iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

We just passed 20% of our goal! If you're looking to stock up on LGBTQ+ Gothic, Horror, and Dark Fantasy Books, this is the Bundle for you--you can't beat $10 for 32 titles! itch.io/b/3931/lgbtq... #booksky #writesky #horror #gothic #fantasy

A promo showing 10 books:
My Lord - L. B. Shimaira
This Is How Immortals Die - Nicole Hidalgo
Born of Scourge - S. Jean
These Murky Hells - Rosie Forest
Confined - Nikki Flynn
Lemon Balm - Artemis Quinn
Fools Rush In - Sarah Clowder
The Fealty of Monsters Volume 1 - Ladz
Her Bloody Creature - Samara-Jade Sendek
Shadow & Flame - Sylvie Helstaff

A promo image showing 11 books: A Sharper, More Lasting Pain - Alex Harvey-Rivas
A Flame in the Night - Morgan Dante
Flesh and Bone - Arden Powell
The Cryptic Parade & A World Unfurling - Dan F. Bispo
Woman of Sorrow & Blood - Dianna Gunn
Dark Heart of Ilmoure - Cara N. Delaney
Blood on the Snow (Argentum in Aqua #1) - Finn McLellan
Farewell to Humanity - Stuart Tudor
Lantern - Burgundy Athena Pendragon
The Devouring - A. M. Shilling
The Mistress of Rosehorn Hall - Zack Prince

A promo showing 11 books:
Reforged - V. S. Holmes
The River Devours the Moon - Kaya Skovdatter
Bludeye Beach - Eliwood S. Gheist
A Haunting at Hartwell Hall - Rachel Bowdler
The Backwards Knight - Matthew Siadak
Manor of Shadows - Joachim Heijndermans
Hotel of Lost Souls - H.S. Kallinger
Fear the Wood, Thin the Trees - Jeremy Rayne
Yelen & Yelena - C.M. Rosens
The White Ribband - Mason Hawthorne
Books and Bone - Veo Corva

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 03/10/2026

Dig into everything creepy and dark: I joined 30 other speculative fiction authors for this LGBTQ+ Gothic, Horror, and Dark Fantasy Book Bundle. Get all these titles for less than filling up your tank, so stay home and read! 10/3 - 10/17 itch.io/b/3931/lgbtq... #booksky #writesky #fantasy #horror

A promo image with a dark, foggy forest as the background. Text reads: LGBTQ+ Gothic, Dark Fantasy, and Horror Bundle! Get over thirty books for just $10! Oct 3 - 17

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 29/09/2026

Today's word for #WIPSnips is "well." From my messy contemporary horrormance, THE DEVIL, HE KNOCKS. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #horror #booksky

An excerpt from THE DEVIL, HE KNOCKS written in black on white with the word "well" highlighted in grey. Excerpt reads: “Where were you?” he looks at the rifle over the man’s shoulder.
Hunting.
“It’s not hunting season.”
So, he wasn’t hunting out there, at least not any doe. Asher thinks back. Elias driving the Boisverts away, his traps and cameras. Did he know the body was there? This whole time? Was he the one who buried it? Was he the one responsible for the death?
How well, truly does Asher know him? Does he know him at all, at the end of the day? There’s no tone nor inflection to hear in his voice, though Asher would like to think he’d become intimate with the flickers of expression, that they were more honest than any tone.
Is that why Elias brought him here? Crippled him? But he could leave at any time, technically. He could whistle for Oakley and limp down the long, long winding two-track that served as Elias’s driveway and see where it joined a proper road and then keep limping until he found his way to the center of Grenmont.
He watches Elias’s hands, gentle and sure and scarred. So capable of violence. He can tell, in the easy way the man handles the knife, how he handles the gun.

0232

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 15/09/2026

Doing "month," yesterday's #WIPSnips, since I don't yet have today's "exterior." #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #booksky #horror

“They find him? Find out what happened?” Rico asks this time. His tone’s gentle. That doesn’t help.
Enoch swallows, shakes his head. “No. Never have. This is a small town, and people talk. Everyone talks. The stories spread like fire. I always thought if half the people spreading rumors looked for him, we’d have found him in time for dinner. Before we had a search party, we had three stories about why he left and another six about how he died. He got too drunk and did something stupid. He owed money and was killed. He owed money and offed himself. He owed money and ran away. You get the theme. The searches were sent out, then called off not even a month later.” Twelve days later, August 16th, a Friday, so the searchers could enjoy their weekend. “Pretty early on that they stopped looking for a man and started looking for a body.”
Rico grimaces in sympathy. He’s thinking of all the ways a body can be changed from that of a living man’s in the elements of late summer. Enoch knows he’s thinking these things, because Enoch thought them for those twelve days, spinning thoughts filled with bloated floating things and putrefaction and bursting bellies and scattered, scavenged pieces.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 12/09/2026

