With the fifth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) taking book entries next month, we're looking for a few good volunteers to join us as judges: spsfc.space/2025/09/19/j... More than a few, actually. #SPSFC

Arts and crafts time! #AI #GenAI #HumanMade #SayNoToSlop

When people complain that The Lord of the Rings is just people walking across a country and telling random stories about its prehistory, I’m usually the one who’s like, “yeah! I know! …why are you making that face?” Check out @chaoskirin.art's "Shadecursed" today! hatboy.blog/2025/09/18/s...

Drop some eyes.

Yuuuuup. Also, I don't give a shit if some of the worst people in the world think I am being performative or am virtue signaling. Fuck 'em. They don't get to tell me how to be. Anyway, trans rights are human rights, y'all. It's not complicated.

I'm weirdly close to 600 followers suddenly (hi! Who are you?), so how about an ad-libbed promotion? I just published a colo(u)ring book. It's only available on Amazon right now but ... I don't know, share some art here and I'll send a copy to an arbitrary mutual? www.amazon.com/colouring-co...

Today while writing, I accidentally left the "m" out of the word "discomfort" and I feel like in doing so I created an even better word for discomfort.

I just hit @drewmelbourne.com's lil shop at drewmelbourne.printify.me to grab a hilariously obscure piece of merchandise that I can't wait to wear to a con and feel all smug and underground and stuff.

No, authors aren't burnt out because "writing without AI is slow" We're burnt out because we're paid dirt so we need day jobs to survive

BUT HOLD ON I THOUGHT bluesky was meant to be a safe space where I wouldn't get attacked, what the Hell

Ampersand was my first exposure to this genre and I was sceptical, but damn if it's not a good time. Do yourself a favour and pick these up!

Very excited to see how you handle this crazy collection of stories! Here's a picture of me cosplaying as Tabo Norid to celebrate. It's easy to make a fun cosplay when you make up the character, but it also means I have no excuse for putting him in a big coat.

Ooh, I actually have a #WIPSnip from my actual #WIP this time! This one's from my in-progress highdark fantasy (don't know if I coined that or not, probably not).

I filled this in. If you're a writer, or you just like people being literate and the planet being human-life-supporting, you might want to as well.

Let's hear from you writers, tell us a little bit about yourself, what projects you've on the go, what you've written, any events in the near future, or just drop your bio and links and follow and support each other #WritersLiftWednesday #Writers #Authors #WritersLift #BookSky 💙📚 alt text please

Slightly diminish a band: The Okay Okay Bosstones

The #WIPSnips word for August 12th is "split" - I'm late to the party because of time zones and such, and it's not a #WIP except insofar as my entire collection of published works are connected, but I always liked this little passage from "Eejit". #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Slightly diminish a band: Nirminivana

Next up on my review roster is the ARC I received for the third book in @geoffjones.bsky.social's brilliant post-apocalyptic alien-dinosaur-human menagerie sci-fi, "Beasts of Prey". Loved this entire trilogy and will officially read anything this guy publishes. hatboy.blog/2025/08/11/b...

Recently I read a very special book from an author I've come to consider a genuine favourite, although I like to hope we're just starting on our author-reader journey and there will be much more to come. I can't recommend #SPSFC veteran @drewmelbourne.com's work enough. hatboy.blog/2025/08/07/a...

Well-earned close-second! Highly recommended series, grab this book and check out its sequel too!

The winner of the fourth #SPSFC is Saint Elspeth by @wickwelker.bsky.social, a tightly crafted tale of a doctor who survived first contact and nuclear apocalypse. "They just arrived, inadvertently triggered humanity to tear itself to pieces, landed, and vanished." www.amazon.com/Saint-Elspet...

For anyone who's curious, windmills killing birds is a complete non-issue. FAR more birds are killed by running into windows or powerlines, and being disoriented while flying at night because of artificial lighting. The number one killer of birds, though? Feral cats.

I just finished reading @drewmelbourne.com's latest book, "A Dark Hole Darkly" (on sale August 25th). Review coming soon(ish) but wow. I'm gonna have to sit with this one a spell. It was beautiful. bookshop.org/a/113448/978...

In this snippet, the loyal family butler Jarvis encounters the Archangel Gabriel. Who was made into an Angel at least hundreds of thousands of years ago, if not more. Also contains a pop culture reference from the late 22nd Century. www.amazon.com/Bad-Cow-Or%C...

I'm still reading and reviewing for people kind (or mad) enough to send me books. Today I dropped a review for the second book in the "Reliance Sinclair" series of cyberpunk sci-fi action intrigue procedurals with hamsters named Walnut. It's a genre *and* a vibe. hatboy.blog/2025/07/03/o...

