iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

One of my favourite short stories is featured in this anthology. Please support a bunch of passionate and talented indie authors! Spread to word among anyone who enjoys a good story and wants to discover new authors. 🙏 #WritingCommunity #writers #indieauthors www.kickstarter.com/projects/268...

kickstarter.com

The Quintessential Indie Bites: Five Years of Fantasy

From quarterly fantasy magazine Indie Bites, a plush hardback featuring 20 of the editors' favourite stories from the past 20 issues.

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

The structure of the house is suffused with the simple joys of ordinary days. Even funerals have added to the mix of emotions, celebrating love that endures until death and beyond. All who have lived there have felt safe and loved, protected by the House of Leaves. #WedsStory

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

There are worse places for a morning writing session. #amwriting #writerslife

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Our recollections stretch further back, and in the oldest dreams, we hunted aurochs, giant deer, and mammoths. We shared land with cave bears, cave lions, and sabre-toothed cats, never begrudging the other predators, for they were as much a part of nature as we were. #WedsStory

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

You know you're a writer when you thumb through a stack of blank notebooks and get annoyed because you can't find the perfect one for writing poetry. #writerslife

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Eion took in the view, from the red rocks at his feet to the mountains in the horizon. This had been his first home, though he’d had others during his nomadic life. Now he saw it all anew, confident in the knowledge that he would never set eyes on his home again. #1LineWed

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'Now only the four of us are left of a tradition that dates back over a thousand years. I suspect the time will soon come when it fades into nothing but mouldering newspaper clippings and a server somewhere in the cloud that no one recalls how to access.’ #1LineWed

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Karrion grins. ‘Maybe Obeajulu can read our fortunes again. You’re sorely lacking in many husbands and handsome riches.’ ‘Which makes sense, given that he never promised me any.’ Although I keep my tone light, I shudder at the thought of the mirror of unseen things. #1LineWed

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‘I’m starving,’ Karrion says. ‘Didn’t you just polish off half the cakes and biscuits at our client meeting?’ I ask. ‘Doesn’t mean I don’t need food now. The curious case of the missing pencil case didn’t leave me much time for breakfast.' #1LineWed

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Good morning #1LineWed players! Your final theme for the month is NOW or NEVER. Thank you for indulging me and for sharing your lines. #writingprompts #amwriting #WritingCommunity #writers #writerslife

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Woman of the woods, man of the sea, never should they meet. Yet a chance encounter entwined together their destinies. But how can a #selkie survive under the boughs, or a leaf maiden beneath the waves? Their love was fated to become a great tragedy. #vss365

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

‘Do you think of them often?’ Hugh asked, nodding towards the file before him. ‘The two wars, I mean?’ ‘Never,’ Will said, staring past Hugh with unseen eyes. ‘I knew that if I allowed my thoughts to stray here, I’d be lost in the trenches forever.’ #1LineWed

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

‘Do you think it’s true?’ asks Karrion. ‘That Agnostos and Aoife shared a soul split in two?’ I shrug. ‘Isn’t that what falling in love feels like? Aren’t most people convinced they’ve found the one person they were born to love forever? The person who completes them?’ #1LineWed

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Good morning #1LineWed crowds! Your theme for this week is FOREVER. In love, young, enemies? All up to you. #writerslife #WritingCommunity #writingprompts #writers

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Hugh woke up to an arm draped across his chest and a solid warmth against his back. For the first few seconds, it was an unexpected sensation, but then he relaxed into Will’s embrace. #1LineWed

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

‘Rumour has it something very powerful visited Old London,’ Thaylor says. ‘Most people drifted off into a daydream, waking up none the wiser about what had transpired. Some of us felt the passing of icy power, while the Feykin in the city became hysterical with terror.' #1LineWed

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Good morning, #1LineWed players! Did you AWAKE with the sun? Get up and get writing! #writingprompts #WritingCommunity #amwriting #writerslife

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

In a whisper, Will had asked him to stay the night, and he’d agreed. They hadn’t spoken as they’d stripped to T-shirts and boxers before sliding between the sheets. Hugh had taken Will into his arms, holding him close while his breathing evened to the cadence of sleep. #1linewed

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

‘You weren’t apprehensive about coming into your powers?’ Lady Bergamon asks. ‘No, never. It was the most natural thing in the world, like waking after a deep sleep to find that you’re connected to every part of yourself in ways you’d never appreciated before.’ #1linewed

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Good morning #1LineWed players! I'm your host for the month and your theme for today is SLEEP. Are you hitting the snooze button, or suffering from insomnia? Either way, happy writing! #WritingCommunity #writingprompts #amwriting #writers

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

'I think we can do the #distance,' he said. 'Are you sure? It won't be easy.' 'Let's try.' The path was rocky. I faltered, he stumbled. It rained, hailed and snowed. We lost our way, found it again. But we did it. We climbed Old Man Coniston. #vss365

media.tenor.com

an aerial view of a lake with mountains in the background and the words national geographic wild at the top

ALT: an aerial view of a lake with mountains in the background and the words national geographic wild at the top

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

In Old London, Yannia and Karrion investigate a man murdered 60 years ago, who now has walked to the Lake District to die, while the Winter Queen comes to collect the favour Yannia owes her with terrible consequences. #1linewed

