Al Hess

Photo of a dogbane beetle: glossy iridescent green, gold, and blue. It's pretty cute.

Photo of a golden tortoise beetle by Andreas Kay. Semi translucent shell covers a speckled shiny gold-green body. It's ALSO pretty cute.

Art of a brown and black stag beetle rearing up, by Albrecht Durer.

Art of a black rhinoceros beetle with a speckled tan shell, by Pieter Holsteyn. It looks very demure.

A demon hunter collects fantastic swords based on beetles 🪲

Every other day this month I'm posting a new prompt-based flash fiction for #Swordtember. If you join my page for as little as $4 CAD, you support me writing more queer fantasy ⚔️✨

www.patreon.com/posts/swordt...

A pixel art landscape of green fields and fluffy cumulus clouds, with two trees in the foreground. In a cute pixel font is: Extended Forecast - a narrative game by Al Hess

A game screenshot with text and a pixel art landscape and a cute pixel robot with a big head and tiny legs. Text reads: You’ve fallen in love only once, with the most beautiful cumulonimbus you’ve ever seen. It towered into the denim blue sky, white and frothy and dragging its rain-soaked hem across the fields. But, alas, it was not meant to be. No matter how intense your tryst as it pelted you with fat droplets, rain clouds only stick around for so long. NEON — the stout flower merchant with the beard and the sad eyes — has also fallen in love. His object of affection is a human farmer here in town who is arguably much easier to woo than a cumulonimbus. But only if the silly merchant ever makes his feelings known. Head to the market

An ink and digital illustration in a watercolor style of a cute floating robot with a big head and tiny legs, looking at a pink rose against a backdrop of green hills and a blue sky

BONUS: Extended Forecast is also a narrative choose-your-path game with lo-fi music and pixel animations!
alhessbooks.itch.io/extended-for...

An abstract illustration of yellow flowers against a blue background. The white text reads: Need a mental health break? I have free cozy stories full of plants and cute robots

A cover of green leaves and pink and purple black eyed Susan flowers. The title says Extended Forecast, Al Hess

A tan cover with multicolored abstract fern fronds and tulips. The title reads: The Elopement of Atticus and NEON, Al Hess

How you doing? Need a little break? Maybe some cute and cozy stories would help. Totally free at alhessbooks.itch.io
and set in a soft and overgrown post-post-apocalyptic world inspired by the song (Nothing But) Flowers by the Talking Heads 🤖🪻

Ashlyn Drewek 20m • • •• As a conservative MM author, I already felt like I walked on egg shells with my community. I never posted anything political. I kept it to books and men's issues (because that's what MM means i.e. Male/ Male), but even that became problematic so l stopped posting at all. I eventually deleted all of my social media, except FB. Needless to say, I am SO happy to have finally found a safe space where people like me aren't vilified. Thank you for making this space.

This was posted in a MAGA author group so I wanted to bring it over here so you don’t accidentally pick up one of her books.

I'm right there with you.

Yay! Thank you!

The last 48 hours have shown why people have stopped relying on legacy journalism and have migrated to independent journalists in droves.

The benefit of legacy journalism is supposed to be “editors” and “factchecking” and they can’t even get that right in a rush to blame trans people.

Get more from Gretchen Felker-Martin on Patreon Creating Filth

Meant to share this link to help Gretchen and the lost revenue from losing her book.

A digital painting of a nude person lying backwards and partially covering their face. Two feathered wings sprout from their back and a white star pierces their head. Top surgery scars are visible on their chest.

“Crawl your way out” 🩸⚡️

Self portrait number 7 in my annual series!
I’ve been making these yearly portraits ever since I realised I was trans in 2018.
I started 2024 with huge amounts of fear and self doubt and slowly learned that I deserve to be kind to myself (thanks, therapy).
#art #selfPortrait

Thank you! I wanted to do a mixed media one as a call back to my original unpublished series this book is based on, but, er, much better than those original mixed media covers.

