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!

Hooray for The Nile! The not so evil big river website!

I cannot stop laughing at this amazingly ridiculous house: www.domain.com.au/36-river-cov... (The statue overlooking the pool! The decoration on everything! It has THE LAST SUPPER painted on the ceiling of the outdoor dining area, oh god, I can't breathe for mirth...)

I just finished reading this one (available in Australia! Yay!) and it's a perfect little gem: sharp and sweet, tired and tenacious, brutal and delicate. A very canny faery tale.

Genuinely cannot overstate how cranky this loaf is. 🤣

I've given my cat some sort of crisis. I just wanted to get to work and not be pestered, so I preemptively relinquished the desk chair and just pulled up a dining chair. But the cat's been prowling for fifteen minutes because she wants to steal my chair, but it's not the good chair???

Today marks a year since my Burnished City trilogy concluded. Still so proud of my desperate disaster trio and their story of defying the rules--in magic, in politics, and in love! Never too late to join the fun. Start with the "wickedly entertaining" NOTORIOUS SORCERER. viscerate.com?page_id=243

I am looking forward to this one!

Today marks a year since my Burnished City trilogy concluded. Still so proud of my desperate disaster trio and their story of defying the rules--in magic, in politics, and in love! Never too late to join the fun. Start with the "wickedly entertaining" NOTORIOUS SORCERER. viscerate.com?page_id=243

Sat down to write and immediately got an email from Youtube about how from next week Aussies under 16 won't be allowed to sign in to YT. Not a single word anywhere about whether that applies to YTKids. And, of course, no way of asking, because no one gets to do that anymore.

Diaster Gays! Notorious Sorcerer has regained its shelftalker! @cupiscent.bsky.social 💖💖💖

Now I *love* a slow burn, but this critique isn't just thinly-veiled homophobic nonsense, it's bad critique. If you're saying "the steak would have been better ground and cooked in a patty" you're not critiquing a steak, you're saying you wanted a hamburger.

Oh wow, another absolutely gorgeous cover for this book!

NEWS JUST IN! A new book will in fact solve all your problems

Devin wins at Australian here (BABY ECHIDNA) so I'll do 5 animals I've seen in the "wild" (not very wild) that are weird for me, an Australian: Squirrels! Hedgehog Coati, near Iguazu Capuchin monkeys, also at Iguazu, raiding the hotel balconies Rakali (Aussie, but in my local suburban creek!)

Not to sound like a Gamer Of A Certain Age, but I think it would be good if more games had built-in stretch breaks.

Of all the Black Friday nonsense I'm seeing (and seeing any at all here in Australia is a whole other rant) my favourite is "50% off hair removal". Like... surely, in that situation, you either want it ALL off or NONE, right?

Many many lots delicious reads, my friends. Enjoy your holiday reading! 💖

And it's even harder find something set in regional Australia (and not just "generic desert and/or bush"). Possibly closest for me is this one, at least set in regional Qld, even if I wasn't quite in cane country...

How does this dog look so much like Wolverine? 😂

Opting out of AI (again) is not sufficient; I need the option to nuke it from orbit.

Spotted at my library as I whizzed past to get my reservations - NOTORIOUS SORCERER sharing display space with @kmenright.bsky.social ! A double delight!

You know which British Fantasy Awards-shortlisted, Publishers Weekly starred-reviewed fantasy novel is on Kindle for just £2.99? THE BLACK COAST, by me! Dragon knights*! A mysterious warlord who may or may not be a demon! Culture clash, but also culture learning! www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Coast-...

I am freeing you now from bending your writing around "what sells." Nothing sells!* Be free!

Yet another winner from my favourite cake cookbook ever - Yossy Arefi's Snacking Cakes. This is the lemony currant and rosemary cake. So good!

Dead Poet's Society