I find Claire astounding (and Astounding) and you should too. Everything she published in 2025 is out-of-this-world good.

The thing about being miserably sick is that it is very bad, but the other thing is… eating different soups all day is very good.

It’s that time of year! I’m in my second year of Astounding eligibility, and I also published nine eligible short stories in 2025. If you only have time to read one, I hope you’ll consider “Handsomest Gentlest,” a love letter to my very good dog. You can find all nine here: m-r-robinson.com/fiction/

⚔️THE CROWDFUND FOR NEW EDGE SWORD & SORCERY 2026 IS LIVE⚔️ Three issues - our Timeworn Terra special - a New Jirel of Joiry story... The more re-posts this gets, the more bonus content we'll add to this year's issues! Go here to learn more and back the magazine👉 www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b...

I finally did it, I'm so brave—an awards eligibility post! I've had a few short stories and one poem published this year, and I'd be grateful as always if you nominated any of them for any kind of awards, or if you just read them. Links to all of them are available here: ash-vale.ca/stories.html

It’s that time of year! I’m in my second year of Astounding eligibility, and I also published nine eligible short stories in 2025. If you only have time to read one, I hope you’ll consider “Handsomest Gentlest,” a love letter to my very good dog. You can find all nine here: m-r-robinson.com/fiction/

As with all things: please don’t self-reject! If you are a person who does any reviewing of short fiction or poetry, any kind, anywhere, we want to get you a copy of this issue! Feel free to DM us your email, write to us at [email protected], or let us know in the replies how to reach you 😄

By the way: we’ll be sending out review copies of Issue 1 later this month! So if you’re a reviewer looking at this incredible TOC thinking “um, I absolutely want to read this” … please let us know, and we’ll add you to our list! 👀

sorry i missed the virtual meeting on discord, liz. i got hit with the id verification that happens when the app detects youre young

Today I found my work in a bookstore for the first time ever! And presented it to the very handsome owner to make sure he approved.

As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I looked toward Birnam, and anon methought The Wood began to move. (Macbeth, Act V scene 5)

I have a story out today! 'A Sleeper Ship is Like a Game of Go' is probably the most ambitious thing I've ever written, with future tense and a bit of slice of life. It’s about why we tell stories, why we play Go, and the role of AI in both of those. clarkesworldmagazine.com/jia-wen_02_26/

I need there to be a magazine that primarily wants 1500-2000 word stories and I need them to be open year-round and I need them to have good contracts and I need them to pay fairly and, ideally, I also need their name to be MR Robinson Quarterly.

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.

My fantasy flash is free to read in @lightspeedmagazine.com as of today! It's about fairy tales (of course), but also a little about what retellings can do to a thing + the differences between what makes something a story and what makes something a truth www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/six-...

I was hoping to use this hand to write but I guess that was pretty selfish of me, actually.

Absolutely chilling new story from @mruthrobinson.bsky.social over at @lightspeedmagazine.com; the editor's note says it all, and then Robinson keeps it going. A short, sharp, red examination of where it's all going, and where that road naturally ends. www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/acad...

LOOK AT THIS TABLE OF CONTENTS AAAAAAAAAA!!! Honestly, I kept tearing up while I was making these images. We started planning for @othersidespec.bsky.social in the summer of 2024, and… here we are. This is the best thing I’ve ever done. This is the best day. I can’t wait for March.

Eyes on the prize.

"The heron of forgetfulness hovers over the ale-drinking; he steals men’s wits; with the feathers of this bird I was fettered in the court of Gunnlod." (Sayings of the High One, trans. Carolyne Larrington) I hope you love this story! It's very dear to my heart. smallwondersmag.com/piece/drinki...

I both loved this and I hated this. Because it rings so true and looks at what's happening now universities (and the world by extension) unflinchingly and with raw intensity. And it does all that in 1500 words. You need to read this. by @mruthrobinson.bsky.social in @lightspeedmagazine.com

COVER ART COVER ART COVER ART available to all patrons, including the free tier!!! It is SO GOOD.

y'all are not ready for how good and amazingly queer and fucked up (complimentary) this table of contents is going to be!!! I'VE HAD SO MANY EMOTIONS ABOUT IT TODAYYYYYY 😭💜

So we said we'd have our newsletter up today, but we in fact got distracted by making final decisions on Issue 1 stories! If you haven't heard from us by now, please query. Newsletter will be up tomorrow—and we can't wait to announce our full Issue 1 table of contents soon 👀

this latest from @mruthrobinson.bsky.social is the only piece of fiction that deserves the designation of “dark academia,” i said what i said. brooding white guys are OUT doomed postdocs doing their best in the face of devilish fascism is IN www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/acad...

The amazing @hvmator.bsky.social has done it again! Please enjoy this teaser of our Issue 1 cover 💙💜 The full cover will be in tomorrow’s bonus newsletter! Normally a paid patron perk, we're sending this one to ALL patrons, so sign up for free + be the first to see! 👀 www.patreon.com/OthersideSpec

Honored to go on the record here.

It always feels like all the wrong people die, but I think it’s because there are far more beloved people than there are bastards.

Replying in the quote posts is a hot new trend among all the coolest and hippest writers who are a little unclear on how threading works!

I’m unfashionably late to this party, but I could really use An Activity tonight, so: 1 like, 1 line from my writing 📝

Thys was my Heated Rivalrye

Today in photos.

Thanks to all your amazing Kickstarter support, we've commissioned an artist to do interior art for our year 1 issues! @demonography.bsky.social did an amazing job 🪐🗡️ Please enjoy this teaser of their incredible art. We love these lil guys! We can’t wait to share our first issue in March!

🏳️‍🌈SOME QUEER SHORT SFF - DECEMBER 2025🏳️‍🌈 I round up over 40 stories by @mruthrobinson.bsky.social @ashvalewrites.bsky.social @elijah.mea.rs @rj-sterling.bsky.social @sylvie-althoff.bsky.social @jamesbennett.bsky.social @ellisnyeland.bsky.social & MORE!!! www.patreon.com/posts/149417...

Lemon, it’s Wednesday.

Today I want to recommend Jessie Roy's "Rice Child, Dragon Child" at @flashfictiononline.bsky.social - a story about theft, sacrifice, and what society forces parents to choose. www.flashfictiononline.com/article/rice...

My house has no heat or water, my car has been crushed under a giant sheet of ice, I’m working towards a thousand deadlines, and somehow the most stressful part of my week is that Winnie refuses to go outside when it’s cold.

The small but mighty @othersidespec.bsky.social team has read 1120 submissions across categories (with each piece getting multiple reads!) since we opened. Final decisions will be impossibly hard but we are going to put together a hell of a first issue for you. I can’t wait 💜

Very rarely am I like MAYBE [BAD THING] WAS A DREAM but I did wake up this morning and immediately dash to the window to confirm. 🙃

Vida is a dear friend, new mom, and an incredibly hard-working and precious member of our SFF community. She's dealing with some serious and costly medical issues, and if you have the capacity to help, I'd be so grateful.

✨ WHAT ELEGANT STARS is now funding ✨ satellites and sewists, terminals and tailors, dandies and dying stars www.kickstarter.com/projects/dav...

Sure, it’s bad that my heat is out again. And sure, it sucks that my house also no longer has water. But hey! There’s also some good news: at least I’m waiting out the extreme cold in a cozy warm local Airbnb.* *Today a huge sheet of ice fell off the Airbnb roof and maybe totaled my car. 🫠

You could actually structure your moral code around the idea that law enforcement doesn't exist to execute people. You don't have to create perfect victim narratives, you can just refuse to accept that the state gets to kill people.

This month's GigaNotoSaurus story from M.R. Robinson, ash-stained grief cracked wide open by a last defiant lightning flash of love, SO GOOD:

I've found this resource helpful. naomikritzer.com/2026/01/21/h...

Our submission window is closed! We had: 🪐 622 fiction submissions (all have received a rejection or a hold) 🗡️ 254 poetry packets (57 are still waiting for a response) Thank you for trusting us with your work—we're honored. Final decisions will be made within 2 weeks. Next window opens April 1st!

This story by @mruthrobinson.bsky.social reminded me - in a deep-rooted, visceral way - of @rachaelkjones.bsky.social’s story “The Sound of Children Screaming.” There’s so much truth woven through it.

It's out! Dream interpretation, money trouble, and a lot of feelings in this story. Thrilled to share it with you all.

HI YES HELLO “Handsomest Gentlest” is on the BSFA Awards longlist!!! Huge thanks to @havenspec.bsky.social for publishing it, to whoever suggested it for the longlist, and to the handsomest gentlest himself, Wilf, who will be getting an extra treat today to celebrate. www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...

this is so damn good, so damn depressing, and so damn relevant