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Author James C Struck

@curioussnowflake.bsky.social

440 followers 310 following 1K posts

He/They/Him/Them Author of The Curious Snowflake: A Parable, available now! https://bit.ly/3PMYmkR Preorder Children of Dusk here: https://a.co/d/brmahZN Musician, parent, #poly, #leftist, #queer, overall big geek. JamesCStruck.com

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 14d

IT IS TIME!!!!!

Preorders are now available for Children of Dusk! Physical copies are only through Amazon, digital through Kindle, Nook, and Apple. Here is the Amazon link, I will post the other two in the replies.

a.co/d/brmahZN

Children of Dusk

Amazon.com: Children of Dusk: 9781509263929: Struck, James C: Books

a.co

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 16h

#WIPSnips for 10/8: no dungeon, prison, or jail in the manuscript, so you get asylum instead.

Tim’s father is an institutionalized paranoid schizophrenic, here you get his description of the hospital.

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

Forestview. Tim always thought that was a stupid name for the hospital (asylum, his mind piped up) where his father stayed. There was no forest to view, only a few well-kept copses of shade trees on the grounds and nothing beyond them but corn and soybean fields to the horizon, dotted here and there with a barn or silo, like islands. Not that you could see those either, wall and all in the way. No one wants to see in, Tim thought, and those inside shouldn’t see out.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 1d

#WIPSnips for 10/7: safe

Tim’s father is an institutionalized schizophrenic. Here, in the opening scene of the book, Tim and his mom Anna are on their way to visit him, and we get a small taste of their relationship.

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

We’re going to an asylum. Shouldn’t it be a dark and stormy night?" Tim gestured with a tilt of his head towards the car window, where an August sun pounded down out of a flat, hazy, cloudless sky.
“Don’t be melodramatic,” his mother replied. “It’s a hospital, not an asylum. And sit up, you look like a human pretzel.”
“I’m comfortable." Tim’s feet were up on the dash, his knees higher than his head, slouched so low he was almost laying in the seat.
“It’s unsafe. Sit up."
Tim immediately popped up to attention, perfect posture, phone held in front of him like a trumpet in a parade.
“Like this, oh mummy dearest?” he said in a perfectly horrid British accent. She smiled slightly and smacked him playfully on the shoulder.
“Smartass.”
“Oh, ow, child abuse, child abuse!”

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 2d

#WIPSnips for 10/6: miss

Tim has burn scarring all down the left side of his face and down his arm. Here he shows Vee why it missed his eye but is worst on the back of his hand. 😢

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

Tim pulled his backpack onto the table. He had some biology homework he hadn’t gotten to in Study Hall, so he figured he’d knock that out and then read. Vee, on the other hand, just sat there, now curled up in the chair like a cat, studying him intently. He finally turned and snapped at her.
“What?" It came out harsher than he intended, but she seemed utterly nonplussed by his reaction. Something about her made him feel… off. Too aware.
“Why don’t you have scarring here?" She traced a line on her own face with one finger, from just below her mouth diagonally up to her cheekbone. Had she said it any other way than she did, had she been even slightly sympathetic or condescending or mocking, Tim would have packed up without a word and moved to the other side of the room. But her tone was one of simple, frank curiosity. He stared at her for a moment, then without a word he raised his left hand to his face. His thumb matched the unscarred strip like a puzzle piece, and his index finger perfectly mirrored the line of scar tissue that ran from his mouth to his hairline, missing his eye by a millimeter.
“Oh shit,” she said in an awed murmur.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 3d

#WIPSnips for 10/5: store

Thunderstorms contain all five of the elements, which make them perfect for Weavers to tap into to amplify their magic. Of course, anyone and anything that can Weave know this too…

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

“God, I hate lying to her.” Tim tucked his phone back into his pocket. They were idling in a parking space a few storefronts down from where Anna worked. As they waited, thick storm clouds started massing in the west, rolling ominously towards them. Vee craned her head over the back of the front seats to look up at the clouds.
“That could be good or bad.”
“Why?”
“You’ve never had a chance to weave during a thunderstorm.” She glanced back over her shoulder at Tim and smirked. “All of the elements are concentrated in them. You can tap into one and use it to juice up whatever you are doing. Storms supercharge everything. Of course,” she sat back with a sigh, “everything also means the Midnighter and their Murk buddies as well.”

