Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Megaera Lorenz

@megaeralwrites.bsky.social

2K followers 2.8K following 1.4K posts

Egyptologist and author. She/they. Authors Against Book Bans Illinois Chapter Leader. Debut novel THE SHABTI (2024) available now wherever books are sold.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · Nov 18

Sooo many new folks, I guess it’s time to share this again. Hello!

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · Sep 12

Hi, new skootuals! I’m an Egyptologist by training, writer by vocation. I probably talk about my debut novel too much. Giant nerd about Egyptology, 1930s American pop culture, & the history of spiritualism. Will happily talk your ear off about PG Wodehouse, Cab Calloway, or Gef the Talking Mongoose.

Picture of me sitting at a table in a B&N with some copies of The Shabti in front of me.

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 2m

Yay! \o/ And likewise! Oh well, here’s hoping it’s just a temporary glitch

1 1

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 4m

Sounds like it might be something like that!

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 5m

Yeah, hopefully it’s just a glitch that will be resolved soon. 🫤 It’s disconcerting, especially in the current atmosphere…

1 1

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 7m

Ah, thanks, that is reassuring!

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 11m

Nope, doesn’t seem to have worked 🙃

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 11m

Something weird is up with my account. None of my posts are being indexed by the internal Bsky search engine. Is this some kind of shadow ban? I’ve tried logging out and back in. Just uninstalled and reinstalled the app in case that helps.

4 1

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 55m

I kind of forgot about this thing I wrote about the significance and history of shabti figurines: www.tumblr.com/megaeralwrit...

Post by @megaeralwrites · 1 image

💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 2 · What Is a Shabti, Anyway? (An Egyptologist Answers Your Burning Questions) · So, I wrote a novel called The Shabti (coming summer 2024!). In case you’re wondering what a shabti is—…

www.tumblr.com

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 1h

The shabti is a fairly late development in a long evolution of servant/serving figurines for the dead. Some earlier ones might have represented actual servants (or even family members) of the dead person, but shabtis were more like little magical automata

Post by @megaeralwrites · 1 image

www.tumblr.com

1 1

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 1h

Shabtis were more of a stand-in for the deceased person that would do work for them, specifically so the actual soul of the dead *didn’t* have to toil in the afterlife. There may have been a very brief experiment with human sacrifice very early in pharaonic history, but it didn’t last.

1 2

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 2h

She’s teaching herself!!! I’m endlessly impressed by how expressive her work is ❤️

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 2h

My 12-year-old somehow ended up in her BFF’s very enthusiastic railfanning text group and drew this series of increasingly irate reaction images in response to random train chatter blowing up her notifications at all hours

A doodle of a frustrated person scowling and holding up their hands in a pleading gesture

Another doodle of the same person looking even more frustrated. They are glaring and baring their teeth.

The cartoon doodle guy is now at their wits’ end. They have developed an eyelid twitch. Their hands face up, fingers curled into claws in a gesture of impotent rage

1 6

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 5h

That’s what I’ve been worried about, too!

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 16h

I haven’t tried hashtags, but my most recent posts aren’t showing up in keyword searches.

1 1

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 1d

Ah, I’m glad I’m not the only one!

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 1d

Is the search function being wonky the past few days, or is it just me?

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 3d

Yoooo free shipping today on Bookshop.org! If you’ve been waiting for your sign to get the paperback of The Shabti, this is it!

The Shabti

Check out The Shabti - Can you flimflam a ghost? It’s 1934. Former medium Dashiel Quicke travels the country debunking spiritualism and false mediums while struggling to stay ahead of...

bookshop.org

1 2

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 3d

We’ve all been asking why the media isn’t covering more of what’s happening in Chicago. It didn’t occur to me that a lot of them just plain *don’t know*.

From the chicago community on Reddit

Explore this post and more from the chicago community

www.reddit.com

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 3d

I got my first book deal because I participated in a pitching contest on the website formerly known as Twitter.

Reposted by Megaera Lorenz

KJ Charles @kjcharleswriter.com · 3d

...oops?

All Of Us Murderers flyer with book cover. tex says: Readers Say, followed by quotes: All Of Us Murderers is why I am sleep deprived at work today.

Kept me up until 2am on a
work night!

I read this in one sitting and stayed up until 3am because
I couldn't put it down.

I was only going to read a chapter before bed and then I blinked and it was 8am.

end tagline reads: Out Now. sorry about that.

9 37 230

Reposted by Megaera Lorenz

Merlina Garance @merlinagarance.bsky.social · 3d

A grimy bookshop is no place for love. Niall is here for a deep cleaning job, so he represses his attraction for the broody owner. His life is complicated enough. However, forgetting a cute guy when Kris opens up and won't stop cooking for him, is easier said than done.

#Dvpit #LGBT #A #OWN #CR

1 1 2

Reposted by Megaera Lorenz

MariEsposeets @mariesposeets.bsky.social · 4d

Summon more wizard frogs! Armies of wizard frogs! Any excuse to draw more wizard frogs.

First pic: watercolor and pen illustration of three wizard frogs: an Argentine horned frog, a desert rain frog, and a toad, armed with their wizard staffs. Desert rain frog wizard: Back! Back to the shadows, foul creatures!

Second pic: rl Portland wizard frog standing up to cowardly ice creeps.

5 64 230

Reposted by Megaera Lorenz

K.A. Doore @kadoore.com · 4d

I'm not saying I've got Lists of Queer Adult SFF for Bookshop's free shipping days, but
bookshop.org/shop/queerad...

2 32 40

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 3d

Check out more of Beelz’s art here: beelzeebub.tumblr.com

Commissions open!

Beelz, they/them, 18+

beelzeebub.tumblr.com

1 1

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 3d

EEEEE look at this art of Hermann and Horatio (plus a hint of supernatural menace) that I commissioned from Beelzeebub/beelzafterdark on Instagram 🤩🤩🤩 Could he look any more quintessentially Hermannish? (Also, this is ostensibly a “sketch” with a “simple background” but the detail? The linework?!!!)

Black and white line drawing of Hermann Goschalk from The Shabti by Beelzeebub, aka Beelzafterdark. Hermann stands in his office holding some sheets of paper, looking worriedly at a shadowy, menacing ghostly entity floating into the room at top left. Hermann’s cat Horatio sits behind him on a desk, also looking up at the ghost. There’s a bookcase behind Hermann and several Egyptian artifacts, including some shabti figurines and a false door. There’s a briefcase on the floor by his feet. Hermann is a short, slightly plump man in his 50s, dressed in 1930s attire, with thick, wavy hair and small eyeglasses.

1 1 13

Megaera Lorenz @megaeralwrites.bsky.social · 4d

❤️

Masterpiece of Turkey Cleverness @turkeycleverness.bsky.social · 4d

Today's queer indie Skeletal Season rec is The Shabti, by @megaeralwrites.bsky.social. M/M historical fantasy/horror. The horror is light enough that I think even people who don't typically like horror can read this and be fine, but of course your mileage may vary.