This entire bag of Reese's Pieces can fix me.

Yeah, this is my third go-round. At least I know what to expect, and I still have more agents to query.

And Rejection #1 has already come in. The first one always hurts the most.

#WritingCommunity
#AmQuerying

Legit going through this now.

Look... I might be a little high.

Mind. Blown.

In my case it's coffee, THC, and pure, uncut spite.

I actually don't remember if I ever responded to this thread, but... bsky.app/profile/djst...

100% AI-free, btw!

Well, since you asked, I've got a pro-immigrant urban fantasy out!

bsky.app/profile/djst...

A dark elf-looking woman with dark eyes in a modern blue blouse, ripped black jeans, and black combat boots with her white hair tied in a ponytail draped over her right shoulder stands on the left. On the right, a taller, light-skinned man with long black hair and blue eyes in a gray hoodie, black tshirt, blue jeans, and black shoes stands next to her with his hands in his hoodie pockets. Beneath them is an excerpt from Firewind's Accord: "If Jordan hadn't been so horrifically depressed, he would have caught the over-the-top appeal to his better nature. Lucky for her, his depression made him as perceptive as Mister Magoo in a diving helmet. He thumbed the rim of his cup as he tried summoning the will to care about his job. But maybe it wasn't his job he needed to care about. Maybe he could do right by someone in unwanted circumstances. Maybe he could be a benefit to someone instead of a detriment. There's a first time for everything."

A drawing of a half-Asian man in a gray hoodie and blue jeans with long black hair, blue eyes and an office badge on a lanyard around his neck. The lanyard is being pulled down by a shorter, dark-skinned elf-like woman with long silver hair pulled into a ponytail and dark eyes. She's wearing a silver necklace with a ruby pendant, a blue long-sleeved blouse, and black pants with her hand on her hip. They are framed by the outline of leaves and vines, and in the corners, L-R, U-D: a paper coffee cup, a black cat's head, a dagger, and a cracked smartphone screen. The title in the upper-right corner is Firewind's Accord, and the author's name on the bottom is David J. Stuart.

A peach-gradient background. The cover for Firewind's Accord is on the right (see other image's alt text for cover description). On the left are a list of tropes: "Office romance with elves and orcs and all that; Pro-immigration story; What's the trope where two people are forced to work together and eventually fall in love? Yeah, that one; Sex, drugs, and rock & roll!" And underneath everything: "Just think Warhammer 40k meets The Office, but without all the fascism."

She needs a home for her people. He needs a reason to keep living. Upper management needs them to finish their project in two weeks.

Buy the urban fantasy/office romance Firewind's Accord here:

books2read.com/firewindsaccord
djstuart.itch.io/firewinds-accord

🌈📚📢📚
#WritingCommunity
#IndiePub

Not to mention like 1/4 of our population believes Trump will lead them to the White Promised Land and will do anything to see that achieved. They don't care if gas is $20 a gallon, their families have disowned them, or if someone shoots their kids at school. It's all for Caucasian Candyland.

Wanna call your reps and senators about it? Have at it! These are the same people who did little and less when kindergartens were getting shot up, or when a massive pedophile ring was exposed and implicated a sitting president, or when the president unilaterally started an illegal war, and on and on

I was in high school in 2001. I lived under constant threat of dirty bombs, planes crashing into shit, and biological warfare. The threat of nukes today has already been recognized, and I've elected to not piss and shit myself over it.

"What makes this different? First, these characters are based on real people. Frank King is me. Wynd, Take, and Wish Girl are friends from my gaming community who gave me permission to tell their stories. This isn't fiction about imaginary heroes."

I'm also wary of any story where the author says the main character is actually them. I mean, good on him for admitting it, I guess. But still, yikes.

A dark elf-looking woman with dark eyes in a modern blue blouse, ripped black jeans, and black combat boots with her white hair tied in a ponytail draped over her right shoulder stands on the left. On the right, a taller, light-skinned man with long black hair and blue eyes in a gray hoodie, black tshirt, blue jeans, and black shoes stands next to her with his hands in his hoodie pockets. Beneath them is an excerpt from Firewind's Accord: "If Jordan hadn't been so horrifically depressed, he would have caught the over-the-top appeal to his better nature. Lucky for her, his depression made him as perceptive as Mister Magoo in a diving helmet. He thumbed the rim of his cup as he tried summoning the will to care about his job. But maybe it wasn't his job he needed to care about. Maybe he could do right by someone in unwanted circumstances. Maybe he could be a benefit to someone instead of a detriment. There's a first time for everything."

A drawing of a half-Asian man in a gray hoodie and blue jeans with long black hair, blue eyes and an office badge on a lanyard around his neck. The lanyard is being pulled down by a shorter, dark-skinned elf-like woman with long silver hair pulled into a ponytail and dark eyes. She's wearing a silver necklace with a ruby pendant, a blue long-sleeved blouse, and black pants with her hand on her hip. They are framed by the outline of leaves and vines, and in the corners, L-R, U-D: a paper coffee cup, a black cat's head, a dagger, and a cracked smartphone screen. The title in the upper-right corner is Firewind's Accord, and the author's name on the bottom is David J. Stuart.

A peach-gradient background. The cover for Firewind's Accord is on the right (see other image's alt text for cover description). On the left are a list of tropes: "Office romance with elves and orcs and all that; Pro-immigration story; What's the trope where two people are forced to work together and eventually fall in love? Yeah, that one; Sex, drugs, and rock & roll!" And underneath everything: "Just think Warhammer 40k meets The Office, but without all the fascism."