There’s a boy I talk about, when others share stories of childhoods, or of teenage escapades. Except he, technically, never existed. An essay on transness, alienation from past iterations, and the stories we create about ourselves. vsholmes.substack.com/p/if-neither... #writesky #booksky #lgbtq

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 12/09/2026

The 9/12 word for #WIPSnips is "wedge" which I had to hunt through all three current WIPs to find! So, from my winter island murder wives: #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #booksky #gothic #fantasy

An excerpt written in black on white, with the word "wedged" highlighted in grey, reads:

She races along the strand, feet aching with every blow upon the rounded stones. Up the winding trail, past the washed-out mouth to the lighthouse, through the snarl of winter-naked branches and to the station, wedged as it is in the throat of the harbor. It is only when she sees the stretched shadow of Markus that she stops.
He glowers down at her from the landing. “Where have you been?”
She doesn’t have an answer, and wavers on her battered feet.
He blinks and looks down at them, resolve faltering just a bit at the sight of her stone-torn soles. “Where is Billie?”
There is an answer she could give to that one, but it isn’t one he wants.

0242

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 10/09/2026

Today's #WIPSnips word for 9/10 is "teeth." An unnerving scene from my new project, THE DEVIL, HE KNOCKS, where the main character finds glass in his food. Unfortunately this bit was inspired by a real experience! #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

An excerpt written in black text on white with the word "teeth" highlighted in grey. Excerpt reads: He takes a bite, a big bite, chewing quickly, with no regard to choking or hiccups, desperate to refuel before he forces himself to clean the next room. He’s hunched over the sink, shoveling forkfuls when his back teeth come down on something hard and a moment later pain erupts across his gums on the right side, between his molars and cheek.
“Fuck,” he mumbles with his mouth full, working the hard, sharp thing from his mouth with his tongue and spitting it into his palm. Glass. A thick brown shard from the bottle of a beer bottle. He swears, throwing the plastic plate across the counter, where it slides then tips over onto the floor with a splat. He spits and spits, afraid to swallow, to chew, and when his lungs burn and black spots show at the corners of his vision it’s only then that he even dares to breathe, ragged and shaking.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 29/08/2026

On sub: THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN, folkloric fantasy + gothic romance with weird death and weirder sex. Snarky sapphic scifi archaeologists: vsholmes.com/nel-bently/ Bloodthirsty gods & broken heroes: vsholmes.com/blood-of-tit... Essays, reviews: vsholmes.substack.com #booksky #writesky

A promo image on a dark space background showing the six-book scifi series the Nel Bently Books (Travelers, Drifters, Strangers, Heretics, Fugitives, and Emissaries) and the tagline: Snarky, sapphic scifi archaeologists in space.

A promo image on a dark forest background showing the articles and essays V. S. Holmes has written:

HOW TO CREATE COMPELLING SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY STORIES
Authority Magazine

Dreadfully Comforting: Finding Solace in Horror
Horror Tree

What 2020 taught me
Readers Entertainment Magazine

MORAL DISABILITY: HOW VILLAINY LOOKS WHEN YOU’RE THE MONSTER
Sirens Essays

THE RESURGENCE AND POWER OF SUBTLE SCIENCE FICTION
File 770

You Can’t Miss The Library: Disability in SFF Worlds
Top Shelf Magazine

Writing Great Representation when it’s Not Your Own
Go Indie Now

051

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 15/08/2026

Belated✨ quote post! introduce yourself! ✨ Name: V Pronouns: He/Him Fav fantasy creature: ghosts or nachtmerrie Fav book last year: The Bear Fav book so far this year: You Weren't Meant to Be Human Current fav movie: Queer Current fav show: Six Feet Under or HR Season: Winter ... and a gif/meme!

