Welcome to my Australian rom-com advent calendar! If you're Australian and want to read local, or from overseas and want to broaden your horizons, I've got you covered. Day 1 is The Wedding Forecast by Nina Kenwood. No one does emotionally realistic mess like Nina - this book is a masterclass.

Always love to see great talent using their platform for unabashed good.

Australia recorded ZERO cases of cervical cancer in women under 25 for the first time since they started tracking the cancer in the 80s. This is the power of vaccines. The HPV vaccine is extremely effective at preventing cancer. Viruses can be oncogenic. Get your vaccines and protect yourself!

Next up from the library: CINDER HOUSE by Freya Marske and ALCHEMISED by SenLinYu.

always remember: Terry Pratchett said trans rights this book was written in 1996 by a 48 year old British man and no cis person in 2025 has a single goddamn excuse to behave differently

Discworld QOTD, from Feet of Clay, for Trans Day of Remembrance

It's being reported that New Zealand has banned puberty blockers for transgender youth. I removed New Zealand from my recommendations to families fleeing a while back after the far right saw a surge in power in the country. Sad day for NZ trans youth.

This essay about Cinder House is definitely the most vulnerable, personal thing I've ever written; it took me over a year to get to the point where I wanted to tell this particular story. Thanks to @booktrib.bsky.social for giving it a home! 🏠🔥 booktrib.com/2025/11/18/h...

HONEYEATER got Siangified:D www.instagram.com/reel/DQ7h9pN... (Siang Lu could strike at any moment!)

Did the Christmas shopping on the weekend and came home with a mini book haul. I'm loving the botanical gothic vibes of these covers.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association has announced @nkjemisin.bsky.social as the 42nd recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. Congratulations!!

Lovely, free journaling techniques for anyone who could use a gamifying angle to dig in the dirt of their interior landscape www.restlesscourage.com/ttrpgs/

So inordinately proud to see an Australian game up for Game of the Year. Congrats to the Silksong team! 🪡

RIP my TBR pile.

Who's up thinking about that first character they ever made? www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...

Tonight, we're joined once again by the wonderful Martha Wells! This time, we're talking to her about her new novel, Queen Demon, the second book in The Rising World series. Join us at 7 PM Central as we talk to Martha about fantasy, this book, and more! twitch.tv/alphabetst...

Look, I'll cut squares for most things, but it's just not right for fairy bread.

It sounds meta, but Renay has been doing the Spreadsheet of Doom for a number of years now, and it itself would be eligible for Best Related Work.

As we approach the end of the year, it's a great time to record things you love! Not just for the Hugo Awards, but in general. The rec sheet is a handy resource for nomination, but also at its heart a rec resource in a loud, busy media environment.

Highly recommend this for lovers of contemporary romance. This rivals-to-lovers story does such a good job of showing how its characters both respect each other's capabilities while also lifting each other up. It is sweet, funny and very real about the struggles of academia.

I haven't yet done a reading update over here, which seems like an oversight. I'm on a bit of a non-fiction kick at the moment. Just about to finish up A Contemplation Upon Flowers, which is a glorious study of flowers in myth and literature. A Paradise Built in Hell just came in from the library.

If you wrote an SF/F/H story that was published in 2025 (or read a story that you thought was great), tell me about it in this thread! Authors, also send your story to me here: johnjosephadams.com/basff-submis... (Please read the guidelines before submitting.)

Are you an Australian author of SFF with a book published this year? You have until the end of the month to enter it for the Aurealis Awards. aurealisawards.org/entry-forms/

Are you an Australian author of SFF with a book published this year? You have until the end of the month to enter it for the Aurealis Awards. aurealisawards.org/entry-forms/

i'm really proud of this birthday tarot essay that i shared yesterday with newsletter subscribers. if you're craving something authentic, vulnerable, and grief-oriented, you can read it here (it's free to read, you just have to sign in first):

It would have been my sweet Chippa's Gotcha Day today. He was a challenging dog at times, being a rescue with trauma, but his love was fierce and uncomplicated. He passed almost two years ago now and I miss him dearly.

The winners of the 2025 World Fantasy Awards have been announced—congratulations to all! reactormag.com/here-are-the...

Another thing that brings me great joy is that being on this platform means that I once again get to read the hilarious tales of @tkingfisher.com's D&D group.

Reviewer pematson.bsky.social (Trish Matson) gobbled up T. Kingfisher's new Sworn Soldier novella, What Stalks the Deep. "I love stories where people work together effectively..." skiffyandfanty.com/b...

This is also still ongoing, to fund English translations of African novels written in non-colonial languages! (which do not get translated very frequently!)

only TWELVE HOURS LEFT!! this whole kickstarter has been such a lovely and stressful and surprising journeyyyy in the best way. we're gonna get to exist for TWO YEARS and then some and start at professional pay rates for an SFF lit mag AND include reprints AAAND nonfiction just aaaaa 😭💜

Good morning, everyone! I'm not the most energetic today. However, something I'm taking joy in is watching the Collins Street falcons growing up in Melbourne. They're in their awkward phase with their adult feathers coming through and patches of fluff everywhere. www.youtube.com/live/oibsohQ...

Hi everyone! I'm Elizabeth. I am a freelance editor, specialising in SF/F. When I don't have my nose stuck in a book, I can be found playing TTRPGs. At the moment, I'm playing in a campaign of Mouse Guard. I am also the caretaker of a cranky grandma of a dog.