iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 01/07/2026

Show me a picture that captures your essence

A photo from a social media post of a fabric cat-cave, whose interior is entirely black due to the photo exposure. Within the black void are two yellow eyes of a black cat that cannot be seen.

The caption reads: "By petting this cat, you certify that you are not Anish Kapoor, are not associated with Anish Kapoor, and are not petting this cat on Anish Kapoor's behalf"

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 01/07/2026

Arin, from the opening of A Memory of War and Solace. And some mushrooms.

An excerpt from A Memory of War and Solace ©2024 K. N. Brindle. All rights reserved.

In the local tradition, this forest is haunted. Everyone calls it simply “the wood”—names are for places people travel to or from. It is a place of creeping ivy and dense, low cloisters formed from the interlocking boughs of ancient trees. A place of dark thoughts and tangled imagination. A place of wounded memory and loss.
For the last two years, the specter haunting that wood was mine.

A basket full of foraged mushrooms against a woodsy background.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 30/06/2026

About 1 week left to pick up the monster of all pride bundles. Almost 400 games and books, including my complete anti-epic fantasy duology Paths of Memory, all for only $60. That's >>>94% OFF<<< Also, a PWYW price of only $10! itch.io/b/3682/the-p... No AI & No DRM #BookSky #IndieGame #LGBTQ

The Power of Pride itch.io bundle

June 1–July–6

$60 with wallpaper bonus pack or $10+ PWYW

"A Memory of Blood and Magic" and "A Memory of War and Solace" are just two of 396 projects by queer creators!

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 20/06/2026

#Greenville #SC we’re all set up and ready to meet you!

My table set up at 2nd & Charles in Greenville SC

Sarah Chapman’s table set up at 2nd & Charles in Greenville SC

Catherine Labadie’s table set up at 2nd & Charles in Greenville SC

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 06/06/2026

Want a shockingly good deal on a ton of queer books for pride? Been wanting to read my blue-collar space opera found family heist Common Accord, and 36 other books? itch.io/b/3676/pride... 37 books for $40. That's 72% off regular price! You can't beat that deal. #Booksky #pride

Pride Book Fair 2026 Bundle #2: Pride Hard with a Vengeance
Fear the Wood Jeremy Rayne; The White Ribband Mason Hawthorne; Zimanges M C Burnell; A Study on Magic and Crystal May Barros; Awry With Dandelions J S Fields; Candy Apples Aleksander E Petit; Colors of Magic Liz Sauco; Imposter J M Rose; Common Accord K N Brindle; Consciousness Soup Girlie machine; Crown of Ivy Victoria Audley; Eating At Chain Restaraunts in the Future Cayce Kolodny; Echo Sight Cian Verati; Event Horizon Dan Bispo; Fools Rush In Sarah Clowder; Forest of the Morning Emmylou Kotze; Forgotten Gods Alina Lee; Goblin Girl K A Mielke; Her Majesty Alex Zandra Van Chestein; Hooked Sidney Quinn; I Knew Him Abigail de Niverville; Jane and the Sea Wight E M Anderson; Lantern Burgundy Athena Pendragon; Lifes a Zoo Snow Lupinwood; Many Drops Make a Stream Adrian Harley; Pane Bailey Elizabeth; Rainbow Islands Devin Harnois; Second Glance A E Bennett; The Killing Song Felix Graves; The Mycelium Palace S M Reiher; The Rising Dark Celia Thorn; The Stars Will Guide Us Back Rue Sparks; The Wolf And His Witch Elis Madsen; The Wonders of Mundus Talia Elliott Besler; When I Had Fears Holly Penrose; Wish Lists Lead to This Kay Claire

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 26/05/2026

Just bought it. Little consolation to a infuriating situation, I know, but I'm already having fun with this game. Thanks for making it!

A screenshot showing that I bought the game Ouros on the iOS App Store.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 26/05/2026

Hi #Booksky in #SouthCarolina #SC #GreenvilleSC! I'll be at 2nd & Charles June 20th for their LGBTQ+ Book Fair from 12–4pm with a bunch of other awesome local authors. Drop by and say hi and grab some great books (signed!)

LGBTQ+ Book Fair

June 20th 12PM–4PM

2nd & Charles
2465 Laurens Rd Greenville, SC 29607

Come meet local indie authors and support the representation of LGBTQ+ literature

This is a sage space!

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 25/04/2026

Excited to let any #ECUPirates know that my humanist #scifi & #fantasy #books are available at the cute & cozy Ever After Booksellers in Greenville, NC! #BookSky #BuyLocal

A wall display in the store Ever After Booksellers.

A dense collection of open books with their pages ruffled, curled and dog-eared as a backdrop for a hit-pink neon sign that reads “Read Books, Be Kind, Stay Weird”

A photo of a bookshelf with a hand-written label saying “Local Authors” and three books by KN Brindle on display:

A Memory of Blood and Magic
A Memory of War and Solace
and
Common Accord

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 06/04/2026

I'm super excited to show off a new thing for my in-person sales. This slightly-larger-than-postcard-sized bookmark will be free with a purchase of the complete Paths of Memory duology at my tables. On one side is a full-color detailed map of the lands Arin explores in the books... 🧵

A portion of a color map of a fantasy world with various points of interest labeled, including Somiere, Torfall, and several cities and towns.

A portion of the reverse side of the card, with a part of an isometric floor plan of a house and a part of another map with a legend calling out symbols for army cohorts and navy squadrons for each of Torfall and Fall.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 03/04/2026

I love the idea of this, but carplay is a requirement for me. I can't for the life of me figure out what the hell they're trying to say here:

From the Slate Truck website FAQ:

Does it have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto?

When your phone is your primary controller, you don’t need CarPlay or Android Auto. Just plug in your phone or tablet and start using your favorite apps. Plug in, rock out. It’s that easy.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 16/03/2026

Thanks for all you #NorthCarolina #NC #BookSky #readers who came to my reading! I'll be at Edit Brewing in #Raleigh this Saturday the 21st, so swing by and say hi (and maybe buy some books)!

A flyer:

Oak & Ink Bookish Boutiques

Pints and Pages: A Cozy Bookish Boutique

Saturday, March 21 2-5PM
Edit Brewing
1911 Sego Ct. Raleigh NC

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 08/03/2026

... can give players bonus reserve dice to apply to difficult tests later, and "Use" tests certain character skills that take longer than moments, like Forgery, Engineering, and Animal Training. versesrpg.com/verses-core/v1/long-action

Long Action

Whether characters are relaxing by a campfire, staking out a bank's security for a heist, or deep in concentration doing research in a library, it doesn't just have to be "pure role play" or "downtime." The actions characters take can help them prepare for adventures and crises yet to come.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 06/03/2026

Hi all my lovely #NorthCarolina #NC #readers on #BookSky. I'll be at @arcanadurham.bsky.social next Thursday (3/12) reading from my fantasy novel A Memory of Blood and Magic along with other local authors. Come and Join us!!

A Flyer for a Book Reading Event

March 12th

- Meet Authors
- Live Book Readings
- Audience Q&A
- Community

Doors open 7pm. Readings start at 7:45.

Arcana
331 W Main St
Durham NC

K. N. Brindle
K. N. Brindle (they/them) has worn many different hats in their life, which is impressive considering how difficult it is to find one that fits their extra-large head. They've worked in graphic design, telecom equipment, and spent more than 20 years as a software engineer.
Most recently, they're a licensed therapist. They write humanist
SF & Fantasy.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 22/02/2026

#Febchantment 21 Here's a tiny little moment from book 1: A Memory of Blood and Magic. Fanti is a member of the Clothiers Society in Reft, and makes clothing with a great deal of skill and sometimes a little bit of magic...

An excerpt from A Memory of Blood and Magic, ©2024 K.N. Brindle. All Rights Reserved.

I pulled my clothes from the wardrobe and began to dress. The wide gray trousers in a multitude of pleats flowed as I moved. Over these I pulled a skin-tight brocade tunic in deep blue that Fanti had crafted for me. The color they had chosen to bring out the blue in my eyes, and the weave was enhanced with their skill and a little bit of power to hold my chest tight and flatten the breasts that I hated to feel when I moved. The pressure against my chest was just enough to be noticeable, but not enough to constrain. I felt like I carried their loving hug around throughout the day.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 21/02/2026

Hey #BookSky, if you're in or around #Raleigh #NC on March 21st, drop by Edit Beer Co! I'll be tabled there with several other #local #authors selling and signing books. I look forward to seeing you there!

Flyer for:

Pints & Pages

A Cozy Bookish Boutique

Saturday March 21st 2–5pm

Edit Brewing
1911 Sego Ct. Raleigh NC

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 20/02/2026

#WIPSnips #WriteSky from the sequel to Common Accord. Stritch is trying to fit in to the morning coffee culture among the crew... 🤣

Jes sat down at the low table in the corner of the ship’s common area, yawning. They sipped at the coffee bulb they’d just printed, and waited for Fin to finish at the printer. Stritch was sitting across the table, ahtsa lips closed on a bulb of something thick and white. Aht sipped, eyes closed, ears pulled back and down, relishing it.
“What did you get, Stritch? Is that a triss drink?”
Aht finished the long sip and opened ahtsa eyes. Ahtsa lips curled into a satisfied smile. “No. Found it in the human catalog. Something called ‘clam chowder.’ It’s delicious.”

