something hopeful on the horizon getting me through finals / revisions / dissertation beginnings: a three-day trip up to the (almost) highlands in a few weeks, which i'm turning into a semi-writing retreat 🌄 UGH! need these views again so bad
okay besties, we did it 👏 2 chapters revised, laptop now at low battery, sun almost set. they're not perfect chapters, but we're back at it tomorrow (and the next, etc, etc). now for mac and cheese & sofa rot time.
slow progress is being made... on a positive note, the late sunsets now mean i can write from 3-9 without it getting dark 🥂
but i will get these 2 chapters rewritten TONIGHT if its the last thing i do ! mark my words !
why does rewriting chapters actually make my brain melt
the fact that bridgerton s5 will be sapphic and set in scotland actually makes me want to cry (and i will)
the words always at the scene of the crime 😶
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 🦋
2. Solve a decades-old cold case identical to her mother's 🔍
3. Not kill (or kiss) her new roommate, Ivy ❤️🔥
Fake Publisher's Marketplace deal announcement in front of an aesthetic light academia moodboard with the text: Fiona Haley Hansen’s 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 World’s Fair as they get closer to the truth–and 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:
🐉🎪👩❤️💋👨🪡💌👩❤️💋👩🦴❤️🔥🗡️💫🫖👨❤️💋👨⚗️🤫📜🏛️🩸
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 Ciarán Murtagh hears the cry of his family’s 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 banshee’s previous life, and she demands he give her more. They meet by moonlight searching for answers in the banshee’s memories, and Ciarán’s growing attraction sets him on a path of macabre desire. But as the devastating bubonic plague closes in, Ciarán 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 I’d heard her for years. It was an early summer’s 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. “This could be our best chance to see the merrow,” she said, her little voice all singsong. “Auntie said the veil is thin. They’ll be near and then we can speak!” “She also said we shouldn’t go this far,” I reproached her. Again about the merrow. She had been speaking of them for days, and insisted that Deaglán and I journey with her to the lough, where they lay beneath the surface. Finbar wasn’t supposed to come, but Aunt Eithne had made us watch him while she harvested yellow flowers on the hillside. He slowed us down, and Niamh’s 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
🖤 Toxic yearning in the time of bubonic plague
🥀 Lush, gothic atmosphere
💀 Only one grave
💌 SmoochPit 2025 Mentee
#QuestPit #Q #A #H #Horrormance
💳💳💳💳 YES PLEASE x1000000
🦋🦋🤍🤍
😭🥹🤍
Fake Publisher's Marketplace deal announcement in front of an aesthetic light academia moodboard with the text: Fiona Haley Hansen’s 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 World’s Fair as they get closer to the truth–and 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:
🐉🎪👩❤️💋👨🪡💌👩❤️💋👩🦴❤️🔥🗡️💫🫖👨❤️💋👨⚗️🤫📜🏛️🩸
With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind.
#QuestPit #AG #YA
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](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7w7gic5shjj3z2uiwphn6xwc/bafkreifyxkegsdifngrs74uipfvqt33f7lutmjslomgtocadswxkpxed24)
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 It’s a beautiful night to die. The lights of Chang’E 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. It’s almost commendable how hard she’s 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 wouldn’t be standing here, body tautened like a coiled wire. Her heart wouldn’t be beating hard enough to fracture her ribs. And on her right, wouldn’t 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 🦋
2. Solve a decades-old cold case identical to her mother's 🔍
3. Not kill (or kiss) her new roommate, Ivy ❤️🔥
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 🥲
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 Aren’t Blue, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Push.
HUGE ALERT FOR TRANS PEOPLE TRYING TO GET THEIR PASSPORTS IN ORDER — the U.S. State Department has stopped issuing passports with the “X” gender marker and has suspended processing applications for ALL GENDER MARKER CHANGES. 🧵
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 📖
reactormag.com/30-sff-title...
when you read back what you wrote yesterday and its not terrible??!!!! PRAISE THE LORD 🙏
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! 🫶
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!