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Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 20h

The #WIPSnips word for October 12th is "hope"

Lenna has a perfect except for the word today 🖤 (my tendency to overwrite shines through always but in some cases it pays off, this time I think it did)

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Brass Hearts Part Three

The Covenant had raised her that way. An orphanage dressed up as salvation, but it was a cage all the same. Days regimented with prayers, lectures, punishments. Lessons about sin drilled into her ears until she believed her own body was damnation walking. Fear of hell—they made it her whole world. She’d been told her skin, her body, her womanhood were burdens she had to justify. That obedience was her only hope. That questioning was rebellion. That rebellion was sin. That sin meant fire and brimstone.
They’d taught her to mistrust her own thoughts, to hate the parts of herself that didn’t fit their neat little categories, and she’d believed them. She had prayed herself hoarse, sobbing, begging God to please make her right, to please forgive her for simply existing as she was. That kind of terror carved its way into her bones and made her sure she’d never escape. Even now, years later, part of her still clenched at the fear of flames that possibly weren’t hers, if they were real at all, but felt personal enough to burn still.

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Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 2d

The #WIPSnips word for October 10th is "prize"

Gonna try to do these more daily again, but here is me gifting you an argument between Lenna and Raylar 😂 love my Leos

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Brass Hearts Part Three

Her tone iced over, “I had nothing to do with that. Your genius plan is what messed everything up. Stop deflecting and grow up. If Kordok lives, you take accountability. Ooohhh—so scary. Too bad. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Don’t start pointing fingers because you’re immature.”
He made another laugh, this one drier and harsher. “It is scary, actually. Darmani’s not gonna buy your little ‘accomplice’ excuse for why her brother’s a walking corpse—and neither will anyone else. Now we both look like shit. ‘Hi my name is Lenna, and I’m a pussy bystander who doesn’t stand up for people because I don’t know what it’s like to be oppressed. Oops, teehee, I’m gonna try harder next time’. See how stupid you’ll look, cause that's what it sounds like right now.”
“Oh, shut up!” A sharp sound of disgust from Lenna. “And what’s your idea, then? Smother him before Ries comes back? ‘Yeah, doctor, he had a heart attack, don’t mind the pillow over his head’.”

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 20h

The #WIPSnips word for October 12th is "hope"

Lenna has a perfect except for the word today 🖤 (my tendency to overwrite shines through always but in some cases it pays off, this time I think it did)

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 2d

The #WIPSnips word for October 10th is "prize"

Gonna try to do these more daily again, but here is me gifting you an argument between Lenna and Raylar 😂 love my Leos

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

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Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 3d

👑 Genre-hopping isn’t a phase 🤷‍♂️

Published:
Brass Hearts (fantasy rebellion)
Love & Loot (cozy sapphic DnD).

WIPs for 2026:
Alive (androids/AI with feelings?! 😱)
Hunger (vampires, fighting or flirting?)
More L&L (duh!)

#WriteSky #LitRPG #Fantasy #Dystopia #SciFi #Romance #Sapphic #BookSky

Books by Jaz Pate

Brass Hearts Trilogy
Forged in Flames
A Perfect Storm
Part Three (WIP)

Love & Loot
Save the Princess
Slay the Stage
Retrieve the Relic

WIPs (Upcoming 2026)
Project HUNGER
Project ALIVE

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 3d

👑 Genre-hopping isn’t a phase 🤷‍♂️

Published:
Brass Hearts (fantasy rebellion)
Love & Loot (cozy sapphic DnD).

WIPs for 2026:
Alive (androids/AI with feelings?! 😱)
Hunger (vampires, fighting or flirting?)
More L&L (duh!)

#WriteSky #LitRPG #Fantasy #Dystopia #SciFi #Romance #Sapphic #BookSky

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Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 4d

New Intro! Woot!!! 🗣️

Hey, I’m Jaz 👋
Queer indie author, professional genre-hopper, and your official Goblin King 👑

Whether it’s gritty dystopian rebellions, spicy romantasy or cozy queer LitRPGs, every window leads somewhere different. Which one’s calling you?

#WriteSky #BookCommunity #BookSky

Jaz Pate
Author

Series (& Upcoming)

Brass Hearts (Dystopian Fantasy)
Love & Loot (Cozy Sapphic LitRPG)

WIPS (Beginning 2026)

ALIVE (Sci-fi Romance)
HUNGER (Gothic Romantasy)

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 4d

New Intro! Woot!!! 🗣️

Hey, I’m Jaz 👋
Queer indie author, professional genre-hopper, and your official Goblin King 👑

Whether it’s gritty dystopian rebellions, spicy romantasy or cozy queer LitRPGs, every window leads somewhere different. Which one’s calling you?

