I (somehow) made it to the second round of NYC Midnight's #ShortStoryChallenge2025 and have been tasked with writing a thriller, which is SO far outside my comfort zone. lololololsob. I am already bored by my own story, which does not bode well for the genre. 🫠

Does anyone else here file a story and, in the ensuing silence that occurs whilst you're waiting on feedback, assume the assigning editor just hates everything you've written and and feels deep regret over the fact that they gave you the assignment in the first place? No? Just me? 🫠

I feel perpetually lucky to be a freelancer, despite the ups and downs. One day, I'm editing another writer's post on the oligarchy. The next, a copywriting client is telling me to make an email "hornier." Always an adventure.

In case you were keeping track... 19thnews.org/2025/02/trum...

Well hell, February really snuck up on me. Next week, I'm leading a session on how to find writing inspiration when you're all tapped out, for @hippocampusmag.bsky.social. The aim is to help you generate a buttload of story ideas in 1 sitting. Register here: hippocampusmagazine.com/event/how-to...

I just successfuly hemmed a single leg on a pair of jeans with my sewing machine could someone please give me a medal and also send hopes and prayers that I don't screw up the second leg.

PLEASE read this piece by @freeblackgirl.bsky.social for @theflytrapmedia.bsky.social about the immense challenges of running indie publications. Also consider investing in indie and nonprofit media WHILE IT EXISTS, instead of lamenting when publications shutter due to lack of support/resources.

Finished my egalley for Lucy Rose's The Lamb the other night and now I desperately need someone else to read it so we can discuss all of my feelings.

As someone who's been writing about sex on the regular for 25 years, I'm surprised by how anxious and exposed I feel about this hermit crab essay of mine, which is intimate in a very different way. Thank you to Cutleaf Journal for giving this piece a home: cutleafjournal.com/content/unbu...

Abigail McGrath, founder of Renaissance House, passed away over the holidays. I don't know how many others here were blessed enough to spend time with her there, but my own time there was such a gift, and I am bereft. My deepest condolences to her family. www.mvtimes.com/2024/12/26/a...

What are the bestest things to do in Salem when it's *not* October? I'm planning a mother/daughter trip for Spring Break. My kiddo is 10.

I spent 2024 engaged in a lot of play. I got my first pieces of fiction published. I experimented with hermit crab essays and have one pubbing later this month. I started writing an essay collection. I worked my way through an ice cream cookbook. I got deep into embroidery and visible mending.

My favorite thing to do on New Year's Day is to wear slipper socks and wrap myself in blankets and maybe noodle over a puzzle or do some writing but most of all READ. To kick off your new year of reading, here are my favorite reads from 2024: www.stephauteri.com/2025/01/01/m...

A bit of flash I wrote went up on @litmoralitmag.bsky.social. Sci-fi horror. Hoping to get more of my fiction out there in 2025. :) www.litmoralitmag.com/auteri-night...

Someone tell me how the heck I'm supposed to eat a Ferrero Rocher that's as big as my fist.

Made the dubious choice of going to the supermarket the day before Christmas Eve Day. Tips for survival: Have zero investment in how long it takes. Focus on your breath. Be jolly AF. Buy doughnuts for after.

Loooove that @hippocampusmag.bsky.social made it on this list! 😍

I'm supposed to be writing about sex toys right now, but all I want to do is *make things*! I recently made a kitchen witch that is the stuff of nightmares, and I also have all the materials necessary to make my very first (non-holiday) wreath. What projects are calling to you? Pics if you got 'em!

Love seeing older women coming into their power all over the dang place. Check my latest post for @feministbookclub.bsky.social, on older woman who insist on being visible: www.feministbookclub.com/older-women-...

Our heat has stopped working. ::Gathers up my Oodie, my three sherpa blankets, my weighted blanket, my HugSleep, my shawl, and various other wearable blankets.:: I have been preparing for this moment my entire life.

I just barfed all my feelings out into a flash nonfiction piece that I then polished and submitted. Huzzah to writing things / poking the bruise!

Just spotted a call for pitches about "travel, outdoors, and nightlife," all of which are antithetical to my existence so I think I need to start a magazine called Indoorsy that's about emotional eating and needlework and the pros and cons of various types of wearable blankets.

Today, I hopped into @feministbookclub.bsky.social's FBC Weekly segment and talked about ordering heads off Etsy, making strawberry + brie empanadas, and of course bookish things, too. I love how chaotic these weekly chats are.

Is it weird to join a church just so I can sing with their choir? Seriously considering it. www.instagram.com/p/DCndvpUOC7...

I was about to re-read Braiding Sweetgrass, but then I learned Robin Wall Kimmerer was coming out with The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World and I immediately pre-ordered it and it just arrived at my local indie and obviously I'm going there now instead of working.

Oh, before I fall asleep embarrassingly early, transanta is up and running again. A fantastic way to support trans folks in need: www.instagram.com/transanta/pr...

I just spent a reallllly long time taking glamour shots of my cats, in case you were wondering how I spend my evenings. So majestic.

#Intro! Hi! Giving this another go. I'm a CNF writer/editor who dabbles in short horror. I'm also a: *sex ed advocate *contributor to Book Riot + Feminist Book Club *author of A Dirty Word *essays editor for Hippocampus *cat lady, embroidery obsessive, kitchen witch, yogi, singer, mom, etc.

My child’s first response to receiving a letter from Santa was not excitement but nervousness. 🤦‍♀️

I am on such a roll this week. Here's a list of nonfiction book recs about witches, ghosts, and other odd creatures: bookriot.com/nonfiction-a...

Prepping for Comic Con. Made a Mabel (from Gravity Falls) outfit for Family Day, but torn on what to wear tomorrow. Should I go as the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (I still have the outfit from my first con), or should I wear my "I love horror" outfit in honor of all the horror panels on my schedule?

I've had a couple of horror-specific posts go up this week, including this list of 8 horror recs that make my skin crawl: bookriot.com/horror-reads... Now do me a solid and share your fave horror authors who have accounts on Bluesky so I can stalk them and stuff.

I think one of the worst quirks of online spaces is the idea that if someone doesn't post about something, they don't care about it. It encourages performative posting often makes things worse. I care a lot. I just don't want to add another poorly-informed voice. I'm reading & thinking.

Tomorrow is Let Freedom Read Day! 📚 On Saturday, October 7, take at least one action to help defend books from censorship and to stand up for everyone who makes them available! The link below has a bunch of actions, ranging from 5 mins to over an hour. ✨ bannedbooksweek.org/let-freedom-...

reminder: if you have a horror or horror-ish book coming out in 2023-2024, please let me know about it here and I'll add it to my big public masterlist of new horror! shares very appreciated. forms.gle/BBYwJCtziLkR...

When you pack for a long weekend trip in the fall: Flip-flops? Sneakers? Hiking boots? Slipper socks? A giant shawl?? My nighttime cocoon??? Two books + my Kindle? An embroidery project? THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF MY HOME???

My house is being renovated. Nothing is where it should be. And now we have a leaky pipe. Some of the things in the office closet I didn’t expect a plumber to be crawling around inside? Bras. Shapewear. My stash of Nutella crepes from Costco. My favorite vibrator. A riding crop. And SO MUCH MORE. 😭

Just had a post go up on Book Riot: 8 Horror Books That Question Our Obsession with Beauty. Reminded me that I need to go searching for all my favorite horror writers on this platform. Where are y'all? 👀 bookriot.com/horror-books...