Holiday break is officially over. Sickness lingers. The sun will not show its lovely face for some time. Welcome to dreary January in northern Indiana. [sigh] More time for writing, though, so I can't complain too much.

Holy moly, one of my stories made Ellen Datlow's Best Horror #17 Recommendations for 2025! See the full list here: ellendatlow.com/category/news/

I realized I need to rewatch Stranger Things from the beginning before I dive into the last season. I mean season 4 was how many years ago? Time for a refresher.

Being sick during time off from work is the worst. Why can't I ever get sick on a regular Monday? Come on, immune system, get it together.

Well, I have a cold. But I'm getting a lot of reading and writing done, so that kind of makes up for it. #WritingCommunity

Writers! Vol. 2 of 'The Best Weird Fiction of the Year' is open to your submissions. Please adhere to the guidelines. undertowpublications.com/best-weird-f...

So, this happened today... It's not great having to ask for help - but if you've enjoyed any of our books, we'd be hugely grateful if you could let people know about them (and where you can buy them) Word of mouth is... pretty important, right now

This Saturday I'm starting my online short story writing workshop, which goes for six sessions, and is aimed at refining your storytelling skills and learning how to submit stories. Full and partial scholarships still available. Please spread the word! www.catrambo.com/classes/shor...

Day one, 2026. Revised a short story. Submitted a different short story. Finished reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey, which I enjoyed and which felt appropriate. Started reading Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell. I hope your day was relaxing, productive, or both. #WritingCommunity

Another New Year deal at the digital Batcave - this one live until Sunday! It's sapphic, it's gothic, it's Irish; it's got haunted houses and restless ghosts and scenes that'll make you afraid of your own bathroom It's AWAKE IN THE NIGHT. Grab it now, for just 99p

And here's your 2026 writing inspiration! I love this thread.

Happy 2026. Important thoughts for writers going into this new year.

Finished my latest cat puzzle. Happy 2026. Let's hope it's less of a dumpster fire than 2025.🤞Cheers. 🥂

I signed up for a pilates class on NYE morning. Is this a good idea? I'm skeptical. But I guess I'll go. Then I'll reward myself with an hour or two of the annual Twilight Zone marathon.

Everyone must read this. It is not only 1000% on point, but funny as hell.

Highly recommend this book! One of my favorites from 2025.

Only a few days until 2026. Here's my short story submission tally for 2025: 94 subs, 4 acceptances, 14 pending. The rest were mostly rejections. I think there were two withdrawals, and two that never responded. Not too shabby. My goal was 100 subs, so I almost made it. Next year. #WritingCommunity

Important survey...

I love this list and am honored that Issues With Authority is on it (#4 most likely to crawl into your head!) theblogwithoutaface.com/2025/12/22/b...

Finished Shirley Jackson's The Sundial last night. Hard to call it horror, but the people in the story certainly are horrible. It's biting and witty and dark and weird. A precursor to Hill House. I enjoyed it immensely, especially towards the end, and will likely reread it one day.

As it's related to previous posts this morning, a primer on acquiring my work: What's the best way (for me!) to do it, how libraries fit into my career (spoiler: positively!), and also the (few) instances where I think pirating my work is acceptable: whatever.scalzi.com/2024/12/30/a...

Today on the Horror blog: Becky's Best Horror 2025 raforallhorror.blogspot.com/2025/12/beck...

Watched the trailer for Queens of the Dead and I am so excited. Looks like the perfect movie to watch on Xmas day. Well, for me, anyway. 😄🧟

I went to my local bookstore today to pick up an order and get a book for my niece. And woops! I got a book for myself too. 🤷‍♀️ 😊

It appears as though SFWA has had a very quick change of heart and is now back on the right side of this. Shouldn't have happened in the first place. New Nebula Awards eligibility rules for generated text are now:

Very disappointed in the new Nebula Award eligibility information from SFWA that allows partially-generated works to be on the ballot. See 9.11.2. www.sfwa.org/complete-neb... This shouldn't be difficult. #noAI

Allowing gen slop eligibility renders the award meaningless.

Tonight, I wrap Xmas presents. Tomorrow, I make belated Hanukkah latkes to share with my atheist family. Saturday, maybe I can find some time to write. 'Tis the season.

Finally watched the late 90s teen horror movie, The Faculty. What fun! And what a cast. No idea what took me so long.

This is so cool. You rock, Becky!

Even AI knows our current Administration is “fiction” "[ChaptGPT] told [Morris] there were 'multiple factual impossibilities' in his article...including ...that “[t]he current Secretary of Defense is a former talk show host for Fox News” open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

From my intro to The Best Weird Fiction of the Year. Grab the ebook for $8. undertowpublications.com/ebooks/best-...

So much to enjoy in this. I love reading about urban wildlife and Bethany's assessment of the "are raccoons on their way to being domesticated" question is both thoughtful and witty.

Good quality revision time this afternoon with a short horror story. A sweet horror story, if I can say that. I'll read it through again tomorrow, but I think it's about ready to go back out on submission. #WritingCommunity

I have three copies of Climate Champions by @rachelsarah.bsky.social to give away! I bought a bunch when they came out (I’m in it). This book, targeted at middle and high schoolers, features biographies of a diversity of women working on climate action across disciplines.

This weekend I'm teaching classes on Writing about Friendships and Voice & Point of View. For info about the classes - including the current sale price - check the link! ❄️ www.patreon.com/posts/144914...

Definitely worth the read.

HORRIFIC SCRIBES announces #Pushcart Prize nominations!

Alert: I've gotten several reports of non-payment by Graveside Press, from authors w/ stories in one or more anthologies. Also failing to provide author copies, & failing to respond to emails & messages. Anyone w/ similar experiences, pls contact me (Writer Beware) in confidence: [email protected]

Kind of surreal to see my name on the cover of this month’s @fantasymagazine.bsky.social :)

NEW SCRIBE ALERT! @pammerdrums.bsky.social joins HORRIFIC SCRIBES with "Rite of Passage," a #horror story from the POV of a child who does something very bad and is awfully afraid of getting into trouble. Read for free at horrificscribblings.com #witchhorror #evilchildren #sociopaths

It's Cyber Monday, and the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers is rolling out some sales! Check them out and spread the word if you know someone who would be interested. #writersky www.catrambo.com/2025/12/01/c...

Rough 1st draft of horror novel is done at 55,330 words. I'll let it simmer for a few weeks then take a look. Glad to have an ending, even if I'm not sure I like it. The story has potential. I know that much. And as they say, you can't revise 0 words. #WritingCommunity

There is something like 10 inches of snow out there and I need to go to the grocery store. Ugh.

Crossed the 50k word mark on my horror novel the other day. I think I have about 5k more words to go before the first draft is done. I expect the second draft to be a bit longer. Feeling pretty good about this one. #WritingCommunity

Since moving from NYC to Indiana in '22, I've missed WNYC and John Schaefer's music programming. We can stream it, but I like using the actual radio. Today, our local WVPE is airing "Horn of Plenty" hosted by John Schaefer. Music from Paul Winter's Solstice concerts. Just glorious.

"Garbage in, garbage out." Yep. Plus, they're adding to the destruction of our already fragile enviroment. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I wrote 12 novels. Hit #2 on the NYT bestseller list. Optioned three works for film and TV. Have close to 20 short fiction works in anthos. I have 35,000 BSky followers. Have you seen my jewelry shop that keeps my lights on. www.peculiarityshop.com

🪩 LOOKING FOR WORK 🪩 I recently updated my resume. Despite the ever-slippery state of media, I remain hopeful that I will land a gig that’s both challenging and creatively fulfilling. Everything works out like it’s supposed to. RESUME 🔗 bit.ly/beedeloresre... PORTFOLIO 🔗 authory.com/BeeDelores