Suzannah Rowntree
@suzannahrowntree.bsky.social
Historical fantasy author | Books make the best time machines | Christian, tea drinker, siege fancier | https://suzannahrowntree.site
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Stressed out by your battle scene? HOW TO WRITE A FANTASY BATTLE is out in the world - and since a few reviewers who pride themselves on the depth of their military knowledge have complained that the book is too short and basic, you know it'll be absolutely perfect for YOU 😇
books2read.com/u/bO7Q5J
books2read.com/u/bO7Q5J
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
I am getting tired of history rhyming, I’d take some free-verse history at this point
November 26, 2025 at 2:58 AM
I am getting tired of history rhyming, I’d take some free-verse history at this point
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
A friend who worked on a Bible translation in PNG once told me that in traditional PNG cultures, it's not immodest for a woman to go topless, but it IS immodest to show thighs or to dance with a man, and he felt bad for the PNG actress in an early ep of THE CROWN for being asked to do the latter.
Lewis points out something interesting here: modesty has to be understood within the matter of context. A woman in the Pacific Islands, he notes, can be modest while wearing barely any clothes, while a Victorian woman will have different standards for the same idea.
November 23, 2025 at 11:17 PM
A friend who worked on a Bible translation in PNG once told me that in traditional PNG cultures, it's not immodest for a woman to go topless, but it IS immodest to show thighs or to dance with a man, and he felt bad for the PNG actress in an early ep of THE CROWN for being asked to do the latter.
oh!!!! what a tremendous and thoughtful thread!
A friend who teaches theology shared with me a post about CS Lewis's Mere Christianity, which discusses foundational Christian logic across denominations. It reminded me of Dale's tweet below, and I wanted to share some thoughts here regarding modesty and respectability, which are often hot topics.
November 23, 2025 at 11:12 PM
oh!!!! what a tremendous and thoughtful thread!
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
So the 'Gmail is now training its LLM on your email' alert was a genuine misunderstanding due to unclear language on their part and the fact users no longer trust Google not to be evil. I wonder if this uproar will give the decision makers there pause for thought. Not counting on that happening 1/5
November 23, 2025 at 9:05 AM
So the 'Gmail is now training its LLM on your email' alert was a genuine misunderstanding due to unclear language on their part and the fact users no longer trust Google not to be evil. I wonder if this uproar will give the decision makers there pause for thought. Not counting on that happening 1/5
Thanks, I hate it (affectionate)
He said "Amen" straight into the drop
Lmao Pope Leo threw a rave for an archbishop's 75th birthday this is kind of incredible
Lmao Pope Leo threw a rave for an archbishop's 75th birthday this is kind of incredible
November 21, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Thanks, I hate it (affectionate)
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
I briefly tried to imagine explaining this joke to my mum and now I need to go lie down.
Your favourite elf king dies after a song battle with your favourite dark lord?
Problematic mage raps.
Problematic mage raps.
Your piercing doesn’t look the way you hoped it would?
Problematic gauge gap.
Problematic gauge gap.
November 20, 2025 at 1:54 AM
I briefly tried to imagine explaining this joke to my mum and now I need to go lie down.
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
Grab a bundle of fantasy romance reads with strong heroines from me and other indie fantasy authors! You choose what to pay: anything over $5 gets you three books, or contribute $25 or more to unlock all eleven titles.
Check it out at StoryBundle.com/fantasy before 4 December!
Check it out at StoryBundle.com/fantasy before 4 December!
November 14, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Grab a bundle of fantasy romance reads with strong heroines from me and other indie fantasy authors! You choose what to pay: anything over $5 gets you three books, or contribute $25 or more to unlock all eleven titles.
Check it out at StoryBundle.com/fantasy before 4 December!
Check it out at StoryBundle.com/fantasy before 4 December!
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
It was an absolute pleasure to appear on Wizards and Spaceships podcast with some thoughts on How to Write a Fantasy Battle! Many thanks to Rachel and David for hosting me!
It's time to get your war on! @suzannahrowntree.bsky.social tells us how medieval battles were *really* fought and how they can work as a model for fantasy writers.
