#1
Sunday Times + USA Today bestselling author of A DOWRY OF BLOOD, she/they. EVOCATION out now, SAVAGE BLOOMS coming fall 2025. Rep:
@Literary_Tara
.✨
Hey lovelies. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to hang around this site. It’s become nearly unusable but my biggest platform is here and I love y’all, so while I’ll stick my head in from intermittently to update or DM I humbly implore you to find me on IG 🖤 stgibsonauthor!
The natural narrative response to the Madonna-Whore dichotomy thrust upon women is to pursue psychosexual fulfillment through men who symbolically feed and support both those archetypes simultaneously in this essay I will
ah sex scene discourse is going around again *climbs on soapbox, presses lips to mic* sex scenes fulfill complex artistic and literary purposes but they're also fun and thrilling to write and read, and that's a good enough reason to include them, actually.
I am once again asking querying authors to consider how their treatment of fantasy races like goblins and world-dominating secret societies may play into ant*semitic stereotypes. I'm not saying you can't ever write a goblin or a society, I'm asking you to be thoughtful about it.
Friends to lovers is fine when they're adult buddies but friends to loves when they were brought up alongside each other in childhood, entangled in desperation like flowering weeds denied sun, and yet could never fully realize their love due to society's conventions? God tier.
some of the best writing advice I've ever gotten is that if you're bored, the reader probably is too. If it's like pulling teeth to write that transition, that small talk, that time skip, just skip to the next exciting thing in the book. you can always fill in blanks later.
Will probably delete but it’s disheartening to see biphobic stereotypes taking root and flourishing in my industry as a bi author writing bi stories. We’ve literally always existed and we’re the ones who get to be the final word on our lived experience, end of discussion.
@LadyHawkins
I recently rewatched it and I was so struck by this as well! Two gorgeous charismatic people with great chemistry who still feel real and touchable and tousled at times. I love it
With the demise of tumblr and slow smolder of Twitter, I really hope another text-based social media platform arises to reign in whatever new era we're entering. Video-based media isn't for everyone, and I find it (Youtube, TikTok, Reels) restrictive and difficult to work with.
How to tell if an author is bisexual: they disclose, of their own free will, that they currently identify as bisexual.
That’s it. No scavenger hunt for context clues. No policing their identify. No probing questions into their dating history.
Enemies to lovers hits best when they’ve known each other almost all their lives, circling each other like burning binary stars, thrust together at every turn by forces outside their control.
Listen I believe in Pride and Prejudice supremacy but Emma (2020)? The tongue in cheek score and costuming, the growing-up lessons our spoiled heroine has to learn, the comedic beats, the Easter palette, "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more"??? Impeccable.
Now that I've been agenting for a year and have finally cleaned out my query inbox I thought it would be nice to make a thread of miscellaneous things I've noticed that may be helpful to querying authors. As always, this is just one agent's opinion, and your mileage may vary 📨
"One of us was always going to bleed for the other."
Unveiling the cover for AN EDUCATION IN MALICE, my academic rivals-to-lovers Carmilla reimagining.
Classes start February 2024🥀
B&N:
AMZ:
WATERSTONES:
If you’re a young person despairing about not knowing what to do with your life, know that I was in training for the priesthood in my early twenties before realizing I wanted a life outside the church writing gay little kissing books. There’s time to figure it out.
The writing advice to draft fast and sloppy is pervasive, and it works for some people, but other people draft slower and cleaner, and that's valid too. The first draft takes as long as it takes. Whatever road gets you to "the end" is the right one.
Mm yup biphobia in publishing is rearing its ugly head again so let me say once again that bisexual people are still bisexual no matter the gender of their partner or their sexual history!
Last week I wrote 23,535 relatively clean words relatively painlessly, ranging from 2,000 to 6,000 words per day. I'm here to thread my top tips for drafting fast while maintaining quality. Depending on how your brain works, some of them might be helpful to you.
Let's go! 🧵
yeah enemies to lovers falling in love slowly over time is good but enemies to lovers burning with repressed attraction to each other from first meeting is god tier
Raoul and the Phantom are both distinct real people with tumultuous inner lives but through the prism of Christine they are reflections of the complex and opposing desires within herself in this essay I will!!!
No gimmicks just a reminder that my dark academia Carmilla retelling comes out in 40 days 🥀
If you want a spicy sapphic vampire book set in a 1960s women's college and haven't preordered, please consider doing so, as pre-orders are a big career booster.
