#Ashtaroth
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thirea.bsky.social
~ Ashtaroth ~

Coloured portrait for my Kindred Spirit tier member~
February 5, 2024 at 11:14 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
Holy shit! Someone bought The Wings of Ashtaroth and left a $10 tip!!!!

Thank you, friend! (and to everyone who's purchased my books lately, including others who've left tips--really helpful at the moment). ❤️❤️❤️
Screenshot reading, "You sold The Wings of Ashtaroth for $12.99 - $10.00 tip."
February 8, 2026 at 2:23 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
The Wings of Ashtaroth got a review yesterday from the wonderful Tiny Elf Arcanist!! tinyelfarcanist.com/2026/08/22/t...
The Wings of Ashtaroth by Steve Hugh Westenra
Brutal in all the right ways, and an immersive experience of beautiful prose and awful people.
tinyelfarcanist.com
August 25, 2026 at 10:04 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
I've shared this before, but I once had someone comment on the opening of The Wings of Ashtaroth to tell me I should specify somewhere early on that the characters weren't cats . . . because otherwise people might assume they were cats
aegisimmemorial.bsky.social S R Jones @aegisimmemorial.bsky.social · Jul 5
If you see this, please tell me the worst/most baffling bit of creative feedback you've ever recieved.

Mine is still the time somebody told me my aliens had names that were too alien. Not that they were unpronounceable, just that they didn't sound enough like human names.
July 6, 2026 at 3:04 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#SFFChat Q1: I think I'd find it very hard not to include neurodivergent and disabled characters in my work! Even characters I thought were neurotypical turned out very much not to be 🤣

Ashtaroth and Iridescia, two of my MCs in The Wings of Ashtaroth are both disabled (Ashtaroth is diabetic &
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jan 29
#SFFChat Q1: Do you have any disabled or neurodivergent characters in your story? If so, talk about them here!
William Blake's painting of the prophet Tiresias! Thank you public domain images, haha.
January 29, 2026 at 11:21 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
Remaking my pinned to include my Itchio!

If you're looking for a #queerbook by a #transauthor, I have two published novels.

Itchio: steve-westenra.itch.io

The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle (wide + paperback): books2read.com/u/boB9YL

The Wings of Ashtaroth (eBook): books2read.com/u/49dn8Y

#pridereads 🌈📚
June 2, 2025 at 12:21 PM
sayaashrah.bsky.social
#TBRuary 5. The Wings of Ashtaroth by @stevewestenra.bsky.social. I bought it forever ago but still haven't got around to reading it. All the snippets I read already tell me the book is great, though!
Cover for The Wings of Ashtaroth.
February 5, 2026 at 12:34 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
The Wings of Ashtaroth is now up on Itch.io! steve-westenra.itch.io/the-wings-of...

It's pay what you can, but I'd appreciate anything anyone can spare 😅
February 26, 2025 at 12:32 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - "Brass"

I have a five-year-old's sense of humour and couldn't resist (also the word "brass" only appears twice in my writing apparently) 🤣

From The Wings of Ashtaroth, if that wasn't apparent!
"The need to relieve himself was too great to await assistance, and Ashtaroth fell to his knees, hauling out the brass pan. Piss drummed against the pot’s sides as words drifted to him from the hallway outside the door to his chambers." - The Wings of Ashtaroth
May 3, 2026 at 9:48 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
Here's a video I made sharing a bit about me and my work!

Find The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle here: books2read.com/u/boB9YL

The Wings of Ashtaroth: books2read.com/u/49dn8Y
December 9, 2024 at 12:44 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#WipSnips - "Jade(d)"

One from The Wings of Ashtaroth for a change!

Lots of demonological stuff in the book, and this scene takes place before something Very Intense™️👀👀👀

Itch: steve-westenra.itch.io/the-wings-of...

Wide: books2read.com/u/49dn8Y
Ashtaroth gazed up at the vaulted ceiling, which had been painted a deep blue to imitate the night sky. Its surface was dotted with luminescent yellow stars painted in gold, and they shone brightly when the light from the sconces hit them. Tanata’s presence was felt even here, in Abaal’s home. “Ashtaroth?” Lilit's voice echoed off the walls. Ashtaroth followed the sound deeper inside the temple, passing between the emerald and gold pillars, beneath Tanata’s starry sky. The reliefs carved in the door repeated along the walls, and when he spied Abaal and Tanata again, Abaal’s cape was filled in with jade, Tanata’s figure overlaid with a thin veneer of blue so that her naked body could be seen underneath. It didn’t tell him anything new.
July 17, 2025 at 11:56 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
If you've been looking to grab it, The Wings of Ashtaroth is in this!
mcburnellauthor.bsky.social Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd @mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · Aug 8
Cross-genre bundle, SFF & romance, dark and epic. Each book is the start of a new series! Looking for a new adventure to sink your teeth into?

