iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

Brianna Heath | Author @briannahwrites.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

All right, let's do this, #WritingCommunity! Next Saturday (Feb 8), I'm hosting #CritPit, an event for #writers to find critique partners and alpha/beta readers. The event is open to all writers! Please share widely!

#CritPit
What is it? A bsky event to help writers find new alpha readers, beta readers, and/or critique partners!
When is it happening? 8 February 2025. No time zone restrictions. As long as it’s Feb 8 somewhere, #CritPit is happening!
Who can participate? All writers who have something for which they’d like to find a reader/partner! This includes novels, novellas, short stories, etc.

How to participate
1. Create a short (single post-length) pitch to describe your work. Your pitch doesn’t need to be perfect, but it should tell people what your writing is about!

2. Post up to 3 works, 1 post per work

3. Include the #CritPit hashtag!

4. To help people find you, include an age category tag and at least 1 genre tag (see bit.ly/CritPit for a list of tags)

5. If a pitch interests you, leave a comment to let the writer know!

FAQ
Am I allowed to like pitches? Yes! Anyone can like, comment, and/or repost! Go wild!
Are agents/editors participating? This is NOT an event for pitching to agents/editors. This is for writers to find other writers. Agents/editors who are also writers may participate, but do so as writers only.
Can I include a moodboard/graphic? Do I HAVE to include a moodboard/graphic? Graphics (moodboards, “a guide to,” etc.) are not required but they are allowed. Do include alt text for all images. Do not use AI-generated content.

Finding a match
You do not have to work with everyone to comments/volunteers as a reader!
Recommended first steps for a potential match:
1. Discuss whether you’ll be swapping (reading for each other) or just 1 person will read for the other.
2. Share a slightly longer blurb + any content/trigger warnings.
3. Share a sample (like first 1-2 chapters) so you can see if you vibe (reader is interested/engaged & writer feels the feedback style of the reader works for them).
4. Always notify someone if you don’t think you’ll be a good fit, can’t make the time commitment, or can’t finish once you start.

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

Taylor Grothe @taylorlgrothe.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

I am so thrilled to release the cover of my debut YA horror novel, HOLLOW, out with Peachtree Teen on September 30, 2025!!!

A photo of trees with the cover of HOLLOW under "official cover reveal"

Don't Let the Forest In meets The Whispering Dark in a queer YA cult horror following a recently diagnosed autistic teen who becomes enmeshed in a community of outcasts harboring sinister secrets.
After a meltdown in her school cafeteria prompts an unwanted autism diagnosis, Cassie Davis moves back to her hometown in upstate New York, where her mom hopes the familiarity will allow Cassie to feel normal again.
Cassie's never truly felt normal anywhere, but she does crave the ease she used to have with her old friends.
Problem is that her friends aren't so eager to welcome her back into the fold.
They extend an olive branch by inviting her on their backpacking trip to Hollow Ridge, in the upper reaches of the Adirondacks. But when a fight breaks out their first night, Cassie wakes to a barren campsite-her friends all gone.
With severe weather approaching and nearing sensory overload, Cassie is saved by a boy named Kaleb, who whisks her away to a compound of artists and outcasts he calls the Roost. As Kaleb tends to her injuries, Cassie begins to feel-for the first time in her life-that she can truly be herself. But as the days pass, strange happenings around the Roost make Cassie question her instincts.
Noises in the trees grow louder, begging the question: Are the dangers in the forest, on the trail, or in the Roost itself?
In a world where autistic characters rarely get to be the hero of their own stories, Cassie Davis's one-step-back, two-steps-forward journey to unmasking makes Hollow as much a love letter to neurodiversity as it is a haunting tale you'll want to read with the lights on.

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kelly jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

BREAKING: Major publishers, alongside the Authors Guide, bestselling authors, and others, have filed a lawsuit against Idaho's draconian book ban bill, claiming First and Fourteenth Amendment violations. bookriot.com/idaho-hb710-...

bookriot.com

Publishers, Authors Guild, and More File Lawsuit Against Idaho's Discriminatory Book Banning Bill

Plaintiffs claim that Idaho's HB 710, implemented last summer, violates First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

Bookishbabeiswriting @bookbabewriting.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Here is an updated agent guide for my #ownvoices YA Horror Romance I am going to be #amquerying after the SmoochPit showcase in a couple weeks. If you are interested in seeing this in your inbox, let me know!

