Kathleen Rowan 🌱
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rowanauthor.bsky.social
Kathleen Rowan 🌱
@rowanauthor.bsky.social
3.1K followers 3.2K following 12K posts
🔸️writing fantasy & sci-fantasy🔸️living real life adventures🔸️marveling at the mundane & the majestic🔸️breathing courage into your embers

🔸️GentlyRowan on AO3 & Tumblr (HZD)
🔸️photography by me & my husband
🔸️🥔

📷 me by an icicle wall gazing at sun-touched hills
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rowanauthor.bsky.social
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."
- Haldir, The Fellowship of the Ring,
J.R.R.Tolkien
Tufts of grass mark the line between the sunlit dune where Kathleen Rowan sits and a very blue sky. Her head bends slightly in a melancholy attitude, and her hair dances in windswept tendrils before her face. The bright day casts stark contrasts between light and shadow on her dark blue dress, its skirt splaying dramatically on the sand where she sits on a dune. Photo by Mr. Rowan
February 3, 2026 at 3:52 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
I like to revisit my wintry adventures this time of year.

Here's another inspired by HZD, with itty bitty me on the right for scale atop the mesa, and a thin line of a road for scale deep below.

As you may imagine, a place called "Island in the Sky" is pretty chilly in late November.

#Canyonlands
Photo, in theatrically wide dimensions: A small figure (Kathleen Rowan, dressed as a Nora from Horizon Zero Dawn) on a snowy mesa's edge looks down into a canyon that meanders toward hazy mountains in the distance. The earth is warm tan, dotted with scrubby green plants. Blue stretches beyond it: bright blue skies, vast and clear, and deeper blue mesa-shadows stretching into the canyon behind the eager, adventurous figure. In the distance rise the La Sal Mountains. · The Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park · Photo by Mr. Rowan
January 26, 2026 at 5:44 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
Please enjoy #ArchesNationalPark looking like a crisp, sweet sugar treat, from one of my #HorizonZeroDawn -inspired adventures a couple of years ago.

I haven't been able to get out into it lately, but I assure you:
the world is still wide and wondrous.
Snow clings to hardy bushes and trees in the foreground, while lances of light flow from the sun peeking out from behind a looming stone formation above and behind them. The snow looks magical in its contrasts of white light and blue shadow.
January 22, 2026 at 2:59 AM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
It's been too long since I've shared one of my photos, so here's one from once when we went wonder-hunting this time of year.

In the times we're living in, it's so important to me to remind you that the world is still bursting at the seams with beauty.
Kathleen Rowan stands in the blue shadow of a low cliff dripping with icicles, some of them reaching all the way to the ground, gazing across the road on the other side of her at the thin golden glow of a winter sunset slipping over rolling hills into the distance under a clear sky. She wears an ombré dark blue dress spangled with tiny white stars. Near the southern part of the Appalachian Trail in north Georgia. Photo by Mr. Rowan.
January 14, 2026 at 5:18 AM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
I've switched out my cover photo for a winter adventure for the season. Please join me in marveling at Bryce Canyon in the snow. ❇*

#AmericaTheBeautiful
#KeepPublicLandsInPublicHands
#HZD #HorizonZeroDawn #Sunfall
Kathleen Rowan stands akimbo in the snow amongst the hoodoos on a bright, sunny day at Bryce Canyon
December 14, 2025 at 7:37 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
We took in a kitten somebody found motherless and was getting ready to take to a shelter.

He's the most beautiful derp that ever derped, a true himbo, no thoughts only immaculate vibes.

10/10 best cat
A white cat sleeping on a white blanket with one front paw outstretched, the pink inside of his ear the only break in the snowy monochrome
November 27, 2025 at 3:14 AM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
The stark mood of a fire season dusk.
📷 My photo. Yosemite, 2020.
A natural monolith, almost silhouetted in the falling dusk, juts into the smoky summer sky between trees in the foreground and tree-capped cliffs beyond. Yosemite National Park, fire season, 2020. Photo by Kathleen Rowan.
November 20, 2025 at 9:44 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
My new cover photo is a crop of this one. I enjoyed writing the alt text.

The low sun shines golden through a colonnade of lakeside trees in autumnal hues, casting a pattern of alternating light and shadow over the ground. [I stand] this side of the trees, looking out across the shining blue water.
The low sun shines golden through a colonnade of lakeside trees in autumnal hues, casting a pattern of alternating light and shadow over the ground. Kathleen Rowan, in a long dress with hanging sleeves, stands this side of the trees, looking out across the shining blue water. Photo by my husband. Georgia, USA.
November 19, 2025 at 4:59 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
Autumnal #Caturday Close-up

#CatsOfBluesky
A tuxedo cat lies on her back on the floor, front paws lifted, staring back at the viewer with piercing green eyes. Sunlight washes over her through a grated glass door, limning her fur. Beyond, out of focus, are the autumnal auburn tones of a pile of leaves.
November 15, 2025 at 6:57 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
My black-and-white cat's fur is less dense, but more silky. Look at the SHEEN!
A tuxedo cat, rolled over mostly onto her back, her left paws stretched out and touching, and her right paws each curled in. Light shines a rim of highlight on the black part of her fur.
November 12, 2025 at 10:06 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
Look at him
A white cat curled up in a gray felt box by a window, his fur dense as a blanket of snow
November 12, 2025 at 5:24 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
Folks are posting photos of first snowfalls around here, so I'll probably change my header image for the season soon. Here's my current one, in case you haven't seen it.

