GOODREADS HAS A DNF OPTION NOW?!! WE CHEERED
GOODREADS HAS A DNF OPTION NOW?!! WE CHEERED
shared another sapphic, slice of life, cozy short story to my Substack!
byfionahansen.substack.com/p/phoenixfire
one of my biggest, silliest writing tips for my fellow hyper-critical perfectionists is to write in fonts that DO NOT LOOK LIKE A BOOK. I'm currently editing/rewriting in Arial. Then, when I finish a draft, I change it into Times New Roman before reading, and it actually LOOKS like a book!!
posted a cozy lil sapphic slice of life short story to my substack! available to read ~now~
open.substack.com/pub/byfionah...
Dark moodboard with deer, moths, forests, tapestry, monsters, roots, and vintage boarding school vibes.
A green collage with swirly accents and the text "as above so below".
#QuestPit #W #YA #H #MY #PR #RF
DON'T LET THE FOREST IN x AGGGTM
To survive the summer at her coastal hometown's boarding school, Noa must:
1. End a (murderous?) moth infestation ๐ฆ
2. Solve a decades-old cold case identical to her mother's ๐
3. Not kill (or kiss) her new roommate, Ivy โค๏ธโ๐ฅ
Fake Publisher's Marketplace deal announcement in front of an aesthetic light academia moodboard with the text: Fiona Haley Hansenโs debut *REDACTED*, a queer alt-historical fantasy pitched as BLOOD OVER BRIGHT HAVEN meets EMILY WILDE, in which four aspiring magical scientists driven by loss and vengeance race to climb the ranks and uncover dangerous political conspiracies before the Worldโs Fair as they get closer to the truthโand each other, a story about who gets to write history, the cost of ambition, and the inextricable bond between knowledge and power, to Cool Editor at Books and Other Cool Editor at Books in a CRAZY significant deal, in a MASSIVE billion-figure deal, a seven book deal, by Amazing Agent at Amazing Agency.
Second Aesthetic moodboard with Emily Bader, paleontological vials, needles, dresses, a hand, a train car, a man waiting on stairs, and a glimpse of a dragon
#QuestPit #W #A #F #RF #HF
BLOOD OVER BRIGHT HAVEN x EMILY WILDE
Natural History WIP as a *FAKE* deal announcement and in emojis:
๐๐ช๐ฉโโค๏ธโ๐โ๐จ๐ชก๐๐ฉโโค๏ธโ๐โ๐ฉ๐ฆดโค๏ธโ๐ฅ๐ก๏ธ๐ซ๐ซ๐จโโค๏ธโ๐โ๐จโ๏ธ๐คซ๐๐๏ธ๐ฉธ
Gothic mood board depicting a skull, an ancient Irish chieftain with a hunting dog, hands reaching through a ghostly gauze, a yearning man kissing the hand of his lover, a thurible spewing incense, hands clasped in prayer with a rosary, a woman in white facing a vast forest, and hands ripping a hole in the center of the owner's chest. Text reads "The Banshee of Clan Murtagh, 82,000 words, adult gothic horror"
The pitch: When Ciarรกn Murtagh hears the cry of his familyโs eternally young banshee, he hunts her down to learn who in his family is fated to die. In the struggle, he triggers memories of the bansheeโs previous life, and she demands he give her more. They meet by moonlight searching for answers in the bansheeโs memories, and Ciarรกnโs growing attraction sets him on a path of macabre desire. But as the devastating bubonic plague closes in, Ciarรกn must decide whether to stay by his dying family or succumb to the seduction of the death-bringer.
I was a boy of ten when I first saw death, but Iโd heard her for years. It was an early summerโs day when we went to the lough. Niamh led us through the forest along the stream, babbling with a lightness that opposed her urgent pace. โThis could be our best chance to see the merrow,โ she said, her little voice all singsong. โAuntie said the veil is thin. Theyโll be near and then we can speak!โ โShe also said we shouldnโt go this far,โ I reproached her. Again about the merrow. She had been speaking of them for days, and insisted that Deaglรกn and I journey with her to the lough, where they lay beneath the surface. Finbar wasnโt supposed to come, but Aunt Eithne had made us watch him while she harvested yellow flowers on the hillside. He slowed us down, and Niamhโs frustration roiled off her like steam against the cool breeze. Though the land was ripe with life, winter still dragged a claw through the air. As we ventured deeper into the forest, a feeling of unease grew within me. A sound rang in my ears, so faint I could not tell if it was imagined or real. Because for weeks, it had haunted my dreams.
BETWEEN TWO FIRES x WUTHERING HEIGHTS
๐ค Toxic yearning in the time of bubonic plague
๐ฅ Lush, gothic atmosphere
๐ Only one grave
๐ SmoochPit 2025 Mentee
#QuestPit #Q #A #H #Horrormance
๐ณ๐ณ๐ณ๐ณ YES PLEASE x1000000
๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ค๐ค
๐ญ๐ฅน๐ค
Fake Publisher's Marketplace deal announcement in front of an aesthetic light academia moodboard with the text: Fiona Haley Hansenโs debut *REDACTED*, a queer alt-historical fantasy pitched as BLOOD OVER BRIGHT HAVEN meets EMILY WILDE, in which four aspiring magical scientists driven by loss and vengeance race to climb the ranks and uncover dangerous political conspiracies before the Worldโs Fair as they get closer to the truthโand each other, a story about who gets to write history, the cost of ambition, and the inextricable bond between knowledge and power, to Cool Editor at Books and Other Cool Editor at Books in a CRAZY significant deal, in a MASSIVE billion-figure deal, a seven book deal, by Amazing Agent at Amazing Agency.
Second Aesthetic moodboard with Emily Bader, paleontological vials, needles, dresses, a hand, a train car, a man waiting on stairs, and a glimpse of a dragon
#QuestPit #W #A #F #RF #HF
BLOOD OVER BRIGHT HAVEN x EMILY WILDE
Natural History WIP as a *FAKE* deal announcement and in emojis:
๐๐ช๐ฉโโค๏ธโ๐โ๐จ๐ชก๐๐ฉโโค๏ธโ๐โ๐ฉ๐ฆดโค๏ธโ๐ฅ๐ก๏ธ๐ซ๐ซ๐จโโค๏ธโ๐โ๐จโ๏ธ๐คซ๐๐๏ธ๐ฉธ
With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes theyโre being stalked by their pre-transition doppelgangerโand she wonโt stop until sheโs taken the life they thought theyโd left behind.
#QuestPit #AG #YA
An Agent Guide to GUMIHO 86,000 word adult folklore fantasy blended with horror and romance By Jennifer Luce
The pitch: Cursed with a vengeful gumiho, Mina has spent centuries feeding it souls to become a godโand now she needs just one more, but when she falls for her final target, she must choose: face her demons and sever the curse before the gumiho consumes her from the inside out, or achieve godhood and lose herself to become something truly monstrous.
For fans of... SUCH SHARP TEETH by Rachel Harrison - physical transformation & emotional vulnerability THE FOX WIFE by Yangsze Choo - East Asian Folklore MY DEMON - Redemption through connection THE GLORY - Morally gray anti-hero
First Lines Bright droplets of red bloomed against the crisp, white snow. A trail, unbeknownst to my victim, that would lead to his demise.
Hi #Questpit! Nearly done w/ SmoochPit revisions, here's GUMIHO, my Korean folklore-inspired adult fantasy blended w/ horror & romance!
โจ๏ธ Selected for the 2025 Smoochpit Mentorship Program
โจ๏ธ Big 5 Editor Interest
โจ๏ธ Won 3rd in the horror category of the 2025 PNWA Writing Contest
#A #F #H #R
slide that reads "an agent's guide to FACELESS". line under reads "adult speculative fiction / 80,000 words @thelialao) background is a blurry photo of an asian woman with a blue tint
Text: PITCH [BREAKING NEWS]: BROKE PHD STUDENT FAKES DEATH AND STEALS IDENTITY OF BILLIONAIRE TECH HEIRESS. TOO BAD HER GENIUS RIVAL IS ONTO HER & IS OBSESSED WITH EXPOSING HER NEW SKIN the opulence of CRAZY RICH ASIANS x the otherworldly, futuristic atmosphere of LOCAL HEAVENS x the socio-satirical tone of THE IMMORTAL KING RAO set in a floating city inspired by tech havens in Silicon Valley and East/Southeast Asia Background: an Asian City with a blue filter
TEXT: FIRST PAGE Itโs a beautiful night to die. The lights of ChangโE City shine over the water, glinting like shattered glass. From her position on the watchtower, Fay Soon can see everything. Her eyes turn, trying to stay cool as they scan the sprawling streets, the steel towers, the crystalline lights that weave through the metropolis like veins. Itโs almost commendable how hard sheโs trying to maintain her composure. As if this is still an equation that can be solved, rudimentary as the mathematical problems she learnt in elementary school: if 4x = 16, find x. But if things were so simple she wouldnโt be standing here, body tautened like a coiled wire. Her heart wouldnโt be beating hard enough to fracture her ribs. And on her right, wouldnโt lie the endless, insurmountable drop of the edge. @thelialao Background: A silhouette of a woman looking at a wall of holograms
hi #questpit, almost done revising my sapphic sf crazy rich asians novel, so here's the agent's guide! :))
[BREAKING NEWS]: BROKE PHD STUDENT FAKES DEATH AND STEALS IDENTITY OF BILLIONAIRE TECH HEIRESS. TOO BAD HER GENIUS RIVAL IS ONTO HER & IS OBSESSED WITH EXPOSING HER NEW SKIN
#A #SF #LGBT
Dark moodboard with deer, moths, forests, tapestry, monsters, roots, and vintage boarding school vibes.
