Day! #valentinesday #pozoleverde
Green Anaheim peppers in a large, rectangular glass pan. Light green, round tomatillos, diced onions and garlic in a smaller glass pan.
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
The north side of Atigun Pass. I love how ghostly the mountains look in the darkness. #alaska #arcticadventures #womeninstem #polarnight #cometoworkwithme
Snowy mountains and roadSnowy mountains and road
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
For the BBQ at work today, a coworker made moose burgers. They are pretty tasty. #Alaska #moose #mooseburger
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
View of Atigun Pass on my drive south yesterday from Galbraith Lake to Pump Station 5. #Alaska #daltonhighway #cometoworkwithme #arcticadventures
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
Nothing Gold Can Stay.... A gorgeous fall day north of the Brooks Range. #Alaska #arcticcircle #workcommute #womeninstem
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Top of the World Highway. Where the pavement begins-or ends-depending on your perspective. #ALASKA #alaskaadventure #topoftheworldhighway #heralaskalife
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Amy Oates is querying @oatesam.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
The Fork in the Road: "I've lost Bette’s scent. I close my eyes to focus and adapt. My nose itches as it flattens, tan fur growing over the skin and scratching my browbone. It’s dark and the street’s quiet; no one will see the change. " #1stLinePit #WIP #A #F #UF #writingcommunity
Moodboard for The Fork in the Road novel in progress, featuring the Appalachian mountains with birds flying over them on one side, and an open book, cozy blanked, and cup of hot cocoa with a spoon in it on the other. In the middle are graphics of a black feather and white magnolia flowers. The title appears on the left side, followed by the pitch: "Someone's kidnapping supernatural beings. Diane Brooks, human and owner of 'The Fork in the Road,' a magical coffee shop and bar, may be the only one who can save them. Trope Map for The Fork in the Road, a novel in progress. Three images are stacked left to right - a coffee shop counter, a woman with a dark background in red light, and a burning forest. The title "Tropes" sits over the middle image, followed by a list of bullet point tropes: Multi-POV, Women's Rights & Women's Wrongs, Supernatural Kitchen Sink, Mostly queer cast, Mythology in present day, Sentient bar & coffee shop, Enemies to ???A first page snippet from "The Fork in the Road," a novel in progress. Feathers are lined on the left side of the image, leading to a blue feather at the bottom. A blue text box sits in the middle, featuring text from the first page: 
I've lost Bette’s scent. 
I close my eyes to focus and adapt. My nose itches as it flattens, tan fur growing over the skin and scratching my browbone. It’s dark and the street’s quiet; no one will see the change. The smell of the city sharpens. Damp earth, muddy grass, and crowded bodies linger in the air. But I still can’t smell her. I twitch my nose and restore it to human form.
The storm that flooded the Appalachian foothills, causing mud slides and chasing me to her mother’s house didn’t cover Bette’s scent. That only happened recently.
Her kidnappers are sidhe, the type to steal a child for their own amusement. The rowan berries smashed on the lawn and the tang of lake reeds proved that. They led her through rivers and on trains to disguise their route, but Bette left clues, marking trees, posts, or whatever else she could find with a spot of blood. She must have bitten at a nail or the corner of her mouth to manage it. 
That made it easier to follow their trail, despite being weeks behind. Until I reached Chicago.
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
#1stLinePit #RS #A A traitor cost me her life. Anyone who betrays me will suffer for what happened to her.
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
#1stLinePit #A #PR #H #Vampires Carmilla X Mexican Gothic X Nosferatu He could survive one more night in this damned frozen hell if he just kept the door closed.
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inde.s @indeeeeeeeeesii.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Dolphins have more in common with humans than most of us realize. Their social structure is complex; they travel in tight-knit groups—called pods—but they form other relationships outside of them. #1stLinePit #WIP #A #R #CON 👇 Blurb, small Josie & Will profile, continued opening.
At the center of the image is a blurb that reads: As a marine biologist specializing in sea turtle conservation, Josie Lark has spent her entire life chasing the next coastline, the next job, determined to put as much distance as possible between this version of herself and the grief of her childhood. But when a call from her pregnant little sister drags her home to the sleepy island town of Pelican Cove, Josie returns with a set itinerary: pack up their late mother’s house, put together her restoration proposal for the Gulf Conservation Center, greet her baby niece, and board a flight to her dream job in Australia eight weeks later.
