There's nothing quite like sending fanmail to an author whose work was formative to you as a kid (and as a nascent writer), and finding out from her reply that *she* is now a fan of *your* work!

… @foxesandroses.bsky.social, Lisa Tuttle and Ben H. Winters, and last but not least, a beautifully poem by @swantower.bsky.social‬. Thank you them all! cuentosparaalgernon.wordpress.com/2025/12/23/a...

60 minutes CECOT segment. Recorded through my browser. HD quality. Not phone. Spread it around. If you're press, it's yours. Go nuts. It's streaming on a Canadian website, but there is no telling for how long. www.filemail.com/d/wkcdttnacp...

As is our tradition, for this holiday season, we’ve selected a few favorite stories from the first half or so of our fourth year to share — unlocked — with readers far and wide. If you love what you’re reading, please share and recommend, and dig into the archives for more. (1/5)

So we have our picks for 2026 for or the Its all aout Fantasy book club. @nssecretbookaholic.bsky.social Starting in January we have The zrook & Rose trilogy by @macarrick.bsky.social The live show will be in February. Date TBC

Rare footage of St Paul’s Cathedral testing its giant flamethrower

this book is super fun!

This is such a fun series. You should read it if you haven't already! 📚

Oh wow. This is a great deal on book 1 of one of my favorite series of the last few years. If I didn’t already own it, I’d be all over this.

This is a *great* book and you should get it.

This is also CAD $2.99 on Kobo books! I highly recommend it!

This trilogy is fantastic, this is a great deal.

TODAY ONLY (12/21), The Mask of Mirrors ebook is discounted to $2.99 on Kindle as an "Editor's Pick Goldbox" deal! (US customers only; my apologies to the rest of the world.) Affiliate link: www.amazon.com/Mask-Mirrors...

On the blog, @swantower.bsky.social talks about, @lollardfish.bsky.social / @profgabriele.com style, what a Dark Age REALLY means. www.swantower.com/2025/12/19/n... And the whole idea of the Alexander Romances fascinates me.

From this point on, I'm forced to assume that every elected politician who does not immediately call for Trump's impeachment is in the Epstein files. Sorry. Just cutting the Gordian knot here, as one does during societal collapse.

this is a good reminder of how things that are shitty but have been accepted as normal and inevitable can actually turn out to be abnormal and evitable with some science, time, education and political will

What are your favorite albums that feature *obscure* traditional Christmas carols? Bring on your "Boar's Head," your "Sussex Carol," your "Personent Hodie," your "Masters in the Hall," and more!

What are your favorite albums that feature *obscure* traditional Christmas carols? Bring on your "Boar's Head," your "Sussex Carol," your "Personent Hodie," your "Masters in the Hall," and more!

"Mithridates, he died old." . . . or really, that entire poem.

Courtesy of @kniedzw.bsky.social sharing this with me, I give you: your morning heavy metal self-care affirmation: www.youtube.com/shorts/rQ7nr...

El poema de hoy, "Pillaje de palabras", de Marie Brennan, viene con un extra interesantísimo para quienes tengáis curiosidad por conocer qué se ha cocido entre bambalinas: el making off de la traducción contado por la propia Marie. Interesantísimo para escritores, traductores y curiosos en general.

Whoa, bluesky is doing something weird with the colors there (might be a cmyk file instead of rgb?) so here's a more accurate version for screens. At least the pattern layout on the website looks closer to the real deck!

A look behind the scenes at my experience collaborating with @cuentosalgernon.bsky.social on the Spanish translation of "A War of Words" (as "Pillaje de palabras"): www.swantower.com/2025/12/16/y...

Nueva entrada, acompañada de un fuerte redoble de tambores: "Pillaje de palabras", de Marie Brennan, obra ganadora del premio Hugo 🏆 en 2025 en la categoría de Mejor Poema. Un precioso colofón poético para cerrar bien el año. Espero que os guste cuentosparaalgernon.wordpress.com/2025/12/16/p...

Okay I know this is a very late entry but: I *loved* the mechanical elephant at Nantes. I shrieked out loud. It was such a moment of like... awe, wonder, delight, and I felt... a very different effect than seeing it on a screen? If that makes any sense?

If the Supreme Court takes originalism seriously, then lawyers have to as well. Our new guide shows them how to win.

For real: stick figure art of my characters waving happily makes my day. Not everybody has to be Manet. If it looks like you put love and effort into some squiggles of my Heracles or Shesheshen? That's great.

“Half Drowned,” @bcsmagazine.bsky.social #423, January 9, 2025. Finding reasons to live after you’ve decided not to. Fighting giant eels for family. www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/half...

A look behind the scenes at my experience collaborating with @cuentosalgernon.bsky.social on the Spanish translation of "A War of Words" (as "Pillaje de palabras"): www.swantower.com/2025/12/16/y...

The Morning Monty says to hell with this weather, he’s sleeping in.

You can now read the Spanish version of the Hugo Award-winning poem "A War if Words", by @swantower.bsky.social (Marie Brennan). First published in @strangehorizons.bsky.social. Enjoy it! cuentosparaalgernon.wordpress.com/2025/12/16/p...

Wrote this earlier in the year for the first Sea Beyond book; sharing it now as I've finished a draft of THE WORST MONK IN OMNU! #sharepoetry

I’m delighted to open submissions for my anthology, "Passing Strange: Queer Weird Arthurian Tales"! We're wanting Arthurian stories with LGBTQ+ protags and spec-fic elements. Check out the Submissions page on my website! Link in comments. #arthuriana #callforsubmissions #lgbtqbooks #queerbooks

aside: what we really need to be better at for the sustainability of writer communities is a communal indie web that is not bound to social media. Build webrings! Write newsletters in reply to your friends' newsletters! Be better at not only maintaining our own digital spaces but opening their doors

light, day 2

Wrote this earlier in the year for the first Sea Beyond book; sharing it now as I've finished a draft of THE WORST MONK IN OMNU! #sharepoetry

This is an amazing thread.

HELLO I made a 2025 best-of list that only features books that came out in October through December. enjoy!

All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names…

thirteen years since the gop definitively said, "We are okay with dead children if it means we keep getting gun money"

Me: "I am a font of useless trivia." @kurayamihime.bsky.social: "You're a whole typeface."

#ArtAdventCalendar Dec. 13 A male common grackle in mid display trying to impress the females. I think he may have achieved peak iridescence! #Birds #photography #wildlife 🪶

In case you have never seen this.

We're running out of good ideas. Providing food security, shelter security, and free at point of use healthcare will absolutely help us find new ones. What if the true genius in the world is the sum of our lives lived in safety and freedom?

Public notice: Last call for fulfillment on pledges for the Rook and Rose pattern deck Kickstarter! At the end of the year I'll be canceling those I haven't been able to fulfill (b/c of missing addresses or card info). New orders are still welcome, though! pattern-deck.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...

Today in "Don't Trust AI to Tell You Facts": How several different "AI" programs messed up the simple fact of to whom I dedicated a book, and what that means for how much you should trust "AI" to tell you the truth about things (spoiler: not much at all): whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/13/a...

around 40 game developers affiliated with @videogameworkers.bsky.social have gathered outside the peacock theater, where the game awards will take place in a few hours, for a “the industry is dead” demonstration

the fact that we are actually getting "Republicans in disarray" headlines from even conservative media outlets feels like something has shifted

Research question! I know that when a horse rears -- *actually* rears, not does the fancy dressage move you see in films -- it's hella dangerous and liable to end badly for the horse, the rider, or both. Is there anything an experienced rider can do to mitigate the danger in the moment?

Currently reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville for the first time. Killer line from Chapter 9: The Sermon that still resonates today: "In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely and without a passport; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all frontiers."