iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Trying to decide if I appreciate or detest that this hold music sounds like the soundtrack to an indie film about waiting on hold for a depressing amount of time.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The tragedy of finite time: I cannot read all the books I want to read nor write all the books I want to write. (I know, I know! This is the worst thing that anyone has ever experienced 🙃)

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I've taken to essay writing! Want to hear my deepest darkest thoughts on why Queen of the Damned is actually good? Because, you might want to fight me about this, but Queen of the Damned is actually really good.

open.substack.com

An Overly Personal Defense of a Terrible Adaptation

Because Queen of the Damned (2002) is Very Worth the Watch

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Now is your best chance to find my novela, The Haze That Eats, available for $1.49 at @Smashwords as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! Find my book on sale, HALF OFF, at www.smashwords.com/books/view/1... all month! #SWSale2026 #Smashwords #horrorbooks #indieauthor

smashwords.com

The Haze That Eats

Grief brought her here. The building kept her. Now something is growing in the walls, and it knows her name.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Aaaand my apartment just got struck by lightning. If that's not a sign to stop my rabbit hole digging today, I don't know what is.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Too tired from the day job to write recently, but apparently not too tired to become an armchair detective checking when interviews were recorded vs posted. I need healthier coping mechanisms..... eventually.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

For anyone from the WIPSNIPS world who is wondering where I've gone: I've just hit the point in my manuscript where everything would either be a spoiler, or a repeat. So we'll just vibe and hang out until I've got something really special to show you. Which *hint hint* might be soon.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

You know that feeling when you pinpoint exactly a thing that stresses you out and makes you feel like shit, so now you can cut it out of your life and start to feel better? Yeah, anyways, I'm mourning Reddit, cause I blocked it on all of my devices. What are you doing today?

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

I have a story I've been rewriting every few years since I was 14. I was finally ready to let it go. Then I accidentally invented the perfect creation myth for the fantasy theocracy at its heart. Damnit! I'm back in. But we're starting it all over from the ground up. This stuff is EMOOOOOO

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Today's #WIPSNIP of "Fight." Surely I'm not the only one whose life is run by authoritarian pets? #TreetopHollow #BookSky

"The cat doesn't really have a name yet." Vee felt the urge to explain herself. "I know she'll hate anything I pick, and I just don't have the fight in me for it."

Both men laughed, appreciating her joke.

If only it had been one.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

The crash after a good writing streak is genuinely one of the more humbling human experiences. You were JUST here. You were JUST doing this. The words were RIGHT THERE. And now your brain is a smoke-filled room with a single charred tumbleweed left behind. #writesky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

The louder the moral panic about a piece of fiction, the more suspicious I get. Checked out a certain anime everyone said was vile. Turns out it was saying the exact opposite of what the outrage mob thought it was saying. Media literacy is a skill. Develop it.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

For our #WIPSNIP of the day "resident," I thought I would bust out of my favorite quirks of the Treetop Hollow library: The Bible Bathroom. #TreetopHollow #Booksky

"Oh! Oh!" Sam half-ran to the bathroom door at the end of the hall. "You need a Bible? You want a Bible? Religious? A performance artist? Because we've got 'em." With a flourish, the door swung open to reveal a residential bathroom lined with floating shelves of Holy Bibles in every shape, size, and version.
"We get so many donated, and anyone who wants one already has one, ya know? So they just kind of sit here and multiply. But none of us have the heart to trash them. That's a lot of paper. My buddy Ed actually suggested the idea--'The Bible Bathroom.' It's like a Little Library, but for Bibles."

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Is my main character about to have the worst week of her fictional life because of decisions I made at 3 am? Why, yes! Yes she is! 😁 #booksky #Writesky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

I realized I've been all gloom about writing recently, but that's just cause this whole process slides up and down and all around. Just show up each day wherever you are. For the record - I'm making the most of the creative process today. 😜

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Not only do I love dive bars, but bars and restaurants that obviously used to just be a house? *Chefs Kiss* #TreetopHollow #WIPSNIPS #Booksky

The old-fashioned jukebox belted out a Johnny Cash cover from a series of speakers strung along the faux-rafter beams. Most of the walls had been taken down, opening up space for dancing. An archway into what might have once been a dining room offered a glimpse of two arcade machines and a handful of teenagers playing pool. The faux-wood paneling gave the place a cozy, den-like warmth, while the added-on rafters doubled as places to hang the industrial fans circulating the cigarette smoke and beer.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Current status: wrote one (1) sentence in the last 24 hours. It's a passable sentence. We're calling it a win and going to bed.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Sometimes I think about quitting writing and then I think about what I would do instead and the answer is nothing, there is nothing else, so I guess I'm back to hating this chapter. Hi chapter. We meet again. #writesky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

The thing about writing while Bipolar is that your hypomanic draft is genuinely unhinged in the best possible way, and your depressive edit cannot believe what she left behind in the worst possible way.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Story time: I wrote a main character with depression and anxiety about certain things, because I have depression and anxiety about certain things, and was like "oh, that will add realistic texture to the character!" A beta reader diagnosed my PTSD faster than my psychologist did. #writesky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

I felt "Some of them were... nice to look at? She supposed?" SO HARD! That was my entire adolescence until I figured out a very key🏳️‍🌈component of myself, lol.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

One of my favorite things about driving through small mountain towns are the weird landmarks that develop. Out by my Dad's in the Ozarks the abandoned barns get hand-painted with ads for Facebook marketplace. #TreetopHollow #WIPSNIPS #Booksky #writesky

