It's Saturday but they're here working on the Great Wall out back. The Chief Supervisor is On Duty. She alerted me to the workers' presence this morning by sticking a paw in my eye to wake me up...

Bly's story is about singing the universe into being. The pressure, the alienation, and the difference between what's correct and what's right. Content note for mysterious voices, gig work, hot blacksmiths, and risking it all.

Happy advance #Caturday. Madame the Long Tailed Queen says, yeah it's a TAIL, what are you all staring at?

My doctor sent me for an MRI late last year, and then, because of the results of that, referred me to a specialist... who just regretfully informed me that they can't see me because they "don't take my insurance". Honestly. I am so absolutely exhausted from fighting American "health" "care"...

Who am I…? I was reading an article on The Marginalian, Ursula le Guin on dogs and cats, on identity, on life and youth and beauty and memory. And I went down my own memory lane, sometimes a little overgrown with flowers whose scents I have almost forgotten and tangled vines and nettle patches,…

it's a new month, a new YEAR, and yes I always knew that I wasn't probably ever going to hit the goal - but if i can get this just a little bit higher it'll cover at least a third of the amount... so if anyone out there is still willing/able to help... thank you... www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-...

Lord of the Rings, Tigana, The Left Hand of Darkness, or (if I am doing this with just a little bit of a smile) Doorways in the Sand...

This!

In this Year of Reading, a gentle reminder: The best way to get your kids reading is to let them see *you* reading. The way to *stop* your kids reading is to criticize their choices, or to make reading a competition, or a punishment, or a race, or a learning tool. Let it be fun. Let them read.

Saying ”Grok apologized” is like If I type “YOU’RE A BITCH” into Speak-And-Spell and tell you “Speak-An-Spell says you’re a bitch”

From me and this beloved beast (and her boon companion, currently asleep elsewhere), happy new year...

a new story of mine just dropped in the new issue of Abyss&Apex - do go read! www.abyssapexzine.com/2026/01/who-...

I had an impact on the Internet...?

The final Calvin and Hobbes, which appeared in papers 30 years ago today.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!

It's funny how if there's a nasty cold going around, everyone assumes it's some new Super big that THEY won't tell the truth about. No, it's actually sad that people feel like public health is futile.

Talk about being famous for possibly all the wrong reasons and then turning those wrong reasons right around into something... quite different...

"Trump administration’s actions have put the nation on course for a future where even those who want vaccines may not be able to get them." Also, "vaccine makers may once again threaten to leave the U.S. market." Plus, loss of new tech breakthroughs like mRNA 🧪⚕️ www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/o...

“How do I know,” she said at last, “that you are what you seem to be?” “You don't,” Said he. “I don't know what I seem, to you.”

An Open Letter About the Craft of Writing and AI from @tfrohock.com www.tfrohock.com/blog/2025/12...

After more than five fallow years wirh personal losses piling up and smothering me silent, I produced an inconvenient (length wise) work entitled "The Wind's Four Quarters" and ended up releasing it as an ebook... and I did my own embroidery for a cover /1

If you plug my name into this literature map site, I find myself in all kinds of good company - Guy Gavriel Kay, Robin Hobb, Charles de Lint, Judith Tarr... even Terry Pratchett lurks on the outskirts... wheee! www.literature-map.com/alma+alexander

Talking to one of these types at a con who asked how I 'got in' with so many 'famous writers' who I'd been talking to and I said "we made friends before anyone knew who we were decades ago by striking up interesting conversations and enjoying each other's company" and he kept re-asking the question.

We wish you a happy first post-christmas #Caturday.

You can tell that LotR was written by an academic because Gandalf disappears for like 20 years doing research to answer a single question.

...we did not deserve this man. Terry Pratchett was a gift.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 71616: If you're struggling to stay creative during the dark part of the year, go back to what you love. Re-read, re-watch, rediscover old favourites. Remind yourself why you're doing this. Find your joy.

Computers exist to help us, not vice versa. Make tools we can use. #zentao

I need your help... a retaining wall that is holding up the land on which my house is built needs urgent replacement or repair and the amount of money quoted for it is... eyewatering.if there's anything i can do for you in return for your assistance (like editing...) let me know gofund.me/49e68ea25

1/2 Apropos of nothing in particular, I guarantee I will never write a piece of fiction with the "help" of a large language model because a) I spent too many years developing skills to just fuck off now, b) I don't plagiarize other authors, whether intentionally or by way of statistical matches.

BCS 2025! "Out of Draconia" @almaalexander.bsky.social BCS #436 "back into the village, staggering, thin to the point of being gaunt, her eyes hollowed out...but blazing. And cradled across her body in a makeshift sling...was a dragon egg." www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/out-... #BCSof2025

"I iz Tribble now."

THIS. With bells on. People, we writers are NOT natural performing seals. That's part of the bargain. We WRITE. We do not do it wrapped in performative dance for random scrollers' passing eyeballs.

The cultural impact of Rob Reiner cannot be understated. Legend isn't big enough a word. It goes to 11. You can't handle the truth. As you wish. I'll have what she's having. I'm your number one fan. You guys wanna see a dead body? The very idea of a bucket list. The West Wing. All from his movies.

This entire weekend

The Internet was never perfect but it used to be usable, functional. I know how we got here and I want the old Internet back. I want forums back. I want personal sites. I want stuff not written by a machine. I just want shit to work again.

Rob Reiner directed some of the most beloved movies of all time, including Stand By Me, This is Spinal Tap, and The Princess Bride. His production company also made movies like The Shawshank Redemption, Before Sunrise and Michael Clayton. The film industry has lost one of its titans.

...that moment when your computer freezes, then flashes a friendly message that something is wrong "we're just gathering some error details and then we'll restart for you" and then adding guilelessly, "if you're calling support send message 'critical-component-died' ". But not to worry, eh...?

Okay i just "meowed" at her. I don't know what I said but she is clearly APPALLED. :)

I've been asking the same question for years...

With the latest mass shooting at Brown University, this might be a good time to mention that Bill Clinton’s assault weapons ban reduced mass shooting deaths by 43% - but after George W Bush & Republicans let it expire, mass shooting deaths spiked by 239%. It's the GUNS -Joann Duman

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. Today: Alma Alexander’s life so far has prepared her very well for her chosen career. She was born in a country which no longer exists on the maps, has ... #AuthoSpotlight #ScienceFiction @almaalexander.bsky.social www.jscottcoatsworth.com/author-spotl...

If you ❤️ owls, you’re about to love them even more:

Second that. Make it a Survivor type show and follow their journey (back to) wealth, if any. The ratings will be stellar.

Washington State Issues Evacuation Orders for 100,000 Amid Floods #Climate

Oh. Wow.

Peekaboo. Happy #Caturday.

Nice little cliffhanger I have here, just right for the end of a chapter. I think I might leave it there for the night. #AmWriting