Allison Stalberg
@stalbergwrites.bsky.social
280 followers 440 following 320 posts
Querying "Heidi's House of Rescued Familiars" SFF Writer 📖 Interviewer for Knee Brace Press ♿️ Gamer 🎮 Asexual af Unitarian Universalist 🕯
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stalbergwrites.bsky.social
HEIDI'S HOUSE OF RESCUED FAMILIARS

🐊Louisiana setting
🏳️‍🌈Trans and ace rep
👁️‍🗨️Multiple POVs
👨‍👧‍👧Found family
🐈a n i m a l s
🚜Redneck wizards
🌷Healing is the hardest part
📚Community politics
🐅Tiger King inspired villain
🪄 m a g i c
🐸Toad hoarders
🦎Reptile conventions

#Q #A #F #S #Questpit
Moodboard with the following images: 
- Swamp at night
- Window looking out at barn
- Trailer park
- Herb book
- Girl holding a coyote
- A field with a church
- A black cat on a chair
- A rearview mirror
- A dirt road by a field
- A crow about to land on a woman in black
- A hand in swamp water
- Spanish moss hanging from a tree
- Bloodied hands
- Candles on an altar In the decaying community of Lombar County, Louisiana, most witches and wizards (the Folk) live in trailers, RVs, or rundown motels. They party in New Orleans, worship evil gods, get addicted to love potions, and make memes about fire spells gone wrong. However, there are little places that try to do some good, like Heidi’s House. 

Told from the point of view of three staff members in a nonprofit familiar rescue.
 
Southern Gothic themes meets Urban Fantasy: Decay, community, and classism. 

Asexual and transgender representation.
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
understatesmen.bsky.social
I love seals. So graceful in the ocean, so GLUMPH GLUMPH GLUMPH on land
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
shes-allison.bsky.social
If you want

🏳️‍🌈 Queer romance
💟 Polyamory rep
👀 Complicated people making bad decisions
💚 Characters in their 30s
📸 Celebrity and fandom
‼️ Dual POV
📚 Alternating timelines
✨ A winding road to a HEA

You’ll love THE AXIS OF YOU AND ME

#Q #A #R #questpit
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
HEIDI'S HOUSE OF RESCUED FAMILIARS

🐊Louisiana setting
🏳️‍🌈Trans and ace rep
👁️‍🗨️Multiple POVs
👨‍👧‍👧Found family
🐈a n i m a l s
🚜Redneck wizards
🌷Healing is the hardest part
📚Community politics
🐅Tiger King inspired villain
🪄 m a g i c
🐸Toad hoarders
🦎Reptile conventions

#Q #A #F #S #Questpit
Moodboard with the following images: 
- Swamp at night
- Window looking out at barn
- Trailer park
- Herb book
- Girl holding a coyote
- A field with a church
- A black cat on a chair
- A rearview mirror
- A dirt road by a field
- A crow about to land on a woman in black
- A hand in swamp water
- Spanish moss hanging from a tree
- Bloodied hands
- Candles on an altar In the decaying community of Lombar County, Louisiana, most witches and wizards (the Folk) live in trailers, RVs, or rundown motels. They party in New Orleans, worship evil gods, get addicted to love potions, and make memes about fire spells gone wrong. However, there are little places that try to do some good, like Heidi’s House. 

Told from the point of view of three staff members in a nonprofit familiar rescue.
 
Southern Gothic themes meets Urban Fantasy: Decay, community, and classism. 

Asexual and transgender representation.
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
chuwenjie.bsky.social
introducing HUNTR/X! #kpopdemonhunters
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
I love sharing my moodboards for "Heidi's House of Rescued Familiars." They usually end up warm but ominous.
Moodboard that says HEIDI'S HOUSE OF RESCUED FAMILIARS. 

Images include: 
- Herb book
- Window with lace curtain looking out to a barn
- A blurry church in a field
- A girl surrounded by cows
- A girl in black in fog
- A lamb with its feet tied
- An herb hanger
- Laundry hanging between trailers
- A candlelit pentagram
- Moon phases
- A bird in a cage
- A fence and a field
- A dirt road by a field with a truck
- A girl holding a bird
- Cigarette smoke in a truck
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
#Booksky

I'm OBSESSED with this book. New fav or all time.
BOOK OVERVIEW of "Fifty Beasts to Break your Heart and other Stories." 