Season 2, Episode 7: How to Write a Kick-Ass Fantasy Battle ft. Suzannah Rowntree - Wizards and Spaceships
Anyone who’s ever written fantasy has faced this problem: You have hit the point of conflict in a story where problems can no longer be worked out with witty retorts or a magic spell. The orcs are at ...
wizardsandspaceships.ca
November 15, 2025 at 7:49 PM
It was an absolute pleasure to appear on Wizards and Spaceships podcast with some thoughts on How to Write a Fantasy Battle! Many thanks to Rachel and David for hosting me!
Non writers nearly always presume that I need "inspiration" and I'm always at a loss for how to explain that a single moment of inspiration can generate literally DECADES of hard, careful work actually building the story.
I've had a few 'what do you do' convs recently, and everyone on hearing I'm an author comes out with "so how do you come up with ideas?", just like every book or movie about a writer has them staring numbly into space because they don't have an idea for the next book. And look, that is Not It.
November 19, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Non writers nearly always presume that I need "inspiration" and I'm always at a loss for how to explain that a single moment of inspiration can generate literally DECADES of hard, careful work actually building the story.
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
The Leading Ladies Fantasy Bundle:
You know how it goes. There's one female character in the book, and she's a love interest. She's given little to do and less to wear. She has no good lines, and nothing to contribute save her helplessness.
These are not those stories. storybundle.com/fantasy
You know how it goes. There's one female character in the book, and she's a love interest. She's given little to do and less to wear. She has no good lines, and nothing to contribute save her helplessness.
These are not those stories. storybundle.com/fantasy
November 13, 2025 at 4:55 PM
The Leading Ladies Fantasy Bundle:
You know how it goes. There's one female character in the book, and she's a love interest. She's given little to do and less to wear. She has no good lines, and nothing to contribute save her helplessness.
These are not those stories. storybundle.com/fantasy
You know how it goes. There's one female character in the book, and she's a love interest. She's given little to do and less to wear. She has no good lines, and nothing to contribute save her helplessness.
These are not those stories. storybundle.com/fantasy
Sigh... This morning I got cold messaged on Instagram by an artist with "No AI" in her profile, asking for a job creating art for one of my books.
Yet, she had CLEARLY used AI to write her message, and probably also to lie about having read my book.
Hard pass, mostly for the hypocrisy.
Yet, she had CLEARLY used AI to write her message, and probably also to lie about having read my book.
Hard pass, mostly for the hypocrisy.
November 17, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Sigh... This morning I got cold messaged on Instagram by an artist with "No AI" in her profile, asking for a job creating art for one of my books.
Yet, she had CLEARLY used AI to write her message, and probably also to lie about having read my book.
Hard pass, mostly for the hypocrisy.
Yet, she had CLEARLY used AI to write her message, and probably also to lie about having read my book.
Hard pass, mostly for the hypocrisy.
"Can we get those boys some lances?" I appear on Wizards & Spaceships podcast this month to discuss how to write your fantasy battle scenes! Head over to wizardsandspaceships.ca/2025/11/15/s... or your favourite podcast platform to catch the whole episode!
November 16, 2025 at 11:03 PM
"Can we get those boys some lances?" I appear on Wizards & Spaceships podcast this month to discuss how to write your fantasy battle scenes! Head over to wizardsandspaceships.ca/2025/11/15/s... or your favourite podcast platform to catch the whole episode!
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
There are so many great books in this bundle. I already own about half. Certainly Stephanie's Harwood Spellbooks! Also the Miss Dark series (Tall & Dark is the first book) is a steampunk Leverage delight.
My complete Harwood Spellbook boxed set usually costs $9.99/£7.99, but right now, you can snap it up in the Leading Ladies StoryBundle along with 9 to 11 other books by amazing authors for just $25 in total! Check it out:
storybundle.com/fantasy
#romancelandia
storybundle.com/fantasy
#romancelandia
November 16, 2025 at 4:19 PM
There are so many great books in this bundle. I already own about half. Certainly Stephanie's Harwood Spellbooks! Also the Miss Dark series (Tall & Dark is the first book) is a steampunk Leverage delight.
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
Art:
November 15, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Art:
It was an absolute pleasure to appear on Wizards and Spaceships podcast with some thoughts on How to Write a Fantasy Battle! Many thanks to Rachel and David for hosting me!
