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Nick Harkins 🌟 Querying

@dreadwrites.bsky.social

he/him, queer 📍maine horror author 🖊️ microbiologist 🧫 short fiction published with: slugger, tba #revpit ‘26 shortlist pen name: E.A Harkins https://linktr.ee/dreadful_musings

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Nick Harkins 🌟 Querying@dreadwrites.bsky.social · 2w ago

OBSESSION x I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS x Micah Nemerever’s THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS An agent’s guide to THE WATCHFUL MR. SHEPHERD, an 86k adult psychological horror that'll soon be query ready featuring— 🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ Rep 👁️ Obsession 🔪 Rising Body Count ❓ Unreliable Narrator #questpit #H #A #W

The Watchful Mr. Shepherd 86K Adult Queer Psychological Horror/Thriller Querying Q3 - Q4 2026BildCause of death…blunt force trauma. Victim was cut open post-mortem as some sort of…gift? The envelope felt heavy in Luke’s pocket. LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID What did I do? “Every day I wake up in the same bed as you and you’re still eighteen, and I’m still eighteen, and nothing ever gets better.” Kieran talks at you, and you do try to listen, but mostly you’re rolling his name over on your tongue, tasting it. Ki— Kier— Kieran— —ran— It’s a pretty name. As an autopsy technician at the Augusta Medical Examiner's Office, Luke spends his nights attending crime scenes, preparing corpses, and offering condolences to grieving families. Then an email arrives in his work inbox, a picture of a bridge he hasn't seen for ten years and an ominous message attached: LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID. At their high school graduation party, Luke and his future ex-husband Kieran left a boy dead and buried the truth with him. Now someone else knows what happened that night; someone who begins with anonymous messages and ends with murder. For Kieran, the haunting is proof their past has finally come to collect. For Luke, it's something far more exciting: a reason for Kieran to finally come home. As their watcher tightens the noose, Luke finds himself less afraid of exposure than of losing the only person who ever made him feel alive. But the closer Kieran gets, the clearer it becomes that the real danger to them both may not be outside Luke's isolated house, but inside it.
Indie Book Spotlight@bookspotlight.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I am once again begging folks to understand the difference between ‘I don’t like this’ and ‘Nobody likes this’. You are not the main character of the world. Readers and authors have different tastes. You are not the arbiter of what authors should and should not put into books.

Nick Harkins 🌟 Querying@dreadwrites.bsky.social · 3mo ago

EILEEN x I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS x Micah Nemerever’s THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS An agent’s guide to THE WATCHFUL MR. SHEPHERD, an adult psychological horror featuring— 🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ Rep 👁️ Obsession 🔪 Rising Body Count ❓ Unreliable Narrator 🍰 Moral Rot ❄️ Snowy Backdrop #QuestPit #W #H #A

EA HARKINS' The Watchful Mr. Shepherd AN AGENT'S GUIDEQuick Look Genre: Adult Psychological Horror with Thriller Elements Word Count: ~ 85,000 Status as of 4/29/26: 1%t Draft Complete, Developmental Edits Underway Primary Inspiration: I wanted to explore the obsessive queer elements of Saltburn & The Talented Mr. Ripley, but with more horror & queerness--also without the social climbing themes. Tropes Unreliable Narrator Obsession Game of Cat & "Mouse" Small Town Character Haunts The Narrative Past Won't Stay Buried Comps & Vibes Closest Comps • Eileen • These Violent Delights Vibes • Hannigram • Saltburn • The Talented Mr. Ripley (title homage) • I'm Thinking of Ending Things • Exquisite Corpse One Sentence Pitch Luke is forced to team up with his estranged ex-husband when someone unknown to them drudges up secret details of their sordid past that threatens to rip apart their lives. Catchy Hook Luke can dissect bodies without flinching. Letting go of his ex-husband is another story.Word Count: ~ 85,000 Pitch Luke Shepherd knows bodies. What they keep hidden, what secrets they tell, and, most importantly, how to hide them. As an autopsy technician at the Augusta Medical Examiner's Office, Luke spends his nights weighing organs, preparing corpses, and offering condolences to grieving families. Then an email arrives in his work inbox, a picture of a bridge he hasn't seen for ten years and an ominous message attached: LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID. At their high school graduation party, Luke and his future ex-husband Kieran left a boy dead and buried the truth with him. Now someone else knows what happened that night; someone who begins with anonymous messages and ends with murder. For Kieran, the haunting is proof their past has finally come to collect. For Luke, it's something far more exciting: a reason for Kieran to finally come home. As their watcher tightens the noose, Luke finds himself less afraid of exposure than of losing the only person who ever made him feel alive. But the closer Kieran gets, the clearer it becomes that the real danger to them both may not be outside Luke's isolated house, but inside it.Meet The Characters POV: 3rd Person Limited Protagonist: Luke Wells Dual POV?: No Primary Inspiration: I wanted the obsession elements of Saltburn & The Talented Mr. Ripley, but horror and more gay. Also without the social climbing themes. Luke Wells Minor Characters • Protagonist • Medical Examiner's Assistant • 28| Gay? | Black Hair, Blue Eyes • Intelligent, Clinical, Numb, Impulsive, Devoted • Dr. Marriner, Medical Examiner, Luke's Boss • Maple, Luke's cat • Elliott Cutter, [REDACTED] • Deacon Hollander, sex parnter? • Jacob Routh, [REDACTED] • [REDACTED] (REDACTED] [REDACTED] Kieran Shepherd The Love Interest (?) Forensic Scientist 28 | Pansexual I Dirty Blond Hair, Honey Eyes Empathetic, Alcoholic, Emotional, Guilt-Ridden Author's Favorite? ho favorites:)
Nick Harkins 🌟 Querying@dreadwrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

