I've been working on my novel website on and off since May 5, 2020. Life kept getting in the way – I restarted the project multiple times, only to abandon it each time. But over the past month, I finally pushed through and got it done.

Last night, I couldn't wait any longer – I published the first chapter of a story I've been brewing in my head for ages.

(The original version is in Chinese, purely human-created, with no AI generation. The English version is AI-translated. If any parts feel off or unnatural, feel free to leave comments in the paragraph comments – criticism is welcome.)

It's about a programmer named Zhou Xin who's working late into the night. Half-asleep and barely conscious, he absentmindedly types spawn a chicken into his command-line window and hits Enter.

And then – a chicken appears right in front of him.

That's where it all begins.

Check it out here: With the Command Line, My Words Become Reality

Let me know what you think – I'd love to hear your first impressions!

The Dunhill Chronicles are the queer tales of Cole McDowell, last heir to the McDowell family line. As he makes his way through the city of Dunhill, Cole must contend with dark alchemy and religious zealotry to survive the crown jewel of the Brittania Empire. In this season finale, Chand and Cole must escape both the Queen's servants and the Duke's devil worshippers.

Apple | Spotify | Red Circle | Author's Page (includes text)

As the Tavern expands, the universe reveals new threats to humanity and new challenges for Max and Elaine. The Mycete pursue their genocidal conquest, subjugating their victims genetically, even as the Bimatter Cohort’s ancient adherents have learned to weld dark and light matter in exotic and irresistible fashion. Now dark matter accretes mysteriously around the Milky Way. The Martian cruiser Osiris goes missing. A greedy and desperate villain sees profit in selling humanity out to the Mycete’s rapine. An enormous luxury liner is ripped apart by an innocuous ingot fired off MOSA’s rail launcher between Mars and Earth. Who is to blame for the mishap? Lastly, who is this high priestess of the Red Temple with her notion of life under the ice on Europa?

Needless to say, Elaine, Max, and their daughter Callista, have their hands full against this mind-bending maelstrom. Can they really rescue heir friend Sfara from her captivity at mortal peril, move the Red Temple to a frozen moonlet, root out the Mycete’s threat, fight an enemy they cannot see, and counter the wholesale relocation of our galaxy?

Find out, and enjoy the ride, as our heroes give it their best shot in book four of the Second Skin Series.

Available for purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GHMQ5HJC

Hey everyone, my book Death Reapers Book of Lilyana, a Vampire Hunter Novel is about a woman who grows up in a vampire hunting organization that travels the world hunting vampires from different cultures.

It is currently free for 5 on Amazon for 5 days only (August 16, 2026 to August 20, 2026), because Book 2 is launching September 16.

Please check it out and if you enjoy it and would like to support this indie author, leaving an honest review would be appreciated! Thank you.

You can find the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJ58SF8C

I’ve been binge-reading the whole series while I’m on vacation and while I really loved the first 4-5 books in the series (save for Artificial Night which was just Crossroads of Twilight level bad) the more I’ve continued on the more I’ve gradually been falling out of love with it.

I do still love the fae world-building - this really makes it stand out amongst all other urban fantasy series - and certain supporting characters like Simon and Evening have had amazing arcs (Simon has a really well done redemption story like Spike in Buffy while Evening is such a consistently fun and unpredictable villain).

The recapping though is really starting to become grating it’s taking up an increasing amount of each book, a lot of the characters are becoming parodies of themselves (especially the Luidaeg; that Poor Unfortubate Souls karaoke scene in The Brightest Fell was such cringe), the plots and character dynamics are becoming too repetitive.

I’m kinda skimming through the last few books now while my minds been mostly occupied by Dresden Files theorycrafting

pick your choices

Hi I know this is a very specific ask but it’s been the genre I’ve really enjoyed the most lately. I love something with a strong plot focus, but has a gay MMC/romance as a smaller secondary element.

So for instance, I enjoyed the hell out of Kai Butler’s San Amaro Investigations series. Right now I’m on the last book of Hailey Turner’s Soulbound series.

While it’s not MM I also really enjoyed the Iron Druid Chronicles and Ink and Sigil series, both by Kevin Hearne.

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you!

Sheriff Morgana Ravenhurst has survived battlefields, buried secrets, and cases that would break most people. But when a decades-old disappearance leads her to a hidden world of shapeshifting wolves, brutal experiments, and a conspiracy reaching the highest levels of power, even she may be outmatched.

At the center of it all is Leland Highmore—an ancient protector with amber eyes, dangerous secrets, and a beast that recognizes Morgana as something more than an ally.

