Cherry Pickett

#queerwriters line share: lots of shadows here! From Ch. 1:

"The man didn't reply; rather, he seemed to disappear into the shadows ringing the room, before reappearing beside Honore. Moonbeams caught a flash of white, & Honore barely had a chance to register fangs as hands landed on his shoulders."

A free fantasy anthology to curl up with and read this weekend through yet another snowstorm ❄️

Hackers Expose Age-Verification Software Powering Surveillance Web Three hacktivists tried to find a workaround to Discord’s age-verification software. Instead, they found its frontend exposed to the open internet.

Oops. Turns out Persona, Discord’s age-verification service, was secretly screening selfies against government watchlists AND accessible by the feds. It's backed by Peter Thiel.

“The state wants to see everything. The corporations want to see everything. And they've learned to work together.”

This doesn't seem worth having a Discord account

Book Release blog post listings for HEA Canada (CanLitRomance.ca) Are you a Romance author from or in Canada? Do you have a book coming out? Tell me all about it so I can add it to my monthly new release blog posts! The post will go live at the end of the month so ...

Romance Authors of Canada! Do you have a book releasing this month? I'd love to include it in my February new releases post!

forms.gle/wyRi3nFmpkwN...

Feeling pretty dissatisfied with the novella draft, so I've switched projects for the moment. Having more fun, and I think letting the novella sit means I'll be able to pick it up again soon with a better idea of where I want it to go.

Age verification laws would be bad enough if they weren’t a complete privacy nightmare on top of every ing else. At this point, you should expect to have your identity stolen if you verify your age on a website.

Thank you!

#QueerWriters check-in day!

This week was rough. It was a short week, plus a partner company asked for a ridiculous deadline, so work was FUN. I also caught a cold (yay).

I did write some words, and I made progress on a novella. Just not sure I love those words ... some might go in the trash.

Thanks for another great chat, #QueerWritersChat! Thanks for hosting @amaralynn.bsky.social !

#QueerWritersChat

Thanks for a great chat! 💛

Very soon, I’ll be putting out applications for ARCs for The Need for Dandelions, coming out March 31st!

You can add it on Goodreads and Storygraph if you’re so inclined!
GR: www.goodreads.com/book/show/24...
SG: app.thestorygraph.com/books/9791b6...

*jazz hands* The Wine-Dark Sea is up for preorder AND on sale as of this morning! Motivation via love is really the driving force with this one. And the support you might need even with that love. #QueerWritersChat

kris-madigan.itch.io/wine-dark-sea

www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wine-d...

'A Big F*ck You to Big Tech': New Jersey Residents Defeat AI Data Center | Common Dreams "It's time to build communities, not data centers," said one local activist.

New Brunswick, NJ just canceled plans for a colossal AI data center after massive pushback from the community.

That's a huge win for people power.

AI data centers are sucking up communities’ utilities AND draining state resources — while enriching Big Tech CEOs.

#QueerWritersChat Five:

I feel the need to plug my most recent thing again, which is the audiobook of Moth Woods!

(review copies are also available, if anyone is interested!)

#QueerWritersChat

You can find me at allester.co.uk and francesfoxbooks.co.uk. I am revving up to getting my Lost in Time trilogy audio books available again and re-releasing the ebooks/paperbacks to match, so keep an eye out!

Thanks for running the chat, @amaralynn.bsky.social

I gotta admit, I do love characters motivated by spite.

This is one of my favorite dynamics between characters!!!

The demons in this series are very ... not demonic!

This one lives near the beach and runs an ice cream parlour. The angel is supposed to put the evil demon out of business, but he's like "but the demon is NOT evil, actually???"

Oh, I won't lie: I'd be this kind of villain too.

#QueerWritersChat

Ahaha, I'm not SURE about these two?

Angel MC: I guess he wants to do well on his assignment and impress his siblings. (He's ... not doing so hot with this.)

Demon MC: just wants to chill. His motivation is ... enjoying his life? Relaxing? (Can that be a motive?)

All of the above? I'll take any of these for villains!

Yep! Most of the time, it's because I'm recovering from finishing the last project OR my brain wants me to do something other than whatever story I think I should be writing.

T/y! I hope you get some quality writing time, whatever that looks like / however it happens!! 💜

#QueerWritersChat

Ohhhh villain motivation. Hm.

I love villains that actually want to fix the world, but they're so angry and messed up, they go about it in all the wrong ways.

It sucks!!! I'm battling a cold right now, and I might have to force myself to take a break. My head just isn't clear enough, and I'm not vibing with what I AM writing. Sometimes, it pays to know when forcing it just won't work (if we can even get to the keyboard)!

Ugh, isn't this always the way?!? My brain always starts churning out new ideas whenever I get super busy with deadlines at work!

Hyperfixation really does do wonders, doesn't it? 😅

#QueerWritersChat

I'm always motivated to write, because it's escapism for me. Honestly, I get grumpy if I don't get writing time.

Inspiration can be the bigger issue; if I'm not feeling a WIP, writing can be like pulling teeth. I usually just switch WIPs until I can settle in w/ something.

Hello #QueerWritersChat! Tis I, Cherry (she/her), writer of queer kissing books. This week, I'm working on the third novella in my angel/demon series, which features rival bakery owners!

Indie bookshops’ business rates to soar by up to 100%, BA research finds

Independent bookshops in England are facing business rates increases of up to 100% under the government’s new reforms, research commissioned by the Booksellers Association has found 👇 #BookSky