Patrick J. Heck

Writer, charcuterie enthusiast, aspiring game dev, and guy with too much garden space and not enough time.

NOW QUERYING (2026)

In search of his missing sun god, a former holy king does what he thought impossible—he goes home.

THE EVERWINTER KING (99,000) is a character-driven standalone adult fantasy. It would sit nicely on a shelf next to Antonia Hodgson’s THE RAVEN SCHOLAR and Cameron Sullivan’s THE RED WINTER, and is great for fans of Bioware’s Dragon Age II. It features a queer normative world and a second chance MM romance with a trans love interest.

@pjheckwrites

It's planner season!! I might've gone overboard with my prep for 2027. This doesn't even include my actual planner... What can I say, end of August makes me want to buy stationery. It doesn't help that a new store opened near us! They have the cutest stickers and a great selection of fountain pens, so naturally I had to buy my first TWSBI. In honor of finishing the first draft, I'm sharing my WIP guide for BONE KING'S BLUFF, an dual POV adult medieval fantasy. Character art done by my wonderful husband. ❤️ "July will be chill!!" I told myself after a very not-chill June. "So chill!!" Writing is fun and all but I gotta take a break for cheese. I built this board to feed my husband and me last week. Naturally, I had to feature that beautiful heirloom tomato I found at the store. Any guesses what this board's theme was? It's QuestPit day over on Bluesky and Twitter! To celebrate I'm sharing my updated agent's guide for THE EVERWINTER KING. How about a little Last, Now, Next? There's a cheese post in the works (spoilers: there's tomatoes!), but between that and pitching I thought I'd share what I've been reading.

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Latest Posts

  • July 2026

    I have a confession. I don’t like writing these monthly wrap-up posts. (I think anyone reading these could tell that based on how delayed they always get.) When I started this blog, I committed to 2-3 posts a month. I… Continue reading

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    July 2026

  • Triple crème wins every time.

    Bright lights weigh heavily on my shoulders. Some concerto plays aggressively in the distance. A man argues on the phone, and a peach in his basket is seconds away from fermenting. It’s all I can smell. I wrinkle my nose,… Continue reading

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    Triple crème wins every time.

  • June 2026

    I started typing my June post last week and it ended up being all about querying. Let’s face it—I’m a first timer in the trenches. This book and my querying efforts take up nearly all of my thoughts. Sometimes I… Continue reading

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    June 2026