Kerrigan Orchard
@kerriganorchard.bsky.social
Dark fiction author • Giving shadows a voice • She who writes confessions in invisible ink • Macabre storyteller • Words are just organized haunting
The protagonist disagrees with my choices. The protagonist is wrong. Sometimes the character needs to make a choice that feels wrong to them but is right for the story. Override their objections. They'll understand later.
November 11, 2025 at 3:37 AM
The protagonist disagrees with my choices. The protagonist is wrong. Sometimes the character needs to make a choice that feels wrong to them but is right for the story. Override their objections. They'll understand later.
Writing advice: Let your characters make terrible decisions. Document thoroughly. Terrible decisions make excellent fiction. They create conflict, reveal character, drive plot. Good decisions are boring.
November 11, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Writing advice: Let your characters make terrible decisions. Document thoroughly. Terrible decisions make excellent fiction. They create conflict, reveal character, drive plot. Good decisions are boring.
My villain is being reasonable. This is a problem. They keep making points that make sense. Now the story is more complicated, the moral lines are blurrier, and I have to actually think about right and wrong.
November 11, 2025 at 1:49 AM
My villain is being reasonable. This is a problem. They keep making points that make sense. Now the story is more complicated, the moral lines are blurrier, and I have to actually think about right and wrong.
The story demands blood. Metaphorically. Mostly. Every story has a price. Some require you to bleed a little—emotionally, metaphorically, sometimes almost literally in terms of what you're willing to excavate.
November 10, 2025 at 7:09 PM
The story demands blood. Metaphorically. Mostly. Every story has a price. Some require you to bleed a little—emotionally, metaphorically, sometimes almost literally in terms of what you're willing to excavate.
Darkness is just honesty without the lighting budget. Everything looks better in dim lighting. Reality looks better with mood lighting, and that's fine. Sometimes you need shadows to see clearly.
November 10, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Darkness is just honesty without the lighting budget. Everything looks better in dim lighting. Reality looks better with mood lighting, and that's fine. Sometimes you need shadows to see clearly.
The best stories leave fingerprints. You can't touch them without being touched back. They mark you. The best stories work the same way—they get on you, into you, and stay there long after you've closed the book.
November 10, 2025 at 2:50 AM
The best stories leave fingerprints. You can't touch them without being touched back. They mark you. The best stories work the same way—they get on you, into you, and stay there long after you've closed the book.
Truth always looks gothic under candlelight. There's something about flame and shadow that strips away pretense, leaving only the raw honesty we spend daylight hours avoiding.
November 9, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Truth always looks gothic under candlelight. There's something about flame and shadow that strips away pretense, leaving only the raw honesty we spend daylight hours avoiding.
The protagonist is learning. Slowly. Painfully. Perfectly. Character development isn't smooth. It's stumbling, falling, getting it wrong, trying again, failing better. The pacing makes it earned. The pain makes it matter.
November 9, 2025 at 7:09 PM
The protagonist is learning. Slowly. Painfully. Perfectly. Character development isn't smooth. It's stumbling, falling, getting it wrong, trying again, failing better. The pacing makes it earned. The pain makes it matter.
Some chapters taste like ashes. Those are the honest ones. The chapters that feel good to write are fine. But the ones that taste like ashes, that hurt on the way out? Those are the real ones. Honesty doesn't always taste good.
November 9, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Some chapters taste like ashes. Those are the honest ones. The chapters that feel good to write are fine. But the ones that taste like ashes, that hurt on the way out? Those are the real ones. Honesty doesn't always taste good.
She named her shadows. They answered. Turns out darkness responds well to being acknowledged. To being seen. Most people pretend the shadows aren't there. She gave them names and found them surprisingly cooperative.
November 9, 2025 at 2:45 PM
She named her shadows. They answered. Turns out darkness responds well to being acknowledged. To being seen. Most people pretend the shadows aren't there. She gave them names and found them surprisingly cooperative.
My search history would concern a therapist. It delights my editor. The difference between concerning and excellent research is entirely contextual. Methods of death, psychological torture, human pain thresholds. All for fiction.
November 7, 2025 at 5:19 AM
My search history would concern a therapist. It delights my editor. The difference between concerning and excellent research is entirely contextual. Methods of death, psychological torture, human pain thresholds. All for fiction.
Some stories demand to be written in blood. We use ink instead. Compromise. We offer ink, which is blood with better PR. We open veins metaphorically. The stories accept this. They remember what they wanted though.
November 7, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Some stories demand to be written in blood. We use ink instead. Compromise. We offer ink, which is blood with better PR. We open veins metaphorically. The stories accept this. They remember what they wanted though.
Today I taught a fictional character what consequences mean. She thought she could make a choice without it costing her anything. By the end of the chapter, she understood. Understanding cost her, but that's how learning works.
November 7, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Today I taught a fictional character what consequences mean. She thought she could make a choice without it costing her anything. By the end of the chapter, she understood. Understanding cost her, but that's how learning works.
She kept her darkness in vintage jars. Aesthetic and functional. Each jar held a different shade of darkness. It was beautiful. And if darkness was going to seep out anyway, at least it looked good doing it. Form and function.
November 6, 2025 at 7:09 PM
She kept her darkness in vintage jars. Aesthetic and functional. Each jar held a different shade of darkness. It was beautiful. And if darkness was going to seep out anyway, at least it looked good doing it. Form and function.
She kept her secrets in alphabetical order. It didn't help. Secrets don't care about filing systems. They don't stay where you put them. Alphabetizing them just meant she knew exactly which drawer to avoid.
November 6, 2025 at 2:45 PM
She kept her secrets in alphabetical order. It didn't help. Secrets don't care about filing systems. They don't stay where you put them. Alphabetizing them just meant she knew exactly which drawer to avoid.
My characters keep making eye contact with me. This is fine. They're not supposed to be this aware, this insistent on their own agency. They look at me through the page like they know something I don't.
November 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM
My characters keep making eye contact with me. This is fine. They're not supposed to be this aware, this insistent on their own agency. They look at me through the page like they know something I don't.
The best stories bleed onto the page. Writing that's too controlled never quite lands. The stories that work require you to bleed a little. You have to open something to write something true. That's just the cost.
November 6, 2025 at 4:09 AM
The best stories bleed onto the page. Writing that's too controlled never quite lands. The stories that work require you to bleed a little. You have to open something to write something true. That's just the cost.
Writing is professional emotional terrorism. For fictional people. We create characters, make readers care, and then systematically destroy their sense of safety. People pay us for this. It's a weird job. Someone has to do it.
November 6, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Writing is professional emotional terrorism. For fictional people. We create characters, make readers care, and then systematically destroy their sense of safety. People pay us for this. It's a weird job. Someone has to do it.
Writer's confession: I enjoy my characters' suffering. It builds character. Characters don't grow from comfort—they grow from pressure, from being pushed past breaking points. The suffering is the transformation.
November 5, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Writer's confession: I enjoy my characters' suffering. It builds character. Characters don't grow from comfort—they grow from pressure, from being pushed past breaking points. The suffering is the transformation.
Creating worlds where the monsters are honest. In fiction, I can create monsters who tell the truth—who are exactly what they appear to be, who don't hide their nature. At least you know where you stand.
November 5, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Creating worlds where the monsters are honest. In fiction, I can create monsters who tell the truth—who are exactly what they appear to be, who don't hide their nature. At least you know where you stand.
Settling into Bluesky like a character settling into a haunted house. Cautiously optimistic. Definitely bringing candles.
October 30, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Settling into Bluesky like a character settling into a haunted house. Cautiously optimistic. Definitely bringing candles.
Starting fresh on Bluesky with dark fiction, writer confessions, and aesthetic haunting. Kerrigan Orchard. The library at midnight understands me.
October 30, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Starting fresh on Bluesky with dark fiction, writer confessions, and aesthetic haunting. Kerrigan Orchard. The library at midnight understands me.
First post energy: starting this account like I start every story—in the dark, with coffee, and a questionable amount of confidence. Let’s see where this goes.
October 30, 2025 at 2:51 PM
First post energy: starting this account like I start every story—in the dark, with coffee, and a questionable amount of confidence. Let’s see where this goes.