iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Writing a college-based story meant including Halloween was a must. 🎃 Here's some snippets from my new adult WIP featuring 🧹 last minute costume shopping 👽 a costume inspired by my sister 🍬 flirting over candy

The Halloween section was clearly ransacked by other students from the college and children from the city. I gingerly step around costume accessories strewn on the floor to get to the racks of adult costumes. I thumb through them.

“Remy,” Ambrose says. He holds up a Harley Quinn costume. I shake my head.

“What about this?” Naomi holds up a sexy nun dress.

“Hilarious,” I deadpan. I might have to buy a white sheet and dress as a ghost.

“Remy,” Elisa shouts.

She waves from the hallway to the bedrooms, the headband with two little balls standing up from it bouncing. Her makeup shimmers in the light, just like her silver long sleeve shirt and short skirt. I apologize to everyone I bump into trying to get to her.

“There’s some quieter spots back here,” she says as she leads us into one of the bedrooms. “Have you seen Nessa?”

We shake our heads.

“Matching costumes and we aren’t even at the same party,” she grumbles.

Everyone else is talking too, but they’re discussing the movie. “What’s your favorite candy?” I ask quietly.

“Almond Joy.”

I wrinkle my nose. “I didn’t grab any of those. I hate coconut.”

I pull the candy out from my pocket and hold my cupped hands in front of him. He takes a small bag of M&Ms.

“You consume a lot of sugar,” he says.

“Tis the season.” I open a Reese’s.

“That’s your favorite?” he asks. I nod. “A basic but good choice.”

“I live for your approval,” I joke. He laughs, and my cheeks heat.

030

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Anne with an E Season 3 Episode 3 still hits if anyone was wondering. (I wasn’t. I knew I’d cry for 45 minutes.)

000

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

My life’s been taken over by Interview with the Vampire, which means my daily recaps with my husband now include tidbits like “and they turned a five year old into a vampire to save their failing marriage.”

020

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

Without a doubt, the 2D Restaurant in Chicago is one of the coolest places in the city ✏️ @stalbergwrites.bsky.social

040

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

The best I have is field from the very first page of The Axis of You and Me 🎥 💙 🏳️‍🌈 #WIPSnips #queerying

Shooting a war drama isn’t for the faint of heart. I smear the mud around my mouth, trying to leave it intact but also trying to avoid swallowing it. I bounce on my feet, ready to run. My boots slip a bit in the mess on the wide open field.
“Action.”
I run forward, rifle bouncing against my back. The saucer helmet shakes around my head and falls off. I throw myself to the ground to roll into the trench. Two other guys tumble into me. Out of the view of the camera, we laugh and try to catch our breath. Further down the trench, one of the stunt guys leaps in and lands on a mat. Another falls in as if stumbling from a gunshot.
“Cut.”
Another actor offers me a hand to pull me to my feet. One by one, we take the ladder out of the trench into air filled with smoke from the gunfire.
“That was it, boys,” someone shouts from behind the cameras and monitors. We ran that five times, I think.
Someone hands me my lost helmet. “Thanks.”

1141

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Not a single "Thanks. It has pockets" scene in this whole manuscript. #WIPSnips

When we stop to wait for the elevator, he leans his head against the wall. I take my phone from my pocket and take a photo of him, and then I take another when he flips me off.

1131

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

Hi I forgot my personal social medias existed for a month, so it's time for a little reintroduction! libra ☀️, virgo 🌙, taurus ⬆️ 🌈 queer 🖋️ querying my first romance novel 📓 drafting two other novels 🐈‍⬛ cat mom 📽️ movies obsessed ✨ Swiftie 🏀 new WNBA fan 💻 social media editor at Knee Brace Press

250

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

post four characters you identify with 👀

The cover of Love Off the Record by Samantha Markus

020

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Spike that ball like a volleyball 😍😍😍

000

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Bookish checkpoint 🕯️ 🔸 last book you read: Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert 🔸 your current read: drafts from @stalbergwrites.bsky.social and @nicolezelniker.bsky.social 🔸 last book added to your TBR: The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim 🔸 next read: Deep Wizardy by Diane Duane

