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Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
@karamoonauthor.com
3.4K followers 2.4K following 7.8K posts
Kara Moon (she/her/they/them)
Totally not the R18+ pseudonym of @hiriadunning.com I swear!
Queer author and poet from Aotearoa NZ
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karamoonauthor.com
Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning) @karamoonauthor.com · 3d
Temporary pin:
I've posted so much about my adult spicy fiction here, so it's about time I change this account to rep for my pseudonym, and make a clean account for my mainstream persona. If you'd rather follow her and drop me, check out @hiriadunning.com
Or follow both, if you're into that 😉
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
professoremily.bsky.social
I think, at least in my #Atlantis WIP, it's that while it's absolutely fine to want to leave a legacy or wrestle with big philosophical concepts, in the end nothing lasts forever, so the relationships you have with people right now are what really matter more than anything.
It had all always been fragile. Yet what had she been doing all this time? Playing silly games, procrastinating, telling herself “someday,” or “maybe tomorrow,” or “eventually.” Assuring herself that there was no need to act now because it was all inevitable anyway. Debating with herself over pointless philosophical questions about fate and free will when it didn’t really matter, did it? The only thing that mattered was that it was all going to end, one way or another, maybe sooner, maybe later. The only thing that mattered was reaching out into that abyss and finding a hand to grasp so that you knew you weren’t really alone. (Mireia about Kena, Book 2) “I wanted him to be something more. But he never cared about that. He only wanted to fish and have his family, and enjoy each day one at a time... I didn’t understand him back then. But I think I do now. And I think, maybe, he was right after all. Maybe it’s not important to prove you existed to people who won’t be born for another hundred years. Maybe all that matters is proving it to yourself, right now. Maybe the next hundred years, or thousand years, or ten thousand years—maybe they don’t really matter. Maybe all that really matters is today.” (Mireia about her father, Book 3)
November 9, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
gunsmile.bsky.social
In THE DEVOURING, my cosmic horror/revenge thriller:

"Her husband was right: the only people the two of them could trust were each other. All other monsters be damned."

#Lovember #WritingCommunity
isaacxisaac.bsky.social Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 1d
Today's random #Lovember #WritingPrompt for the #WriteSky #WritingCommunity:

Is there a particular thematic statement, set of Arc Words™️, or climactic line of dialogue that summarizes what "love" is in your story or stories?

Share if it's not too spoiler! 👀
November 9, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
eliwoodsgheist.com
Happy #Lovember!

There are a lot of little moments that show the development of romantic & platonic love, but this is one of the Big Ones from Bludeye Beach; not a triumph of good over evil, not even really a major solution. Just the willingness to go through it together. #writingcommunity
Edie shook her head. “No, I’m just being really silly.” Her voice was a little louder than she intended. Briefly, she worried that Janie Booker might hear her. “Besides, if you’re scared, you just need to do it scared.” “If you’re scared, I’ll do it with you,” Milo said. He said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world. When Edie looked at him, he was holding out his hand, and watching her with a sincerity she didn’t think she’d ever seen on anyone’s face. If it had been anyone else, at any other time, she would have thought they were making fun of her; but not Milo. Not when she took his hand, and he carefully walked with her across the bridge. He didn’t let go until Edie was breathing more calmly, and she was able to let go of him first.
November 9, 2025 at 3:38 AM
karamoonauthor.com
#Lovember
I don't know that I have an overarching thesis, but here's a favourite bit of mine from A Prayer for the Pirate Queen 🏴‍☠️💜⚓️ (currently gearing up for draft three)
“I wish we were just free to be us, without all the extra pressure from the outside world. Where would you want to be right now, if circumstances hadn’t brought you here?” Kallista entwined her hands with Geni’s at her middle. Finally, a small smile made its way onto her lips. “It’s the funniest thing. No matter how I look at it, the answer remains: here, with you.” “We could be together, elsewhere.” But that wasn’t true, was it? She had been in the same room with Geni at least once before their meeting on Didaea, and she’d made no lasting impression that time. Neither of them had noticed each other. How strange, how fleeting these chances of connection were in life. And yet now she couldn’t imagine ever wanting to part from her. She could imagine life without her — she’d lived long enough in that state, lived through miserable times for various reasons at various times, and knew she could live without Geni if it ever came to that — but she’d rather have her there, all things being even.
November 9, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
isaacxisaac.bsky.social
For me, it seems that in every story I write where there's a true love relationship of any kind, there's a moment where one says to the other, "I love you as you are."
November 9, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
sayaashrah.bsky.social
Ashrah ripping off a demon's arm to wield it as a sword against a dozen other demons ganging up on her? Yes, typical badassery we can expect from her 😎

I do love the imagery. The exact words can always be enhanced during editing!

