Just the right blend of funny, sad and surreal, 'We Sang Water into Lemonade, on the Eve of Summer, In the Wasteland' by Robert Luke Wilkins is my pick for Best Speculative Flash Fiction, 2025! @factorfourmagazine.com @robertlukewilkins.com

Watching the Submission Grinder's acceptances pop now and then, and I must say, it's surprising how many parents had the uncanny foresight to name their children "Fuck ICE".

I don't know who needs to hear this, but cops are not allowed to shoot people just because you didn't do what they said. That is called murder when they do that. Some cops are working hard to convince people otherwise.

As another serialised #ShortStory is about to conclude, (I do not expect a happy ending for @robertlukewilkins.com's paranoid AI user protagonist) I am waiting in the wings, to step onto the @thedailytomorrow.bsky.social stage. Not too late to subscribe, to get your daily slice of "Dream Stealer".

My latest story, "The Guided Evolution of Chuck's Home Surveillance System", is now being serialized by @thedailytomorrow.bsky.social -- part 1 came out today, and it'll be getting published until Saturday. You can read the first part below! dailytomorrow.substack.com/p/the-guided...

Just one of the most wonderful things I've seen, so now you can see it too -- a guy built a 2-billion frame per second camera and used it to observe the speed of light with a laser bouncing between two mirrors. www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Td...

There's just 4 DAYS LEFT to fund Apex Magazine for 2026, and we're SO CLOSE to hitting our 20k goal! Our full catalogue of critiques, ebooks, merch and more will all be gone on Halloween. Don't miss out on these limited edition items and donate TODAY! 💜👽🎃 www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape...

ANNOUNCEMENT 1. Afterlives 2024 curated by @shereereneethomas.bsky.social has been COVER REVEALED 2. the collection will be available FOR FREE to paid patrons of @thedeadlands.com 3. join now, read The Deadlands, and receive the book magically when it is released beginning of November go see! 👇

Whoever decided that the best way to present a best-before date on a product was to use translucent text on a transparent container should be taken out and shot.

This is important for all writers, no matter where they are in their publication journey. Your work is your work, and contracts are meant to protect it, and you, and the writing community at large. MRM is trying to normalize _very_ bad behavior.

A reminder that "But what if people on YOUR side are on the Epstein list?" is a bullshit argument, EVERYONE who was raping children needs to get into the bin right now, that's the deal here and it ain't exactly complicated

are you ready for some big news? WE ARE OPEN for BIPOC subs for issue 100! and we are celebrating with a special theme: Transition, Migration, and Borders: Movement in, and of the Body 💖for those of us who find home in liminal spaces💖 find out more here: psychopomp.com/fantasy-maga...

Want to read stories like these but don't like to wait? Try Intergalactic Rejects, a similar anthology that just came out from @calendaroffools.bsky.social calendaroffools.com/intergalacti...

PLEASE REPOST! WRITERS! Uncanny Magazine will be open to Short Story Submissions from August 25 to September 8! Uncanny Magazine will be open to Poetry Submissions from August 9 to August 26. WE WANT TO SEE YOUR SHINY WORDS! buff.ly/9AyStcb

My new story, "We Sang Water into Lemonade, on the Eve of Summer, in the Wasteland", is in the August 2025 issue of @factorfourmagazine.com, with stories by @cornellwriter.bsky.social, @oneminutemonkey.bsky.social, and @authorthealiu.bsky.social. Give it a read! factorfourmag.com/category/iss...

Fond memories of wandering around with a friend of mine as a teenager, and singing his songs much too loud.

Here's a poem by one of the old Chinese scholar bureaucrats that I think captures a certain Vibe very well

I'm really delighted that my story (originally published by @kaleidotrope.bsky.social) will be included in this anthology. It looks like a wonderful line-up! And I only have to wait until October to read all the other great stories keeping it company.

I. Breathing Beyond the Veil “How To Get Away with Living” by @izom-chisom.bsky.social “Drinking Dead Brazilians” by Lia Mulcahy “Eyes Of My Brother” by @robertlukewilkins.bsky.social

Ugh. I wake up with a perfect sentence in mind, then by the time I sit down to write it, I've forgotten the words and can't find any half way so good. It's not the first bit of writing I've lost to poor waking memory, nor the last I expect, but they're all irritating.

In 1890, the X and Y chromosomes were discovered. It was found that the men who were tested had 46 chromosomes, including an X and a Y, while women who were tested also had 46 chromosomes, including 2 X chromosomes. So obviously the conclusion was that the Y chromosome defined masculinity.

Always be wary of story search-and-replace changes without a full read-through after. A last-minute proof-read of a story I thought I had finished editing today revealed "a shadow-cloaked temple as large as a temple".

My short story "Children of a Bronze Sun" is out today, in @onspecmag.bsky.social's issue #132. Read more at the link below! onspec.ca/2025/06/22/o...

Drudged up an old repost of mine from elsewhere today -- an article about why doing less, not more, is extremely important for us. bigthink.com/neuropsych/c...

I am so excited to announce It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton, my new podcast. Our first episode drops on March 26th and is available wherever you get your podcasts.

A little bit of brightness in the recently relentless dark.

I've got a flash-fiction story that'll be coming out in the Chaotic Cupids anthology (cover attached below), which will be released July 2025. For the interested, the book's available to pre-order now: wordfirepress.com/products/cha...

I miss the news being something you checked periodically, rather than this vile, relentless torrent being forced down your neck in an effort to build anxiety and secure your dependency on their nightmare drip-feed. I'll be uncoupling myself from it for a little while.

BlueSky does feel a lot like old Twitter did. - Creative folks talking creatively? Check! - Actually seeing things from people I choose? Check! - Mostly non-toxic content? Again, check! - Random OnlyFans porn-bots for me to block? Check! So...not ALL good, but still beats the pants off X.

Hey, you -- has your Windows updated to 11 without your say-so? Do you miss the old Windows 10 start menu where you could properly find and pin things? Then I have a link for you! (with notes that Microsoft have flagged it as malware, probably because they don't like it) github.com/valinet/Expl...

It's been just a hair over a year since my Dad passed away, and so I'd like to reshare his favourite story of mine, which was republished and narrated by PodCastle back in 2021. podcastle.org/2021/05/25/7...

The question about AI art/fiction isn't whether it IS art. It's the ethics of massive, wealthy corporate bodies training AI on stolen art, without paying or crediting the artists. All AI art and fiction, right now, is theft. Until that changes, questions about its artistic merit are moot.

"This was where the dead went." Will you venture there as well, in @robertlukewilkins.bsky.social's new story "The Eyes of My Brother"? kaleidotrope.net/summer-2024/...

My flash fiction story, "Lost Beyond the Flowers", is up to read for free at @factorfourmagazine.com -- please give it a read if you have a few minutes spare. factorfourmag.com/lost-beyond-...

My story on Kaleidotrope is "The Eyes of My Brother", a fantasy horror tale. kaleidotrope.net/summer-2024/...

You'll find stories by Greta Hayer, Rebecca Burton, @donmarkmaker.bsky.social, Adriana C. Grigore, @cohalloran.bsky.social, @danpeacock.bsky.social, @jackiemmorris.bsky.social, @anovelescape.bsky.social, @paulcrenstorm.bsky.social, @robertlukewilkins.bsky.social, @kesterian.bsky.social & Taylor Rae!

Need some good news today? There's a brand new Summer issue of Kaleidotrope! kaleidotrope.net

Ahh this explains why I haven’t gotten my scrip from 2 weeks ago yet (though CVS just abandoned it, so trying elsewhere) if both the medications I need to live are going to be on shortage this year idk what I’ll do www.ashp.org/drug-shortag...

My Fantasy Flash Fiction story, "A Promise of Salt and Sky", is now up to read at Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores (@cosmicrootsonline.bsky.social) -- you can find it at cosmicrootsandeldritchshores.com/fiction-all/...

In Chrome, you can activate this by opening the website, then going into Settings -> Search Engine, finding the entry, clicking to Activate it, then clicking the three dots on the right and selecting to mark it as default. Hey presto, udm14.com is now your default address bar search engine!

A snapshot of an abandoned hummingbird nest in our yard, I think most likely given up on because the tree it was in doesn't offer much protection from what can, at times, be quite wicked winds that blow through here.

Stickers? Stickers! The sticker pack will grow as our funding does! Support another year of short fiction and poetry wonders here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/cis...

Even if you've been vaccinated don't assume you're immune. In some people the vaccine wears off. If the last time you were vaccinated was in the 70s or 80s might be worth just heading to your local in network urgent care and getting a booster. If you have a physical coming up run your titers

umm, thanks for warning us I guess

A reminder that, if you're outside the path of the solar eclipse tomorrow, it still may be worth watching--just find a leafy tree! Go to www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/, and search for your location to see how much you may see. The photo below was taken during a partial eclipse in 2023.

Seriously, fuck the stupid fucking chicken clanger mini-game in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. It rises above the awful story-necessary mini-games of FF8 to claim the crown of Worst Final Fantasy Minigame Ever for its own. Dumb, annoying, slow as shit, and as fun as needles in your ballsack. Argh.

Well that's good to know. It'd be terrible if it was sweetened with something else.

From @lastweektonight1.bsky.social -- looking at a kind of financial scam called pig butchering that boomed during COVID, and is now going stronger than ever. It's clever enough to be worth making yourself aware of it. youtu.be/pLPpl2ISKTg?...