Henry India Holden

@henryindiah.bsky.social

395 Followers 127 Following

Author🏳️‍⚧️They/Them🏳️‍🌈💖💛💙ADHD | My 📚 in progress: CR queer/sapphic solarpunk & hopepunk eco-romance wonderfiction F/NB MCs 🌏Cast | I write to uplift by putting love and hope into the world 💟🌸💗www.henryindiaholden.com

IMG: Moon, a magical cat, in front of the Mystic Emporium from This Wild & Soulful Love. Image made in Canva Pro; no AI involved. The image is a detail of a larger, colorful composite of the world of This Wild & Soulful Love: A gray and silver tabby in front of a shop with a pink and beige awning, surrounded by trees. A sign in the window reads "Love Lives Here." Seattle Skyscrapers can be seen in the distance.
A sign with a garden fence and pink and purple flowers spilling over the top. The words are: contempt - "the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn. Or? Content - in a state of peaceful happiness. Eg: "they seemed more content, less bitter."
The word "hope" in pink on a white background. An outstretched arm, holding a poppy makes the "o" in hope.
A line drawing of a 60s depiction of a smiling robot standing inside an open box with the words, Think Outside the Bot.
A watercolor-style painting of a woman. A sunlit forest trail leads into the gentle foothills of the PNW. The woman leans against the thick trunk of a tall pine with the kind of smile of pure joy that spending time in nature elicits. Her strawberry-blond hair is short and tousled. She wears a blue T-shirt and backpack, with mountains, tall evergreen trees, and colorful wildflowers in the background. This is Lilla, one of the MCs from the eco-romance WIP "This Wild and Soulful Love." We can assume she is gazing at Sydney, a nonbinary climate worker and her lover and best friend.
A watercolor of sunlight in hues of pale yellow and white with Mary Oliver's poem superimposed: Is this not just perfect? “You don’t want to hear the story of my life, and anyway I don’t want to tell it, I want to listen to the enormous waterfalls of the sun. And anyway it’s the same old story - - - a few people just trying, one way or another, to survive. Mostly, I want to be kind. And nobody, of course, is kind, or mean, for a simple reason. And nobody gets out of it, having to swim through the fires to stay in this world. (from, Dogfish)” ― Mary Oliver
Watercolor flowers below the following text: What big thing did I learn from my characters while writing my current romance novel? While plotting their arcs, I thought I knew how they’d feel at certain points. But when we got there, I realized they were much deeper than me. I needed to listen closely and level up to understand what they’re actually going through, and what they needed to say about it.
Colorful book cover with nature and city.
Close up of a chickadee standing in the open palm of a man's hand. A lush, green hedge is in the background.
An illustration of a White nonbinary person in their early 30s. They are standing at the beach, wearing a light three-piece suit with the blue ocean and a lighter blue sky in the background. Their hair is dark, short and wavy. They look friendly and a little pensive.
An empty Robin's egg shell in a hand, gloved in orange work gloves.
A fountain pen and notebook with the words "Revision is Revelation" laying on a rumpled white sheet, strewn with wildflowers.
A pale green background with leaves with the post's words on the left. And on the right, a stylized typewriter with undulating paper, sitting on a beach blanket with muted orange and gray stripes and fringes.
A watercolor painting in muted shades of beige, gray and brown of a pensive girl writing in a journal with these words superimposed: "In my view, a writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, because everything she does is golden. In my view, a writer is a writer because, even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway." — Junot Díaz Dominican-American writer Professor of Writing Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 2008
Water color of a forest with words superimposed: Biden often said, that "Don't question the motive, question the action," got him through working with Republicans. Well, now we know how that story ends: The bad guys won. So, let's try the opposite: Admit that the dominant US actors are operating in bad faith and let our action arise from that knowledge. Not with hate for them but with love for those who are suffering and afraid. Let it not lead to distrust: Once we admit their bad faith, there is no need for further distrust because we have identified the evil. Let that remind us how necessary our love and compassion are— for each other, for the planet, for ourselves.
Evening pink sky fading to dark blue. A deep green coastal forest sinks into twilight with the silhouettes of seven birds rising into the sunset. Plus the words of Emerson's poem.
Watercolor painting of a sweet deer in a green and lush landscape in colors or gentle greens and blues. Text is the same as the post, taken from the romance novel, Lilla & Sydney, coming in late 2025.
A child with bright eyes and a happy smile. And expression of sheer joy.
A pastel sky fades from blue to pink over the silhouette of Seattle's skyline with the Space Needle, the Big Wheel, and Mt. Rainier, framed by vibrant flowers in the foreground. Two silhouetted figures - lovers - one in a suit and hat, the other in a blazer, button-down, and pleated skirt, stand close together.
Text image with a river and blue sky behind it, framed in watercolor roses.
Text image with a blurred river behind it and flowers along the edges.
Excerpt from Written In Our Stars, the story of Sidonie and Lilla. A field of words, surrounded by watercolor blossoms in many colors.
A tiny 3-inch colander, sitting on a wooden cutting board on a kitchen counter. In the background sit a water jar with cilantro and a stuffed, handpainted bunny.
A beautiful sunrise over a turquoise ocean with the words "Love much. Don't revile. Choose hope over cynicism. Curl up as needed, but stay awake to the beauty all around.
Watercolor of a green book cover with flowers, surrounded my colorful watercolor flowers. Happy vibes.
Black & White Image of Martin Luther King in front of a microphone to address a crowd.
A block of text above a watercolor scene of a house in a summer landscape with sunshine on the left, and another house, this one, in a winterscape with falling snow on the right. The text is: If you can't meditate, pause before every sip of coffee. If you can't pray, simply say 'thank you' before every meal. If you can't manifest, enjoy what's already yours. And if you can't journal, talk to yourself in the car. There is no spirituality rule book. Just show up for yourself in ways that feel good to you.
Watercolor collage of a close-up of an old typewriter on a table in gentle grays & browns, pastel pink hearts, balloons, flowers before a soft blue sky.
Cartoon of blue and a green girl in pink and red outfits walking hand in hand and smiling at each other.
A bee busily harvesting nectar from a purple flower that looks like a sea anemone. Taken at Carl S. English Botanical Garden in Seattle.