She needs a home for her people. He needs a reason to keep living. Upper management needs them to finish their project in two weeks.

Buy the urban fantasy/office romance Firewind's Accord here:

books2read.com/firewindsaccord
djstuart.itch.io/firewinds-accord

🌈📚📢📚
#WritingCommunity
#IndiePub

Seth Rogens.

Or Seths Rogen?

No doubt it sucks. But it's arguably better than marketing. THAT is the worst part of this whole thing. Querying at least helps you get a thicker skin, which makes the next round of queries easier, helps you deal with trolls, negative reviews, etc.

First query sent off. Let the agony begin!

#WritingCommunity

Turns out the real killer of BlueSky wasn't a slow exodus of users but was in fact vibe-coding.

If you're annoyed with authors plugging their books on here, leave. Go. Read whatever's on the NYT Best-Seller list or what B&N or Booktok recommend to you and fuck all the way off, please and thank you.

#WritingCommunity
#Books

Please tell me It's Finally Happening.

My book sits between a black tortie cat and gray tabby, both sleeping.

This #Caturday, buy my book. Mona and Saki will love you if you do.

books2read.com/firewindsaccord
djstuart.itch.io/firewinds-accord

#WritingCommunity
#IndiePub

I'm just trying to make it to next year, I swear to god

A dark elf-looking woman with dark eyes in a modern blue blouse, ripped black jeans, and black combat boots with her white hair tied in a ponytail draped over her right shoulder stands on the left. On the right, a taller, light-skinned man with long black hair and blue eyes in a gray hoodie, black tshirt, blue jeans, and black shoes stands next to her with his hands in his hoodie pockets. Beneath them is an excerpt from Firewind's Accord: "If Jordan hadn't been so horrifically depressed, he would have caught the over-the-top appeal to his better nature. Lucky for her, his depression made him as perceptive as Mister Magoo in a diving helmet. He thumbed the rim of his cup as he tried summoning the will to care about his job. But maybe it wasn't his job he needed to care about. Maybe he could do right by someone in unwanted circumstances. Maybe he could be a benefit to someone instead of a detriment. There's a first time for everything."

A drawing of a half-Asian man in a gray hoodie and blue jeans with long black hair, blue eyes and an office badge on a lanyard around his neck. The lanyard is being pulled down by a shorter, dark-skinned elf-like woman with long silver hair pulled into a ponytail and dark eyes. She's wearing a silver necklace with a ruby pendant, a blue long-sleeved blouse, and black pants with her hand on her hip. They are framed by the outline of leaves and vines, and in the corners, L-R, U-D: a paper coffee cup, a black cat's head, a dagger, and a cracked smartphone screen. The title in the upper-right corner is Firewind's Accord, and the author's name on the bottom is David J. Stuart.

She needs a home for her people. He needs a reason to keep living. Upper management needs them to finish their project in two weeks.

Buy the urban fantasy/office romance Firewind's Accord here:

books2read.com/firewindsaccord
djstuart.itch.io/firewinds-accord

💙📚 🌈📚📢📚
#WritingCommunity
#IndiePub

Two vanity publishers repeatedly called and emailed me after I registered an unpublished manuscript with US copyright. Had to block their numbers and report as spam. They're relentless.

A dark elf-looking woman with dark eyes in a modern blue blouse, ripped black jeans, and black combat boots with her white hair tied in a ponytail draped over her right shoulder stands on the left. On the right, a taller, light-skinned man with long black hair and blue eyes in a gray hoodie, black tshirt, blue jeans, and black shoes stands next to her with his hands in his hoodie pockets. Beneath them is an excerpt from Firewind's Accord: "If Jordan hadn't been so horrifically depressed, he would have caught the over-the-top appeal to his better nature. Lucky for her, his depression made him as perceptive as Mister Magoo in a diving helmet. He thumbed the rim of his cup as he tried summoning the will to care about his job. But maybe it wasn't his job he needed to care about. Maybe he could do right by someone in unwanted circumstances. Maybe he could be a benefit to someone instead of a detriment. There's a first time for everything."

A drawing of a half-Asian man in a gray hoodie and blue jeans with long black hair, blue eyes and an office badge on a lanyard around his neck. The lanyard is being pulled down by a shorter, dark-skinned elf-like woman with long silver hair pulled into a ponytail and dark eyes. She's wearing a silver necklace with a ruby pendant, a blue long-sleeved blouse, and black pants with her hand on her hip. They are framed by the outline of leaves and vines, and in the corners, L-R, U-D: a paper coffee cup, a black cat's head, a dagger, and a cracked smartphone screen. The title in the upper-right corner is Firewind's Accord, and the author's name on the bottom is David J. Stuart.

She needs a home for her people. He needs a reason to keep living. Upper management needs them to finish their project in two weeks.

Buy the urban fantasy/office romance Firewind's Accord here:

books2read.com/firewindsaccord
djstuart.itch.io/firewinds-accord

💙📚 🌈📚📢📚
#WritingCommunity
#IndiePub

A Gruel Bar made from stolen ingredients and has a 70% chance of having rat feces in it.

Between people who don't read prologues and epilogues and people who only read dialog, I'm beginning to think the US has a literacy problem.

#BookSky

Cool, this doesn't already add to my anxiety about querying agents or anything. Cool. Cool cool cool cool. Great. Awesome. 💀