Natalie Sell
@authornataliesell.bsky.social
Aspiring Author Current WIP: City of Expiration
![Purple/pink ombre zodiac background with gold along the sides and bottom. THE OPENING PAGE at the top of the page in ombre yellow/orange text. Two deep plum tarot cards in the top corners, one with a sun and one with an eye. Golden page break. Then, the following text in Times New Roman inside of a white-colored, rounded-corner box: Death is staring at me.
Rather, the Death card is staring at me. It’s the third time this reading it’s come up for my regular, Macie. She’s been on a journey of rebirth for a while and is at the precipice.
I arrange the cards, taking in Death, The Tower, Eight of Pentacles in reverse. When I shift the spread, the navy celestial tablecloth snags on my nail, toppling over the labradorite curvy goddess carving. Biting my cheek, I flip another card. Five of Swords. Shit.
“What? What’s wrong? Why are you making that face? That’s never a good face,” Macie rambles. Her round, hazel eyes are filled with what I’ve come to know as anticipatory terror.
Poor thing is an anxious wreck. I’m trying to guide her, not send her into a doom spiral about her life. “You know these cards aren't omens or premonitions. They’re pillars of guidance, leading you along your path. This card…” I sigh, cracking my knuckles, rings scraping against my dry skin. I have got to restock my lotion. Eleven minutes left on the timer and twenty to my last client. Maybe I’ll stop by Sephora before dinner.
“Jade?”
Oh, right. The reading. I shake my head. “The Death card—”
“Death? Please, no. Anything but Death.”
“The Death card,” I repeat, “means your cycle is ready to renew. Paired with The Tower? Well, it’s time. Your spirit guides aren’t waiting for you to feel ready—they’re pushing you over the edge. This is rock bottom. Know that what’s on the other side is a brighter version of you.” [sample continues]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xrnw5sea7coaxzrmdmfyytg2/bafkreifvk7ivfcxhymesclpjfjwsrz5hgzc4wikntmll6zpsa6vhvgaohi)
![First page and comps from GOOD BOYS ONLY. Comp titles include Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings, You, With a View by Jessica Joyce, The Re-Do List by Denise Williams, Young & Hungry TV show. Sample text: Much like my life, my apartment is going up in smoke.
I choke on the black cloud billowing from the oven. My gourmet dino nuggets have turned to fossils. “Oh, fuck me,” I groan.
Lava-like heat bites through my oven mitt, and I drop the sheet pan on the stovetop. Shrill barks echo in tandem with the smoke alarm that’s now going off, piercing my ears like it’s in surround sound, live from Hell. Lovely.
“Piper, Phoebe, get back! I’m trying to save you.” I shoo the orange Pomeranians away from the radiating heat. Dog sitting was supposed to be an easy way to get out of this shithole apartment, not burn it down. Even if I dream about lighting it up most days.
But the aggressive “Past Due” rent letter taped to my door this morning is on the counter, taunting me, like some sick adult version of a haunted house. “Thanks, Devin,” I spit into the ether, as if he can hear me from Chicago. And a big thanks to me, too, for treating my credit cards like Monopoly money.
Flicking on the exhaust fan to clear my galley kitchen, I take a misguided deep breath, and the cremated dinosaurs send me into another coughing fit. In a fight for my life, I snag my Getting Figgy With It towel off of the oven door and wave it pathetically below the alarm.
After a couple of minutes and more pathetic towel waving, the fog clears and the chirping stops. But the dogs are still barking. Though, to be fair, I don’t think they’ve stopped barking all weekend.
While fishing out the scraps of remaining treats from the girls’ travel bag, they hit my calves like starving, vicious dust bunnies. I blew through their supply in an attempt to Pavlov them into loving me. All it did was condition them to misbehave and still demand treats. [sample continues]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:xrnw5sea7coaxzrmdmfyytg2/bafkreifflksbgcbv6yde66pu23vts5nxvxmpogrfkxyrhb5ffdilt3q7zu)
❤️🔥⚔️ THE WARRIOR & THE POET PRINCE ❤️🔥⚔️ Bound by vengeance & haunted by the sins of their lineages, the warrior, the poet prince & their unlikely ally are pulled into a dangerous attraction that defies their bloodlines, their oaths & the laws of the kingdoms they mean to save. #W #F #R #A #PosterPit
CITY OF EXPIRATION Conform meets To Cage a Wild Bird With only a year left to live, Summit decides to take the fate of her child’s life into her own hands and leave the supposed utopia in search of a life the city claims cannot exist. #posterpit #W #SF #D #NA
THE HOUSE THAT ATE DAUGHTERS, 72,000 word, horror novel The Haunting of Hill House x Mexican Gothic A cursed house causes the disappearance of the daughters of one family, and when Xiomara returns, she must uncover how to stop it before it takes her too. #h #ag #posterpit
THE HOUSE THAT ATE DAUGHTERS, 72,000 word, horror novel The Haunting of Hill House x Mexican Gothic #h #ag #posterpit
A plus-size baddie dog sits to survive after her breakup—then she meets a guy in the personal care aisle who’s everything her ex wasn’t: loyal, patient & in desperate need of a dog sitter…which might just ruin her plan to swear off love forever🐾💚 #PosterPit #A #R #CO #Q
When a shared injury reluctantly brings a champion figure skater and NHL-bound hockey player together, they have to decide if their love for the ice outweighs their resentment for each other ⛸️🏒❤️🔥 #PosterPit #A #R #C #Q
CITY OF EXPIRATION With only a year left to live, Summit decides to take the fate of her child’s life into her own hands and leave the supposed utopia in search of a life the city claims cannot exist. #posterpit #W #SF #D #NA
