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Lilian Zenzi
@lilianzenzi.bsky.social
770 followers 700 following 190 posts
🏳️‍🌈🪐🦄🪴💖 Writes stories for queer nerds with big hearts and the people who love them. Now living in Ireland. Newsletter sign up: www.lilianzenzi.com
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Our Own Ghosts Among Us: Trauma, Vengeance, & Real Connection in R.M. Olson's The Dark Between Stars series. The latest in my Writers Chat Deep Craft interview series, where I get to talk about R.M. Olson's space ghosts, which are one of my favorite sci fi concepts ever.
vist.ly/4zv5i
White title text, centered at top of image: Writers Chat Deep Craft Below it, in white text on left: R.M. Olson. Cover image for Inhuman, center right. Background is a bright blue and green gradient with pale imagery of hands and a pen nib. Background is a bright blue and green gradient with pale imagery of hands and a pen nib. White text, centered: I very deliberately wanted the ghosts to portray both the crushing unfairness of the societal consequences of abuse falling on the person who was abused rather than on the abuser, and also a way (albeit a desperate one) for the people who were victimized and made powerless to society to take back a little power and make the people who hurt them afraid. White title text, centered at top of image: Writers Chat Deep Craft. Our Own Ghosts Among Us: Trauma, Vengeance, and Real Connection in R.M. Olson's The Dark Between Stars series. Background is a bright blue and green gradient with pale imagery of hands and a pen nib.
April 26, 2026 at 5:10 PM
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I'm going to be thinking about stories as solar systems with their own gravitational forces for a long time.

