Was no one going to tell me the new season of GBBO is on? I mean....

Woot! On Oct 20 I get to hang out with some of my favorite people (@dianawallachauthor.bsky.social @v-e-tirado.com @adamcesare.bsky.social) at one of my fave coffee shops, at an event hosted by one of my favorite bookshops (@maveybooks.bsky.social). Reserve your spot & creep on in for horror talk!

Pre-order your copy of Dread Mondays! Our story slaps and I highly enjoyed writing with my Scream Kings cohost!

This bad boy won the inaugural Indieverse Best Horror Novel which means you should definitely check it out! A cold-weather, creature feature with themes of environment, generational trauma & resiliency, it also has the best K9 cop you'll ever meet! Cover by Greg Chapman mybook.to/churnthesoil

Well. That certainly gives me great confidence in AI results.

Today's scent of the day kind of reminds me of Hilde Soliani's Sweet Parmesan Violet, but it's milkier and less powdery (which is nice). This is super cream-forward but gives candied violet. I do get the cloves & ylang ylang. I like it but wish it was brighter on my skin. 1/ #perfumesky

I knew I kept this tab open for a reason! blackfarmersindex.com

After my last book event in November that's related to A Misfortune of Lake Monsters, I'm taking a bit of a break. That's relative, of course: I've got something on my calendar for January & an application or two out for events in the spring. And if I get requests, I have a hard time saying no. 1/

Threw caution to the wind today and emailed the B&B owner in Venice to see if she's got availability on the dates I think we will likely be there for the art biennale next year. Because we nonrev it's difficult to nail down a real date, but hope springs eternal.

Apparently there are folks who think The Rapture(tm) is happening on Sept 23. It's too bad I'm too ethical to start shopping a Rapture insurance for pets scam in places where that belief is prevalent.

Jeebus. I grew up poor in rural PA, and Hamburger Helper was a mainstay (along with gross "chicken" croquettes from the frozen section of the bulk/dented can food store). I haven't willingly eaten it since I was about 16.

In case you wondered what yesterday's contract: I've signed on with Ethereal Visions Publishing to write a novella for an upcoming bookdeck. If you know, you know--but you should definitely check out some of their existing decks: www.etherealvisionstarot.com I'm excited to bring the creepy!

"In those wretched Countries where a Man cannot call his Tongue his own, he can scarce call any Thing else his own. Whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech; a Thing terrible to Publick Traytors." - Benjamin Franklin #1stAmendment

I just signed a contract, I just signed a contract! Weeeeeee!

Seriously. I cannot wait to hit the opera tonight. There aren't enough date nights with my husband in my life, so I'm really looking forward to this.

One hopes these agents are required to face consequences. "Just following orders" has never been a particularly acceptable excuse when law, order, and sanity returns to a country.

I guess that means that half a cigarette I smoked in the sixth grade would count. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ My excuse for eligibility was BMI (I just squeaked over) & that I once had an exercise-induced asthma attack (like 15 years ago). The pharmacist was happy to give me my vax with zero proof offered.

Super interesting interview with Maria Ressa on last night's Daily Show. It's worth watching.

I knew I would not enjoy #sotd since rose-scented things are not my thing. I was right. This reminds of my late grandmother's rose and powder-scented soap. #perfumesky

BTW, if you cancel your Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, etc subscriptions over their capitulations to Danger Yam, do please consider donating the cost to your local PBS station.

Craig & I are headed to the opera tomorrow night to see Il viaggio a Reims. It requires 14 soloists (three sopranos, one contralto, two tenors, four baritones, and four basses), so I'm looking forward to seeing how the company pulls it off. A satire on class & manners seems right for our times.

I'm really grateful to Shapiro for doing this.

I💗my Samsung Bespoke refrigerator, but I am feeling so vindicated right now for refusing to get the variety with the screen in the door. The last thing I want is an "AI hub" or "ads" while I'm just trying to get some freaking water. No thanks. Stop trying to make "fetch" happen.

The address to target is: Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution 500 S. Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521-3515

I dunno, but we canceled our Disney+ subscription last night.

I can't decide if like the #sotd, but I'm leaning toward no. On me it goes toward a sweet almond vanilla milk with a weird funk undernote that might be related to the rice note. I don't get the quince or pepper at all. #perfumesky

Also, if Target sales tanking is an example of what happens when you give in to weak-ass crap, Disney, ABC, CBS, and Paramount are likely going to be in the "find out" stage much in the same way.

