kittkestra | Recent Entries

About me:
Hi there! I’m Kitt. (They/them.)

I’ve been a writer for years, though primarily of fanfiction. I’ve decided that I’d really like to finally try and devote some time and energy to my original works. For too long my original work has been something I’ll “get around to working on someday.” I’ve realized that I really don’t want it to be relegated to “someday” forever!

I love genre fiction, and that’s primarily what I write. Most of my work falls under fantasy or sci-fi, often combined with romance. Horror is also one of my favorite genres, but I don’t have many horror WIPs… yet, at least. Most of my work focuses on queer characters and relationships. Much of it also features poly relationships. None of my work will ever be or include any AI-generated material.

Having spent decades entertaining various story ideas, poking at them on and off, I definitely have collected far too many WIPs. (More accurately, potential WIPs.) I’m trying to rein it in and not split my focus too badly for now!

I plan to get proper WIP intros put together for things eventually, at which point I’ll link them here. Until then…

Working title: Cave
A fantasy omegaverse featuring a mutually-resented arranged marriage and a very uncomfortable cultural clash between an alpha who feels he has everything to prove and an omega who has nothing left to lose.
Genre: fantasy/romance (male Alpha/male Omega)

Working title: Gold and Silver
A fantasy omegaverse featuring an arranged marriage between an alpha with more status than money and an omega whose family has money but longs for status… the catch being that the omega is functionally an invalid. The alpha and his long-standing omega lover discover a deeper plot behind the alpha’s new wife’s condition. Very loose retelling of the fairy tale “Gold Tree and Silver Tree.”
Genre: fantasy/romance (male Alpha/male Omega/female Alpha (with a subby male Alpha))

Working title: Off the Path
A fantasy poly romance featuring wolf shifters, a disabled human protagonist, and an unasked-for sacrifice-turned-romance, and different opinions on what constitutes “monstrous.”
Genre: fantasy/romance (M/F/F)

[Untitled Omegaverse Series]
A contemporary omegaverse series; individual stories are standalone, though set in the same universe with characters who occasionally cross over between them.
Note: many of my omegaverse works feature poly relationships between various genders and dynamics. They do feature a lot of classic omegaverse tropes, like bonding and heat cycles. They basically never include pregnancy.
Genre: romance
- Working title: Rescue
A poly romance between a sheltered omega escaping a controlling institution, and the pack that decides to give her the life she’s been denied. (male Alpha/male Beta/female Omega + queerplatonic female Beta)
- Working title: Unexpected
A poly romance between an omega who always thought she was a beta, and the alpha/beta couple that give her shelter. (female Alpha/male Beta/female Omega)
- Working title: Field Project
A romance between an omega grad student and an alpha ranger who never thought she’d fall for someone again. (female Alpha/female Omega)

[Untitled Werewolf Series]
A series of contemporary werewolf stories, set in the same universe, but standing alone.
Most of the werewolf stories feature poly relationships.
Genre: romance
- Working title: Cult
A poly romance between the last surviving werewolf from a pack, and the human couple who rescue him, then give him something to live for. (M/M/F)
- Working title: Thesis
A poly romance between a human college student studying local folklore, her secretly-a-werewolf TA, and the pack leader who will protect the secret of his pack’s existence at any cost. (M/M/F)
- Working title: Trapped
A romance between a werewolf trapped in her wolf form, and the woman who has offered to foster the “stray wolfdog.” (F/F)

From intro image:
Fox: Federico Di Dio Photography via Unsplash
Key: Michael Dziedzic via Unsplash
Mushroom: Annie Spratt via Unsplash

Divider: by saradika on tumblr

Alas, still no real progress to report.

However, I at least felt *excited* to write today! Unfortunately that excitement came while I was at work, did not really last after getting home, and also still has not come along with much inspiration to work on any particular project. Even so, it's better than nothing, and better than I've felt for about a month, now.