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 5d

#WIPSnips for 10/4: stalk because “hunt” is a MAJOR spoiler.

Tim is understandably self-conscious about his facial scars. Vee, being rather smitten with him, doesn’t care about them.

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

Don’t freak, I’ve got some tissues.” Vee started digging around in the front of her massive purple backpack and pulled out a packet. “Here, let me help,” and she reached toward Tim’s face.
Instinctively, Tim flinched away. Vee froze, her hands outstretched, the small smile on her face fading.
“Fine,” she said flatly and dropped the packet on the table. “I guess it’s still ‘touch bad’, huh?” She stood up suddenly. “Clean yourself up, then, I gotta go.”
“Vee, wait, I. . .”
“I gotta go!” She swung her bag up onto her shoulder so hard it made her stumble and stalked off. Tim gaped after her for a moment, then turned to Gideon who threw his hands up.
“Hey, we share some genes, doesn’t mean I understand her.” He reached over and snagged an apple off Tim’s tray. “But she’s right, we gotta bounce. See you after school?”
“Umm, yeah.” Tim absently grabbed the tissues and dabbed at his nose. Gideon looked at him and winced.
“Yeah, you might wanna go clean up before class. You look like you got mugged, dude. Later.” Tim waved, gathered up his things as best he could with one hand, and headed for the nearest bathroom.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 6d

#WIPSnips for 10/3: sleep instead of hibernate.

What better thing to share than the opening paragraph of Children of Dusk? I’m a huge fan of solid opening lines and I think I kinda nailed it with “Timothy Hansen hated visiting his father.”

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

Timothy Hansen hated visiting his father. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, he loved his dad. But he hated it too, hated seeing what he now was, and hated most of all the feeling he had after every visit, like the man his father once was had moved one step further away. At home he could remember the good things: his strong, capable hands, his ready laugh, the soft drone of his voice as he read Tim to sleep. Seuss and Silverstein, Dahl and Lewis, Tolkien and Riordan, dozens of stories, hundreds of voices, all from his father sitting in the soft pool of lamplight by Tim’s bed. But every visit to his father pushed those memories away, pinned them down under glass, relics of the past. Every visit reinforced the hard, cold truth; my father is never coming home.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 6d

#WIPSnips for 10/2: pink rather than salmon

Yeah I know there’s not a lot of 14 year olds who randomly quote Dylan Thomas, but I love that poem so you get to deal with it. 😝😝😝

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

Now, you should go.” Kieran pulled away and placed his hands on Tim’s shoulders. “I have work to do. Research, and….” He waggled a finger. “…preparations!”
“For what?”
“Whaddayathink, smart guy?” said Gideon from behind him. “Training, of course.”
“Training…me?” Tim’s stomach did a quick flip.
“No, the other incredibly gifted willworker we found last week.” Vee’s voice practically gushed sarcasm. “Yeah, you, ya dope. What, did you think it was all ‘here’s a whole new world of magic and monsters, have fun!’ and then just toss you in?” She shook her pink-streaked mop and then sobered. “It’s not a game, Tim. It’s a war, the whole world is at stake, and we’re losing. Maybe already lost. But we can’t just give up, can we?”
“Do not go gentle into that good night,” said Tim under his breath.
“Rage, rage against the dying of the light, precisely,” Kieran finished.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 8d

#WIPSnips for the first day of Spooky Season: River

Wherein our MC Tim gets his first tutorial on how to Weave the five elements. Turns out he’s a bit of a prodigy, and there’s a good reason for that. You’ll have to read the book to find out why. 🤪

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 9d

#WIPSnips for 9/30: paw

Vrolachi are shadow demons that can possess human hosts, and Midnighters can control them via their Darkness-weaving. Here, a vrolach learns what happens when they try to disobey their master.

