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T.R. Steele 🍂

@authortrsteele.bsky.social

65 followers 220 following 49 posts

he/him 🏳️‍⚧️ | ♎ | author of fantasy and gothic fiction ⚔️ | words in/coming from A Coup of Owls Press, Hearth Stories, Tales to Terrify, Heartlines Spec, and Plott Hound Magazine

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T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Jan 22

Hello, time for an introduction! 🍃 I'm Tee, and I write fantasy/gothic fiction featuring trans protagonists and atmospheric settings, with lots of details on flora and fauna. I am currently looking for literary representation and putting short stories out on submission. It's wonderful to be here. 🌱

Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Allison Thai @thaisibir.bsky.social · 5d

"At the Edge of the Tale" by @authortrsteele.bsky.social free to read online!

“You are either very wise,” said Twirl, “or very cruel.”

The unicorn’s long lashes swept over their cheek. “Why can I not be both?”

plotthoundmag.com/at-the-edge-...

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T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · 5d

Love the art! Thank you for sharing! ✨

Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

The Deadlands @thedeadlands.com · 13d

it's here, The Deadlands fundraiser 💀

buy your very 2026 coin for the ferryman and help support us

we've got signed books, deadlands issues + psychopomp book bundles, and more coming soon!

please like + RT this to help spread the word

psychopomp.com/the-deadland...

behold!

Illustration of a white skull partially obscured by colorful mushrooms and plants. Different fungi sprout from and around the skull, including red mushrooms with white spots, yellow fan-shaped mushrooms, gray cluster mushrooms, and orange bulbous mushrooms, with green and purple plants filling the background. A ribbon at the bottom of the skull reads “ADMIT ONE.”

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Heartlines Spec @heartlines-spec.com · 24d

Lovely to see Under the Skin by @authortrsteele.bsky.social mentioned in this roundup

Read it now! Delicate prose perfect for delicate stitches:

www.heartlines-spec.com/under-the-sk...

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T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · 24d

Thank you so much for including my piece and for your kind words! 🦌❤️

Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

teagan white @teaganwhite.bsky.social · Sep 16

broken grasp • 11”x14” • gouache & watercolor on paper

painting of a swift circled by floating ivy vines

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

binary sunrise @clarascintilla.bsky.social · Sep 15

Sharing the peace

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T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Sep 10

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it ✨

T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Sep 10

My submission to @augursociety.bsky.social's microfiction contest! #AugurMicros2025 🌊

An image of a body of water at dusk, with a pink and blue sky and a moon reflecting the setting sun, giving it a pinkish tinge. Overlaid text reads: "Alive Again by T.R. Steele

With the rivers unearthed, the water took its first breath in a long, long time.

It was dusk on the day of the unearthing. The shores were crowded, but we’d arrived early, holding hands as we waited.

The tired flow eased into riverbeds throughout the city that had been cleared and raised and tended back into being with the help of a thousand thousand hands. Ours were only a few of many.

As the rivers streamed into the lake, the sigh billowed around us, sound and feeling both, an utterance not heard for an age. The waters were alive again."

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T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Sep 7

Read my story, "At the Edge of the Tale" (which is about a sad little barn swallow becoming a key figure in the larger story of a captured unicorn) in the second wonderful issue of @plotthoundmag.bsky.social!

Allison Thai @thaisibir.bsky.social · Sep 5

Plott Hound issue 2 is now live!

Buy individual issue or annual subscription to access this latest menagerie:
plotthoundmag.com/issues/

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Laya 🌿🍄 @layahimalaya.bsky.social · Sep 7

I'm really obsessed with dead leaves and tiny spindly fungi at the moment

#art

a page of many small drawings of fungi on dead leaves and twigs. they are all very tall and skinny with small caps, mostly white or light brown (with a couple red), and in groups. the background is tan with a white mycelium pattern. signed layaroseart.com

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Allison Thai @thaisibir.bsky.social · Sep 5

Plott Hound issue 2 is now live!

Buy individual issue or annual subscription to access this latest menagerie:
plotthoundmag.com/issues/

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T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Sep 5

"Julian of the Eels" is about fish, necromancy, working a soul-sucking retail job, and the complexity of taking revenge. Also, the main character is a trans guy. I hope everyone who listens enjoys, and please heed the trigger warnings if need be!

T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Sep 5

Really excited to have my story "Julian of the Eels" live and ready for you to listen to in episode 710 of @talestoterrify.bsky.social! talestoterrify.com/episodes/710...

710 | John Betancourt & T. R. Steele – Tales to Terrify

Welcome to episode 710. We have two tales for you this week. First, a young woman facing eviction turns to […]

talestoterrify.com

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Apex Magazine (is funding for 2026!) 🎉 @apexmag.bsky.social · Sep 5

OUR MICROFICTION CONTEST IS BACK!! ✍️🌺🐛🍄

We had such a great turnout for our first contest that we're back for a second round to celebrate ECO24! Check the pictures/alt text below for full details. The deadline to email your submission to [email protected] is SEPTEMBER 25TH @ midnight!

“Flora – Fauna – Fungi”
An ECO24 Microfiction Contest

Write a short piece of speculative ecofiction (up to 300 words) inspired by one of three photo prompts, and e-mail the piece to darian@apexbookcompany.com. The submission period for this contest will run from September 5th-25th, 2025.

The top three stories overall will be voted on among Apex and Violet Lichen staff, and the winners will be published on the Apex blog, as well as sent a bookmark and a copy of ECO24: THE YEAR’S BEST SPECULATIVE ECOFICTION upon release day!

fig. 1 - flora
Ghost Orchid
A mossy tree in a dark swamp covered in ghost orchids. The bright white blossoms, shaped like a human leaping, have stems so thin, they look as though they're floating in midair.

fig. 2 - fauna
Saddleback Caterpillar

A saddleback caterpillar, a thumbnail-sized spiky brown caterpillar with a flat, neon green back patch shaped like a horse saddle, sits on a single autumn leaf, drinking from a pool of water.

fig. 3 - fungi
Mushroom Spore Prints

A collection of powdery white mushroom spores against a black background. The lines of the mushroom gills and the black center spot from the mushroom's stem are left behind, making the prints look like a human eye's iris.

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Hearth Stories @hearthstories.bsky.social · Sep 1

We open up for submissions tomorrow! (Happy labor day)

Speculative (fantasy, generally) short fiction (1k-10k words) in non-technological settings. Take a look/we'd love to hear from you starting tomorrow!

hearthstories.org/submissions....

#writingcommunity

Hearth Stories: Submissions

Submission guidelines for Hearth Stories magazine. What to send, what not to send, when to send, where to send.

hearthstories.org

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Heartlines Spec @heartlines-spec.com · Aug 31

Why send us early subs?

You get:
❣️fresh eyeballs (plump, moist, dense)
❣️boundless reading energy (cackling and exhaustion free)
❣️more time to submit again (good vibes of deadlines)

Nicole Munro (is writing; on hiatus) @nmunrowrites.bsky.social · Aug 23

Early submission period for @heartlines-spec.com /Heartlines Spec is upon us! Send us your fantasy and/or sci-fi stories based around long-term relationships (platonic, familial, romantic)! Refresh your memory here with the full guidelines: www.heartlines-spec.com/submission-g...

Submission Guidelines

Learn all about our submissions guidelines, what we're looking for, and our payment details

www.heartlines-spec.com

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Augur Society | Augur Issue 8.1 is NOW LIVE ! @augursociety.bsky.social · Aug 28

Missed Murmurstations EP 1 with Cleopatria? 🎙️👀

Listen back to Sonia & Cleopatria talk about how Cleopatria creating their first zine made them feel powerful & how they now pass on that creative freedom through their zine workshops!

Listen NOW on Spotify & Apple!👇
open.spotify.com/episode/5FjE...

Augur Society | Augur Issue 8.1 is NOW LIVE ! @augursociety.bsky.social · Sep 27

🎉 Episode 1 of our new podcast Murmurstations is live!

Join us for a chat with Cleopatria about their story "Mango Maker," themes of joy, and the importance of community in art. 💫

Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/5FjE...

#AugurSociety #Murmurstations #Podcast #SpeculativeFiction

Episode 1: Cleopatria Peterson on Craft and Community

Episode · Murmurstations · In the first episode of Murmurstations' in-augur-al season, Cleopatria Peterson, author of Mango Maker, discusses their multidisciplinary art practice, community building, a...

open.spotify.com

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Plott Hound Magazine @plotthoundmag.bsky.social · Aug 24

Plott Hound Magazine is opening up submissions on September 1st.

If you have any animal-centric fiction, poetry, or essays, we'd love for you to send them our way!

Guidelines: plotthoundmag.com/submissions/

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Ben McEntee @benmce.bsky.social · Aug 6

Replanting

Digital painting of a landscape with a large airship burning a forest in the distance. Two people plant trees in the foreground.

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T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Aug 22

clear my mind and allow me to approach my work (sometimes even on the same day I've done the volunteering!) with new eyes. This isn't revolutionary to some, I'm sure, but I'm really glad I discovered this about my own creative process. 2/2

T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Aug 22

Something that has been a huge help for my writing and writer's block was unintentionally discovered: I volunteer with a nature stewarding group to remove invasive plants from local parks, and I found the mind-blanking, manual labour of pulling up winter creeper and buckthorn has really helped 1/2

T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Aug 19

Thank you so much! Glad to hear it! ✨

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T.R. Steele 🍂 @authortrsteele.bsky.social · Aug 18

So much to check out here! 👀🪶 To add to the list, I have a folktale-inspired flash fiction piece entitled "The Owl-wife" that fits the bill. Read here: acoupofowls.com/2025/06/15/s...

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Reposted by T.R. Steele 🍂

Heartlines Spec @heartlines-spec.com · Aug 17

Get ready, we open soon!

Early subs for equity-deserving groups: August 24
General subs: September 1

If you're still tinkering, @rebecca-b.bsky.social created a list of Vibes and Comparables! It's not an exhaustive list but it should kickstart some words.

www.heartlines-spec.com/vibes-and-co...

Vibes and comparables

One question Heartlines Spec often receives is: what does a long-term relationship mean? What does a long-term relationship story look like? Long-term is something that varies for every person. It co...

www.heartlines-spec.com

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