There are messages all over the walls of the tower. We're not certain who put them there or what they mean or who they're for. It's better to pretend they don't exist. Why not read today's flash instead? "Names Set in Stone" by @jenoliverwriter.bsky.social crowcrosskeys.com/2025/11/01/n...

📢 It's here! The Strange Horizons Fund Drive 2026 has begun! 📢 Help us raise the $20,000 we need to fund our fiction, poetry, and non-fiction for next year! Beyond that are our stretch goals including some compelling special issues! Donate at the link ⬇️

You don’t have to write for algorithms. You don’t have to write for trends. You can just… write for the version of you who needed this story once.

Today’s writing tip: sometimes the metaphor isn’t working because the emotion isn’t clear. Strip it back. Start again.

I've closed down my website so everything (story announcements, blog posts, news etc) will take place on my Substack from now on. Nothing bad caused this decision. I was just managing 3 websites and it was getting a bit much! Anyway, find me here: jenniferoliverwriter.substack.com

You know a book has you in a chokehold when you say "just one more chapter" and suddenly the sun is rising and you are 300 pages deep in emotional devastation.

[Blog Post] "Write What You Know"—What It Really Means (and Why It’s Not as Limiting as You Think) : buff.ly/3Xg4DcN #writingcommunity #amwriting

Hugo nominations close tomorrow. Kaleidotrope is eligible for Best Semiprozine, Editor (Short Form), Short Story, Novelette (for one 10k story), and/or Poem. It would be an honor just to be buried somewhere in the nominating stats. Everything the zine published last year is free to read here:

Editing your own work is like finding your diary from 10 years ago. Painful, slightly embarrassing, but you have to go through it if you want growth.

[Blog Post] Why We Keep Coming Back to Dystopian Fiction : buff.ly/41zZU8w #amwriting #reading #writingcommunity

"Write what you know." Okay, but what I know is how to overthink an email for 20 minutes and cry over fictional characters at 2 AM.

New blog post: Why Are We So Obsessed With Apocalypses? buff.ly/3EIeDVQ #dystopian #postapocalyptic #fantasyfiction #horrormedia

Getting (trad) published is a function of hard work and luck, mixed in proportions that you do not control. You can control how you work and how you learn craft, but please don't obsess over that which you can't change. I'll leave you with my father's maxim: "May luck find you working."

Magic systems don’t need 500 rules. Just one that changes everything. (Magic works, but it steals memories. Magic is infinite, but your body isn’t. Magic can bring back the dead, but they're not quite the same people.)

[Flash Fiction] The Rain City | Fantasy | buff.ly/4hZ4ulV #flashfiction #fantasyfiction #writing

I've noticed that when I write a sentence I particularly like, that I think is full of atmosphere or cool imagery, I do a triumphant little hand wave at my screen. It's probably good that I write at home and not out in public, eh? #amwriting #writingcommunity

Hereditary - The Complete Guide (Everything Explained) buff.ly/40W1n7e via @DesignsNovum. An incredible 4.5 hour dive into one of the most amazing horror movies in recent years.

Another story of mine you might have missed, definitely not posted it here. www.vice.com/en/article/a...

How I deal with rejection: Keep writing new stories. Keep critiquing other people's stories. Keep reading. #amwriting #writingcommnunity

Fantasy writers spend 30% of their time writing and 70% of their time naming things. If you haven’t renamed your protagonist at least three times, are you even writing fantasy? #writingcommunity #amwriting #fantasy

If you're a fan of horror movies, I highly recommend What Culture Horror: https://buff.ly/3X6lMFz I'm a little obsessed with this channel right now. #HorrorMovies #HorrorMedia

There is value in reading classic literature even if you find some concepts or words to be offensive, or if the author was a terrible person by modern standards. The popular idea found in popular books that reading bad things by bad writers makes bad people is unsupported by reality.