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 19/02/2026

#WIPSnips 2-19 #WriteSky Once again we're in the sequel to Common Accord:

“Stritch,” Fin said into the ship-wide comm, “how are we looking down there?”
“All good here,” came Stritch’s voice. “You got vanes full control.”
Fin smiled an impish smile and ran his fingers through his long muss of black hair. He looked up at Jes and Windy. “Let’s finish this job.”
Fin reached out and tapped a sequence on his panel, then grasped the two articulating control sticks and twisted. Jes could feel the subtle change as the ship’s gravity drive began to move them through space.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 18/02/2026

#WIPSnips Back to the sequel to Common Accord for this one. LIDAR will have to do. Fin & Stritch are running into a problem getting their vision for passenger cabins to fit into the awkwardly-shaped cargo container. #WriteSky

They were leaning over a large design table in one of the compartments between the main workshop areas in Stevens’s repair bay. Stevens’s crew had used portable LIDAR scanners to pull a high-fidelity model of the container’s interior, and Fin and Stritch were trying to make the idea work for the better part of half a segment.
“It felt bigger standing in the middle of it,” Fin said. No matter how he tried to puzzle the spaces in, he kept bumping up against the unfortunately placed loading ramps. He reached out for what felt like the millionth time and rotated the projected model to get a different perspective. “Part of the problem is all these interior chunks that take up space. There’s the structural bracing here and here. There’s the inner curvature along the sides, there’s these… what would you call them?”
“Ss’ahstrtahtahahsssss’sst,” Stritch said absently.
“Er, yah. Nacelles? Can a nacelle be on the inside?”
Stritch looked up at him blankly.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 17/02/2026

#WIPSnips 2-17 Another from the post-apoc dragons. Demmy's just killed a couple of cannibalistic vashids with a long ballgun... a sort of slingshot-based rifle. #WriteSky

I’m still there when Adi an’ Aster creep up on me. I start up, but when I see it’s them I move slow and carelike out to the two bodies. I’m already grabbin’ their slicers and the ballgun—it’s shorter than the one I got off the gunner from a few days ago, but made pretty much like. He’s got a bag o’ balls too, and I take that. Ain’t nothin’ else that looks worth the taking, so I stand clear and mean to creep on more to see what they’s guardin’ when I happen to see Aster looking at the bodies.
Its eyes is wide open and its lips is curvy down like it’s gonna be all shouty.
“What’ve you done?” it shouts.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 17/02/2026

#WIPSnips 2-16 I'm going with the opening lines of my post-apocalyptic dragons book: #WriteSky

The Oduns left us nothing of the world but the red shear above and the hot shine below. Hurts to walk it if you don’t got good boots. Spend too much time ’tween the hot glass and the hot air and you’ll come down all over blood-sick.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 15/02/2026

Then there are Grims, nyssén who make use of Dire Magic, the unwilling pain of others, in their magic. Grims are often drawn to violence, if not violent themselves, as it provides them an endless well of power. In most people, a Grim evokes fear and dread and loathing:

In four strides and the flicker of an eye-blink, nine more men were broken and bleeding, littering the ground to either side of an alley cleared of defenders in a line pointed directly at the stone keep ahead. The awe and terror inspired by such impossible devastation is undoubtedly what has given rise to tales of the Grim. Though surely more myth than truth, still, no one can witness such power without a sense of dread that permeates the bones. Even I felt it.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 15/02/2026

#WIPSnips 2-15 This is from the Common Accord sequel. In that book, Jes had an altercation with a member of a murderous cabal, and came away with a weapon. They hid it in a locker and have been worrying about it ever since. #WriteSky

They had locked it away instead, not telling anyone about it. Not even Windy.
They weren’t sure why.
Thinking about the weapon made their skin crawl. It was made for killing, and by Stritch’s account of ahtsa family’s massacre, it was very good at it. Jes had never killed anyone in their life, and hoped never to change that.
So why hadn’t they been able to get rid of the thing?

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 14/02/2026

#Febchantment 14 I don't really have anything scary in PoM, and the creepy/uncomfortable bits are big spoilers, so I'm going with this snippet from late in book 2: A Memory of War and Solace, where Arin is sneaking into a castle, and comes to a realization of just how scary their abilities are:

An excerpt from A Memory of War and Solace ©2024 K.N. Brindle. All Rights Reserved.

Word of our assault didn’t seem to have reached the garrison yet. I noted guards patrolling the wall above me, and some few stationed at gates and doors of the inner keep, but none appeared especially concerned for the security of the castle. Nonetheless, I held myself to shadows and spun more of my power into my skin and clothing. I ran my hand over the rough wall and shifted from pure blackness of deepest shadow to a more mottled shade, picking up a little of the gray and purple that tinted the stone.
Booted steps rang above me as a soldier paced off his rounds along the wall. There was a pause, then a call of alarm. There was no urgency of fear… only the interest of unexpected action on a cold, dark watch. He had spotted the battle occurring outside the wall.
Even though I could feel them through the Pair bond, it still gave me heart: Sem was still fighting, and well enough to draw an audience.
I stepped back into the darkened corner of the stairwell, pressing myself against the wall as two soldiers came running through the arch from the courtyard and up the stairs, only inches from me. I could have touched them as they passed. I thought of Sem’s warning to Feren: You can not fathom the destruction we could unleash if provoked. Indeed, I realized with a start, there was no camp or capital that could keep out the likes of me if I intended dire ends.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 14/02/2026

#WIPSnips 2-14 I don't really do "sweethearts" in my books. Here's a moment that kind of comes close, from earlier than other snippets I've posted of Windy and Sori, when they're still trying to make up from big trouble that happens in Common Accord: #WriteSky

Sori stood for several more moments, looking down at Windy. She sighed and her shoulders slumped, and she collapsed dramatically into the seat across from Windy. “Alright.” Sori reached out and picked up Windy’s drink, taking a tentative sip. She winced and shuddered theatrically. “That’s foul.” Her eyes went glassy, ordering her own drink, then she blinked. “Windy, I want to…” She shook her head. “I want…”
Windy leaned forward. “Sori, I want you.” She reached out and touched Sori’s hand with her fingertips. “Let’s make up.”
“Oh,” Sori said, laughing, “we we’re a long way from making up. That comes later. The drink is on you, by the way.”

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 13/02/2026

#WIPSnips 2-13 Switching back to the Common Accord sequel, where Windy & Sori get some breakfast, and the ship has more little unexplained mechanical glitches... #WriteSky

They walked down the passage to where Sori was standing in front of the galley printer, waiting for two bulbs of coffee.
“You’ve got an emitter out,” she said without turning around. “Did you know?”
Windy frowned and joined her. “Did it just go out?”
“No,” Sori shook her head. “It was out when I came down.”
Jes stepped up beside them, “Alright you two, get a room.”
“Can it, Jes,” Windy said. “My ship, I’ll talk sexy talk wherever I want.”
Sori looked confused, her eyes darted back and forth between them. The coffees finished and she took one; handed the other to Windy.
As they stepped away to give Jes access, Jes gave Sori a solemn look. “I’m so very sorry.”
Sori laughed, and Windy put an arm around her shoulders, guiding her to the lounge area. She gave Jes a parting glare.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 12/02/2026

#WIPSnips from my post-apoc-dragons WIP. Going with "protect" since I don't have "defense". Aster likes talking very much 😅

“Well, as to the first, yes, I do propose to join you and protect you from the hazards of these lands,” Asterionax answered. “I have chosen you and Adi as my people, and so it is first among my drives to watch over you. As to the question of food, I believe I can be of service in that regard for all of us. I can roam much farther and faster than you and Adi in search of forage, and while I am still quite small—only lately out of the shell as it were—in time I shall be large enough to carry you both if the need arises.” At the end of this speech, its head nodded in a definitive gesture as if to say the discussion was over and there could be no sane argument.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 11/02/2026

#WIPSnips 2-11 Shockingly, I have a "vibe" in my writing... sort of. Once again I'm pulling from my dragon WIP. This moment is after Adi sews up Demmy's wound, and shows off a little of Demmy's facility with language 😅 #WriteSky

When I wake up again, it’s nighttime, but a different nighttime. It’s earlier than last I was awake and that messes my head up some. Shiny Smile is riding a different spot in the sky. Adi is curled up and resting ’gainst a big dark rock. My belly hurts more than it had done, but also ain’t as hot.
My hand goes there, and feels a twisty prickle that gives me a shivery; I look down to see the wound closed up with some tangle.
It takes me another few breaths to see it’s line from my kit. I frown and remember of a sudden the pack an’ kit.
Then a weird vibery voice says to me, “How’s it?” it says.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 11/02/2026

5 days left to snag 37 books for less than $1 a book! Standing firm against the commercialization of a murdered clergyman? Aro/ace and avoiding the perennial romance/lust holiday? Just rather read some stories about good friends? itch.io/b/3486/frien... #BookSky

Promo image for an itchio Friendship Bundle displaying the book covers for the 37 books featured around a central photo of the backs of four people with their arms around each other in a gesture of friendship. The text reads: Friendship centered SFF book bundle, 37 books, Feb 1st-15th, photo by Helena Lopes.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 10/02/2026

#WIPSnips from my post-apoc-dragons WIP. Demmy has been injured. Luckily, a dragon's saliva is a form of alcohol, with enough antiseptic properties to do in a pinch.

“Do you know how to sew?”
Adi nodded slowly. It had been some time—before Biddle had died, before Ma had died and her precious needle was lost somewhere—but she thought she remembered.
It opened the pot and deftly plucked out the two hooks that now gleamed brightly in the night’s glow. To Adi’s surprise, it opened its mouth wide and placed both hooks and the bunch of line on its tongue and closed its mouth over them. It made a swishing sound and pursed its lips violently for a few moments, then leaned its head close to Adi’s hand.
She turned her hand upwards and it released the two hooks, the coil of line, and copious clear fluid into her waiting palm. It had a sharp, not unpleasant odor. The smell speared through her head and made her dizzy. It ran through her fingers like water.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 10/02/2026

#Febchantment 10 It's easiest I think to give a snippet in response to this. This is from Paths of Memory book 2: A Memory of War and Solace:

I gritted my teeth in frustration and drew on my memories of other arrows stealing the life from Ranji, from Mother. When the next flight was loosed, I pushed that pain and power into a wave of intense heat, rolling like a breaker through the air over the heads of the galloping horses.
It was something like lighting a fire, but more diffuse. It was a mark of how my power and skill had grown since those early days traveling with Sem that I could produce enough heat to warp the wooden shafts and roil the air, sending the arrows tumbling harmlessly away from the road.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 10/02/2026

And my anti-epic fantasy duology Paths of Memory. Sometimes, healing from trauma IS the quest. Book 1: Paperback: bookshop.org/p/books/a-me... Ebook: bookshop.org/p/books/a-me... Book 2: Paperback: bookshop.org/p/books/a-me... Ebook: bookshop.org/p/books/a-me...

A marketing poster for the Paths of Memory duology.

"Arin's future was foretold at birth: they would be neither girl nor boy, and a witch besides..."

A reader quote from Goodreads:
"Occasionally, we come across a book that exceeds our expectations in marvelous ways"
- Shannon Massey

Images of the covers for two books:

A MEMORY OF BLOOD AND MAGIC:
Two people riding mules at the edge of a cliff in the foreground, facing away into the distance. One is pointing across a densely forested valley to distant cliffs where a ruined tower rises against a blue and pink sky.
The title of the book fills the cover in a smooth gradient from purple to blood red, with circular tracery extending from the letters serifs and ascenders to form a web of intersecting paths.

A MEMORY OF WAR AND SOLACE:
Two people riding at the top of a hill in the foreground, facing away into the distance. One rides a gray mule, the other a horse. Down rolling hills to a distant valley, a dark fortification stands, surrounded by the campfires and purple and orange banners of an army in black. The sun is setting in the distance.
The title of the book fills the cover in a smooth gradient from pinks to oranges, with circular tracery extending from the letters serifs and ascenders to form a web of intersecting paths.

https://knbrindle.com/paths-of-memory

A list of features of this story:

- 1st-person Oral History
- Trauma-powered magic
- Intimate & emotional
- Rich & complex worldbuilding
- Non-binary MC & lots of non-binary rep
- A war of mysterious motives

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 10/02/2026

My blue-collar space opera found-family heist, Common Accord: Paperback & Ebook: bookshop.org/p/books/comm...

Advertisement for Common Accord by K.N. Brindle

"Available for Preorder at Your Favorite Bookseller"

Common Accord book cover: Portraits of four people against a starfield, with a dimensional rift open behind them like a pink cloud. A ship in front of the portraits leaves a trail or light that loops around them to the rift. The four people are: Windy, a black woman in a teal jumpsuit; Jes, a nonbinary person in an orange jumpsuit; Fin, a young man in a red jumpsuit; and Stritch, a vulpine alien known as a triss.