i write horror almost exclusively & lean bittersweet. usually one of the characters experiences a loss (identity, death, health, safety, self, etc) but gains something else important to them (freedom, identity, courage, love). i’d be hesitant to say any of my stories have traditionally happy 1/2 🧵

🌱🫜 Charlie (Chelizabeth) Delta 🦊🪻@charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters Technical question! Do you prefer to write happy endings for your characters? Or would you rather some tragedy? Be as general as you like, to avoid spoilers! But as a writer, which captures you more often? #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Nick Harkins 🌟 Querying@dreadwrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

the protagonist of my horror wip sustains a significant neck injury over the course of the book. it affects him mostly psychologically, with a few targeted physical moments. i plan on commissioning @silverhalls.bsky.social soon for character art depicting this injury! #Writesky

🌱🫜 Charlie (Chelizabeth) Delta 🦊🪻@charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters Do your characters have any notable or permanent injuries? Were they gained during the story, or beforehand? Do they affect them, physically or psychologically? #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

A.M. Schmidt ☀️ Drafting@amschmidt.bsky.social · 5mo ago

THE BRINGER OF FIRST LIGHT ☀️🌙 ✨ The Elves built an empire on magic and divine providence. For millennia, they believed power proved they were chosen by the Twin Goddesses to lead. But when a schism between Sun and Moon elves divided them, humans found a way to steal their magic. #WSpit #W #A #F

The Bringer of First Light A.M. Schmidt
Nick Harkins 🌟 Querying@dreadwrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

IM THINKING OF ENDING THINGS X EILEEN Luke can dissect a body without flinching. Letting go of his ex-husband is another story. THE WATCHFUL MR. SHEPHERD is a psychological lit. horror featuring: 🏳️‍🌈LGBTQ+ 🧊unreliable narrator 📱stalking 🩸rising body count -and a past that bites #WSPIT #W #H #L #A

[On a background depicting a snowy landscape and trees, a gradient of white to red text reads:] E.A HARKINS' THE WATCHFUL MR. SHEPHERD Tag Line: Some People Should Stay DivorcedMeet The Characters Luke Wells/Shepherd - Protagonist - Medical Examiner's Assistant - 28 | gay? | Black Hair, Blue Eyes - Intelligent, Clinical, Numb, Impulsive, Devoted Kieran Shepherd - the love interest? - forensic scientist - 28 | pansexual | dirty blond hair, honey eyes - empathetic, alcoholic, emotional, guilt-ridden [At the bottom of the graphic, over a series of pencil scratches in a smeared, bold red font:] LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID"Only guilty people over explained, and Luke Shepherd was not guilty." "The people accompanying him were dead...and that made their company all the better." "He struggled to keep the sensation of Kieran's skin against his own close. It'd been so long since Kieran had willingly touched him so softly." "The game was afoot." "Sooner or later...the truth crawled its way out of the grave."
Nick Harkins 🌟 Querying@dreadwrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

the protagonist of my psychological literary horror wip is luke, a divorced medical examiner's assistant. it follows him intimately, so readers get to live (and fester) inside his head, which has been so fun to write since luke has unusual psychology. 🧵1/3 #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #Writing

🌱🫜 Charlie (Chelizabeth) Delta 🦊🪻@charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters How much of your character's life do readers get to experience first hand? Is this the story of a frantic week in their life? An epic that spans years? Generations? Do you have plans to continue it further? #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts