Winter & Words

Winter Simpson. Writing queer neo-noir fiction. Stories on Patreon. Links at winterandwords.social 🩶

[winterandwords]

✍🏻 WRITEBLR INTRO

👋🏼 Hi! I’m Winter (she/her), a writer in Ireland on the cusp of Gen X and Millennial. I write voice-driven queer fiction in altered states and liminal spaces. My stories are inspired by city streets and stormy seas, scars and synchronicity, synesthesia and l’appel du vide.

🌈 It always makes happy to read about queer characters (like me) whose identity and narrative aren’t limited to or by their queerness, so I’m writing the characters I want to see in the stories I want to read.

📚 My stories, blog, and cosy community for readers and writers are on Patreon. You're very welcome to join as a free member, or you can offer support with a monthly pledge if you like.

📝 I write for an adult audience and I'd prefer minors didn't follow me. My stories don’t include explicit sexual content, but they're frequently dark, sometimes spicy, and often chemically enhanced.

💌 I'm happy to take part in writing-related tag games and ask games. Only writing-related ones though and please no gigantic blog chains. And please don't add me to tag lists for WIPs unless I ask to be added.

💻 You can find me on Bluesky for writing and community stuff. Links to everything are at winterandwords.social and you can contact me at [email protected]

🌊 NOVEMBER BREAKS (PUBLISHED)

No conscience, no problem. Crime, weather symbolism and questionable life choices. Hurt me, I need to feel alive. Violence is a drug. Also, drugs are drugs. This is a love story like crude oil is a tea. #ThatShouldNotBeHot. Nothing’s real anyway.

Novemberverse volume 01. Dark literary fiction. More info and read on Patreon. Playlist on YouTube.

💀 SPIN CYLINDER (PUBLISHED)

Bound by desire and destruction. Slice of life, but life is drugs and crime. They deserve each other (derogatory). Violence as a substitute for therapy. Very elegantly wasted. My favourite mistake, my weapon of choice, and the parts of ourselves that we can’t leave behind.

Novemberverse volume 02. Dark literary fiction. More info and read on Patreon. Playlist on YouTube.

🗡️ BRIDGE FROM ASHES (PUBLISHED)

Too useful for prison and too dangerous for freedom. High-rise buildings and low-life scum. Everything hurts, but not enough to feel good. Yes, that’s a gun in my pocket and no, I’m not pleased to see you. If mind control is real, why do I still have to make decisions?

Cityverse volume 01. Cyberpunk fiction. More info and read on Patreon. Playlist on YouTube.

🔫 NAME FROM NOWHERE (PUBLISHED)

Found crime family. Memory is a curse, but it’s also a weapon. What doesn’t kill you makes you deadly. No identity, still a crisis. Because fuck you, that’s why.

Cityverse volume 02. Cyberpunk fiction. More info and read on Patreon. Playlist on YouTube.

🌃 MILES FROM MORNING (WIP)

The art and science of malicious compliance. When you hate your job almost as much as you hate yourself. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, or is it the other way around? Fuck all the systems. Who gave this guy transferrable skills?

Cityverse volume 03. Cyberpunk fiction. WIP intro on Patreon. Playlist on YouTube.

🌄 DARWIN'S CLIFF (WIP)

The Secret History x The Virgin Suicides. Bittersweet teenage nostalgia and haunted adult reality. The weather is basically a character. Spirits of seasons and ghosts of memories. Grief leaves footprints. And all that could have been.

Standalone. Literary fiction. WIP intro on Patreon. Playlist on YouTube.

[winterandwords]

💻 New (public) Patreon post! July 2026 WIP and life update

➡️READ IT HERE⬅️

My Patreon is the only place where I post my stories - all chapters of my web serials as well as short fiction - along with lots of other stuff like the update linked in this post, writing and editing snippets (⬅️ everything up to this point is for free members!), character and worldbuilding deep dives, and audio recordings of me reading bits of my writing.

I'd love to welcome you to my community there!