Much adventure. Very wanderlust.
Photo: an adventuress pauses to survey the wide, orange and blue vista of natural desert monoliths under open sky. She is dressed as a Nora from Horizon Zero Dawn, in brown with accents of blue and a curved white "machine plate" clasping a short cape to one shoulder. Puddles of water pooled in shallow hollows in the plateau on which she stands reflect back the azure of the sky. Arches National Park, Utah, USA. Photo by my husband.
November 11, 2025 at 4:50 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
(Voting day is today, USA,
& local elections matter!)

🔺💙🔺 VOTE🔺💙🔺
Kathleen Rowan, in a dark blue dress with red sleeves peeking from it, stands on a beach gazing out at the Gulf of Mexico. Photo by her husband. Mississippi, United States of America
November 4, 2025 at 4:33 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
I have a meme for this occasion.
The anime meme of a man in glasses lifting a hand toward a butterfly. He asks, "Is this... Neurotypical?"
November 3, 2025 at 3:30 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
A new sculptural pose for your #Caturday

She is available as a sketch reference for a very modest fee (your eternal, undying admiration).

#CatsOfBluesky
A tuxedo cat on her back, curled almost into a circle, with her right paws raised, and her back, left foot extended
November 1, 2025 at 11:07 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
But would you wear the t-shirt?
Gray t-shirt from netflix's shop featuring the funny drawing a young fan in the movie made of Rumi on the back of a winged Jinu, labeled Rujinu
November 1, 2025 at 5:29 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
The KPop Demon Hunters Sing Along is returning to movie theaters for Halloween, and some of you out there are nervous to go out and do this kind of thing in public - especially without a friend to back you up.

I'm here to levy a challenge.

I'll be
✔ attending
✔ belting
✔ on my own!

How about you?
Frodo saying, "I'm going to Mordor alone!" but "Mordor" is crossed out in purple and replaced with "The KPop Demon Hunters Sing Along."
October 30, 2025 at 4:07 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
Please get some rest today.
Here, look at something beautiful.
It'll help. 🌱
Looking up at a backlit weeping willow, photo by me
October 26, 2025 at 7:21 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
YOU can help protect the rare and endangered Kathleen Rowan!

By standing up for democracy and creating a culture of mutual aid that builds community resilience in the face of uncertain times, you can help build a future where creatures like this can thrive.

Thanks so much for your contribution. 🌱
Kathleen Rowan at Zion National Park, Utah, USA. Sunlight glows off the warm, brown highlights of her long hair as she stands on a smooth, sloped, Navajo sandstone overlook gazing across the vast, shadowed canyon at the line of peaks known as the Court of the Patriarchs. Photo by her husband.
October 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
What I lacked in punctuality in regards to Horizon Zero Dawn, I've made up for with mileage of HZD & HFW landscapes traversed.

(But you don't have to do that either. You're a fan if you're a fan. Simple as that. You count.)
Kathleen Rowan, in a post-apocalyptic costume complete with (toy) archery bow inspired by Horizon Zero Dawn, stands boldly in the snow atop Angel's Landing at Zion National Park in Utah, USA. The canyon is so far below that the river looks like a road and the road is barely visible.
October 21, 2025 at 9:17 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
Just ONE WEEK from tomorrow, I'll be at one of the 2,000+ events planned nationwide for a second #NoKings Day.

It's because I LOVE my country.

I don't think I need to tell you that.
Kathleen Rowan, in a wind-billowed, deep blue dress under a bright blue sky, looks across a sunny vista of snow-capped mountains with clouds in the valley below. Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA I sit on a boulder at a cliff's edge, leaning eagerly forward to look out over a canyon with a waterfall in the distance at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA Kathleen Rowan crouches on the bank of a swamp, surrounded by bald cypresses and their reflections in the brown, green and blue sunlit water, one hand upturned and lifting as if drawing the short cypresses fingers up out of the ground in a circle around her. Natchez Trace, Mississippi, USA Almost silhouetted in the shadows of the foreground, I gaze up at afternoon-bright peaks of Zion Canyon under blue sky and leafless branches. Emerald Pools Trail, Zion National Park, Utah, USA
October 10, 2025 at 11:27 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
I haven't been as playful here of late.
Here's something that still brings me joy!
– My thrifted bow Horizon upcycle, that I took with me on my adventures to Utah
An upcycled toy archery bow held aloft to align with a similarly shaped natural, angled cut in a cliff face at Zion National Park in Utah, USA. I redesigned the bow in the style of Horizon Zero Dawn. It features blue "machine wire" and elements that look like "machine plate" off the robots from the game, along with earthier elements like feathers, beads, and braided cord.
October 8, 2025 at 4:35 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
Anything good on TV, kids?

#Caturday #CatsOfBluesky
A white cat dips down below the hem of a curtain he's partially under to look back at me. A mostly black cat sits just behind him like his shadow, more fully covered by the curtain as she looks out the window beyond. One of her dark ears presses, silhouetted, into the curtain.
October 4, 2025 at 2:44 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
Anyway, here are some pictures of my cat.

#Caturday #CatsOfBluesky
Three tiny, black and white kittens frolic at the base of a tree. One is blurry, sticking her nose right up to the camera. A mostly black kitty appears silhouetted in front of a tv screen. On the screen is the Act One riverside camp from Baldur's Gate 3. The kitty is watching Scratch the dog run around the campsite with rapt attention. A tuxedo cat sits, statuesque, on the back of a sofa, looking down over a throw pillow depicting a black crow and green acanthus leaves (design by William Morris).
September 27, 2025 at 5:03 PM
rowanauthor.bsky.social
Important update from my garden!
Two small, red peppers and a small potato, a smaller potato, and teeny tiny potato on a saucer with a leaf pattern
September 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM