May we all get better than we deserve, and heaps of grace, gratitude, beauty and love! As omens go, it doesn't get much better than Year of the HORSE.

A challenge I have with writing is when I need a big city setting, because I know jack shit about big cities. Virtual tours help. But the flavor/attitudes—that’s a hard one for someone who’s never lived in a big city. It’s not something you can master in a long weekend visit.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

pen.org/press-releas... #readbannedbooks

I finished a second draft of a 5,200 word horror story last night. Having trouble with a title. That probably means I need to re-evaluate and find the story's thesis statement. #WritingCommunity #horror

From today's horror story research, a found poem: The smell of bitter almonds is the classic indicator of cyanide. The actual taste of pure cyanide is described as bitter, acrid, burning, though it's so fast-acting that few survive to describe it reliably.

How am I supposed to finish writing this story? Psst, it’s got a Minotaur. No kittens, though. #minotaur #kittens

A great way to end the year! A wee story in a journal I've admired for years! Thank you Keith Hoerner, Allison Joseph, and Crab Orchard Review! www.flipsnack.com/AB7B77BBDC9/...

I wasn’t joking about buying multiple copies! One is a contributor copy!! The Best Horror of the Year vol 17, edited by Ellen Datlow @datlow.bsky.social

May I present Anne Bonney Queen of Pirates, the newest member of our family. We drove 2 hours to get this polydactyl kitty.

I’m always saying the same shit and I mean it every time. In the age of soulless AI slop, nothing matters more than your voice, so write/create whatever makes you happy. Make it weird. Make it dark. Make it queer. Make it surreal, diverse, sexy. Make it political as fuck. Do YOU.

Hey mofo. Better stay away from Copperhead Road.

The beautiful thing about Bluesky is I'm just screaming into the void here. So let me scream this: I fucking hate this goddamn fake Christmas tree.

Sometimes my writing research really fucks my algorithm. I don't want to BUY a typical hipster car. I just need to picture it.

It's a drinkin' whiskey and writin' about dangerous, secret communities kinda night up in here.

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty... Syllabi are a species of public document and are FOIA-able. However, this is a bad idea. At the least, these faculty should be paid for sharing their intellectual property.

Fuck the holidays.

I'm OK. Mostly. But the double-whammy of bullshit at work and my usual holiday-related spiral into darkness — combined with deep homesickness for my native state which also comes this time of year... I'm seeking solace in the bottle. And tea.

I deserve a goldurn medal for how well I hold my temper -- and my tongue -- at work.

I'm calling BS on Steve Harvey who claims a woman with no friends or very few is strong and confident. That is overstated! A woman needs 1-2 close friends. No friends = no external support system, no reality check. If she's married, no friends leaves open to domestic abuse. Experience talking.

Is anyone seeing anything I post? I can't even see if people are seeing it and just passing on by (even with pix of a kitten!) or if I'm Major Tom in cyberspace.

The handmade, human qualities of your work are more valuable than they've ever been. Don't doubt that for a second.

What should I name this kitty? She has extra toes. Hemingway’s polydactyl cats are famous. His first was from a sea captain, which, for naming purposes, I’m interpreting as pirate. Hemingway? Anne Bonney 🏴‍☠️? Something else?

Fake tree? Or real?

I hate having an artificial tree. I grew up in Michigan where Christmas tree farms thrive, and bringing a tree into the house was bringing the outdoors in. I’ve caved and we have a fake. I hate it. I resent having to decorate it.

Today's feels brought to you by #adopted It's my birth mother's birthday today. She declined to meet me. She's been gone a few years. I do know and love my maternal siblings.

6-toed kitten (polydactyl) coming home with me tomorrow. Taking Hemmingway-inspired name suggestions for her.

7 years ago today we sat on the tailgate of my pickup truck, drinking beers at 6 a.m. watching our home, Resurrection Mule Farm, burn. The end of an era. It was a place of magic.

I often write my first draft and do the first round or so of edits single space. When I move to double space, that's when shit's getting real.

Knocked out the first, very rough, draft of a story that's been rolling around in my head since spring. It involves a skeleton that might be a Halloween decoration. Or might not. #HorrorWriting

Poignant. And my glimpses of other people’s lives is part of why I’m a writer.

What a year for horror lit! #readhorror

Y’all be good now. I hope to see you all come morning! #Krampusnacht

An email on my work account this morning claims that my LinkedIn profile suggests I'd be great for a couple jobs they have available, including software engineer. A peculiar suggestion for someone who regularly causes computer malfunctions merely by entering a room.

Me trying to tell artists it's okay if you keep repeating certain characters, themes, visuals, anything since you clearly need to say it some more 🖤

Have you ever had a dream that was so boring you tried to wake yourself up out of it, but you couldn't and so it became a boring nightmare?

@laurelhightower.bsky.social was one of the first to welcome me to the horror community--after she scared the tar out of me with Below, the first of her books I read. If you love resonant, intelligent, emotional horror, read Hightower. the-line-up.com/laurel-hight...

I want to dump Spotify and eventually I will but the Intense Dark Academia mix I listen to while writing slaps! Damn! #nerd

I just read The Terror of Willow Falls. The Eyebiter is truly terrifying!!

A dark Old-Fashioned pairs well with dark magic and folk horror. Read my murdr-ballad inspired story Muddy Water here. This anthology is widely available, including Barnes & Noble! @theslabpress.bsky.social

If you ever wondered if the pumpkin-pie filling that didn't fit into the pie you were baking would be good in coffee, I can tell you that NO, it is not. Follow me for more... IDK... stupid things to not do?

Feeling a bit growly, no particular reason. I've shut myself in my room and will write until I can be more pleasant. See ya. Might be a while.

Is it just me or does this look more terrifying than fun?

Joking aside, I think there is something in the overall atmosphere of the building I work in that zaps good energy and positivity. I feel it almost the second I walk through the doors. Anyone know what I mean?

I have my next 2-3 planned.

I'm not a musician, I'm a fiction writer and horror author. I believe with my whole heart in the power of Story. So did Todd Snider. His concerts were all about stories, whether he was singing them or telling them. I saw him 3x. It wasn't enough. Godspeed.

Airport memory, returning from my 1st StokerCon. Layover. Dinner & drink. Another lone traveler sat near me. Him: You read a lot? Me: Yes Are you a writer? Yes. What do you write? Horror. I'm a writer too. Oh? What do you write? BDSM erotica. Hmn. I'm just starting. Good luck. Have a good flight.

IDGAF about Cybertrucks. The problem is Optimus. You now get a free Optimus and it’s just gonna follow you around & stop you from doing crime, but other than that you get to do anything. It’s just gonna stop you from committing crime, that’s really it,” Musk said at the Tesla meeting Nov 6.

Look what I found hiding under the leaves? Hiding Under the Leaves, edited by Donna Scott, widely available from The Slab Press. Super excited to have a story here! @wishusdonna.bsky.social @theslabpress.bsky.social #folkhorror #witchy

Northern Lights in Southern Illinois!