crystal (reading malinda lo)
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snailpails.bsky.social
crystal (reading malinda lo)
@snailpails.bsky.social
47 followers 75 following 22 posts
🇺🇸🇭🇰🇻🇳 Asian American, Aspiring Author, AroAce, Cat Lover


🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQA+ Characters
✨ Own Voices
🗽 NYC & New England Settings
❤️ Lover of Horror and Fantasy
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snailpails.bsky.social
crystal (reading malinda lo) @snailpails.bsky.social · 5d
BESIDE YOU

No matter how hard you try, some things are already too far gone.

🩸 murder and monsters
🍁 new england vibes
🖤 dark romance
🫠 overworked protagonist

Dark Fantasy. Neo-gothic vibes. New England setting.

#questpit #w #h #df #dr #rf
snailpails.bsky.social
too many WIPs, too little time, but a snippet from my online serial!

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #WritingCommunity
February 6, 2026 at 12:36 AM
snailpails.bsky.social
usually, i manage to sneak like half an hour of writing or reading in the morning, but this morning was dedicated to the kitties at the vet (they're both good boys) #catsofbluesky #booksky
February 4, 2026 at 4:37 PM
snailpails.bsky.social
🤠 off to submit!

New FREE contest for writers of Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy — tinyurl.com/wdwcontest6 — Judged by Agent Lydia Caudill of Andrea Hurst Literary Management, via @writingdayworkshops. Winners get an agent critique of their work.
First Page Contest #6: Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy -- Judged by Agent Lydia Caudill of Andrea Hurst Literary
FREE CONTEST FOR WRITERS! First Page Contest #6 of this year is for writers of  Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy .  If you write in this age category, keep reading and submit your work!  This free...
tinyurl.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
crbarenza.bsky.social
Alex was confident. Alex was sunshine. 🌅

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WriteSky #bookssky #amquerying #romancewriter
February 4, 2026 at 4:34 AM
snailpails.bsky.social
I went to an Edward Gorey exhibit at Society of Illustrators NYC last weekend. Amazing illustrations and cover designs. 🥹

#booksky
February 3, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
loumarennewrites.bsky.social
The line between confident and cocky is a dangerous one.

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #writingcommunity #romancebooks #fantasy
February 3, 2026 at 2:36 PM
snailpails.bsky.social
i find these prompts so fun, looking for where i have the word, synonym, or vibe. i think this one captures the synonym/vibe with "smug."

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity
February 3, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
crbarenza.bsky.social
A dead husband has similar vibes to “perish” yes?

#WIPSnips, #WriteSky #writingcommunity #upmarketromance #romancebooks
February 3, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
loumarennewrites.bsky.social
New goal: use perish in my WIP.
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #writingcommunity #romancebooks
February 3, 2026 at 12:44 AM
snailpails.bsky.social
i think died is a synonym and vibe? ☠️ surprisingly never used perished!

#WIPSnips, #WriteSky #writingcommunity #horror #romancebooks
February 2, 2026 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
wipsnips.bsky.social
Welcome to a new week of #WIPSnips

The word for February 2nd is "perish"

Remember content/trigger warnings if necessary!

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
WIPSnips a bluesky writing community tag February 2 - perish Share a line from your WIP with the daily word for inspiration Use #WIPSnips. Don't forget Alt Text for graphics Synonyms, variation and vibes are fine. Support others on the #WIPSnips tag! Hosted by rosie-j-potter.bsky.social The image behind the text is a border that is dark blue with gold stars with a black background with neon blue border. An illustrated caticorn holding a pencil and writing in a book with a rose behind one ear is in the lower right corner. A different version of the same illustrated caticorn is curled up writing in the lower left corner.
February 2, 2026 at 8:33 AM
snailpails.bsky.social
new to blue sky, looking for mutuals #promosky

snail/crystal, 29, she/her pronouns

- asian american
- nyc foodie 😋
- currently working on two novels #writingcommunity
- book lover! #booksky
- i also read manga
- cat lover 🐈 🐈‍⬛
- and learning japanese! hmu for practice
February 1, 2026 at 10:47 PM
snailpails.bsky.social
Off to my best start of any year when it comes to number of books read. Finished it off with The Gashlycrumb Tinies after seeing an Edward Gorey exhibit. 💖

💙📚 #booksky
February 1, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
sarahjberke.bsky.social
A PI and a paramedic, each haunted by an inescapable past, break their own rules to help an undocumented mother assaulted by her daughter’s American father.
💪🏼vigilante justice
❤️love story
🧊anti-ICE
🧠neurodiverseMC
🌈end=hope
👩🏼‍💻prof dev edit
⌨️pgs www.SarahBerke.com/agent-guide
#questpit #Q #A #T #WF #U
February 1, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
laurelgrantfantasy.bsky.social
Hi Bluesky & #QuestPit!

