I don't have a Black Friday sale, but 100% of the profits go directly to a struggling transgender artist. (me) daisyfm.storenvy.com

My point is I recommend those two quite highly

Oooh, a double feature of Suzanne Palumbo’s collection The Skin Thief & Wendy Wagner’s Secret Skin would [damnit by the time I fought autocorrect to this point I lost by epidermis joke]

.....oooooh! (I haven't read their entire catalog, granted, but everything I HAVE read from Neon Hemlock has been astonishing/amazing/insert glowing words of praise here, so....at least worth checking out.)

Black Friday, hmm? Seems like a good time to link to my little story about the North Pole Workshops: www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-...

All of you came to this site willingly.

!

Exploding Death Stars are the REAL reason for the season!

All three of the household cats have asked me to remind you of today's most important tradition. No, not travel. No, not consuming non-Thanksgiving food before choking on turkey. No, not getting your family venting out of the way. It's FEEDING CATS TUNA FISH.

Listen. All of you are already enduring the pain of the approaching holidays. What's a little bit more?

As the year comes to an end, I'm reposting some of the comics I made this year, including this ridiculous thing.

....the weird thing is that I KNOW Marissa did not talk with me before writing this poem, AND YET.

But what about first class passengers - and occasionally business class passengers - who get complimentary pajamas on overnight flights? WHAT ABOUT THEM, DUFFY?

(checks email) Speaking solely in my capacity as a professional writer, I would like to note that "Black Friday Deals have arrived early!" does not, repeat NOT, count as any sort of "plot twist."

I heard there was a secret chord, that could be heard at some large box store at 40% off at STARTING RIGHT NOW BLACK FRIDAY which kinda interrupted the chord and definitely kinda broke the hallelujahs... #AltHallelujah #Sorry

About ten little birds are currently flying in and out of the firebush just outside of the window, and Melody Cat could not be happier. Well, ok, she could probably be a TOUCH happier if I handed her a cat treat right now, but otherwise, she could not be happier.

....the feeling of waking up, of telling yourself that yes, yes, yes, you will survive this week, you will.... ....only to encounter this post.

Are you interested in getting emails from LAcon V about accessibility offerings and other support for members with disabilities? Please email [email protected] for more information.

....I also see that six of you have downloaded "In the Greenwood," which, yes, you can purchase from Amazon/Barnes and Noble and other ebook retailers.... Or you can, you know, just read it for free at Reactor!

This site targets not just authors, but small press zines and anthologies - including Clarkesworld, Neon Hemlock, Apex, and the Science Fiction Poetry Association.

Ugh, I didn't know about this one. Of course it has all my books. Not only is that money I could use, but every sale helps those of us hanging on in the midlist keep publishing at all. Love to see hundreds of downloads on series that people complain haven't continued with more books. Yeah guess why.

....it's kinda amazing how, after a Day of Destruction, this small black cat just assumes he can go ahead, jump into my lap, curl up, and hit me with a paw until I scratch his little head and totally get away with it.... ....I mean, ok, yes, he IS getting away with it, but still.

Unfortunately, I find this equally true of writing short fiction. And often true of writing poetry. So annoying.

Just realized that while I wasn't paying attention, one of my old poems vanished from the internet....so here it is again, up on Patreon (free to read) and about to be up on Medium (also free to read): www.patreon.com/posts/water-...

What a great one! Way to go. Mari!

ALL OF US MURDERERS, by KJ Charles, has a moment where the protagonist is all ENOUGH WITH ALL THE DRAMA I JUST WANT TO READ MY EDITH NESBIT BOOKS and talk about a moment where I identified HARD with a protagonist. HARD.

Here's a link: www.3lobedmag.com/issue45/3lbe...

Oof. "Without Sunsets or Snow," by @mariness.bsky.social. #labyrinthratreads2025

And from July 2025: kaleidotrope.net/summer-2025/...

And also from way back in January 2025 - remember January 2025? I know. I know! - my poem "Care for Lightning," in Uncanny: www.uncannymagazine.com/article/care...

Right! Links! Important things: Here are Massimo Mitolo's two experimental poems, working with form/structure, in Strange Horizons: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po... strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...

This seems to be a good time to note that I'm still hoping that we will have a Special Hugo Award for Best Poem in 2026!

I realize that the term "VIP" can mean different things to different people, but "YOU'RE A VIP ENJOY EARLY BLACK ACCESS TO SHOES SHOES SHOES" still seems like a slight misuse of the term to me.

Also, speaking of poetry, looks as if my poem "Ever Noir" is going to be translated into Romanian, which, I won't lie, is pretty exciting. For me. Not for anyone else! But for me.

I would like to reassure folks that 95% of poetry written these days in the United States is perfectly safe for consumption..... (catches up with social media) ....ok, ok, make that about 52%, but still, THE ODDS REMAIN IN YOUR FAVOR. READ SOME POETRY TODAY

Pleased to note that after several minutes of pointed readjustments, the positioning of legs, lap, blanket, laptop and hands has finally been arranged to the satisfaction of a small black Murphy Cat - and now I really need to go the bathroom.

“Dracula Among the Ruins” by Mari Ness (Summer 2021)

New #WriterBeware blog post: Among the most frequent publisher complaints I receive: non-payment of royalties and failure to provide sales reports. A look at three recent offenders, who collectively owe thousands that it seems unlikely authors will be able to recoup writerbeware.blog/2025/11/21/r...

....I mean, speaking of amazing authors that we could support:

What Maria said. I realize I'm biased here, but I think a number of people in the speculative short fiction and poetry fields are doing AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL work just now. Let's celebrate that - financially, if we can!

....I had a couple of things in the Fantasy Magazine submission queue, which were rejected just now since Fantasy Magazine is going on hiatus for a bit... ....and adding insult to injury here, Gmail/Gemini AI wants me to "click to teach Gmail this conversation is important."

(glum)

CASE IN POINT

And this continues to be a problem. I've lost track of the number of people who have told me that thanks to lousy internet connections, they desperately want to BUY legitimate DVD/Blu-ray versions of things like Bridgerton/Wheel of Time - but can't. Not legal ones, anyway.

CALLING IT NOW MR. BATES MURDERED EVERYONE IN ORDER TO WIN THE HUNGER GAMES EVERYONE INCLUDING, AT THE VERY END, ANNA, WHO WAS ALL, I THINK YOU ARE A KIND MAN MR. BA---- (just then Anna expires from multiple stab wounds) despite this, Thomas, rising as a zombie, inherits the estate.

So I agreed to make homemade cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving next week. I usually make this for Christmas because it's easy and fairly cheap. Fairly, because I make two types, one flavored with Grand Marnier, which is less cheap, but this isn't an alcohol tariff story.

.....I'm going to get a bit more specific here: if you are facing the holidays with a sense of dread, a, totally get it, and b, it might be worth stocking up on Stephanie's MANY comfort reads right now, so that you have them around when needed.

Simply lovely with morning coffee

See, the thing about being a cat is that you can be curled up in a human lap, getting your head scratched, knowing that you have a full bowl of food, a little cat water fountain, and a clean litter box, and STILL be completely neglected.