Also, I'm completely avoiding the internet until I've seen the season finale of The Vampire Lestat because it was leaked and I don't want to see any spoilers. If you're posting about the season finale before its public release, PLEASE give folks nice big spoiler warnings 🙏🏼

[winterandwords]

✍🏼 Word find tag (run, power, flinch, steal)

Thanks to @cat-esper for the tag!

📝 Search for the given words in your story. If your story doesn't have a word, you can use a variation on it or a word with a similar meaning.

These are from Miles From Morning...

RUN

I run my tongue over my teeth to check none of them are missing and blink until things start to come into focus.

POWER

He’s just another piece of shit who doesn’t deserve the power he’s been given.

FLINCH AVOID (thanks, thesaurus.com)

Not that I’ve made any effort to talk to him, but he’s making all the effort to avoid giving me a chance to.

STEAL TAKE (thesaurus.com out here again doing the lord's work)

And it’s never been about looking good. It’s always about looking like I’m not going to take anyone’s shit, like it’s not worth the risk of making me angry.

Tagging @no-relief-next-to-me, @nopoodles, @oh-no-another-idea and @pertinax--loculos if you'd like to do it, with an open tag for anyone else who wants to join in.

The words to search your story for are CUT, SLICE, TEAR, and OPEN 💜

Reblogs, replies etc on my tag posts are always welcome, but if you're doing this tag yourself, please make your own post instead of using mine to start a reblog chain.

Want more of my writing than I post on Tumblr, with all my stories, blog posts, updates, and audio readings? Head on over to my Patreon! There's a free membership option and I'd love to welcome you to my cosy little queer fiction community 💞

[cat-esper]

Manuscript Search Tag

I was tagged by @dragon-swords-prophecies and I'll be tagging @winterandwords, @ark-inkweaving, and open tag! Your words are run, power, flinch, and steal

My words are fall, tired, lost, and time. Since I've been hard at work editing The Zodiac Circuit book 1, that's where I'll pull them from.

Fall

“So if I told you to kill yourself, would you do it?” “If the situation required it and there were no conflicting priorities, I am equipped with a self-destruct program that would wipe my hard drive and fry my circuitry. It’s a failsafe in the event I fall into enemy hands.” Rhys didn’t know what to make of that. “Was that a command?” Rhys blinked, the horror of that power overwhelming the part of her that would’ve been glad to be rid of him. “No, that’s not a command,” she said hastily. Sighed. Was it her imagination or did he seem…relieved?

Tired

She’d thought coming out here would help her clear her mind, but the same old worries just kept going around and around in her mind, leading her nowhere. With a sigh, she headed back inside. She wasn’t tired. Maybe a walk would do her good. Or better yet, a run. She needed to get out from behind Casax Mort’s suffocating walls. Not just that, she wanted to get out of this damn tin can and go somewhere where neither her family nor the Eye could see her. Unfortunately, that was never an option.

Lost

“Your father was willing to throw everything away,” Carmady said. “He would have destroyed this family and he was willing to drag you and your brother into his schemes. You would have lost everything, Rhys. I had to stop him. But it’s not too late for you. We can put all of this behind us. We can fix this.” She held out a hand, her expression softening. “Please, let’s just…let’s go back to the house.” Rhys wanted to. Spirits, she just wanted this all to have been a dream. She wanted everything to go back to the way it was. She’d even take boring family functions and Church duty if it meant she could just stay. But her hands were still covered in her father’s blood.

Time

“Rhys, your respiratory levels are starting to concern me. Are you alright?" Jonathan’s voice broke through the train wreck of her thoughts. “He died because of me…didn’t he? Because of that signal…” “If you hadn’t found it, someone else would have.” “He thought he was running out of time. I shouldn’t have…” “Take a deep breath. You can fix this.” Rhys wiped at her eyes before more tears could fall and tried to take a deep breath. It came in too quick and went out too shaky. “How?” “You know where the battery is. So get there before your family does.” It sounded so simple. It was anything but. “It’s in Upside. That place is crawling with wights. There’s no way we’d survive the journey.” Only after saying it did she realize she’d said we instead of I.