I think a lot of what I'm excited for is more... the desire to be excited. I want the overwhelming enthusiasm and inspiration that seemed to come easily when I was younger. The ideas that really did seem to come from an endless supply, and enthusiasm that meant those ideas occupied my thoughts nearly constantly. Sometimes it was only a burst of a day or two, sometimes it was the same story for months or even into years. It's been about... 10-15 years now since I last really remember having that sort of "live, breathe, sleep the story" feeling, and I still long for it. At this point, I think it's perhaps something I've outgrown, rather than simply an ebb in my creativity.

There's a pull to go back to one of my fanfics, one that was once a source of that exact feeling a long time ago. There's also a pull to try to find that sort of obsession for an original work.

Even if I can't capture that kind of excitement, just the desire to feel that way is a welcome change from the last several weeks, where I've struggled to even care about writing. I haven't turned it into actual writing yet, but I hope that I'm able to before too long.

(Sadly, in addition to recovering from emergency surgery, I'm also dealing with a fairly nasty lingering cold. I already overdid it a few times and I think set the recovery back a bit; I'm trying to truly take it easy for a little while longer, because that seems to be the thing that's helped the most... even when I feel like I'm wasting time.)

Sadly, still not much to report.

Doing decently in terms of recovery post-hospital, but haven't quite had the energy or inspiration to return to writing yet. I'm hopeful that I will feel back up to it before too much longer!

This once again outs me on main, but oh well.

Nothing like some emergency surgery and a hospital stay to start off the year! I guess at least I get to knock out that deductible early. There are no real words for how terrified I am of receiving the bill.

Definitely not conducive to working on creative endeavors, and since I'm still feeling ~70% at best as I prepare to return to work, I think it's likely to be a while before I have any additional brainpower by the time I'm done with my workday.

Four to six weeks seems to be the expectation for recovery to feel mostly complete, and I'm at roughly two, so it's not unexpected that I'm not there yet, but I'm definitely ready to feel normal... just not there yet.

Whoops, off to an excellent start for the year.

While I can't claim any new progress on the current WIP, I did reread the parts of the outline I had completed, to try and sort of reorient myself into the story, and so I at least have gotten that far. (I am hoping to actually work on it, at least a little, tonight.)

Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM STILL HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - create a shareable introduction to the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - create a shareable introduction to the project
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

Not much to say about it, though!

I knew I'd have to take a break for the holidays, but now I'm definitely having a hard time getting back into it. I feel bad, because I'm just making excuses to myself day after day!

I should start with reorienting myself within the WIP that I was working on - it's not like it's bee THAT long, but it's been long enough. I'd also crapped out a bit, because the next step of the snowflake outline felt like it was repeating something already done... though I felt that way about a previous step which ended up being one that I was the most excited about, so I'm also trying to trust the process, haha.

(I also don't have to stick with the snowflake method if I decide I don't like it; it just seems to be a very popular method that I *hope* will help me address some of the repeated issues and weak points I have.)

I'm keeping my list the same, and right now I just want to finish up this outline. Somehow, ha.

Still nothing to update in terms of WIP progress, but that was to be expected. The week in between Christmas and New Years is always a weird one. (Certainly not a unique observation, just one I've been feeling!)

I do really hope to get more writing done next year. I'm wary of setting any really specific goals, because I've had such a difficult time sticking to really specific goals, ha.
- I really want to complete something... I miss the feeling of completing something!
- I do want to continue with my plan of swapping between different categories of project. Getting the groundwork for that set may limit the likelihood of getting a project completed, because part of the point is not focusing on one single thing from start to finish, but drifting between a few things. We'll see - if I can get ENOUGH done, then I would be able to do both!

Cheers to 2026. I hope it's a better year all around.

Merry Christmas to any and all who celebrate! Mine was nice. :)

As expected, this last week was very much taken up with holiday prep, and I did not do any writing. I'm not upset about it. I think things are probably going to be pretty fallow in terms of the writing progress, at least through the end of the year.

At the new year... I need to figure out what I want to do. I really haven't done what I hoped to here, and it's 100% on me and my lack of drive to do much. The flurry of energy that led to me creating this account and to really even consider "making a go of" having a penname... really didn't last.