An Agent's guide to Killer Summer by Bookbabewriting. Below says it is a YA Horror Romance selected for 2024 SmoochPit Mentorship Program.

Pitch
Boys start to disappear in Lyric's backwards backwoods hometown and the last person they were seen with is her best friend Eleanor. After a bloody encounter Lyric questions of the connection is all in her head but as the boys start to turn up dead, Lyric must investigate the cultish town Eleanor calls home and if there is something monstrously wrong with her best friend.

For fans of Jennifer's Body, Devil in Ohio, Together We Rot, This Delicious Death, and The River Has Teeth.

Tropes and vibes around a spooky rural moodboard. Cult town in Canadian prairies, cannibalism as a metaphor for love, friends to lovers, bubblegum horror vibes, sapphic pining, toxic, codependent friendship, touch her and die, monstrous romance, black cat x golden retriever vibes, #ownvoices queer and Indigenous rep

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Sadie Hartmann (Mother Horror) @sadiehartmann.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Celebrating horror from our friends in CANADA 🇨🇦many of these authors are featured in my book 101 Horror Books to Read Before You're Murdered! @daviddemchuk.com @acwise.bsky.social @silviamg.bsky.social @nalohop.bsky.social I miss my friend, Andrew Pyper. @premeemohamed.com #booksky 🩸📚

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Abigail is Agented @abigailwadlington.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

An agent’s guide to THE FORGOTTEN REALM, a TANGLED X ANASTASIA YA Fantasy with cozy vibes (and Big Five editor interest!) ✨ #litagents , if you’re interested in seeing this in your inbox, like this guide or let me know! 🪻💜 #writingcommunity

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

i'm tired of being told to stop doomscrolling. i'm just scrolling, it's not my fault there's doom on there

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Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6! @faithawrites.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

so i suppose it's time for a vague publishing... skeet👀✨

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H. L. Docherty (Updates Only) @hldocherty.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

#YouDeservepIt with my latest #AgentsGuide Romeo and Juliet meets The Hunger Games in this NA, dual-POV, romantic fantasy. A fiery, slum-dwelling rebel and a guilt-ridden aristocrat find forbidden love amid a brutal uprising, hidden magic, and deadly monsters that could destroy them both. #NA #F #R

THE GIRL IN THE MEADOW
by H. L. Docherty
Romeo and Juliet meets The Hunger Games in this 119k New Adult Fantasy Romance

Opening Lines:
A burnt-out sign lay in our tattered front yard, face to the sky. Mum's blue eyes flashed as she stared at the smouldering pile of trash. Beneath the scorch marks, the faint words
'Welcome to Harroworth Central College' could still be made out. Someone had burned the college entrance sign in our garden, scrawling 'Scabs not welcome' across it.
Scabs. Always that word. Like we were nothing more than dead skin, picked at until we bled. Anger bubbled up, threatening to spill over. I wanted to scream, to burn their precious city to the ground, but I shoved the fire back down my throat until it was ember in my stomach. Like always.

Tropes and Themes:
Starcrossed Lovers /
Forbidden Love
Mental Health Rep
Class Divide
Morally Grey Characters
Complex Sibling Dynamics
Found Family
Queer-Normative World Power and Corruption
Loss
Survival and Morality
Identity

Comps:
THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT by Carissa Broadbent
SERPENT AND DOVE by Shelby Mahurin
THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LA RUE by V. E. Schwab

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

Rowan Brighton Brown @rowanbrightonbrown.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

A Southern inheritance is always dark—whether it's a penchant for pills, a blood-soaked family farm, or an ancient magic. Sierra spurns them all, but when her dad disappears, she must choose which monsters to slay, and which to become. #YouDeservePit #Q #YA #H #T

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raghad ☀️🍊 @raghadjibril.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