General taglist: @thatrandomlemononyourcounter1, @teacupsandstarlight, @ark-inkweaving

[gaslightwestern]

A Reclusive Cowboy, Widow, and "Retired" Gunslinger Expose HUGE Murder Conspiracy (You Won't Believe What Happens Next!)

Tag Game: Clickbait WIP Description 📝 Explain the plot or premise of your WIP(s) as if it were a clickbait Youtube video.

Hell's Half Acre: When death comes to Fort Worth and claims one victim too many, Elijah Addison, a reclusive cowboy, resolves to hunt down the killer. By his side is Charlotte Grace, a widow he knows is dangerous, and Captain Sam Quinn, the most controversial man in town. As they navigate power struggles, old blood feuds, and the dangers of the frontier, Elijah realizes the killer somehow knows their every move and is closing in on a secret Charlotte will do anything to keep buried. Intro | Tag | Excerpts | Updates | Inspo

Thanks to @winterandwords for the tag! Tagging @gioia-writes-and-others, @in-seas-of-green, @afrenchwriter, @dragon-swords-prophecies, and @orphanheirs.

[cat-esper]

Nine Lines Tag

I was tagged for this by @winterandwords a long, long time ago and I'm gonna tag @leahnardo-da-veggie, @starwright, and open tag for anyone else who wants to share nine lines XD

“That’s cheating!” Keir exclaimed. “That’s what someone who wants you dead would do.” Astor withdrew the sword and held out a hand. Stellan looked at it and then accepted the help, letting Astor draw him back to his feet and get his balance back, leaning on the crutch. “They’re right. I’ll have to remember that.” Astor handed him back his sword and he turned to face Jerome and the others only to find they were all staring at him, not hiding their astonishment. Regardless of how that fight had ended, it had been an impressive spectacle. Stellan shrugged. “Fencing club,” he explained.

General taglist: @thatrandomlemononyourcounter1, @teacupsandstarlight, @ark-inkweaving

Awaken Asunder Alight taglist: @wingedcatastrophe

[asher-writes]

Word find tag

My words: OLD, NEW, LOST and FOUND

Tagged by the lovely @winterandwords

My first post since like tearing up half my work and starting from scratch so here we go!

These snippets are from Out of Sight and Mind

OLD

“This is the baptismal font,” Neptune turns on her heel, her hand thrown out like a ringmaster greeting circus patrons. “This is where we lucky few come to get drowned, kicking and screaming, at the ripe old age of 12.”

NEW

“But how did you know, then? How did it stay? How can you be this angry with me and still say that you love me? How is that any fairer? What do I do with that?” Neptune flinches first, the sudden onslaught of emotion unnerving her. It unnerves him too. His voice trembles outside of his control, fingers twitching into a shake. Somewhere in his gullet, his heartbeat throbs an irregular rhythm. It’s new to him too, to be afraid.

LOST

Ari leans back to catch his breath. The thud of his heart traversed from his chest, choking his throat and pulsing on his tongue. He could still taste Edward’s mouth. Mint and fruit and a hint of whiskey that must have been stolen from his own drawer. The weight on his lap shifts, forcing heavy eyes to look up at the spectacle of Edward’s desire - like hot liquor on an open wound. The uncertain yearning gave him a certain quality, like someone lost awaiting being found.

FOUND

The dining table looks larger with Alicia sat alone at it. She's accompanied by a stack of papers, one held in her hands and attention. “You’ll never guess what I found,” she starts, lifting her gaze, her face full of immediate shock “…heavens above, you look like you’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards!" He pulls a knot through his fingers and winces, the illusion that he'd tamed his hair dissolved.

Tagging: @writingingraves and @ameliahcrowley and anyone else who would like to do it

Your words are:

Path, Push, Hand, Turn

[cat-esper]

Word Find Tag

Thanks for the tag, @winterandwords! I'll be tagging @sodaliteskull, @dragon-swords-prophecies, and open tag! Your words are hill, wing, hush, and away.

My words are around, about, near, and close. These are from Awaken Asunder Alight.

Around

The shadows coalesced and slammed down over him as neatly as if he were a bug caught under a glass bowl. Jerome darted back toward the road. Slammed into something solid and took several stumbling steps back. He reached out to touch the air and his fingers glanced off an invisible wall. He could still see the trees and distantly, the headlights of his car, but it was like looking through tinted glass. He knocked on it, felt around in case there was an opening, but there was nothing. “What is this?” And then the shadows collapsed, crushing him, passing through him, taking him someplace far away.

About

With the hill looming over them and the tunnel yawning before them, Jerome couldn’t help but think they were about to descend into one of the fairy hills of myth. The earth pressed down above them, the walls close on either side. Jerome’s pulse thrummed in his throat and he forced his feet to keep going, staying in step with the others. He didn’t look back–he couldn’t look back–lest the temptation to run away become too great to resist.

Near

By the time Stellan arrived at the remnants of Chirrit Clade, his exhaustion and pain had started to catch up to him; he’d forgotten his bag and the painkillers with it. He was just going to have to cope. Eventide swooped low over the trees and came in to land near the moth hill. Stellan slid off, landed on his bad foot, and immediately crumpled. Fuck. He wasn’t going to be able to fight in this state. He used his crutch and Eventide to pull himself back up. Hobbled toward the moth hill, his heart in his throat. Wondered if he was already too late.

Close

Jerome sat up and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find you. I’m sorry I didn’t see it.” He held her so tightly, he was afraid to let her go. “I thought it would get better,” she gasped. “It’s been so long but I still can’t breathe.” Jerome’s heart squeezed and he wished he knew what to say. He tried to figure out what words Dr. Gray would’ve used except they wouldn’t be his, they wouldn’t be real. He wished he could just close his eyes and the perfect words would come to him that would make everything better. He wasn’t sure if such words even existed.

General taglist: @thatrandomlemononyourcounter1, @teacupsandstarlight, @ark-inkweaving

Awaken Asunder Alight taglist: @wingedcatastrophe

[ceribrennanwrites]

OC fun facts tag

📝 Share some facts about your character(s)

@winterandwords thank you for this nightmare where I have to decide what is fun and was highly tempted to list all the traumatic moments of Leo’s life. They were fun for me.

Gently tagging @doinglinesakawriting @sunset-a-story and @aadhube as well as open tag for people whose brains get what facts are fun.

Leolin Ryan - The Teacher - Random facts because the autism always freezes over 'fun'

He is pansexual and out. This was his own decision, not mine.

His powers trigger his amygdala, he is always angry because he doesn't know how to put his powers away.

He almost never carries a weapon (hulk smash is his style), but he is actually a good marksman.

His IQ is quite high and he hides this fact at all times.

He speaks five languages, and as above, no one knows (except random online people and his boss).

His favorite reads are cozy romances.

Leo is my pathetic, wet, and blondish (read destroyed) version of a shadow daddy. He is not fully human and has that gravelly voice. It's also my cannon that he is fantastically good in bed due to all the practice he got from being used as a himbo.

[cat-esper]

Word Find Tag

Thanks for the tag, @winterandwords! I'm going to tag @moonrabbitwriter, @rayne143, and open tag! Your words are wind, laugh, stars, and jump

My words are throw, catch, hold, and drop

Throw

Jerome gasped in mock affront, stooped to tear some of the long grass free, and threw it at her. It fell woefully short, the breeze wafting it back at him. Nyx laughed. “You throw like an old man.” “Listen, when you get to be my age–” She threw more grass at him. A piece stuck to his mouth and he sputtered and wiped it off.

Catch

She tried to spot Laurette and Sylvain, but gave up and tried to focus on the microphone instead, adjusting it down as she sat. “This is–” She stopped, had to lean in more so the mic would catch her voice. “This is for my mother. And for lost friends.” She settled down, put her fingers to the guitar, and started to play. There was a moment where she thought she’d forgotten–had to remind herself what chord the song started with, repeating it over and over in her head for at least an hour before coming up here–but her fingers found their positions. They seemed to move on their own, remembering the song so she didn’t have to.

Hold

Amélie wasn’t quite sure how the Wish worked, but she recalled seeing one used and tried to copy what Radda had done. She prayed this would work. As Maman watched her curiously, she moved her hands over to her chest, right above her heart. Visualized what she wanted more than anything in the world, imagined grabbing hold of all the threads lowering her mother’s body into the ground and yanked them back.

Drop

Jerome lost all track of what was happening as Flare ascended, wings fluttering wildly on either side of him. He flattened himself against her fur–please don’t drop me!–and squeezed his eyes shut as his stomach lurched. He missed when Flare was too small to ride, when she clung to his clothes with barbed legs and slept on his chest; she was so much less scary then. Now she rose and dipped and for a terrifying moment, he thought they were falling, but then she rose again. When enough seconds passed and he hadn’t fallen, he chanced a look. With every dip of her wings, he could see clear sky around them, gray clouds skudding across blue. Treetops appeared and disappeared rhythmically. It sure looked like everything was fine but he couldn’t shake the awful feeling in his gut. It didn’t help that Flare’s flying couldn’t be called smooth; more like bobbing. Jerome's heart lodged in his throat. But she didn’t let him fall.

General taglist: @thatrandomlemononyourcounter1, @teacupsandstarlight, @ark-inkweaving

Awaken Asunder Alight taglist: @wingedcatastrophe

[in-seas-of-green]

WIP ACROSTIC TAG

Thank you @winterandwords for the tag!

My word is CRAMP taken from draft 1 of Plight of the Oracle

C - Crossing the deck in four long strides she steeled herself.

R - “Right. I see now,” Zemorri began, “I owe my life to Ivemaar, which in turn means I’m indebted to you in some odd fashion I am unaware of?”

A - Ale splashed out of all three mugs, pooling onto the table below.

M - My mother once told me if you don’t like the card’s fate has dealt you, simply draw your own deck.

P - “Prepare a bath for my lord husband, as warm as you can manage,” Sciosa ordered.

tagging @wintersenwritings @gaslightwestern @the-inkwell-variable and @sm-writes-chaos as well as an open tag! your word is LACE

[winterandwords]

✍🏼 WIP acrostic tag (SADLY)

Thanks to @oh-no-another-idea for the tag!

📝 Share a sentence from your WIP that starts with each letter in the word given to you by the person who tagged you

These are from Miles From Morning...

She’s not scared of me, but she doesn’t try to order me around either.

And this is probably a really stupid thing to say, but I don’t know what happened to my arm.

Definitely got a gun in his waistband, but he knows better than to pull it in here.

Loud as hell, but still calm.

You know you want to.

Tagging @k--havok, @lamuradex, @ls-daydreams and @milosometimeswrites if you'd like to do it, with an open tag for anyone else who wants to join in.

The word for your acrostic is BULGE 💜

Reblogs, replies etc on my tag posts are always welcome, but if you're doing this tag yourself, please make your own post instead of using mine to start a reblog chain.

Want more of my writing than I post on Tumblr, with all my stories, blog posts, updates, and audio readings? Head on over to my Patreon! There's a free membership option and I'd love to welcome you to my cosy little queer fiction community 💞

[oh-no-another-idea]

WIP Acrostic tag

Thanks for this one, @writingrosesonneptune!! I'm playing with the word GRIPS and pulling from Bent Nails ;)

G. “Great plan,” [Jacob] said flatly, his hands on his hips. “Get paid to renovate an old house, forget about the front door.”

R. “Rice and salsa,” Michael said. He was feeling fancy and rich with the time to prepare them. The beef needed several hours to cook, after all.

I. “If it’s way past lunchtime,” Sutton said, “Then it isn’t lunchtime, is it.”

P. “Places I’m going to see someday,” [Michael] said, and the tone of his voice was different. Sutton had never heard it before, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. “Started making it in college.”

