thethistlegirlwrites

"I will paint you tarnished heroes and show you monsters in the mirror." Writeblr sideblog of @thethistlegirl. 28, aspiring author. I promise I'm nicer in real life than I am to my characters. Current WIPs : Compass (horror/adventure) and Thief of Hearts (urban fantasy) Website: thethistlegirlwrites.wordpress.com

[thethistlegirlwrites]

It finally happened! I'm officially a published author! And today I got to celebrate that with two of the people who are a huge part of making that happen.

@catwingsthespatula THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of it. Rory and Emmett would not have been the same without you!!

@nade2308 you're an INCREDIBLE cheering section and I love how much you love this story!!!

If you're curious about what we all made as a result of this chaotic three way team effort, you can find Thief of Hearts in paperback or ebook form here!!

Available now at your favorite digital store!

Thief of Hearts by Heather Clark

Happy Valentine's Day from the author who didn’t even mean to write a love story in the first place! 💗

[morhath]

I hate when king arthur has all these fussy little steps in the instructions and you're like "no way do these fussy little steps matter" but you try it and they do. they matter so much.

[bookaddict7342]

I thought you meant Camelot quests and I was like "that's fair, 'never pick a four leaf clover on the last Wednesday of the month' IS a fussy little step that shouldn't matter" but then I was like "wait isn't that also a flour company"

[morhath]

nooo I am not a beleaguered knight of the round table I am making elaborate focaccia 😭

[thethistlegirlwrites]

I need "Arthurian legend meets baking" and I need it NOW.

@nade2308 you understand why this is important to me.

[fealty-to-thee]

More characters ending disabled and happy NOW

[thethistlegirlwrites]

I knew from the start of writing Thief of Hearts that Rory wouldn't get a magical reset to her pre-stolen-heart condition. There are very real, permanent consequences to what happened to her (and to some extent, the same applies to Emmett). If I'm going to put my characters through the wringer, there are going to be fairly realistic consequences.

(It is possible that my migration to original stories from writing whumpy fanfiction may be rather evident. But personally I feel mildly victimized when shows set up potential and then fail to deliver and everyone is back to normal in the next episode - or worse, by the end of the existing one.)

[thethistlegirlwrites]

💓: is it part of a series or standalone?

💝: who has your favorite character arc? give a brief summary

—for writer wip ask game!

Thank you for the ask!!

Both Scrapbook and Thief of Hearts, as of now, are standalone (but I have gotten lots of requests for follow-up to Thief of Hearts, so we will see...)

My favorite character arc belongs to Rory, from Thief of Hearts. She starts the story focused only on surviving the next day in the bleak world she calls home, but by the end of the book she's found reasons to want to actually live. That journey of discovering there can be hope even in the darkest places was amazing to write.

[thethistlegirlwrites]

🧡: what were previous working titles/ideas?

💕: what has your favorite scene been?

Thanks for the ask!!!

Scrapbook of the Unexplained was originally titled, as per a note I recently found, The Scrapbook of Phenomena. It didn't change much, but I liked the feel of the newer title more.

My favorite scene is probably a tie between a picnic scene with the three main characters and Matti picking Jim up with the farm truck to help him finish his mail route after the mail jeep breaks down during a storm.

[thethistlegirlwrites]

Hiya!

🖤: what are your MC names?

💔: give a brief character bio of your 3-5 MCs

Please and thank you!

Thanks for the ask!!! I'm going to answer these as combos since I will name them and then write their info out! These are the characters from my actual WIP, Scrapbook of the Unexplained, a sort of cozy/horror/magical realism story taking place in Michigan in 1978.

Lina Shaw - A freelance news reporter who lives out of her VW bus with her three-legged border collie, Oreo and showed up in town to investigate the mysterious disappearance of several local teens. Her family fled the Balkans after WWII when her reporter father vanished after confronting government corruption. She knows her job can be dangerous, and tries to protect herself the best she can from the results of her stories by being out of town before the news breaks.

Matti Brinkerhoff - A farmhand who moved to the area to help his cousin, only to find out that his cousin is one of the missing people. Now he's trying to manage a farm that isn't his, while keeping his biggest secret safe from the tenacious investigative reporter asking questions. If she finds out he (and half the town) are feldgeister, creatures that most people believe are firmly in the realm of old German folklore, they'll have bigger problems than just missing persons.

Jim McBride - A post office clerk/mail carrier who came to town hoping for a fresh start. His highly publicized childhood kidnapping, and subsequent safe return, have made his family highly protective. But he's sure there's more to the story than the one people seem to have accepted, because there's something he can't quite explain about the ways he seems to have changed after his return...or why he can't remember anything about his life before it.

