iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

If you've been mulling over whether you want to submit, stop mulling! Only 13 hours left to enter!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

It's insane that the Resident Evil movie is good. Like what the hell.

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Sharing this again just because I didn't say anything earlier when I shared it; this is a great contest for writers and readers to share and find new novellas, and it's a really fun space to be in as well, so if you've got an indie novella, consider throwing it in the ring!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

It's time! :D I'm so excited to be judging again this year.

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

This one is quite a read that did things I wasn't expecting constantly!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

My 7 year old student explaining the plot of the Odyssey to me: So at the start they were trapped in a sculpture and then their enemies stole it so they burned down this whole village

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Carrion Saints was such an unexpected ride! Delighted to be able to read it.

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I've read this and can confirm that it's very fun and that everyone should read it actually

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

This was a super fun and energetic read, there was always something I didn't expect right around the corner!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Teaching is so funny because you'll ask a totally innocuous question like "Do you consider your home country to be safe" and somehow that will encourage someone to say that they don't like that their country doesn't imprison children 💀

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

So excited for this announcement. Big congratulations to all our authors, and special congrats to our finalist!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Writing a book set in Canada is impossible because nobody takes Canadian law enforcement or intelligence agencies seriously 🍁 "Oh no, CSIS is here" Everyone else: Who? Canadians: Lmao who cares

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Time to finally revise the book I wrote back in 2019! 🥳 Which I've just remembered is, for important plot reasons, set in 2021 😷

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Definitely the weirdest book I've read in SPFBO so far! Always lots of fun because of that!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

I couldn't review this one because I haven't finished reading it yet (soon!), but I echo all of Steve's sentiments here!

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Angela Boord reviews Songs of Broken Bells, our third #SPFBOXI cut of the day: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... I abstained from judging this one, but I still plan to read it independently! #SPFBO #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social

beforewegoblog.com

SPFBOXI Review: Songs of Broken Bells – Lilly Lockwood

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Our second #SPFBOXI cut of the day is Kevin Wright's Plague Maiden, which really impressed us at a craft level but didn't quite stand on its own. I'll for sure be going back to read Book One in the series! beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... #SPFBO #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social

beforewegoblog.com

SPFBOXI Review: Plague Maiden – Kevin Wright

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Unfortunately, our first cut today is Angelika Rust's Downtown Selkie, reviewed here by Angela Boord: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... Urban fantasy fans, and especially fans of contemporary takes on mythology should take a look! #SPFBOXI #SPFBO @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social #SPFBOReviews

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: Downtown Selkie – Angelika Rust

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Today's #SPFBOXI semi-finalist announcement is here! This time it's for W. E. Singh's A Djinnfernal Conspiracy--a fabulous comedy that grabbed my attention from its first page: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... #SPFBO #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social #booksky #indiefantasy

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: A Djinnfernal Conspiracy – W. E. Singh

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Me: I will remain neutral in class because as the teacher that is my responsibility. (Thirty minutes later) Me, neutrally: The problem in this scenario is that capitalism is fundamentally corrupt and shouldn't exist.

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Last but not least, our final cut today is L. N. Holmes's twisty political fantasy, The Floating Castle. Political epic fantasy is a personal favourite of mine, so I was excited to dive into this one: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... #SPFBO #SPFBOXI #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: The Floating Castle – L. N. Holmes

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N. E. White (Author) @nilaewhite.com · 25/05/2026

Sadly, I was cut from #SPFBO11 by @beforewegoblog.bsky.social but I got this quote out of it: "...a great book... for people who want a fantasy novel that comments very sharply on colonialism and racism. Review here: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... Go buy it! Links in the comments.😎

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: The Legend of Damndrake – N. E. White

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

They sure did! I loved use of shapeshifting as a way to explore themes of otherness in immigrant communities, and I really loved the nonlinear structure of this!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

This was a pretty refreshing dark fantasy with a good helping of lightheartedness in the middle of its horrifying premise, and a cool look at dwarves that I enjoyed!

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Angela Boord reviews Darby Vernon's Madness of the Elder Vampire for #SPFBOXI!: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... This one's giving me slight Underworld vibes! #SPFBO #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: Madness of the Elder Vampire – Darby Vernon

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

This one was such an interesting take on dragon mythology, despite saying it's "inspired by every dragon story ever" it had a lot in it that felt original and unique, and had a protagonist who I was never able to predict!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

My favourite book in SPFBO so far. Actually my favourite book of 2026 so far. I'm so happy to have it progress as one of our semi-finalists!

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Here's the first of TWO planned semi-finalist announcements for today! #SPFBO Despite being announced now, Ashley's Capes's Knee-Deep in Cinders was my first #SPFBOXI read (my review's from that time) beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... Congrats! #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: Knee-Deep in Cinders – Ashley Capes

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Our last #SPFBOXI cut of the week is Joel Flanagan-Grannemann's fairy fantasy, Talia, reviewed here by Angela Boord: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... Joel is a friend, so I abstained from reviewing this one, but I do plan to read outside #SPFBO! (: #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: Talia: Heir to the Fairy Realm – Joel Flanagan-Grannemann

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I'm a huge fan of Godless! I found it to be a really compelling, fresh take on the genre with a lot of cool moments I wasn't expecting. It left me really excited for the sequel!

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Our third #SPFBOXI cut of the day! Catherine and I review L. Lyons's The Black Bane, which I read in basically one sitting: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... #SPFBO #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: The Black Bane – L. Lyons

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

This was such an inventive and interesting take on the werewolf genre!

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Our second #SPFBOXI cut of the day is live! This time it's one from my own pile, Justin Greer's The Servant: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... If you love Good vs. Evil type fantasy and The Wheel of Time, this one may be worth a look! #SPFBO #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: The Servant – Justin Greer

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

I'm excited to announce Ben Moxon's The Redstone Rescue as BWGB's next #SPFBOXI semi-finalist! You can learn more about his secondary world fantasy mystery here: beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... Congrats, Ben! #SPFBO #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social #booksky

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: The Redstone Rescue – Ben Moxon

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

I enjoyed this one so much! It's got some really cool characters in a really interesting world that kept making me read "just one more chapter" every time I picked it up.

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

I had fun reading this one! I'm a sucker for the concept (give me all the books about weird magical children) and I loved the voice in it!

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

It's unfortunately time to say goodbye to another #SPFBOXI book! This morning, we're highlighting V. Ananya's The Young Foreigner, beforewegoblog.com/spfboxi-revi... I'll spread out our posts throughout the day, so this is the first of 5! #SPFBO #SPFBOReviews @marklawrenceauthor.bsky.social

beforewegoblog.com

#SPFBOXI Review: The Young Foreigner – V. Ananya

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Though our team did make the decision to cut this book, I will say I quite liked it! It's a fast paced and witty feminist rethinking of not just Grimms' Fairy Tales, but the very logic that undergirds them. Very worth checking out!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Woah, I'm a SPFBO judge! Looking forward to starting reading tomorrow 👀👀👀

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

He wants food but he hates my nail polish.

The same cat fleeing a smell he doesn't like in a blur.

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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

#SFFChat Q4: I didn't have time to hunt too long for one, but here's one from TETK