A mixed media collage cover of a raven against backdrop of blue sky and handwritten letters. In masking tape is written WASTELAND HEART

graphic of a worn piece of paper with handwritten text: "DEADLY NANOBOTS; UNTAMED WASTELAND; A MISSING BROTHER. SASHA'S NEW LIFE ON AN ISOLATED CONTINENT ISN'T THE CLEAN START HE HOPED FOR - BUT MAYBE IT'S THE ONE HE NEEDED"

Surprise launch day! Wasteland Heart is out now and on sale for .99 🌾🐦‍⬛

✔️Found family
✔️A tech cult
✔️Bi romance
✔️K!ll the rich
✔️Prehistoric mammals
✔️Wasteland road trip
✔️Run from your problems

alhessbooks.itch.io/wasteland-heart
www.amazon.com/Wasteland-Heart-Edge-World-Book-ebook/dp/B0FL1D7YG3

The cover of Yours Celestially by Al Hess. A well dressed figure in a purple sportscoat, black shirt and hat has a cloud-filled sky instead of a face. Windows dialogs read "Resurrection: Loading", "Metatron.jpg" and "Call your guardian angel?"

Third place in the fourth #SPSFC goes to the second chances resurrection romp Yours, Celestially by @al-distortion.bsky.social. Judge: "I needed this in my life right now at a time where I had more than a few negative thoughts in my head about being who I am."

www.amazon.com/Yours-Celest...

One like, one MM book written by a man.

Okay, well.

Queer & especially trans authors of erotica and other content deemed 'nsfw' by major platforms, please drop links to where people can find your stories in the replies.

Everyone else: Repost people's links. Stop worrying about the sanctity of your feed & help the most impacted authors.

Thank you!

I'm at claudiearseneault.itch.io !

Good page to get some aro & ace fantasy books 💚💜♠️

Steve Westenra

Thanks for doing this! I've been trying to comment and review more on the platform lately.

Here's mine! steve-westenra.itch.io

A screenshot of Al Hess' itchio landing page, which says AL HESS, cozy and queer SFF in a Y2K style chrome bubble font against a background of blue sky and clouds. The text reads: alhessauthor.com Al Hess is author of World Running Down, Key Lime Sky, Shake Out the Ghosts, Yours Celestially, and the award-winning Hep Cats of Boise series. Subscribe to Al's Speakeasy for a monthly newsletter of updates, free stories, and the chance to shape future books.

I have been away from social media for a bit, but I love itchio! Thanks for this thread.
My books are almost always pay what you want, and I have a cute free CYOA game too. :)
alhessbooks.itch.io

Banner for the Narratess Indie Book Sale. A chonky dragon reads a book at the bottom, a pile of skulls with a candle and ghost sit on the left of the text, and a space ship flies by a planet on the right of the text. Text: Indie Book Sale indiebook.sale Fantasy, Sci FI & Horror August 23 - 25 Banner designed by Arden Powell

The signups for the August sale are open!

Click here to receive your invitation: www.subscribepage.io/NIS

Click here to bookmark the sale page: indiebook.sale

Sure. Thanks for bringing that my attention. People mistake my name for A.I. and then I get yelled at for being a bot 🫠 which is why I changed it, but accessibility is more important.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

A book cover of a pink and purple twilight sky above a silhouetted city, seen through a large apartment window. In white script is SHAKE OUT THE GHOSTS by AL HESS.

Behold the cover of my next book, SHAKE OUT THE GHOSTS, coming out in March 2026 with @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social !

👻 eccentric artists
💜 morbid humor
👻 your crush is dead (still into it)
💜 Donnie Darko vibes
👻 twists!
💜 ace MC
👻T4T romance
💜 mental health rep

angryrobotbooks.com/books/shake-...

Cover reveal for SHAKE OUT THE GHOSTS in 3 days 👻🥀

Thanks so much!

Thank you!

I have been absent from social media lately, busy with a new move, new job, and book edits, but I am honored and floored to be a finalist!! ✨🪽👁️🪽✨

My #SPSFC semifinalist review for Yours Celestially by Al Hess ( @al-distortion.bsky.social ‬).

davedobsonbooks.com/spsfc4-semif...

Thank you so much!