Will Bauer - A local teenager who is trying to keep his crumbling family functioning. He's grieving a mother he never knew, but also becoming increasingly worried there's something deeply wrong with him. Something that's causing him to sleepwalk and wake up with no memory of what happened the night before...and more concerningly, occasionally covered in blood.

Milo Beck - The town storyteller and folklore expert, who became something of a strange outcast after a farming accident left him disfigured and prone to having strange visions of creatures that are somewhere between human and monster. Most of the locals find him odd but harmless, but tourists tend to wonder what's wrong with him when he starts telling them stories from folklore as if they're everyday fact.

[inanauthorsworld]

writer wip asks✨

❤️: what’s the working title? 🧡: what were previous working titles/ideas? 💛: what is the title based on? 💚: how long have you been working on it? 💙: how has the idea changed between starting it and where it is now? 💜: where are you in the writing process? 🖤: what are your MC names? 💔: give a brief character bio of your 3-5 MCs ❣️: which scene has been hardest to write so far? 💕: what has your favorite scene been? 💞: which future scene are you looking forward to writing? 💓: is it part of a series or standalone? 💗: what genre is it in? 💖: are you planning on publishing it? if so, how? 💘: give us a huge spoiler 💝: who has your favorite character arch? give a brief summary 💟: how is your style different in this work compared to previous ones? has it more shifted for the story or just developed in general?

[kanerallels]

Fun activity: reread your own writing to see what your main couple's soulmate tattoos would be if it was the "first words" version. Then laugh very hard

[thethistlegirlwrites]

OH MY GOSH Rory would have "Stop!" (or maybe the full first line, "Stop! I don't have it!") Emmett's got "What is this?"

Emmett would think his is perfectly reasonable. He's a woodworker, he sells furniture and small carvings, yeah, this could be a customer.

Rory, on the other hand, is very well aware her first meeting with her soulmate will be confrontational. She doesn't know how valuable what she's trying to get back from him will be, though...

[oc-interrogation]

Physical Features OC Ask Game

👁 What is your OC’s eye color? Do they have any eye-related habits, like winking or rubbing their eyes? Do other people tend to notice their eyes?

✋ Are your OC’s hands smooth, rough, or average? Why? How do they keep their nails? Do they bite them, paint them, neatly trim them, et cetera?

🦵 Are your OC’s arms and legs strong, weak, or average? Why? Do they have any common mannerisms that involve their limbs, such as tapping their foot or fiddling with their fingers?

👄 What is your OC’s smile like? Is it bright and wide, or thin and reserved? Does your OC wear any lipgloss or lipstick? Do they chew their lips?

👤 What is your OC’s skin like? Is it unblemished, or are they prone to breakouts? Do they have any scars, tattoos, or other skin markings? Does their skin tend to be sensitive to things that get on it (lotions, cleaning products, etc.)?

💇 What is your OC’s hairstyle? How do they maintain their hair? Do they wash it and/or cut it regularly? Have they ever dyed their hair?

🦷 Does your OC brush their teeth regularly? Do they tend to eat foods that get stuck in your teeth?

👖 What type of clothing does your OC generally wear? Why? Do they have any “signature” accessories?

👀 What is the first physical feature people notice when they see your OC? Why?

🪞 How does your OC perceive themself? Do they believe themself to be attractive, unattractive, or average? Does their view of themself affect their self-esteem, or are they unbothered by their physical appearance? (If your OC does have things they’re confident or insecure about, what are they?)

[thethistlegirlwrites]

Realized the only Thief of Hearts moodboard I ever posted was the original one where Rory had the wrong hair color and the setting was too modern so here's the REAL Thief of Hearts moodboard that matches the finished book.

And yes, Rory was a really fun character to write. I too want a large knife and a lovable pigeon.

[dashedwithromance]

i love it when you read multiple works from a writer and you start being able to pick out the things that stick with them. like the themes they keep thinking about, that can’t be satisfied with just one poem or novel or story. or the motifs they like to reuse and recycle throughout their works like an extradiagetic thread. it’s like drawing a map through a writer’s collection of all the things that keep them up at night

[absentlyabbie]

#also #to writers: you’re ALLOWED TO DO THIS #you’re allowed to use motifs and themes as much as you want #you can use them again to say something new #you can twist them from how you’ve used them before #you can do WHATEVER YOU WANT #I can’t tell you how many authors (of fic and not!fic) #that I keep coming back to because I’m like: oh this writer is going to be soft about x #or this writer is going to lean heavy into found family #or this writer is going to gut punch me with the emotional intimacy #love your brand kids #love your motifs #love your themes (via @itwaswhileyouweresleeping)

[thethistlegirlwrites]

I'm back y'all!

I didn't exactly forget I had a Tumblr while I was working on Thief of Hearts, but I didn't exactly update it either. And I kind of missed ask posts and weird reblog chains and memes that somehow match characters a little too well...