Today's #sotd is a snooze. On me it fades very quickly and gives muted jasmine mixed with an almost chemical cleanser. Meh. #perfumesky

Seriously. While I love the fact that Redford played Alexander Pierce in some of the Marvel films, I remember him best from Indecent Proposal, likely because 1993 was my early 20s... and I for sure would have chosen Redford over Harrelson.

🧵 The United States stands at the brink of one of the most productive eras in cancer research. Decades of steady federal investment have driven survival rates up from 49% in the 1970s to nearly 70% today. Breakthrough vaccines, targeted therapies, and less toxic treatments are finally within reach.

oh, I'm terribly sad about this. :(

So since @bgpcpodcast.bsky.social let the cat out of the bag during the podcast below, here's some news: I'm going to be writing a monthly column about gastrohorror at Macabre Daily. It'll probably begin sometime in December 2025. I could not be more excited about this if I tried!!!! #horror

As a rule, I enjoy Kerosene perfumes & #sotd is no exception. On me it comes off like eating raspberries & vanilla cookies next to a fire at night in the summer. Maybe if there's a very clean bear lurking nearby (it's the oud). I don't think I need to own a full size, but I do like it. #perfumesky

Battle doom scrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life: Fresh figs from my trees Hand-knit socks Myrtle kisses A blank journal Cold mornings

Made the decision to harvest all the remaining peppers in the garden today--so now I've moved from roasting chiles to roasting sweet green and yellow peppers. My house smells excellent.

Bookshop is offering 20 percent off select titles to celebrate Latin American Heritage Month, including THE BEWITCHING and other books (The Great Divide, Pink Slime, etc). Use code LHM25 at checkout to receive 20% off. bookshop.org/lists/adult-...

Thank you @rbhubbell.bsky.social for your uplifting and much needed words of support, encouragement and humanity. Leaning into resistance during troubled times open.substack.com/pub/roberthu...

Lately I feel good about the short fiction I've been writing. I'm sure it'll pass--I mean, once it goes out on submission and a few rejections roll in, I'll go back to my normal second-guessery. Not that rejections are abnormal. I kind of feel like if you're not getting rejected, you're not trying.

SPECIAL EVENT: Join me on Wednesday at 6pm ET for a special Constitution Day conversation featuring Congressman Jamie Raskin, Harvard Law Professor Nikolas Bowie, and Georgetown Law Professor Mary McCord. The event is FREE but space is limited so sign up now! us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

A pot of roasted tomato & garlic soup is on the stove! I've been roasting tomatoes coming out of the garden for a week, stockpiling for this moment. In a few hours when the soup is done, I'll roast all of the chiles--I picked about two dozen this morning. I'm making use of my post-vax sick day.

If quoting some dudebro verbatim is enough to make those who hero-worshipped him pee their pants in panic and fury, maybe the problem isn't a lack of empathy on the part of people quoting their guy.

Black Christmas (2019) Midsommar (2019) Ready Or Not (2019) I mean, I guess they're related by year... but this is the trilogy I watch when I'm embracing misandry.

For an Eagles win, my neighborhood has been strangely quiet.

In my series rewatch of Buffy, I've reached the episode with Dark Willow on a rampage. Just realized that Stephen Miller reminds me a lot of Warren.

“What radicalized you?” Bro I was told to treat people the way I would want to be treated in kindergarten and it made sense idk what else there is to say

My house smells like roasted garlic and roasted tomatoes. Delightful! I have tomorrow off from work in anticipation of post-vax malaise, & the plan is to use all the tomatoes I roasted this past week (resting in my fridge) to make a big old vat of tomato & garlic soup.

It is insanely bonkers that stirrup pants paired with flats is a thing again. It was bad enough the first time around in the 1980s.

And we are VACCINATED for flu and COVID! Craig still has to get a Hep A vaccination series--apparently there's a Hep A outbreak happening in the Czech Republic. Luckily my uni requires it, so I've had mine already.

Before we get to introducing new horror creators on Friday, I wanted to give you the current Hall of Fame: Books from the #SpookySpotlight I picked up and read and enjoyed. Did you pick up something as well? I'd love to see some recs in the comments. 💙📚 💀📚🩸

I spent 7 years as a fundraiser for a nonprofit that helped people experiencing homelessness find housing, get medical care & job training, etc. It doesn't take a personal connection like mine to know that Kilmeade's ideas are disgusting and wonder why his humanity is so lacking.