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Idra Fallow

@idrafallow.bsky.social

300 followers 91 following 810 posts

Garden hermit. Occasional persona of Pinko Scare. she/her

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Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 10h

Honestly I think he deserves an award for those summaries he does.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 10h

She's also slightly naive because at the start of the story she's lived in a village of 300 people her whole life.

It might be more "historically" accurate if she was closer to 16, but I didn't want to write this story about a minor. It's not historical fiction, anyway. So I just never say her age.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 10h

It's always going to sound a little juvenile when the protagonist is young. I didn't want to make one of these heroines who's supposed to be about 19 but talks and acts like she's 35. My protag is ~19-20ish (I kept it vague for Reasons), and she acts like it, I think.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 10h

Husband has read the new edits and says my book feels like it's written "for grownups." Which is exactly what I was going for, thanks babe!

No but fr I'm constantly worried my prose sounds too much like YA.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 14h

Also I wouldn't really make such a demand, beta-ing can be a big slog

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 14h

Pointy stick not getting the respect it deserves, imho

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 14h

Jk. I only want sigma readers, actually.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 14h

I'm going to beat you over the head with the completed manuscript until you agree to beta read for me :P

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 14h

I have whittled my character list down to 53 named characters. Previously there were 70 something?

The trade-off is an additional 7,000 words. Also I threw in a bunch of extra conlang for funsies.

Reposted by Idra Fallow

problem goose @mammothfactory.bsky.social · 2d

Reposted by Idra Fallow

Iggy 🏴 @drawndaggers.bsky.social · Aug 31

Now on the library for easier reading:

theanarchistlibrary.org/library/igna...

Cover for "You have always been in someone's hell" depicting a riot in Switzerland after police murdered a teenager in August 2025

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

I also hate AI.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

This is not something I need to think about too hard if I self-publish, but my inner nerdy child craves the sense of approval offered by a publishing contract.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

All of that has led to a thicc ass book, containing a few romantic subplots, with a lot of elements that I'm sure many readers will find alienating (and that's okay!)

But on its face, it looks like a fantasy romance. It's not accurate enough for historical, or magical enough for high fantasy...idk

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

The antagonist's tool isn't rigid enforcement of social norms. It is instead an exaggeration of nascent forms of oppression that grew out of existing norms, which they are selling as a return to the "old ways," using the allure of divine femininity (it's fascism, okay? we're doing Stone Age fascism)

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

The protagonist isn't railing against the societal norm (here, anyway. She is in other places). She is not a champion for the cause of true love, and is actually a pragmatist given the circumstances. The antagonist is not entirely cynical about love. Their belief in it is genuine, if self-serving.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

This is part of why this book is so damn long, by the way. It was shorter, but in every round of beta reading and editor feedback, I have been asked to more thoroughly explain the attitudes toward love, sex, and marriage in this world. I think they're just kind of alien to our modern ideals.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

In fact, the only person who suggests that marriage (allegorical here, it's not a literal marriage in the text) is for something more than alliance forming (like love or religious devotion) is trying to disguise their hunger for power as a sacred calling.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

She does fall in love...kinda? But a critique of gender roles means a critique of marriage. Marriage in her world is purely a political arrangement, and she isn't allowed to marry. She does not question this, and she also loves more than one person. It's not a satisfying HAE by most ppl's standards.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

But, back to my original point. I don't know where in the world of fantasy this book fits, exactly. I think if it somehow got picked up by a traditional publisher (unlikely), they'd want it to be fantasy romance, probably new adult, because it's about a young woman and there's sex scenes.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

At this point everyone is probably rolling their eyes like "Another feminist critique of religion that paints a rosy picture of some idealized Mother Goddess."

I promise it isn't! At the risk of spoilers, my firm opinion is that the concept of "divine femininity" is a form of patriarchal oppression

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

The story explores gender roles and asks how sexism emerged to begin with. It follows a young woman's initiation into the sacred cult at the center of her people's religion, which is devoted to a mother/fertility goddess. Sex is important in the religion, in the world building, and in the plot.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

It's a fantasy story, and it has romance, and a young female protagonist, so I think it would likely be received as either fantasy romance and romantic fantasy (apparently there is a difference). But I think readers of either genre would be disappointed in the book. Or maybe they wouldn't, idk.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

I'm a little frustrated by how much of my brain space has been taken up by these books. I've been trying to get a feel for what's out there and popular as I finish what I hope is my final round of edits on my first novel. I don't know how exactly to market the damn thing.

Idra Fallow @idrafallow.bsky.social · 2d

(I posted this in that original thread and then decided to move it here because it's about writing stuff)