A green collage with swirly accents and the text "as above so below".
#QuestPit #W #YA #H #MY #PR #RF
DON'T LET THE FOREST IN x AGGGTM
To survive the summer at her coastal hometown's boarding school, Noa must:
1. End a (murderous?) moth infestation ๐ฆ
2. Solve a decades-old cold case identical to her mother's ๐
3. Not kill (or kiss) her new roommate, Ivy โค๏ธโ๐ฅ
scottish winter is so chilly i'm wearing a scarf in my own home as i write
being a writer means most days are like pulling teeth, but some days are like staring at a perfect diamond that you've just pulled from stone and wondering at how you managed to create something you love so much. today, so far, is one of the latter days ๐ฅฒ
A muted greyscale banner for short story, The Broken Specter by Fiona Hansen published on crowcrosskeys.com, featuring textured broken glass or ice with a bright spot of light reflecting near its centre.
We're trapped in a hall of mirrors this evening. Our reflections leer back at us in contorted constellations. It's really quite unsettling. Much like today's short story.
"The Broken Specter" by @byfionahansen.bsky.social
crowcrosskeys.com/2025/03/29/t...
Today, the South Carolina State Board of Education voted to ban four books from all state schools, despite passionate testimony and a packed room of people defending the books. The four books were Flamer, All Boys Arenโt Blue, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Push.
HUGE ALERT FOR TRANS PEOPLE TRYING TO GET THEIR PASSPORTS IN ORDER โ the U.S. State Department has stopped issuing passports with the โXโ gender marker and has suspended processing applications for ALL GENDER MARKER CHANGES. ๐งต
19thnews.org/2025/01/tran...
It's here! Reactor's 30 Most Anticipated Books of 2025, read and compiled by books editor @cxorlando.bsky.social. If you're searching for your next fantasy, science fiction, or horror favorite, there's no better place to start ๐
reactormag.com/30-sff-title...
when you read back what you wrote yesterday and its not terrible??!!!! PRAISE THE LORD ๐
Graphic that says: Thank you for helping raise over $5,000! Next goal: $10,000 raised. Visit auction: https://bit.ly/kidlit4ceasefire2025auction
Thank you to everyone who've bid on items for the 2nd annual #KidLit4Ceasefire fundraiser already! ๐ซถ
With a ceasefire coming tomorrow, families will be hoping to evacuate injured family members.
175+ items left without bids!
www.32auctions.com/organization...
Next goal $10,000 raised!
As I dive back into Natural History WIP revisions, I'm thinking of some of my future WIPs that have been so patiently waiting for my attention. Namely:
๐ฆ Sapphic Carmilla-insp. Romantasy (perf for fans of Nosferatu)
๐๏ธ๐ถ Twin Peaks-insp. YA sapphic spec. horror/thriller
MS: I've noticed that all the way through this conversation David, you've referred to him in the present tense. DL: You have to keep Angelo alive. I believe life is a continuum, and that no one really dies, they just drop their physical body and we'll all meet again, like the song says. It's sad but it's not devastating if you think like that. Otherwise I don't see how anybody could ever, once they see someone die, that they'd just disappear forever and that's what we're all bound to do. I'm sorry but it just doesn't make any sense, it's a continuum, and we're all going to be fine at the end of the story.
THE SACRED SPACE BETWEEN is coming to North America! So excited to announce itโll be released this November with Little, Brown in the US alongside Harper Voyager in the UK. Truly a dream come true!! โจ
inject it into my veins pls & ty
It looks and sounds so so good!!!
HBO has declined to renew โSesame Streetโ for new episodes. The series thatโs been teaching generations of little kids since 1969 now has no studio.
Please consider donating to Sesame Workshop to ensure the residents of 123 Sesame Street are still around to teach kids of all needs and backgrounds.
omg yayyyy โจ best of luck, emma!