It's time to get your war on! @suzannahrowntree.bsky.social tells us how medieval battles were *really* fought and how they can work as a model for fantasy writers.
Season 2, Episode 7: How to Write a Kick-Ass Fantasy Battle ft. Suzannah Rowntree - Wizards and Spaceships
Anyone who’s ever written fantasy has faced this problem: You have hit the point of conflict in a story where problems can no longer be worked out with witty retorts or a magic spell. The orcs are at ...
wizardsandspaceships.ca
November 15, 2025 at 7:49 PM
It was an absolute pleasure to appear on Wizards and Spaceships podcast with some thoughts on How to Write a Fantasy Battle! Many thanks to Rachel and David for hosting me!
Grab a bundle of fantasy romance reads with strong heroines from me and other indie fantasy authors! You choose what to pay: anything over $5 gets you three books, or contribute $25 or more to unlock all eleven titles.
Check it out at StoryBundle.com/fantasy before 4 December!
Check it out at StoryBundle.com/fantasy before 4 December!
November 14, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Grab a bundle of fantasy romance reads with strong heroines from me and other indie fantasy authors! You choose what to pay: anything over $5 gets you three books, or contribute $25 or more to unlock all eleven titles.
Check it out at StoryBundle.com/fantasy before 4 December!
Check it out at StoryBundle.com/fantasy before 4 December!
Thinking about Tam Lin again, specifically the part where Janet takes one look at her bad fae boyfriend and says "nope, you gotta get christened and domesticated or this wedding is OFF" an icon a legend
November 14, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Thinking about Tam Lin again, specifically the part where Janet takes one look at her bad fae boyfriend and says "nope, you gotta get christened and domesticated or this wedding is OFF" an icon a legend
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
getting a text in the middle of the night and it's just my loathsome vizier saying "Your enemies lie in wait, my lord!!" what am I supposed to do with that. its four in the morning
November 14, 2025 at 4:06 AM
getting a text in the middle of the night and it's just my loathsome vizier saying "Your enemies lie in wait, my lord!!" what am I supposed to do with that. its four in the morning
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
Pay what you want and grab a bundle of fantasy romance reads with strong female heroines from some of my favorite indie fantasy authors! Anything over $5 gets you three books or contribute $25 or more to unlock the batch of eleven titles.
Check it out at storybundle.com/fantasy before December 4th.
Check it out at storybundle.com/fantasy before December 4th.
November 13, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Pay what you want and grab a bundle of fantasy romance reads with strong female heroines from some of my favorite indie fantasy authors! Anything over $5 gets you three books or contribute $25 or more to unlock the batch of eleven titles.
Check it out at storybundle.com/fantasy before December 4th.
Check it out at storybundle.com/fantasy before December 4th.
I'm part of this lovely StoryBundle offer! And I can recommend many of the other books in here!
Snap up my complete Harwood Spellbook boxed set now as part of this amazing StoryBundle curated by Charlotte English, with books by @tillywallace.bsky.social , @tansyrr.bsky.social , @victoriagoddard.bsky.social, R.J. Blain, @kristadb1.bsky.social & more:
storybundle.com/fantasy
#romancelandia
storybundle.com/fantasy
#romancelandia
November 13, 2025 at 11:02 AM
I'm part of this lovely StoryBundle offer! And I can recommend many of the other books in here!
Yes I DID put Q1 of the Heidelberg Catechism into my book about con artists having little adventures in 1890s Germany, because I can do what I want
November 6, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Yes I DID put Q1 of the Heidelberg Catechism into my book about con artists having little adventures in 1890s Germany, because I can do what I want
Reposted by Suzannah Rowntree
“Catholic Pat” doesn’t know the curse of Babel was undone at Pentecost, and the nations divided by sin were united in Christ
November 4, 2025 at 10:09 PM
“Catholic Pat” doesn’t know the curse of Babel was undone at Pentecost, and the nations divided by sin were united in Christ
@wrgingell.bsky.social come and get your girl (DELIGHTFUL thread)
November 4, 2025 at 11:03 AM
@wrgingell.bsky.social come and get your girl (DELIGHTFUL thread)