🌊 What if it wasn’t curiosity that pulled the little mermaid out of the sea, but guilt?

Adult crossover fantasy ⚓️ BEYOND THE MIST 🗡️ is a dark twist on the original Little Mermaid tale & is out for querying! ✨

#agentsguide #Q #A #F #amquerying
Side 1: Images surrounding “an agent’s guide to BEYOND THE MIST, Laurel Grant, adult fantasy 105k words”: female mermaid, bridge over a river, glowing hands on a tree trunk, cavern, male sailor aboard a ship, a girl running to the sea, a medallion, and a fishing shack. Side 2: coastal background. The Pitch - When fisherwoman Nerissa’s best friend is kidnapped by immortal Fae after she failed to warn her people that the kingdom’s warded Mists were evaporating, she must learn to face her guilt and fight to save her, or climb the mast herself. Side 1: ocean waves background. The Comps - THE VOICE- A fiery tempered, iron willed female protagonist who will stop at nothing to deliver justice to her people, however different she is from them – or how much pain she carries (pictured: The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent); THE POLITICS- Class elitism, prejudice, political infighting, coups, betrayals, conspiracies, rebellious royalty – and lies, lies, lies (pictured: The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen); THE CAST- A multi-POV ensemble cast of unlikely friends, reluctant allies, magic wielders and wannabes, and converging paths that you won’t want to see parted (pictured: Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard; THE STAKES- The protagonist is fighting for a noble goal – but once it is achieved, she’ll realize the true rot is under the surface (pictured: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas). Side 2: coastal background. The Blurb: What if it wasn’t curiosity that pulled the Little Mermaid out of the sea, but guilt? With a cynical eye to all but the fisherfolk who raised her, Nerissa lives in a sea-glass prison of her own making. She did nothing when she suspected the Mists were failing – so now, Nerissa must abandon her home to rescue her best friend, Alicen. The royal knights dismiss Alicen’s abduction as a peasant’s delusion, and their rejection propels Nerissa desperately forward to the kingdom’s criminal underbelly, where a violent outlaw fresh out of the dungeons is in the mood to make a deal. The conditions of securing his supposed militia? Murder the knight who locked him in chains. Nerissa harbors no loyalty for the knighthood that has neglected her people, but the closer she gets to delivering the poison promising Alicen’s survival, the more Nerissa doubts the righteousness of her bargain. The Fae grow impatient with a prisoner whose value wanes each day, and before her assassination plot is exposed, Nerissa must decide with whom she will place her faith: the bandit, the knight, or herself. N… Side 1: coastal city road background. The Opening: The slick burn of wine rolled down my throat as another strike of lightning flashed outside, the spark illuminating just enough to confirm what I already knew. The dark figure in the corner of the tavern was staring back. It was the senselessness of a waking dream: for an evening promising a quickening storm, the tavern was reasonably sparse … and far too quiet. Others should have noticed him. And yet, only I seemed to know that he was watching us – had been watching us. Side 2: cavern background. The Tropes: lovers betrayal, stages of grief, father & daughter bond, abandonment issues, morally grey protagonist, found family/sisterhood, he sails to save her, knight academy, the Quest, mythical creature sidekick, discovery of power, runes & ancient magic, decoding messages, healing magic Side 1: apothecary desk background with scrolls, herbs, flowers, journals, and burlap. The Style: I yearned for that intoxication, not to save me from the nausea, but to numb the torment that relentlessly pinched my heart with every moment of Alicen’s absence. I knew I couldn’t feel anything more. It was unfamiliar. For all my life, I’d noted the absence of my mother, but I’d had no tangible sensations, no vivid memories to attach to her. Her absence was a constant; the origin. Missing her was to miss something that had never been there . . . to love a phantom, to long for the touch of nothing. When Andris had decided to leave for Fjordan, I’d feared that the same curse would befall us, and he’d join my mother in being utterly lost to me, as if he’d never been there. Though, the morning after Alicen disappeared was so much more horrifying than that. So much more vivid and surreal than I could’ve ever imagined. Suddenly, the grief over my mother that had always consumed me, that had likely been the genesis of the melancholy that had become inherently part of me, seemed merely more than a passing wind. What I felt now was a storm. Side 2: map of the Glynea continent; an island with 5 offshoot bluffs joined by bridges.
February 1, 2026 at 3:41 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
hannahnagle.bsky.social
SUCH A FICKLE FATE 🖤

NA grounded fantasy!

