Emma (Em) Sterner-Radley

Ah! I’ve never thought of that. That’s even more fantasy badass! 😄

A bee garden is such a lovely idea! 😍We left some nettles and other weeds in one part of the garden last summer and we had so many bees and butterflies!

Ah, I forgot about snapdragons! Surely some of the most fantasy-esque things to plant! 😁👍

Yeah, I love that they end up being two metres and attract so many bumblebees. These ones are crème the cassis, so they should all be a deep purple colour in stripes too!

Ah, cool! Thanks for letting me know. That’ll probably be my project next year!

Ah! Look at them go! Congrats! Your cosmos are like my hollyhocks, then. I’ve re-potted them since they’re got massive.

I’ve been considering growing sweetpea too, are they as easy to grow as people say?

A graphic telling you that Snowblooded is out for pre order in North America

Here’s the news I’ve been hinting about: After a long journey with many heartbreaks, Snowblooded is finally available for pre-order in North America! Now North American readers, please go get your dose of assassins, queer romance, duels, and masquerades! ❄️⚔️💙 #queerbooks #queerauthors #wlw #mlm

Lead windows with fog and condensation

This is the kind of atmospheric windows and weather you expect when you’re writing in the Peak District with cool fantasy authors like @franceswrites.bsky.social , @elizachanwrites.bsky.social and @gen-dimova.bsky.social !

A graphic suggesting you join the newsletter

Come join me and get all the early updates (and some news very soon!) Just scroll down the first page of my website (emmasternerradley.com) and pop your email address in. I don’t spam and I don’t tell bad jokes… very often.

Exactly!

I will! (Actually, I have a terrible memory so I’ll probably forget and come ask you again, if I do buy one. 😄)

Ah! 😍 Goals! That’s incredible! I am totally getting one when I can.

I know what you mean. 🤝 I went out in the garden to trim some ivy yesterday and it’s so nice! (Even though it’s hard to get the motivation when it’s so cold and rainy.) I’m jealous of your little greenhouse! Pictures, please?

Seeds growing in a seed tray

This is going to sound saccharine, but in dark times sprouting seeds like these feel like hope to me. Life carries on no matter how cold or tough the times are! So, I’m a little happier every time I see these little loves growing and thriving.

A queer celebration in Chester

This week is queer here in Chester! I can’t wait to go with my book club to the quiz tomorrow. If you have time to swing by Chester, don’t miss this little celebration of all things LGBTQIA+ at @storyhouselive.bsky.social !

GOTHIKANA by RuNyx THE NEEDFIRE by MK Hardy NETHERFORD HALL, THE VISCOUNT ST ALBANS and QUEEN OF FURY by Natania Barron THE GODS MUST BURN by T. R. Moore THE SALT ORACLE by Lorraine Wilson SNOWBLOODED by Emma Sterner-Radley THE KILLING SPELL by Shay Kauwe HER SOUL TO TAKE by Harley Laroux HEARTBREAK INCORPORATED by Alex de Campi THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER by Simon Jimenez LADY EVE'S LAST CON by Rebecca Fraimow THE HACIENDA, VAMPIRES OF ELNORTE and THE POSSESSION OF ALBA DÍAZ by Isabel Canas BEAST by Jade Linwood THE LOST SPECTACULAR by Zoé Duhaime

With #ValentinesDay fast approaching Tis the season for love! ❤️

From regency romance to Scifi Shenanigans, demonically attractive bosses, to creepily alluring housekeepers, there's a #RomaticRead for everyone to fall in love with at Solaris!

Hop downthread to see whose included in our selection!

And yes, it is nice to read in one’s native language.

A copy of Koka Björn in bed

The work day is done and I have some reading time before I have to make dinner. But on a cloudy, wet, cold, day like this one - I just want to go back to bed. So: reading in bed it is! I hope you had/are having a great Wednesday!

That looks really good!

Book in sunshine

Good books deserve sunshine, you know? I’m reading The Unbroken by @clclark.bsky.social What are you all reading at the moment? #readingforpleasure #queerbooks #books

The cathedral in deep fog

Foggy, cobbled street

I’m still not over how foggy it was in Chester a few days ago. Calling it atmospheric doesn’t quite cover it!

The gorgeous fantasy bookshop in Bebington

Posing inside the bookshop

Eliza and I happy with having visited such a cool place!

Book shop shoutout! I and @elizachanwrites.bsky.social went to @paperandword.bsky.social today to sign some of our books (and of course to buy some books too). It is such a lovely shop with wonderful staff AND it’s totally dedicated to fantasy! Don’t sleep on this gem, folks.

A picture of coffee and a book on my kitchen table

There’s time for the post lunch coffee and a little reading before the lunch hour is over, right? Have a lovely Thursday!

Tree branches with pine needles in a forest

I’ve been fighting a fever during the last few days but today I was fever-free and we celebrated that with a walk in the woods! Those who know me have heard me babble on about how much I love evergreens, and so know how happy I was to see one of them as soon as we started walking. Happy new year!

A book against an airport window

Today I’m not reading on a train but at the airport. Off to Sweden I go! I hope you all have a lovely holiday season!

Everyone I know has been saying he sets off their warning bells for years and…. here is the confirmation.

Me signing books

The shop window with Snowblooded in it

When in York, I had to pop into The Portal Bookshop and sign some copies of Snowblooded! Queer bookshops are so important and so dear to me, so it was an absolute privilege. Oh and Snowblooded was even in the display window!

A pic of us in front of a tree

Yesterday I had an “office party” with some of the best colleagues and friends imaginable. Thanks @elizachanwrites.bsky.social , @franceswrites.bsky.social , and @sarahbrooks.bsky.social for touring York with me. (Mainly through drinking mulled wine and having a publishing chat in a pub!)

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This Thursday was the Saturnalia celebration here in Chester as the Winter Watch parade marched though the city to be met by the romans ready to battle the forces of the dark! This is such a magical and wonderful tradition that is very dear to my heart! #saturnalia

Chester in Xmas finery

Today’s Chester mood is, well, this is the entrance to the Christmas market. So I guess the mood is physically chilly but emotionally warm and welcoming!

Six black and white images of women singly or in groups of two or three posed for the camera wearing their working clothes treasures and other clothes meant for doing hard work and adjacent to a coal mine the only notable feminine touch seems to be that most of them are wearing scars around their heads a lot of them seem to be wearing a sort of short skirt over their pants to express their gender or stay ahead of laws enforcing gender norms

Female workers at the Rose Bridge Colliery, Wigan, UK, 1860s