 Will Mercer is not part of that plan. 
 Will is the boy she once loved. He’s her childhood best friend, her first kiss and her first heartbreak, and the one person Josie never quite stopped regretting. While she ran off to college, Will stayed, tied to his family marina and a life Josie didn’t want for herself. With Pelican Cove’s fragile ecosystem and coastal economy in crisis, Josie’s project at the Conservation Center puts her directly in Will’s orbit. The electric chemistry is still there, but so are the ghosts of who they used to be—and the reality that Josie is leaving. Again. 
 As summer stretches into fall, between long days on the water and a storm that changes everything, Josie begins to question where she truly belongs—and what it would mean to stay.
 

The background is a pale blue to darker blue gradient from left to right. The bottom of the image reads “@indesii”.

Dolphins have more in common with humans than most of us realize. Their social structure is complex; they travel in tight-knit groups—called pods—but they form other relationships outside of them. A ‘fission-fusion’ society—the same society we see form between chimpanzees, elephants, and humans. It boils down to this: think about your own life. You wake up and spend time with your husband and drop your children at school in the morning, and then you go to work. On your break you eat lunch with friends you haven’t seen in months. In the evening, you go to your in-law’s house for dinner. You stop on the drive home to get takeout tacos because your mother-in-law’s cooking is dreadful, and wave to the familiar faces behind the counter. Your elderly neighbor is rocking on a creaky porch chair as the sun fades and you call out in greeting. This cycle repeats. You're moving in and out of pods throughout the day, but you still have the long-term relationships in your pod that can last a lifetime. Your parents, your sisters, your brothers, your partner, your best friend.
Lucy has always been part of my pod, a constant through every change—just like the dolphins on the mural in the Pelican Cove ferry terminal. They are smaller than I remember. We traced their bumpy mosaic bodies with our fingertips as children, creating stories about where the dolphins came from, where they were going, and the exciting adventures they must have together. It wasn’t until we were teenagers that we learned they were just like us. Lucy resented this discovery.
I only have a moment to drink her in before she ambles toward me in a blur of sun-streaked hair and a too-big Pelican Cove Fishing Co. sweatshirt.
A cartoon image of a white young woman with long and wavy brown hair looking off to her left, wearing white-beige shorts, a peach tank top, a white sports cap, and a small white bag over her shoulders. Multiple arrows lead to various passages of text. These read: JOSIE LARK, 31 YEARS OLD, BISEXUAL, WOULD BURY A BODY FOR HER SISTER, LOVES: LUCY, SEA TURTLES, DOLPHINS, AND TACOS, and HATES: PEOPLE THAT LITTER, WILL MERCER, PEOPLE THAT BLOCK AISLES TO CHAT, WILL MERCER. The background is a yellow to pink gradient from left to right, with a line art border of teal-y blue and green seashells, starfish and conches. The bottom of the image reads “@indesii”.A cartoon image of a tanned young man looking straight ahead, with his hands in his trouser pockets. His hair is black and tousled. He wears a light brown oversized jumper and dark brown trousers with black shoes. To his right are multiple arrows with various passages of text. These read: WILL MERCER, 30 YEARS OLD, LOVES: MADDIE, FISHING, TATTOOS, AND LOCAL IPAS, and HATES: THURSDAYS, JOSIE LARK, PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO ACCEPT HELP WHEN THEY NEED IT, JOSIE LARK. The background is a yellow to orange gradient from left to right, with a line art border of teal-y blue and green of seashells, starfish, and conches. The bottom of the image reads “@indesii”.
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
#1stLinePit #A #M Golden Girls X White Lotus X Jawbreaker: The cruise reception was a plastic surgeon’s wet dream. There had been enough filler and Botox used on the faces in this room to iron the wrinkles out of an elephant’s backside.