New Writers Chat Deep Craft with Leslie Allen, author of The Revenge of Captain Vessia.
vist.ly/4vpki
White text, centered: "There's these big planets of story moments that define everything around them. Gravity pulling at the characters and story to the inevitable mass of a particular action, reaction..." Background is a bright blue and green gradient with pale imagery of hands and a pen nib. White title text, centered at top of image: Writers Chat Deep Craft Below it, in white text on left: Stories Like Solar Systems: Plot as Theme, the Cost of Vengeance, and the Moments We Live For in Leslie Allen's The Revenge of Captain Vessia. Background is a bright blue and green gradient with pale imagery of hands and a pen nib. White title text, centered at top of image: Writers Chat Deep Craft Below it, in white text on left: Leslie Allen. On the right, the book cover for The Revenge of Captain Vessel, featuring the main character seated at a desk in candlelight, sword hanging from her chair. Background is a bright blue and green gradient with pale imagery of hands and a pen nib.
March 21, 2026 at 3:48 PM
lilianzenzi.bsky.social
New Writers Chat Deep Craft is up! This month's chat is with Atlas Laika, author @mouseyatlas of Aurethia Rising. Post is on my website: vist.ly/4rev2
White title text, centered at top of image: Writers Chat Deep Craft Below it, in white text, centered: "What is sci-fi if it isn't in conversation with who we are today, you know?" Background is a bright blue and green gradient with pale imagery of hands and a pen nib. White title text, centered at top of image: Writers Chat Deep Craft Below it, in white text, centered: Examining the Past to Create Transcendent Futures: Worldbuilding, Vision, and Villainy in Atlas Laika's Aurethia Rising. Background is a bright blue and green gradient with pale imagery of hands and a pen nib. White title text, centered at top of image: Writers Chat Deep Craft Below it, in white text on left: Atlas Laika. On the right, the book cover for Aurethia Rising, featuring a painted image of two characters in an embrace. Background is a bright blue and green gradient with pale imagery of hands and a pen nib.
February 13, 2026 at 5:24 AM
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November's Writers Chat Deep Craft: MJ James's Inside a Dark Space. "I want people to enjoy my books, but I write them because there is something that I need to say. I write them so people know they aren't alone." 🌈📚
https://www.lilianzenzi.com/dont-let-the-f-ckers-win/
Background is light blue to light green gradient of abstract images with hands touching in the lower corner. White text in center says, "I want people to enjoy my books, but I write them because there is something that I need to say. I write them so that people know they aren't alone." White title text: Writers Chat Deep Craft. Center bottom: MJ James in white text. On lower right: book cover for Inside a Dark Space, which is black and white with a moonscape and vehicle. Background is light blue to light green gradient of abstract images with hands touching in the lower corner. Background is blue green wash over abstract collage. White text: Writers Chat Deep Craft
November 26, 2025 at 5:25 AM
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It's newsletter Friday! This month: a brief intro to Ghost, my newsletter and website provider, links to my free novellas, a snippet from the new Writers Chat Deep Craft with MJ James discussing INSIDE A DARK SPACE, and some monthly promos courtesy of Bookfunnel. vist.ly/4ffb9 to subscribe.
White text: November 2025 Newsletter. Welcome & Freebies, Writers Chat Deep Craft #3: MJ James's INSIDE A DARK SPACE, Monthly Promotions. www.lilianzenzi.com Background is muted purple and blue gradient with shadowy pale typewriter overlay.
November 21, 2025 at 5:25 AM
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Next up on Writers Chat Deep Craft: Don't Let the F*ckers Win: Portraying Resilience and Resistance through Identity, Connection, and Community. MJ James talks with me about resistance and communty in Inside a Dark Space. (Check out their Kickstarter to fund the sequel!) @mjjames
Background is light blue to light green gradient of abstract images with hands touching in the lower corner. MJ James in larger white text at top left with black and white book cover for Inside a Dark Space on the right. White text on bottom says "Don't Let the Fuckers Win: Portraying Resilience and Resistance through Identity, Connection, and Community."
November 19, 2025 at 5:25 AM
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The first lines from each of the Synchronists titles so far. The Stars Provide is a prequel novella available for free to newsletter subscribers. Spark and Tether and Flare and Bind are available most places online. 🌈📚 #queeradultsff
Gold title text: First Lines. Cover for The Stars Provide on center left. White text on right reads, "That one was going to need someone to look after him, Paradis thought. He was too open, too inviting; everyone who passed by him was met with a genuine smile and gentle greeting. The others seemed to avoid him, but whether it was the Bolisian beads on his arms or the too-friendly bearing or something else, she couldn't tell from across the the room. She hoped, for his sake, that he would learn restraint." Background is 4up collage of abstract images with electric bright colors on dark backgrounds. Gold text on top: First Lines. The cover for Spark and Tether is on the center left. Background is black with electric purple spark and lightning across center. White text reads: 
Sacheri woke with a shiver in his nerves tracing his limbs like a lit fuse.
His synplants drew his awareness out into the station, into the whisper of leaves and the low hum of the machines, endlessly seeking. He had no solace to offer them, so he tried to sleep through it. Maybe inebriant would douse the burn; he’d have to find one, which meant leaving bed… but then, a walk might also help. The drink could keep him company on the return.
There was a certain maudlin poetry to wandering with the ghosts of memory, anyway. Gold text on top says First Lines. Cover for Flare and Bind on center left over a dark background with electric blue and silver hexagon reflections. White text says, "There were a multitude of wrongdoers in the universe, and Meri was related to many of them. 
The ping on their schedule could have been nothing more than coincidence, but they knew as soon as they saw the name—even before they saw the independent transport identification attached—that it was family, coming for them at long last." Gold text top: SYNCHRONISTS and bottom: queer science fiction about interconnection and building better worlds. In center: ebook covers for The Stars Provide, Spark and Tether, and Flare and Bind. Background is 4up collage of abstract images with electric bright colors on dark backgrounds.
November 16, 2025 at 11:48 AM
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Next week's Writers Chat Deep Craft features MJ James's newest release Inside a Dark Space. Subscribe to my newsletter to get the link first, and check out MJ's kickstarter to fund the sequel. vist.ly/4dxim
White title text: Writers Chat Deep Craft. Center bottom: MJ James in white text. On lower right: book cover for Inside a Dark Space, which is black and white with a moonscape and vehicle. Background is light blue to light green gradient of abstract images with hands touching in the lower corner.
November 12, 2025 at 5:25 AM
lilianzenzi.bsky.social
Spark and Tether, first line: Sacheri woke with a shiver in his nerves trying his limbs like a lit fuse.

