This book is a great time - both magical shenanigans and spicy queer romance were sparkling and delightful!

me: *visits a new website* the website: *allow/deny notifications widget* the website: *cookies settings bar* the website: *gives us your email for free newsletter and—* me: *closes website*

If you haven't bought one of my books this might be a good time, lolsob This is the new book for Jun 30 www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/721856... All the books on this page have earned out: www.clpolk.com

The little crossed front paws are an essential element of laying a proper cute trap. Maximum cute, plus poised to grab as soon as a patting hand comes near!

All of y'all go read Erin M Evans' Empire of Exiles. Outrageously good & outrageously under-read. erinmevans.com/book/empire-...

Making an appt with my kid's orthodontist a few months in advance, and the receptionist was chirpy about how they could fit us in after school that far in advance! All I could do was laugh hollowly. Honey, that's so cute; WE can't fit YOU in after school! So many activities and appointments. 😩

Did this last year, have repeated it for 2026: 15 SFF books centring queer dudes coming out this year that I have my eye on. Feels like a bit of an uptick from last year, happily! (Thumbnail is a free stock image for "gay couple reading" lol).

I turned this off *without* losing my sorted inboxes by doing the following: Gmail > Settings > General > Google Workspace Smart Features, click "Manage Workspace smart feature settings" Toggle off "Smart Features in Google Workspace", "Smart features in other Google products", and hit save

Logo Reveal!* Many thanks to Tori-Jay Mordey www.instagram.com/tori_jyeay/?..., a First Nation, Indigenous Australian artist and illustrator for this beautiful image which uses Brisbane's indigenous name, Meanjin. #brisbanein28 #worldcon #arisia #arisia2026

We're ✨️Publishers Marketplace ✨️ Official! The Alchemist of Bohemia is a dark academia gothic romantasy delving into the haunted reputation of Hrad Houska a castle just north of Prague If these are the vibes you're after, I can't wait to take you with me 💜

I am looking forward to this one SO MUCH omg gimme 🤩

Trying to keep warm at the sportsgrounds once, I grabbed a hot chocolate from the cafe at the pool and gym complex next door. My expectations were LOW. It was proper Belgian hot chocolate and mind-blowingly good. The other parents I was with thought I was having a stroke, I was so flabbergasted.

My Friday night tipple is a Glorious Purpose (bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout with cherries) that is making me sad all over again that Deeds have gone bust and taken their amazing cavalcade of BBA imp stouts with them... 😢

COVER REVEAL: Call Me Traitor, my sapphic Winter Soldier-esque fantasy! Beyond delighted with this stunning @eliotbaum.bsky.social art with design by Jess Kiley. Preorders gratefully welcomed if it’s your thing! us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

I would quite honestly lose my entire shit over a Swordspoint tv show. (Such a major part of my inspiration gumbo from which I served up NOTORIOUS SORCERER!)

Thank you to @the.australian for interviewing us recently about Creative Victoria’s brutal funding cuts to the literary sector. #SaveWritersVictoria #ArtsCuts #FundTheArts #SupportWriters #VictorianArts #AustralianWriters #CreativeVictoria

Please sign if you're in Victoria and care about about Creative Victoria’s brutal funding cuts to the literary sector. I met my writers' group through a course with Writers' Vic, and they've now had their funding cut completely. www.parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved...

*monster voice from cave*: I eat big BUTTS and I cannot LIE Knight outside: 😱

Nearly 100 respondents so far! Thanks to who have been spreading the word. Interesting results so far, will share more next month. One thing is clear, tho: physical bookstores & libraries are VERY important in helping with book discovery process.

The final mince pie has been consumed. I descend into gentle melancholy until September... 🥲

Discord wants to know how you feel about AI. Go tell them: discord.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

This did an absolute number on my tbr list. 😅 I'm so delighted and very much looking forward to a wonderful reading year in 2026!

Just getting started with THE SHIPWRIGHT AND THE SHROUDWEAVER by @rtorrubia.com for my local bookshop's fantasy bookclub. Might not have picked this up on my own, and it's a chonk of a book, but the prose is so poised and gorgeous; I'm entirely happy to spend 770 pages here!

I am right now two-thirds of the way through a replay of StarCraft (and Brood War). The original version is free through Battlenet (I still own it but this was easier than unearthing my elderly CDs and plug-in drive) and it's still so good.

Oooh yes, grabby hands! 👀

This might be too niche, but does anyone have any reading recs (preferrably books, but blogs or newsletters also welcome!) specifically about being AuDHD and writing routines?

Also wow I don't think I've ever cracked the Kindle Top 50 in... anything, LOL. (They have some VERY esoteric categories and still no.) UNTIL NOW! THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST is still $1.99 at ebook retailers apparently! :)

I) Be stubborn. Be pigheaded. It's your art. Also read a lot. I mean, a LOT. Now, go write.

96 years later and they still haven't got a decent explanation

Heads up, the annual year-end free trial period for Publishers Marketplace is live. Great way to do research for those of you gearing up to query in the New Year. lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2025/12/a-pm...

WELL THAT'S INTERESTING! 👀

Introduced the child to "What Does the Fox Say?" She made it surprisingly far through - frown deepening with every line - before she said, accusingly: "This is ridiculous." 😂 www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofN...

I love libraries so much; I'm so glad we have them

Yes, this! In years past, I've resolved to read more nonfiction (and I've found some great ones) and do more local tourist activities (and had some lovely adventures). Resolve to do something fun!

Merry Christmas 🎄

I know how to write THAT story. I have absolutely no idea how to write THIS story. But I'm going to figure it out, and it's going to be fun (even if it might not seem like it sometimes along the way...)

Always a good day when I get to recommend THE BEAUTIFUL ONES by @silviamg.bsky.social, and remember what an exquisite brutal-but-romantic Edith-Wharton-esque fantasy of manners it is. Dangerous Liaisons with telekinesis, and one character in particular who is just an immaculate catastrophe. 👩‍🍳😘

I don't go here, but I love this question, because NOTORIOUS SORCERER started life as the sexy AU for a pair of characters... 😂 That said: I could write endless iterations of Anahid / Laxmi / Xhanari, and I regularly laugh over how horrified both Daruj and Jaleh would be if they drunkenly hook up.

All I want for Christmas is an “opt out of AI” button on everything.

Hooray! My sapphic romantasy short story "Five Reasons Why I am Absolutely Not in Love with my Nemesis" is available as an ebook now. Just subscribe to my Patreon at any level from $5/month upwards to snap up this & a whole bunch of other stories from me: patreon.com/stephanieburgis #romancelandia

The problem with opening up "idiot" to occasional acceptable use is that you end up having a debate with your kid about whether a Lego figure whose head keeps falling off is or is not an acceptable use of the term. (This may be indirectly the fault of the English cricket team...)

So, just idly wondering here, no real connection, but what are the Chaser guys up to these days?

Adding a note here that there were no appointments available online at my local donation centre (which is great to see!) but I walked in and said the magic words ("I'm O-neg") and they fit me in.

LOOK at this amazing cover, art by @bydhiyanah.bsky.social! I'm so happy with it! The book is the December compilation of SI essays, now available for purchase! Paperback or ebook (or limited edition hardcover, covering all of 2025...). www.speculativeinsight.com/buy-collections

I just said "GOOD" so loudly that it hopefully made some people in Canberra flinch. Get it done.

Any day is improved by some Jaycel Morningray 😍 (and gosh, we need some now)

This is such a great example of how the AI-folks miss the point. My father died over a decade ago. I still want to talk to him every day. But that's because I want to show him new things and hear his new thoughts. A ship in a bottle cannot discover what's over the horizon.

Here it is! The magical medical school book I've been talking about for years! 🫀✨💀📙 BODIES OF MAGIC will be taking your pulse & injecting itself into your veins in September next year.

What did you read and love in 2025 that was NOT published in 2025?

Get your queer books!