Ashton J. Thomas

@ashtonjthomas.bsky.social

Writer of speculative fiction. Querying MALUS (90k) — Adult Fantasy Horror — Ninth House x Fleabag. @ashtonofwords on tiktok she/her ashtonjthomas.com

To stop her body from being possessed by Death Herself, the last necromancer must trick the paladin who hunts her into helping her seal away her powers. #posterpit for UNFORGIVABLE my new Romantic Fantasy I'll be querying very soon. #Q #F #R #A

Poster of a woman holding a heart and a skull

Tired of terrorising the sea with her sticky fingers, a mermaid bargains her life for a chance to roam the lands, falling into a deadly conspiracy entangling both land and sea as she sets out to kiss the prince she's stalked, before sea-foam or his cousin kills her. #PosterPit #F #FT #YA #W

Movie Poster Version of The Stray Scales.

Art contains main character Pearl holding a green potion bottle, with two people looking at her behind. (One with a smile, the other with a scowl)

Tropes includes
- fractured fairy tale
- self-discovery
- a magical immigrant experience
- predator x prey

Blurb
Tasked to kiss her stalking victim to avoid death, a mermaid gets tangled in a feud between sea and land...
... while stuck with her predator.

Title
THE STRAY SCALES

Tagline
Kiss or become sea foam.

MISC Text

Suzy A. Win presents a YA FANTASY novel A FORGERY OF FATE x LITTLE THIEVES x SHREK x THE PRINCESS BRIDE comps PEARL - ALEXANDER - MALTHE - KOBI -SAKURA

DIVING BACK INTO THE TRENCHES SOME DAY

ISLE IN THE SILVER SEAxMALICE Míra, a mer princess, loses all memories of her love Skadi when she betroths a human king for military aid. Skadi makes a deal w a god: if Míra falls for her again, her memories will return. If Skadi fails, she'll become the god’s thrall #PosterPit #A #F #LGBT #Q #R #FT

Movie poster-like image of a book titled "Beneath These Treacherous Waves". There is a picture of a mermaid swimming in the sea in the background. In the middle there are three pictures, one of a red haired woman, the other of a black haired woman, and the third one of two people kissing. The text on the top says: a warrior princess, a sea witch, a storm mage. The text in the middle says: "To save her country, she gives up everything---her voice, her fins, and even memories of her true love. But true love has other plans. The text on the bottom says: found family, queer yearning, now querying

𝑑𝑢 𝑀𝑎𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑅𝐸𝐵𝐸𝐶𝐶𝐴 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑥'𝑠 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐹𝐸𝐶𝑇 𝐶𝑂𝑈𝑃𝐿𝐸 They're like family to her, but when murder is suspected a PR exec must decide how far to go to protect them. They all have a motive. Especially the dead woman's husband. The man she's always loved. #PosterPit #Q #A #M #R

Slow-burn Romance; Obsession; Secrets & Lies; Betrayal; Murder.

Image is split in two by a red gash with names in the centre: Elisa (Listy) Powers, Kris Constantine, Christina Naccasian, guest appearance by Rianna Constantine.

On the right side is the face of a beautiful woman; on the left side is a couple about to kiss each other.

A 5 star review by Magazine Reviewer says "A Masterpiece". 
A 5 stars given by Variety says "The du Maurier 'Rebecca' vibes are 'chef's kiss'!"

She knew secrets. Now she's dead.
HERA PRODUCTIONS presents CARELESS WHISPERS a 97k BOOKCLUB MYSTERY by Kala Patel
IN SELECT INBOXES NEAR YOU

Twelve years ago, the god-king Asteria ascended to power despite the efforts of a team of heroes. When she hunts their spaceship down, she finds an unexpected prize: their daughter. In the midst of deadly games, Calypso must get close to Asteria and find out her plans without being consumed by her.

A movie-poster style image for a book. A gold-tinged woman's hand wraps around another woman's chin, who is overlaid with a pink-purple galaxy. At the top is "A novel by Kira Lempereur". Towards the bottom is the title: The Brightest Star in the Sky", followed by "An adult sapphic sci-fi fantasy", the "Coming soon".

IF I HAVE TO BE HAUNTED x THE INVOCATIONS When her missing lab partner turns up as a ghost begging for help, a prickly teen medium determined to ignore both the living and the dead is dragged back into a gift she’s spent years suppressing— #PosterPit #Q #SPF #P #T #YA

A shadowy figure in between tall trees is in the background. Two hands almost touching, one being translucent and double-exposed (meaning ghost) are in the for front. Title is: In Between.

NINTH HOUSE x FLEABAG 🩸 unreliable narrator with a parasite in her head 📚 a university where fairy tales are dead specimens 🫀 disability woven into the cost of magic ⚔️ academic rivals bound by secrets & decay 👻 a best friend’s ghost that won’t let go #GhostPit #Q #A #F #H

A black and white image of a shadow of a clawed hand grasping towards a human head. Text in center of the screen in red text reads MALUS. Other text in white reads: An adult fantasy horror novel, written by Ashton J. Thomas. Modern Day London Setting. A university that studies dead fairy tales. Unreliable Narrator. Are her choices her own... or the monster in her head? Haunted by a magical parasite whispering in her head, a dropout returns to the university where her best friend died, while the remnants of fairy-tales rot in jars and the failing barrier between worlds demands the truth she’s buried. Now Querying.

🩸NINTH HOUSE x FLEABAG🧠 Once, fairy tales were alive. At Velum, their remnants are dissected and studied. Now the Veil between worlds is fracturing, and Devon, the dropout hiding a monster in her head, insists she wants to stop it. She’s always been good at lying to herself. #DVpit #DIS #A #F #H

💀 NINTH HOUSE x FLEABAG 🩸 - with #DIS rep Parasites in skulls. Ghosts in lecture halls. A rival collapsing before her eyes. Devon March fled the University of Velum once; she won’t escape twice. The only Host who survives has returned—and Velum always collects its dead. #DVPit #A #F #H

🩸 unreliable narrator with a parasite in her head
 📚 a university where fairy tales are dead specimens
 🫀 disability woven into the cost of magic
 ⚔️ academic rivals bound by secrets & decay
 👻 a best friend’s ghost that won’t let go NINTH HOUSE x FLEABAG with #DIS rep #DVPit #A #F #H

Introducing Devon, and the ones she can't stop thinking about: 🩸Empty skull, nothing to see here. 🩸No really, why would you think there's something in her head? 🩸Definitely over her ex-best friend's death 🩸Did you see that flash of blonde hair out the window too? Oh, nevermind... #DVParty #DIS

Four images in a collage, top left image of a woman with dark hair turned away from the camera, in a misty field with trees in the distance. Text reads- Devon: Dropout. Liar with a parasite. Top right is an image of a man in a suit sitting in a wheelchair. Text reads - Alastair: Rival. Reluctant ally. Almost dead. Bottom left is the image of a shadow with claws reaching towards someone's head. Text reads - The Malus: A magical parasite. Bottom right is a picture of a blonde woman with her face away from the camera, surrounded by darkness. Text reads - Clementine: Best Friend. Dead, or maybe not.