Ross McDermott
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beyondtheonions.bsky.social
Ross McDermott
@beyondtheonions.bsky.social
800 followers 470 following 1.2K posts
I write ✍
Author
TUSK: A Beringia Story - https://a.co/d/eJgOYf1
The Murderous Villain Rosco Pitt - https://a.co/d/fx8xng3
Weathervane - a.co/d/3iPzhvE (horror)
(poetry) - Beyond the Onions https://a.co/d/j1SWuiC
https://gravatar.com/beyondtheonions
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beyondtheonions.bsky.social
Ross McDermott @beyondtheonions.bsky.social · Mar 25
"Words lament, pages weep,
Never written if never read."
~ Ross McDermott - Beyond the Onions

TUSK: A Beringia Story - #historicalfantasy
a.co/d/9owR2nQ
The Murderous Villain Rosco Pitt - #western
a.co/d/4dskZHv
Weathervane - #western / #horror
a.co/d/eymNU43

#booklovers #storytime #booksky
Reposted by Ross McDermott
scifansat.bsky.social
AVAILABLE NOW: The latest issue of #SciFanSat Magazine is ablaze with talent and hot off the presses at scifansat.com! Enjoy sizzling speculative stories of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and More!

We light a signal fire of thanks to all our contributing #SFF authors, and the readers just like you!
SciFanSat: The Monthly Magazine for Science Fiction, Fantasy and More!
November 29, 2025 at 2:52 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
I don't boast much... but I just did something amazing with my current #manuscript #wip Sunsetter -- I can't tell you. ☺️
#amwriting #writing #western #horror #genre-bending #fiction
November 29, 2025 at 4:28 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
My eyes twist the Lovecraft way
Oblivion's wish not ours to say
Awaken gods whose spiteful play
will wash the stain of us away?
A fate, again, not ours to say,
the cosmos rules both night and day.

#poem #poetry #amwriting #writing #darkpoetry #horrorprompt #Lovecraftian
November 29, 2025 at 12:24 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #dedicated (vibe) #writing #amwriting #horror #western #genre-bending #wip Sunsetter - ancient evil in the wilds of the west.
*Noah plants the seeds of doubt in the weakened mind of Francis - damaging his dedication to his task.
“You’re tasked with hunting death corrupted. But tell me Sunsetter, tell me with your spoken words, who corrupted death?” He paused for a moment, tilting his head and blinking slowly his long, boyish lashes, waiting for my response. Stunned, I gave none. “Say his name, Sunsetter.” Noah taunted, folding his arms and tapping his toe, quickly growing impatient with my stubborn silence. Suddenly he sprang forward toward the bars, his eyes gleaming with an intensity, glaring down at mine. I lay frozen, suspended in time, it seemed, as my mind filled with his words, the words of the vampir, and he told again the tale of his making, the same tale he told to that man Pitt. from the #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
November 29, 2025 at 12:03 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
What's the #matter?
It is the stuff of legend
solid yet not
spaces in between
where nothing rules everything
and even that matters,
even in the dark.

#vss365 #poem #poetry #writing #amwriting
November 29, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Ross McDermott
scifansat.bsky.social
The #SciFanSat mothership is packed with a cargo of speculative fiction and ready to fire up her engines tomorrow! Thanks to the awesomeness of many authors, our November 2025 issue will be our largest published to date!

#SFF #AmWritingScifi #AmWritingFantasy
SciFanSat: The Monthly Magazine for Science Fiction, Fantasy and More! Our next issue will be published on Saturday, November 29th, 2025.
November 28, 2025 at 10:43 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
clear eyes view the past
yet no future can be found
through Web's eye of glass

#PoemsAbout #NoFuture #haiku #poetry #amwriting #writing @thebrokenspine.co.uk
@alanparrywriter.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 5:26 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#vss365 #health #poem #poetry #writing #amwriting #vsshorror
~ house call ~ 👨‍⚕️
I could see him through the window just half a face, peering in one-eyed frown, half mouth turned down My fear congealed within "It's just the doctor," mother said. "Why don't you let him in?" 'Why don't I let him in?' Where do I begin? I'd seen him once before, not like regular folk. He only made his calls at night, he moved too fast, his smile was tight, and people said he feared the light. This guy, he ain't no joke. In town folks aren’t healthy – dying strangely in the night. Their bodies found on hallowed ground, pale and ghostly white; all blood mysteriously drained, a grim and ghastly sight. "The doctor's not to blame," mom said. "This plague is not his fault." Yet in the city morgue, bodies gather in the vault. A pounding on the door. His voice drifts through the pine. "Let me in," he whispers. I did. I lost my mind. ~Beyond the Onions~ Ross McDermott ~
November 28, 2025 at 1:20 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
flicking fork
#estimates trajectory
where #wild fangs find flesh

🐍

#2wordprompt #haiku #poetry #writing #amwriting
jason-h-abbott.bsky.social Jason H. Abbott @jason-h-abbott.bsky.social · 1d
Write. Create. Be inspired. The #2WordPrompt for 28-NOV-25 is:

Wild & Estimate

#Prompt
November 28, 2025 at 1:02 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #zigzag vibes with the word #dart, courtesy of Mr. Andrews #writing #amwriting #horror #western #fiction #wip Sunsetter
*Back to an early chapter and the second appearance of that crazy Appaloosa! 🐎🐴
#HappyFriday #books #comingsoon
“There! Do you see it, Maddie? That’s him!” I saw Maddie stand up and track McTavish’s pointing finger with her gaze. I propped myself up on my elbows and caught the fleeting apparition of that crazy Appaloosa that had assaulted me just yesterday. The horse darted through the small stand of trees, fading in the early morning grey of the day, then flashing bold, a charging mass of spotted muscle, nostrils flaring and lips flapping in his fury. from the #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
November 28, 2025 at 12:44 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
"You'll find no mirrors in Setter Manor, only blurred #reflections in clouded panes of windows' glass, forever hidden by heavy drapes."
- #wip Sunsetter 🦇🧛⚰️

#vss365 #amwriting #writing
November 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#2wordprompt #tomorrow #champion #poem #poetry #writing
No eyes see her depart just the empty slip she leaves behind We whisper of her passage; a ghostly ship we'll never find resting in a port, far beyond horizon's line We board her sister ship, Today While dry-dock stores the Yesterday. May fair winds champion us on our way, as we search for our Tomorrow. ~Beyond the Onions~ Ross McDermott ~
November 26, 2025 at 12:46 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #impede (vibe) #writing #horror #western #genre-bending #fiction #wip Sunsetter - an ancient evil in the wilds of the west.
*Short snippet today. Francis takes a fall. ⬇️
I crossed the dry creek and tripped, stumbling on winter’s deadfall buried in the snow, then stumbled again up the opposite bank. I took refuge behind the widow’s willow, foolishly feeling better with its bark at my back. #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
November 26, 2025 at 12:26 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
"Is the darkness so offensive?" he asked,
leaning to the flicker of the flame
"You seem apprehensive. Are my eyes to blame?"

"Your eyes are mine!" the man exclaimed,
shocked how mirrors lacked restrain
turning back to his #reflection
to stare with empty eyes again

#vss365 #poem #poetry #writing
November 26, 2025 at 11:26 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
In the time it takes to perceive a thought
It swiftly slips 'till it's forgot
but just a moment's quick review
recalls the thought you knew you knew

~ you knew ~

#vss365 #timed (a moment) #poem #poetry #amwriting #writing #writingcommunity
November 25, 2025 at 1:23 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
woke up in #Toronto
in an elevator shaft
blamed it on Van Halen
and their rock-and-rolling craft
would've just went home
but a #ride it seemed I #lack
so in the shaft I spent the night
rolling green buds from a sack

#2wordprompt #poem #poetry #rhymetime #truestory #the80s 😉
November 25, 2025 at 12:19 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #writing #amwriting #wip
No #system in current #wip but found one example in my #historical/fantasy #novel TUSK: a Beringia Story
*This snippet from TUSK comes from the end of the #prologue - archeologists debate the mysterious markings on a newly discovered mammoth tusk- #books
The Russian laughed softly. "Perhaps," he conceded. "But again, unprecedented. That would mean we have evidence of three ancient human species residing in a single cave system, perhaps at the same time, perhaps not, over hundreds of thousands of years. An interesting development that will require further study." "Mon Dieu! Pourquoi? Why etch a tusk?" a French caver moved forward to photograph the tusk's mysterious marks. “Why the telling of a story of course,” replied the Russian, his glasses slipping down his nose as he peered bright-eyed at the Frenchman. “Humanity has always loved the story. We love to hear them, and we love to tell them. This,” he continued, glancing around at the faces, “is such a story, told around an ancient fire but not unlike the campfires we gather around today. What tale does it tell? I can not say.” He shrugged, then his eyes sparkled as he concluded, “But I’ll bet it's a good one.” excerpt from the #novel TUSK: a Beringia Story by Ross McDermott
November 25, 2025 at 11:54 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #debut (vibe) #writing #amwriting #horror/western #genre-bending #fiction #wip Sunsetter - continuing the tale of ancient evil in the wilds of the west. #Sequel to the #novel Weathervane.
*Noah's fledglings make their #debut under the light of a slivered moon.
#books #booksky #read
Crumbs, a trail left to follow? I caught the glistening humps of horses, dead and prone on their sides, skinned and glaring white beneath the intermittent light of the slivered moon. Noah had left a trail – his disturbing calling-card, and again was sending a strong warning with each of the seven dead horses we passed. Seven mounts, seven men, all lost to the dead of the night. The shadows that were swallowed by the depths of the snow were new to my Sunsetter’s eyes – no shadows such as this had ever been mentioned over all the years of my training. Though winter’s bite caused tears to pool, it was shadows my eyes caught now. As intermittent as the flash of the moon, they stood among the trees, still, dark and foreboding – hooded cloaks blacker than the sky, sentinels in the night. They did not move, but populated the dark forest, back among the trees, seeming to line the path I followed, watching my flight, their numbers appearing as too many to count. excerpt from #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
November 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#Strong fingers flexed
#relevant in the early days
of pounding #type to page
when my words came of age
on my #Underwood-Olivetti

