Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚

@mariajhart.bsky.social

2K followers 880 following 2.5K posts

Neurodivergent indie author of Born Anew in Blood - a bisexual paranormal romance available now! 🇵🇸🇨🇩🇸🇩 she/her 🚫AI slop [email protected] Same name on tiktok! https://linktr.ee/MariaJHart

linktr.ee

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Jul 27

If you want an epub of my first paranormal romance book, Born Anew in Blood, for FREE, donate $5 to one of the families in my linktree, and I’ll email it to you after you send me your receipt. A $10 donation gets you all three of my books.

linktr.ee/MariaJHart

The book on the left is green and the silver letters say Born Anew in Blood. Four red claw marks are behind the letters. The book in the middle is magenta with the silver letters, reading Bound by Ancient Blood. A broken sword with vines wrapping around it is behind the letters. The book is on the right is blue and the silver letters say Penance Paid in Blood. A goblet crashing to the ground and spilling its contents is behind the letters. Author is Maria J. Hart

1 3

Reposted by Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚

American Library Association @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social · Sep 2

NEWS: A House of Representatives Subcommittee just voted to continue library funding in next year's federal budget. This is thanks to YOUR hard work as library advocates.

The fight to #FundLibraries isn't over yet. Stay tuned for more ways to take action for libraries. #ForOurLibraries

You made your voice heard for libraries. The House listened. A House of Representatives Subcommittee just voted to continue library funding in next year's federal budget.
The fight to #FundLibraries isn't over yet, but this good news is thanks to your hard work.
Stay tuned for more ways to take action for libraries. Show up for our libraries. American Library Associaiton.

5 340 900

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Sep 2

Me as a child:
- cried when the vacuum ran
- covered my ears when flushing the toilet
- couldn’t walk down the laundry aisle due to overwhelming scent
- struggled to make connections with other children
- read at an eighth grade level

Every single adult in my life:
She is so incredibly neurotypical

1 3 70

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Sep 1

I’m trying to befriend the crows around my house.

Where does one acquire elephant amounts of peanuts for cheap? 🤔

1 7

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 30

This is your sign to use those stickers you’ve been saving for something special.

Life’s too short. USE THE STICKERS.

1 7

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 29

Massive lasagna 🫡

1 1

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 25

The Harley Quinn cartoon!

1 1

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 18

I donated to @sandraproudman.bsky.social’s We the People summer fundraiser!

www.32auctions.com/organization...

THE BLOOD OF TENAZERYTH DUOLOGY + NOVELLA (SIGNED COPIES)
FROM MARIA J. HART

1 3 3

Reposted by Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚

Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · Aug 15

oh wow, fuck all the way off with this bullshit, valiant

Zoe TunnHELL @zoewithasword.bsky.social · Aug 15

I pride myself on my professionalism in comics. I don't talk shit about books I don't enjoy. I am happy when folks get gigs even if I wish I landed them.

So when I say the transphobic bullshit in the new BLOODSHOT #1 comic is disgusting and should have never made it to print. Shameful shit.

Transphobic panels from the new Bloodshot #1 where the lead describes young people being allowed to become vampires by their parents using the exact same language that bigots use to describe trans children

3 9 70

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 15

Happy birthday!!

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 15

So sorry for your loss ❤️

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 14

Hey Kindle, WHY CAN’T I HIGHLIGHT SOMETHING IN PURPLE?! Just give me a friggin color wheel, I BEG

1 8

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 13

Just discovered that vermilion is in fact a shade of red and not yellow, and realized that I only associate vermilion with yellow because of Pikachu and Vermilion City. So. That’s how my day’s going.

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 13

Lizard parent here. Can confirm.

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 13

slightly diminish a band: Pennyback

Ness 🎃🇨🇦 @vriccithode.bsky.social · Aug 13

slightly diminish a band: concern at the disco

Joseph Brassey @josephbrassey.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: the Vice Presidents of the United States of America.