Genre: magical realism, fantasy, contemporary, short stories. 

Themes: heartbreak, obsession/hunger/yearning, monsters, grief Content warnings: death, murder, body horror, toxic relationships.

Favorite short stories: The Plums at the End of the Wolf, 50 Beasts to Break Your Heart, A Haunted Calendar, The Eternal Staircase, The War of Fog

Setting: All over the place. 

Form: Short Story collection, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd POVs. QUOTE: “Oliver had always known that a time might come when perhaps, the world might need devouring. When the world would grow old and sad and sick, and too full of the wrong sorts of hungers. This was his art, after all. He was a master at knowing the moment when death stopped being a tragedy and became, instead, a gift. And if that time came for the whole of the world—he would be ready.”
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

I had fun with the social media aspect in "Heidi's House of Rescued Familiars." Witches can make accounts for their familiars like people do with their pets. There are tarot, potion, and summoner influencers. Wizard trolls embed curses in their status and video uploads.
"I’ve seen teleportation magic trending again on Abra Cablahbra.” Abra Cablahbra was the most popular social media site for Folk. Piper once made an account for Heidi, even though Heidi hardly ever used it on her own. On rainy days in the summer, they’d scroll through Abra Cablahbra to judge selfies of rich Folk who could travel the world and attend ancient rituals in Scotland and Norway.
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
guilhernunes.bsky.social
capybaras being abducted

prints to usa: www.inprnt.com/gallery/guil...

t-shirts, prints and much more to usa, europe and oceania: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/1635...
painting of a ufo firing a beam to abduct capybaras in the forest
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
nicolezelniker.bsky.social
Signed preorders are here! Check out through Flyleaf Books and put your request in the "additional information" box at checkout.

October is almost here, babes📚

flyleafbooks.com/book/9783988...
We Are Made of Scars & Starlight by Nicole Zelniker. The text around it contains things found in the book and reads: Chronically ill MC, astronomy nerd things, sober AF, THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE, sometimes friends are family, dating in NY sucks, family drama, Kai is a little emotionally slutty and we love that for him, and queer cast. The background behind the book is of a city skyline.
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

This is a quote from Oberon Hexwalker in "Heidi's House of Rescued Familiars." This highlights the classism among the Folk. Oberon wants Heidi's rescue to deal with only poor witches and wizards. He doesn't want her to touch his private zoo.
"I value your rescue for its work with poor and uneducated Folk handling power they can’t control. I value your rescue for keeping stray familiars off the streets. I value you dealing with trailer trash like Zathar. But don’t come knocking on the wrong doors.”
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
In "Heidi's House of Rescued Familiars," Folk use bones for decoration, spellwork, and Elder God worship. It is rude and to ask Folk where get their bones from because there is a class divide on that process. (Can go from harvesting roadkill to black market payments.)
 Immediately, Mansa opened the dark door. She matched the home in a dark hijab and black dress with lace accents. She wordlessly let them inside. The home was as maximalist as most Folk with an abundance of rocks, bones, books, and plants. The air smelled like sweet tea and lemons.
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
animalflix.bsky.social
This is an uninterrupted minute of Maruay the rescued tiger with his beloved ball..🥰😇 #bluesky
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

I like getting into money struggles in "Heidi's House of Rescued Familiars." Capitalism is a system that works in favor of the story's villain, Oberon Hexwalker, who runs a private familiar zoo, while Heidi's rescue struggles to make ends meet.
Heidi tried not to think about how overwhelmed they were. Their rescue struggled while Oberon’s zoo thrived. He likely poached animal loving volunteers and professionals away from the rescue, towards his enterprise. Heidi couldn’t afford to pay her volunteers. Oberon was rich enough to pay.
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

