Sign in

C.H.Lei

@hpl0veshack.bsky.social
182 followers 468 following 1K posts

Goth-lite, mixed-racial, almost-maybe writer, heavy metal officiando, Murder Mystery whore. Watches a movie a day, maybe two. He/him. I use up all my good grammar and spelling while writing.

PostsRepliesMedia
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
#DVParty Day 4. Posting a gif about the martial arts side of my MG. There’s three major fight scenes, all moves I learned from Hapkido and Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan. No Shaolin but SF only had Mantis style that I knew of. Eh, gotta use what you have.
090
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#DVParty Day 3. Yup, just the opening line. No big fantasy or horror/ghost stuff until later in the chapter. So for extra I'll just tease that the first chapter is called "The Last Time I’ll Ever Be a Good Samaritan".
"There are many things one does not want to hear at the end of a 5K"
2170
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
#DVparty Day 2. Decided to “Graphic Design is my Passion” up some weird little profile sort-of-mood boards at 1:00 AM for my two #MG pitch heroines, Gracie Foon and Cingmei.
Gracie Foon (13)

Middle School 8th Grade.
Track and Field Ace (Relay, Short Distance Running)
State Bronze Medal

Lives with:
Dad (Firefighter)
Mom (Surgeon)

Likes:
Running
Boba

Dislikes:
Running (For Her Life)
Snakes
Everything Happening Around Her
Snakes
Snakes
Snakes

“I can’t be dead … I got things to do, high schools to apply to. Do you know how long I’ve been studying for my SSATs? I’m not that smart!”Cingmei
“Meimei”
(14)

Occupation:
Mercenary
Bodyguard
Hired Thug

Family: 
One Sister

Likes:
Bao (Baked and Steamed)
Winning Fights

Dislikes:
Just about everything else

“You know, we sort of work well together. Rver thought of just leaving the human world behind?”
1120
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My #DVparty mood board! Forst time really making one, trying to blend the San Francisco vibes with contemporary fantasy, Chinese influence and the smidge of horror. Oh, and TW for a big snake. For moodboard and novel I’m pitching lol.
Mood board features many chinese influences, something that’s supposed to be a ghost, San Francisco and a snake.
9562
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Shout out to the small-ass town I live in having a buzzing jazz fest and actually legit ramen. Still no traffic lights
Legit Ramen
000
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
#WeeknightWriters A3 Jazz. Jazz. Jazz. (Okay, they ticket gated the opening act this year, which ticks me off. But still.) Jazz.
160
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
New library #bookhaul. Two of the five are random pulls, the rest are on-whim “Hey, I’ve read this author” moments. #books #booksky
Top row:
1. The Escapement by Lavie Tidhar
2. A Daughter’s Guide to Mothers and Murder by Dianne Freeman
3. William Faulkner: Selected Short Stories

Bottom row:
1. the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
2. The Long Con by Seressia Glass
0120
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Favorite Star Trek moment is this bit in S1 TNG where beardless Riker has to pretend he’s about to be killed due to … mystic alien power stopping his heart? Idk, it’s been a while since I saw S1 TNG.
Riker being a silly man. He’s acting.
0143
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
This month’s library #books haul. Again, going for a swath of genres and authors. #booksky
Clockwise from the top-left:
1. How Long ‘Til Black History Month? By N.K. Jemisin
2. Murder Takes the Stage: A Phyllida Bright Mystery by Colleen Cambridge
3. Withered Hill by David Barnett
4. Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron
5. The Gods Must Burn by T.R. moore
020
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Library #books haul. Got two mysteries and two books I’ve been meaning to read for a while. I mean, come on, Heroine Complex’s cover is just too good to not read. #booksky
Four books.

