Amanda Starks
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amandastarks.bsky.social
Amanda Starks
@amandastarks.bsky.social
520 followers 560 following 110 posts
Fantasy writer, poet, and hopefully soon-to-be novelist who wants to create safe spaces to talk about mental health. ✨ BIG nerd who loves storytelling in all its forms. ✨ Former Librarian. 📚 Author of RE:SURGENCE.

https://vocal.media/authors/amanda-starks
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amandastarks.bsky.social
Amanda Starks @amandastarks.bsky.social · Feb 27
I wrote a thing!! A semi-big thing?? I just published the first act. Is anyone up for a fantasy post-apocalypse inspired by the ancient greek god of chaos and quantum mechanics?? 👀 💫 #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #VocalMedia #Fantasy
vocal.media/chapters/an-...
An End of Gods & Dust: ACT I
A Vocal Original Fantasy Series by Amanda Starks
vocal.media
Reposted by Amanda Starks
prisonculture.bsky.social
I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...

Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
January 25, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
juliarosekraut.bsky.social
“Don’t be discouraged when you find that the process of self-discovery takes a long, long time,” she said. “Don’t even be surprised if at 50 you are still wondering what you are going to be when you grow up.” 🗃️

RIP Barbara Aronstein Black

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
Barbara Aronstein Black, a First as a Law School Dean, Dies at 92
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 3:36 AM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
retquits.art
so don't get too comfortable.

#art
A digital painting of an ice cube, followed by several hands closed over each other with water pouring from them. Bold text on the art reads: "ICE MELTS".
January 24, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
bookspotlight.bsky.social
✨ FANTASY SHORT STORY ✨

🐉 a dragon (with a princess)
🗡️ a knight (with a plan)
👑 a palace (with a cruel king)
🏰 second pov

🔖 universal link: mybook.to/eJsBfU
💌 itch.io link: rebecca-crunden.itch.io/the-knight-s...
📖 goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/21...

[ #booksky ]
Cover for The Knight Saves the Dragon by Rebecca Crunden; background is a water colour type picture of a castle with trees and mountains behind, leaves surround the edges.
January 25, 2026 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
badhandbooks.bsky.social
Welcome to our new followers. Bad Hand Books is an independent publisher of horror, crime and dark fantasy fiction. Owned and operated by Bram Stoker Award and Shirley Jackson Award winning editor Doug Murano. Thanks for your interest and support. And fuck ICE.
January 25, 2026 at 4:49 AM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
requinoesis.bsky.social
Now that Hytale is here, I'm reminiscing about these shark-inspired mob design ideas I sketched out five years ago.

An attempt to diversify our idea of sharks in games, moving beyond the old stereotypes of aggressive mobs without depth! 🦈✨

#Hytale #Shark
Illustration of a concept for a shark mob called Ocelot Shark. Inspired by the zebra shark, nurse shark, and bamboo shark, it is yellow with round red spots reminiscent of a jaguar. This shark lays external eggs hanging from corals, which are inspired by the pouch-shaped and spiral design of shark eggs. They would be peaceful and would flee upon showing aggression; sometimes they can be heard making a barking-like noise on the surface of the water when they surface to gulp air. Illustration of a concept for a shark mob called Galleon Shark. Inspired by the tiger shark, it is bluish in color with dark stripes and yellow details, with a reddish snout tip and protuberances resembling small horns on its head. This shark would tend to hunt other sharks around it, being more active at night. They would be peaceful but could become aggressive when threatened. They are quite curious and do not hesitate to approach. More on the Galleon shark concept. The illustration shows that they can be attracted to food in the player's bag, approach while you have your back turned, and steal the food, quickly swimming away. But it is shown that if you tap its snout as it approaches, it will swim away. Illustration of a concept for a mob called “Wanderer Shark,” inspired by the whale shark and the colors of sea slugs. It would be large and slow, yellow in color with vibrant cyan and blue accents and details on its fins reminiscent of butterfly wings. They would be accompanied by small “fairy fish,” inspired by the behavior of remoras that accompany sharks. They are blue, pink, and yellow in color, and their small fins resemble fairy wings. They would be gentle giants that just wander the open sea in search of magical plankton. They say that their presence is announced when the plankton glows with bioluminescence.
January 17, 2026 at 11:10 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
sparkyderry.bsky.social
Havent done any frame by frame animation in a while and im currently in a hytale hyperfixation 😂🥳
#Hytale #hytaleissaved #hytalefanart
December 2, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
frostszalich.bsky.social
Thank you so much for everything 💙 @thomasfrick.bsky.social #hytale #hytalefanart #art
January 7, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
qospress.bsky.social
My wife of 29 years, bookbinder and book artist Jana Pullman, passed away in February after a long illness. She’s gotten some great memorials, including a posthumous award and a binding in a new exhibit at MN History Center. Here’s her take on that work: aboutthebinding.blogspot.com/2012/08/open...
Open Horizons
This binding was done  on the book Open Horizons by Sigurd F. Olson. It is about his love affair with the wilderness in Wisconsin. It i...
aboutthebinding.blogspot.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
decayde.bsky.social
Working hard on something for a year and releasing it into the world is scary. I put my heart and soul into The Rattle of Bones and seeing people buy it feels like people are going to see part of me laid bare. Tabitha is not a self insert, but she and Miguel have a piece of me in them. #writing
November 3, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
aebrossbooks.bsky.social
Friendly reminder that when folks say that you "have" to follow specific writing advice, you do not, in fact, have to.

