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Steph Manser

@steph-manser

Self-published writer and avid reader

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About Me:

I'm a Canadian and a self-published writer. I love reading, writing, talking about books, promoting other writers (sometimes sporaticaly as I'm still a little erratic about checking social media sites). I will sometimes share snippets of my writing and will talk about it to anyone who will listen. I also have three furballs who live with me and will randomly mention them.

About Writing.

I write about LGBTQIA+ characters because I am one, and there was a lack of representation and access to those stories while I was growing up. I wrote Residual Hate, a story about a lesbian mage who gets tangled up with a conspiracy while trying to help out oddballs.

After publishing Residual Hate in 2024, I learned more about the process and hope to actually get better at marketing.

Ongoing projects include:

Finding Balance (September 14, 2026)

Vision and Choices (Maybe 2027?)

Shifty Fic (working title)

Modern AU (in which I grabbed characters from Residual Hate and integrated them in modern-day Vancouver). On AO3.

AO3 account

Instagram/Threads: steph-manser

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A little late, but a bit of a treat while I figure out where I'm going with this now that the main arc I had in my mind i s complete.

*does the Tari dance*

(realizes there is no Tari dance)

*invents the Tari dance, then does it*

Tari dance is 80% sword dance, 10% focus, 5% scowl, and 5% don't you dare mention this....

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The fun thing about watching horror movies, then writing a horror book as a Black author is that you get to simultaneously laugh in the face of the writers who killed off Black characters first while also acknowledging that, "Yeah no, definitely not going towards the scary noise."

In other words, the latest Rumpel chapter MIGHT have had Roj's reflection talk to her. Did she talk back? No, no. We won't be doing that. She threw a dagger into it, then ran. THAT'S how you survive in a horror story. Nobody's expecting you to face down every evil🤣.

[This is for my October 2028, horror-fantasy trilogy! It's a spin on the classic tale of Rumpelstiltskin and features underrated mythology from all around the world. If you'd like to be added to the alert list for this story when it comes out [or the tag list, so you'll see updates as I work on it], just let me know in the comments or reblogs!]

(@ariahorrorist for the updates!)

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August Flash Fiction

The best moments are often

the ones you don't need to explain...

On August 20th, discover a moment of quiet.

Delivered direct to your inbox when you sign up to my newsletter.

It's not just about flash fiction...

Subscribers get to dive into my world in a way no one else can!

The prequel short story is available for download only to newsletter subscribers.

Sign up now to receive my writing updates, access to my flash fiction archive, and an exclusive short story set in the Fey Touched world!

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My work will be public domain in 25 years and here's why

When I decided to start publishing my books, I looked up copyright law, as you do, and was appalled. In my jurisdiction, works become public domain 70 years after the death of the copyright holder.

Are you f-ing kidding me?

Immediately, I thought, well absolutely not, I want people to actually read and adapt my works. Yeah I want to make some money off of it, after all I worked on it and in this capitalist system I need to pay my food and rent somehow, but what the hell is "70 years after my death" good for? I don't have children, and if I had, let them make their own damn books!

"Oh but Netflix won't option your book if you commit to-" Netflix isn't going to option my book anyway!! Are you kidding? I love my work and I think it's good and I actually think The Feymark Files in particular would make an amazing Netflix series, and 'This Body, This Blood' would make an amazing 3-person stage play. And no one is gonna pay me for that! I am more likely to get struck by lightning! I am more likely to win the f-ing Euromillions!!

SO here's what's going to happen.

As of the second edition of 'The Night Shift' and 'This Body, This Blood', and for all books going forward, there will be a notice in the front matter of the book announcing the date on which the work will enter the public domain, which will be 25 years after the publication date of the work. In the meantime, make fan art and fan fic to your heart's content, and if you somehow have an amazing idea related to my work that you want to make money with, contact me and we'll work something out.

'The Night Shift' will enter the public domain on March 23, 2051.

'This Body, This Blood' will enter the public domain on September 23, 2051.

Until then, all my work is available DRM-free in digital format, and in paperback format wherever good books are sold. Thank you.

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Toxic Relationships in Fiction

Latest YouTube video!! As usual, time to tag the mentioned authors!

You should check out their accounts if you haven't already!

I agree that it's important to label toxic behavior. Enabling it or ignoring it does no one any favors.

That said, I know exactly who @sarnai4 hates in Residual Hate, and I can't blame her. I'm just glad I portrayed it in a way people can enjoy hating - if that makes sense.

There's something that I've been slowly coming to realize about indie writers compared to traditional. It's more than the bravery, the originality, or the raw humanity in having everything rest on you. It's in the rough edges that traditional media seems to dampen to appeal to a wider audience. Even when well-written, and not all of them are, many publishers follow the formula of heroes with superficial faults and amazing love lives. They might come from nothing, they might have to sacrifice, but the evil is conquered. 'Normality' perseveres.

But indies wreck that.

A teenager's panic about being alone. No one to worry. No friends. No community. Just... a chance to reach out once a hand is extended. To become a hero, knowing you're nothing special. And failure. So much failure- but also hope.

Others wish for safety. For an end to violence. For no one to die, not even the villain. Peace that didn't need a martyr. Let intelligence win the fight. Let no one be the chosen one. Get help and win together. No drive for romance. No forced interest to increase the market. Just... survive the trauma.

Others yearn for acceptance, and a stable community. Even when put on a pedestal, they need support to function, to not lose themselves. Mothers, fathers, extended family, even just neighbors. Without the collective, there isn't survival, and every death counts. No one escapes without scars.

Many endeavor to not have to conform to a heteronormative way of life, or a scripted relationship, or even to the formulaic way of thinking. Those voices are growing stronger. They are centre stage instead of the background, stated instead of implied. Neurodivergence and ace rep is on the rise and I love it.

So sometimes, when you look at a OC, don't forget to wave at the hint of the writer's soul. And if our villains are a little too convincing? It's because we've had experiences with darkness; not that we endorse it in reality.