The final turn of the road snapped her from her reverie. Complete with gravel fallen loose from the cliffs above, this sharp left turn spun her dangerously close to a terribly located old barn. It hadn't housed an animal in decades, but the broad side was freshly painted yellow and freshly scuffed down to splintered wood, destroyed by drivers less cautious about their turns.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Something about writing horror that's not so obvious: You finally finish a brutal scene, one of those traumatizing moments of devastation and your emotions are wrung dry and you just want to sleep and cry. But the dogs need to be walked, and the dishes smell a little. #writesky Dog tax:

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Today's #WIPSNIP for "Counter." Literally the only thing I miss about working in customer service was eavesdropping on people. It was great. #TreetopHollow #Booksky #writesky #horrorsky

"Truth be told, she loved spending her afternoons perfumed by coffee and fragrant syrups while she gazed out over the mountain range. There was no better place to eavesdrop than right behind the counter, polishing mugs while the neighbors opened up to each other over coffee."

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

#TreetopHollow has a character who won't stop inserting herself into scenes she was not invited to. She is not a main character. She does not care. I am losing. #Writesky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

The villain of my writing process is the new idea. She shows up right when I'm deepest into the WIP, all shiny and uncomplicated, whispering "I would never give you problems like this." She is a liar. A pretty liar. #booksky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

I might have pulled from this scene before. But low key, it's one of my favorite scenes. So as long as it fit the prompt, it's getting posted! #TreetopHollow #WIPSNIPS #Booksky #writesky #horrorsky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

I write monsters because I think monstrousness is one of the most honest ways to talk about shame. You can say things with fangs and bile that you can't say with a therapy session. Trust me, I've tried. #amwriting #booksky #horrorsky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Treetop Hollow started as a werewolf story in the woods and became, without my permission, a book about who you are after the worst thing happens to you. The werewolves and mad scientists are still there. They just have much messier emotions now. #TreetopHollow #WriteSky #BookSky #Horrorsky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

There was once version of Treetop Hollow where I tried to be subtle with themes and all that good stuff. That version no longer exists. Vee Villanueve will be processing her trauma loudly, in a town full of weirdos, while everyone is watching. As nature intended #TreetopHollow #Booksky #horrorsky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

IDK if this is a hot take or not, but I think the scariest horror is the kind that's deeply, uncomfortably kind to its characters. You can't dread losing something you don't love. #horrorsky P.S. Everyone should watch The Wailing (2016).

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Honesty time: Making real art is really scary, because you have to put real pieces of yourself in it. The guilt, the shame, the want, the anger. And it's so vulnerable because either everyone will see it, or it will be completely invisible. Both options scare me.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

New author copies in! My first self-published book had pages literally falling out 😭 Fast forward to the second edition and I finally have a copy I'm genuinely proud of. The indie publishing glow-up is real. #TheHazeThatEats #booksky #indieauthor #authorjourney #amwriting #indiepress

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Ooop. There it is. The book hangover.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: 10/10 ✨ all the stars 🌟 I could not put it down and whole heartedly recommend to anyone with ANY interest vampires or gothic literature. So damn good! “Alice. Scottish. Gentle. Tastes like grief.” #boosky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

That feeling when you’re reading, and the sweeter the story gets, the bigger your dread grows. #booksky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Please tell me other creatives also have this issue: Sometimes, when I see a piece of art that is 100% perfect and beautiful and happens to be exactly all my favorite things - I low key hate it. Mostly, because I am so jelly that I didn't have a hand in making it.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Hi, my names Mercury and I have an addiction to buying notebooks. I’m also a prissy little Princess about how my pens feel. Witness my shame hoard. Barbie for scale. My resolution: not to buy any more pens or notebooks until these are all used up. It will be a challenge.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Dear #WriteSky, I’m looking to hire a line editor soon for my horror novel. Do you have any hard won advice about finding one? Any referrals? Any traumatic stories you gotta get off your chest? #editing #editors #indiepublishing

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Reposted by Mercury Winters

DeeNoon @deenoondraws.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

There’s still time to get drawn into book 2! I’m sure you need a vacation…. *hint hint* www.kickstarter.com/projects/spi... #art #illustration #crowdfunding #comics #TSDTS #indiecomics #comics #spythriller

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Ahhh yes. The eternal struggle between staying informed on current events versus not breaking down at the state of a world on fire.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Poor Vee Villanueve, if it's not werewolves and buttheaded cats, then it's acute gay panic. #TreetopHollow #WIPSNIPS #notice #queerwriters #horrorsky #booksky #writesky

"Oh, Miss Villanueve, it's so lovely to see you again."
"Doc! Yeah. Hey. How's it going?" Vee tried to suppress her own blush, even as she felt it warming her cheeks. As much as she hated to be noticed, there was something appealing about being seen.
"Pretty damn well, if I say so myself." There was the slightest twang in her voice that Vee hadn't noticed before. With it, her words rang like guitar strings expertly plucked.

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Can't blame a girl for getting a little creative with her presentation choices, can you? This is a real text exchange from the book, btw. #WIPSNIPS #Bone #TreetopHollow #BookSky #WriteSky #HorrorSky

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Mercury Winters @mercymercury.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Today's excerpt is a little different, and I'm very excited to share it with you..... #TreetopHollow #WIPSNIPS #booksky #writesky #horrorsky #workinprogress

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