Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

rachel russell 🌿 @byrachelrussell.bsky.social · Aug 6

an #agentsguide to WE FEED THE RIVER, my MaXXXine meets Midsommar adult Midwest folk horror—hitting inboxes soon!

featuring:
🍂 a bluegrass festival
🍂 cults
🍂 female rage
🍂 a dash of romance
🍂 & a speculative twist ending

#questpit #agentguide

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rachel russell 🌿 @byrachelrussell.bsky.social · May 9

thank you!

Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Katherine V Morrison @mrrrscorpio.bsky.social · Apr 5

The Starless Sea x The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue x Piranesi

There’s not much to him when I first see him, barely a hint of magic and not a jot of menace. My wrist is caught as I seek to invade a vicar’s coat. Pivoting on my heels, wide-eyed, I look up.

PRINCE OF CUPS

#1stLinePit #A #F #Q

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Beth “B.R” Smith @brsmithbooks.bsky.social · Apr 5

#Editors

“There is no sleep to be had in winter. The sea wind howls too loud, buffeting the fishing boat and the small boy curled up inside.”

#1stLinePit #Gothic #A #M #H

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

W. J. MARWOOD 🪦 @intothemarwoods.bsky.social · Apr 5

🗡️ FMAB x SIX OF CROWS

“Evren Layvey often wondered what it would cost to create God.”

An alchemist and a thief must work together to stop a rogue magician and his manifestations, while a foreigner has news that could bring war to the nation.

#1stLinePit #WIP #A #F #LGBTQ

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Ariana is BACK IN THE TRENCHES 🗝❄️🎄 @arianaferrante.bsky.social · Apr 5

It might have been the eggnog, but Betty swore she saw something outside.

#1stLinePit #ya #c #q #h #cme

A cool-toned moodboard featuring images of a snowy mountain range, skulls, a room decorated for Christmas, an old key, snarling masks, a Victorian house, pine tree branches, and a discarded teddy bear. The words "don't open the door" are in all caps in the center of the moodboard.

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Sarah Corrigan 🌔 @sarahastolat.bsky.social · Apr 5

The Lily Maid awakens on a funeral barge under a blood-streaked sky, petals blooming from between her lips.

#1stLinePit #Q #F #H

THE YEAR OF THE WITCHING x SPEAR

🖤 Camelot but it's a cult
🖤 Sapphic
🖤 Fantasy with a twist of flower-fuelled horror
🖤 Complete at 96k words

A moodboard for my WIP. Elaine of Astolat looking at Sir Lancelot's shield, a cluster of skulls, a woman in a forest, a segment of the Round Table which shows Sir Lancelot's name, a narrowboat in a lake, bloody hands, a lily, the silhouette of a woman with a sword, and an engraving of Lavaine and Torre mourning Elaine as she lies dead in her boat.

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Claire Kidwell @kiddyjoy.bsky.social · Apr 5

SCI-FI BEAUTY & THE BEAST

Roan’s wrist buzzed with an notification.

“Do you, Camilla, take Jonquil to be your lawful wedded wife?”

She pointedly ignored it, focused only on her mom and her partner of 12 years.

🏺Grumpy archaeologist
🤖Trapped billionaire
☀️The dying sun

#1stLinePit #A #SF #R #WIP

Claire Kidwell @kiddyjoy.bsky.social · Feb 14

(My current WIP!) SCI-FI BEAUTY & THE BEAST

Roan, part of the last team of archaeologists sent to Earth, stumbles into an ancient bunker haunted by the AI mind of a trillionaire. She’s the only one who can fix his tech, but can she save him before Earth is swallowed by the Sun?

#Cupit #SFR #A #FBW

A collage of photos with text in the middle saying “Archaeologists will date any old thing.” The other pictures include a circuit board, archaeology tools, a record player, a museum interior, an astronaut looking at San Francisco buried in sand, a man holding a dark rose, a person reaching out to a ghostly figure, and an espresso machine.

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

AG Finch @agfinchwriting.bsky.social · Apr 5

“Noxalia Whitlock, known as the
most beautiful lady in all of Omous, loved the taste of blood in her mouth almost as much as she loved a good fuck. Half of Ferhn had gathered to watch her tear apart the poor farm boy, Helyx, who was attempting to get back to his feet.” #1stLinePit

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Keygan S. S. McClellan @keyganssmcclellan.bsky.social · Apr 5

"There are places where the skin of the world is thin. Where the atmosphere grows teeth: space can unfurl, convulse, or split like a frost-cracked tree; ghosts gather like mold. Visiting a place like that isn’t something you do unless you’re desperate or have a death wish."
#1stLinePit #F #A #Q soon

comp titles for pitched book (comp titles include Gideon the Ninth, The Jasmine Throne, The Bone Shard Daughter, and The Surviving Sky) (comparisons include lgbtq+, bio-magic, revolution, and explorations of power)

mood board for pitched book (images include dripping blood, old pipes, a decrepit stairway, a forest glowing with magenta mist, and pale, ornate halls)

pitch for "The Tower's Blood" (pitch describes the book as a queer, biopunk, adult science fantasy of found family, spies, eldritch horror, and class warfare)

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Florence Chien 🗡️ REVENANT OF SUROLIFIA (07.07.26) @florencechien.com · Apr 5

#1stLinePit #TP #A #F
THE REVENANT OF SUROLIFIA 🗡️ Summer '26

Faye’s nightly routine was simple. Replenish his empty pocket, buy a hearty breakfast, then unburden a few of Azena’s apartments of unnecessary clutter. It was a routine he had repeated for five years. He did not expect to be caught.

Moodboard for the character named Fayrian Phlorik, known as the pickpocket prince, and champion of the revolutionaries. Pictures show a hooded man in a red cloak gazing intently at a magical crystal. Other pictures include a painting of a 1800's battle involving canons. A quote on the moodboard reads as follows: "But where was his place on the tower of society? Between the crown that ought to be his and a death sentence for a murder he didn't commit, he was looking at the entire height of that tower and there was no place for him except for six feet under."

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Racquel Kechagias @racquelk.bsky.social · Apr 5

SUPERNATURAL × NINTH HOUSE

The sharp metallic tang of bloodshed filled the air, assaulting Valerie’s nose and setting her senses on edge.

#1stlinepit #A #F #Q #CMe

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Baillie Puckett @bailliepuckett.bsky.social · Apr 5

"The only thing boys are good for is distracting ambitious young women from achieving their goals."

#1stLinePit #WIP #YA #Con

A collage featuring three photos: one of three girls taking a selfie in prom dresses, one of five girls with tan skin laid out shoulder to shoulder, one with two girls smiling for the camera while a third flips the camera off. There's a stack of books, stamps, flowers, and miscellaneous scrapbooking motifs around the pictures. At the top right corner 'intolerable' is spelled out with different fonts per letter.

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Ann Littler @annlittler.bsky.social · Apr 5

It was so much easier to steal when l worked alone.

#1stLinePit
#YA #D #SF #T
#AgentsGuide

PITCH
FIRST LINE:
It was so much easier to steal when I worked alone.
A SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD SCAVENGER WITH A DANGEROUS SECRET MUST
FIND THE MOLE BEFORE SHE BECOMES
VICTIM
THEIR NEXT VICTIM AND THE ENTIRE RESISTANCE EFFORT IS COMPROMISED.

WHAT TO EXPECT
• MORALLY-DODGY STEM FEMALE MC WHO CAUSES
ALMOST ALL THE PROBLEMS
• THERE'S SOMETHING OUT THERE, BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT
• DYSTOPIAN MURDER MYSTERY
• SLOW BURN ROMANCE
•FOUND FAMILY
• EVERYONE HAS SECRETS
• CLOSE QUARTERS
• UNEXPECTED VILLAIN
• UNPUTDOWNABLE TWISTS
• PLANNED TRILOGY

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Dierdre Cieran @dmcieran.bsky.social · Apr 5

"The air in the kitchen grows humid, clinging to my skin as a breeze stirs my hair."

#1stlinepit #Q #MG #F

#amquerying #amwriting #Blueskywrites #writingcommunity

Images of the Sonoran desert with Saguaros and chollas in the foreground and mountains in the background.

Images of the book covers of two books and the movie poster for Encanto.

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Rachel is Editing @rpiswriting.bsky.social · Apr 5

Red Dead Redemption X Beauty and the Beast X Hades and Persephone

A King In the Garden

“The man was back. Standing just at the edge of her garden, staring at the little cabin.

Like she always did, Mari ignored him.”

#1stlinepit #f #a #wip

Shuffle collage for the vibes of this fantasy romance WIP: a castle, a cabin, an elf man with long white hair, a cowgirl, a unicorn and faeries

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rachel russell 🌿 @byrachelrussell.bsky.social · Apr 5

thank you so much!!

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

viola @violawrites.bsky.social · Apr 5

The Little Mermaid X Malice X A Taste of Gold and Iron

"Malik was late, and for the first time in his life, Ren found himself hoping the mission would fail. Suffering King Henning’s wrath—and ending up on the gallows—would’ve been a better fate than having a mer as his queen."
#1stLinePit #A #F #Q

Beneath These Treacherous Waves: Míra, a siren princess, has her memories of her beloved Skadi forcibly erased when she is offered in marriage to a human king in exchange for military aid in a relentless war. Unwilling to accept their fate, Skadi strikes a desperate bargain with an ancient deity: if Míra falls in love with her again, her memories will return. But if she confesses her love to another first, Skadi will become the god’s thrall forever.

A moodboard: picture of a mermaid underwater, a snowy castle, a prince, an ice lagoon, a black-haired and a ginger woman kissing, a ship, a ship's captain, coastline with basalt columns and the stormy sea, octopus tentacles

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

ℓυℓυ 🦋|| is editing a fantasy @authorlulualba.bsky.social · Apr 5

When the men in her father’s court dismiss her during a meeting about HER ENGAGEMENT, Soledad isn’t too happy…
‘I’m five seconds away from climbing onto this table and ripping this man’s hair off of his stupid head.’

Case in point⇡
THE NORTH STAR QUEEN

#A #F #WIP #1stLinePit

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Linnea Peterson @lpetersonwrites.bsky.social · Apr 5

THE GIRLS WILL BE OKAY

Unplug the phone. That’s the first step in our family’s lefse recipe, written in Mom’s round handwriting on an index card we keep in a box with all our other family recipes. #1stLinePit #Q #YA #CON

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Rebecca Leigh @rebleighauthor.bsky.social · Apr 5

“The body had been strung up in the library for several hours before the first of the unfortunate stumbled upon it.”

#1stLinePit #WIP #YA #T #SFF

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Shida Ketzer (follows back all fiction writers) @wisteraverse.bsky.social · Apr 5

🗡️"Quill chose an auspicious summer night to assassinate Empress vun Unthece. The assassin hung above a burly palace sentry, her grip straining on the cold marble ledge. Guards never bothered to look up."🥷

Six Of Crows X Throne of Glass
#1stLinePit #Q #YA #F #T
#WritingCommunity

Moodboard

Dark washed-out Images with Neo-victorian Steampunk vibes

Central text: “This world, my dear, is the slaughterhouse of noble ideals”

Top-Left to Bottom-Right:

Bust of a corset-wearing woman,

Magical ancient door with a steampunk gear mechanism,

An airship,

Dungeon cell,

Gold pocket watch,

Ornate robes,

Steampunk gears,

Steam locomotive,

Metal mask embellished with gears.

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

K.A. Hela ✨ Prepping for edits...again✨ @jundlife.bsky.social · Apr 5

"The desert was full of things ancient and unchanging and had always been a dangerous place."
#1stLinePit #F #Q #A #Writesky #Writingcommunity

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Heather Carter @hlcarterauthor.bsky.social · Apr 5

"Darkness should not growl. It shouldn’t rasp or seethe. Just the absence of light—that’s all it is. All it’s supposed to be. But the darkness in Granny’s basement is a different kind of darkness."
#1stLinePit #A #H #SS #Agented

AN ABSTRACT BLACK AND ORANGE BACKGROUND WITH WHITE TEXT THAT READS: [THE SEPTEMBER HOUSE X
HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE], Granny is on her deathbed. Her final wish: a faded blue box. Brenda must venture into Granny’s basement to get it, where the creature of her darkest nightmares awaits. Battling possessed dolls & screaming portraits, she must find the courage to ultimately fight for her soul., UNDER THE STAIRS, A SHORT STORY BY HEATHER CARTER

AN ABSTRACT BLACK AND ORANGE BACKGROUND WITH WHITE TEXT THAT READS: "Darkness should not growl. It shouldn’t rasp or seethe. Just the absence of light—that’s all it is. All it’s supposed to be. But the darkness in Granny’s basement is a different kind of darkness. It’s thick, like a black tar that envelopes you the moment the lights flip off—coating your skin and eyes, stealing away all that’s reassuring and safe and good. Worst of all?
It remembers you." UNDER THE STAIRS, A SHORT STORY BY HEATHER CARTER

A nine grid moodboard featuring black and white ghostly images, basement stairs, a decrepit house, and a clawed hand.

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Reposted by rachel russell 🌿

Makayla Leigh 🌿🌊⚔️ @themakaylaleigh.bsky.social · Apr 5

⚔ BLOODGUARDxTHE SERPENT AND THE WINGS OF NIGHT ⚔

"A deep, guttural cry rips from my chest and claws its way out of my throat. A scream so raw and unrestrained, it blazes hot in my lungs. The forest will soak up my pain."

#1stLinePit #Q #YA #F

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