It's #SelfPubSaturday check out the starter pack for some great books and authors. If you want to be included in the starter, message me or reply to this. Reskeets appreciated. #BookSky #WritingCommunity go.bsky.app/S5iYkkG

I'm pretty sure there was a typo in this "anything A.I. can do, humans can do better" challenge but happy pride moth I guess.

You've been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are coming to rescue you. At first glance I was relieved, but then it occurred to me that on a worrying number of occasions, Poirot let the victim die while he was worrying about his shirt collar starch levels.

SPSFC 4 Finalists Announced Two hundred and forty four days ago, the volunteer judges of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition began reading 175 novels. These six have advanced through the scout round, the quarterfinals and the semifinals to emerge as our six SPSFC 4 finalists (announced…

In true "life is what happens while you're busy doing other things" fashion, I accidentally made a colouring book and then published it and that's twenty (20) books I have now. hatboy.blog/2025/06/02/h...

I've increasingly been discussing this with fellow authors and sci-fi enthusiasts and we're starting to wonder what if this is all A.I. ever was in sci-fi dystopian movies and books? Just roided up Clippy saying "looks like you're trying to launch all your nukes. Would you like help?"

Oh, this could not be a better combination. Can't recommend enough.

Highly recommend! This was a ton of fun to read and I can't wait to see more from this author

When I was at university, I wrote some poems for a course. As a joke I typed random letters then let the spell-checker and Clippy turn it into phrases. The result was nonsense but you could assign meaning to it if you were invested in literary wankery. That was 30 years ago. This post is about A.I.

Zuck: The average American has three friends.

OH DEAR LORD THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL My Kickstarter goodies from @carmenloup.com, featuring but not limited to their wonderful @spsfc.bsky.social #SPSFC entry "The Audacity", has arrived in my grubby little hands.

I recently read "Percival Gynt and the Inevitability of Fire" and boy are my arms tired! No, wait, that joke doesn't make any sense. Ignore this, I'll come back in later. hatboy.blog/2025/04/24/p... #SPSFC #SPSFCASS #Indiebooks #scifi

The Midnight Pals absolutely rock and this is a small price to pay for PDFs of their work and you get to support a good cause too, it's a win-win-win.

My latest book, "The Cursèd Playground", is out now. Still waiting for a review (or even a rating). Short-form humourous adventure stories for people of all ages who have a love of #scifi and can appreciate a solid trope. www.amazon.com/Curs%C3%A8d-...

Everyone now and again I will see someone use the phrase "woke mind virus" seriously and I will wonder what it is like to be them, and to have a head full of rancid pudding where a brain is meant to be

My latest review is live for the semi- #SPSFC related SPSFCASS, wherein we take an excited first look at @geoffjones.bsky.social's next book, "Struggle for Existence", book 2 of The Preservation of Species. Coming soon! Wholeheartedly recommended. hatboy.blog/2025/04/08/s...

On hatred.

My two-book series, Tales of the Always Night, is now complete with the release of "The Cursèd Playground". This illustrated serial adventure follows the AstroCorps starship Conch and its crew as they attempt to circumnavigate the galaxy to win a bet. www.amazon.com/dp/B08QW7K2C4

I've been pretty busy lately but I have read a few #indiebooks and figured I would drop a lazy combo #review. hatboy.blog/2025/04/04/q... Books from @marilynpeake.bsky.social, @cpcwrites.bsky.social and - yes - Armin Shimerman, and that is just a perfect preview image, no notes.

Me: What if you spit into the mouth of the abyss during sex? Long-suffering bookstore clerk, flanked by security: Okay sir, you've been warned about interrupting professor Nietzsche during his readings.

There's one last SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist to share: Ground Control to Major Tom chose Enigma by Ryan Southwick. sciencefiction.news/item/166 Humans fled Earth and reinvented themselves. After 10K years fold travel brings colonies together. Dire events unfold. FAMILY REUNIONS AMIRITE?

Peripheral Prospectors has announced their SPSFC 4 semifinalists: Whiskey and Warfare by E. M. Hamill and Wakers of the Cryocrypt by Nathan Kuzack. onereadingnurse.com/2025/03/26/t...

Team Tar Vol On has chosen their SPSFC 4 semifinalists: Time of the Cat by @tansyrr.bsky.social and A Swift and Sudden Exit by @nicovincenty.bsky.social. www.tarvolon.com/2025/03/26/s... www.tarvolon.com/2025/03/17/s...

Team Red Stars has revealed their SPSFC 4 semifinalists: Accidental Intelligence by @geektells.bsky.social and Bisection by @jennelikejennay.bsky.social. eclectictheist.wordpress.com/2025/03/26/s...