AHS: Freakshow x The Night Circus A schizophrenic maghrebi acrobat A diverse ragtag troupe of disabled freakshow performers A show-woman with many enemies A competition of traveling circuses & a grisly slew of political assassinations in Victorian Britain #YouDeservePit #WIP #Adult #His

Moodboard for my book featuring
A circus tent strewn with fairy lights
The silhouette of a carriage and coachman in fog
A ringmaster’s uniform
A victorian woman’s dress
Multicoloured balloons
The silhouette of Victorian men on the streets
A woman with melting clown makeup
A scene from The Greatest Showman: an acrobat up in the air with a man singing below
A brown man’s hazel eyes

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

One thing about me is that I will fight Nazis until I’m six feet in the ground.

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

Christina Orlando @cxorlando.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

okay this is a CALL FOR ESSAY PITCHES! I'm looking for freelance writers for Reactor Mag, a long-running SFF website (formerly tor dot com not the publisher). Im the senior editor for book content, focusing on contemporary sci-fi, fantasy, gothic, horror, and genre-defying books. (details below)

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Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6! @faithawrites.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

writing about fucked up deer just as a deer wanders into my back yard... gotta love living in the woods 🦌

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Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6! @faithawrites.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

An agent's guide to FOLIE DU CORPS, my BLACK SWAN X HILL HOUSE horror (with Big 5+ editor interest)! I now officially #amquerying so if you've liked a pitch for this project, check your inbox! And if you'd like to see it too, let me know👀🖤🩰 #writingcommunity

A blurry picture of a ballerina with the text: "An agents guide to Folie Du Corps by faithawrites"

pitch: "Sapphic adult horror. If Eden wants the ballet solo of a lifetime, she just has to survive the freak accidents that keep killing the other ballerinas, a forbidden attraction to her idol—legendary ex-ballerina Leanora, and her chronic illness. Oh, and the dormant haunted house someone brought back to life." for fans of: "Black Swan, Suspiria, I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me, It Will Only Hurt for a Moment, Catherine House, Bunny."

A moodboard with a house on fire; a ballerina clutching an injuried leg; a door with dripping blood; two legs poking out from a tub with flowers stuck to them; a quote "I'd bleed for anything if it held me the right way"; a group of ballerinas dancing in black costumes; two women silhouetted very close together; a partially frozen lake; a woman with dark, wet hair.

And the tropes: "liminal spaces
final girl
haunted house
sapphic
student x mentor
(deadly) competition
winter horror
toxic, doomed relationship
isolated settings
all-female cast
chronic pain rep
“do i want her or do i want to be her?”
slow-burn horror"

"Eden thought she’d know when Leanora Karagianni arrived at the manor. Like gravity would shift or bells would ring through the mountains. She would feel Leanora coming, the very bones of the manor and the bases of the mountains readying themselves for her presence.
But Eden wakes to the muted buzz of her alarm, lost somewhere in the heap of blankets piled high on her narrow, stiff bed. The window behind her is smaller than the one in her apartment, but it still manages to be at the perfect angle for the rising sun, barely creeping above the horizon, to sneak through the burgundy curtains and strike right at her eyes.
None of this is abnormal: the same alarm, a little earlier. A different angle, same piercing glare.
Nothing is revelatory as Eden props herself up on one elbow to the tune of cracking vertebrae, and the chill that seems to be ever-present here slips into her little pocket of warmth."

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Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6! @faithawrites.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

not one but TWO very exciting emails... on the SAME day ✨

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kate is here! @akatepockett.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

‘Til death do us part’ seems far fetched—until Odessa is haunted by the spirits of the murdered queens before her. Warned she is next in the grave, Odessa must escape to survive. The queens agree to help, but their aid comes with a deadly price: vengeance. #P2Ppit #UW #YA #F

collage of several images featuring torn paper, renaissance art of crowns, hands soaked in blood, a wrist with a vampire bite, flowers, and the quote “like moths to a flame, we are drawn to the darkness of our love”

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Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6! @faithawrites.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

[BLACK SWAN X BUNNY X HILL HOUSE] If Eden wants the solo, she just has to survive the freak accidents that keep killing the other ballerinas, a ill-fated attraction to her idol, and her chronic illness. Oh, and the haunted house she brought to life. Oops. #P2Ppit #A #H #Q

a 3X3 moodboard: a close up sultry shot of a face; ballerinas in white dresses; a greenhouse; a half-frozen lake; a quote "elegance is more important than suffering"; a distorted picture of a flooded room; a gothic-esque hallway; a ballerina sitting on stairs in a white costume; a pale girl with dark hair.