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 21/06/2026

A little bit of panic from THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN for today's #WIPSnips word "jacket." As much as Ivigh wants to die, he is picky about the details. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #BookSky #fantasy #folklore #gothic

An excerpt of THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN written in black text on a white background, with the word "jacket" highlighted in grey. Excerpt reads: I shove the door to our room closed behind me and collapse on the bed, breath heaving. I try to remove my jacket, but my fingers are numb and clumsy. He knew me. Terror washes over my poppy-hazed thoughts, followed by a traitorous zing of pride. A nec knows me. Time was, I’d have done anything for my name to live on. Even if just in infamy. But when recognition comes with imprisonment made eternal by my unwanted immortality? I stare into the pulsing pattern of the floorboards’ wood grain, almost tempted for a moment. He’s an Achtdam witch. Maybe he’s powerful enough to find a way to end me once and for all.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 20/06/2026

Today's #WIPSnips word "lounge" in THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN. CW: drug use and blood. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #BookSky #fantasy #folklore #gothic

An excerpt of THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN written in black text on a white background, with the word "lounge" highlighted in grey. CW for drug use. Excerpt reads: The light snags on the edges of my ghosts, crowded in the poppy lounge, crammed against one another, seams blurry, attention hungry. Copper, clotted blood gathers in the back of my slack mouth and my lips have ragged cracks when I probe them with my tongue. Bliss ruptures but the mixture still sludges through my veins so I’m stuck drifting above the simmer of bloody memories and longing while the poppy insists on delight. Death. Blood. Mudlark. Honey. Pain. I’m delighted by it all.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 13/06/2026

It's the very last day of our #pridemonth LGBTQ+ sci-fi, fantasy, and horror bundle! Support LGBTQ+ authors by downloading 23 queer SFFH ebooks for only $10! Just 3 more and we'll double our goal! itch.io/b/3721/lgbtq... #booksky #lgbtqbooks #writesky #tbr #bookbundle #sff #fantasy #scifi #horror

A promo image on a black background with rainbow swirls and the words "LGBTQ+ SFFH BUNDLE! Get these queer sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books for just $10! June 1st-13th." and showing twenty three books:

Puppetry - Nina Waters

Kiss of Death - Bryony Rosehurst

Where Dreams are Lost: The Second Nightmare - Stuart Tudor

Synthetic Sea - Franklyn S Newton

Secondhand Origin Stories - Lee Brontide

The Devil in the Woods - S. Jean

A Crimson Covenant - Amiee Donnellan

Odder Still - D. N. Bryn

A Memory of Blood and Magic - K. N. Brindle

Dark Heart of Ilmoure - Cara N. Delaney

The Day We Ate Grandad - C.M. Rosens

Lock the Last Door - Vincent Lore

Travelers - V. S. Holmes

Of Serpents and Sorrow - Katherine Shaw

Tide Breaker's Curse - Ivy H. Marikova

The Sylvester - Lost in Space - Magnolia Fay

Where Dreams are Lost: The Second Nightmare - Stuart Tudor

Synthetic Sea - Franklyn S Newton

Troubled Bodies - Jake Vanguard

Of Spells and Love - Odessa Silver

The Citizen of Eastport - VB Ruth

Swim With Me, Darling - Sylvie Helstaff

My Lord - L. B. Shimaira

Last Vegas - Sass Everett

01510

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 10/06/2026

You all are amazing, and I'd love to get to $300 today and get us that much closer to doubling our goal by Friday! If you'd like to support queer authors this #pridemonth grab our LGBTQ+ sci-fi, fantasy, and horror bundle! itch.io/b/3721/lgbtq... #booksky #lgbtqbooks #writesky #tbr #bookbundle #sff

A promo image on a black background with rainbow swirls and bold rainbow letters saying LGBTQ+ SFFH BUNDLE! A white bubble also says: ITCH.IO Bundle 23 Stories for $10!

A promo image on a black background with rainbow swirls and the words "QUEER SFFH BUNDLE! Get these queer sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books for just $10! June 1st-13th." and showing eleven books:

Travelers - V. S. Holmes

Of Serpents and Sorrow - Katherine Shaw

Tide Breaker's Curse - Ivy H. Marikova

The Sylvester - Lost in Space - Magnolia Fay

Where Dreams are Lost: The Second Nightmare - Stuart Tudor

Synthetic Sea - Franklyn S Newton

Troubled Bodies - Jake Vanguard

Of Spells and Love - Odessa Silver

The Citizen of Eastport - VB Ruth

Swim With Me, Darling - Sylvie Helstaff

My Lord - L. B. Shimaira

Last Vegas - Sass Everett

064

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 08/06/2026

We don't usually see each other's headers so here's a screenshot of mine.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 07/06/2026

We are already so so close to making our goal! If just four people grab this #pridemonth LGBTQ+ sci-fi, fantasy, and horror bundle off ITCHIO we'll make it today! 23 different worlds await! itch.io/b/3721/lgbtq... #booksky #lgbtqbooks #scifibooksky #fantasybooksky #horrorbooksky #tbr #bookbundle

