Convincing you to read my novel by the first sentence. Share yours if you want. (Here's the opening of "God's War". Still my most iconic)

Here's a town map I did for Luna Ryder's current cozy fantasy Kickstarter, The Wheel Deal! The "Old Briarhaven" area is inhabited by centaurs, hence the ramps instead of stairs.

ICYMI: I wrote about the corporate-IP-ification of fanfic, and how heavily normative biases inflect what's being plucked out of fandom for big fancy book deals.

"Feed fanfic into capitalism, and it comes out shaped like capitalism." @readingtheend.bsky.social dissects the trend pulling fanfiction through the traditional publishing pipeline (and what it means for fandom): reactormag.com/with-the-ser...

Today would have been @thez.bsky.social’s 29th birthday. Happy birthday Zoe. I miss you every day.

My advice to people, as it has been since the USENET days, is simply this: Everything that can be made public on the Internet one day will be made public. Say what you want and what you feel is necessary, and remember it will be found.

It’s an absolute shame that DC fired Gretchen Felker- Martin for exercising free speech and then @bsky.app suspended her account. Every writer here should be decrying this because we have to stand up for each other! This is ridiculous.

YOU HAVE ENTERED THE TINGLEVERSE. THIS IS A NO GATEKEEPING ZONE

A phrase I strongly recommend everyone add to their lexicon: "I haven't read widely in ___." It's factual, doesn't make a judgement about the genre, doesn't pass off an opinion as an objective assessment, and acknowledges that genres overlap and labels are subjective.

100% this. One of THE most important things you will learn or ought to learn as a bookseller (OR writer OR reviewer OR avid reader) is that all genres are valid, there is groundbreaking work happening right now in Every Single Genre, and to STFU on reductive, condescending takes.

In the last year or so, I've read several fantasy books that are 1) by & about queer people and 2) set in Appalachia (more or less explicitly). Here they are!

There are traditions and conversations within every genre and literature tradition that go unseen and unacknowledged by people who think that Dune defines sci-fi.

I just! would love to retire the idea that criticism is inherently a destructive force. it can be, and we can all think of cases like that (ahem ahem Star Wars fandom), but thoughtful criticism is highly CONstructive. important part of a creative ecosystem! in my opinion! end of thread! 14/14

I feel so frustrated any time a post goes around suggesting that it's mean to criticize art because art is hard to make. there are two ways to read the word "criticism" here, and whichever one this most recent post means, I ardently disagree with it. 1/

So many publicity emails for romantasy are all, "She's a scrappy working-class underdog with traumatic backstory! He's the heir to the throne, a power-hungry force of savage destruction! He's the embodiment of everything she loathes and cannot trust, but he's SOOO hot and can't stay away from her!"

A second cityscape study. I'm trying to get textures of brick and stone across with few brush strokes. This one was also about two hours.

Today's study... a cityscape. I think I'll focus on urban scenes for a bit. This took me two hours, and I want to get that time down.

I'm trying to get back into digital painting studies. Here's a landscape painting I spent 40 minutes on. I want to practice some more landscapes, cityscapes, and different textures. Also, I'm experimenting with Rebelle, a new-to-me painting software.

The Hallowed Grove For the boardgame expansion pack "Minos: Dawn of Faith" I was asked to imagine what religious ceremonies in ancient Minoan culture could have looked like. This is one of 4 illustrations I made for them on this topic, a kind of harvest ritual. Client: Board&Dice #art

Overgrown 🌱

This one is done for @thebrokennbinding , cover art for Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Next year's WorldCon is in Los Angeles, and the theme appears to be Westward Expansion or possibly Manifest Destiny. The guests are referred to as Pioneers and the venue as The Frontier. This year the awards were swept by Indigenous writers. The choice is stunning in its ugliness.

Two maps for lesbian romance author Sacha Black's new dark academia, Architecti! These two maps (Finis's campus and the cutaway of the inverted tower at the center) are two of the most detailed and complicated maps I've ever drawn.

I don't know how it got to be the end of summer but... Hi! I'm the book content editor for Reactor Mag and I'm looking for 2026 sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and crossover speculative books! If you've got an adult or YA SFFH book publishing next year please share the link/info here!

