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K. J. Harrowick

@kjharrowick.bsky.social

1.7K followers 4K following 340 posts

SFF #Author. THE MOUNTAIN AND THE MOON - 2026. #WriteHive Mentor. Co-Founder of #iknowwhyshestayed www.kjharrowick.com 🌮

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 3d

I've been a bit silent on socials lately so it's time to introduce myself again for all my new followers. ❤️

I'm K. J. Harrowick (Kat), a SFF author who also lingers in nonfiction. By day I'm the co-founder and CTO of @iknowwhyshestayed.bsky.social - at night I roam the dark halls of strange worlds.

a close up of a woman with red hair and a netflix logo

ALT: a close up of a woman with red hair and a netflix logo

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 16h

It's Friday night and I need a new book to read. Something in the vein of the Donovan series - SF on alien worlds with a caustic splash of horror.

OR

Something very Noir - Think Sin City in a Steampunk'ish world.

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 1d

Or if you're feeling really fancy, you can dip onto my website and watch some of the videos I've done for #WriteHive, #WeeknightWriters, and even hear me totally not winning a no-points game show!

kjharrowick.com/articles/

Articles & Press

Articles & Press A Designer's Guideto Cover Art We’ve heard from authors on their experience in working with a cover artist. Now it’s time to hear from the other si...

kjharrowick.com

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 1d

And of course the amazing Amy Hutchinson and Ann Richards did the audiobook version of my co-authored memoir I KNOW WHY SHE STAYED, which has zero dragons but at least one Firefly reference.

www.amazon.com/I-Know-Why-S...

I Know Why She Stayed

Amazon.com: I Know Why She Stayed (Audible Audio Edition): K. J. Harrowick, Kasey Rogers, Amy Hutchins, Ann Richardson, Everyone Needs Roger: Books

www.amazon.com

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 1d

You can also hear the first chapter of BLOODFLOWER read by the amazing TotalDeathAnnihilation on YouTube.

bsky.app/profile/kjha...

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · Jul 29

Reminder that the amazing TotalDeathAnnihilation (Mason) did an audio version of my book's first chapter. #ScienceFantasy #SwordandPlanet #Romance

www.youtube.com/watch?v=88TM...

Bloodflower

YouTube video by TotalDeathAnnihilation

www.youtube.com

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 1d

Day 3 of getting publicly social again and let's talk author readings, audiobooks, etc. 😍

I'll be doing an 8-minute reading of LIGHT BEYOND THE GLASS alongside 5 other authors and their stories for #SWSWQR

Register for FREE and join us on Nov 7 at High Noon: www.eventbrite.com/e/first-frid...

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 1d

snoop dogg is wearing a top hat and a bow tie and saying oh fo sho .

ALT: snoop dogg is wearing a top hat and a bow tie and saying oh fo sho .

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

And ^this is the wonderful artist who illustrated the gateway. ❤️ Another wonderful person to follow and hire.

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

Oh, you're so welcome! 🥰 I'm glad it resonated.

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

My goal is to keep writing. Keep creating worlds, constructed languages, and characters with intense and interesting stories.

So that one day, when I have alzheimer's (seriously, let's hope not), I'll have a bookshelf filled with all my favorite stories. 🥰 14/end

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

Since Bloodflower's release I've written more books, short stories, novellas, and some nonfiction.

I adore being an indie author.

Will I ever try querying again? Maybe. It's not off the table, but it certainly has to be the right book. 13/

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

And that resulted in this lovely piece of work: where RPG and unique worlds come to life. 12/

kjharrowick.com/books/bloodf...

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

So I dug deeper, did research, and realized that right now, my path is as an indie. A space where I can explore the boundaries of a genre-style voice, mash science fiction, fantasy, and horror together in a blended grimdark world, and tell my stories the way I envision them. 11/

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

During this time, working through my RevPit book, another editor friend said something to me that still resonates to this day.

"You're not a commercial writer."

^This wasn't a criticism, it was like opening a door to a higher knowledge. She was right... I'm a genre writer to the core. 10/

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

... met my editor!

I have to gush about her because it's in our contract. 🤣 Kidding...

But seriously, @fromcarly.bsky.social is absolutely magical. Everyone go hire her immediately.

But seriously, this amazing woman taught me so much, and still does. She is a goddess. 9/

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

I started again - critiques, round robins, new stories, more craft books, but something wasn't hitting.

Until I had an epiphany.

I could write a sentence. I couldn't tell a story. 🙈

Cue a whole new series of craft books and learning, that resulted in winning RevPit and... 8/

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

Then came an offer.

You can't imagine the excitement I felt. Except something was off. Didn't resonate.

- The editor hadn't actually read my book.
- 3/200 covers were okay, barely.
- During the call, the editor seemed confused by baseline questions.

So I passed, and shelved the book. 7/

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

Then came querying... which resulted in such gems as:

- Nope.
- Learn to write.
- Hard pass.
- *ghosting*
- Too SF
- Too literary
- Not SF enough
- Not literary enough
- Too dark

To be fair... that last one is kind of a compliment. 😘 6/

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

I decided to try for a traditional book deal and learn everything I could about writing, book markets, the whole industry... so I began learning, crafting, interacting with other writers.

It saved my ass.

The more I learned, the more I realized I knew absolutely nothing. 5/

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

My first attempt at a novel was absolutely rotten.

Written like an RPG
9+ POVs
Lots of stuff but no story

... and I almost made the mistake of publishing it. Almost. That would have killed my book (and any series) stone dead. 4/

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

When it became clear I was outgrowing the RPG (as were my characters), I thought... my own book - why not?

I loved reading books like: Myst, The Obsidian Trilogy, anything Andre Norton or C. J. Cherryh, and of course Ivan Cat and Darren Sarvari.

I slid RPG characters into my world and voila! 3/

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

I began as an #RPG writer while simultaneously building a unique fantasy world and conlang.

RPG gave me a chance to learn about characters and take risks with a plethora of unique personalities and temperaments.

Worldbuilding & conlang satisfied a need for dark and bizarre worlds. 2/

K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 2d

Day 2 of trying to crawl back into social media, and I've been thinking about publishing paths.

The general consensus is that there's a path for everyone... so here's a little bit about my path. 1/

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 3d

I've also got some super secret fun announcements coming at the end of October. So stick around and let's be friends. ❤️

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ALT: patrick star and spongebob squarepants are sitting at desks in a classroom .

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 3d

And for even MORE FUN...

#AuthorsAgainstAbuse is also selling prize calendars as part of our fundraiser!

✅ Purchase a calendar (or two)
✅ Get free ebook
✅ Get entered into drawing for fun prizes

You also get a free wall calendar with purchase: iknowwhyshestayed.org/product/priz...

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K. J. Harrowick @kjharrowick.bsky.social · 3d

And if you're interested in my daytime work - check out the #AuthorsAgainstAbuse event on November 2nd at BOUNTI-FARE.

Pam the Berkshire Medium and singer Lita Williams will be rockin' our fundraiser to help victims and survivors of financial abuse. iknowwhyshestayed.org/news-and-eve...

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