On the one hand, I do enjoy not feeling too perceived!

On the other... part of me just wants to fold everything back into my main online presence, because the divide feels so artificial. It also feels very unnecessary, since I'm not really doing anything with it. I'm not being self-indulgent in a way that feels like "too much" for my main accounts. Some of the content of the writing *could* feel a little like "no, don't look at me!" but also... most of the actual online friendships I have are ones that I do believe could weather someone thinking I'm a bit weird.

So... I'm not completely sure what I want to do with this into the new year. I'm still deciding what I want to do, and whether writing is even going to be a focus for me in 2026. I want it to be, but know that I truly can't focus on everything that I want to; there's just not enough time and energy available. I have to prioritize, and while I've tried (and often failed) to make writing a priority, I don't know if I want to try again, or allow other things to take precedence, and allow writing to be the thing that fills in gaps when I do have the time and energy...

Well, that's more than I meant to go into on what was meant to be a quick "no update to see here" update on Christmas, haha.

Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM STILL HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - create a shareable introduction to the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - create a shareable introduction to the project
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

...with nothing to report.

I'm not entirely surprised; I was a bit worried that I was going to have to put most of my writing on hold until I make it through Christmas (and maybe New Year's.) My time just keeps getting devoured by other things. And I don't even think of myself as being particularly rah-rah for Christmas, yet somehow...

Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM STILL HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - create a shareable introduction to the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - create a shareable introduction to the project
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

I have made it through the rest of "Step 5" of the Snowflake Outline. I've stalled out a little on starting Step 6 (which is rewriting the synopsis paragraphs into full pages.) Not unexpected coming into the holidays, but it seems like lots of my free time has been mysteriously absorbed by other tasks.

Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - create a shareable introduction to the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - create a shareable introduction to the project
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

The snails'-pace grind on the outlining continues!

I have made it through part of "Part 5" of the snowflake outline. This task is to summarize the storyline from each character's perspective. I have currently done two of the three main characters, and also plan to do a shorter one for the main antagonist.

This section was one I was dragging my feet on a little bit initially. The creator of the method says it's one of his favorite steps, but I was preemptively frustrated because it felt like such a retread of the steps I had just done. Step three was character summaries, and step four was an expanded plot summary.

...Turns out I have really enjoyed this part. It *should* feel like I just did this, between working out the character motivations and expanding the plot beats... but it genuinely *has* been a different task. I feel like I unlocked a couple character aspects and interiority that I hadn't understood as well before this, and it already feels like a couple puzzle pieces fitting together better than I'd expected. We'll see if it lasts!

Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - create a shareable introduction to the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - create a shareable introduction to the project
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

It's been (mumble mumble) years since I've been out of school, and I still miss having school breaks. Even working a Real Job with Real PTO isn't quite the same... it's all but impossible to take time off actually around the holidays. Alas.

I've kept up at least some progress on the current WIP planning, though it feels like I'm creeping along like a snail. I've finished the fourth section of the outline, and will hopefully manage to get started on the fifth section this week. (I don't expect any work to get done tomorrow, on US Thanksgiving. I don't celebrate the history it represents, but I do like having food with my family.)

The outlining has been going reasonably well, I hope? I feel like it has helped me to unlock a few aspects of character motivation that had previously been vague, and helped me to refine a couple bits that I knew might need to be explained.

However, the outlining is really making me itch to start actually writing it, which is a good place to be! I'm encouraged by an outline that makes me MORE excited to write, rather than LESS.

But looking at my road map... after this outline is complete, I'm supposed to do the outlines for two more projects before I let myself actually get to the writing. I don't want to kill my motivation for the current one by forcing myself to pivot to something else. But I also did have a reason I wanted to do it the way I mapped out: I want to improve my ability to switch between works, rather than feeling locked in to a single thing. While at this point that means I have to get through some repetitive stages on different works (so much outlining!), after getting through that, I'll more easily have projects that are in different stages of completion, ready to be moved between.

I could probably address part of that issue by just writing more. I get the impression that this outlining style is "meant" to be done in a week or two, and it's dragged on for way longer than that, and I'm not even halfway through! If I could just kind of rip out the work in a week or ten days, I wouldn't be hitting pause on the first WIP for so long, and wouldn't have to worry so much about keeping my energy and enthusiasm up. It's the thought of having to do a couple more months (if not more) of grinding out the outlining for a couple more things that feels daunting. Maybe it gets easier to knock it out with more repetition?

Alas, as said at the start, around the holidays is also not a great time to be trying to up the productivity, haha.

Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

I am still working on the outline for Gold and Silver. I'm working on character outlines (or at least the initial versions of them, following the ~process~), and have finished the outlines for the three main characters. I plan to do one more character outline, for the primary villain, and then should be able to move on to the next one.

Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

I got busy and failed to do a WIP Wednesday update!

Not that I had anything to really update, I'm afraid. I'm still chipping away at the outlining for Gold and Silver.

Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

Not much to report on this fine WIP Wednesday...

I'm in the same stage of the master plan:
Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

I have at least started on the outline for Gold and Silver, but I've been feeling quite unmotivated the last several days. I'm torn between pushing through and backing off...

October didn't provide quite the well of productivity I'd hoped for, but I also feel fairly okay about how it went. I have made it through the intros I'd planned to start with, and am moving on to the actual outlining. I have started the first of those, although it's been slow going.

Also, the time change messes me up bad, and I know I'm probably about to absolutely lose my mind over how early it gets dark/how little sun I see.

Definitely need to pick up the pace a bit on this outlining.

Alas, a week mostly (so far) of good intentions that I fail to follow through on.

I'm ready to start the snowflake outline for Gold and Silver, and I've been excited to get to that point! And yet, the progress is not progressing.

The plan remains:
Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project [I AM HERE]
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

I also realized I'm not really sure yet how to budget how long the outline for each of these projects is likely to take. That's part of what I'm doing right now, figuring all of that out, but it does mean that for now I'm in a bit of an unsteady spot where I don't know what a reasonable goal would be. (Is it reasonable to think that, were I actually applying myself lol, I could get an outline done in a week? Two weeks? A month? Is it useless to try and predict it because different projects will be different?)

If I could have my wish, I'd say what I really want is to get through the three above outlines (Gold and Silver, fanfic project, and Rescue) completed by the end of the year. I'd love to be able to truly focus on actually writing (at least some of the time!) in 2026.
I'm not planning on preventing myself from writing before the new year or anything, but 2025 has felt like kind of a fallow year, so having things set up to make next year easier is something I'd like to do.

Last week was another week where I didn't get *nothing* written, but also didn't really make any stunning progress. I am at least through the last of the intros that I wanted to start with, so it's time to move onto the real outlining!

I do find myself very impressed with the number of authors (pro, indie, and hobby) who manage to strike a balance between writing original works and fanfic. Especially authors that wind up being very prolific at one or even both!

My hope is to alternate between original and fan works, kind of getting to practice different things, have fun in different ways, etc. That said, my plan isn't really to seriously aim for publishing... if I were, I don't know how I'd have the time or energy for other stuff! Yet some people clearly manage it. (Then again, there are pro authors putting out four+ books per year, and I don't know how they manage that, either. Having it be truly the full-time job certainly has something to do with it, but still.)

I guess that's part of what I'd like to figure a way to magically unlock: how to move through things at a pace that is a little less "chilled snail going uphill and taking frequent breaks." Basically any progress would be better for that than what I've been doing the last couple of years, which is also something I think I need to keep reminding myself of, haha. There's certainly some truth and appeal in the slow and steady method (500 words a day or the like.)

As always, it comes down to just fucking doing it.

...but not much P on the W. (Though I guess that sounds like a euphemism for something...)

Still at roughly the same point I was at last week, though I got the "Rescue" intro written up, and am now stalled out on the second fic project's intro.

The plan remains:
Gold and Silver - write down as many of the initial ideas/intentions/tone as I can
Fanfic Project 1 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Rescue - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone
Fanfic Project 2 - write down my current ideas/intentions/tone [I AM HERE]
Gold and Silver - do an official outline of the project
Fanfic Project 1 - do an official outline of the project
Rescue - do an official outline of the project
Gold and Silver - first draft time!
Fanfic Project 1 - first draft (of part one) time!

I'm at least still a little excited to get to the actual outlining of the first real WIP I plan to work on, though I really hope the outlining doesn't sap that enthusiasm away.

Like I mentioned last week, my current plan is to work on getting the initial introductions of several projects completed.

These introductions are more for myself than anyone else, just getting down the initial information I want to have about the projects. It includes kind of a summary blurb, some bits about the characters and their planned arcs, the general tone and vibes that I want to convey, any specific dynamics or scenes or snippets of dialogue I already want to make sure to not forget, etc. Basically, just the stuff I want in order to reorient myself into the WIP once I get to actually working on it, and the things I don't want to forget if it takes me a while to get back to it. (I'd like to say "yeah, I'll remember that!" but that is the devil talking and I will not.)

Right now at least, it feels like slow going, ha. I really only have one more of those basic intros that I want to finish, and then the plan is to move onto actual outlines for some of these projects. I know that will take even longer, but I'm at least a little bit looking forward to getting to those.

I'm planning to try out the "Snowflake Method" of outlining. That goes into more detail than my outlines typically do. (Usually I've relied on a scene plan as my outline; something that says "35% of the way through the story, this should be happening," etc.) While that type of outline worked well for a few specific projects, I've found it feels a little constraining for others that I tried to force into that format since, in a way that ended up feeling like it warped the project out of shape.

Snowflake goes into a lot more detail and requires a lot more up front, but allegedly it is supposed to make the first draft go faster. (Or so the guy who promotes it says!)

I'm hoping it will help to address some of my problems with the most recent stories I've attempted to write. I've usually come up with that rough scene-by-scene outline to work from, but then I hit some point at which I realize there's some fundamental structural thing that I want to change. Sometimes it's discovering that I'm undercutting one of my own themes; sometimes I discover that there needs to be some substantial development for a character earlier on, but providing that earlier development will completely change the way those later scenes play out, so my outline has been sunk. Often this ends up with me crapping out at that point, because pushing through on the current version would send me toward a dead end, but it feels daunting and frustrating to have to start over; I want to make it through a draft rather than continually retooling the first chunk. (And especially if it happens more than once!)

So! Maybe having more done during the outlining process will let me discover some of those structural issues or contradictions before I start the draft, rather than midway through. We will see!

Not a whole lot of progress this week, but better than zero progress.

I did both a quick fic intro blurb and the blurb for the second original project that I'm hoping to outline.

Unfortunately, I do feel a bit like I phoned them in. Still, done is better than not! Or so I tell myself.

It is nicer to have done at least a little bit this week. I have one more blurb that I intend to do, and then I plan to start on the outlining.

Perhaps these intros felt a bit phoned in because they aren't the project I'm most interested in working on right now. I'm actually encouraged by that, in a way, because the project I am most interested in is still "Gold and Silver," the one I plan to focus on first. One of my worries about switching between things was the fear that I'd lose my momentum on any given project, but at least so far that doesn't seem to be happening.

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kittkestra

February 2026

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Kitt Kestra

Someday writing...

Recent Entries

Sticky: Intro Post!

WIP Wednesday on a Thursday!

WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday... but not so much

WIP Wednesday on a Thursday!

First WIP Wednesday of 2026!

WIP Wednesday! Happy New Year!

WIP Wednesday on a Thursday! It's also Christmas!

WIP Wednesday on a Thursday!

WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday on a Thursday!

WIP Wednesday!

October...

WIP Wednesday!

Time balances...

WIP Wednesday!

Laying that groundwork...

Progress for the week:

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February 2026

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