I.S. Belle

landscape illustration of a hardcover book case, covered in black and magenta roses and vines. The magenta ones are framing the image, and on the right/front side are two pale arms with entwined pinkies. one has black punk bracelets and one has a pink ribbon and blood dripping off a finger, onto a white rose. On the left side there's a black and pink ribbon in the roses, as well as a cat collar with a nametag reading 'babylove'. It's all in a pencilly rendered style.

the full spread illustration I did for the special edition hardcover case of the babylove trilogy by @isbelleauthor.bsky.social! pretty obsessed with how it turned out

#art

Me going through this slow writing month: man this is painful. maybe I'll get lucky and get rabidly, uncontrollably obsessed with a new project out of nowhere and pump out a ton of words before the month ends

Me getting struck by Divine Inspiration & writing 25k of a new project in 4 days: yay ☺️

Unexpected author growth: I like writing blurbs now! Think it's bc nowadays I write it before I do the 1st draft, it makes it so much easier than waiting til the end. I like returning to it & asking, "Am I delivering on this premise?" Still can't write a synopsis or a 1-line pitch though.

Good news: across my 2 pen names, I'll earn more from my author job than my (bookshop) day job in 2025!

Less good news: I had to get a tax guy & I've been asking him several questions a day. Every time he answers me I have more questions about his answer. Explain it to me like I'm six, tax guy.

if there's 1 thing you can count on in an I.S. Belle book, it's that the love interest is gonna grab the MC and say something like "the dark force trying to consume you can't have you!! you're MINE!! come back to me 😫" you've heard it once and you'll hear it again bc I can't get enough of it folks!

In the new episode I get to talk to Isabelle McNeur about writing and zombies!!!!! 🧟‍♂️ @isbelleauthor.bsky.social
better-read.com/2025/01/16/e...

My 2024 author wrapped:
📖: earned x10 what I earned in my first year of publishing (last year)
📖: published 4 novellas & 2 full length books
📖: launched my 2nd pen name
📖: ran 2 successful Kickstarters
📖: signed audiobook deal with Tantor
📖: wrote over 900k words
So excited to see what 2025 holds!

vampires don't get to complain enough about not being able to eat food. vampires in MY books can't go 50 pgs without whining about how much they miss hash browns. yes I'm a super hot immortal with the power of flight but if I can't enjoy my favorite breakfast sandwich anymore is it really worth it?

my supernatural phase ended a long time ago but sometimes a fellow former spn friend will ask "why do I recognize this song" and I'll immediately answer "this song played in season 5 ep 16 where Dean sets off fireworks with a fake child version of Sam in heaven." it's been 84 years

fanart of the spear cuts through water, two young men embracing under a moon with a leafy border.

fanart of the dawnhounds, two women sitting in a fungi windowsil looking out at a fantasy city.

fanart of the scapegracers, four teens in a squad pose with witchy symbols behind them.

drawing of an hourglass with red mechanical patterns at the top and blue naturey patterns at the bottom.

Nominating for the hugo awards? I'd love if you considered me for best fan artist!!

I do lots of book fanart, which you can find here: layaart.tumblr.com/tagged/2023%...

#art

Your guide to New Zealand fantasy romance novels coming in 2024 Paranormal, historical, monster and more – all the different flavours of fantasy romance on the way from local authors this year.

This is such a great reading list for 2024! Thanks Melanie Harding-Shaw

seriously though if they did content warnings for 90s books there would be a whole page of em before every animorphs book. "Body horror. Suicidal ideation. Gore. PTSD. Parental neglect. Child soldiers. War crimes. Grief." That list would just keep going! God I loved them so much

every time I write a YA book I think, alright, this one isn't THAT dark. then I write the content warnings and uhhhh. welp. have fun, kids! don't say I didn't warn ya.

i keep writing books inspired by the 2009 bisexual classic Jennifer's Body. in my defense it was VERY inspirational

look I haven't cared about doctor who in years but there are VERY few things that make me choke up like Donna's granddad spotting the tardis in the sky & screaming THATS DONNA!! & THAT'S HIM!! in pure joy when he sees Donna next to the doctor, on their way to unimaginable adventures

terrible news for this week's wordcount: i figured out how to install God Mode mod on bg3 and now all my enemies fall effortlessly before me instead of getting me stuck on a fight for 7 hours. i am ecstatic and getting 0 work done

Thank you!! ❤️ we do love a curvy girl protag 😁

Yes hello has everyone seen the RIDICULOUSLY amazing cover for my upcoming sapphic vampire YA romance, I'm swooning

me: man why haven't I written a gay vampire book before. this is so goddamn fun. this should be all I do now. gay vampire books out the wazoo. I.S. Belle: author of gay vampire YA books, nothing else, what a great niche.

me: *remembers I haven't written my gay werewolf book yet*

me: nvm

☺️

Graphic reading: **Fantasy Bookmark Set**. A circular image of many brightly coloured bookmarks laid on top of each other. Win 24+ original fantasy bookmarks! Double-sided, uniquely die-cut designs of fantastical swords, daggers, & fungi, plus any fandom design of your choice Auction: Nov 7-11. BFP is an auction-based fundraising & awareness campaign within the book community to provide immediate aid for the ongoing crisis in Palestine and also look toward Palestine’s future and the preservation of Palestinian right, voices, and culture.

Graphic reading: **Custom Character Art.** an image of four cropped character portraits. Win custom character art by Laya Rose! An illustration of any character/s of your choice Auction: Nov 7-11. BFP is an auction-based fundraising & awareness campaign within the book community to provide immediate aid for the ongoing crisis in Palestine and also look toward Palestine’s future and the preservation of Palestinian right, voices, and culture.

I am auctioning two things in the Books For Palestine fundraiser: all my bookmarks designs, and also custom character art!

when you watch ONE (1) basketball video for book research but then YouTube keeps recommending them. where's the button that says I Never Actually Wanted To Watch High School Basketball I Just Made My MC A Basketball Star And Had To Learn The Basics

My vampire fangs arrived the day AFTER Halloween 😭 so I'm wearing them while I write gay vampire romance books. Feelin' pointy and ✨️inspired✨️

Shows the cover of Vicarious alongside the words PREORDER NOW and Enter our campaign to get swag!

Shows one of the preorder campaign items, which is a limited edition 2x2 inch campaign sticker. The sticker has bi flag colors on it, and reads Gaslight, Gatekeep, Gertie-Boss for School Board

Artwork by @helhornart featuring the characters Gertie and Bea in yellow formal wear. They are pressed cheek-to-cheek. This is also a 2x2 sticker.

Words: Preorder a print book, get the sticker AND a bookmark.

Vicarious, my upcoming sapphic horror novella releases in a little over 2 weeks!

To celebrate, we're doing a preorder campaign. Preorder the ebook and get these cute stickers, if you get the print version, you get a bookmark!

Link in my bio!

#queerhorror #indiehorror

2 copies of my book have been checked out of my local library and I'm walking around the neighborhood looking at people like it could be you... whomst knows...

Tweet: "I feel like some people need to relearn genre expectations... 'Man, this tragedy sucks! Why didn't they just do XYZ, then everything could have ended happily!' well, then it wouldn't be a tragedy, would it. 'Man, this lighthearted teen romcom is terrible, it's so sappy and unrealistic!' Well, yeah. If it had been gritty and dark it wouldn't have been a lighthearted romcom, would it. Is the writing actually bad or are you just trying to order a milkshake from a Home Depot.

That Home Depot/milkshake analogy is going to live absolutely rent-free in my head forever.

Rallies for Palestine on Sat 28/10 Otago Museum Reserve, Dunedin 2pm The Square,Palmerston North 2pm 1903 Square, Nelson 10.30am End of Wairere Dr/Naylor St, Hamilton 1pm The Landing, New Plymouth 1pm Tram Shed, Whanganui 11am Aotea Square, Auckland 2pm Civic Square, Wellington 2pm Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch 1pm

E hoa mā, if you’re not already planning to, pls pls come along & stand in solidarity today! We can’t support self-determination in 1 place & not other; justice does not mean “just us”! Your voices are so needed friends! 🙏🏽

Ki te kotahi te kākaho, ka whati; ki te kāpuia, e kore e whati
✊🏽❤️🖤🤍💚✊🏽

Banner: the "guns don't kill people" people sure seem to think a book can make you gay.

Sadly I don't know the source of the banner or the photograph.

Today has required a lot of rigorous adulting. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play some Dragon Age and then write about the little gay people that live in my head.

have just been informed I can't write a book on vibes alone, I have to actually come up with a plot 🤮