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Sofie Tholin

@sofietholin.bsky.social
133 followers 158 following 186 posts

S.A. Tholin, writer of the PRIMATERRE series - military science fiction - and PRIMATERRE TALES - space pirates, space detectives, space submariners. SPSFC winner with IRON TRUTH, book one of the Primaterre!

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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Great picks! The Metro Trilogy was my favourite reading experience of last year, and triffids will always have a special place in my heart :) Somehow I've never heard of Unto Leviathan before, but it's exactly the sort of thing I've been in the mood to read - thanks for the tip!
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Yeah, I thought it might be a fun experiment. Ofc I've no idea what my voice will sound like, and my natural English accent is an unholy mash-up of Swedish/Scouse/TV-American, so it might turn out terrible, haha, but I am going to enjoy giving it a go!
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I'm trying to not let the fact that I'll be recording an audiobook version affect my WIP word choices... ...but I sure am going to have an interesting time pronouncing things like 'Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea'!
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I wasn't really in the mood for fantasy when I picked up Imbued, but it turned out not to matter; your writing style has this serene, almost hypnotic quality that pulled me into the story.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
That explains a lot about how the rest of my day's been going, haha
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Went to the woods in search of an old castle ruin (did not find it), but saw some Bronze Age petroglyphs instead!
A river winding between trees and reeds. Blue patches of sky between fluffy clouds; a forest on the far side of the river. No sign of castle ruins, though they ought to be around here somewhere. May not be much left!The river view in the other direction (west-ish, I think). Sunlight glimmers in the tree-framed dark water.Sun crosses or wheel crosses carved into a flat rock, coloured in with red paint. More petroglyphs, chariots and sun crosses in the main, carved into a flat rock in a forest in southern Sweden. Autumn leaves are scattered about.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Big fan of the escalation of cute pillbug > carcass > gore
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Prosper Tipaldi 🌱🌿 @prospertipaldi.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
🏺 Quote with your yellow art! 🏺 From that time I drew The Mountain for A Song of Ice and Fire: Tactics.
A drawing of The Moutain from A Song of Ice and Fire, in full plate armor with yellow cloth. He wields a large yellow pavise shield in his left hand and a very large two handed sword in the right.
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Hel ✨ || Untwined is out now!! 🌀🪷 @helynalc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Today is publication day for Untwined, my third novel, second and final in the Imbued dark fantasy duology! 💙📚 There isn't much I can say that I haven't said a million times before. I'm incredibly proud of this book, and it means the world to me. Writing it was a terrifying, rewarding, beautiful,
The cover of Untwined by Helyna L. Clove, a digital painting of a purple-pink lotus flower on dark golden water surface spotted with golden lily pads. There is golden magic whirling around the flower.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Happy release day! Can't wait to read it! :)
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Gary Birdshirt @garybirdshirt.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
moon #photography
photo of my driveway in the dark. long shadows stretch among the chunks of snow
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Thank you!
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A Murderer on the Moon is out today! On claustrophobic Phobos, Detective Grace Telluride has to tangle with a dead body in a refugee camp, warfare in chemical swamps, dangerous gravity hijinks, and much, much more! www.amazon.com/dp/B0HBKHQYQM mybook.to/amotm
As moons went, Phobos wasn't much to look at. Small, lumpy, about as attractive as an unpeeled potato, it possessed neither the mystique nor the graceful phases of Luna. Twice a day it crossed the Martian sky, quickly making its way from west to east without fuss or fanfare. It cast no light to speak of, set no mood, and while mankind had once looked up at the sky and dreamed of walking on Luna, Grace couldn't imagine anyone had ever dreamt of Phobos.
She certainly hadn't, although when she got the call at 3:40 in the morning – There's been a murder on the moon – she had briefly wondered two things. The first: Which moon? The second: Am I still asleep? Bumping her knee on the bedside table in her haste to get dressed had confirmed that, nope, not a dream; Chief Thebes really was yelling at her to get a move on because the shuttle to Phobos was leaving in thirty.
Shuttle. The word sounded too casual, too easy, as though travelling through the vacuum of space was like hopping on the Kirkclair Central Line, and maybe it was that easy for people who commuted off-world regularly, but Grace had only ever been on a shuttle a few times before, and she'd feel more comfortable about the prospect if everyone else treated it like the big deal it was. Instead, she was stuck with a pilot who cracked jokes over the comms – and a windowless seat.
In one of the psychology classes she'd taken back at the academy, the professor had talked about space and windows, specifically how windows were inevitably a structural weakness, yet even Primaterre warships had them. Containment affected the human psyche negatively. To see the sky, the horizon, the stars, was as vital to the mind as breathing to the body, and to be able to trust one's own eyes mattered even more. Hackable, disruptable viewscreens didn't cut it; only real windows would do.
Grace realised just how true that was when the pilot announced they'd be landing in five. To have travelled through space, from one celestial body to a…One of the amazing maps from the book, illustrated by mr.OH!
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Oh, nice list! Have you read Leech by Hiron Ennes? I thought that was pretty great!
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
A Murderer on the Moon is out on August 11th! Preorders are live now: mybook.to/amotm AMotM is set during Lonely Castles, so my recommended reading order is: Iron Truth -> Lonely Castles -> A Killer in Kirkclair -> A Murderer on the Moon... ...or bravely jump right into this new Primaterre Tale!
A mock-up of A Murderer on the Moon in various formats. Cover art by the fantastic mr.OH!, who has done all my covers since Iron Truth, as well as all interior illustrations and maps. He worked hard on this one - it has TWO maps!The back cover for A Murderer on the Moon, featuring Detective Grace Telluride. The blurb reads: Phobos. God of fear. Moon of Mars. Crucible of purity.

The Primaterre. Dogmatic, xenophobic, governed by paranoia, yet thousands flock to its borders seeking respite, asylum, new lives.
Phobos is the proving ground, the path to citizenship a brutal gauntlet of the mind. Few are found worthy.
The refugee camp is a hotbed of frustration, grudges and bad blood. When the first successful applicant in years is murdered, Camp Asaph teeters on the brink of calamity as enemies old and new clash.


Detectives Telluride and Bloom must untangle a plot with as many moving parts as Phobos itself, and apprehend A MURDERER ON THE MOON.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Writer's block.
Trying to write but my cat's not having itHe just won't budge
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I wrote a reply about how I do this all the time, then deleted it because I felt all anxious about intruding, so... yeah, I know the feeling! :)
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L.L. MacRae @llmacrae.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Want a **sneak peek** into Memories of Fire? I'll be sharing the Prologue and first chapter TOMORROW on Patreon! Whether you're a paid Tea Dragon or a Free Dragon, you'll get a preview of my upcoming epic fantasy quartet! www.patreon.com/llmacrae
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C. J. Daley 👻 Horror & Crime Thriller author @cjdaleywrites.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Okay, okay, even I’m surprised that there’s more zombie shows for me to watch. Watch them I will. Another update, and this time it’s off a rec from @sofietholin.bsky.social #zombies
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
A Murderer on the Moon, the second Detective Grace Telluride mystery and the fourth Primaterre Tale, is now available for preorder on Amazon! Read all about it on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/tholin/posts... Or check out the preorder here: www.amazon.com/dp/B0HBKHQYQM
A mock-up of A Murderer on the Moon in paperback and ebook formats, against a Primaterre sun backdrop. Illustrations by mr.OH!, who's done all my book covers and interiors since Iron Truth!The paperback proof, with bonus cat
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Hel ✨ || Untwined is out now!! 🌀🪷 @helynalc.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
It's Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week! #SPAAW And I'm here to appreciate. #SelfPublishedAuthorsAppreciationWeek 💙📚 This will be a thread of cool authors and cool books!
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Guy Warley @warls.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Hello #PortfolioDay Here a selection of my works (red/orange), thanks for looking at them.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Oh, awesome! It's definitely a bit wacky, along the lines of Dead Rising. Hope you enjoy it :)
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Hel ✨ || Untwined is out now!! 🌀🪷 @helynalc.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Today is the cover reveal of Untwined, the second book in my dark fantasy duology! 💙📚 The fight for freedom, revenge, and agency that started in Imbued reaches conclusion in this final installment. As near effortlessly as Imbued flowed out of me, writing Untwined turned out to be...so difficult. 🧵
The cover of Untwined by Helyna L. Clove depicting a purple-pink lotus flower with a bright yellow center on a lake surface surrounded by lily pads. The pads and the water are in colors of golden yellow. Similar golden magical threads are whirling around the flower.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Beautiful! I love how the light is a touch warmer and more golden than on Imbued's cover. I'm crossing my fingers that's a good sign for Calla and Gray :)
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Thank you @helynalc.bsky.social for making my day!
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Oh, thank you so much for reading it and saying such lovely things about it! It really means a lot coming from you! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed Lonely Castles :)
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dominish_books @dominishbooks.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Hi everyone! It's been too long since I updated some of my lists of favourites, so today I'm revisiting my top five favourite science fiction books. Check it out here: youtu.be/m0V1zvPWcFg What are your favourites?
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
All of Us Are Dead, actually - I loved that show! I also really enjoyed Newtopia, another Korean zombie show.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
And I can't believe I've watched every single episode of nearly all of these shows (even Zomboat!). If a zombie show gets cancelled, it's definitely not my fault, haha
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Thank you! I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying it! :)
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
About fifty percent through my final read-through of AMotM and taking a break to see what it looks like on my Primaterre shelf. Yes, it's another big one!
The Primaterre/Primaterre Tales series in paperback on a bookshelf. Iron Truth, Lonely Castles, Chaos Terrain, Summer Empress, Queen of the Corpsepickers, A Killer in Kirkclair, Brighwork and the upcoming A Murderer on the Moon!
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The current state of things does make me feel vindicated for always choosing the Destroy ending! :)
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Ok, this is a relief because I have worried too many of our conversations have been about RE and I don't want to seem like it's the ONLY thing on my mind. Good to know we're both very super normal about it! (I actually avoid talking about it because it's My Precious and I do go a bit Gollum :)
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Zé Burnay @zeburnay.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
A window into the process
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Hel ✨ || Untwined is out now!! 🌀🪷 @helynalc.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Hi Hello Have you Heard? 👀 Untwined, my new book, sequel to Imbued & finale of the duology, is coming out in September 2026! Put it on your TBR: www.goodreads.com/book/show/25... Request an eARC: forms.gle/nGYWNuSrDvENeJTh9 Help with the cover reveal in July! (comment here!~) 💙📚💙🪐 #BookSky #books
A trope map-style graphic with labels around the graphic of a book in the middle pointing at it. On the book graphic, it reads: Helyna L. Clove, Untwined (Imbued #2). The background is a blurry, gold and brown colored image showing lily pads on water. The edges of the picture have fancy corner graphics.

The arrowed labels around the book say:
- pesky lost goddess inside my head (but sad)
- my grief and trauma embodied in corrupted magic? Right in front of me??
- ancient underground high-tech city
- dream yearning
- mild(?) torture (sad-face emoticon)
- metaphysical battles (visions, memories, nightmares, otherworlds)
- a fight for freedom at all costs
- tfw you just want to BURN it all (but sad)
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
The final read-through begins. A Murderer on the Moon will be ready for publication soon, and I am super excited! I really love this book (I hope you will, too! :)
Me, holding the paperback proof copy of my WIP, A Murderer on the Moon.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
A shorter version of this interview is now available at spotlightindie.co.uk/2026/05/04/a...! With thanks to @spotlightindie.bsky.social, it was a really fun interview with some great questions!
spotlightindie.co.uk
Author Interview – SA Tholin
We put some of our awesome authors under the spotlight, as they answer questions about their stories, writing experiences and favourite bookish things. This week, we’re finding out more about: SA T…
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Tim Hardie @timhardieauthor.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
I was lucky enough to have Wise Counsel, one of my short stories, included in @spotlightindie.bsky.social’s new library! Taken from the collection, A Roll of the Dice, this is the audiobook version, narrated by @rjbayley.bsky.social, introducing Etta's character for the first time. Link below 👇
Spotlight Indie. Spotlight Library Presents Wise Counsel by Tim Hardie. A short story from the world of the Brotherhood of the Eagle. Narrated by RJ Bayley. The graphic also features the audiobook cover of the short story collection A Roll of the Dice, featuring two tankards of ale next to two daggers on a wooden table, with various coins scattered around.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Happy birthday, Joy Somerset! More on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/tholin
A photo of a page in Iron Truth, listing the details of SOMERSET, Joy Catherine, including her date of birth (1543/05/11).
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Went to see some dinosaurs, then came home to find my proof copy of A Murderer on the Moon in the mailbox. Very happy to get to work on the final edits (it's actually so much fun)!
A photo of an animatronic brachiosaurus.A photo of the proof copy of A Murderer on the Moon. The text reads S.A. Tholin, A Murderer on the Moon, A Telluride Mystery. The cover features a Primaterre sun combined with the symbol for Phobos against a grey backdrop, a river of yellow liquid, and some mysterious growth-like tendrils.

There is also a bonus black cat in the photo, sitting behind the book with a sort of exasperated look on his face (he wants Dreamies, he has had Dreamies, do not feel sorry for him).
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
A sneak peek at the back cover and blurb for A Murderer on the Moon! Detective Grace Telluride returns to solve a murder on Phobos. For the full cover reveal, check out my Patreon: www.patreon.com/tholin
Phobos. God of fear, moon of Mars, crucible of purity. The Primaterre. Dogmatic, xenophobic, governed by paranoia, yet thousands flock to its borders seeking respite, asylum and new lives.

Phobos is the proving ground, the path to citizenship a brutal gauntlet of the mind. Few are found worthy.

The refugee camp is a hotbed of frustration, grudges and bad blood. When the first successful applicant in years is murdered, Camp Asaph teeters on the brink of calamity as enemies old and new clash.

Detectives Telluride and Bloom must entangle a plot with as many moving parts as Phobos itself, and apprehend a murderer on the moon.
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Exciting things are happening!
A screenshot of an email that reads: "Dispatched: PROOF: A Murderer on the Moon. Expected by Wed 22 Apr".
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
I loved this story as a kid! I had this horror anthology for kids where a French Revolution version of it was sandwiched between The Murders in the Rue Morgue and a Patricia Highsmith story about giant snails... a very weird collection of stories in retrospect, haha, but I loved them all!
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Steve Hugh Westenra 🕷️🧛‍♂️🏳️‍⚧️📚✒️ @stevewestenra.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
I was honoured to be asked to help with the cover reveal for the upcoming indie anthology, Together Is a Distant Star! It features a lot of amazing stories and the work of good friends. beforewegoblog.com/cover-reveal... (with absolutely gorgeous art by @cblansdell.bsky.social !) #booksky
beforewegoblog.com
Cover Reveal: Together Is a Distant Star
COVER REVEAL I'm so excited to be part of the cover reveal team for Together Is a Distant Star, an upcoming anthology from some of today's most talented and u
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Hyperion! Which is strange, really, because Summer of Night by the same author is one of my all-time favourites. I read it when I was 12 (the same age as the protagonists!) and it was the sort of wonderful experience where you can feel a book forever warp your mind, haha
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W&S_BOOKCLUB @wsbookclub.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Who has books in the Narratess Indie Sale? If that's you, share your social media-sized "about my book" below! There are some incredible books included, readers! I'm going to spoil myself! #booksky #NarratessIndieSale #indiebooks #indieauthors
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Lonely Castles is 0.99 in the amazing Narratess sale! On Amazon UK/US, you can also pick up Iron Truth for 0.99 this weekend. If you like SFF with intense action, love and loyalty above all, and defiance against overwhelming odds... it's a good weekend to start the Primaterre series! :)
Alarms blared through the corridors. Breaches to the east and the west. The lab's main entrance still held, but one turret hung limp and useless, black smoke rising from its fried power cell. The other turret, controlled by Lucklaw, fired relentlessly. Rounds smacked into the concrete residential block and powered through plate glass, but the RebEarthers had slipped out of range, returning fire from a safe distance. Sooner or later, the turret would join its twin in electronic death.
Kiruna and Daneborg haunted the upper stories of the building, observing six RebEarthers climb the fire escape. The first one died before the second made it to the last rung, but Daneborg made his death a silent one, dragging the man away by the combat knife shoved into his jaw. Kiruna stayed back, allowing the other RebEarthers to enter and discover the trail of blood. She let them start tracking it, and as the tension grew enough for the men to start snapping at each other, she made her move. Two more down, and the remaining three ran blindly down the dark corridors. Daneborg quietly waited for them to call in their predicament, and then he and Kiruna flanked and ended the chase. Elegant, and brutal enough that Cassimer estimated that it'd take RebEarth at least ten minutes before they tried that entry point again. Ghosts, the last one had gurgled over his comms, ghosts on the fifth floor.

(The sort of thing you might expect from Lonely Castles!)
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Sofie Tholin @sofietholin.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
I've really been enjoying the Skylark posts! Super interesting to read your thoughts and this thread in particular has me hyped to read the book (it's right at the top of my TBR! :). I think I already love the characters and I haven't even met them yet, haha!
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