So consider me back!

I'm actually working on an older project you do know about, Scrapbook of the Unexplained, for my next publishing project, so expect a mix of that and Thief of Hearts stuff because I like yelling about Emmett and Rory and Carlo and Katya and all my beloved firstborn book children...

[thethistlegirlwrites]

The messenger, the heart thief, and the pigeon...

A pretty unlikely trio to be pulling off a high-stakes heist, but they're the only options for the job.

If Rory wants her stolen heart returned before she runs out of time, she's going to need help from the reluctant assassin who stole it in the first place, the only one who can get close enough to his boss to steal it back.

If Emmett wants his son out from under his employer's thumb, he's going to need to trust a dying woman's ambitious plan to take down the most dangerous mob boss in the city of Rime. And stay out of the way of her companion pigeon who can't seem to stop seeing him as a threat.

I'm beyond thrilled with the way this artist brought Emmett and Rory to life! She perfectly captured Rory's ruthless determination and Emmett's in-over-his-head distress. And just the background setting is EPIC (the background file has been my phone homescreen for over a year at this point.)

If you'd like to meet this trio before they're turned loose on the world February 14, 2026, ARC applications are live now!

https://forms.gle/zLyLXYX4MTzUc9aVA

[thethistlegirlwrites]

(Belated) Cover Reveal!

Well, apparently Tumblr ATE my scheduled post and I did NOT realize that until today! So without further ado, here's the cover of Thief of Hearts, which will be releasing February 14, 2026!

He stole her heart. She wants it back. Rory Blake has nothing to lose. Growing up in the eternal winter city of Rime has taught Rory survival belongs to those ruthless enough to fight for it. After her heart is stolen by a magically gifted assassin, she has forty-eight hours to take it back or die trying, and her only hope of pulling off a successful heist is the man who's just killed her. Emmett Santos has nowhere to hide. In exchange for his son's life, Emmett uses his lethal gift in the service of Rime’s most powerful syndicate, stealing the hearts of his employer’s competition. When a theft goes wrong, he's trapped between the heart's determined owner and the boss who won’t hesitate to make Emmett pay for his failure. Their only chance is each other. Rory needs Emmett’s gift to steal back her heart, but keeping him alive long enough to succeed means protecting him from rival syndicates’ bounty hunters. And if Emmett wants to rescue his son, he’ll need to trust Rory’s plan to bring the Star Syndicate’s empire down before her heart stops beating.

If this sounds like the kind of book you’d enjoy, I’m currently accepting applications for ARC readers!  https://forms.gle/zLyLXYX4MTzUc9aVA

[thethistlegirlwrites]

Long time, no post! But this is why!!!

I'm officially self publishing my dystopian fantasy novel, Thief of Hearts!

"He stole her heart. She wants it back."

Growing up in the eternal winter city of Rime has taught Rory Blake survival belongs to those ruthless enough to fight for it. After her heart is stolen by a magically gifted assassin, she has forty-eight hours to take it back or die trying, and her only hope of pulling off a successful heist is the man who's just killed her.

You'll be seeing the cover (which IMO is gorgeous and is definitely the cover of my dreams) in a month, and if you want to get a sneak peek (and/or sign up for an ARC copy), you can check out my street team form linked below!

If you've been hanging out around here, you know Emmett and Rory already, and I can't wait for you to hear their whole story!

Thief of Hearts Street Team Application

Do you love fast paced, high stakes adventures? Characters who are forced to work together? Grim settings with hope slipping in between the

[shinynewmemories]

No but the Hunger Games really said "what do you hate more- the atrocities or the people who commit them against you? Because like it or not there IS a difference. If you hate the people who commit acts of pure evil more than you hate the acts themselves, what will stop you from becoming just like your enemies in your pursuit of justice? What will keep you from commiting those very same acts against THEM when the opportunity arises? And what then? The cycle of pain and suffering will never stop. Round and round it'll go. Nothing will ever change. But. BUT. If you hate the atrocities. If you hate the vile, senseless acts MORE than you hate the people who did them to you. If you are able to see that evil is evil regardless of who does it... The cycle ends with you. No, you may never get justice. But you will never be responsible for making others, even your enemies, suffer the same crimes you have. The atrocities will never be committed by you, never by your hand. And that's the way you change the world. It's the ONLY way" and that's why I am sure it will never stop being one of the most relevant works of fiction ever created

[painsandconfusion]

Alright.

You ready for a hard 'tag your oc' challenge?

Tag an oc who doesn't have childhood trauma. At all. Who's family is still alive.

I'll wait.

[catwings-writes-things]

@thethistlegirlwrites can you do this

[thethistlegirlwrites]

SHOCKINGLY YES