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Rowan Brighton Brown @rowanbrightonbrown.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Sierra loves her family and fears becoming them. Their healing hurts and their pills make you sick. But as infectious iron creeps through veins like kudzu, she is forced to take on her dark inheritance. If she must deal with monsters, she might as well become one. #P2Ppit #Q #YA

This is a moodboard / collage of orange and green images with a spooky, earthy vibe. There is a white woman's eye reflecting a fire, a vine-tangled arm reaching for a moth, a photo of top surgery scars with barbed wire tattoos, a black woman hidden in kudzu, and a poster of Mothman

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Norees @noreeswrites.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

NINTH HOUSE x LIBRARY OF UNWRITTEN 🖤Book magic 🖤Scottish mythology The day her brother vanishes Astra saves an intriguing man tied to his disappearance, together w/ a demon cat & anxious banshee they embark on a road trip to find him before it’s too late #P2Ppit #S #A #F

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Grace Morrow @authorgmorrow.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

NOSFERATU x FBAA When Thalia is forced to marry a Vampyr prince to save her human kingdom, she's eager to seek revenge on the immortals who murdered her father and sister. That is, if her ex-lover turned Vampyr doesn't stop her first. 🥀🖤 #P2Ppit #A #S #H #RF

Picture of gothic church window with the text: A GUIDE TO WE BECOME DARKNESS by Grace
Morrow

Image description
Picture of pomegranates with the text COMPS WE BECOME DARKNESS is a darkly twisted adult
Horror Romantasy that combines the dark romance of Carissa Broadbent's THE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF THE NIGHT, with the gothic horror of Rachel Gillig's ONE DARK WINDOW, and the marriage of convenience trope in THE BRIDGE KINGDOM. Also shows pics of the comps as book covers.

OG Character art by: libraryoflg
TROPES
LOVERS-TO
ENEMIES
MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE
SEXY BLOOD TIME
CURSED
FORESTS
BITING
ONLY ONE BED
ELDRITCH
CREATURES
WHO BETRAYED
WHO
DAGGER TO THROAT

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Katie Wu @katiewuwrites.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

🎨THE NIGHT CIRCUS but magic painting academia🖤 Homesick immigrant teams up w/ hot posh rival to win magic painting contest when her scholarship is cancelled—while they anonymously collab on a new magic canvas that could change the world …and try not to kiss. #P2Ppit #F #A #UW #RF #Q

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐨 & 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧 @quietblkgrl.blacksky.app · 17/01/2025

TRUE BLOOD x BUFFY x BLOOD DEBTS Set in a southern gothic Texas, Nola waited her whole life to be a debutante in a long line of vampire slayers. But between century old treaties, vampires, witches, family feuds, star-crossed lovers and the bond between cousins what will fate decide? #P2Ppit #UW #YA

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Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6! @faithawrites.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

soooo check this pitch out if you want to see a manuscript with 10(!!) requests in four days 💕 #amquerying

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Lynn Love @lynnlove.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Loving the sound of this beauty

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

Jessica Jonas @jessicamjonas.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Someone grab this so I can add it to my TBR!!

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 🍃 @charscrawls.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

🎸 daisy jones x knives out 🗡️ the songstress, the high-flyer, the gambler, the sweetheart, the watcher, the matriarch and the rogue. seven suspects. one the killer of renowned rockstar sam corvi. but who? only they can tell you #P2Ppit #W #A #LF #M

a moodboard detailing nine images related to my work in progress devilswip, they are: big ben (london), a board of evidence, a street cornered off by crime scene tape, someone playing the guitar, the silhouette of a rockstar, musical notes, a crowd of music goers, evidence on the floor and someone punching a mirror.

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Marnie is reading! @amcrollwriter.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

DIVINE RIVALS x POWERLESS A Saint is killed, triggering a set of deadly magic trials. Pia didn’t expect to be chosen for the competition, but is determined to win—and especially determined to beat her infuriatingly beautiful rival, Joanna #P2Pit #AgentedWriter #OS #F #editors

a collage style moodboard with: a red-haired woman (olivia cooke) in medieval clothing and a crown of stars, an altar, a quote saying ‘win because you don’t know how to lose’, a dagger, a quote reading ‘i will carve my way out with only my teeth’, hands holding a rosary, candles, two women almost kissing. the quote at the centre reads ‘let the games begin’

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Sammy Holden @holdencreates.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

THE FOXGLOVE KING x GIDEON THE NINTH Ex-girlfriends investigate the murder they’ve been accused of, unraveling the mystery of the magic that connects them both and trying to ignore old feelings. Featuring: -sentient, decaying magic -political intrigue -twists and betrayal #P2Ppit #AW #A #F

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Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6! @faithawrites.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

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Musicology Duck @musicologyduck.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

thats ok im already fluent in anxiety

Sign reading Duolingo,
but for Anxiety Created by scientists from Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard
FREE to use without a subscription with a cute lil blob cartoon character

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Reposted by Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6!

Manuscript Wish List® @manuscriptwishlist.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Hello Writing Community! We are delighted to announce our First Official Bluesky *** #MSWL Day *** February 12, 2025. 🎉🎉🎉 Agents + editors can post what they ✨wish✨ they had in their inboxes; writers can find their next best fit for querying. Learn more here: manuscriptwishlist.com/the-next-off...

manuscriptwishlist.com

The Next Official #MSWL Day: February 12, 2025 – The Official Manuscript Wish List Website

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Danai Christopoulou | VILE LADY VILLAINS out NOW @danaiwrites.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

I promise you, once you free yourself from the notion that other writers are your competition and start viewing them as your fellow weirdos who share similar special interests as you, your life in publishing will become so much easier.

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Faith Gladwin | THE FINALIST out October 6! @faithawrites.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

i promise i'll stop being annoying about this, but i've gotten 6 requests in 48 hours... 😳🩰

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Andrea Brown Literary Agency @andreabrownlit.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

🎉Everyone please join us with hearty congratulations and many rounds of applause for ABLA's newest associate agent, the wonderful @analiacabello.bsky.social!🎉 She is now OPEN to queries, and you can find her full agent page here

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a (dil)emma ✨️ is AGENTED! @emmailene.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

🔥🗡NEW AGENT'S GUIDE TO DAGGER OF THE TSAR — Adult Fantasy inspiired by Anastasia Romanov!🗡🔥 ➡️ Now with editor interest (including from a Big 5!) ➡️ morally grey, toxic MC ➡️ enemy prince ➡️ dark court intrigue #BluePit #A #F #OV #LGBT #Q

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Raven Demory, Authoress 🌿💀🌿 @saintserene.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

GIDEON X SAINT DEATH'S DAUGHTER An undead detective searches for the stolen corpse of an industrialist's socialite daughter. When she finds the body possessed by her ex's ghost, she must venture into the underworld to learn the truth about her own resurrection. #BluePit #A #M #F #H

A mood board of various preraphaelite paintings, holy relics, and Victorian/Edwardian illustrations

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T. L. Coughlin is ✨AGENTED✨ @tlcoughlin.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

With one touch, a jaded & wily Ren can find your fated love, but she’ll only tell the truth half the time. When seized by the empress to find the Lonely Prince a match, Ren’s own thread gets tangled—in deceit, rebellion, and a fate worse than death. #Bluepit 📖 #YA #F #POC #OWN #AG

Moodboard for SWINDLED by T. L. Coughlin: Theme of black and red. A box of vials, an acrobat dangling from red fabric, a red Chinese lantern, a girl with gilded gold and a black lace shirt with bright red lips, red thread, a silhouette of an empress, the coliseum, a dandelion on fire, and an ancient stone doorway with a red and gold curtain in front.

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