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

Now, I have a new task for you, one you should enjoy quite a bit. I have more of your ilk on retainer, so to speak, and they need cozy homes like yours. I just need you to gather up more of Mr. Peterson’s friends and bring them here one at a time.”
The vrolach smiled; he knew what this meant. “I look forward to the chance to peel the skin off the scar-faced one, Master. He…ukk…”
It fell to its knees, gagging like a cat with a hairball, and darkness seeped from its eyes and ears. The man behind the desk gazed at this scene, nonplussed except that his eyes were now glowing red-black.
“You’re thinking again,” he said calmly. “I did not bind you so that you could think, you arrogant little Murk. I bound you so that you could be my cat’s-paw and do the dirty deeds I don’t feel like bothering with myself.” The light went out in his eyes and the Kyle-thing collapsed, gasping for air. “Go. Find jocks. Bring them here. Very simple. And if I catch you thinking for yourself again, I will shred you like tissue paper.”
The vrolach staggered to its feet. “Y-yes, Master.” Without looking up, it reached behind it, fumbled the door open, and left.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 10d

#WIPSnips for 9/29: Bull instead of bear

Gideon and Genevieve “Vee” Melan are fraternal twins, and facially they look a great deal alike. Physically, though, they couldn’t be more different.

This was the very first image I had of the twins in my head, btw.

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters

As everyone rose and the sea-roar of chatter ramped up, Tim risked a quick glance at the siblings. Their backs were to him now, and he noticed that they were far less alike while standing. The boy was well over six feet, broad in the shoulders and thick in the middle, with long, swinging arms. The girl, however, was a pixie, all elbows and collarbones and a foot or more shorter than her brother. Yet somehow she seemed to be the leader of the two, cutting and bouncing through the crowd with him trailing behind like a trained bull. Then the milling of people cut them from view.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 10d

#WIPSnips for 9/28: writing instead of ink

One of the surest signs that someone is a potential Weaver is the ability to instinctively understand Housetongue, the secret language of the Opacaroi. Here: Tim and Vee are writing notes in detention after she first speaks it to him.

#WriteSky #YAFANTASY

Tap, tap, tap.
Vee was now staring intently down at a notebook she’d pulled out while Tim was woolgathering. The tapping was her, drumming the eraser of a pencil on the tabletop. When she noticed she’d jarred him out of his reverie, she then tapped at something she’d written in the margin of the notebook. Tim leaned forward marginally to read the words.
Sorry! Didn’t mean to freak you out so much. :-(
Tim grabbed his Bio notebook, flipped to the back page, and wrote in inch-high block letters.
WHAT. THE HELL. JUST. HAPPENED?
Vee pursed her lips, considered for a moment, then replied.
Short answer? Housetongue and elemental Weaving.
What and what?
Housetongue. Mother language, all others are derived from it.
Tim’s logical mind wanted to burst out laughing, but he couldn't deny the strange, double-echo experience of her words.
How do you know it? How do I understand it?
Short answer? Because of what we are.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 12d

#WIPSnips for 9/27: swift

An accident when he was 7 left our MC Tim with horrible burn scars on his entire left side. Needless to say, changing for gym class is something he dreads.

#WriteSky #YAFantasy

Tim took a deep breath, stomach knotting, and pulled his uniform out of his gym locker. The weather had continued hot, so his mom had picked him up one of those thermal arm bands that basketball players use so he could stop wearing long sleeve shirts. But that only covered him from wrist to bicep. He quickly stripped off his shirt, trying to be both swift and nonchalant, but he still heard the conversations around him die as the extent of his scarring was revealed, running down his entire left side from hairline to hipbone.
“The hell happened to you?” said a mocking voice behind him. Tim ignored it and pulled his gym shirt on. Someone else giggled nervously.
“Talking to you, freakshow. How’d you get a face like that?”
Tim knew he was going to have to deal with this crap sooner or later, and that he’d really only have one chance to not be labeled as a bullying target. He kept his face impassive as he turned, even though his heart was thumping in his chest so hard he was sure his ears were twitching in time with it.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 12d

Sure! Feel free to DM me.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 12d

The big thing I’m working on is marketing and getting the word out about it so I can generate some preorders from people other than friends and family. Do you have any tips on that kinds of stuff?

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 12d

Yeah, it’s in the first post in this thread. 😊

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 13d

I envy your output, I write slowly and edit even slower.🤣 This is only my second published book (and first novel).

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 13d

Preorders for Nook/Barnes and Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/children-o...

Children of Dusk|eBook

Seven years ago, an accidental fire had left Timothy Hansen horribly scarred. Now, at fourteen, Tim wants nothing more than to get through high school and be left alone. But when a bullying incident t...

www.barnesandnoble.com

Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 13d

Preorder link for Apple Books/iTunes: books.apple.com/us/book/chil...

‎Children of Dusk

‎Young Adult · 2025

books.apple.com

Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 13d

I wish I was that good at art. 🤣 The artist is Teddi Black (sadly they aren’t on BlueSky otherwise I’d tag them), they work for my publisher, Wild Rose Press.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 14d

Children of Dusk

Amazon.com: Children of Dusk: 9781509263929: Struck, James C: Books

a.co

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 14d

#WIPSnips for 9/25: soak instead of absorb

Weaving can heal injuries, but it’s slow and difficult if the hurt person is unconscious or not a Weaver themselves. Healing a conscious Weaver is exponentially easier because they can help. Here, Tim experiences this firsthand.

#WriteSky #YAFantasy

“O-okay, now just… just hold that,” Vee stammered. She placed her hands on either side of his head, palms at the temples, and drew through him. She did not tap into the full torrent of energies he was experiencing, rather she took a small portion of each and… the best description Tim could come up with was she pulled the energies apart. As she did so, they separated into strands which she then interwove with incredible deftness. Tim couldn’t keep up with what she did, but he could sense the warp and weft of the energies. She then seemed to feed the woven energies back into him, and as she did so the most wonderful sensation of glowing warmth spread down his entire body. His eyes flew open and he was shocked to not find the entire interior of the van lit up with flowing strands of mystical energy. All the power was inside of the two of them. He closed his eyes again. As the warmth continued to spread through him, he felt the energies he held respond to Vee’s weaves. The logic of it clicked; by using his own power and feeding it back into him, it created a resonance, amplifying the healing pattern. The sense of warmth peaked and seemed to settle into him, soaking into the myriad aches, pains, and throbbings throughout his body. Tim let out an involuntary sigh of pleasure as the inner glow faded away.

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 14d

My editor loves them and added a ton to my manuscript, but before that I barely used them at all. 😂

Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 14d

I cannot write creatively on a computer, I have to write longhand otherwise I just edit the idea to death. So I always have a handful of half-filled notebooks with me wherever I go. #WriteSky #AuthorsOfBluesky

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Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 14d

www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Ss8xhF/

#booktok #writersoftiktok #queerauthor

TikTok video by Author James C Struck

www.tiktok.com

Author James C Struck @curioussnowflake.bsky.social · 15d

#WIPSnips for 9/24: leave

Dr Daniel Lum, the guidance counselor at Tim’s high school, is one of my all time favorite secondary characters. His preferred method of therapy is playing darts with the students. 🤣

#WriteSky #YAFantasy #QueerWriters #BookSky

You keep your cards close to your chest, Tim. Maybe too close. So here’s how the next few weeks are going to go. You’re going to come here for your 40 minutes, we play some darts, I shut up and you talk.”
“About what?”
“Whatever. You. Want. You want to divulge your deepest dreams and nightmares? Cool. You want to talk about Monday Night Football. Also cool. My only rule is that you talk about something. My diagnosis for you, my young friend, is atrophy of the social muscle. So think of me as your personal trainer, here to kick your butt once a week for a month and get you into shape. After that I leave it up to you.”
“Really?" Tim was surprised. “So at the end of September, I say we’re done…”
“Then au revoir. But if you decide that playing darts and talking with the school shrink works for you, we continue. Your call. Not your mom’s, not mine, yours." Dan walked to the door and opened it. “Now get lost, I got a tournament to practice for, and you’re not much competition. See you next week, and remember: you talk, I listen.”

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