Jae Koyanagi
@jaekoyanagi.com
Author, Otherwise Award Honor List, Repped by Russ Galen. Writing non-human fantasy featuring a monster romance. 🐙
Autistic, queer, D&D player, dog mom. Pfp: @starace.bsky.social. Banner: @sovka.bsky.social
🚫genAI🚫
https://jaekoyanagi.carrd.co
Autistic, queer, D&D player, dog mom. Pfp: @starace.bsky.social. Banner: @sovka.bsky.social
🚫genAI🚫
https://jaekoyanagi.carrd.co
Pinned
Jae Koyanagi
@jaekoyanagi.com
· Jul 16
Intro post! I'm Jae (formerly Jacqueline) Koyanagi, author of the sci-fantasy novel Ascension, among other things: jaekoyanagi.com
Currently, I'm deep into writing the first book of a character-driven romantic fantasy trilogy set in a lush, unusual world where divine magic abounds.
Currently, I'm deep into writing the first book of a character-driven romantic fantasy trilogy set in a lush, unusual world where divine magic abounds.
We switched our D&D day this week to today, so I'm making brunch and thinking about my character's headspace. She and her family/friends are heading into the last leg of a goal they've been working toward for over a year of our sessions (vs. a few weeks in-game). Excited to see how it all plays out.
January 26, 2026 at 6:57 PM
We switched our D&D day this week to today, so I'm making brunch and thinking about my character's headspace. She and her family/friends are heading into the last leg of a goal they've been working toward for over a year of our sessions (vs. a few weeks in-game). Excited to see how it all plays out.
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
Yep. And you've gotta DO IT. Commit, lean into it. Make it the best darn (metaphorical or otherwise) bagpipe break you can possibly manage.
Don't wonder if you can or should. Wonder how anyone can even begin to stop you (they can't).
Don't wonder if you can or should. Wonder how anyone can even begin to stop you (they can't).
Protip for writers: you want to do the weird thing, you gotta just *do it*
If AC/DC can pull off a *bagpipe break* in It's A Long Way To The Top, you can get us to care about your weird little thing
If AC/DC can pull off a *bagpipe break* in It's A Long Way To The Top, you can get us to care about your weird little thing
January 26, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Yep. And you've gotta DO IT. Commit, lean into it. Make it the best darn (metaphorical or otherwise) bagpipe break you can possibly manage.
Don't wonder if you can or should. Wonder how anyone can even begin to stop you (they can't).
Don't wonder if you can or should. Wonder how anyone can even begin to stop you (they can't).
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
My assignment for Winona Nelson's SmArtschool class: Choose a favorite book and illustrate a cover for it.
I picked "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller, and my goal was to capture a similar bittersweet tone as the novel has.
I picked "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller, and my goal was to capture a similar bittersweet tone as the novel has.
January 10, 2026 at 4:35 PM
My assignment for Winona Nelson's SmArtschool class: Choose a favorite book and illustrate a cover for it.
I picked "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller, and my goal was to capture a similar bittersweet tone as the novel has.
I picked "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller, and my goal was to capture a similar bittersweet tone as the novel has.
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
🐉
Commission for @alexia-mr-author.bsky.social
Commission for @alexia-mr-author.bsky.social
January 26, 2026 at 2:26 PM
🐉
Commission for @alexia-mr-author.bsky.social
Commission for @alexia-mr-author.bsky.social
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
Thank you sososo much @nushdeco.bsky.social for this gorgeous Edie & Milo cosplaying Edie's favorite movie, The Princess Bride ❤️❤️❤️ you always deliver but this has me weepingggg LOOK AT THEMMM ❤️❤️❤️
January 25, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Thank you sososo much @nushdeco.bsky.social for this gorgeous Edie & Milo cosplaying Edie's favorite movie, The Princess Bride ❤️❤️❤️ you always deliver but this has me weepingggg LOOK AT THEMMM ❤️❤️❤️
One way to ruin my immersion in a show or movie is for the "violinist" in the background to saw at their instrument like it's a goddamn steak.
January 25, 2026 at 7:34 PM
One way to ruin my immersion in a show or movie is for the "violinist" in the background to saw at their instrument like it's a goddamn steak.
They will have to pry my sentence fragments from my cold, dead hands.
I also reject conventional wisdom on romance plot beats. I commit to the HEA, but I prefer most romance conflict to be external to the relationship, focused on how the couple weathers it together.
I also reject conventional wisdom on romance plot beats. I commit to the HEA, but I prefer most romance conflict to be external to the relationship, focused on how the couple weathers it together.
What's your favorite writing rule to break? Why do you break it? #WritingPrompt
January 25, 2026 at 6:20 PM
They will have to pry my sentence fragments from my cold, dead hands.
I also reject conventional wisdom on romance plot beats. I commit to the HEA, but I prefer most romance conflict to be external to the relationship, focused on how the couple weathers it together.
I also reject conventional wisdom on romance plot beats. I commit to the HEA, but I prefer most romance conflict to be external to the relationship, focused on how the couple weathers it together.
Generally, I keep references current events off of my social media for my mental health, and I need to stand by that or I'll start to sink.
But do need to make where I stand abundantly clear, at least once: Fuck ICE. Fuck all these fascist murderers. We must hold them accountable.
But do need to make where I stand abundantly clear, at least once: Fuck ICE. Fuck all these fascist murderers. We must hold them accountable.
January 25, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Generally, I keep references current events off of my social media for my mental health, and I need to stand by that or I'll start to sink.
But do need to make where I stand abundantly clear, at least once: Fuck ICE. Fuck all these fascist murderers. We must hold them accountable.
But do need to make where I stand abundantly clear, at least once: Fuck ICE. Fuck all these fascist murderers. We must hold them accountable.
I tried for a long time to write another book while keeping the market front and center in my mind. What I learned was that writing to market makes me miserable, and it shows in the work.
It's full steam ahead with my weird ideas; I'll sink or swim by them, and I'm at peace with that.
It's full steam ahead with my weird ideas; I'll sink or swim by them, and I'm at peace with that.
I see "make weird art" a lot, and the long version of that (in my head) is "make what you actually want to make, because if you compromise for commercial success and public approval you could very well fail at that anyway, but if you make something you like, you'll always be proud of it."
January 25, 2026 at 3:17 PM
I tried for a long time to write another book while keeping the market front and center in my mind. What I learned was that writing to market makes me miserable, and it shows in the work.
It's full steam ahead with my weird ideas; I'll sink or swim by them, and I'm at peace with that.
It's full steam ahead with my weird ideas; I'll sink or swim by them, and I'm at peace with that.
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
January 24, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
Crown shyness. Pretty Zen, no? Stare. Lose yourself. Come back though.
January 23, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Crown shyness. Pretty Zen, no? Stare. Lose yourself. Come back though.
Penelope is here to infuse your feed with her boundless affection for all human beings ❤️ She loves you!
January 24, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Penelope is here to infuse your feed with her boundless affection for all human beings ❤️ She loves you!
So many things. Shifting how I think of show vs. tell. Gaining a stronger grasp of interiority & finding balance with it. My prose/voice clicking into place in ways that are abundantly clear on the page but hard to explain in the abstract. Freeing myself from rigidly adhering to certain structures.
#pretendpanel, once again, cannot wait to hear your answers to this one...
January 24th: Is there a significant change you can remember that was like a huge revelation for you? (whether in your process, or between drafts, whatever)
#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts
January 24th: Is there a significant change you can remember that was like a huge revelation for you? (whether in your process, or between drafts, whatever)
#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts
January 24, 2026 at 3:28 PM
So many things. Shifting how I think of show vs. tell. Gaining a stronger grasp of interiority & finding balance with it. My prose/voice clicking into place in ways that are abundantly clear on the page but hard to explain in the abstract. Freeing myself from rigidly adhering to certain structures.
Good writing day. 🙂↕️
January 24, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Good writing day. 🙂↕️
Undoubtedly the book I'm working on now by a wide margin. It's the type of thing I should have been writing all along, had I given myself permission.
In fact, time to go write!
In fact, time to go write!
Creators: if someone asked you which project of yours best represents you as a creator, which one would you recommend and why?
January 23, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Undoubtedly the book I'm working on now by a wide margin. It's the type of thing I should have been writing all along, had I given myself permission.
In fact, time to go write!
In fact, time to go write!
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
This is your ongoing reminder to get weirder with your writing. Yes, I'm going to keep saying it. Weird is where cool lives and rule of cool makes stories alive.
January 23, 2026 at 1:38 PM
This is your ongoing reminder to get weirder with your writing. Yes, I'm going to keep saying it. Weird is where cool lives and rule of cool makes stories alive.