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 03/06/2026

Can we get 50% of our goal today?? If just three people want to snag these fantastic LGBTQ+ SFFH reads for #pridemonth we could get halfway there! 23 LGBTQ+ titles for just $10! itch.io/b/3721/lgbtq... #booksky #lgbtqbooks #scifibooksky #fantasybooksky #horrorbooksky #tbr #bookbundle

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 03/06/2026

Doing "ready" for yesterday's #WIPSnips since today's doesn't appear in THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #BookSky #fantasy #folklore #gothic

An excerpt from THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN written in black text on white, with the word "ready" highlighted in grey. Excerpt reads: The earth is cold at my back when I press against it, waiting to see which way they might go. My ghosts go still beside me, swaddling me, maybe even muffling my steps. I don’t trust them. I barely trust myself. But I’m all I have, all I’ve ever had, and my gut churns and as I listen to the witches upstairs, I know it’s me they’re hunting. There’s some murmured agreement, and one set of footsteps fades. The other set draws near, pausing on the other side of the door.
I tuck myself against the shadow behind the door, knife bundled to my chest, cane raised, waiting. I’m poised, ready to kill, when torchlight bobs into view, followed by the nec. I squint against the sudden blaze of light. Before I can think better of it, I fall on him. His arm flings wide, catching me on the chin, knocking me down. I flop to my belly and lunge for his foot, grabbing his ankle and pulling him to the floor with a crash.

0252

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 01/06/2026

The first of June's #WIPSnips is "loss" of which there is more than enough in THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #BookSky #fantasy #folklore #gothic

An excerpt from THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN written in black text on white, with the word "loss" highlighted in grey. Excerpt reads: The conversation turns to more academic debate, and I let my eyes lid. The haze of good food surrounds us. Were it not for the babe asleep on my chest and the hole in my ribs, this could have been any academy evening. When Basa rises to fetch remove the dishes, after waving Veaghdin’s offer away, the prisoner-hekse’s face grows thoughtful.
“Unsavory as it may be, I am curious.” Sharp vanilla slides across my ears when he speaks. “It’s not often that I entertain guests, being that this is technically my prion. And while I look forward to the diversion, I admit I find myself a bit at a loss as to why you’re here.” He stares at me and my skin crawls. “And as to how you’re alive at all.”

0202

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 19/05/2026

It's the last week to take advantage of this Spring Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror sale! With 30 titles, you can choose sweeping fantasy landscapes, fast-paced sci-fi adventures, and creeping dread. You're sure to find your next favorite read! books.bookfunnel.com/spring-sffh/... #booksky

A promo image showing the cover for the science fiction book TRAVELERS by V. S. Holmes on a background of sakura blossoms. The promo banner says "Spring SFFH Sale! 30 titles to choose from. Discover this book and many more for a limited time. All of Spring! March 21st - May 23rd."

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 07/05/2026

Today's #WIPSnips is "wings" which was hard to come by in THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN. Have some angst and rumination. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #BookSky

An excerpt of THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN written in black on a white background with the word "wings" highlighted in grey. Excerpt reads: At the far edge of the stone thread spanning the cavern, the walls are carved into an entrance, doors, windows. Its face sweeps upward, caught in the updraft of the cave’s jaw. I know the moan of the wind through its windows and its creaking as well as I know the wheeze of my breath, the grinding pop of my joints. It hurts, to see it now. How the moss has grown. The sills and lintels sag, turning her into a swayback nag. Time—both real and the incessant gnaw of the storm—have chewed away the carvings on the entrance to nothing more than smooth stone. I’m shaking, exhausted, every breath spills more ichor down my chest. I don’t dare look, I don’t dare stop. When I nudge the doors open, they groan, but part for me. And into the darkness, with my swirling ghostly entourage. Down the hall, past the dormitory wings where I first kissed Veaghdin, where I convalesced from my surgeries. Where I decided that damnation was better than irrelevance.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 23/04/2026

Today's word for #WIPSnips is "path" and though it occurs a few other, less dramatic times in THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN, I love this one. Fingers crossed we go on sub with this soon! #booksky #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

An excerpt written in black text on white with the word "path" highlighted in grey. Excerpt reads: “Am I dead?” I ask her.
Nechalenia does not answer, but lifts me, cradled in her arms, my head rocking against the heat of her breast, and sets out, ghosts in tow, gliding into the muffled dusk of death. I don’t deserve her to carry me to death, I don’t deserve her touch at all, a goddess. I deserve a listless death, wandering peaceless forever among my ghosts. And oh, their touch, mist across my clammy skin. Perhaps they carry me too. Perhaps they understand. But relief washes after. I’m sorry I couldn’t help Mudlark, but perhaps when my body is brought to Veaghdin, he might help her. And maybe it’s that last favor, the path opened by my death, that carries me to something other than damnation now.

0200

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 19/04/2026

Today's #WIPSnips is "signature" which only occurs once in the entirety of THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN. #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #BookSky

An excerpt written in black serif on white, with the word "signature" highlighted in grey, reading:

“The ghosts.” Her voice is soft, almost anguished. “Grim, do you make the ghosts?”
There’s no point arguing or denying. Usually, when the truth gets out, I just pick up and move, hopefully without too much fanfare or beating or jailing. I’ve never really had to discuss it with someone. “You asked what happens to the husks I put to rest. It’s merciful, what I do,” I lie, looking away. I don’t believe in mercy.
“I’ve wasted my time tracking these spirits, thinking it must have been this Layrn fellow’s signature. Only you’re telling me the ghosts are because you’re useless at being a nec, the one thing you’ve been trained to do?”

0200

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 17/04/2026

You have 30 titles to choose from in this Spring Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror sale! Sweeping landscapes, fast-paced adventures, and creeping dread all come together for this season only. You're sure to find your next favorite read! books.bookfunnel.com/spring-sffh/... #booksky #scifi #fantasy

A promo image showing the cover for the fantasy book SMOKE AND RAIN by V. S. Holmes on a background of sakura blossoms. The promo banner says "Spring SFFH Sale! 30 titles to choose from. Discover this book and many more for a limited time. All of Spring! March 21st - May 23rd."

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 12/04/2026

On sub soon: THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN, folkloric fantasy + gothic romance with death, sex, and Frisian folklore Snarky sapphic scifi archaeologists: tr.ee/qD1Wuh Bloodthirsty gods + broken heroes: tr.ee/SW75Ap Free shorts: vsholmes.substack.com Author Interview App: forms.gle/KsdfzLnSXDF1...

A promo image on a dark forest background showing the two completed series by V. S. Holmes, the six-book scifi series the Nel Bently Books (Travelers, Drifters, Strangers, Heretics, Fugitives, and Emissaries) and the four titles in the dark fantasy Blood of Titans series (Smoke and Rain, Lightning and Flames, Madness and Gods, and Blood and Mercy.)

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 07/04/2026

The news is finally here: I’ve signed with Laura Zats of Headwater! @lzats.bsky.social fell in love with THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN and I’m so excited to work with someone so dedicated to the art of writing and who loves the weird and undefinable. She totally understands Ivigh's complex, messy story.

A promo image showing a faded sigil on a black background and the text: I’ve signed with Laura Zats of Headwater Literary Management! We will be working with THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN and other future projects.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 26/03/2026

Tossed into high-tech & higher stakes, archaeologist Dr. Nel Bently only has her trowel, her bad attitude, and her (alien) girlfriend, Lin. Lesbian POV LGBTQIA supporting cast Snark, Science, and Sex Action-Adventure Lovers-to-enemies Space-horror vsholmes.com/travelers #writesky #booksky

A promo image for TRAVELERS, the Stars' Edge: Nel Bently Book 1 by V. S. Holmes. It shows the blue cover with a woman hiking with her archaeological trowel drawn, and a planetary background. There's also a short description and trope check list that reads: Dr. Bently discovers her pristine archaeological site is the center of an intergalactic feud. Tossed into a world of high-tech and higher stakes she only has her trowel, her attitude, and her badass—and alien—girlfriend, Lin. Lesbian POV, LGBTQIA supporting cast, Snark, Science, and Sex, Action-Adventure, Lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers, Space-horror, completed series (6 books)

020

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 21/03/2026

2026 has been a one-two punch of emotions. That weightlessness before a drop when you could tip into chaos, or control, the tipping point where anything—everything—is possible. Schrödinger's Fall, if you will. vsholmes.substack.com/p/the-rites-... www.patreon.com/posts/rites-... #booksky #writesky

A promo image for my monthly update on Substack, with red berries and the text THE RITES OF SPRING from vsholmes.substack.com

A promo image for my monthly update on Patreon, with red berries and the text THE RITES OF SPRING from patreon.com/vs_holmes

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 20/03/2026

Today's the last day you can grab this amazing queer SFFH short story bundle! Twelve authors, twelve stories, only $10. Help support queer authors' voices during this dark time. itch.io/b/3577/queer... #writesky #booksky #transrightsreadathon

A promo image for an GBTQ+ Short Story Sampler with rainbow text and art on a black background. It says "a variety platter of short, queer reads from a dozen different worlds, $10 for March 14th - 21st