This is your sign from the universe to turn that love triangle into a polyamorous triad, if that's what you truly want. I'm your author aunt now. I am giving you permission. You are allowed to do that.
📢TWO! BOOK! DEAL!📢
The PM announcement is live, so I can finally share with you all that I'm going to be writing another book set in the A DOWRY OF BLOOD universe, coming to you in 2023.
Thank you so much for reading and for hyping this book up. You all made this possible.
It's my great pleasure to announce the title of the companion novel to A DOWRY OF BLOOD, forthcoming from Orbit in February of 2024 🥀
AN EDUCATION IN MALICE is a bloodstained love letter to ambitious girls, all-consuming desires, and the agonies and ecstasies of academia.
My number one piece of advice for early career writers is that you've got to be a freak. I'm so serious. You've got to go there, you've got to swing big and experiment and (responsibly) push up on boundaries and taboos. It's what will set your work apart and make you memorable.
Big News! ✨ I’m overjoyed to announce that I’ve accepted a position as a literary agent at the Speilburg Literary Agency.
I’m so excited to learn and grow with this amazing team, and to meet the talented authors I’ll be representing.
If you’re a bisexual writer, please keep writing. Keep writing whatever you want however you want and don’t be ashamed of taking up space. I want your books. Ignore the noise, listen to best practices and constructive criticism, and just keep going.
Sunday Times and USA Today bestselling author of A DOWRY OF BLOOD, she/they. AN EDUCATION IN MALICE and EVOCATION coming 2024. Rep:
@Literary_Tara
.✨
@s_t_gibson
This Bridgerton reaction really highlights that to some(!) straight folks, f/f pairings just aren’t believed to be capable of high drama or deep lifelong intimacy or burn-the-scenery down passion, which is a shame! And also proves these people know zero sapphics in real life.
hey summertime is upon us so I just wanna say crop tops are for every body. sundresses and booty shorts are for every body. I don't care what size you are, what gender you are, what shape your are, you look absolutely fantastic in that little summer lewk. show up and show out.
My wildest dream for A DOWRY OF BLOOD was to sell 5,000 copies in the first year. As of the end of October, ten months out from pub, we've sold over 15,000 paperbacks and e-books. Thank you all so, so much for making this dream come true threefold. I'm floored.
Not to be vulnerable on Twitter, but I'm going to come out as bi on Instagram where God and everyone else can see it tomorrow. It's been alluded to on that platform but I've never done an official coming out post, ever. Words of encouragement are welcome!
I’d like to speak directly to LGBTQ+ affirming Christians. If you truly believe that transgender kids are part of God’s Goodness, now is the time to step up and be the church. Donate to these kids, protect them, shelter them, celebrate them, and above all listen to them.
Some of you think bisexual characters ending up in long-term monogamous relationships negates their bisexuality and place in the queer community and yet you claim bisexual characters dating multiple genders in polyamorous arrangements is “toxic” rep. So which is it. Quickly.
Sharing creative work with a wide enough audience to find your ride or die fans necessitates exposing your work to people who deeply dislike it and, sometimes by extension, you! This is a feature, not a bug.
Forced proximity is such a treasured trope of mine. If there's one thing I'm gonna do, it's invent a bunch of hot tortured people, trap them in a mason jar, and shake em.
Self care this. Rest that. When will a beguiling vampire drain me of lifeblood right up to the brink of death and then brush my hair and put me to sleep in their four-poster bed.
Biphobia and bi erasure have nasty real world consequences and they prevent queer + questioning folks from finding stories that edify and illuminate their lives. Bi and pan people aren’t “queer lite” and we’re way more than an afterthought in the community. Get your act together.
I debated tweeting about this at all but I need the community support so honesty hour; I'm coming out to my parents next week and I cannot see past my own fear and despair at the prospect. Pet pictures, encouragement, and reminders that I will survive this process are welcome.
*kicks down the door* I've been out of the writing game for months but all I need you to know is that I'm back at it writing incredibly thirsty polyam fantasy books and no one can stop me.
DISCLAIMER: romance books don't need explicit sex scenes to be a.) fun b.) sexy c.) satisfying d.) category romances. But there's no shame in including sex for Deep Literary Reasons or simply because it brings you joy. Pleasure is good and worthy on its own merit!
Listen folks I know I'm just a she/they writing romantic fiction in the fantasy genre but I guarantee you, I mean GARUNTEE, that A DOWRY OF BLOOD is not YA
I muted last night's tweets about biphobia in publishing to protect my peace but let me tie the conversation off with a bow by saying that yes, there is room in publishing for bi stories, and yes, there are audiences out there hungry for those stories. Don't stop writing them.
I want every author to find their readers and cash their check and enjoy their acclaim. When we create networks of support, we can boost other artists and make our industry more equitable.
I don’t have competition. Only colleagues, if people choose to be in community with me.
I stopped reading my reviews for DOWRY long ago but the best bad review I ever got was something along the lines of "this author thinks the height of literature is going to various European cities and having sex in them" because I completely deserved it, they were totally right
As we wind down Pride month I want to remind folks that no amount of assimilation, self-flagellation, playing nice, or carefully argued apologetics will ever make you acceptable to those who deny your inherent goodness. So spare yourself the misery and live authentically.
A DOWRY OF BLOOD was about the way romantic love can decay into control and cruelty when abuse is present. AN EDUCATION IN MALICE is about the corrosive nature of obsessive relationships between mentors and students. Strap in, folks.
I wanna read a book that hits like "you said I killed you — haunt me, then!...Be with me always — take any form — drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!"
A DOWRY OF BLOOD is getting a hardcover release! Thank you to the phenomenal editorial team at Orbit for championing this book, and thank you to the design team for creating such a gorgeous new cover 🦇 🩸
We are thrilled to reveal that we will be publishing the TikTok sensation, A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson this October!
‘Dark, lush and heartrendingly romantic’ Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge
Hands up if you are excited.
#ADowryOfBlood
@s_t_gibson
I'm reminding all fiction writers that a thread of 4000 character tweets is absolutely a short story that is sellable and if you post it on Twitter even in a draft form it will count as published and then will not be sellable, so if sellable if your aim, tread wisely.
deleting my dating apps because I want to meet someone the old fashioned way (I join a vampire harem, we depose our abusive leader and form our own undying polycule)
You don't need to be a social media guru to have a writing career. If social makes you anxious, set up a website with a contact form and a newsletter link to gather emails, and choose 1-2 social platforms that feel tolerable for essential updates only. The rest is noise.
Reframing revising a novel not as "how can I fix what I did wrong" but rather "how can I go bigger with what I'm doing right" has honestly been groundbreaking
Good morning! I am now officially open to queries!📚
I'm looking for adult romance, sci-fi, fantasy, or horror fiction and graphic novels, and religious/spiritual nonfiction. My full MSWL can be found here:
Query me here:
It's disingenuous to claim that writers who explore sex are only doing so for shock value or to chase a trend. As personal as sex is, it's routinely leveraged in the public arena to drive policy and social mores. Sex deserves to be depicted in fiction as part of that conversation
Happy Nano! ✨It's time to unveil my newest WIP, the
#royalthrouple
book! This erotic high fantasy features
☀️Priestess X Bodyguard X Rival Prince
☀️Arranged marriage
☀️Ritual sex and sacred kink
☀️Allusions to Biblical mythology + Byzantine history
☀️Lifetimes of pining
My heart goes out to the authors, especially the indies and authors of color, who were targeted by a compulsively bad actor working under the name Freydis Moon. I was acquainted with them under one of their many other aliases and am familiar with their behavior.
A DOWRY OF BLOOD: toxic m/f/f/m polycule in which everyone is bi.
AN EDUCATION IN MALICE: f/f/f love triangle between a lesbian, a young bisexual woman, and their lesbian professor.
EVOCATION: m/m/f triad between a gay man, bisexual man, and straight woman.
I am kindly asking authors to please mention if their book has a bisexual main character. It certainly helps find interested readers who are looking for books with bisexual main characters
On a mission to provide trad romance with even more switchy male heroes. Yes I took your uptight controlling dominance-oriented man and I put him on his knees with a wild shine in his eyes and a flush spreading across the divot of his fluttering throat. What of it.
got laid off from my corporate dayjob yesterday ✌️ guess my job this summer is to lounge in field eating strawberries, swim in the ocean at dusk, and write gothic romances.
I don't think this is a cancellable book take re: that post going around but while I'm here I'll just bang my little drum and say sff could stand to be sexier. Like what is stopping you from sprinkling a little smut in with your spaceships and spells? Simply couldn't be me.
A DOWRY OF BLOOD is 50k on the dot and has found success. However you will notice that:
1. It was pubbed by an indie house
2. It's written in an experimental style
3. It's marketed as a novella and reads like one
4. Oodles of reviews still ask "where's the rest of the book?"
It’s 2021 and bisexual people are still being harassed into outing themselves by publishing professionals, talked about behind their backs, and subjected to unfair identity-centric criticism with every new book. Simply for existing!
It's a lovely day to not ask anyone why they're not drinking, comment on how much they're eating, or question why they haven't gotten married or had children!
A startup just cold DM'd me asking me to consult on a writer's app that involves minting NFTs so let me just state clearly, this is an NFT hate account. We do not support NFTs in this house.
It’s my pleasure to announce the title of my 2025 gothic fantasy romance, coming from
@orbitbooks
!
SAVAGE BLOOMS is WUTHERING HEIGHTS meets THE CRUEL PRINCE. It’s polyamorous, it’s kinky, it’s drenched in faery folklore, and it kickstarts a trilogy!
You literally never know who's gonna blow up in this industry, and making friends based on who you think is going to be "successful" is yucky anyway, so it's wisest to be kind and authentic to everyone you encounter✨
AN EDUCATION IN MALICE is officially out in the US! As per tradition, I stayed up until midnight to ring in the day. Come and get your toxic vampire yuri!🚨
Enough descriptions of romance heroines craning their heads up to look up at a 6 foot+ sycamore tree of a man. Where are the descriptions of a man who can look you level in the eyes and lean over to whisper in your ear at a party without bending double. Where are the short kings.
🩸 GIVEAWAY 🩸
To celebrate hitting 10k followers, I’m giving away five (5!) paperback arcs of my queer Dracula’s brides retelling, A DOWRY OF BLOOD.
TO ENTER: Like + RT
BONUS ENTRY: Comment your favorite historical time period
Open to US and Canadian readers only. Good luck!
God I live for lovers doomed by the narrative. Tell me how all this, and love too, will ruin us. Name one hero who was happy. You say I killed you - haunt me then. Woof.
My pitch for EVOCATION remains: A spoiled rich boy psychic, his sorcerer ex-boyfriend, and the ex's witch wife fall in messy poly love while working to break a family curse.
Thank you, as always, to
@warickaart
for this rendering of Moira, Rhys, and David.
World, meet Possum, or Posie for short. She spent her first moments in the house crawling all over my romance books and meowing plaintively at my Labyrinth poster, so obviously she has immaculate taste.
writing vampires is so much fun because there's no rules. you want them to sleep in coffins for the aesthetic? fine. you want them to cry blood because it's metal? cool. you want them to be able to turn into bats or control wolves or read minds? its all on the table baby
On that note, don't disparage your chosen genre in your query. I can't tell you how many vampire queries I get that trash Stephanie Meyer, or the romance queries that poke fun at romance readers. You should be in conversation with your genre, not positioning yourself above it.
The news is finally out!
The Summoner's Circle series, formally known as the Boston Wizards books, has found a home with Angry Robot in a four 👏 book 👏 deal 👏
I can't wait to share my messy, magical characters with you in 2024!
"Evocation is one big love letter to everything I adore, from esoterica to found family to the city of Boston"
@angryrobotbooks
has signed a new four-book series from A Dowry of Blood author
@s_t_gibson
, starting with Evocation.
Read here:
I’ll shut up about Freydis soon but…the circle of authors publishing occult horror romance with religious overtones is small, and most of us know each other. Bold and audacious (derogatory) that they thought they could just set up shop in the niche without anyone noticing.
If you're new here (and there are so many of you!), EVOCATION is my occult fantasy romance about a psychic lawyer teaming up with his ex-boyfriend/magical rival and the ex's new wife to break a demonic curse. It's atmospheric, creepy, and poly, and it's going on sub soon!
something I wish I knew earlier in my career is that knowing when to accept that you're not the right author to write a book and gracefully letting that story idea go is just as important as having the confidence to throw yourself into the projects you actually are right for
I didn't publish much this year (which is a-okay!) so this isn't a conventional eligibility post. But I do want to direct your gaze to my Dracula's brides reimaging, A DOWRY OF BLOOD, and tell you why this bloody little book means so much to me.
Cover credit to
@marlowelune
🦇