Bridge over river with multiple arches and old fashioned globe lights. Top left: woman holding glass of wine to lips, Top right: bridge with multiple arches over river and old-fashioned globe lights on top,
Center: shadowy person walking down railroads tracks 
Bottom right: man and woman kissing, Bottom Left Chateau surrounded by Vineyards
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
This song describes my Boomer mean girls when they rocked out in their heyday...and committed a deadly crime. Golden Girls x Jawbreaker #UnhingedPit #innocencelost youtu.be/6s2zm_crkVc?...
youtu.be
Nick Gilder - Hot Child In The City • TopPop
YouTube video by TopPop
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Jessica DeLand - Author (is getting published! 😱) @delandjessica.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Emotion-sucking vampire cereal, the breakfast of abducted ballerinas! Flavors include: ✅ Kidnapping! ✅ Escape Efforts! ✅ Magic Container! ✅ Lackeys! ✅ High school! ✅ Spying! ✅ Panic attacks! ✅ Slow Burn! Reader tested, agent approved! #unhingedpit #Q #YA #F #M #R #FR
Fake Cereal Advertisement with an open cereal box in the center reading "Emotion-sucking vampire cereal" with angry eyes at the top. Arranged around the cereal box with arrows pointing toward it are illustrations of a girl getting kidnapped, a silhouette of a couple looking at each other, three henchmen silhouettes, a girl having a panic attack, a girl in a detective costume with a magnifying glass to her eye, a Tupperware, a stick figure escaping through a door, and a high school. Words are arranged around the cereal box reading "Reader Tested!" "Agent Approved!" "Breakfast of Abducted Ballerinas!" "Fresh Flavors!" "Querying Now!"
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Jessica DeLand - Author (is getting published! 😱) @delandjessica.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
WAKE, starring: FMC: "Never Not Gonna Dance Again" by Pink Love Interest: "Dancing with Your Shadows" by Phillip Phillips Foil: "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson Mentor: "Demons" by Imagine Dragons Antagonist: "Raining Blood" by Slayer #unhingedpit #Q #YA #F #M #R #FR
Image with a Southern house in the background. On the left are Hagrid from Harry Potter, Loki from the Marvel movies, and Donald Duck with a speech bubble reading, "You have to live here with us because our boss shoved some of his magic in you and we can't get it out." On the right is Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle in a ballet tutu with a speech bubble reading, "I hate you." In the upper right corner is a split headshot of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde with an arrow pointing to it labeled "Boss." In the center is an award badge reading, "Killer Nashville Claymore Finalist."
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Just Like That x Jawbreaker The 70s were wild for Rebecca's dead mother and her squad of mean girls: 💋Lesbian affairs 💊Drugs ♀️Feminism ☠️Murder One of these women is harboring a deadly secret, to which Rebecca holds the key in her mother's diary. #UnhingedPit #M #A
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David Allen Voyles @davidallenvoyles.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
ATTN #HORROR LOVERS: Want a free, monthly treat that has links to fun, spooky stuff? No charge, no spam. Just fun stuff for folks who like #Halloween spookiness year round. Check out the archives for past issues here: #DarkCycles davidallenvoyles.com/darkcycles_a...
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Always exciting as an #indieauthor to spot my book (The Devil's Valley) on the shelf at a store. If you're passing through Ted Steven's International Airport in Anchorage and want a great book, stop by Mosquito Books and support #localbusiness #alaskanauthors
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Dawn Berkoski @dawnberkoski.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Times up. The choice is either death or permanent confinement. But a chance meeting offers a ray of hope, a path to the freedom Alex and Jason crave. It will pit them against corporate vampires, but the alternative is set in stone. Blue bloods X Yakuza #PR #A #2025Pit
Photo of a dead end path located in a dungeon. One side of the dark tunnel leads  to prison bars. The other side leads to darkness. But in the middle, a ray of light shines from an unseen doorway, illuminating the stone floor and showing a possible way out. Photography by Dawn Berkoski. 

I Am Chosen, Paranormal Romance by Dawn Berkoski
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Elizabeth Land Quant @elizabethlquant.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
“Three more corpses and it wasn’t even noon.” First line from FUCK THIS MURDER - a humorous, foul mouthed mystery *If Murder She Wrote and Clue were neuro-spicy and totally GAY* #2025Pit #A #M #autism #Disabilty #LGBTQIA+ #ownvoices #alligators
media.tenor.com
a cartoon alligator is swimming in the water with its mouth wide open .
Alt: The alligator from Peter Pan is eagerly slapping the water with his mouth wide open.
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Brodie Smith @brodiesmith.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
SONG OF THE LIONESS X BRIDGERTON X REIGN Achieving Mastery of magic at seventeen isn't easy. Why won't Kyan's family celebrate her accomplishment? How can she prove herself? When an assassin strikes at the king, and a conspiracy unfolds, she'll get her chance. #Q #YA #F #2025pit
A grid of 9 images in a collage. 