What they are sharing is what works for them, and while it might be useful, there is no one way to get your writing out into the world. Do what works for you.

#WritingCommunity
September 24, 2025 at 12:05 AM
amandastarks.bsky.social
Someone has declared my afternoon writing sprint to be concluded. 😂
Thank God I surpassed my word count goal already. She is an insistent cat. #WriteSky #AmWritingFantasy #WritingCommunity
April 15, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
barnesandnoble.com
Hi.

Books are incredibly important.

Please let them be.
April 6, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
emilycurates.bsky.social
A polka-dot nudibranch.This is a type of sea-slug, not a #fish.Nudibranchs are soft-bodied marine mollusks known for their incredible colors and patterns
April 6, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
bookspotlight.bsky.social
give me your typos. your messy drawings. your silly memes. your cringey joys. your little doodles. your rewrites. your second attempts. your better attempts. your years-in-the-making stunning beauties that make you sigh with contentment at having perfected them at last.

just give me works by humans
April 6, 2025 at 7:19 AM
amandastarks.bsky.social
I wrote a thing!! A semi-big thing?? I just published the first act. Is anyone up for a fantasy post-apocalypse inspired by the ancient greek god of chaos and quantum mechanics?? 👀 💫 #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #VocalMedia #Fantasy
vocal.media/chapters/an-...
An End of Gods & Dust: ACT I
A Vocal Original Fantasy Series by Amanda Starks
vocal.media
February 27, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
stevetoase.bsky.social
Greek style painting. Above it says Things that make a writer nervous Writing Not writing Someone asking about writing
February 19, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
jamielnathan.bsky.social
Write to escape.
Write to release.
Write to bring joy.
Write to figure things out.
Write to say, ‘What if?’

Just keep writing.

💙📚🪐 #WritingCommunity #author
February 19, 2025 at 1:29 AM
amandastarks.bsky.social
It's so strange, the more stressed out I am, the easier words and new ideas come to me. If I'm in a zen state? Head is empty.

Which I guess partially makes sense? 🤔😅
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
February 19, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
meadowdays.bsky.social
Good morning ☕️
Congratulations, you scrolled so far you found the pikachu of luck. It does nothing, it's just chonky and cute. Here you go! (Picture of Pikachu)
February 18, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
heatherturiello.bsky.social
This feels so relevant right now.
February 16, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
adwills.bsky.social
it's fine... it's all according to plan... I'm just warming up
a meme top panel of the image is Obi-Wan Kenobi looking confident while he says "I'm a writer. Writing is my specialty." the bottom panel is Obi-Wan sitting in front of a computer with a blank word document, while he stares in great distress, and is labelled "when it's finally time to write"
February 10, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
sylleth.bsky.social
I've been very bad at posting here, so here is my favorite piece from last year. 😀 Hope you like it!
🔴 #criticalrolefanart #Criticalrole
January 30, 2025 at 9:28 PM
amandastarks.bsky.social
Since no one has asked me recently: what am I currently working on in my draft?
The answer: a scene where my main character is getting horse shit thrown at her. 💀💩😅 #CASTLING #WIP #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #DarkFantasy
a man standing next to a white horse with the words gasps in horse written below it
ALT: a man standing next to a white horse with the words gasps in horse written below it
media.tenor.com
February 6, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Amanda Starks
jpbrammer.bsky.social
I have located a coffee shop here in Mexico City that serves coffee that feels triple the strength of any I've had back home. this will affect my writing in positive ways, as well as my sporadic visions of future events
February 6, 2025 at 6:31 PM