I stumble back, ready to make for the stairs, but the thing on camera seven is really moving now. A low-frequency generator rumble like the one in the woods stops both me and Tia in our tracks. It’s the sound of a heavy bookcase dragged across the floor, of stone grinding against stone.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Gene says.
Tia’s clutching her arms round her chest. “Gene.” She looks disappointed. Not frightened, not confused.
Hand shaking, I hover my thumb over the view button for camera seven. I press it.
The things that might be the creature’s eyes are round as headlights, and the light that beams from them obscures the finer details of its face, indeed, even the details of the eyes themselves. I can’t see its jaws really, but the light from its eyes glances off the curves of its teeth: sharp and stretching back far enough that it must have a very long mouth.
I want to run. I want to run downstairs after Tia and pull her back and save her and run. But its eyes are like binary stars burning into my sight, churning a distant flame. I want to go to it. I want to—
My palm presses against the screen and static needles my skin.
The creature screams, the sound of rutting elks, and it snaps its face away, bowing a long neck draped in a mane of dangling dark fur. Camera seven is blacked out by the creature’s body as it feeds.
I never turned the sound on for camera seven.

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

#SFFChat There are many such scenes in my horror WIP Apocrypha, many of them involving bugs being in places they're not supposed to be. Here's one that shows what happens when you lie to (and for) a god! TW: vomiting up bugs

I nod, surprised he can talk. I try to say something, but my throat hurts a lot and he’s already walking away. He shuts the door behind him this time.
I fall to my knees, hands on my chest. The scratching my throat is a crawling now, and there’s something big and thick there, and it’s not the time for a sexual euphemism so I’ll just out and say it’s not a dick like usual.
I can’t breathe, and whatever’s in my throat is crawling, crawling, up and up and I throw up, barfing it onto the floor. It’s a beetle bigger than my hand, the black kind that gets stuck upside down and then can’t do anything. It’s stuck upside down. I almost throw up again seeing it, but the nausea passes because looking at it is weirdly calming. It’s not going to hurt me, this little guy. It just wants to get home.
I reach out and tip it over, helping it gets back onto its feet.

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

#SFFChat Stephen Chbosky's Imaginary Friend did creepy scenes really well. A lot of what happened esp. in the first half wasn't explicitly horrific but even the prologue following a normal boy through his normal life is done in a way that was so creepy I had to pause reading it a few times.

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

#SFFChat I'm a big fan of the old spooky standby "things being where they shouldn't be." Who put that houseplant in the rotting old house? Why are those moths on the shopkeeper's eyes? Why is that boy sitting on the ceiling? Bonus points if the same object/person shows up in several wrong places!

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

If you like gay erotica, BDSM, and/or demons, I have a new short story: Asher's Cage is about a sexy demon, his sexy master, and the sexy sorcerer he has a crush on (having sex [and plotting to take over the world]) a.co/d/4czJ23X You can grab parts 1 and 2 here: a.co/d/a9y4hN1 a.co/d/itRd98m

a.co

Asher's Cage: A Tale of Demons and Dominance (Demons Bound and Chained Book 3)

Asher's Cage: A Tale of Demons and Dominance (Demons Bound and Chained Book 3) eBook : Heartstone, Noel: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Writing some people making out Accidentally misspell "clung" as "clongue" Time to go make supper probably

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Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

30. Every single one of my books takes place in the winter 😂But here's a peek at my favourite passion project where the summer will happen in the future (in a sequel [the sequel takes place in spring]). #SFFChat Thanks so much @sffchat.bsky.social for hosting this all month, it was really fun. :)

Kitaya nodded. “We’re the luckiest parents. Which is hardly fair to everyone else, since I also managed to be the luckiest man and convince you to marry me.”
Niana laughed. She felt the same way about Kitaya. “Well, some people just get all the blessings. We’ll just have to go on living with everyone else’s jealousy.”
Kitaya smiled a moment longer, but it faded eventually into something more serious. “I’m trying to keep a bit of a closer eye on him lately. He’s…not going to be a little boy for much longer.”
Niana nodded. “I know. It’ll be fine—we’ll handle it.” Kitaya’s concern wasn’t, Niana didn’t need to be told, motivated by worry about when Fyn’s voice would start to drop. Though that in itself was somewhat alarming. Niana didn’t feel old enough to have son who would be turning ten in the summer. In more ways than one, she wasn’t ready for her boy to start growing up.
But there wasn’t much she could do about that, now was there?

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