PERCY JACKSON x SECRET CIRCLE

⌛️working against the clock
⌛️celtic mythology
⌛️academic settings
⌛️roadtrips
⌛️female rage
⌛️slow burn romance
⌛️elemental magic + curses
⌛️fleetwood mac references!

#questpit #Q #F #R #S #crossover
February 1, 2026 at 1:37 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
attackoftherach.bsky.social
💯 fumbling through this as a newb:

THROUGH THE PINES

🎨 foster kid whose drawings open portals
🏫 island boarding school hiding secrets
💫 quantum physics equals magic
🏰 visions of a boy in another world
🌉 one girl connecting two universes
🍰 layered mystery

#Q #YA #F #writingcommunity #questpit
February 1, 2026 at 1:37 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
lennwrites.bsky.social
Civilization is built upon fault lines—some well-mapped and others undefined.

Sachial thinks the whole world is out to get him; he may well be right. Caleb doesn't believe a word Sachial says, but he always listens.

#QuestPit #W #sf #lgbt
a moodboard for Fault Lines upper left: the upper portion of a sword leaning against a stone wall middle left: flickering flame against a black background lower left: a slab of stone underwater; the water appears disturbed, bubbly upper middle: a spacious stone cavern with water at the bottom true middle: "The Fault in the Lines" lower middle: a pipe against a background of stone upper right: a cloud-shrouded mountaintop middle right: a closeup of blue scales lower right: a closeup of a person walking across the surface of water
February 1, 2026 at 3:15 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
vickiewrites.bsky.social
The Mummy × Bridgerton × Gods of Jade & Shadow

A teen linguistics prodigy deciphers ancient glyphs & resurrects a queen erased from history. Now the gods are hunting them both, determined to drag the queen back to the underworld & silence the girl who dared to wake her.

#YA #F #QuestPit #W
February 1, 2026 at 3:27 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
cassiewallinwrites.bsky.social
THE UNMAKING — 95k Upmarket Speculative Fiction

The Memory Police x Chain-Gang All-Stars

🧠 A memory technician that makes people forget.
📺 A glitching stranger who remembers.
🧪 A system that calls emotion error.

Some things cannot be erased.
#QuestPit #A #Q #LF #S
An agents guide to the unmaking an upmarket speculative novel querying now The pitch: nova makes people forget what pains or impassions them, but her own grief unleashes a glitching witness who remembers everything she’s erased. And he won’t let her forget. The comps: with the haunting erasure of the memory police, the escalating momentum of chain-gang all-stars and the corporate ritual menace of Severance in Apple TV+ The opening: nova once wondered in the memories she’d cut out followed her around, waiting for their moment to tear out her own.
January 31, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
abbyschiano.bsky.social
🌊 SALTWATER SAINTS | 75k words | Upmarket Fiction

Set against the backdrop of an idealistic beach town, SALTWATER SAINTS explores friendship, love in all its stages, and the consequences of living your entire life for other people—and what happens when you finally decide to stop.

#questpit #q #a
Stylized movie poster of saltwater saints
February 1, 2026 at 12:53 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
rdohertywrites.bsky.social
NOWHERE TO RUN: A black cat homicide DA and a wolf shifter crime boss with Rip and Beth vibes, a missing grandmother, an offer she can't refuse, and the family she always wanted.

Except she has to prosecute him for a crime he didn't commit.

Dark paranormal mafia romance
#questpit #dr #pr #r #q #a
February 1, 2026 at 2:38 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
snackswrites.bsky.social
KARBA VALLEY

🤠 Gothic western vibes
☠️ bleak fantasy setting
🖤 twisted tragic romance

Vampires and gunslingers are gonna be the next grumpy and grumpier let me tell ya...

#questpit #W #A #H #F #DF #RF #DR
February 1, 2026 at 3:13 AM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
kpnguyenwrites.bsky.social
There’s a miscommunication crisis in The Great Republic. Foreign languages are the culprit. To sever connections to their mother tongue, multilingual children must undergo tongue removal surgery at age 4.

🩸Vietnamese MC
⚕️Immigrant family dynamics
🩸Explores systems of power

#questpit #NA #SFF #W
January 31, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by crystal (reading malinda lo)
kellyywritess.bsky.social
SILVER ELITE X RINGS OF FATE

Kiaara has been hiding all her life. And you know what? She’s comfortable. Now, that’s changed. In order to take back the throne she has to put her life, and heart, on the line.

😘 Rivals to Lovers
🪾Quest
✨Chosen One
🪄 Hidden Magic

#questpit #F #Q #R
February 1, 2026 at 2:48 AM