You should write your book now so you can write it without having to write it for the rest of your life after that

Book cover for Wren's Aria by Helen Whistberry showing a bright-eyed brown wren perched among bright red poppies and green grass with beak open in song.

TODAY IS THE DAY!

My latest book, Wren's Aria, is out in the world!

A charming animal fantasy wherein open hearts and loyal companions triumph over tyranny and needless cruelty. Includes 52 original illustrations and cover art by me!

Full blurb and buying links in comments below

#WrensAria #sff

I keep seeing people refer to themselves as Tankies or be called tankies. So just wanted to unpack the context, tankie is an insult that originates in regard apologetics over the Soviet Union rolling tanks into Hungary to crush a popular uprising against the governent in 1956

That’s amazing!!

Greetings from Kyiv.

I’m looking for beauty.
russians are launching drones and missiles.

Since yesterday evening, they have attacked Ukraine with 3 ballistic missiles and 324 drones.

Thank youuuu I’m so glad I didn’t miss seeing this 😻😻

Watercolor painting that is tall and narrow. It has a green spring deer in it with leaves and antlers, and a very long flowing green cloth. The land around it is all gnarly roots and below is sky. Above is a forest.

Quiet watercolor of a peach colored rabbit with large petals growing out of its fur. It's curled up and sleeping.

A surreal painting of a raven in flight. It is pink with a long pink ribbon trailing behind it like a path. It flies along a pale river like path through curling leaves and branches.

Watercolor painting in dark blue of a tower made of trees. Below it is the sky.

Hey #portfolioday!
I'm Laura, a fantasy abstract fine artist that sometimes does illustrations! Huge fan of stories, whether they're a single line or pages upon pages. I work in watercolor, graphite powder, and gouache.
I don't believe in straight lines.
laura@fallenlights.net
fallenlights.net

@jmavants.bsky.social something you need to see

Ukrainian in-laws and wife are ecstatic Orban is out. There’s always hope.

Hey, DNC, connect the freaking dots. No one is inspired to give money to a milquetoast PARTY. They’ll give to candidates who they think will serve their interests.

bsky.app/profile/feni...

This month's blog is the story of my childhood struggles, including loss & the challenge of growing up nonbinary in a world ignorant of our existence. It links to why my main character Rarkin keeps feelings in, & people out and explores how he resembles a younger me. It also touches on how we heal.

WRYTE
WEIRDE
BOOKES

Watercolor painting of a fantasy moth. It is soft green with frilly edges to the wings and is settled on a pink background.

Coming up on my anniversary of starting Patreon back in 2018!
I make a sticker every year, and this year, my patrons voted for insect.
Below is an example, NOT the sticker!

If you'd like a sticker - I send them out to anyone who joins in April and sticks around thru May

patreon.com/fallenlights

Watercolor painting in white, pale blue and quiet pink. A raven flies with a pink ribbon behind it like a path, following the light through flowery churning storm.

Quiet Pandemonium - 11x14in, watercolor and gouache

Based on a short story I wrote a few years ago of a raven who finds himself lost in the woods.

Fuck, sorry about that :( a while back there was a fire alarm that went off in a building near my apartment…..at 4am….that I swear wasn’t turned off for like thirty minutes…..I feel u

Just found a ham sandwich tied to a piece of string leading into the woods. Probably fine.

Rough gouache painting of a plump tree in a golden forest.

a friendly tree

I wanna give her something by Fleet Foxes, but somehow I can’t settle on a good song for practice purposes. I’ll probably just give her more Sixpence songs. I hit a homerun with the first.

I am looking for more good English songs to share with my language exchange partner, for her pronunciation practice. She loved “A Million Parachutes” by Sixpence None the Richer, liked “Everybody Hurts” by REM. Any recs appreciated!

JeremyRayne

My stuff is perma-deindexed purely bc it's smut, so please, more eyes on it. My stories are awesome mm romantasy, and did I mention they're awesome?

jeremyrayne.itch.io

Trans peeps, let me shout out and reshare your projects whether it be art, writing, film, animation, games. Just drop whatever into the replies of this thread and I will reshare, want to spend this time being productive and getting eyes on your creative shit ❤️

illustration depicting Lavinia Whateley and her union with Yog-Sothoth atop Sentinel Hill. Inspired by the short story "The Dunwich Horror" by H.P. Lovecraft

"Isolated among strange influences, Lavinia was fond of wild and grandiose day-dreams and singular occupations."

Two pencil drawings of rabbits. One is standing on hind legs with branches coming out of their head, the other is curled up and sleeping with flower petals growing out of fur.

I wanted to give a heads up that a spot at *The Branches tier* has opened up!
This is a sketch in the mail once a month :)
THIS month's theme is either a flower bunny or jackalope.
I still have time to sketch one and mail it too.
April is Alice in Wonderland
patreon.com/fallenlights

Sure, Trump gets his cues from daddy Putin, doesn’t he? Trump is stupid, I just don’t think he’s quite as bloodthirsty. Maybe he is though, if desperate enough. I don’t think Putin was desperate at the start, only overconfident.

What. A repeat of Russia’s invasion? No. Russia was extremely overconfident but they know what they want, to kill Ukrainians and take their land. That’s why they sent armies over the border. Trump hasn’t done close to half of what Putin did. This attack is far more similar to Venezuela.

how to put yourself out there when you are afraid to exist in front of others

I wrote a vulnerable 2,000 word unedited essay about my childhood and now I'm trying to get strangers scrolling by to read it because that's how hard we roll over at Lit Stack. Happy Friday y'all!

open.substack.com/pub/tacobell...

My little daughter tonight, “I do not like Pichu, I *am* Pichu 😤” She does like transforming into various favorite things. Last month she was a pegasus. #parenting

"Wings" by Lina Kostenko (1930 -present) But it's true, winged creatures don't need the ground. For when there is no earth - they have the sky. When there are no fields - they have their freedom. No other half? The clouds are theirs. In this, perhaps, lies the truth of the birds... But how about the human? What about her? She lives on earth and doesn't fly. Yet she has wings. She has them too - Not made, though, from downy feather, But from truth, from virtue, and from trust. Some wings are made from faithful love, Some - from constant forward drive. From sincerity in deeds and duty, From generosity in times of struggle, From song or hope, Or dreams or poetry - A human does not seem to fly... Yet she has wings. Look - to the sky! Trans. Julia Lasica, 2022

“We need to live through each day. Do not wait for the cherished date. Burn like fire today, because later may never come.”
- Lina Kostenko, great Ukrainian poet, 96 today

as a parent I would so much rather that my kid encounter *any* topic in a book before encountering it in real life, lol