It also has the covers of twelve books: Zen Solaris and the God-Child - Arden Powell
The Curse Of Seewiif Strand - V. S. Holmes
The Keyhole Shrine - Claudie Arseneault
Rom and Yuli - Amara Lynn
Tide Breaker's Curse - Ivy H. Marikova
Pack Ties - Ceillie Simkiss
Of Spells and Love - Odessa Silver
Heliophilia - Jake Vanguard
Curry in a Hurry - Amara Star
Paris at Nightfall - Merlina Garance
Immortality in the Marrow - S. Jean
Necessary Repairs - Skye Kilaen

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 19/03/2026

Just a few days left to get this queer short story/novelettes bundle by queer authors, including both award-winning writers and new talent! itch.io/b/3577/queer... #writesky #booksky #transrightsreadathon

A promo image for an GBTQ+ Short Story Sampler with rainbow text and art on a black background. A white icon says "ITCH.IO Bundle, 12 stories for $10!"

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 16/03/2026

A lot has been going on behind the scenes lately. I'll share details soon, but the micro-press I started over a decade ago is closing its doors. This is ultimately good news, as it opens us up to new opportunities. The biennial head-shave is just an outward symbol of all these shifts.

A selfie of V against a black wall. His red hair is buzzed, and he's wearing a burgundy collared shirt, round wire glasses, and one dangling earring in his ears.

020

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 15/03/2026

Already had a few people grab this queer short story bundle! Just for this week you can read twelve shorts/novelettes by LGBTQ authors for just $10! Help us reach our goal and support our work! itch.io/b/3577/queer... #writesky #booksky #lgbtqbooks

A promo image for an LGBTQ+ Short Story Sampler with rainbow text and art on a black background. It says "a variety platter of short, queer reads from a dozen different worlds, $10 for March 14th - 21st

It also has the covers of twelve books: Zen Solaris and the God-Child - Arden Powell
The Curse Of Seewiif Strand - V. S. Holmes
The Keyhole Shrine - Claudie Arseneault
Rom and Yuli - Amara Lynn
Tide Breaker's Curse - Ivy H. Marikova
Pack Ties - Ceillie Simkiss
Of Spells and Love - Odessa Silver
Heliophilia - Jake Vanguard
Curry in a Hurry - Amara Star
Paris at Nightfall - Merlina Garance
Immortality in the Marrow - S. Jean
Necessary Repairs - Skye Kilaen

03429

V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 14/03/2026

It's the first day of this queer short story/novelettes bundle by queer authors, including both award-winning writers and new talent! Discover your next favorite queer author now! itch.io/b/3577/queer...

A promo image with black and rainbow decorations that says: QUEER SHORT STORY SAMPLER! Zen Solaris and the God-Child - Arden Powell,
The Curse Of Seewiif Strand - V. S. Holmes
The Keyhole Shrine - Claudie Arseneault
Rom and Yuli - Amara Lynn
Tide Breaker's Curse - Ivy H. Marikova
Pack Ties - Ceillie Simkiss
Of Spells and Love - Odessa Silver
Heliophilia - Jake Vanguard
Curry in a Hurry - Amara Star
Paris at Nightfall - Merlina Garance
Immortality in the Marrow - S. Jean
Necessary Repairs - Skye Kilaen

And $10 March 14th - 21st

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 03/03/2026

But the only thing standing between Earth and devastation is Nel: archaeologist, asshole, and functioning alcoholic with anger issues. Lesbian POV LGBTQIA supporting cast Snark, Science, and Sex Action-Adventure Lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers Space-horror vsholmes.com/travelers #writesky #booksky

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 20/02/2026

Dig into this snarky, sapphic sci-fi series! Dr. Nel Bently discovers her archaeological site is the center of an intergalactic feud. Tossed into high-tech & higher stakes she only has her trowel, her bad attitude, and her (alien) girlfriend, Lin. vsholmes.com/travelers #writesky #booksky #scifi

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 23/01/2026

Dig into this snarky, sapphic sci-fi series today! Dr. Nel Bently discovers her archaeological site is the center of an intergalactic feud. Tossed into high-tech & higher stakes she only has her trowel, her bad attitude, and her (alien) girlfriend, Lin. vsholmes.com/travelers #writesky #booksky

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 16/01/2026

Start my snarky, sapphic sci-fi series today with TRAVELERS. Dr. Bently discovers her pristine archaeological site is the center of an intergalactic feud. Tossed into high-tech and higher stakes she only has her trowel, her attitude, and her badass (and alien) girlfriend, Lin. vsholmes.com/travelers

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 13/01/2026

Addict and con artist Ivigh is given an offer he can’t refuse: find the witch damning the dead or be punished for false necromancy. But he shares a dark history with the witch, one rooted in the wound rotting Ivigh's heart and his inability—despite his best efforts—to die. #BluePit 📖 #Q #A #TR #F

A mood board for Ivigh, the narrator for THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN showing a grid of four pictures. clockwise from top: dark clouds with pink light coming through; an old, foggy cemetery; brooding man with longer dark hair smoking a hand-rolled cigarette; and a dark, stone chamber with rough hewn columns. In the center is a sigil with the name "IVIGH"

A promo image of a ceremonial circle of skulls and long bones with an excerpt from THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN, which reads: The small square at the mouth of the rear gate is alight. The stone wall is stoved in, mining tunnels collapsed, the scaffolding toppled. The willow is cracked and bent under the weight of the fallen stones. I hear the wind. It gnaws at the broken masonry, coagulating it until chucks drop like searing jellied stock. The runes carved at the top of the wall are broken, what little protection they provided gone. Jutting from the stained earth are bones. Femurs, tarsals, ribs, phalanges reaching, reaching, some still fleshed and naked and accusing. My no-longer-secret cemetery. I stare numbly at the faces of the dead, condemned to unrest so I might have a meal. A fix.

For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 13/01/2026

VISCERA x THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN X GIDEON THE NINTH 💀 Frisian Folklore 🥀 Gothic Romance 🌩️ Acerbic, Unreliable Narrator ♿ Disabled MC 💦 Weird, Ritualistic Sex 🏳️‍⚧️ Trans Masc MC 💉 Necromancy-Induced Addiction 🌦️ Grumpy x Sunshine 🌻 Plus-sized Love Interest 🪄 Magicless Witch #BluePit 📖 #Q #A #TR #F

promo image for THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN featuring the title in gold serif font with a six-pointed magical sigil beneath it and "A Frisian inspired folkloric fantasy meets gothic romance. For readers who enjoyed" and the covers of GIDEON THE NINTH, THE BRIAR BOOK OF THE DEAD, VISCERA, and THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN.

A promo image for THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN featuring the title in gold serif font with a six-pointed magical sigil beneath it and the blurb: The dead deserve a proper afterlife, with a real necromancer for a grave warden. But with a devouring storm ravaging the world, they are stuck with Ivigh and eternal unrest.

When failed-necromancer Ivigh’s town is struck by a magical storm, the bodies he was supposed to have put to rest spill from the soil. Facing imprisonment, or worse, for his con, Ivigh flees. His magical impotence is discovered by Mudlark, a cheerful sex worker who makes him a deal: she won’t turn Ivigh in if he helps her find Eir Lahren, the very necromancer who unleashed the storm ravaging the world. He has a darker history with Lahren, one rooted in the gaping, bloodless hole in Ivigh’s chest and his inability—despite his best efforts—to die. But, with his terrible reputation barreling down on them and a drug habit he can't afford, he is forced to accept Mudlark’s offer.

The farther they travel, however, the more Mudlark’s story is unearthed and Ivigh realizes perhaps he isn’t the only one with corpse-ridden secrets. But Mudlark’s love for life is as intoxicating as the poppy he injects, and despite his initial complaints, Ivigh realizes she might just be what makes the world worth saving—even if he must expose his darkest, bloody secret.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 13/01/2026

The dead deserve an afterlife, with a real necromancer for a grave warden, but they're stuck with Ivigh and eternal unrest. Then cheerful Mudlark blackmails Ivigh into hunting the witch who damned the dead, or risk exposing the truth behind the hole in his beatless heart. #BluePit 📖 #Q #A #TR #OV

A mood board for THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN showing a grid of nine pictures. From top to bottom, L - R: A brooding man with longer dark hair smoking a hand-rolled cigarette, dark clouds with pink light coming through; a spiral of skulls and longbones; a landscape with ponds and rolling, grassy hills; a dark, stone chamber with rough hewn columns; a close-up of white flowers; a dark European longhouse; a mixed race woman with dark blonde curls; two old 19th cen. syringes of glass and metal on a wooden background.

The opening paragraphs of THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN with a grassy landscape in the background.

Excerpt reads: Lately, I go by Ivigh.

Howling wind pummels my aching bones, but it’s a welcome change from Ossgen’s stagnation. I crouch at the base of the terp, chapped fingers hovering over colorless soil. Cracked clay and storm-blasted grasses are cast in colorless greys under the perpetual dusk. I don’t blame the townsfolk for their fear of the Waste, but it won’t kill them. Not right away.

