Lack of attention to detail is one of the reasons humans shouldn’t do their own security.

Today, from Hell Itself, @helenfrench.bsky.social with an unusual take on a common theme: "The Space Between the Dust Motes."

This is Penny. She came up with her own trick. Really hopes you like it, and will repeat it as many times as necessary until you acknowledge that you do. 14/10 (IG: pennycorgipoo)

Since I've gotten two queries in the last three days, it's time for a public post: Yes, Longer Worlds is still happening. The delay is that I got a lot more submissions than expected. Since they're all, well, longer and most of them are very good, reading the slush is slow going.

New from Hell Itself, @pbarmby.bsky.social brings us a story of good intentions in "Daylight Savings Time.' hellitself.com/daylight-sav...

The part of the story I'm dying to hear is how people who were at home in Ohio and California to be arrested on Saturday were going to be in D.C. with all their armaments on Sunday to attack the White House, because that's some impressive logistics there.

Because I just had a query and y'all deserve a status update: I'm still working my way through the slush. If there is a no-simsub market opening tomorrow and you still haven't heard from me, feel free to send me a note that you'd like me to pause consideration.

RIP Tinker Bell. She made me believe in fairies.

Congratulations to all the Nebula winners!

N.K. Jemisin is setting the stage on fire at the Nebulas.

I've recently started lurking in an online space that has a lot of aspiring writers in it. More and more of them are reporting being hit up online by people trying to convince them to purchase editing services for their stories pre-submission. Please don't. 🧵

Question for everyone with sewing tables out there: How many do you own? Because Wayfair clearly believes that since I bought one, I need several more.

These scams are becoming more and more common. Several authors I know say they sound very plausible at first. Be on the lookout, because they really do see you as a mark, not as someone they're going to help grow their readership.

A GREAT DAY TO BE THE WORLDS GREATEST AUTHOR. THATS RIGHT IM TALKING ABOUT YOU

New, from Hell Itself, "Sentinels" by Patricia Court

If you're a resident of a state holding a primary today (like, say, California), please remember to vote.

@fandango.com is so busy popping up ads where I'm trying to click that I can't buy a damned ticket. Went to a local chain's website directly instead. Way to win business, Fandango.

Apropos of nothing: youtu.be/u9Dg-g7t2l4?...

I was about to "want to feel old" my husband when I realized he's not old enough to remember when Star Wars was new...

New, from Hell Itself, @danielausema.bsky.social brings us an origin story in "Grey Eytel and His Band of Birds." hellitself.com/grey-eytel-a...

I just sent a batch of Longer Worlds rejections. Everything sent before May 1 should have gotten a response (acceptance, hold, or rejection). If you submitted before May 1 and haven't heard anything, please query. I have 100 unread stories in the queue, so I'm afraid this is going to take some time

What is the mathematics of word of mouth? My latest book THE LANGUAGE OF LIARS seems to be having exceptionally good word of mouth, so I found myself wondering...what does "good word of mouth" mean? You know. Mathematically.

Submissions are closed. 159 total. I have a budget to buy 12. It's going to be difficult. Thank you, everyone who sent in your work. I'm looking forward to reading the ones I haven't yet, and have thoroughly enjoyed the ones I have already gotten to.

Last warning: Longer Worlds closes to submissions at 9:00 PM Pacific Time tonight!

Don't forget, the deadline for submissions for Longer Worlds is tomorrow! lightningcellar.moksha.io/publication/...

For those who didn't want to support @crepuscularmag.bsky.social with a membership to get early access, "Four Reasons Not to Let the Local Zoo's Caracal Negotiate the Interplanetary Trade Agreement" is now free to read: www.patreon.com/posts/april-...

Just because it came up elsewhere, let's remember Dee Snider's advice to us kids:

Happy Mother's Day, all you mothers out there!

Crossed 100 submissions for Longer Worlds overnight. I've got the budget to take 12. Cutting will be painful. We definitely need more markets for novelettes and novellas. Please support the publications that do publish longer short pieces to encourage that. Submissions open for one more week.

Now presenting on Hell Itself: “A Tennis Match with a Queen Ant” hellitself.com/a-tennis-mat...

I have made a couple of changes to the @hellitself.bsky.social guidelines. First, I've decided to set a minimum word count of 1,000 words. Second, I've created a two-tier minimum number of rejections so longer stories require fewer to be eligible.

I don't know what happened all of a sudden, but 25% of the submissions I've gotten for the anthology arrived in the last 48 hours. I'm still reading daily, but responses will likely be slowing down. Novelettes and novellas don't slush as quickly as shorter forms.

Here's one for those of you who love dragons and coloring.

The proposed WH ballroom will seat 999 people. The Hilton's ballroom seats 2,670. The WHCA is not part of the government; It's a private org that invites the president to attend its event. A WH ballroom would be small and not available. How would spending $400B to build it have prevented this?

COVER REVEAL!

What if I told you that the United States of America could own a secure ballroom without destroying a historic building to get one?

OK, I just have to chime in with this a few things, because when we make mountains out of molehills it erodes our credibility when we raise legitimate issues. 🧵

That's because there's a Tracy living almost everywhere now. Look it up.

The part of this that baffles me is there is a room full of professional reporters when shots ring out and everyone stays put. Seriously, I used to write for a music news magazine, and *I'd* have been trampling security to get out there and get the story.

Now, from Hell Itself, @chasej.xyz brings us a story of dinosaurs and mass extinction events, "Thalassophobia in the Late Cretaceous"

And while I've got everyone's attention, this is a great opportunity to remind you that submissions for Longer Worlds close on May 15. lightningcellar.moksha.io/publication/...

And if you'd like to see an actual image of Saturn's polar storm, NASA maintains an online library of its photos: science.nasa.gov/image-detail...

OK, y'all, I saw this in a movie theater. In 1977. It was one of the first movies we bought when we got our first VCR. I definitely have a soft spot for this one.

Here is a thread of people asking chatGPT, recently updated for "improved image generation," for a 90s era New Yorker style comic about a dog on the internet & chatGPT spitting out basically the exact same almost beat for beat copy of the same signed Peter Steiner '93 New Yorker comic at everyone

I know I'm picking a LOUSY time to announce this, but I've set a deadline for submissions for Longer Worlds: May 15. lightningcellar.moksha.io/publication/...

Congratulations to all the @thehugoawards.bsky.social finalists! What a list!

'sup, sickos — who likes FOUND FOOTAGE???? good, because SO DO I and I am going to spend my tax monies on BRINGING MORE FICTION INTO THE WORLD and editing an anthology this summer. because we need more weird art and I want YOU to help make it. 👀⬇️ mercfennwolfmoor.carrd.co#recordedantho

OK, California, I going to break my "no politics" rule again, because current polls show that if the gov. primary were held today, we'd have two Republicans in the general, and our choices would be Trump Bootlicker or Trump Asslicker. I'd like to ask everyone to take a serious look at Betty Yee. 🧵

Crepuscular Welcomes Kyle Aisteach! "Four Reasons Not to Let the Local Zoo's Caracal Negotiate the Interplanetary Trade Agreement" is available to Patrons now. Watch for it 5/13 or join the patreon to read or listen to this story today!