#WriteSky #BookCommunity #BookSky

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Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 11d

✨ Cozy sapphic romantasy alert!
Quest through cursed forests, enchanted dungeons, & romance w/ WLW joy 💖 📚 YA friendly LitRPG standalones

👑🎤💎 All on KU!
Series 🔗 ➡️ mybook.to/PpX77yS

#BookSky #wlw #Sapphic #Fantasy #LitRPG #Cozyfantasy #CosyFantasy #Romance #QueerBooks #KU #YA #Books

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 11d

✨ Cozy sapphic romantasy alert!
Quest through cursed forests, enchanted dungeons, & romance w/ WLW joy 💖 📚 YA friendly LitRPG standalones

👑🎤💎 All on KU!
Series 🔗 ➡️ mybook.to/PpX77yS

#BookSky #wlw #Sapphic #Fantasy #LitRPG #Cozyfantasy #CosyFantasy #Romance #QueerBooks #KU #YA #Books

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Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 12d

Sorry I’ve been gone 😭 Between work, writing, and life… social media slipped. But don’t worry! Brass Hearts Pt. 3 is still in the works, her cover’s coming, and there’s art on the way 👀 Finale drops early next year, she’s worth the wait! 💀🕊️

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 12d

Sorry I’ve been gone 😭 Between work, writing, and life… social media slipped. But don’t worry! Brass Hearts Pt. 3 is still in the works, her cover’s coming, and there’s art on the way 👀 Finale drops early next year, she’s worth the wait! 💀🕊️

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Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 19d

LOOK at them!

Yes, they’re lil figurines. Yes, they’re sapphic. Yes, they’re dungeon-crawling and treasure hunting. And YES, I’m completely normal about it 😌

Love & Loot series: mybook.to/PpX77yS (all on KU!)

#wlw #Sapphic #LitRPG #FantasyBooks #SapphicBooks #WriteSky #CozyFantasy #butchfemme

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 19d

LOOK at them!

Yes, they’re lil figurines. Yes, they’re sapphic. Yes, they’re dungeon-crawling and treasure hunting. And YES, I’m completely normal about it 😌

Love & Loot series: mybook.to/PpX77yS (all on KU!)

#wlw #Sapphic #LitRPG #FantasyBooks #SapphicBooks #WriteSky #CozyFantasy #butchfemme

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Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 21d

✨ Cozy sapphic romantasy alert!
Quest through cursed forests, enchanted dungeons, & romance w/ WLW joy 💖 📚 YA friendly LitRPG standalones

👑🎤💎 All on KU!
Series 🔗 ➡️ mybook.to/PpX77yS

#BookSky #wlw #Sapphic #Fantasy #LitRPG #Cozyfantasy #CosyFantasy #Romance #QueerBooks #KU #YA #Books

Love & Loot
Cozy Fantasy / LitRPG

Books & Order:
Save the Princess
Slay the Stage
Retrieve the Relic

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 21d

The #WIPSnips word for September 21st is "disagree"

CW ⚠️ Medical trauma

How tf do I not have the word 😡 I picked “fight” cause it was the closest thing in my newest chapter

Not lenna being traumatized 🫣 nobody is allowed to be happy till the end! 😤

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Brass Hearts Part Three
Coming 2026

Lenna closed her eyes, trying to shake it, but that only made the imagery more vivid. The clinic smelled of rotting wounds and damp plaster, of sickness lingering too long in stagnant air. The building was no hospital, just an abandoned hall patched with scavenged parts. One machine forced air into him, another pumping fluid, another humming in a rhythm meant to trick the body into believing it wasn’t dying.
She squeezed her eyes tighter, fighting back bile. When she opened them, she was back on the streets. The wooden boards stiff underfoot, The streetlights flicking on above. Seabreeze smelt of salt, yet buried under it, she still smelled death. All she was left with was guilt. For him, for his family—Darmani, the husband who had stood by her, their little girl, Meti. They had to see him like that, Kordok wired into machines, ribs like sprayed switches under parchment skin. She didn’t know them well but she knew they were good people, better than most. Verdalia deserved so much better than this.

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 21d

🥹❤️ tysmmm

1

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 21d

✨ Cozy sapphic romantasy alert!
Quest through cursed forests, enchanted dungeons, & romance w/ WLW joy 💖 📚 YA friendly LitRPG standalones

👑🎤💎 All on KU!
Series 🔗 ➡️ mybook.to/PpX77yS

#BookSky #wlw #Sapphic #Fantasy #LitRPG #Cozyfantasy #CosyFantasy #Romance #QueerBooks #KU #YA #Books

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 25d

The #WIPSnips word for September 17th is "difference"

I have the word! Not the most exciting excerpt but I like how I redescribed a location from the previous book and still made it feel… new? Uncanny? Idk 😂 The tone is there even if it’s salad rn 😅

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Brass Hearts Part Three
Coming 2026?

Even from their distance, she could see the difference. The Covenant’s banners were gone. No more metal heart sigils snapping against the wind, no more proclamations hung from bridges or walls. At the entrances to the city stood figures she first thought were Faithkeepers but they weren’t. At least not the way Elijah had been.
The uniforms were the same but some wore slate-grey coats, others pale green, some white or gold. There was no single color, no matching armbands, no rigid line of ranks. If these people still called themselves Faithkeepers, they weren’t the kind she knew. They were broader, healthier-looking than Elijah ever was, their belts holding mismatched gear scavenged from old Covenant stockpiles. Clusters of them moved around the city gates, shouting low to one another as they organized crates and scanned the approaching road. Between them, Johanna caught flashes of people—civilians maybe, hands full of supplies, children darting under wooden archways.

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Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 26d

I love plus size heroines in (dystopian) fantasy 🥰

(Lenna is my bbg ♥️😭😩)

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 26d

I love plus size heroines in (dystopian) fantasy 🥰

(Lenna is my bbg ♥️😭😩)

1

Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 28d

The #WIPSnips word for September 14th is "award"

I didn’t have it so I used “reward” instead 😅 I do like this little tangent by Johanna (tho it makes me panic because somehow I gotta fix this 👁️😭)

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Brass Hearts Part Three
Coming 2025

She trusted Ries like she trusted food that had gone bad. There was always the knowledge it might make you sick, but when it didn’t, the surprise was almost reward enough. If it did, well… that’s what you’d been expecting anyway.
Maybe that was the best way to explain him: spoiled, expired, dangerous if swallowed. But as she watched him tilt Kordok upright and ladle water slowly into the elf’s cracked lips, it struck her that none of it mattered. Not really.
Because she, too, was submerged. Like Raylar. And under the water, where everything was distorted and slow, it stopped mattering what anything meant. It was all just drowning. Unbearably warm instead of frozen needles this time. Rising. Rising. Until the surface was far above her head and all she could hear was the warbling distortion of waves above.
Good as new…

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 28d

The #WIPSnips word for September 14th is "award"

I didn’t have it so I used “reward” instead 😅 I do like this little tangent by Johanna (tho it makes me panic because somehow I gotta fix this 👁️😭)

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

4 15

Reposted by Jaz Pate Author

Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 28d

ARC Review 📕

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5 rounded up) Just finished Behind Closed Eyes by Jalen Tellis, a tense, eerie thriller that soars once the suspense kicks in. Creeping dread + cinematic set pieces shine. If you love thrillers w/ horror & mystery, pick this up!

Preorder here: a.co/d/jjvhV67

#BookSky

ARC REVIEW

Behind Closed Eyes by Jalen Tellis
4.5 Stars

Review:
Behind Closed Eyes is a tense, eerie thriller that leans heavily into suspense and horror once it hits its stride. Having read one of Jalen Tellis’ earlier works (Samurai Reborn), I can confidently say atmosphere and tension are where he shines most, and this book is no exception. The creeping dread, the emotional beats, and the high-stakes survival sequences all landed exactly the way I wanted them to.

Where the story stumbled a little for me was in characterization, especially in the first half. Characters sometimes felt more plot-driven than fully fleshed out, and their voices didn’t always stand out distinctly in their POVs. Because of that, it was harder to emotionally invest in them. I noticed a similar pattern in Samurai Reborn, but here, because the book leans so hard into thriller/survival mode, it was more noticeable. This absolutely would have been a 5 star completely but at one point through I had a thought of, do I even care about Malek’s wife? I had very little connection to his main driving force and that made some of the more intense scenes lose their impact.

That said, once the tension truly ramps up, the book finds its stride and absolutely soars. The horror elements are gripping, the suspense is relentless, and the final sequences deliver that “edge of your seat” adrenaline rush that makes this genre so fun. The writing shines brightest when the suspense is at full throttle, and Jalen Tellis continues to prove he has a real gift for immersive action sequences and cinematic set pieces.

If you enjoy thrillers that mix mystery, horror, and crime genre investigation, this is worth picking up. The climax is phenomenal, and Tellis once again flexes that he knows how to keep readers hooked with atmosphere, dread, and momentum 🙏 With two of his books under my belt I proudly call myself a fan 🏅

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Jaz Pate Author @jazpate.bsky.social · 28d

ARC Review 📕

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5 rounded up) Just finished Behind Closed Eyes by Jalen Tellis, a tense, eerie thriller that soars once the suspense kicks in. Creeping dread + cinematic set pieces shine. If you love thrillers w/ horror & mystery, pick this up!

Preorder here: a.co/d/jjvhV67

#BookSky

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