I shuffle another dozen steps to the crest of the hill and lean on my cane. Drag marks, down into the gully. Sure enough, in the basin below lies my quarry. It’s Miss Lange, judging by the periwinkle tipdoek. She left the town two days ago searching for the few quickthorn still clinging to life. Most make it back, those who leave to gather or hunt. She wasn’t so lucky. I limp my way down the slope toward her. She doesn’t hear me, doesn’t turn, but remains swaying in the swale. Her smooth hands grasp at something in reflex, maybe remembering her child’s sticky hand.

This is the only time I hesitate, in the stillness when the body recalls its last echoes of humanity. I stop just behind her to pray.

(italics) May her spirit find solace and not find its way back. May Wodan spare us each this fate. (End Italics)

Then I slit her throat.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 11/01/2026

There are nine great titles in this amazing sale, for this month only! These out of this world science fiction romances bring you the very best love stories from far away worlds to add to your TBR today! books.bookfunnel.com/outofthiswor...

A promo image of the northern lights over mountains with the text "OUT OF THIS WORLD SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE SALE!" and "ENDS ON JANUARY 31ST" in white and orange and turquoise text.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 11/01/2026

For next year, I'll be working on the same three projects, which you can catch a glimpse of of here. They're EIR LAHREN, PIRATES OF PORT ANDROMEDA, and an UNANNOUNCED PROJECT.

A graphic showing my 2026 projects: EIR LAHREN, PIRATES OF PORT ANDROMEDA, and an UNANNOUNCED PROJECT. There are also some bullet points that list: continue with querying/requests for Eir Lahren, start Pirates serial, draft new project “Falling”

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 11/01/2026

"The Curse of seewiif Strand," was published in Pride With A Bite's queer horror anthology, WE BITE BACK. That follows a trans man whose village is attacked when his former love interest hauls an otherworldly creature from the sea, and it's is set in the world of EIR LAHREN.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 11/01/2026

I published 2 shorts: HARBINGERS, Nel Bently 5.5, is from Lin's perspective of the events of the 5th book. Lin’s mission on Earth has failed. Her parents are MIA, her brother betrayed her, and she is told that Nel, too, is dead. Lin must choose how much of herself she is willing to sacrifice.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 11/01/2026

I focused on THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN revisions and querying, and made some good headway on other projects, including my new dark science romantasy and various shorts, two of which I published.

Another graph, this one a pie chart with the three projects I worked on this year. The largest at 69% (heh) was EIR LAHREN and sequels, the next at 19% was PIRATES OF PORT ANDROMEDA, and the third at 11% is Shorts and Unannounced project. Each section has an artsy background of the EIR LAHREN sigil, the northern lights over and island, and pretty clouds, respectively.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 11/01/2026

My 2025 writing stats! My monthly goal was 4k written in any project, with an 8k stretch goal. Two months I didn't hit that 8k, which were the hottest and longest day job days. I closed out the year with a total of 138K words written for the year (plus ~40K words in fics that we won't count.)

A graphic showing my writing stats for the year as a line graph with each month's count. Below the chart says "4K Goal Per Month with an 8K stretch goal. Total words: 138,723.

Monthly counts range between 18K and 6K, with the lowest being in the summer months of the year.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 09/01/2026

For day 2 of #BluePitHype here's the mood board for THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN, my folkloric fantasy x gothic romance. Ivigh is the acerbic, trans mac narrator, and Mudlark is the cheery sex worker whose harebrained quest drags Ivigh across the dying world. #AmQuerying #Fantasy #gothic #folklore

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 08/01/2026

Hi, I'm V, a former archaeologist and I write all sorts of spec fic, from snarky sapphic archaeological sci-fi to slow burn brooding fantasy. Current project I #amquerying is THE PASSING OF EIR LAHREN, a folkloric fantasy x gothic romance inspired by death, sex, and Frisian folklore. #BluePitHype

A photo of V holding a special edition of his debut fantasy series, Reforged. V has shoulder length shaggy red hair and is wearing round glasses and a brown sweater. The book cover is blue with a painted woman in chains wielding black power.

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V. S. Holmes @vsholmes.com · 07/01/2026

Each year the catfish goddess Bia escorts her people to the ocean, leaving her river spirit lover, Iguazú, with a promise to return when the weather changes. But climate change wreaks havoc on their home and the rains that bring her lover home are later every year. open.substack.com/pub/vsholmes...

A cover for a book showing a pale fish in dark indigo waters. The title is FAMILIAR WATERS by V. S. Holmes, with the tagline "a short sapphic tale of love and changing worlds."

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