Audiobook narrated by Josiah Sweetnam and available everywhere, including libraries and direct from the author on payhip.
October 31, 2025 at 5:26 AM
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October's Writers Chat Deep Craft with Tamara Jerée on The Flowers I Deserve. WCDC is a monthly series of chat-style interviews where I talk with authors and artists about their work. Newsletter subscribers get the link first–sign up on my website. vist.ly/4c4ag
Light tan text: Feathers, snakes, spirit-imbued stones, mysterious flowers–they've all appeared in my previous poems and short stories with similar themes attached. For this novel, it really felt like returning to a language I'd been unconsciously building for five years. Background is bright blue to light green gradient with abstract images . Pen nib and touching hands are visible in light shading. Background is blue green wash over abstract collage. White text: Writers Chat Deep Craft
October 29, 2025 at 6:25 AM
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Get a free ebook of SPARK AND TETHER (Synchronists 1) when you sign up for the Queer Sci Fi email list this October! along with three other titles. 🌈📚 #queeradultscifi
https://www.queerscifi.com/join-our-maillist/
October 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM
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Healing on Instinct, Leaning into Whimsy: Embodying Themes Through Poetic Tension and Turns. October's Writers Chat Deep Craft is live on my website. I talk with @tamarajeree about their latest release: The Flowers I Deserve.

vist.ly/4bkh3
Tamara Jerée in red script beside the book cover image for The Flowers I Deserve. Post Title in light tan text: Healing on Instinct, Leaning into Whimsy: Embodying Themes Through Poetic Tension and Turns. Background is light blue to light green gradient of abstract images with hands touching in the lower corner.
October 24, 2025 at 10:44 AM
lilianzenzi.bsky.social
🌈📚 My Synchronists series is queer science fiction about interconnection and building better worlds. vist.ly/49xpp
Title text in white: if you like... Smaller text: Queer political science fiction with a love story at its core. Philosophical science fiction about interconnection and relationships. Optimistic science fiction because we can build what we imagine. Covers for Winter's Orbit, The Telling, and A Psalm for the Wild Built under text. Background: Photo collage of abstract images including purple streaks, metallic blue hexagons, droplets on plant stems, and sparkle paths. title text in white: "You might like..." with book covers for The Stars Provide, Spark and Tether, and Flare and Bind underneath. Gold text at bottom: Synchronists series is queer science fiction about interconnection and building better worlds. Background: Photo collage of abstract images including purple streaks, metallic blue hexagons, droplets on plant stems, and sparkle paths.
October 10, 2025 at 5:25 AM
lilianzenzi.bsky.social
In the next Writers Chat Deep Craft, I talk with Tamara Jerée about their newest release The Flowers I Deserve. Interview posts on my website on October 17; subscribe to my newsletter to get the link first. 🌈📚 vist.ly/49pf7
October 8, 2025 at 11:42 AM
lilianzenzi.bsky.social
Worldbuilding facts from the Synchronists series. SYNCHRONISTS is queer sci fi about interconnection and relationships. Available directly from me or wherever you buy books.
Gold text: 1. The universe contains hundreds of worlds. I wanted it to be large enough that I could tell any story I wanted. I regret this when I'm trying to remember how to get from Planet A to Station Z. Background: Black with violet and gold lighting abstract swirls. Gold text: 2. The series is set ~1000 years from now and assumes humans manage to escape extinction. I think of it as optimistic science fiction. Background: Black with violet and gold lighting abstract swirls. Background: Black with violet and gold lighting abstract swirls. Gold text: 3. There are clusters of inhabited worlds, loosely connected by gates. Humans don't understand how gates work, but use them anyway. 4. There are no military or carceral systems in Spark and Tether. In fact, there's almost no physical violence. (I am easily bored by fight and battle scenes. I want different stories.) Background: Black with violet and gold lighting abstract swirls.
October 3, 2025 at 5:25 AM
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The first WCDC post is live on my website; the second features Tamara Jerée and posts October 17. Sign up for my newsletter if you'd like the link first. 🌈📚
Top, White text: Writers Chat Deep Craft. Centered, Pale gold text: Dawn Chen, Tamara Jerée. Small purple text at bottom: monthly interview series at www.lilianzenzi.com
October 1, 2025 at 5:25 AM
lilianzenzi.bsky.social
Sundays are for long walks and beach time. I started & art class last week so I took my sketchbook along. The sound of the stones underfoot is one of my new favorite things. I’m not writing much yet. Still adjusting. The words all sound different in my head now. Need more time to settle.🌈📚
Close photo of grey stones with a box of 12 black and grey drawing pencils in the lower center.
September 29, 2025 at 5:25 AM
lilianzenzi.bsky.social
The fungi and (friendly) artificial intelligence are the good guys. People take care of each other. How we show up in the world matters. No weapons or war. Wrongs are meant to be righted. Can you imagine? 🌈📚