I've been seeing a huge uptick in fantasy queries where only the oldest, purest bloodlines have powerful magic, or where the MC is a super special but super illegal "half-breed" and folks, it's 2025. Can we please be more careful with how we engage with eugenics/blood quantum/bloodline purity? Thx.

good morning! my latest at Reactor: H.E. Edgmon's We Can Never Leave is about a group of teens whose magic cult family suddenly all disappear at once -- and the teens are left trying to figure out what to do next.

I'm thrilled to share that the Green Bone Saga is being adapted into a TTRPG by @evilhat.bsky.social. Yes, now you too can be a jade warrior prowling the streets of Janloon. More info & sign up to playtest at the link below 👇

I've counted up, and I think I'm at 120 maps made for clients? If I was keeping track all along, I would have celebrated reaching 100!

My first ever illustrated book cover! I've been contemplating going back to cover design with illustration -- thank you Heather for working with me!

To investors: we can spot talent a mile away. We make STRATEGIC investments that shape the LANDSCAPE of publishing. To the DOJ: i am but a smol bean throwing darts at a board full of manuscripts. I don’t even know what’s in them. In fact, I can’t even read.

okay it is now Monday morning, which means I am less of a hater. if you are a genre girlie who would care for some litfic recs, please tell me one or two assigned reading books you actually enjoyed in school, plus one or two recent books of any genre that you loved.

Here's a map I just shared to my Instagram! A small town for author Tara Lush's Crescent Moon Mysteries series. Can you spot the ghost?

can we pleeeeeeease I am begging you PLEASE retire the trope that literary fiction is all/mostly about professors having sex with their students please I am begging I'm just a genre girlie standing in front of a bunch of other genre girlies (gender-neutral) begging them to get a new talking point

I don't know who needs to hear this but if a literary agent tells you to buy a dev edit, I strongly suggest that you *do not do that.* the agent is right that your manuscript needs another editing and revision pass. But it's FAR MORE VALUE for you to learn more about editing and revision. /angry

A close up of the traditional watercolor and acryla gouache painting of Beyond the Quiet.

Cascading Cataracts MTG: Edge of Eternities AD: Sarah Wassell

May every single human being on this planet be safe. May every single person be protected from harm. May we bring into being a time in which we are all free from those who do evil— together, speedily and in our days.

amtrak’s marketing team gets it

with the upcoming heat wave I’d like to take this time to remind all my friends who take SSRIs that our meds cause us to overheat faster. Drink water, lots of it! Last summer I got a small rechargeable usb fan and it helped TONS. Be safe besties.

💚 COMMON BONDS 2 is open for submissions! 💚 We are very excited to read what all of you wonderful writers have for us! We want short stories and poetry that: - are SFF - have an aromantic MC - focus on a non-romantic relationship Details here: claudiearseneault.com/call-for-sub... 🌈📚 🌈🚀💫

Tabling Artist Alley Convention Guide a thread No hard fast rules, just take these as suggestions/things to think about Also I know I wrote this ages ago, and I do booths now-- but from what I can see this is all still relevant and true

Happy release day to Ghosts & Gowns by Lucinda Race! I had the pleasure of creating the map for this new cozy mystery series. If you couldn't guess... the heroine is a dressmaker!

Freelance life is very exciting! And by exciting, I mean I have last minute space in my editing calendar that I would really like to fill. Here is what I do: www.kathowardbooks.com/editing Please feel free to ask any questions. And any help getting the word out would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Folks, please don’t post links to unlicensed merchandise in my mentions. I know it’s out there but I can’t do anything about it and I’d rather not see it. The only licensed merch is being sold by Worldbuilders to fund raise for charity. Link below.

happy pride month!

Omg I love this.

You know what I’d like? I’d like to go a whole year without having to relitigate that genre Romance requires a happy ending with people who claim that Romance means something like Le Morte d’Arthur or (god forbid) Romeo and Juliet.

A new card for The Romance Writer's Oracle! "The Baker", since bakeries and bakers seem to pop up quite a lot in the romance genre... I'm now at 31/40 cards done! I've still got a ways to go, but I'm closing in on the finish line.

I’m going to be attending Lavender Con!