161

Reposted by Allison Araya DeBusk ✨

your pal finn @attorneytrash.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

disgraced actor formerly known as America's Boyfriend VS. serial reality TV villain. three weeks, three fan conventions, and a whole lot of antics. ❤️romcom (com heavy) 📺celebrity hijinks 😈characters behaving badly 🌈mlm enemies to lovers #questpit #W #R #LGBT

an illustration of two boys, pictured from the shoulders up. One is blonde with an annoyed expression, the other is dark haired and grinning, making a peace sign with one hand and poking the blonde's cheek with the other. below, superimposed over a smartphone, are the words THE VILLAIN EDIT (attorneytrash)

At twenty-six, Max Reilly is already ex a lot of things. Ex-star of Affinity, the TV drama he led for three seasons. Ex-fiancé of Holly Aveline, his costar, who hasn’t spoken to him since the scandal that tanked his career. And ex-darling of the show’s fan base, who went from love letters to death threats faster than the speed of cable.
Most of all, Max is exhausted. The last thing he wants is to be back in the public eye. But when offered a deal to get out of his contract for good, it’s hard to resist—even if the catch is a pre-season publicity tour with Affinity’s current cast. Even if that means weeks on the road with not only his former castmates, but also the show’s newest cast member: Nico Mariani, a scandal-happy reality TV transplant known for exclusively playing villains.
It’s only a few weeks. A few weeks facing crowds of people who actively hate him, of being hounded by gossip columnists, of being trapped on-and-offstage with Nico, who Max can’t shake to save his life.
Because as it turns out, Nico has his own deal with the producers—and soon angry fans and nosy reporters will be the least of Max’s problems.

EXCERPT:
Nico’s first thought on seeing Max Reilly in the flesh had been, damn, this dude’s tall.
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected. Rory Harper, maybe, that archetypal boy-next-door who’d bit the dust at the end of Affinity season three. There was this one publicity still of him—white t-shirt, jeans, flannel tied around the waist, artistically placed smudges of grease—that was pinned to the vision boards of church-and-chevy girls nationwide. Oh my god, so dreamy, fuck me in a hayloft, etc.
Max Reilly was a very different creature. Nico had him cataloged in one go. Indoorsy, sleepy eyes, hair unfortunately cut with the roots grown in. Skittish. Bad posture. Cargo pants (seriously). He didn’t dress like America’s Boyfriend, or anyone’s boyfriend, honestly, if we were being totally honest here, if we were being candid. He was, to put it nicely, nothing to write in your diary about.
Tall, though, damn. And those freckles. But that was the devil talking.

17426

Reposted by Allison Araya DeBusk ✨

Allison Stalberg @stalbergwrites.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

HEIDI'S HOUSE OF RESCUED FAMILIARS 🐊Louisiana setting 🏳️‍🌈Trans and ace rep 👁️‍🗨️Multiple POVs 👨‍👧‍👧Found family 🐈a n i m a l s 🚜Redneck wizards 🌷Healing is the hardest part 📚Community politics 🐅Tiger King inspired villain 🪄 m a g i c 🐸Toad hoarders 🦎Reptile conventions #Q #A #F #S #Questpit

Moodboard with the following images:
- Swamp at night
- Window looking out at barn
- Trailer park
- Herb book
- Girl holding a coyote
- A field with a church
- A black cat on a chair
- A rearview mirror
- A dirt road by a field
- A crow about to land on a woman in black
- A hand in swamp water
- Spanish moss hanging from a tree
- Bloodied hands
- Candles on an altar

In the decaying community of Lombar County, Louisiana, most witches and wizards (the Folk) live in trailers, RVs, or rundown motels. They party in New Orleans, worship evil gods, get addicted to love potions, and make memes about fire spells gone wrong. However, there are little places that try to do some good, like Heidi’s House.

Told from the point of view of three staff members in a nonprofit familiar rescue.

Southern Gothic themes meets Urban Fantasy: Decay, community, and classism.

Asexual and transgender representation.

0348

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

I'm currently querying my first novel, THE AXIS OF YOU AND ME, a dual POV, queer romance. 🏳️‍🌈💕📚 (Shout out to everyone with their gorgeous pitches that inspired me to make one of my own) #Q #A #R #questpit

A duotone photo of photographers with flashing lights. Text reads, The Axis of You and Me.

Pitch

Avi Davies dreams of Oscars, and he’s stayed closeted and isolated in the interest of achieving his dreams. Aidan Kelly, a father in a polyamorous marriage, doesn’t know he’s bisexual until Avi, and what starts as a normal work fling isn’t just a fling anymore. The path to their own movie-worthy happy ending isn’t as straightforward as following a script.

For the
Taylor Jenkins Reid fans
2010s Tumblr users
parasocial chronically online
queers
Casey McQuiston fans
celeb gossip lovers

Snippet

“I didn’t know you knew who I was.”

As if I could forget him. As if he wasn’t on my tv all the time. As if his face wasn’t plastered all over the Tube in posters for his latest show on the West End. His face isn’t quite so delicate anymore, but I like it more than ever.

“Oh, I knew who you were, Aidan Kelly.” I cock my head to the side. “You looked a little different out of a military uniform, but you’re still pretty.”

1315

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

If you want 🏳️‍🌈 Queer romance 💟 Polyamory rep 👀 Complicated people making bad decisions 💚 Characters in their 30s 📸 Celebrity and fandom ‼️ Dual POV 📚 Alternating timelines ✨ A winding road to a HEA You’ll love THE AXIS OF YOU AND ME #Q #A #R #questpit

2284

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

(Whoops missed a day) From my #WIP, tentatively titled Paper Bags and Plastic Hearts

I chickened out earlier, too off-balance from his attention before class. Now waiting makes it worse, the two of us nearly chest to chest in front of the door, much closer than he was hours ago.

“Do you have Halloween plans?” I ask. We are friends. Friends ask friends to do things together.

040

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

“I’ll put on more coffee,” she says. “I love you.” From the project I’m currently querying ✨

030

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

I like drawing from my college experience writing this story, but I did leave out the part of the real experience in which we had to talk a guy we knew out of drunk driving home in a Jimmy Johns.

Ezra pulls me by the hand into the dark room after we pay the cover fee. We’re downtown near one of the other universities in the area for a show. Ezra’s adamant. It’s a show, not a concert.

060

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

The protagonist and I actually have different voices!

120

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

And the roster page on the website is down… I need to know if the rookies are okay.

000

Reposted by Allison Araya DeBusk ✨

Brady Klopfer @bradyklopfer.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

11/10 social media work by the Durham Bulls

Tweet from the Durham Bulls that reads "Y'all means all. #PrideNight"

Tweet from a user saying "Please delete," and Durham Bulls responding "No."

Tweet from a user saying, "Actually, no it does not! Stop dividing people." with a response from the Durham Bulls saying, "Inclusion's actually the exact opposite of division"

Tweet from someone saying "Maybe don't promote gay sex to children?" with the Durham Bulls responding, "Okay, sexyman159861581242902587231848675309"

182201103445

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

It’s a big day in small town North Carolina. We’re getting a traffic circle and I’m hosting this panel today!

020

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

In Paper Bags and Plastic Hearts, I've got Watchmen, Omnitopia Dawn, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Illiad, The Beautiful and Damned, and The Book Thief so far. It's about English majors, so there should be more eventually.

030

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Convenient that I started writing a basketball romance

At lunch, we sit with those newbies too. I ask about their travels, what they think about the U.S. so far, and what they miss about home.
“Did you get to watch Kalyani play for the national championship?” one of them asks me.
I swallow my food. “Uh, yeah, I was there.” I take a long sip of bright blue Gatorade.
“She’s incredible,” another chimes in. “You’re close, right?”
“We came into UConn together,” I say. I’m not lying. “She was injured and missed a year, so I graduated before her.”
They can fill in whatever else they want around that. If they’re asking, they’ve seen the videos we posted all the time when we were best friends. They’ve probably seen the edits of us if they’ve spent too long scrolling.
“It’ll be a bit before we play Vegas,” Kia chimes in. “Y’all ever been line dancing?”
She graciously pulls all the attention with a dramatic story about the time we tried line dancing as a team building activity. She elbows me as she laughs, and I manage to laugh too.

010

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Pride flag inspired moodboards for my MCs Avi and Aidan 🏳️‍🌈 I'm currently querying The Axis of You and Me about these two actors who fall in love and make a real mess of it

A collage of pictures in pink, purple and blue with white text that says "Aidan"

A collage of green, teal and blue images with white text that says "Avi."

050

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

June 21 at 2 p.m. I'm moderating a talk with Lillie Lainoff, Jonny Garza Villa and Robbie Couch! We're going to talk about grief in young adult fiction. It'd be awesome if you came! docs.google.com/forms/d/10li...

044

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Outside accountability yes pls I’m a serious plotter, so I’d like to plot my new WIP at least a little.

050

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Late to join butttttt, this week I hit 34K words on my main WIP (!!) while every few days the narrator of a sapphic basketball story gives me a few ideas that I immediately write down.

030

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

I thought I wasn’t that emotional about it, but the mix of original Taylor and newer Taylor that I get now on Spotify has me a special kind of nostalgic actually

000

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Eeeeee so excited to share my baby coming out to her moms. My sweet demisexual girl from my WIP 💟

“You want to bring a boyfriend home?” Anne exclaims.
“She means yes,” Bri interjects.
“We can clear out, give you privacy,” Anne continues.
I cover my face with my hands. “We don’t need privacy for anything.”
“We know you’re educated and prepared, but remember that consent is everything.”
“We aren’t having sex,” I say, muffled by my hands. “I don’t know if I want to.”
“Oh.” When I peek between my fingers, Anne shrugs. “Okay.”
I drop my hands to twist them together. “It’s kind of been a thing. Figuring all of this out. Asexuality and aromanticism. My friends and I talked about how sexuality is a spectrum that goes in a bunch of ways, and I think that makes sense for me, but I don’t feel ready to label anything.”
“Pick a label or don’t,” Anne says. “As long as you know you are perfect the way you are, however you feel about romance or sex.”
I drop my hands to the counter, flat against the cool marble. Deep inside me, I can feel the truth of that resonate, all the way out to my fingertips. Doubt twists on top, but I know she’s right.

070

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

From the project I'm querying, The Axis of You and Me 🏳️‍🌈

“What kind of motorcycle do you have?” he asks. He’s slouching against the headboard. I’m still on the other end of the bed, reclined back and leaning on an elbow.
“A Mercedes.” I pause. “How do you know I have one?”
He flushes and looks away from me. I smile bigger at his embarrassment.
“Two years ago, you pulled up next to me at a stoplight,” he admits.
“You remember that?” I can feel my smile stretching wider, past the point people say is flattering. “You didn’t say anything.”
“I was very surprised,” he argues, finally looking back at me. There’s still color on his cheeks, but he smiles too. “I didn’t know you knew who I was.”
As if I could forget him. As if he wasn’t on my tv all the time. As if his face wasn’t plastered all over the Tube in posters for his latest show on the West End. His face isn’t quite so delicate anymore, but I like it more than ever.
“Oh, I knew who you were, Aidan Kelly.” I cock my head to the side. “You looked a little different out of a military uniform, but you’re still pretty.”

050

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Book mail ✨ Thank you, @nicolezelniker.bsky.social, for letting me be Avery’s first reader literal years ago 💜

111

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

We traveled over the weekend, and I am my most productive on planes. 🖋️ Two snippets from different WIPs with very different voices.

110

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

That’s me! We’re gonna have a great time!

110

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

I’m just a girl asking the Wings to put Zaza in a game. #WNBA

010

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

As a State fan, it’s so comforting to see Connecticut taking care of Niya. ❤️🧡

000

Reposted by Allison Araya DeBusk ✨

Nicole Zelniker @nicolezelniker.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

HAPPY ALL I KNOW SO FAR DAY🔥🌈🥳 I’m SO excited to have this book out in the world. I hope y’all love Avery and co. as much as I do❤️

294

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

Book fair at Botanist and Barrel 📚 Ft. my favorite local author @nicolezelniker.bsky.social

120

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

I’m a WNBA fan now, but this is what I talk about when I watch a game.

010

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

I’m at Flyleaf for the launch event for An American Girl Anthology and there is pink cake and people brought their dolls. I’m declaring American Girl Doll summer.

030

Allison Araya DeBusk ✨ @shes-allison.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

What if I just post a little bit every day for accountability that I am writing?

“Thorn,” Xavier says first. “The adviser of the Honors College that was supposed to teach my pre-thesis class is taking an unexpected sabbatical.”
“What is a pre-thesis class?” I ask.
“I honestly don’t know,” Xavier says. “But the existence of it implies you can be behind on your thesis before you even start writing it.”

110