(Available direct from me on my Payhip shop, you know where to click.)
September 26, 2025 at 5:26 AM
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The first Writers Chat Deep Craft is up on my website. Thanks so much to Dawn Chen for joining me. The Witch Who Chases the Sun is out September 30 and preorders are open everywhere. 🌈📚https://www.lilianzenzi.com/wcdc-dawnchen/

(reposted with alt text)
Background is blue green wash over abstract collage. Pale yellow text: "The way it develops in spirals is always part of the story because the story is about diving into the past to inform the present." Background is blue green wash over abstract collage. Book cover for The Witch Who Chases the Sun on upper right; upper left text Dawn Chen in red script. Post title in pale yellow: love can't save you: spiral structure and the lasting wounds of colonialism Background is blue green wash over abstract collage. White text: Writers Chat Deep Craft
September 24, 2025 at 12:20 PM
lilianzenzi.bsky.social
I’ve been making books more than I’ve been writing the last few weeks. And since I gave all of my autumn decor to a beloved neighbor when we moved, I found a new friend and a tiny purple glass gourd for my desk for the season. I think my new gnome friend needs a name…
September 22, 2025 at 4:45 PM
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My September newsletter is out today. You can still subscribe on my website and read it there: vist.ly/47e4r 🌈📚

This month's update includes the link to my chat with Dawn Chen @dawn.writesstuff about her upcoming novel The Witch Who Chases the Sun, book promos, and a mutual aid request.
September 19, 2025 at 1:16 PM
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Love Can't Save You: Spiral Structure and the Lasting Wounds of Colonialism - my first Writers Chat Deep Craft post goes live Friday when my newsletter sends.

Dawn and I chat about structure, symbols, and anticolonialism. The Witch Who Chases the Sun is out September 30–preorders are open!
September 17, 2025 at 5:24 AM
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After a lovely Saturday in Ballinasloe for the Indie Authors Ireland gathering, I spent Sunday back at the shore in a coffeeshop with some poetry and a nice lapsang souchong. The first Writers Chat Deep Craft interview (with @dawnwritesstuff!) posts this week and my newsletter releases on Friday.
September 15, 2025 at 5:24 AM
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I chat with Dawn Chen about her upcoming release The Witch Who Chases the Sun for the first Writers Chat Deep Craft interview. On my website in mid-September–my newsletter subscribers get the link first. Subscribe on my website. vist.ly/469d8 🌈📚
Writers Chat Deep Craft in pale yellow text on top. Dawn Chen in red left center, beside the cover image for The Witch Who Chases the Sun.
September 10, 2025 at 5:24 AM
lilianzenzi.bsky.social
Monday mornings are for planning and organizing the week. I seem to have developed a terrific Barry’s habit in the last month. If I get some things done, this afternoon may hold a trip to the bookstore and the beach with some poetry. The card is from my favorite MoLI exhibit. 🌈📚#queeradultscifi
September 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM