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castlemantra.bsky.social
Nina Castle
@castlemantra.bsky.social
690 followers 690 following 150 posts
SFF writer, artist, teacher #amwriting #amediting, Dog person, ice cream lover, aaaannd romance addict https://linktr.ee/castlemantra
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castlemantra.bsky.social
Nina Castle @castlemantra.bsky.social · 20d
To win her best friend's love and heal her uncle, May will risk everything to steal HealthCorp's miracle pill. But when the CEO's disinherited son offers to help - and teach her the art of seduction - she'll learn just how deep a stain power and control can leave on a soul. #QuestPit #A #SFF #R #Q
Reposted by Nina Castle
kateperkinswrites.bsky.social
BRIDE X MR.&MRS. SMITH X DarkFever

Dancing Succubae, River Balfour, faces the cruelest choice: marry and destroy the man blamed for her mother’s death OR sacrifice herself to save her sisterhood. Fight with a hidden heritage or love the man she swore to destroy. She can’t have both.

#questpit #PR
November 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
tiffbartel.com
A nerdy agender experimental art gremlin and an ex-wunderkind roboticist in exile team up to find out why the local tech co is bricking robots and stealing memories, and who's sending weird dispatches from the wasteland that's supposedly empty. Then mutually pine a little.

#QuestPit #W #A #SF #S
tiffbartel.com Tiff Bartel @tiffbartel.com · 21d
Finally put together an #agentsguide for Snaggleteeth, the adult speculative novel I'm currently polishing in hopes of querying in the new year! 🦷
(all slides are in the style of a vintage 80s/90s VHS box cover) / 1st slide: An Agent's Guide to Snaggleteeth / adult science fiction / near-future cyberpunk / retro tech & robots / 80k words (all slides are in the style of a vintage 80s/90s VHS box cover) / 2nd slide: Premise / When a lonely audiovisual archivist's assistive robot BFF gets bricked, he enlists the help of an illegal repair shop owner to resurrect her, while also using his anachronistic media know-how to investigate a tech conspiracy involving stolen memories. / (there is a little graphic of a lotus flower created by Dutchken @ Noun Project) (all slides are in the style of a vintage 80s/90s VHS box cover) / 3rd slide: It's Got Everything / 🏳️‍🌈 Scrappy queer/neurodivergent MC ❣️ Dorks aged 35+ in love / 🌲 Mutual pining 🗓️ Multiple timelines / 👽 Art gremlins / 🔥 Anti-capitalism 🤖 Prickly robot familiar / 🇻🇳 Southeast Asian folklore 📼 Cassette futurism vibes / (there is a little graphic of a nine-tailed fox created by Mariana Vinagre @ Noun Project) (all slides are in the style of a vintage 80s/90s VHS box cover) / 4th slide: Comps / Klara and the Sun: robot POV, subtle dystopia / Luminous: sibling drama, murder mystery / Both Klara and Luminous: companion robots as family, intergenerational conflict, explorations of grief, childhood illness / Light From Uncommon Stars: queer joy!, romance w/ older characters, so much food, music bringing people together / Severance: speculative workplace intrigue, weird memory stuff
November 5, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
itinerantginger.bsky.social
SWORDCROSSED X THIS WILL BE FUN

Standalone Spicy Cozy Fantasy
Demisexual Rep
Fat Main Character
MM Second Chance Romance

After the Lich Queen's Demise is the perfect book to heal your inner gifted child suffering from burn out. Please take a gander at my Agent's Guide!

#QuestPit #Q #A #F
The is the first picture of my Agent's Guide to After The Lich Queen's Demise. It's pretty simple two Tarot cards one for the Sun and for the Moon on a purple background. A list of the comps for After the Lich Queen's Demise these include: Swordcrossed, This Will Be Fun, Bookshops and Bonedust, The Spellshop, and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. The Pitch! When Sylvester Biskup’s former flame and adventuring companion Elsinor Laederiel unexpectedly appears back in his life, his world is turned upside down. At first Sylvester does all he can to avoid his flashy former lover: bury himself in work, plan a succubus’ wedding, and even give dating advice from a delusional bard a try. Then the university chancellor offers Sylvester a deal he can’t refuse: secure a donation to the university from Elsinor and earn the promotion he’s been coveting. One problem: he can barely say Elsinor’s name without panicking. The Log Line: Where one hero's journey ends, his life will begin. The Snippet Another suffocating silence engulfed the space between them. Sylvester’s breath slowed down, his pulse calmed. But his heart still clenched when he thought of the last words that Elsinor had spoken to him the morning after their last tryst. Darling, it was just one night. Over the years, the words morphed and churned into a mocking mantra. It was just one more example of how his stupid pig headed brain rushed him into decisions that he couldn’t take back. Now instead of meeting on equal footing, Elsinor loomed over him, smelling sweet and vomit free while Sylvester clung to the tile wall. “Well, I would love to see you there,” Elsinor stopped himself and Sylvester waited with bated breath to hear how he was going to end his sentence. “Sylvester.” Sylvester listened for the tell tale sounds of footsteps clacking away. He closed his eyes and huffed out a deep sigh.
November 5, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
tiffbartel.com
For the #questpit night 🦉s!

A disabled media archivist discovers a big tech company is stealing memories from the poor, & has to unravel what they took from him as well. In another timeline, his hồ ly tinh-shaped robot assistant grows more sentient and investigates a murder.

#QuestPit #W #A #SF #S
Mood board for Snaggleteeth framed with retro rainbow: top row - Hoi An lanterns (via unsplash) / person going to abandoned radio tower (via unsplash) / colourful rainbow wires (via unsplash) / middle row - tv displaying static in a red room (via unsplash) / ho ly tinh fox spirit statue in a vietnamese temple (via unsplash) / pink retro computer control room (from the show Maniac on netflix) / a rainbow retro diagram showing a music chart (vintage book cover by unknown artist) / pink retro archival boxes (via unsplash) / small asian child in a pink hoodie holding hands with a robot (via unsplash)
November 6, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
dhoedits.bsky.social
IF I HAVE TO BE HAUNTED x BELLADONNA

Hawk’s Mill looks like a normal New England town…
but it’s actually a deathtrap with a body count & a ticking clock ⏳
Annabelle’s gift might save the town… or destroy the boy she loves 💔

Check out my pinned post!

#QuestPit #YA #PR #Q #thisisfine
A quiet New England street in autumn. White houses and a church steeple line the road under bright red and gold trees. In the bottom right corner, a small cartoon dog sits calmly at a table with a coffee mug.
November 6, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
dillydahly.bsky.social
Exsanguine Cryptids
She must face danger, folkloric monsters, and the government agents responsible for releasing them in order to reunite with her younger brother before the country collapses- or one of them dies.

🥰sapphic romance
Stranger>Friends>❤️‍🔥
💕slow burn
🚗 road trip
#questpit #W #YA #PR #SF
Exsanguine Cryptids Dahlya Byrne a YA supernatural sci-fi apocalypse PitchA vengeful government set on reasserting its authority through violence and misinformation disrupts the life of 19 year old Xiomara. Armed with nothing but the determination of an eldest daughter, she travels across the US facing folkloric monsters and government agents alike, to reunite with her estranged younger sibling. Along the way, she becomes the unwilling leader to Jada, an old classmate she can’t quite seem to get a grasp on (or out of her head) and Rally, an older, yet surprisingly well equipped, woman with an affinity for conspiracies and substances of all kind. Eight O'Clock in the Morning Ray Faraday Nelson *Subliminal Messages, Propaganda, Lizard People Veil Haven by Anne M. Kelley * Cryptids, Lies & Secrets, LGBTQ+, Diverse The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro *Mexican Folklore, Family Secrets, Generational Trauma I walk with my hands stretched out before me. One step. Two steps. Three steps. No wall. Four steps. No wall. Five steps. Nothing. The air feels different. Warmer. Yet, a chill runs through me, prickling from inside my skin. My neighbor had a dog I often walked, Pancho. She didn’t pay much for how bad the dog was. It pulled and pulled on its leash, if not for being the size of a shoebox, it likely would have dragged me along with it, taken off on the hot streets of New Mexico. Dragged me past the dirt roads and onto the concrete sidewalk on the way to the park. My neighbor was old, she didn’t often get to grooming the dog. It was scraggly, fat, with long long nails. Often I would close my eyes as we walked, listening to the birds, wind, and scratching of Pancho’s nails against the floor. The sound emanating from the murk of this alley was strikingly similar. A sixth step forward is not an option. But would the wall behind me still exist? The warmth ahead of me grew to a heat that roasted my skin and made each breathe an effort. Sweat dripped down my face and pooled on my upper lip. How long have I stood here?I’m reminded of the summer heat wave I spent locked outside. I often laid in the yard, too tired, too hot, too thirsty, to move even to the shade of a nearby bush. It grew flowers of a pale pink and muted red. Before that week, me and my mother often picked these flowers to make into tea. I didn’t mind that she would throw my picks to the side, as I could collect them to decorate my dresser top, enjoying the scents every morning until she scolded me for bringing garbage inside and hoisted them out. Maybe the flowers were purple, actually. Yes I remember, the flowers were a deep purple, just like the vase I threw at her head. Just like the blood that spilled out of it. The air was hot like the blood that spilled out of it. It was so hot. Like the air during the heatwave, like the blood of the vase, like the purple of my mother’s head. Like the- I hear a scream I…
November 6, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
authorvaughnroe.bsky.social
Cursed to perish unless blood is offered in love, Yverdon—a reckless vampire king—captures the last witch alive to trick death, but when affection blooms, the price for his cure proves a sacrifice he would survive…but not his heart.

standalone

#QuestPit #agented #A #RF #WIP
November 6, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Reposted by Nina Castle
laynejohnsonkidlit.bsky.social
Aspiring artist LUCY JEAN THE COLORING QUEEN creates magical masterpieces with her big box of crayons until she gets ONLY 3 at a restaurant! Can she still create a masterpiece with only yellow, blue, and red? A lyrical #pb about emotional regulation and creative problem-solving. #questpit #q
Turnaround of a young girl in a blue tutu, stripped yellow socks, blue ballet shoes, a brown bun of hair and a homemade yellow crown.
November 5, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
beemorris.bsky.social
1st page snippet from my #wip K!LL ME MAYBE 🔪💕 #QuestPit #W #R #DR

🔪 serial killer club
🌶️ dark rom-com
✌️ dual pov
👀 accidentally falling for the guy who's supposed to k!ll you
November 5, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
danielsheen.bsky.social
#questpit
All the best stories have a few things in common. They don't please everyone, not everyone survives, and everyone leaves changed.
danielsheen.net/agentsguide
The story of two teenage runaways
- 1990s
- Appalachia
- Be Gay Do Crime
- Small Town
- Coming of age
#YA #Queer #Q #R #DR
November 5, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
brsmithbooks.bsky.social
A girl.
Her dog.
A whole lot of trouble.

When Kit Raglan takes a job staying a night in a haunted house, she expects a quiet night, maybe a ghost if she's lucky. Instead, she finds herself implicated in a murder, kicking off a cat-and-mouse game with a bird-masked killer.

#QuestPit #WIP #T #AG
November 5, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
evacharya.bsky.social
AMERICAN ROOMMATE EXPERIMENT X FUNNY STORY

Inspiration has dried for a jilted romance author on a deadline. Then, his old crush moves in as a 'flatmate', and sure, she cures his heartache & writer's block, but now she's all he can think & write about. (Talk about awkward.)
#Questpit #A #R #Q
November 5, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
cnno.bsky.social
AMARI x IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES

To save her friends and family from an evil magician, 12 yo Noelle must risk transforming into one of the monsters they're being trained to fight
🇹🇹Caribbean folklore creatures
🪄Magical school on a tropical island
🧜‍♂️Mermaids
🥰First crush

#Questpit #Q #MG #F #BVM
Crown of shells, College with red brick. young black gil, Woman with snake for legs, Coconut trees. Caribbean beach. Children with straw hats. Man with horns
November 5, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
lamaritiwrites.bsky.social
LOVELESS x SIMONVERSE: Aroace freshman Izzy learns high school isn’t a piece of cake, or garlic bread.

Ft.
🌈queer coming of age
🌈importance of creating community
🌈SHAKESPEARE x COUTURE FASHION
🌈a dramatic, loveable Italian-American family

#questpit #Q #YA
November 5, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
wren-h-writes.bsky.social
ALL THE THINGS THAT HAUNT US - A New Adult queer paranormal romance

#questpit #W #A #H #RF
Image of a dock at a lake with a dark green overlay. The title reads: ALL THE THINGS THAT HAUNT US. In the center of the image is notebook paper with a loon at the bottom right and text that reads: Second-chance romance, Dual POV, Non-binary MC, Neurodivergent MC, Queer friendships, Small town horror, Ghost hunting, Sister relationships, Family secrets
November 5, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
bhaskinslanterman.bsky.social
🔥 Liora was born to be the weapon to end her father’s war.
💙 Sam is the foreign spy sent to end HER.
⚔️ When enemies become allies, desire ignites and threatens to burn the realm both swore to protect.