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 13

#WIPsnips “cheap” snippet

= WinterWIP
+
"He wasn't good enough for you, you know." My gut twists. "Don't," I hiss.
She flips her indigo hair over her shoulder. "Не wasn't. He took you for granted."
I grip the handle of the Queen's silver dagger that I've got tucked into my belt, avoiding her blazing eyes.
"You should have someone who actually appreciates you." She steps closer, but this time, I hold my ground, even as she reaches up to brush my jaw with a gloved finer. "Who recognizes you for what you are — a king."
That takes me by surprise, and when I finally do look at her, I'm snagged by her intense gaze. Her irises are the exact same shade as the roses in Hawk's garden back home. I wonder, not for the first time, how much it cost her and her sister to have their irises changed. The Mages that specialize in body manipulation aren't cheap by any means.

4 22

Reposted by Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · Aug 12

This is terrifying, and we cannot let it happen

Eliminating queer content - or content about any group of people - is a clear step toward eliminating them from public life, and then from life altogether, which is the end goal of the far right

Stripe MUST receive push back on this

Dieselbrain @dieselbrain.bsky.social · Aug 12

twice today, when pressured, Stripe operators have said, plainly, that i cannot use stripe for the purchase of LGBTQ content. not just adult content, but explicitly LGBTQ.

23 48

Reposted by Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚

Ellie Lieberman @ellielieberman.bsky.social · Aug 12

August 12-16!
Society's Foundlings (99¢) is in Indie Author Central's Stepping Through Time Sale!
Check out all the historical & contemporary fiction for FREE or 99¢!

www.indieauthorscentral.com/stepping-thr...

#booksky 📚💙 📚📢 💙📚 #booksale

Screenshot of some of the books available through the Stepping Through Time Indie Authors Central event, alongside my contemporary novella, Society's Foundlings, include Pox, Fame & Other Disasters, A Forgotten Melody, Beneath the Surface, & Shape of the Sun!

3 8 12

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 12

#WIPsnips “split”

= WinterWIP
+
3
The Queen's brow furrows as she takes a sip of yet more caffeine. How she isn't vibrating hard enough to split the atoms of the air around her, I have no idea. "Make it there? Don't you just need me to set off Nimue's alarm clock or something?" He huffs in amusement. "When did I ever say it
would be so simple?"
She shrugs, clearly agitated. "When I was in the cage, I said you needed me to wake her up, and you didn't deny it." She jerks her thumb at me. "I assume his magic isn't strong enough to do it alone, which is why you need me."
Merlin's lip curls in amusement. I know that look
— it's the look that says a lecture is coming. I barely manage to contain my groan.
"Yes, you did say that." He reaches for his shoulder, stops, then scratches the side of his neck.
"You did quite a bit of talking while you were imprisoned. But you didn't do any listening, did you?"
She frowns.
He looks at me with raised eyebrows.
I sigh. "There are no uncomfortable silences.
Only opportunities for the wise to listen and the fool to provide information," I intone.
"You got that from a cross-stitch, didn't you?"

4 23

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 11

Unfortunately the fall semester starts soon so my writing is going to slow down a lot 😞 but making it a point to remember that writing is my happy place and I deserve to have some time to myself to do what I love!

AmaraJLynn💎🌌🌺GEMS & STAR FLOWERS coming soon! @amaralynn.bsky.social · Aug 11

#queerwriters Monday: Goals Day!

What do you hope to accomplish this week? Can be anything, big or small! Let us know so we can cheer you on!

#WritingCommunity #lgbtqwriters

Background: a plain background with colored pencils along the bottom half.
Text:
#Queerwriters
What are your goals this week?

Monday, Saturday, Sunday
All LGBTQIAP writers welcome

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 11

#WIPsnips “real” snippet of one of the first interactions between the poltergeist and the family cat. This is before she finds out that the humans she’s supposed to haunt have ADHD and will not, in fact, be noticing when things are out of place.

= PoltergeistWIP
+
I stick out a hand as if to shake his paw, then retract it awkwardly. "Nice to meet you, Magnus.
I'm Aislinn O'Connell."
He peers at me with those big green eyes. Hello, Aislinn. Why do you want to scare my human?
"Well, I don't really want to. It's just my job." That is, historically, one of the very worst excuses for
doing something, you know.
I give him a withering look. "The afterlife runs on the fear of the Livings. It's just how it is." I reach into Helena's backpack, and my hand passes through something heavy that I assume is a textbook. But when I focus and pull it out, it's a black drawstring bag. I'm about to open it when the cat hops onto the table and startles me.
Are you a robber as well? His tone is that of an adult who caught a child with a hand in the cookie jar.
I roll my eyes. "Relax, fuzzball. It's the first step in my process. Messing with personal items is Poltergeist 101. They'll notice things moving on their own, start to get uneasy in this big creepy house, and then I'll start with the real activity." The tip of his tail flits in what almost seems like
amusement. Good luck with that.

4 15

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 11

#QueerWriters “hair” snippet from my sapphic rom com about a poltergeist and the woman with ADHD she’s trying — unsuccessfully — to haunt.

= PoltergeistWIP
She gives me a sly look. "Personal question, so feel free not to answer it, but ... are you into women?"
I stick out my lower lip dramatically. "Not nearly as often as I'd like to be."
She laughs out loud at that, just as Kalina rounds a corner, looking frazzled. Her hair is escaping the messy bun on the top of her head, and there's a slight flush to her cheeks. The way her tank top shows the top of her breasts, and her leggings cling to her rounded hips is enough to knock the - metaphorical - breath from me.
"Not. Nearly."

3 12

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 9

#WIPsnips brush

= WinterWIP
+
•••
An auburn wolf and a black jaguar sit facing one another with their foreheads pressed together in the left window. The opposite window sports a white dragon mid-flight, with a smaller creature above it. I squint and realize it's a brown bat. The center window is an aurora over a lake that could very well be Nabeyha. Flecks of the purple, blue, green, and red of the sky are even reflected in the water.
"There's just another wall back there," Bronwyn whispers as she returns to us. "Can't tell what's on the other side. Don't suppose your magic is X-ray vision, is it?" She brushes Jensen's kestrel-free shoulder, pretending there's snow there, and twirls a strand of her purple hair.
Jensen is too busy staring up at the windows to notice her blatant flirting. He just shakes his head and responds absently. "Nope, sorry."
I take his hand and step between them. "Let's go.
I've got it." I pull him toward the back of the castle.
She huffs behind us, but follows.
"Back off, Bron," Llinos hisses. Rook snickers.

2 24

Reposted by Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚

Indie Book Spotlight @bookspotlight.bsky.social · Aug 7

✨ NEW RELEASE ✨

🗡️ fantasy novella
⚰️ accidental reawakening of dead immortals
🏹 gallant knights
👑 evil kingdom 🤝 evil queendom
🪾 enchanted plants and forests
🥀 romance and friendship

🔖 link: mybook.to/mUVTmR
💌 itch.io: rebecca-crunden.itch.io/a-light-for-...
📖 gr: www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...

Ebook cover for ‘A Light for the Dead to Follow’ by Rebecca Crunden. Cover image is of a skull surrounded by red-pink flowers. There are vines at the top beside the title. The title font is black and maroon, the name font is white.

28 190 260

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 6

#WritingLifeMonthly

Two snippets from my paranormal romance, Born Anew in Blood. In the first, one MMC puts an arm around the FMC’s waist to distract her — and it works. In the second, she’s wrapping her legs around the other MMC’s waist 😁

"Yeah, I can tell" I walk toward the partitioned-off area, trying to see around the bamboo and perhaps catch a glimpse of what lies behind it.
"Don't go in there," Saif reminds me cautiously.
"I won't. I was just wondering what less friendly' plants you have. Poppies? Deadly Nightshade? Belladonna?"
He chuckles, walking toward me with his hands in the pockets of his dark jeans. "Deadly Nightshade is Belladonna. But yes, actually, I do have that. Though you're way too excited about that prospect." His dark eyes glitter with amusement.
I grin sheepishly. "I just think it's a cool name."
"I've got a lot of plants in there that have cool names. Aconitum, Catha Edulis, Ricinus Communis. And they have even cooler effects.
Which is why I don't want you going anywhere near it."
He puts an arm around my waist and turns me to one of the large garden beds in the opposite corner.
"Would you like to pick some corn for dinner?"

Explosion
try to yank my wrists away from Diego's I clutches, but he pins them both against the
rough wood of the cabin with one forearm.
With his other hand, he pulls me deeply into him, and our bodies curve together perfectly as I wrap my legs tightly around his waist.
He forces my mouth open roughly with his tongue, and we move together like a choreographed dance, taking quick gulps of air between kisses like we're drowning in a raging storm that keeps pushing us beneath the waves.

2 5

Author Maria J. Hart 🍉🐺🩸📚 @mariajhart.bsky.social · Aug 6

🎉🎉🎉