Aspen Rayne - The Colors That Haunt Us out now!

IT’S OUT!!! The Colors That Haunt Us is officially a real book that people can buy and read and have opinions about. And, because apparently one major life event at a time wasn’t enough, today is also my birthday. Happy book birthday to both of us. #TheColorsThatHaunt #BookSky #QueerBooks

#QueerPrompts "The Horror and the Wild" - The Amazing Devil This is pretty close to how I want my wip to feel: wonder and danger tangled together, growing dread, desperation, grief, and the sense that everything is spiraling into something much bigger than Rehn expected.

#LGBTQWriteAThon Rehn would absolutely love the spooky-season excuse to tell ghost stories around a fire. Xe would insist xe doesn't scare easily, spend half the night trying to make everyone else jump, and then get personally offended when someone manages to startle xir.

#WIPSnips There’s something especially unsettling about a place that looks almost familiar, except every little detail is just wrong enough to make you wonder whether you should turn around. The Veylshade is very good at that.

"Why don't they just leave the haunted house?" Fair question. Unfortunately, I love stories about obsession, denial, and houses that don't want you to leave. My latest blog explores why haunted houses work, and why I'd probably die in one. #Horror #AspenWrites www.aspenrayne.com/post/why-don...

#LGBTQWriteAThon I’m keeping my goals pretty light this week! I’ve got a hockey game tomorrow and Halloween this weekend, so the main goal is to write when I feel like it, poke at whatever project has my attention, and not stress about hitting any particular numbers.

#WIPSnips Being trapped underground is bad enough. Being trapped beneath a prison, after the way back has collapsed, in a part of the mountain no one even knows exists? Veyr is having a particularly terrible day.

#AwesomeCharacters I get Vael. Which is awful because he’d be perfectly pleasant. He’d help with my bag, make charming conversation, probably offer me the window seat, and by hour six I’d realize he’d learned everything about me while revealing absolutely nothing useful about himself.

#LitHodgePodge When drafting reveals something that genuinely works better than your outline, how much do you let it change before you stop and rework the plan? I tend to update the outline so the ripple effects stay intentional, but I’m curious how other writers balance discovery with structure.

#WIPSnips Seeing the future would probably be a lot more useful if Adesina could ever be completely sure which parts actually belong there and which parts her own mind might have inserted.

What is the fastest way for a fictional house to convince you something is terribly wrong? A room that shouldn’t exist? Doors that move? Family portraits changing? Something whispering your name from upstairs? #BookSky

#OCtoberWorldbuilders Dark ↔ Cozy: 90% Dark, but with pockets of warmth and community. Fantasy ↔ Sci-fi: 95% fantasy. Romance ↔ Nonromantic: 80% nonromantic. Rehn is aroace, and the story’s emotional core is much more about friendship, loyalty, betrayal, survival, and finding a place to belong.

#TheColorsThatHaunt #QueerPrompts Clara: 3/10 normally, 7/10 once obsession takes the wheel. Suzette: 4/10. Technically a ghost, but mostly she’s trying to warn you. Rosenfeld Manor: 11/10. Absolutely the scariest character, and yes, I’m counting the house.

#LGBTQWriteAThon This week was productive, just not necessarily in the way I planned. I bounced between projects, did some work on Gilded Essence, and kept poking at Mercy and my newsletter serial. So did I accomplish my exact goals? Maybe not. Did I make progress anyway? Absolutely.

#WIPSnips Today’s word is “false.” There’s a particular kind of dread in realizing the place that has always felt safest hasn’t actually changed—you have. And suddenly everything familiar feels just a little bit false.

Rosenfeld Manor has always wanted people to stay. Whether that means it loves them—or simply refuses to let them go—is another question entirely. #TheColorsThatHaunt #GothicFiction #QueerBooks

#QueerPrompts For spooky reading recs, some of my highest-rated horror reads: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth - Andrew Joseph White All the Hearts You Eat - Hailey Piper The Otherwoods - Justine Pucella Winans Bury Your Gays - Chuck Tingle Apparently my taste is queer horror + suffering. Who knew?

#LGBTQWriteAThon Fira is haunted by the time they were young, mediated their first big dispute, got the agreement stamped, and walked out feeling proud of themself. They genuinely thought, "Yes. Paperwork has solved this problem forever." Older Fira would like everyone to stop bringing this up.

#WIPSnips Today’s word is “rattle.” I heard that and chose violence. 😈 Sometimes the most unsettling moments aren’t loud. Sometimes it’s just one breath coming back wrong.

I have an upcoming release! thecrowshoppe.com/products/ble...

#FirstDraftFall My debut novel, The Colors That Haunt Us, came out October 8! Queer gothic horror about an artist, a haunted manor, and a woman who shouldn't be there. www.aspenrayne.com/books #TheColorsThatHaunt

#FirstDraftFall My goals for the next week: Flesh out Mercy's plot and character arcs. Map out Alderwick's first few issues and the clues hidden in them. Review my Gilded Essence outline and plan changing scenes. Basically, more planning so future me has fewer problems. 😂

#FirstDraftFall Mercy: I'm still working out how to reveal the truth behind the town's rituals. Alderwick: I'm figuring out how to pace the horror and plant clues across newspaper issues. Gilded Essence is already drafted technically, but editing keeps giving me reasons to change things.