#ChroniclesOfTheRealms #SayaAshrah
With a roar that alone rivalled the bawling of the horde, Ashrah pulled and twisted the vanha’s arm. Bones cracked and flesh ripped, and then Ashrah yanked the bladed hand free, hacking three heads off in one swing.
November 8, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
sayaashrah.bsky.social
#AwesomeCharacters #SayaAshrah Ashrah would likely do well. She has learnt to take care of plants thanks to her wife and daughter, and while her social skills with pets aren't the greatest, either, she probably wouldn't cause them harm, either.

She might end up in a fight, though. Always possible!
charliedeltawrites.bsky.social Charlie Delta @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 1d
Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters

How likely is it to end badly if your character is asked to house-sit?

Will they take good care of the pets and water the plants? Throw a party? Accidentally burn the place down? End up in a fight somehow?

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
November 8, 2025 at 11:33 PM
karamoonauthor.com
Here's a #SaturdaySnippet from Before Queens and Saints ⚓️💜🕊
"Right," Petridas growled, putting his hands behinds his back, rocking on his heels. "Very well then. You be on your best tonight, Iona. I don't want to wake up to find us floundering in a reef on the morrow." He stalked away, and Kallista glared at his back. Again. He'd said Iona's name wrong again. "You see?" Iona sighed behind her. "Indeed I do. Indeed I do. That's two more black marks in his report, from one short conversation." She nodded farewell to Iona. "We'd best not linger, fellow fishwife." Iona cackled. "You're the only one I'll let get away with that."
November 8, 2025 at 11:07 PM
karamoonauthor.com
#queerwriters check-in
😏 finished what was supposed to be a silly little thing for friends and it's a damn novella, wth is wrong with me 🤣
⚓️ got back to my main WIP and it's going so well 💜
📚 lots of other little bits and pieces: beta reading, proof reading, fundraising, it never stops!
amaralynn.bsky.social AmaraJLynn💎🌌🌺GEMS & STAR FLOWERS coming soon! @amaralynn.bsky.social · 2d
#queerwriters Saturday: Check in Day!

How was your week? Did you accomplish what you set out to do?

Share your progress, encourage, cheer, and support others!

#WritingCommunity #lgbtqwriters
Background: white background with colored pencils along the bottom half. Text: #Queerwriters Check in day! How was your week? Monday, Saturday, Sunday All LGBTQIAP writers welcome
November 8, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
ljamberfantasy.com
I am thirty dollars away from paying my monthly rent with Patreon income.

And my rent is fucking bullshit!
November 8, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
eliwoodsgheist.com
"If you reveal a photo of an ex boyfriend in the first act, the ex boyfriend must appear in a later act of the book." -the lesser known writing principle, Chekhov's Ex

Hard at the November writing challenge today 😄 how's everyone doing on their WIPs??
A laptop on a coffee table with a water bottle open to a note document for Below Bludeye Beach
November 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
calarion.bsky.social
#Bookvember 8

Lots and lots, but I'll pick the Didius Falco books by Lindsey Davis. Detective novels with a healthy amount of romance set in ancient Rome. There are LOTS of awesome and distinct female characters. Helena Justina, the secondary protagonist, is the best of course. (1/2)
woodenvelt.bsky.social Samantha Breaux @woodenvelt.bsky.social · 2d
Welcome to #Bookvember Day 8!

Follow the directions on the prompt card and share your love of diverse voices in literature.

#BookSky #WriteSky #Books #Authors #WritingCommunity
Bookvember, a book share prompt game for writers and readers by @woodenvelt.bsky.social Day 8: Share a book by a female author that you love. What aspect of the female experience does this author capture particularly well? Remember: Quote post using #Bookvember. Use alt text for images. Have fun and interact with others!
November 8, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
calarion.bsky.social
#Bookvember 7

Absolutely unmonitored. I think my parents felt that if I wanted to read something, I was probably ready for it. So I read Jean Plaidy historical romances, for the history, and ignored the romance, and they happily bought them for me. :p
woodenvelt.bsky.social Samantha Breaux @woodenvelt.bsky.social · 3d
Welcome to #Bookvember Day 7!

Follow the directions on the prompt card and share your love of the written word with others.

#BookSky #WriteSky #Books #Authors #WritingCommunity
Bookvember, a book share prompt game for writers and readers by @woodenvelt.bsky.social Day 7: Was your reading monitored by adults when you were a kid or was it a free for all? Did that scar you or set you free? Remember: Quote post using #Bookvember. Use alt text for images. Have fun and interact with others!
November 8, 2025 at 4:27 AM
karamoonauthor.com
#writevember
Hello! I finished the novella I was halfway thru writing, and got one more chapter into the main novel wip, to the tune of almost 15K words. Not bad!

Bonus Q: while writing and redrafting A Prayer for the Pirate Queen, I had Kallista and Geni's backstories in my head...
1/2
gunsmile.bsky.social Ange @gunsmile.bsky.social · 2d
#Writevember Week 2

How's your progress on your WIP? Give us an update by quoting this post. The bonus question is optional but encouraged.

#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky
#Writevember a November writing challenge prompt tag hosted by @gunsmile.bsky.social November 8: Weekly progress check-in! Bonus: What inspired your WIP? Remember to use the #Writevember hashtag, engage with others, and have fun!
November 8, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
professoremily.bsky.social
#Lovember

I love writing M/F friendships. Sometimes they turn romantic, sometimes they just stay friends. Doesn't matter, I'm happy either way.

Parent/child relationships also come up a lot, particularly characters who feel disconnected from their fathers despite loving each other.
isaacxisaac.bsky.social Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 3d
Today's lil #Lovember #WritingPrompt for the #WriteSky #WritingCommunity, maybe related to yesterday's:

Is there a particular shape or flavor of relationship arc that you've written more than once, or otherwise want to revisit again and again? Doesn't have to be romantic.
November 8, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
gunsmile.bsky.social
I'm always writing about siblings.

In THE DEVOURING, Jason's brother's death kicks off the plot. In THE CRUCIBLE OF THE BROKEN MOON, Daemrin grapples with his grief over his brother's death. Just yesterday, I got a plot idea for my vampires involving Lia's sister. #Lovember #WritingCommunity
isaacxisaac.bsky.social Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 3d
Today's lil #Lovember #WritingPrompt for the #WriteSky #WritingCommunity, maybe related to yesterday's:

Is there a particular shape or flavor of relationship arc that you've written more than once, or otherwise want to revisit again and again? Doesn't have to be romantic.
November 7, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
sayaashrah.bsky.social
Enemies-to-friends-to-lovers! Love it and am currently working on two: #Ashtara in #ChroniclesOfTheRealms and #Brinyang in the third book of #WorldWithoutLove! 💜

As a writer of slow-burn romance, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers fits well!

Also found sisters is something I'm also writing in CotR...
isaacxisaac.bsky.social Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 3d
Today's lil #Lovember #WritingPrompt for the #WriteSky #WritingCommunity, maybe related to yesterday's:

Is there a particular shape or flavor of relationship arc that you've written more than once, or otherwise want to revisit again and again? Doesn't have to be romantic.
November 7, 2025 at 11:02 PM
karamoonauthor.com
#Lovember oooh let's see if I can articulate this...
I really like it when I can write people in love but who have something deep within that doesn't quite mesh with the other, which will in time lead to a values-based disagreement where they are both in the right...
But then they solve it anyway 🥰
isaacxisaac.bsky.social Isaac X Isaac @isaacxisaac.bsky.social · 3d
Today's lil #Lovember #WritingPrompt for the #WriteSky #WritingCommunity, maybe related to yesterday's:

Is there a particular shape or flavor of relationship arc that you've written more than once, or otherwise want to revisit again and again? Doesn't have to be romantic.
November 8, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
sayaashrah.bsky.social
Epic/high and dark fantasy are my favourites to read and write. All my stories — #WorldWithoutLove, #ChroniclesOfTheRealms, and #ValkíforSaga — fall into those categories. I love all the sagas and world-building they allow!

Some romance is welcome as well—as long as it's lesbian 😄
shadowsparkpub.bsky.social Shadow Spark Publishing @shadowsparkpub.bsky.social · 3d
Happy Friday!! We made it!

If you read or write Fantasy, do you have any preferred subgenres? For example: epic, dark, urban, cozy, etc.

#WritingQ #booksky #writesky 🪐📚💙
Friday Writerly/readerly Question ?
November 7, 2025 at 10:05 PM
karamoonauthor.com
Dang it, I can't find the appropriate Bluey gif, but the quote is:

"We want romance!"

#WritingQ
shadowsparkpub.bsky.social Shadow Spark Publishing @shadowsparkpub.bsky.social · 3d
Happy Friday!! We made it!

If you read or write Fantasy, do you have any preferred subgenres? For example: epic, dark, urban, cozy, etc.

#WritingQ #booksky #writesky 🪐📚💙
Friday Writerly/readerly Question ?
November 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
karamoonauthor.com
#sapphiclineshare I didn't have invade in the current wip, but I have occupy

Might have shared this recently but still it's important 🫂

From Before Queens and Saints ⚓️💜🕊

*btw joellian means lesbian, this is a secondary world fantasy so the name comes from a sapphic saint in that world
The bed certainly felt like freedom, after she changed the sheets, moved her pillows to the middle, and let herself sprawl without having to worry about the other body usually occupying it. And so too did it feel freeing to say aloud and with a smile to the bedroom ceiling, "I'm a joellian." In the dark, she dared to imagine that she shared the bed with another woman. Not any time soon. She needed to grieve the end of her marriage, even if she'd been the one to deal the killing blow. But one day, when the time was right, she was certain there would be someone. There might be a few someones on the way to finding her, but there would be someone who would be home to her, and to whom she would be home. Just as Seraphina and Joelle had one another. In the vast uncertainty of this first night, with the bare branches of a tree alternately stroking and lashing the wall and window of her bedroom, she was absolutely certain of this one thing.
November 7, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
ninafairweather.com
#SapphicLineShare 7 Nov

The door burst like a zit. The infection it oozed into my office was a high-ranking disheveled dye-job juggling papers, a tablet, and at least three phones. "Thank gods, you're here." She puffed cheeks and blew stray tendrils of hair from her eyes. "You're up to speed?"
catarinreads.bsky.social Catarin L. @catarinreads.bsky.social · 3d
Sorry, #lesfic friends! This is very late, I've had a rough start and end to November and October. #SapphicLineShare is back, baby! This month means different things to all of my friends and family in different parts of the world, hopefully these prompts help you show what it means to you 🌈📚
November 7, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
leahbauerwrites.bsky.social
Ness releases a shaky breath, her heart pounding in her chest. She’s close enough to see the whipped cream has slid down Melirin’s cheek, catching on her lips. Suddenly, she has the urge to lick the cream from her mouth.

#SapphicLineShare #QueerWriters #WriteSky #WritingPrompt
catarinreads.bsky.social Catarin L. @catarinreads.bsky.social · 3d
Sorry, #lesfic friends! This is very late, I've had a rough start and end to November and October. #SapphicLineShare is back, baby! This month means different things to all of my friends and family in different parts of the world, hopefully these prompts help you show what it means to you 🌈📚
November 7, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
licoricemint.bsky.social
#SapphicLineShare #lesficfri #licoriceandmint #QueerWriters #sapphic #lesfic

From Licorice and Mint Chapter 9: Demons, Divas, and Devas.

archiveofourown.org/series/1962421
“You can’t be serious. You’re blaming Vola for what happened to you? You’re blaming everyone in this city for the actions of a few shitty people? You’re willing to let someone innocent die because some assholes kidnapped your first crush!” “Shut up!” Mara gripped the metal door frame. “Every single one of them is guilty. Every. Single. One.” Bright orange flames coated her hands as her ex-girlfriend slammed her palm against the softened metal. The deadbolt sparked at the contact, and Nat’s jaw dropped as the door fused closed. Mara’s bitter, triumphant laugh left her skin crawling.
November 7, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning)
queerpointyears.bsky.social
100%, in limited stretches, like 1 month. It also makes it easy to make up ground on good days, so the bad days don't feel so bad.
karamoonauthor.com Kara Moon (the artist formerly known as Hiria Dunning) @karamoonauthor.com · 3d
Greetings, #pretendpanel! One week into writeathon month, I'm wondering how you feel about this notorious topic...

November 7th: X number of words per day - are you a fan of this approach or not?

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts
#pretendpanel a daily prompt tag hosted by @hiriadunning.bsky.social November 7th: X number of words per day - are you a fan of this approach or not? Please support your fellow #pretentpanel posters with replies, likes and reposts New #pretendpanel questions every Friday and Saturday. Hop in any time!
November 7, 2025 at 5:36 PM