1: starry black hands
2: two women in regal fantasy clothes facing away from the viewer
3: a darkly lit apothecary and magic workshop
4: a blue and white cityscape
5: a figure inside a blue fire bubble
6: hands placing a crown on a silhouetted woman's head
7: a woman in black gothic clothes reading a book in a library
8: a snowy village with lights under the house eaves
9: stylised symbology of the sun and moon
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Elizabeth Land Quant @elizabethlquant.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
A closed room country house murder you say? May I introduce you to FUCK THIS MURDER 🐊🐊🐊 - a humorous, foul mouthed mystery, complete w/ sabotaged pre-wedding jaunts (bad food, poison oak, BEES), rekindled romance, a murder forest, & much more! #2025Pit #A #M #autism #Disabilty #LGBTQIA+ #OWN
media.tenor.com
a large white house with a gazebo in the background
Alt: a large white house with a gazebo in the background, and people are running around frantically
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Brandon Love @blovewrites.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
17 is hard, but when you're set to take over presidency from your father, survive a ☠️ attempt, are betrayed by the two you love & learn your role is to maintain peace by keeping 200yo lies & manipulating the public or start the biggest war in centuries, 17 is REALLY hard. #2025Pit #Q #YA #SF #LGBTQ
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Rakiya Jinadu @rakiyawrites.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
WE WERE GODS Pleasure and pain are abundant where gods make homes. This rings true for the city of Cardell. A hub for entertainment and cutthroat politics, losing is inevitable in this holy city; but when nothing—not even godhood—is forever, there is everything to gain. #2025Pit #A #F
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Angelina Flood @linala.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
NINTH HOUSExGilmore Girls A 21st-century witch promises to help a dead 17th-century predecessor. When she learns a coven masked as a company is using her ex to hunt the ghost for a killer internship, she must delve into her haunted past to save the man she loves & her kindred spirit. #2025pit #F #A
A collage of spooky, witchy images with white text reading WITCHES LIKE SILVER STARS over a stained glass raven.
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Tiger Cowers, Dragon Falls is out now! ✨Charlotte Saulter✨ @writerlythings.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
WHEN PHOENIX AND DRAGON AWOKE Four strangers with dangerous powers forbidden under penalty of death must master their abilities and confront personal demons while evading capture by law enforcement and a corrupt empress. 🔥Tortured heroes 🪵Found family 🌊East Asia ⚙️Betrayals+secrets #2025pit #A #F
A fantasy map
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Crissie (C.T. Wood) @crissthecreative.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
When Larkin discovers she’s pregnant after a very out-of-character one-night stand with a man who turns out to be the Greek god Apollo, she must face monsters, vengeful gods, & most terrifyingly, her feelings for Apollo to protect herself & her unborn child. #2025pit #A #R #RM #F #LGBTQIA #ace
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Angie is ✨querying✨ @angie3tomatoes.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Divine Rivals x Games Gods Play After a lightning bolt transforms him from a toxic teenager into a reincarnated god, Nathan Palmer must battle a vengeful goddess, confront his own destructive past, and prove that true heroism means unlearning everything he thought made him a man #2025pit #ya #spec
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Gert Ramm 🦋 @rammwriter.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
My #agentguide for Out of Time. Slow Horses ➕️ The Ipcress File ✖️ Life on Mars #litagents #editors
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Golden Girls x Jaw Breaker Rebecca is on a wine cruise in France as a substitute for her deceased mother. When bodies pile up, and blood flows like wine, she realizes her mother's Boomer mean girl squad has a secret past they'll kill to keep buried. #2025Pit #A #M #U #R
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Aaron Cole has a Book Deal! @theaaroncole.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
HUNGER GAMES × COBAB × FOURTH WING Inspired by the Central African mythology of the Underworld of Kalunga A boy with dangerous blood magic must compete in a deadly competition to save his mother's soul, before it's sacrificed to the Gods of the Underworld #YouDeservepIt #YA #OS
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Golden Girls x Jaw Breaker Rebecca is on a wine cruise in France as a substitute for her deceased mother. When bodies pile up, and blood flows like wine, she realizes her mother's Boomer mean girl squad has a secret past they'll kill to keep buried. #YouDeservePit #A #M #U
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Ceci Li @writerceci.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
#YouDeservepIt It’s Only Me, a YA contemporary romance: Raised by her strict Tiger Mom, Maggie Wang fake-dates the hockey team grump to make her crush jealous, only to fall for the wrong guy and risk breaking all her mom’s rules. #Q #YA #R #C #ComingOfAge #poc #writingcommunity #amquerying
Nathan playing hockey. Maggie playing keyboard. Maggie studying. Preschool. Nathan listening to music with eyes closed. Nathan and Maggie skating. Nathan kissing Maggie’s hair. Bunny hugging teddy bear. Nathan and Maggie hugging.Comp titles: Lynn Painter’s Better Than The Movies; Ann Liang’s This Time It’s Real; Tashy Bhuiyan’s Counting Down With You; Laura Taylor Namey’s A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow; Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved BeforeMaggie Wang lives by her tiger mom’s rules—even her crush ticks all the right boxes. But when she finally works up the courage to confess to the perfect guy, he’s too oblivious to look beyond their friendship. Desperate to turn his head, Maggie hatches a plan: snag a fake date to his hockey team’s skate party and make him jealous, as long as she can survive her clumsy self on the ice.
Enter Nathan Myers—the team grump. Once he agrees to be her stand-in, everything seems simple enough: he’ll teach her how to skate, and she’ll put up with his attitude. Only the more time they spend together, the more Maggie discovers a gentle teddy bear hidden beneath Nathan’s gruff exterior. For the first time, she wonders if it’s okay to let go of certain expectations—being herself might actually be enough.
But Nathan’s a wild card with no college plans. He doesn’t fit in the future Maggie’s mom has mapped out for her. Trapped between the family expectations and her growing feelings, she must decide whether breaking the rules is worth it with the boy who’s becoming more than just a fake date.#tropes and elements
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L. D. Rex is Querying @ldrexauthor.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
An elderly woman holds a grudge for forty years. On the outside, she goes to church, knits baby blankets and babysits, but her husband's betrayal has unleashed a psychotic anger that knows no bounds: a racy, multi-POV thrill ride with killer twists. #YouDeservePit #Q #A #S #T #R #LGBT
media.tenor.com
an elderly woman is sitting at a table with a cup of tea
Alt: an elderly woman is sitting at a table with a cup of tea
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Mike Morgera @mouser76.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
During a conflict between mages, the unthinkable has happened: the Oracle has awakened. Myrianna, a storm mage, is to journey to the Oracle's Spire and witness the final prophecy. Does the prophecy augur salvation? Or is Tian, the Inverse World, doomed? #WIP #A #F #YouDeservePit
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Taylor Renee @taylorrenee.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Would you choose immortality? #youdeservepit I present to you House of Valentine. My adult dark gothic fantasy with comparables to the Hunger Games, Interview with a Vampire and a twinge of Romeo and Juliet. Blurb, Moodboard, and journal excerpt included: #A #Q #F #amquerying #querying
A moodboard with a cozy, vintage aesthetic labeled ‘House of Valentine Moodboard’ at the center in elegant cursive text. Surrounding it are nine sections:
	1.	Open books with text in a serif font, layered on each other.
	2.	A picturesque village nestled in a lush green valley surrounded by mountains.
	3.	A minimalistic green wall with a framed painting, books, and candles arranged neatly on a table.
	4.	A wooden bookshelf filled with old, worn books in dim lighting.
	5.	Close-up of antique books with leather-bound covers in shades of green and brown, with visible gold detailing on the spines.
	6.	A café setting with small wooden tables, coffee, pastries, and an open book resting on one of the tables.
	7.	Handwritten text on sepia-toned paper, evoking a sense of nostalgia.
	8.	A person wearing red knit fingerless gloves and a cream sweater, touching a tree trunk with an attached piece of text. 

The centersquare says house of valentine mood boardA dark, moody moodboard labeled ‘House of Valentine Moodboard’ at the center in elegant cursive text. Surrounding it are nine sections:
	1.	A hand with clawed nails dragging across wooden floorboards, leaving deep scratches.
	2.	Text on a textured background that reads, ‘When Night Comes’ in a serif font.
	3.	A close-up of a golden, cat-like eye with a vertical slit pupil, surrounded by shadowed skin.
	4.	A wide-open mouth with sharp, pointed fangs
	5.	A grand ballroom scene filled with people in elegant historical attire, dancing beneath ornate chandeliers.
	6.	A hand with long, deep red nails holding a glass of dark red wine
	7.	The word ‘Run’ written in bold serif font on a completely black background
	8.	A dagger with intricate designs on the hilt resting next to a single stemmed rose and a torn piece of paper with faded text.Writing in a old journal looking page:

"If you could live for hundreds of centuries—through famine and plague, through wars that razed cities and left ash in their wake, that not even a bomb crashing through your home could destroy you—would you choose immortality? 
Wouldn’t you dream of such a gift? To remain as you were as the world crumbles around you, and rebuilds itself, endlessly? 
Of course you would.
That’s the allure, isn’t it? The whispered fantasy of endless time, of infinite existence.
But let me tell you: 
it’s a lie. A cruel, promise.
Because after enough centuries, you begin to wish for the plague to ravage your body, to tear through your flesh and wring you dry of life. You begin to long for the bomb to shatter you, burn away your skin until you’re nothing but bone and ash. You’d pray for the famine to hollow you out, for hunger to gnaw at your insides so violently that you might finally collapse under the weight of mortality.
Because the hunger you live with—
No, the hunger that you are—is worse."
-- Excerpt From Soren Valentine's JournalWhen anthropology student Hazel Adler travels to a remote Swiss village for her thesis, she expects folklore and forgotten traditions—not a hidden world of vampires, deadly politics, and a centennial festival that’s more nightmare than celebration. She was never meant to survive it.

Her only lifeline? Soren Valentine—a vampire with a past as blood-soaked as his fangs.

As the lines between myth and reality blur, Hazel must fight to survive in more ways than one. Trusting Soren may be her only chance—but the monster who saved her life hides dangerous secrets of his own. Survival means risking everything.

House of Valentine is a romantic gothic fantasy filled with sharp fangs, fragile alliances, and a slow-burn romance that will leave you breathless.
When anthropology student Hazel Adler travels to a remote Swiss village for her thesis, she expects folklore and forgotten traditions—not a hidden world of vampires, deadly politics, and a centennial festival that’s more nightmare than celebration. She was never meant to survive it.

Her only lifeline? Soren Valentine—a vampire with a past as blood-soaked as his fangs.

As the lines between myth and reality blur, Hazel must fight to survive in more ways than one. Trusting Soren may be her only chance—but the monster who saved her life hides dangerous secrets of his own. Survival means risking everything.

House of Valentine is a romantic gothic fantasy filled with sharp fangs, fragile alliances, and a slow-burn romance that will leave you breathless.
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Carmilla X Mexican Gothic Vampires masquerading as Saloon girls mine Dawson City in the winter of 1898 for more than gold. They offer the lonely, widowed Helena a seductive blend of: Power Wealth Eternal Beauty Pleasure All they want in return is her soul. #YouDeservepIt #A #H #PR
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🖋️Brent is Writing ✒️ @brentjlaney.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
REALM BREAKER X THE WITCHER When strange creatures begin terrorizing the realm, magic is awakened in the world and five reluctant strangers find themselves on an epic quest. “If one of us falls, all is lost.” #YouDeservePit #Q #A #F #LGBTQ
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Casey P. StJohn @cpstjohn.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
A....Guide to The Ghost of Avalon YA Medieval Mystery 🔥Tension-filled Slow Burn 😏Witty Banter 🫶Found Family 👀Questionable Truths 🗡️Second Chances Gone Wrong #YouDeservepIt #Q #YA #M #MY #F
An Agent’s Guide to my YA Medieval Mystery The Ghost of Avalon. Cream text on a maroon back ground over another background of a castle surrounded by water.Slide 2 of my agent's guide to The Ghost of Avalon. Slide titled "The Intrigue."
At five years old, Avalon was betrothed to a prince. At fourteen, she was forced to fake her own death. Now, five years later, she must come back to life to save the only man who knows she’s still alive--the king who had a hand in her supposed death.Slide 3 of my agent's guide to The Ghost of Avalon. Slide titled "The Plot."
When Avalon uncovers a plot to murder the royal family, she must return to the castle she fled under the guise of death to save the only man who knows she’s still alive—the king who had a hand in her supposed death. With the help of a pesky armored guard whose face she’ll never admit to wanting to see, Avalon must search out clues and implant herself in the affairs of visiting nobility in the hope of discovering who wants the royal family dead. When she discovers the current threats tie back to the death she faked five years ago, she must expose the person responsible for the ghosts who haunt her past and the current murder of a castle servant before death finally comes back to claim her for real…or she ends up married to a prince. She can’t decide which is worse.Slide 4 of my agent's guide to The Ghost of Avalon. Slide titled "The Similarities."
Throne of Glass - Unforgiving female protagonist and castle setting
For She is Wrath - Back from the dead and revenge murders
The Princess Bride - Storytelling aspect
Fable - Fantasy without magic
An Ember in the Ashes - Intrigue and murder
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T.N. Lee (she/her) @authort-lee.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Whale x Outlander A failed scholar-turned-florist is suddenly reborn as a noble in an alternate ancient East Asia. Having no romance nor accomplishments in his 1st life, he now seeks simple love & comfort despite familial obligations & a curse to harm loved ones. #A #WIP #Up #Spec #R #YouDeservepIt
This is a 2x3 moodboard. All pictures have lines that align together to help them flow more into each other and seem more connected. On the left are darker, warm-tinted modern scenes featuring a young man with his arms crossed in a field, a locked rusty door, and a street. On the right are lighter, cool-tinted ancient scenes featuring a young woman delicately embracing flowers, a closeup of a slightly ajar ancient paper door, and a traditional walled cityscape
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Amber Baird @amberbairdpdx.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
KINSHIP, a pitch-black thriller with horror elements featuring queer characters, long-lost siblings, and (of course) murder. 6 literary agents are currently reading it. Wouldn't you love to read it too? #Q #A #T #H #YoudeservepIt
Amber Baird: KINSHIP, 84k word horror-thriller agent's guide. Subversion of gothic tropes, long-lost siblings, true crime podcast, prey, family secrets, psychedelic, unhinged queer female protagonist, generational trauma, predators, meat, bears, remote California location, dark humor. KINSHIP blurb. Megan's already trying to avoid the heat for what happened to her girlfriend's husband back in San Francisco, and now she has to help her incompetent new brother clean up a murder he commits, because that's what family's for... probably. Now if she wants to get back to her lover in one piece, she'll have to navigate her brother's taboo affections and dodge multiple suspicious parties. So much for her quiet weekend away.KINSHIP first lines. Driving all night across the state in a part of California no one vacations in, a part that still belongs to the animals, my eyes burn for sleep. Car flanked as it is by clear paths as far as I can see, would it be so bad to let my eyes drift closed for just a moment?KINSHIP, for fans of: Maeve Fly by CJ Leeds (surrealism), My Sister the Serial KIller by Oyinkan Braithwaite (exploration of family), A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G Summers (dark humor), Blood Sugar by Sascha Rothchild (female rage).
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Lilly Lockwood 🔥SoBB is out NOW!🔔 @voicesofvalhoon.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
When saints and gods go to war, it is mortals who get trapped in the middle. It is mortals who will take hold of their own fate. And it is mortals who will live to see the sun shine another day. They may be broken, but even broken bells can ring. #YouDeservepIt #WIP #A #F
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Courtney Reece @courtneywrites.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
ADDIE LARUE x DIVINE RIVALS x DAWSON'S CREEK When Birdie & Lennon accidentally summon a trickster god, they unknowingly tangle the invisible threads of all three. 🌿coming of age 🌿multi-POV 🌿magical take on the string theory 🌿petty gods + politics #YouDeservepIt #q #a #f
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Ziv @zivmontenegro.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
5TH WAVE meets NOPE meets ARRIVAL meets INTERSTELLAR After encountering an alien while dealing with grief, Astra, a runaway, must choose between saving humanity from an alien invasion and reconciling with her dad before it’s too late. #YouDeservePit #YA #literary #scifi
This isn’t real but I like to manifest This is isn’t real but I like to manifest.
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DM Shepard @dmshepard.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
And just Like That x Jawbreaker The 70s were wild for Rebecca's dead mother and her squad of mean girls: 💋Lesbian affairs 💊Drugs ♀️Feminism ☠️Murder One of these women is harboring a deadly secret, to which Rebecca holds the key in her mother's diary. #YouDeservepIt #M #U #A
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