🪐📚 🌶️📚
itch.io/b/3216/start...
A graphic of 31 books together with the title, "Start a nw adventure today... 31 books, $31" "The Star-Crossed Empire" "The Edge of the World" "Riyati Rebirth" "An Uncommon Curse" "Toshie the Hero and the Orbs of Destiny" "The Dragon Whisperer" "Moonshadow's Guardian" "Wings of Ashtaroth" "Bad Grains (The Order of the Strawberry)" "Stellar Instinct" "Pradyutita" "Shades of Spring" "Child of the Moon" "Shadows Dark & Deadly" "Accidental Intelligence" "The Stained Angel" "Song of the Wolf" "Metanoeia" "Crimson Knight" "From the Grave of the Gods" "A Path of Endless Crossroads" "Heirs of Hyarch" "Alien Exploration" "Cosmonaut" "Inarora's Excursion" "My Lord" "The Seeds of Dissolution" "The Ten Worlds: Children" "The Blood Divide" "Claimed by the Undead" "Heart of Dust"
August 8, 2025 at 6:50 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - "Green"

From The Wings of Ashtaroth!

Find it here: steve-westenra.itch.io/the-wings-of...

And here: books2read.com/u/49dn8Y
"The night came on so suddenly this time of year. Overhead, stars poked through the pale daylight like pins through a cotton sheet and the fertile lands of the Meddar glistened in a green haze past the clawing hunger of the desert." - The Wings of Ashtaroth
March 17, 2026 at 11:19 AM
quacksanonymous.bsky.social
Time to break out my old banner, I guess.
Illuminati Ted invoking the spirit of Ashtaroth Sheran
October 1, 2025 at 1:27 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - "Piece"

From The Wings of Ashtaroth! There's a bit extra in the alt-text.
Ashtaroth reached again for the spyhole, slid three fingers in, then another, another—his hand was through, and his thin wrist, even as it cracked, spilling liquid gold onto the floor. Ashtaroth screamed, pushing back with his feet against the tunnel walls, forcing his arm through the too-small opening, feeling his skin crack open, his arm white as milk, fragile as glass, shattering its pieces onto his mother’s floor. “A true child of Qemassen,” said Lilit, everywhere and nowhere, and Ashtaroth screamed as he forced his whole arm inside and shoved the fingers of his left hand in after it. He shouldn’t have fit, but he forced himself—two arms, then his head, his shoulders scrunched together, breaking into sharp edges in order to make it. His chest was through— He tumbled onto the floor, cheek smashing against the ground. He drew his face up and caught a glimpse of part of his fractured face dangling from his cheek, gold blood spilling onto the tiles.
May 18, 2025 at 10:02 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
For some reason The Wings of Ashtaroth on itchio has suddenly had 16 views on Itchio, and considering I haven't posted about it at all, I have no idea why! But thank you! 🤣
Itchio Dashboard chart showing daily views per project. Views for April 1st of The Wings of Ashtaroth are at 16, much higher than others days, when the max number of views combined between Ashtaroth and another project are ~8-9.
April 1, 2025 at 4:43 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
If you're looking to dip into indie fantasy, but don't know where to start, there's a huge mega bundle going on right now on Itchio! 64 books for $45!

The Wings of Ashtaroth (which I just mistyped as "Wigs of Ashtaroth" along with a bunch of other typos 🤣 is in it!

itch.io/b/3409/end-o...

🌈📚🪐
🌈🚀💫
December 9, 2025 at 11:48 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
It is a wonder I have not been hired as a marketing guru

Weird-ass shit!:

The Wings of Ashtaroth - books2read.com/u/49dn8Y

The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle - books2read.com/u/boB9YL

#transauthor #transbooks #indiebooks #indiehorror #indiefantasy #transhorror
I'm Steve. Buy my . . . weird-ass shit. "Books" with three arrows pointing to Breadcrumbs on a Forest Floor, The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle, and The Wings of Ashtaroth
July 25, 2025 at 5:55 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#SFFChat Q4:

Hmmmmm

I'd say a serpent for Ashtaroth, or maybe a moth or some kind of small bird
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Apr 30
#SFFChat Q4: What real-world (or mythological) animal would your MC have as a familiar?
Text the same as post. Tropical foliage that has been tinted red serves as the background!
April 30, 2026 at 11:03 PM
doomcountry.bsky.social
@stevewestenra.bsky.social 's ashtaroth :))
February 4, 2025 at 12:10 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
It probably won't surprise that typically I sell more copies of The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle than The Wings of Ashtaroth, but for the past few months there's been a lot more interest in Ashtaroth than TETK. No idea why, but it's super interesting

("a lot" being relative, haha. I've sold more copies)
January 20, 2025 at 4:15 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#SFFchat

Intro:

I'm the host of SFFchat, but less impressively, I'm also a writer and academic.

I have two published books: The Wings of Ashtaroth (political epic fantasy) & The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle (queer horror comedy). I also have an upcoming Norse-inspired fantasy called So Sing the Barrows!
Covers of So Sing the Barrows, The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle, and The Wings of Ashtaroth
November 28, 2024 at 11:05 PM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - "Wing"

I've definitely shared this one (or bits of it!), before, but I'm happy with it. (:

From The Wings of Ashtaroth
"Moniqa stretched her hand out slowly, ebony skin catching a sliver of light from the windows she'd all but blacked out with thick curtains. She crooked her finger beneath the fragile gold of the sun. The light was like a bird or an insect come to balance on her hand. Inside its focused beam, the dust motes danced in slow circles. Massenqa dust—sand sneaking inside to colonize her lungs like little winged soldiers." - The Wings of Ashtaroth
May 7, 2026 at 10:05 AM
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#WIPSnips - "Supply"

From The Wings of Ashtaroth. Felt relevant. 🙃
Competence was in eternally short supply, its coffers near as empty as the city’s.
April 7, 2025 at 10:10 AM