Love, sex, magic, and politics collide in WHAT SMOLDERS IN CRUCIBLES.
#questpit #w #a #f #rf #df
November 5, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
agostinaalterini.bsky.social
BOY PARTS x OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA
She was meant to preserve the artist she loved. Instead, she became her. A literary horror about obsession, authorship, and the curator who devours a vanished woman’s life piece by piece. #questpit #LF #H #Q
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
rebeccaio.bsky.social
Their first breeding project failed. Their impending extinction nears. To prove her life wasn't a mistake, Astrid volunteers to execute a ritual. But the fate of her obedience is revealed, forcing her to choose between enslaving the earth or risking the wrath of the gods.
🥀⚔🪾🌲

#Q #A #RF #QuestPit
A moodboard with different pictures of the setting (forest, armies, colorful houses with a dooming sky), the main character (a red-head horse lover inspired by Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones), and the vibe (the handmaid’s tale and a kneeling woman with a torn dress). On the bottom right, a quote from the book reads: “Females were viewed first and foremost as mothers. Either watched upon with the expectation of conceiving, or a mother who had fulfilled their duty. But mothers all the same.But I refused to be reduced to my ability to bear a child when I was capable of so much more.” A dark background with vines. A quote from the book, read: “Even though they were valued like fucking livestock, they knew their own worth. They never saw themselves as prey. So I became the next best thing.” A full-blown grin spread over my face that made my cheeks hurt. “A fucking villain. Because I’ll be damned if I lower myself to a male’s standard, god or not.”
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
ravennavale.bsky.social
Breath of Starlight follows Auryn, a fallen star, and Kailorien, the immortal forged to guard her, as they risk devotion and defiance to break free of a destiny that would consume them—or see their Bond become the weapon that ends the world for the second time.

#questpit #RF #Q #A
the hook Breath of Starlight Setting Comps
November 5, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
maximilliangruff.bsky.social
In We Cut Tongues For Ourselves the pastoral horror of Starve Acre meets the historic sweep of Outlander.

If you were torn away from your home, your way of life and your language could you do the same to somebody else?

#questpit #LF #OS #Q #H
November 5, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
breiswriting.bsky.social
RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT ME x FRIENDS FROM COLLEGE

💌 dual timeline
🍂 fall in upstate new york
👻 ghost of loves past
🍻 messy college drama resurfacing as adults
❤️‍🩹 grief and healing within

#questpit #W #S #PR
November 5, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
kelseawolf-writes.bsky.social
Alice has questions.

Is The Society of Curse Breakers a cult?
How can she control her magic?
Why does she keep passing out?
Can she trust Nate and Ivy?
Why does everything keep attacking them?
Can they really break an ancient curse?
Good luck Alice! You’re going to need it. #questpit #q #MG
November 5, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
bbuchananwomble.bsky.social
THE GOTH GIRL WHO SAVED THE WORLD
Stranger Things meets Pretty in Pink. Supernatural YA adventure with a 1980’s post-punk soundtrack.
The only thing standing between earth and apocalypse is a teenage girl in black lipstick and Doc Martens.
#questpit #Q #YA #F
a man with red lips and a ring on his finger looks at the camera
Alt: GIF of Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure. They're the favorite band of Charlotte Sumner, the main character in THE GOTH GIRL WHO SAVED THE WORLD, a YA contemporary fantasy novel by Bruce Buchanan.
media.tenor.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Nina Castle
trangnguyenwrites.bsky.social
JADE CITY x HEARTLESS HUNTER

When her mentor goes missing, Gemna joins forces with fellow mage Ren, to unravel the connection b/w the string of disappearances and a terrible discovery that could mean a future where mages are not just outlawed…but wiped from existence.

#A #F #Questpit #Q #querying
red movie poster style image that has the tagline “mages are disappearing…Gemna will risk everything to find out why” and the title CONDUCT OF MAGES. text below included the details “NOW QUERYING” and “An Adult Fantasy, complete at 102K words” title reads THE PITCH and detailed language says: When her mentor goes missing, Gemna joins forces with fellow mage, Ren, to unravel the connection between the string of disappearances and a terrible discovery that could mean a future where mages are not just outlawed…but wiped from existence. it then says FOR FANS OF and displays 3 book covers: Six of Crows, Blood Over Bright Haven, and Jade City page title says FROM EARLY READERS and lists the following quotes: You have such a talent for using small details to reveal large truths. their chemistry is still in its EARLY stages, but i love how clear their compatibility is. Even if i’d never seen them on the page together I would see how they could complement each OTHER. I read the first few chapters and it’s my favorite read of the year…(agents) pick this up so i can find out if they kiss pleasE!! The tension (of the plot) is insane. your scenes are very layered. it feels like poor gemna can’t catch a break. I am obsessed with this magic system & the subtle themes of tech vs. humanity.
November 5, 2025 at 9:05 PM