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

In a house in the outskirts of Oxford, an ex-con and present sceptic has to contend with a portal that bends the concepts of time and space, leaves that store the messages and memories of countless beings, and a growing attraction with a cursed man. #1linewed

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

The #threads that bind us are skeins of spider silk, tendrils of mist, strands of mermaid's hair. I feel them winding around me, subtle as our magic, strong as the bedrock, frail as hoar frost. They have constrained me my whole life, but one word can set me free: "No." #vss365

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

‘The way Aoife writes about the circus, I can definitely see the appeal.’ ‘I’m guessing the reality was anything but,’ Mery says. ‘For one thing, I didn’t see any indoor plumbing.’ ‘Eww.’ Karrion pulls a face. ‘Way to ruin the magic.’ Mery shrugs. ‘It’s what I do.’ #1LineWed

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

‘The dinner was fine. Afterwards, we went to a local park and he offered me a joint. I wanted to seem cool, so I accepted it. Bad move because I threw up on his shoes.’ Will bit his lips, but couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping. ‘Let me guess, no second date?’ #1LineWed

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

I'm not sure whether a theme has been posted for this week, but let's GUESS what it might be... Happy writing! #1LineWed #amwriting #writingprompts

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Hugh shook his head, smiling. ‘What is it?’ Will asked. ‘Who would have thought that humanity’s first contact with another sentient race would involve enduring messages of love and remembrance.’ Will thought for a moment. ‘You’re right. It’s extraordinary.’ #1LineWed

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

I definitely recommend checking out this gorgeous novella. Dreamy, glamorous, and very sad. Plus, you get to support an indie! #amreading #BooksWorthReading #BooksMakeGreatGifts #bookstoread #WritingCommunity #indieauthors

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

I don't understand this new trend of people DMing me to sell their book marketing services. Since I've given no indication that I want any, sliding into my DMs is rude. Is anyone else experiencing this? #WritingCommunity #writeslife #Authors

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‘There's a thumping sound coming from upstairs. Have you kidnapped someone?’ Will fashioned his expression into affronted innocence. ‘It must be the skeletons. I ran out of room in my closet and moved them to the spare room.’ ‘Are they assembling a marching band?’ #1LineWed

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Marked by the Winter Queen, I #conjure up a world of otherness. To escape one prison, I move through a frozen landscape, knowing all along that it offers me no true freedom. Out of the frying pan and into a deep freezer I go. #1LineWed #vss365

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‘Karrion has a problem with amorous pigeons,’ I say. ‘Eww.’ He makes a face. ‘That sounds like they try to shag my toes or something weird like that.’ ‘What you do in the privacy of your home is none of my business,’ I say, and move to put the table between us. #1LineWed

Good morning #1LineWed peeps! Your theme for today is: MOVE. Moving house (I wish!), moving mountains, moving that booty, all up to you. Have fun and check out what everyone else shares! Thank you for indulging me as your host. #WritingPrompt #amwriting #WritingCommunity

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‘Do you mean that Wild Folk used to fight it out like wolves or bucks?’ ‘That’s what the dreams suggest,’ I say. ‘In the wilder times, we were no different from animals. We were part of the landscape, an embodiment of everything wild in the world.’ #WIPSnips

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My PLR payment this year is about £30 and I'm absolutely delighted with it. Not because of the size of the distribution but because of what it represents: my books continue to be borrowed from libraries at a steady rate. Libraries rock! #WritingCommunity #Writerslife #amreading

Is it too soon to start calling Teslas the Nazi fireballs?

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Hugh couldn’t help wondering whether Alexander understood who he had chosen to protect the House of Leaves. Had he known Will’s secret? Had he loved Will despite the secrets or had they not mattered? #1LineWed

‘It’s probably not the sort of secret society you were expecting,’ Will said. ‘World domination doesn’t appear on the charter, so no, it isn’t what I thought it would be.’ ‘Does it change your mind about this job?’ 'Actually, it makes me want to be here more.’ #1LineWed

Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Lady Bergamon wove a #lace of power, drawn from the dance of constellations, the blood of living things, and the dark earth beneath her feet. The origin of her people was a secret, and while I thought I knew what she was, I chose not to speak the word aloud. #vss365 #1LineWed

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For the sake of my mental health, I'm going to avoid the news for the next four years.

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Laura Laakso @lauralaakso.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

'I'm a #fool in love,' you said, reaching for my hand, a lifetime in your eyes. 'I'm fortune's fool,' I replied, letting my fingers slip from your grasp, thinking only of freedom. Fortune favours the brave. I lost. #vss365

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The leaves whispered a soothing sound, composing music of their own kind; a music easy to get lost in. It beckoned to him and he surrendered to the melody without thinking. The sound passed over hurts revisited, easing the memories of loss and rejection, while offering a promise of hope. #WIPsnips

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Admiration, adoration, disappointment and disgust mingle. Words form a #labyrinth, intended to confuse the unwary, to ensnare the vulnerable. New words become a thread out of the maze. Blinking, we emerge to the glow of burning books. The brave have spoken. #vss365

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His fingers ached to dance across a keyboard while he lost himself in the challenges of the code, all concept of time forgotten. So what if he didn’t believe in ghosts and whatever else Will and his team investigated? Belief was not a prerequisite of employment. #1LineWed

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