#2wordprompt #vss365 #poem #poetry #youth #writing #amwriting #typewriter #origins #writingcommunity
November 24, 2025 at 11:29 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
Stains on the pillow
drips of tears that slowly #fade
come the morning light

#haikufeels #haiku #poetry #poem #writing #amwriting
November 23, 2025 at 2:05 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
We watched his eyes #travel,
up and down the ridgeline trail
the summit loomed #achievable
in his mind he could not fail
His #decision to ascend
was a prideful one at that
for he never came back down
and we only found his hat.

#2wordprompt #vss365 #poem #poetry #writing #amwriting
November 23, 2025 at 12:47 PM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #global (world) #writing #amwriting #western/horror #fiction #wip Sunsetter - continuing the tale of ancient evil in the wilds of the west
*The OG - Percival teaches the fledgling Sunsetters the true origins of Noah - the #original #vampir
#sequel to the #novel Weathervane - available now!
“He knew not then what he had done,” Percival again took up the telling. “The blood of fallen angels had been passed to one not meant to feel the pulse of that power. No ha had become the vessel of that tainted blood, the accidental ark of an unholy covenant. “He was now , like his creator, immortal and driven with an incessant hunger to feed on the blood of humans.” Percival moved closer to our line of desks, catching each of our eyes and emphasizing the importance of his words. “He was now, Noah, the child fiend who would slaughter his clan, his own mother, and carry on to spread the plague around the world as death corrupted. This he continues to do today, feeding indiscriminate, seeking the hearts of innocence. This, Sunsetters, is your foe. This, Sunsetters, is the true destroyer of all flesh.” excerpt from #wip Sunsetter by Ross McDermott
November 23, 2025 at 11:49 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
If only they'd been #solid
the silver would have left a mark
but the #utility of incorporeal is mere shadow
and no wound was #measurable
in the false flesh of the fallen.

#2wordprompt #vss365 #writing #amwriting #poem #vsshorror
November 22, 2025 at 11:40 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #writing #amwriting #horror/western #fiction #wip
No #crystal in current #wip Sunsetter, so today's snippet comes from the #preqel, the #novel Weathervane.
*Rosco receives assurances from the fallen one, V'ar kielius (Arakiel).
#books #booksky
“The mountains you hold so dearly were of my making. Even the silver with which you now hunt was delivered to your kind by me. Your world has been my dominion since before it was your world. No ha is my folly, god of the steppe I was then, but I am to be sure, Earth of God, and my folly is now my lot. I tell you this, Mr. Pitt…” Again he spoke my name, and though it wrang as crystal in the air, I did not like the sound. “I tell you this so you will know, down there,” Arakiel pointed, “in the dark. That you are not alone.” The ghost vanished. The stable erupted in the utter silence that followed and the flame of the torch in my hand bent sharply, as if blown or sucked, so it seemed, by a sudden draft where none had been, where Arakiel, the fallen, had just stood. excerpt from the #novel Weathervane - prequel to current wip Sunsetter - coming soon.
November 22, 2025 at 10:57 AM
beyondtheonions.bsky.social
live in the #present
#specific to our species
not #outside the 'now.'

#vss365 #2wordprompt #haiku #poem #poetry #writing #amwriting #writingcommunity #HaikuSky
November 21, 2025 at 12:28 PM