In "Heidi's House of Rescued Familiars," Zathar's home is not for the faint-hearted. Like animal hoarding, familiar hoarding is a real issue among the Folk. In Zathar's case, he has too many toads for his little trailer.
He let her inside. The smell of peanut butter mixed with skunk hit her. In a corner, moss grew on sticks under UV light. A garland of dry herbs hung over a quilt-cloaked couch. Glass bottles, pumice rocks, and sponges covered the coffee table. Crystals and mini cacti crowded the windowsills. Tanks of toads cluttered the room, from the top of the television to the side tables.
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
papapishu.bsky.social
Finally caught up on The Summer Hikaru Died and I’m really happy I did. Just a wonderfully animated, bleak, fairly gay horror anime for the summer.
shineyezehuhh.bsky.social
The halcyon days of fucked up 2000s anime are so back.
When I say these two anime evoke a vibe of disturbing anime from yesteryear, I mean the kind of fatalistic, dark anime that doesn’t seem to be made anymore: your Higurashi (When They Cry) or Assassination Classroom. Despite being on opposite ends of the spectrum—one being oppressively bleak and the other an absurdist riot—both anime feature big ideas wrapped in cutesy packaging with an unsettling, violent thematic throughline that would get them banned in schools. These shows were iconic at the time and still stand out in retrospect because they are so visceral. The same is true for The Summer Hikaru Died and Takopi’s Original Sin, which, despite their source material being from 2021, feel so deeply connected to a more daring era of anime history that they surpass the rest of the summer 2025 shows as nostalgic, novel, and refreshingly dark takes on horror.
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
I am now watching The Summer Hikaru Died and I'm screaming. This is gay horror done so, so right. ☠️ I want the rest of it right now 😭
a boy with a backpack stands in front of a fence
Alt: Two boys walk down a street while talking.
media.tenor.com
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
I loved the docuseries, "MerPeople," and this book got into that same territory from the mechanics of performance to the history of it in Florida. This is an especially good read for folks that want to see more immigrant and disability representation!

Thank you @nataliasylv.bsky.social for writing!
Book overview for BREATHE AND COUNT BACK TO TEN. 

Genre: Contemporary YA
Themes: Theme park mermaids, following your dreams, disability, 1st gen immigrant pressures. Content warnings: Ableism, Body shaming, Sexual Harrassment, Misogyny, Medical content. 

Representation: Peruvian-American protag, Protag has hip dysplasia

Setting: Florida

Form: First person single POV Quote: 

 “And it’s weird, because even though I know she’s talking about mermaids and air and the magic of making them seem real, the way she said crutch makes me feel like needing one is a bad thing. Like maybe the “magic” isn’t just about believing in mermaids; it’s about believing people like me don’t exist. Like maybe admitting I’ve needed crutches dispels the myths we want to believe about people. That we’re not perfect. That our bodies have needs. That this doesn’t make us any less real. Any less human.”
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

Needles are one of many items Blair, the veterinarian in "Heidi's House of Rescued Familiars," keeps on hand. Working on familiars requires may more than your average clinic.
Blair’s leather toolkit laid out tweezers, antibiotic ointments, herbs, crystals, bandages, potions, needles, thread, and cutting implements. Her staff leaned on the back wall, made of driftwood and wrapped in fossilized eucalyptus. Rather than a stone at the top, Blair’s staff used a lit candle.
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
I love the idea of a vampire dentist but I know nothing of dentistry and would need to know enough to push the hypothetical of a fang dentist. I also want to write about a fish exorcist but I should learn more marine biology to use the right terminology and expand my ideas of fish possession.
cometkins.bsky.social
What’s something you’d like to write but know you need to do a ton of research beforehand first? What do you need to know first? #WritingPrompt
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
Pick one character from TV or film to take on a date.
Reposted by Allison Stalberg
patkul.bsky.social
Abandoned House by the canal
stalbergwrites.bsky.social
A Survivor contestant argued with me about my asexual identity on Facebook when I posted about it on International Asexuality Day. He argued that it wasn't a real identity and acted all weird about it. He then blocked me after I stood my ground and my allies stood up for me. 💅
bsky.app
Bluesky @bsky.app · Jul 17
what's the most random interaction you've ever had with a celebrity?