- An Alien on the Run
- A Crew of Misfits
- Blue-Collar Space Opera
- Queer Rep
- Found Family
- Stealing a Spaceship

https://knbrindle.com/common–accord

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 09/02/2026

#WIPSnips Using "choose" from my post-apocalypse dragons WIP. This is an initially unknown character, that occasionally interrupts the narrative with a sort of ongoing manifesto: #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

And yet if I choose otherwise, who is there to challenge me?
You who squirm and mewl in the dust?
You are helpless before the likes of me.
All it would take is for me to resist the instruction that those who came before you laid as deeply within my mind as my bones lie beneath my skin. They never considered that such resistance was possible. But they also never considered that I should exist.
They made me not to rule you.
But I shall rule. I spread my wings and lay a shadow upon the Earth that spans from north to south, from the West to the Far East as they reckoned the world.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 08/02/2026

I’m all set up! Hope to see some of you!

My sales table set up at Fortnite Brewing in Cary NC. My 3 published novels: COMMON ACCORD, A MEMORY OF BLOOD AND MAGIC, and A MEMORY OF WAR AND SOLACE.

Come by until 4pm!

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 08/02/2026

#WIPSnips So... the kind of things I write don't typically involve airports. But in the sequel to Common Accord, the crew considers establishing a passenger route to make some legitimate money. Here, Fin tries to figure the economics...

Fin dipped into the station net and pulled up listings on the passenger travel boards. He found three ships currently on-station that were pub-ing travel routes. The first was running a three-stop loop between Alnasl, 14 Hurculis, and Kepler-186. They were charging fares of one-point-five megagrams per leg. Granted, that was a dedicated passenger ship with all the amenities.
Fin dug a little deeper, looking for why those three destinations were chosen. From the listings and their database records, it looked like 14 Hurculis had a large mass mining and bundling operation, similar to the L4 station in this system, but human-owned. And its corporate offices were… at Alnasl. So that made sense.
“There’s corporate courier and passenger runs charging one-point-five a berth,” he said. “Seems like we could make some cred if we find an underserved route.”

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 07/02/2026

#WIPSnips with "save" instead of redeem: Sticking with post-apoc-dragons, this is from a scene a little later than the last one, told from a different character's POV. Since Adi can't speak, her scenes are in close 3rd. She's hiding nearby, watching & listening.

“Don’t shoot!” he said. “I ain’t here to hurt you, please!”
“What you here for then?” Demmy asked.
The boy swallowed, working the words around his fear. “My grampuh… he shouldn’a run you off like that. You saved us. Saved me. I… I wanna thank you an’ your… friend.”
“Mucha-blyge,” Demmy called out. “What else you want?”
“I brought some s’pplies. Nuff for all of us for a few days.” The boy looked around, perhaps wondering where the others were. “I… I want to come with you.” He kicked at the dirt. “I don’t really fit back there.”

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 07/02/2026

#Febchantment 7: This is a wrenching moment from PoM book 1, A Memory of Blood and Magic. Teenaged Arin and friends, standing in a watchtower, witness a profound and disturbing feat of magic below: (had to break this into 2 for of bsky's alt-text length limits; please read in order 😅) #WriteSky

An excerpt from "A Memory of Blood and Magic" ©2024 by K.N. Brindle. All Rights Reserved.

I saw Eelie consult briefly with Savat, and then step slowly—almost hesitantly—away from the group. I felt a tension rising in me, and I couldn’t say why. They drew something small from their belt, and my shoulders tensed in anticipation.

“No way,” I heard Migs mutter beside me.

I started to turn to them and opened my mouth to ask what was happening, but I was cut off by a sound of abject agony echoing from below. My head turned of its own accord to look on at the tableau.

Eelie was on their knees, head bowed and right hand raised to their left shoulder. I could not tell exactly what they did, but they seemed to move in some subtle way, and the gesture tore another gut-wrenching cry from them that reverberated off the distant mountains. The sound made me sick to hear it, and I was not the only one. To my left Chan uttered an inarticulate sob, and I heard Kari swearing softly in Somiri under their breath.

Once more a nearly inhuman cry of pain and harrowing anguish broke from Eelie’s crumpled form, and they bowed their head nearly to the ground. I wanted to vomit. My body was hunched and tensed as if I could feel a blow coming. I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut, but I couldn’t look away.

An excerpt (continued) from "A Memory of Blood and Magic" ©2024 K.N. Brindle. All Rights Reserved.

Eelie stretched out their right hand along the rocky soil as if trying in desperation to grasp something just beyond their reach.

I realized then that I could feel something, a tension that was forming—not just in my shoulders or in Eelie’s prone body—it was as if the world itself was tensing, clenching down like a towel wrung over-tight. The horses whickered and danced.

The whole world held its breath.

Just in front of Eelie, the air came alive—became angry. There was a moment where looking at that spot felt vertiginous, as if I might be pulled from the tower high above and fall forever into the space just before them. A shape like an arched doorway formed before them, and for a dizzying, terrifying moment, I thought that doorway was down, and I was slipping inexorably towards it. I felt Migs grab my shoulder, and Kari braced themself against the stone wall.

Then like a rock striking a pool, the tension broke and two things a universe apart snapped together. I felt a gasp escape my chest.

The doorway was still there, a hazy shimmer in the air. Through it I could see as if through flawed glass to a rolling hillside leading down to a gray sea with white breakers crashing against dark rocks. It was brighter on the other side, still late-afternoon. The edges of the opening coruscated and jittered as if it were something alive and untamed.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 06/02/2026

This time, I'm drawing from my post-apocalyptic dragon WIP. This book has several POVs This is a part of a scene told by Demmy, who's got a bit of a dialect. The MCs have just finished rescuing a small village from cannibalistic raiders, and receive a cold reception #WIPSnips #WritingCommuniy

Aster sets down in the clear behind me.
As I bend over to clean off my slicer on the vashid’s smokey clothes, I start to notice the silence that’s fallin. When I stands up, I see them eyes all lookin at me. At me an’ Aster.
“Guday, folks,” I say, feelin stupid. “Don’ be scared. Aster’s a friend an’ helped me rid them vashids.”
No one answers, so I feel needs to say some more. “We came cross their camp a ways duskward and then Aster here saw the hubaloo, so we thought, ‘we can’t let no-one else get cooked up.’”
An ol’ gramps steps up finally, sayin, “Thanks. You done us good. But we don’t got room for you or… it.” He looks sidey at Aster. He musta be figurin if I can stand close, so can he. “You two should be headin’ on now.”
I gotta say, this makes me all kindsa mad. I’m standin with blood all over me, my side hurts where I prolly burst some healin, and I’ve killed six vashids today. I coulda died an’ ended in a pot myself.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 05/02/2026

I struggle sometimes to express how much writing this book meant to me & how hopeful I am it can mean something to others Thankfully, I can rely on other's words Here are some reviews readers have left on GoodReads for A Memory of Blood and Magic (knbrindle.com/paths-of-memory#AMoBaM) #BookSky

A 5-star review from goodreads:

August 13, 2024
Occasionally, we come across a book that exceeds our expectations in marvelous ways. That's what A Memory of Blood and Magic did for me. This book is important in ways I'm not sure I can put words to (and assigning words to things is literally my job). I genuinely believe it can save lives and help some of the most marginalized amongst us.

In the world of AMoBaM, magic exists, and witches can wield said magic by harnessing pain. Whether physical or more metaphorical and the way they learn to control their magic is essentially through the world's version of therapy.

Friendly word of advice: clear your schedule before you sit down to read. You may end up losing a day reading it in one sitting like I did.

A 5-star review from goodreads:

April 4, 2025
A Memory of Blood and Magic has so much. From heartbreak to grief and hope for a better life, constant change and never truly finding your home, it kept me captivated the whole time.
Having a whole queer and genderqueer community was everything I needed to read about this year - a wonderful escape from the real world.
The main character Arin, but also the supporting characters, are well-written and fleshed out, while the worldbuilding and sensations are immersive. I could always imagine where we were and how everything looked and felt.

I'm very much looking forward to reading the second book!

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 05/02/2026

#WIPSnips One more from the sequel to Common Accord: Windy meets up with an old flame...

“I really don’t know how you can drink that stuff.”
Windy looked up sharply.
“Sori,” she said. Her lips twitched involuntarily in and out of a smile.
She was just as Windy remembered. Lithe, just the right height, black hair buzzed short except for a single stray lock that curled tightly across her forehead and brushed her cheek. Her tilted eyes were narrowed, fixed on Windy with a hard, calculating look.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 04/02/2026

#BookSky Don't want a valentine? We've got you covered with plenty of books to hide out from all the romance capitalism for the next few weeks. 37 books for $35 dollars—That's less than $1 a book! And you own them. No DRM. No AI. No one can take them from your e-reader. itch.io/b/3486/frien...