1. Marion Lane and th Midnight Murder by T. A. Willberg

2. The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Karen White, and Lauren Willig

3. James by Percival Everett

4. Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn
260
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Spirited Away x Jade City In the ghost-infested streets of San Francisco, the spirit of a 13-year-old girl must risk her humanity to reclaim her mortal body from the malevolent entity possessing it. #Questpit #Q #MG #F #PR
Over a background of San Francisco Chinatown:

GRACIE FOON FIGHTS FOR HER LIFE

Pitch: After a malevolent ghost takes over her body and starts living her life, the spirit of a 13-year-old girl must survive clans of hungry demons, overzealous spiritualists, and a literal dragon that lives in the sewers of San Francisco in order to regain even a fraction of her humanity back.

Comps:

Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Sugiura x White Snake (2019)
Spirited Away x Jade City by Fonda Lee

FUN STUFF/TROPES(?)
- San Francisco just not a setting, but a character
- Friends to enemies to friends to ???
- Loosely influenced by the White Snake folk story
- Hope you like martial arts fight scenes and magic talismans
26728
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
#WeeknightWriters A3 Neighbor’s Corgi tax.
Corgi Tax
280
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Spirited Away x Jade City In the ghost-infested streets of San Francisco, the spirit of a 13-year-old girl must risk her humanity to reclaim her mortal body from the malevolent entity possessing it. #BluePit #📖 #Q #MG #F #PN
Over a background of San Francisco Chinatown:

GRACIE FOON FIGHTS FOR HER LIFE

Pitch: After a malevolent ghost takes over her body and starts living her life, the spirit of a 13-year-old girl must survive clans of hungry demons, overzealous spiritualists, and a literal dragon that lives in the sewers of San Francisco in order to regain even a fraction of her humanity back.

Comps:

Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Sugiura x White Snake (2019)
Spirited Away x Jade City by Fonda Lee

FUN STUFF/TROPES(?)
- San Francisco just not a setting, but a character
- Friends to enemies to friends to ???
- Loosely influenced by the White Snake folk story
- Hope you like martial arts fight scenes and magic talismans
1236
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Library bookhaul for today. #books #booksky
1. Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
2. The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan
3. Binti: The Conplete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
4. The Hexologists: A Tangle of Time by Josiah Bancroft
080
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
#booksky yesterday’s book haul. Got the speculative genre triumvirate with this purchase.
From Left to right
The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Clown in a Cornfield by Asam Cesare
031
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
#WeeknightWriters A3 THIS ANTLER-GROWING TRAITOR.
Piebald deer yearling
030
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
#WeeknightWriters A3 The yearling does (deer) in my backyard have really been chilling. For two days in a row I have accidentally spooked one doe in very cartoony ways. But she’s been comfortable enough to be within 10 feet afterwards. I’m anthropomorphizing the herd for a slice of life idea.
Blurry AF phone zoom of chilling piebald doe yearlings.
360
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
New library #books haul. I’m making it a habit of essentially just checking the new books and grabbing at random or literally spinning in an isle. I have no idea what these books are about. Well, the best horror is self explanatory.
Best Horror of the Year Vol 17 edited by Ellen Datlow

These Familiar Walls by C. J. dotson

Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada, translated by Philip Gabriel.
020
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
And this many hears old and this is my third ever BrandoSando book. I can’t wait to slowly read his entire canon out of order in a way to make fans go crazy. Which means I’m probably gonna read Wax and Wayne before OG Mistborn #books #booksky
Tress and the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
3211
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Caught my old man sleeping stupid, one orange brain cell pausing.
Orange boy sleeping stupid
160
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Sorry, I lied. It’s seven. (I write all my version 0s on my notes app). And it’s 12K words in a week lol.
NOTES APP MESS.
110
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
#WeeknightWriters A3 My writing assistant. As always.
The best of boys.
370
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Satisfying is how immaculate the spine of my copy of Bookshops & Bonedust is. Like, damn, son. #books #booksky
And offkilter photo of—okay, here me out you know how the top and bottom of a hardcover spine hets bent? Yeah, there’s none of that. This is a pure rectangle, like hottdamn.

Anyways, the book is Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
010
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
#bookhaul Got some fun stuff that just came in. Two leatherbounds that was extra stock from the defunct Franklin Library (one of which I did not know was shrinkwrapped, and idk if I wanna open it). And the other … well, I heard this Bardugo’s got demon dong? Let’s goooooo. #books #booksky
Three books (from left to right)
1. Hardcover copy of Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

2. Leatherbound copy of Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Travers

3. Leatherbound copy of Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman, signed by the author, first edition. Wrapped in plastic.

Yes, I bought a leatherbound memoir about how to screenwrite etc.
010
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Doing something a bit different, and for some reason in a Western mood. So might as well go with the cowboy GOAT.
The Collected Short Stories of Louis L’Amour: Volume 1, the Frontier Stories. Magic: The Gathering card as bookmark.
0111
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Found a copy of this at a thrift store, gonna no doubt be a WEIRD read.
A copy of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: Q-In-Law by Peter Davi. Picard’s in the foreground with Q and Lwaxana Troi in the background.
0111
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
The author’s copy of the anthology I have a short story in just arrived from the UK so gonna shill it. Shadows on the Stage. Wrote a short story about expectation, conformity, and memory. Me, I’m just building up a small collection of shorts so I can sub them on the regular.
A copy of Shadows on the Sgage by Edinburgh small press Forest Publications, edited by Nadine Brito and Claire Wallace next to my tiny-ass hand giving a thumbs up.
073
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
I’m right now just starting The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wasteland by Sarah Brooks. It was an impulse buy, I literally have no idea what it’s about. But it’s set on a train, so it’s already a 8/10 in my book.
The cover to The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Waatelands by Sarah Brooks. The titlr is ond a ribbon over green clouds, and the border is a train.
3142
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Looks like this copy of Dead Voices, sequel to the #kidlit modern horror classic Small Spaces has higher aspirations. It took me a month to notice the adult mystery-thriller cover over the colorful MG one. #books #booksky
A copy of Dead Voices by Katherine Arden. The cover art has the ghost of a different book cover, Nothing Can Hurt You by Nicola Maye Goldberg. One of the covers was printed over the other.
020
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Big #bookhaul Got some books to bolster my pride month reading list, and others that piqued my interest. Still looking for some lacking gay and trans rep on my shelves. Getting a Chuck Tingle horror books for the former. The latter? eyeing a few. Sorry itch, I prefer hardcovers #books #booksky
Five books on a rug:

Ghost Scout’s Honor by Carey Blankenship-Kramer

All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks (the GOAT)

The Oleander Seord by Tasha Suri

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

The Pearl Hunter by Miya T. beck
030
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
A lot of post- #sinners book lists, and most, if not all connect to the horror, but not the music aspect. @alexjennings.bsky.social‘s The Ballad of Perilous Graves is imo a must-read for Sinners fans. It’s an embrace of music and culture and my favorite love better to a city. #books #booksky
The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings
030
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Yes, I am late to @wiswell.bsky.social ‘s comfy horror. I have no excuse, especially since I am an Open House on Haunted Hill hipster. Yes, I am using my raise to increase my TBR list. #books #booksky
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
3182
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
‘nother #Bookhaul Some I grabbed because they were cool, some required reading. And it’s obvious which one is that. Once I found out it existed, I had to grab it. The others also my type: steam trains, Chinese speculative fiction, whodunnits. #books #booksky
Four books. Clockwise from top left corner:

1. The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories by V/A
2. The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
3. Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz
4. Alright, Alright, Alright: The Oral History of Richard Libklater’s Dazed and Confused by Melissa Maerz
040
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Just in time for Sinners, was able to grab me a copy of The Ballad of Black Tom. Now unfortunate for me, the island I live on will get it 2 months late. Or maybe not at all since the sole theater doesn’t do horror unless requested. Boy am I calling them every day now. #books #booksky #bookhaul
Hardcover copy of Victor LaValle’s The Ballad of Black Tom
030
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
#bookhaul part 2 because one package was a day late — Yes, I do frequenrly buy books in a group of one adult, one YA, one MG. Not a fan of the paper the cover is on (too-glossy), but hype for the book. Which says something ‘cus I’m mega-picky on my magic school book buys. #books #booksky #kidlit
The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents by Nicki Pau Preto
050
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
#bookhaul I have just enough extra funds to buy novellas in hardback, so that’s what I’m gonna do. Slowly. Breath of the Dragon was an impulse buy. I grew up with wuxia films, Bruce Lee’s stuff obviously. So I’m hype on this. #books #booksky
On the left: Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee

On the right: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells.
150
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
I’ve run out of space on my bookshelves and my two bed-side tables. I now sleep next to books. #books #booksky
Two piles of books next to the headphone of a bed, where typically a pillow would go. One pile has pages pacing the camera, excepting a naked hardback cppy of The Legacy of Yangchen and Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo. The second pile consists of Star Wars Hogh Republic Phase 1 books.
180
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
The one thing I like about these Avatar hardbacks is the deboss on the front cover. Ofc you know they only did it because Avatar’s a big franchise owned by a large media company so the publisher shelled out more money on production costs. But still. Looks nice. #books #booksky #yalit
Dusk jacketless cover of Avatar: the Last Airbender: Legacy of Yangchen by F. C. Yee. Notice the double colon of the title.
040
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Tonight’s book is the third Witchlings book, House of Elephants. I treat reading MG as like watching cartoons. They’re fun reads with hidden depths, and great for a stressed mind. As a real MAN’s MAN “COUNTRY” BOY (lol), I’m thoroughly enjoying this series. #books #booksky #kidlit #MGlit
Witchlings: House of Elephants by Claribel A. Ortega.
000
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
I don’t normally read these types of YA books. The YA I tend to read is generally romance-less or very not straight. Only reading this because my 16-year-old neice recommends it. But apprently there’s a mystery? We’ll see how it goes. #books #booksky #YAlit
230
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
#bookhaul #books #booksky One MG, one YA, and a mystery for the big kids. Hype to read all three of them. From left to right: Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizu Witchlings: House of Elephants by @claribelortega.bsky.social The Legacy of Yangchen by F.C. Lee
From left to right. Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo, Witchlings 3: House of Elephants by Claribel A. Ortega, and The Legacy of Yangchen by F.C. Yee. The books are laid lavishly on a bed of pale blue felt.
130
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
#books #history The Chinese Exclusion Act was signed in the late 1800’s, banning most Chinese from immigrating to the US. How did some Chinese illegally enter the states during that time? Through Mexico, because immigration officers couldn’t tell the difference between the two. Relevent book rec:
Alien Nation: Chinese Immigration in the Americas from the Coolie Era through World War II by Elliott Young.
121
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Book rec: I’m a big fan of Japanese murder mysteries, which (still) relies big on the Golden Age of detective fiction. So finding this, a collection of circa 1970’s at latest mystery shorts, IN HARDCOVER (anthologies in hardcover are SO rare) is a major treat. #books #booksky
“Ellery Queen’s Japanese Mystery Stories — from Japan’s Greatest Detective & Crime Writers” originally released by Tuttle in 1978. This version is the 2020 re-lease.
011
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
I have my own reasons for not liking Star Wars’ The Acolyte (excepting the fight choreography, that was fun). If you didn’t like the show, don’t let it turn you off from the High Republic Books. The YA ones are pretty great imo. #starwars #books #highrepublic
Crooked image of the YA Star Wars book Into the Dark by Claudia Gray
010
C.H.Lei @hpl0veshack.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Found this in a thriftstore. Wild that THIS was the OG art. It sort of does slap as a cover, with the minor antagonists on it.
000