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
Paperback preorders for THE DEVOURING are now available at:
Barnes & Noble
Bookshop
Books-a-Million
+ a few other retailers
Join Jason and Ayana on their hunt for the truth behind his brother's murder and an impossible illness. Preorder today: books2read.com/u/mvDRWX
#WritingCommunity #Booksky 💙📚
Barnes & Noble
Bookshop
Books-a-Million
+ a few other retailers
Join Jason and Ayana on their hunt for the truth behind his brother's murder and an impossible illness. Preorder today: books2read.com/u/mvDRWX
#WritingCommunity #Booksky 💙📚
January 23, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Paperback preorders for THE DEVOURING are now available at:
Barnes & Noble
Bookshop
Books-a-Million
+ a few other retailers
Join Jason and Ayana on their hunt for the truth behind his brother's murder and an impossible illness. Preorder today: books2read.com/u/mvDRWX
#WritingCommunity #Booksky 💙📚
Barnes & Noble
Bookshop
Books-a-Million
+ a few other retailers
Join Jason and Ayana on their hunt for the truth behind his brother's murder and an impossible illness. Preorder today: books2read.com/u/mvDRWX
#WritingCommunity #Booksky 💙📚
In terms of process, forcing myself not to edit as I go was the wrong call. I love my work so much more now that I revise along the way.
I also regret forcing myself to write plots that don't actually interest me just to appeal to market. Those attempts never saw the light of day, at least.
I also regret forcing myself to write plots that don't actually interest me just to appeal to market. Those attempts never saw the light of day, at least.
Good evening #pretendpanel! Hope your January is going swimmingly. Today, let's discuss...
January 23rd: Was there ever something you changed about your process, or even in a single draft, that you later came to regret?
#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts
January 23rd: Was there ever something you changed about your process, or even in a single draft, that you later came to regret?
#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts
January 23, 2026 at 3:08 PM
In terms of process, forcing myself not to edit as I go was the wrong call. I love my work so much more now that I revise along the way.
I also regret forcing myself to write plots that don't actually interest me just to appeal to market. Those attempts never saw the light of day, at least.
I also regret forcing myself to write plots that don't actually interest me just to appeal to market. Those attempts never saw the light of day, at least.
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
Editing thought. Full 50% of the words I cut on re-reading are ‘and’ and ‘that’. I think I need them in the first draft because they serve as a sort of mental scaffolding for the sentence, that can be removed when the keystone is in place and it’ll hang together on its own.
January 23, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Editing thought. Full 50% of the words I cut on re-reading are ‘and’ and ‘that’. I think I need them in the first draft because they serve as a sort of mental scaffolding for the sentence, that can be removed when the keystone is in place and it’ll hang together on its own.
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
Loveable goofball, Malcolm, has to move into his ex-girlfriend’s guest house when he loses his apartment, only to find out that she has a preteen daughter she never told him about. 👀
Three weeks until ROLL PLAY is available in ebook and paperback! Ebook preorder is up now!
books2read.com/rplay
Three weeks until ROLL PLAY is available in ebook and paperback! Ebook preorder is up now!
books2read.com/rplay
January 23, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Loveable goofball, Malcolm, has to move into his ex-girlfriend’s guest house when he loses his apartment, only to find out that she has a preteen daughter she never told him about. 👀
Three weeks until ROLL PLAY is available in ebook and paperback! Ebook preorder is up now!
books2read.com/rplay
Three weeks until ROLL PLAY is available in ebook and paperback! Ebook preorder is up now!
books2read.com/rplay
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
January 23, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Over here quietly losing my mind (positive) over the art commission preview I just received.
January 22, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Over here quietly losing my mind (positive) over the art commission preview I just received.
Reposted by Jae Koyanagi
Pratap Gurung captured this shot of the FABULOUS 🌈 Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus) or 'danphe,' the national bird of Nepal.
The amazing coloration is structural: photonic crystals act like a diffraction grating, turning sunlight into shimmering blues, reds, greens.
The amazing coloration is structural: photonic crystals act like a diffraction grating, turning sunlight into shimmering blues, reds, greens.
January 22, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Pratap Gurung captured this shot of the FABULOUS 🌈 Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus) or 'danphe,' the national bird of Nepal.
The amazing coloration is structural: photonic crystals act like a diffraction grating, turning sunlight into shimmering blues, reds, greens.
The amazing coloration is structural: photonic crystals act like a diffraction grating, turning sunlight into shimmering blues, reds, greens.