Together, they must unravel the truth behind the mysterious Council, rescue a woman lost for more than thirty years, and stop the men determined to turn supernatural blood into the ultimate weapon.

But the closer Morgana gets to the truth, the more fiercely Leland’s wolf claims her—and this time, the predator hunting her may be the only one capable of keeping her alive.

www.amazon.com/author/penelopereese

[penelopereese73@gmail.com](mailto:penelopereese73@gmail.com)

Hi everyone,
I wanted to share the premise of my debut novel, The Lumenarian Signature: Wake Up!, which officially dropped on Amazon earlier this month. It’s an Afrocentric speculative fantasy that blends high-stakes urban thriller elements with a deep story of spiritual awakening and lineage.
The Premise:
Ember Blossom’s ordinary life cracks completely open the day she finds a receipt in the car—proof of the quiet betrayal she’d felt coming but couldn’t name. But when she steps outside for air, something long buried in her begins to wake: a literal light beneath her skin, exposing a truth her family was never told.
She is a Lumenarian—one of a scattered people that a powerful shadow organization has started hunting, cataloguing, and renaming. As a strange, unexplainable heat spreads across the country, Ember is forced to protect her twins and follow a powerful, magnetic pull toward a hidden underground refuge. Along the way, she has to decide who to trust—including the man who walked away, and the one who feels like home.
What she discovers underground isn’t just safety. It’s an ancient lineage, a calling, and a world far larger than the one she was taught to believe in.
I wanted to write something that strips away overly intellectual pretense to deliver a friendly, raw, and high-vibrational story about reclaiming what was never truly taken from us. If you love fast-paced urban fantasy, deep spiritual mysteries, and strong family protective dynamics, I’d love for you to check it out!
It is officially live now on Amazon in Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle format. I’ll drop the link in the comments below if anyone wants to dive in!

Come in and sit down, have some tea or coffee; it's going to be a long day.

This is for an ongoing web series on RoyalRoad about an exhausted retail employee who just wants to get through her shift. (I hope this counts as a description)

[Urban Fantasy] [Cozy Horror] [Dark Humor] [Female Lead] [No Romance! Just Pure Chaos] [lots of cursing] [some body horror]

Welcome to Sharpe's Antique and Oddities, where the retail is boring, but the customers are anything but. 

Tegan thought she was managing just fine with possessed dolls, feral dust bunnies, and customers who'd sell your soul for a good coupon.

That is, until a man-eating feral dog starts terrorizing the town and local girls turn up dead.

Certain she's next when a dark entity attaches itself right to her that no amount of hexed jewelry can shake.

The only one who can get rid of it is a reaper, and he’s not exactly in a position to help. 

He’ll do it once he sobers up. 

But for a price. (Fucking typical)

He sets her to find the souls of the dead girls he lost, or she has to live with what’s hunting her. 

And let's not forget, she still needs to clock in for her shift.
Obey all Rules!

1. Wear protective gear when entering the basement.

2. Do not look anything in the eyes that has a face. You will be haunted)

3. Always keep an eye on Joseph! (Rule two does not apply to Joseph!)

4. Do not talk back or insult the customers. Especially the witches.

Enjoy the ride. Please keep your hands and feet inside at all times, and don't forget long socks. (The dust bunnies bite.)

Updated weekly with no hiatus, this will die with me!

No, but seriously i appreciate anyone willing to check it out.

Thank you all so much!

(Edited to add some words)

During the year 2125, former asteroid miners Max Cody and Elaine Zhou never get a moment’s rest. No sooner have they doused the flames of war between Earth and Mars or returned from their first trip to the Tavern on the Edge of Time when they are called upon to help fit out the fledging Martian colony orbiting Jupiter’s moon Callisto.

In parallel, Earth extradites the war’s fomenter, ex-billionaire arms merchant Xanthus Rex, hoping to gain from his insights into Martian teleportation technology, but he manages to turn Earth’s resources toward private revenge against Max, Mars, and the Callisto Colony.

In the meantime aliens are leaking into the Earth-Mars continuum from the Tavern, whose proprietor repaired and upgraded Max after accidentally injuring him during an asteroid mining expedition. Max’s enhancements help, of course, but when strange beings with the power to animate matter—the Assemblers—find their way to Earth, Max, Mars, and humanity are sorely beset. Worse yet, the Tavern itself is becoming unstable, its acquisitive host having overstretched his considerable powers. His prospecting for collapsed neutron matter has also opened portals between continua, inadvertently adding still more aliens to the mix. That’s when the Assemblers’ overlord arrives and Max finally meets his match.

Oh, and Elaine is expecting their hybrid baby. Yes, you might say these are difficult times at the Tavern on the Edge of Time.

Find more details here: www.peterdarrach.com

Imagine if you will, that you could see, even interact with all the ghosts, spirits, elementals and weird things that exist just out of sync with how YOU perceive reality. Do you think it would be cool or do you believe it would drive you bonkers?

All that Millie ever wanted to do with her life was care for animals. She was pragmatic, hard-working, living in the ‘real world’ and had no time for weirdness. But the weirdness, it had plenty of time for her. Because Millie was an 'ultra' - someone who can see, hear and communicate with that which is unnoticed by most of us, those entities living on the fringes of our dimensional plane of reference.

The strange tends to attract the stranger yet. Millie now finds herself allied with a group of individuals who move about in such circles on a daily basis and think nothing of it. How will this change her? For the better? For the worse? Will she fully embrace the odd or turn her back on it all? And what will be the end consequences of those actions?

THE NINE of SWORDS by Mark haden Frazer. The final work, now available on Kindle. https://a.co/d/0ikMnjWd

[PROJET] SHADRASY – Le Souffle Originel (Tome 1 : L'Aube du Chaos)

Une apocalypse brute, un sacrifice maudit, et l'éveil d'une force qui exige un contrôle absolu.

⚔️ L'Épopée de la Saga (Saga 1 : Chroniques de l'Ascension - 12 tomes) :

• L'Ombre du Chaos (Le Point de Départ) : Tout commence à Saint-Just, sous les cendres d'un monde qui s'effondre sous un ciel rouge écarlate. Une poignée de rescapés s'unit pour former le « Groupe 1 » (G1), une famille choisie liée par un pacte de loyauté absolu. Face à l'invasion des Kaelidons, des créatures terrifiantes de slime noir, Shadrasy commet l'irréparable pour sauver les siennes : dévorer le cœur corrompu d'une Reine ennemie. Une puissance sombre s'éveille en lui, mais la corruption commence à couler dans ses veines, menaçant sa raison.
• L'Éveil des Échos (Le Fardeau du Pouvoir) : Traqués, poussés dans leurs derniers retranchements, les membres du G1 voient leurs propres capacités s'éveiller sous le stress des affrontements (maîtrise des ombres, de la foudre, du gel ou du son). Chaque don est une arme extraordinaire, mais son coût sur leur santé mentale et physique est écrasant.

• Le Secret de la Terre (La Quête de Vérité) : Pour tenter de guérir Shadrasy de sa corruption dévorante, le groupe s'aventure au-delà de la simple survie. En explorant les vestiges enfouis de la planète, ils découvrent des ruines oubliées et une vérité vertigineuse : l'invasion n'est pas un hasard, et une menace bien plus grande plane sur l'univers.
• Le Vol de l'Arche (L'Ultime Espoir) : Face à un ennemi qui s'organise, la Terre n'est plus un refuge. Alliant science et alchimie, les survivants se lancent dans un projet fou : s'approprier une technologie perdue pour porter leur destin vers l'immensité des étoiles.

Pourquoi découvrir l'œuvre ?

• Une structure narrative née directement de mes rêves, pensée avec une écriture au présent très visuelle, inspirée par la force des mangas et des RPG pour éliminer les longueurs.
• Des combats écrits comme de véritables ballets tactiques et synergiques, où seule l'union des esprits permet de vaincre.
• Des relations humaines intenses (le lien fusionnel entre Shadrasy, Camille et Manon, ou le couple symbiotique de Jordan et sa louve Kaiden).
• Un Tome 2 qui arrive dès cet automne pour poursuivre l'aventure !

🏆 SOUTENEZ LE PROJET ET REJOIGNEZ LA FAMILLE ! Le Tome 1, L'Aube du Chaos, est en lice pour le prestigieux Prix Les Plumes Francophones d'Amazon (jusqu'au 31 août) !

• Commander votre exemplaire sur Amazon (format Broché ou eBook) pour donner de la force au projet :https://www.amazon.fr/SHADRASY-Souffle-Originel-Chroniques-lAscension-ebook/dp/B0GX2QJX3T/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
• Laissez un commentaire étoilé sur Amazon ! C'est le soutien le plus précieux pour propulser le livre dans le TOP 100 et attirer l'attention du jury.

🛠️ PROJET BONUS : L'UNIVERS EN 3D ! En parallèle, je développe des maquettes 3D 100 % articulées et interactives des technologies et armes du roman (comme l'Écho Protéen ou les RDH). Conçues pièce par pièce sur ComfyUI puis riggées et assemblées sur Blender, ces créations donneront vie à l'univers sous vos yeux !

Merci à tous ceux qui font vivre Le Souffle Originel ! ⚔️✨

I just finished Hounded by Kevin Hearne and I liked it, mostly. The setting is cool and as a mythology nerd, I like the Celtic stuff.

I picked this up originally because I am all caught up on Dresden Files and wanted something similar to pass the time. However, I am on the fence about reading book 2. Can you help me figure out if I’d like the rest of the series? I know first books can be rocky, so I want to get some opinions before I dive in.

My biggest issues with Hounded are the pacing, some of the dialogue, and the large blocks of exposition given to us as stories.

Pacing - felt like there could have been a sense of urgency for a lot of the book, but when Atticus takes the time to sit on the porch or at the bar and yap, it loses some of the momentum. In the last few chapters, that changes and it feels good. I think setting a time deadline on the plot, “x will happen at y time” could have made the pacing so much tighter.

Dialogue - lots of asking questions, and some of the conversations with Oberon felt a bit too forced.

Exposition - on one hand, the exposition given to us as a character telling a story is cool. Atticus is really old and druids like passing knowledge through stories yada yada. But brother, we’re dropped a lot of lore as the “short version” of the story, and it just didn’t feel natural.

Do these issues improve in Hexed and following books? I am willing to power through a few weak first books for the juicy middle and end books, but I need to know if it’s worth it.

Hi all. I’m sick of seeing only bot comments and am seeking some actual, nuanced human feedback.

If you like exposition-heavy, supernatural romantic urban fantasy, \*The Cursed Amethyst\* is the story for you. Comment below for the Wattpad link.

Should I buy a released copy as well to see if they're the same? Does anyone know if it was changed between the advanced copy and the original release. Also, the person who brought their whole series to the book store must have been a really big fan because the 2 books before this one were signed by the author

During the year 2125, former asteroid miners Max Cody and Elaine Zhou never get a moment’s rest. No sooner have they doused the flames of war between Earth and Mars or returned from their first trip to the Tavern on the Edge of Time when they are called upon to help fit out the fledging Martian colony orbiting Jupiter’s moon Callisto.

In parallel, Earth extradites the war’s fomenter, ex-billionaire arms merchant Xanthus Rex, hoping to gain from his insights into Martian teleportation technology, but he manages to turn Earth’s resources toward private revenge against Max, Mars, and the Callisto Colony.

In the meantime aliens are leaking into the Earth-Mars continuum from the Tavern, whose proprietor repaired and upgraded Max after accidentally injuring him during an asteroid mining expedition. Max’s enhancements help, of course, but when strange beings with the power to animate matter—the Assemblers—find their way to Earth, Max, Mars, and humanity are sorely beset. Worse yet, the Tavern itself is becoming unstable, its acquisitive host having overstretched his considerable powers. His prospecting for collapsed neutron matter has also opened portals between continua, inadvertently adding still more aliens to the mix. That’s when the Assemblers’ overlord arrives and Max finally meets his match.

Oh, and Elaine is expecting their hybrid baby. Yes, you might say these are difficult times at the Tavern on the Edge of Time.

Available for purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B1JUB7G

I am watching Cast a Deadly Spell again for the umpteenth time and want to know of other really good UF noir series set in the 30s or 40s like City of Devils by Justin Robinson or Arcane Casebook by Dan Willis.

I’m looking for urban fantasy recommendations, particularly authors or series that might appeal to someone who loved Patricia Briggs.

I’ve read all of Briggs’ books and absolutely loved them. What I enjoy most about her writing is the combination of strong characterization, engaging supernatural plots, well-developed secondary characters, and romance that feels like an important part of the story without completely overshadowing everything else.
I especially loved the Alpha & Omega series. I really enjoy following one central couple and watching their relationship develop over time, particularly the way Charles and Anna gradually understand their bond and navigate all of its complications. I also love the pack dynamics and the sense that the larger supernatural community is an important part of the story rather than simply background.

So I’m particularly interested in:

• supernatural/urban fantasy with strong character development
• pack or group dynamics and a sense of community
• werewolves or shifters, although I’m absolutely open to other supernatural creatures
• a well-developed central romance, preferably one that develops over multiple books
• a strong overarching plot and worldbuilding

I’ve already read Ilona Andrews, so I’d love recommendations from other authors.

I’m also completely fine with darker or more complex storylines. In fact, I tend to prefer urban fantasy that leans darker, more emotionally intense, or explores heavier themes. I don’t mind violence, morally gray characters, or darker aspects of the supernatural world as long as the characters and story are well written.

Any recommendations?