S. “So I’ll go to the store,” Jacob said, lifting his hands. “Oy, everyone’s a critic.”

And it's all dialogue today, interestingly ;) I'll tag gently, @space-writes @eccaiia @artdecosupernova-writing @winterandwords @revenantlore @memento-morri-writes and anyone else who sees this! Your word is SADLY

[winterandwords]

✍🏼 WIP acrostic tag (OCEANS)

Thanks to @writingrosesonneptune for the tag!

📝 Share a sentence from your WIP that starts with each letter in the word given to you by the person who tagged you

These are from Miles From Morning...

Out of nowhere, as far as he’s concerned anyway, I swing for him and the punch lands square on his jaw.

Complete and total silence.

Eyes rolling back. Sinking. Falling. Dark. Deja fucking vu.

Another breath against my skin, lower on my neck this time, and a whisper.

Not funny-ha-ha.

Sometimes I do exactly what I’m told in the most irritating way possible because fuck this place and everyone in it.

Tagging @in-seas-of-green, @indecentpause, @isherwoodj and @jkit45 if you'd like to do it, with an open tag for anyone else who wants to join in.

The word for your acrostic is CRAMP 💜

Reblogs, replies etc on my tag posts are always welcome, but if you're doing this tag yourself, please make your own post instead of using mine to start a reblog chain.

Want more of my writing than I post on Tumblr, with all my stories, blog posts, updates, and audio readings? Head on over to my Patreon! There's a free membership option and I'd love to welcome you to my cosy little queer fiction community 💞

[writingrosesonneptune]

WIP Acrostic Tag

🥣 Thank you to @oh-no-another-idea for the tag here! 🥣

Gently Tagging: @space-writes @winterandwords @aalinaaaaaa @rhikasa @writingamongther0ses @willtheweaver and anyone else who wants to join in!

Your word will be: OCEANS

FORBID, from Rain Summoner:

F - For as long as Sadira could remember, people had asked her whether Akeem had plans of claiming his title within the year.

O - Obvious alarm curdled Esolie's calm demeanor.

R - Reaching into the cart, he pulled a small jar from one of the crates and gathered a swatch of some odorless ointment on a stick.

B - "But it was her."

I - Instead, [Yanna] followed the trail of light leaking from the barracks to the two figures standing in the middle of the path.

D - Drenched from the sea, every breeze riding on the dusk brought another bout of shivering that seized her to the core.

[winterandwords]

✍🏼 Clickbait WIP description tag

Thanks to @milosometimeswrites for the tag!

📝 Explain the plot or premise of your WIP(s) as if it were a clickbait Youtube video

Here's Miles From Morning in clickbait form (I had way too much fun doing this)...

From CRIMINAL to SOLDIER!!! TOTAL LIFESTYLE SHIFT 😳😱🫨

He HATES his job but CAN'T leave!! (BEST malicious compliance tips)

He drinks whiskey THREE SHOTS AT A TIME. Here's how YOU can do it too 🥃🥃🥃

Did he CURE his depression with MASOCHISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE? (the secret your therapist doesn't want you to know)

Tagging @eyes-talks-ocs, @firesidefantasy, @gaslightwestern and @i-can-even-burn-salad if you'd like to do it, with an open tag for anyone who wants to join in 💜

Reblogs, replies etc on my tag posts are always welcome, but if you're doing this tag yourself, please make your own post instead of using mine to start a reblog chain.

Want more of my writing than I post on Tumblr, with all my stories, blog posts, updates, and audio readings? Head on over to my Patreon! There's a free membership option and I'd love to welcome you to my cosy little queer fiction community 💞

[milosometimeswrites]

‼️Clickbait Description Tag Game 😱😱👇👇 ‼️

Thank you @talesofsorrowandofruin

Rules: explain the plot/premise of your wip/s as if it were a clickbaity (or just a regular one if you don't want to do clickbait) Youtube video.

This'll be for my story From the Sea Fret

The small town that NOBODY knows about

You've never seen these kind of fish before...

They said WHAT to the new fisherman!? (EMOTIONAL)

You'll NEVER GUESS what I found in the water!!

Tagging @winterandwords ; @creatrackers ; @wbhudson ; and anyone else who wants to play!