Share this post! Just over a week left until the next ZNB #Kickstarter for the pirate-themed anth SKULL X BONES! Prelaunch page below; click that "Notify Me" button! Launching March 1st. www.kickstarter.com/projects/znb... #readingcommunity #booksky #fantasy #urbanfantasy #scifi #sciencefiction

I recommend exploring different creative mediums if you're ever stuck. I'm an illustrator/pattern designer/font maker in my other life and getting lost in a visual medium for a bit always makes me feel fresh and invigorated when I come back to #writing. #WritingCommmunity

I could plan every detail of a story before I start writing, but my characters would still find a way to ruin it. #amwriting

BBC Radio 4 - Uncanny Podcast. This is genuinely one of the best and spookiest podcasts I’ve ever found about the #paranormal. Highly recommend! #uncannypodcast

Where the Lost Things Go: Lands of Lost Objects in Fantasy Novels https://buff.ly/3CK6Ru5 #writingfantasy #fantasyfiction #amwriting

I will never get tired of fantasy books where the magic is more of a problem than a solution. #writing #fantasyfiction

Writing advice: "Kill your darlings." Me, dramatically deleting a single word while keeping an entire subplot that serves no purpose except to emotionally ruin my protagonist. #writingcommunity #amwriting

Finding a magazine that accepts the kind of story you've written, at the length that you've written it, that's open to submissions, that pays anything, that acts ethically, that actually has readers, and that hasn't rejected the story already is something of a minor miracle.

[Flash Fiction] Strays | Speculative | 252 words https://buff.ly/41k2Lly #flashfiction #amwriting

I really don't care about past/present tense, as long as the story is compelling. Same with first/third person. #writing #amwriting

Podcasts - For Your Horror Needs: www.jenniferoliverwriter.com/post/podcast... #horrorcommunity #horror

[Blog Post] Do you ever wonder what mind-blowing technologies we'll have available to us in the future? I do all the time. I think it's because I read and watch a lot of classic sci-fi and notice how, back then, many writers couldn't anticipate how far we've come today. #future #tech

The tiniest steampunk-ish story: The Clockmaker's Heart: nanoism.net/stories/525/ My mum loved this so much she got me to put it on a bookmark. 😅 #steampunk #microfiction

Also, I have five invite codes to Bluesky. If you know anyone that still needs one, drop me a DM. I'm happy to share even with folk not on my follow list. 💛

It is pretty annoying that "the literary canon is overly representative of white men" got taken to mean "we should never have to engage with classic lit ever again" by the most incurious people alive

Blast from the past: that time I had a short horror story published in @kaleidotrope.bsky.social (I'm eternally grateful!!) Shuffle: kaleidotrope.net/archives/sum... #horror #horrorcommunity

Game devs are tired. Writers are tired. Comic book creators are tired. Musicians are tired. Actors are tired. Every industry that produces media you love has been ravaged by a parasitic executive class who want to starve creators to feed some shitcunt's desire for a seventh house

I have a short YA #horror story out in The Chamber Magazine: “The Flesh Garden” - thechambermagazine.com/2023/08/29/t... #writingcommunity

When a story on sub is held for further consideration: 🫣🫣🫣

If you know of anyone that needs an invite code to this place, drop me a line. I have two available!

50% off Interzone @interzone.press subscriptions now til September 4th! New issue Sept 5! Please help keep this beautifully illustrated and designed, long-running venue for indie SF, fantasy and horror going another 40 years: https://weightlessbooks.com/interzone-annual-subscription/

If you'd like to see short fiction magazines survive, consider subscribing to some of these: https://tinyurl.com/2ra4a6ue

Monterey Bay Aquarium leaving Twitter and its quarter of a million followers with the perfect sign off

Speaking of Stephen King, I'm re-reading "IT" for the first time in about 25 years. There's so much detail and backstory in the book that I'd forgotten.

Stephen King says he may continue the Talisman series. If he wrote a third book, I don't know what I'd do. 🫣 The Talisman is my fav King book of all time but I wasn't so keen on Black House. But hey, it's King so I'd still read a third installment! #StephenKing #horror #darkfantasy

You should read Kaleidotrope if you haven’t already.

Me, every day at 2PM: why am I so tired, what have I done to deserve this curse of fatigue Also me, every night at 2AM: What if I just read like five more issues of this webtoon...