❤️ (alt text: "I think we underestimate how many people are hanging on by a single, fraying thread and how, some days, the only thing saving them/us from the abyss is the small comforts of a TV-show that feels like home, a book that tells you you're not alone, or a pet that needs you.")

Simeon Brown is laying out the messages you will hear all year on the other place. These messages are well-rehearsed and will be relentlessly pushed. Labour have failed miserably to stop these reckons becoming embedded as facts in the national psyche. So, another quick recap of reality... [🧵1/n]

It's my book birthday! The Subtle Art of Folding Space comes out today. To celebrate, "Big Spender" from Broadway Backward 2019 with the original Fosse choreography. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXQ...

The Moon: oh wow you guys decided to come back Artemis II crew: earth’s haunted

I think everyone in Aotearoa should know where our foreign minister is right now: standing next to Rubio as he dodges questions about war crimes

As someone who spent weeks closer to the International Space Station than to any landmass on Earth, yeah, probably. Given how much I loved that, though, I'm pretty sure I'd be one of the 1%.

I’m doing a bit of research for a potential article on reading habits of SFFH fans. So, if you read SFFH do you also read other genres and if so, which ones? All answers welcome and reposts appreciated for visibility. Thank you!

I just replaced a zipper in a pair of jeans.

Because I have the best friends who inform me of such things, I am going to see Suzy Eddie Izzard's solo Hamlet in July!

The Department of What it (Really) Means to be Human (2026)

This hero was my mum’s GP. 💪

You would get so many more amazing books if you had Universal Basic Income. Not even the most dream-scenario AI could compete with the creativity of a world of authors no longer afraid of affording rent.

Traditional publishing isn't a meritocracy in the slightest. A book being "good" doesn't translate to sales or promotion.

Ooh, folks are posting about wanting beautiful colourful SFF covers? Awesome.

Kudos to Mad Chapman for updating her chip ranking with the full range of 170 current flavours and a handy thematic datavis which I have put the csv data for in the alt-text because I am that committed to chips. thespinoff.co.nz/kai/27-03-20...

I wrote about accessibility and artist residencies for The D*List. thedlist.co.nz/newsfeed/why...

I’m in The Spinoff! Musings about writing while the world is *gestures at everything*.

The thing about the "if you write about people making bad choices you have to signal you recognize them as bad" take is that it's only true if your readers/viewers are incapable of reading/viewing art in anything other than bad faith.

Filling in this survey I got from Amtrak about a trip I took in the before times:

Oh hey, I am once again going to talk about lack of distress tolerance, specifically for shame, and how it ties together AI, the “male loneliness epidemic,” Trumpism, and yes, people’s indignation that anyone might think they’re a bad person for continuing to buy Harry Potter merch.

AA and Weight Watchers crawled so pickup artists could walk so the manosphere and wellness influencers and techbros turning everything into a subscription could run.

FYI that I'm eligible for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. While I did a ton of commentary and reporting last year on the SF/F genre and artificial intelligence, I'm most proud of my writings about being a neurodiverse author and my booklet "Tips and Strategies for Neurodiverse Writers." 1/

Hugo Nominations close soon!!!!! my novella, The Death of Mountains (from @lethepress.bsky.social) is eligible! if you're wondering if it's any good? it's a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and the Nebula Award. please consider small presses in your Hugo Nominations. thank you!!!

Reminder that Transmentation | Transience (Book 1 of @darklylem.com's trilogy) is eligible in the novel category. Other reminders: don't forget the fan award categories and brand new poetry category. And nominate what you love! Don't feel like you need to have read everything.

Seen tacked to a community board on my walk

Not done a therapist thread in a minute, so some thoughts on somatic symptoms of mental health issues and what you can do about them. *usual disclaimers, I'm A therapist not Your therapist, please seek individualised support if you need it.

Wanna know why folks my age are the way we are?

Let's make WorldCon truly WORLDCon and bring it back to the southern hemisphere. It hasn't been in Australia since Melbourne in 2010. It was *supposed* to be in Wellington, NZ in 2020. So let's get behind Brisbane for 2028. Brissie is a fantastic city. I'll be there. Will you? www.brisbane28.org

For the Venn diagram of kiwi accent and old musical theatre people:

The buddha who lives in your house is your abodhisattva

Looking over SFF nominating/lists and again struck by the thought that not having a US award is a strangely distorting influence. But also: who in their right mind would start a specifically US award now or in the foreseeable future

I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Paul Semel along with co-author Josh Eure about Transmentation | Transgression! paulsemel.com/exclusive-in...

Okay fine: blew the dust off my personal blog to post some Hugo nomination suggestions. Or just reading/listening suggestions!

Nelly Furtado: 🎶I'm like a bird, I'll only fly awaaaaay🎶 Aotearoa's most famous birds: you'll do WHAT

Audiobook fans: @libro.fm has Transmentation | Transience, book one of @darklylem.com's multiverse trilogy, on sale for an absolute steal. Grab it, if only for the incredible performance by Dion Graham.

Happy bookday to me, @cadwellturnbull.bsky.social, @echoesofthemurk.bsky.social, Josh Eure and Ben Murphy!

"Suffused with supreme empathy, M. Darusha Wehm’s The Department of What It (Really) Means to Be Human is a probing speculative novel about the seductive landscapes of one’s memories." Love to see this starred review from Foreword Magazine!

Feb data from US on arrivals of NZ residents is out this week, but as of Jan our inclination to nope on out was greater than Denmark or Canada (based on Year on Year change for the month NZ had a bigger drop). But there is enthusiasm for leaving the US to travel to NZ, so there's one way bargains.

A highlight from my camping trip was this visit to Orakei Korako. You can get unnervingly close to the boiling mud and thermal geysers, and hot damn is this planet of our ever weird.

Pōneke, where we need an ambulance at a library opening in case people get crushed

I have been away camping for a couple of weeks and came back to this thoughtful review of The Department of What It (Really) Means to be Human! What a treat!

An excellent, deeply thoughtful review. Working on this series with the other members of @darklylem.com has been a wild ride. Can't wait to hear what readers think of this second installment (right as we're wrapping up the third in the trilogy!).

It's a new month, which means a whole bunch of new books are hitting store shelves. Here are 14 SF/F titles that caught my eye coming out in the first half of March: www.andrewliptak.com/science-fict...

I loved in 2025 (for your awards consideration) STORIES “When You Think No One Can See You” @lettie-prell.bsky.social “The Basilisk Painting” @anthonyeichenlaub.com “Artful Felicitations” @darusha.ca “So Deep, So Wide” by Michelle Muenzler “Last Dam Standing” @historyneverwas.bsky.social

This is such a great review of the book, and the series as it has begun. It's wonderful to see someone picking up what we darklies are putting down!

#nzpol The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi stands firmly with our trans and non-binary whānau. The Government has refused to protect trans, non-binary, and intersex New Zealanders under the Human Rights Act. (1/3)