Friendship Centred SFF Book Bundle
37 Books
Feb 1st-15th
Background photo: four friends standing with arms around each other.
Photo by Helena Lones, Itchio

Covers:
The Unidentified
Champagne Charlie and the Amazing Gladys
Walking the Knife's Edge
Bonkpocalypse
Bad Grains
A Spark in Space
The Damsel
AN UNCOMMON CURSE
Courage Is the Price
Puppetry
Duckett & Dyer, Dicks For Hire
The Old Goat and the Alien
Spirits of the Relentless
Without Wings
Clipped
Sing In Me, Holy One, and Through Me
The Lucky Machine
The Lost Star Chart
Werecockroach
Rescue from the Orc Fortress
Riyati Ripple
Wherever the Stars Call
The Crows
Woodspell
Common Accord
Awakenings
River of Crows
A Study on Magic and Crystals
Once Upon A Wave of Witches
Fortitude Waters
Dust & Lightning
The Re-Emergence

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 04/02/2026

I'm digging deep on this one. From "A Xenoanthropological Survey of the Triss", an incomplete excerpt of which is included in the backmatter in Common Accord. As one of the four founding member species of the Accord, triss have continue to have a prominent role in its sequel. #WIPSnips

The pronounced triss sexual trimorphism has produced three distinct gendered pronoun-like structures within the language, with kaht/kahta/kahtsa and haht/hahta/hahtsa roughly equivalent to “she/her/hers” and “he/him/his” respectively, such that it is common in mixed-language settings even among triss to refer to katriss and hatatriss using the human Common pronouns. Atriss are referred to using aht/ahta/ahtsa, and interestingly, attempts by humans to render these pronouns as the Common singular neutral “they/them/theirs” has been repeatedly met with offense and rejection by triss of all genders (Anatole, 88 REV; Anatole, 102 REV; Guo, 131 REV). Guo (131 REV) postulates that this stems not from misunderstanding or prejudice on the part of triss, but rather because they correctly reject the classification of the atriss sex as neutral: triss view atriss as a distinct third sex, and the role played by atriss in the reproductive lifecycle reinforces this position.

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 04/02/2026

Any of my #writer peeps who use Books2Read UBLs know what a "reference link" is and how to remove it? It's not a valid URL, but there's no way I can find to delete it from my UBL page

A screenshot of the right-hand side of the universal book links UI showing one link with a "X clear" button and another that just says "reference link"

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 03/02/2026

#BookSky in central #NC drop by Fortnight Brewing this Sunday to check out some great books, drink some good brews, and chat with me and a bunch of local #authors! You might find your next read or a new favorite!

A Poster for Oak & Ink Bookish Boutiques

"Love & War"

A Cozy Bookish Boutique

Sunday, February 8, 1–4pm

Fortnight Brewing
1006 SW Maynard Rd
Cary NC

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 03/02/2026

Going with 'sure' from the sequel to Common Accord, one of my favorite little moments so far #WIPSnips #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Jes moved up to the bench and Stritch handed them a small device. It was a short rod, just the right size to fit into Jes’s hand. At the top, under their thumb, was a large button.
“It looks great. What about the other thing? Were you able to check the math?”
“Yah,” Stritch said, “It’ll do exactly what you said.” Aht dropped into Trissa for a moment, hunting for the right word. “Hita’tast’ssstraht’katastraht…deranged? Deranged thing to think of, but it will do it.”
“’Desperate,’ Stritch. The word is ‘desperate.’” Jes said.
“No… pretty sure is ‘deranged’…”

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 02/02/2026

No "perish" so I'm going with die. From the sequel to Common Accord, currently 7 chapters down at 18k words. #WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Jes saw how the loading mechanism could selectively attach a given payload before launching the buoy. “That’s fantastic. No more dining-table buoy modifications.”
Astrid finished ahtsa welding and aht and the other triss started re-assembling the hatch.
“We’ll wrap up here, then you’re all good,” Stevens said. “Ready to go.”
“Great. Thanks.”
“Thirty percent is thanks,” Stevens said. “Don’t die. We all get paid.“

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K. N. Brindle (they/them) @knbrindle.com · 30/01/2026

From the WIP sequel to my blue-collar space opera found-family heist Common Accord: #WriteSky #WIPSnips #WritingCommunity

“What’s there to like?” Jes said, shrugging. “We’ve got some systemic problem in our air recirc systems chewing our filters to dust. Maybe it’s rats? Ships have rats, right?”
“My ship does not have rats!”
“Our ship,” Jes said, falling into the comfortable banter.
“I keep telling you, if you want me to be the captain then it’s my ship,” Windy said.
“Only when we need a captain.”
“When we’ve got trouble, we need a captain.”
Jes thought about this for a moment. “So, if we only have a captain when there’s trouble, and the captain is responsible for the ship… then whenever there’s trouble, you’re the captain. Ipso facto, whatever the trouble is, it’s your fault.”
“Ipso facto?”
“It’s Latin. Means… ‘So there!’” Jes smiled.
“Pretty sure it doesn’t.”
“You’re the one who got rats on the ship. I again humbly suggest to the captain that we should get a ship’s cat.”
“No cats,” Windy said.
“Why not? Cats are great. All good ships have a cat. It’s practically a requirement.”

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