So very cool. We go once a week to our local library. Such a valuable resource.

We discovered that Maduro is 6'3" which led to speculation about the "real" reason he was kidnapped. Trevor suggested it was to play basketball, but I'm 100% convinced it was so Trump could start a new WWE league. World Leader Wrestling. First match will be Maduro vs Zelenskyy.

More unsolicited advice on how overnight success is a myth, and what the learning process is really like in the arts. erictolladay.com/2026/01/expe...

My yearly accounting of my work as an author. 2025 brought some interesting challenges, and a LOT of rejection. erictolladay.com/2026/01/2025...

How our new year’s started, how it’s going.

Teri picked up some greens for today, but they were rolled up tight and dry. So she dropped them in our cooler and set them out in the rain last night. Now they are all refreshed. Luckily the local raccoons and possums didn’t find them.

Grillin

I think this was the best cozy sf novel I read this year. At this price it’s a steal.

Some pretty cool info here. Well worth your time. Can’t wait to share with folks from back home. I grew up in an ag area, went to an ag college. 18% improvements in crop yield is a big fucking thing up there.

Going to second this. Great cozy SF at a great price. A book you can hand to non SF reading friends and they will like it.

New post: How to find fun in your creativity erictolladay.com/2025/12/how-...

How to raise girls. Watch fear dissolve into gritty, homicidal determination These girls are being raised right www.instagram.com/reel/DSp6ZkI...

New post on the importance of making mistakes in your creative process erictolladay.com/2025/12/maki...

Solstice greetings. Our cat faced candle holder is burning a candle for the new season.

Normally, being named on a memorial is one of those honors that are bestowed posthumously. If someone can arrange that, then I'd be fine.

Grillin

New up lights on the tree for this year’s holiday lights.

Took this photo yesterday. First flower of the new season. All that rain in October made the bulbs pop up like popcorn.

More unsolicited advice on being creative, this time on the importance of failure. Yes, you must fail, but it's better to fail the right way. erictolladay.com/2025/12/on-f...

Got two rejections for other stories today (the day after my first paid publication), and I had to laugh. @kmveohongs.bsky.social had a post yesterday taking about how you can have great success one day and then get three rejections in the mail. Looks like they are proving to be a prophet. ;-)

lol

Very excited to announce my first professional sale. C'mon Boys, is a charming tale of a bored robot discovering labor rights in a town filled with radiation. Let me tell you, after 14 years of trying, I am STRUTTING. www.baublesfrombones.com/cmon-boys.html

Every year I manage at least one artsy photo with the Xmas lights. It’s not intentional. It’s just that they are different enough that you notice them. Like the way they look out the bathroom window.

No one explained to me as a child exactly how much vomit you clean up as an adult. Pretty sure there should have been a warning label or something, especially with cats.

There are no onions in the house. Not sure I can cook anything. The only thing I use more is cooking oil. What would you be lost without in the kitchen?

Walked to a local farmers market with The a Pretty Wife™️, and found some nice leaves on the way back.

Bring it!

I was over at a friend’s place helping with a shoot. We set up all this lighting gear, but then went with natural light for most of the shots.

If a few select American investors make billions of dollars from an episode of mass killing, it cannot legally be considered a genocide. by Jared Kushner

A little "how to" advice from someone who has been working in creative fields for over 40 years. erictolladay.com/2025/11/so-y...

Oh man. One of the giants has passed.

Laying down in the back with a feral for company. Say hello to Pat.

This was so good. Two amazing authors, lots of good questions.

Had a piece of leftover apple pie for breakfast. Heated it first in the microwave. Not gonna lie, it was fucking amazing.

Was taking a water bowl outside for a local feral, when I noticed our overhead lights in the backyard made a lovely pattern.

Just a friendly reminder as we go into the holidays: Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink. If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business. Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.

Trimming the trees in the alley behind our house. About 3/4 done. You can roughly see our progress. I normally stage a photo, but this was taken from the shade where I sat my ass down for a break. Too tired to get up for a proper photo.

It's that time of year

Sticker on the back of a Tesla in front of me. We know but we have the car now.

Grillin. That’s corn waiting to go on a second time.

Sometimes when I write the ideas are so rich so crystalline that I have to step away. They are so beautiful that you can’t look at them directly. What a gift those moments are.

This has been playing a lot of kcrw. Loving it youtu.be/ZPUynzkLNbk?...

Signed a contract with Baubles From Bones today. My first professional sale. Pretty excited. "C'mon Boys," my story of a robot that accidentally starts a labor union is going to be in Issue 7 in early December. Not gonna lie, after many years of swinging it feels pretty good to get a hit.

Sometimes I think the best gift you can give to another is the safety and comfort to dream their own future.

This is so massively fucked up, and done in our name. If you’re a citizen of the US this will directly affect you.

I finished this novel about a week ago and it went so deep and so hard that I am still trying to process it. It is a glorious mirror of the modern world. She uses the tools of fantasy in ways that no one else can do. We’ve come a long since Tolkien and all I can say is thank god.

Adding orange oil to water and vinegar. The Pretty Wife was making weed killer, and I thought the dispersal looked beautiful.

So bizarrely entertaining.

End of October news and general catch-up erictolladay.com/2025/11/end-...

File under things they didn’t teach you in school. Facial hair can store a lot more water than any reasonable person would assume. We’re taking tablespoons.