The Coping Saw – Farthest Star If I recall correctly, I came up with the title first, and liked the idea of ambiguity in the use of 'coping'. While it started as a story focused on language, style, and metaphor, it turned into an adventure along the way, complete with mad scientist. It was…

The Water Dragons of Harney County – Trollbreath In mid-2024, I was looking through my idea file and found a dragon story. And another, and another. In the end, I wrote about a half-dozen dragon stories of very different kinds. This one, about farm irrigation, was inspired by driving cross-country…

A Bird Afraid of Feathers - Plant Based Press

Gods in Reduced Circumstances – Black Cat Weekly I was reading an H. G. Wells story - Mr. Britling Sees it Through - in which he said "And there is a book, I once looked into it at a man's room in London; I don't know the title, but it was by Richard Garnett, and it was all about gods who were in…

My latest story (a novelette) is out from Farthest Star Publishing. Check out "The Coping Saw" here! www.amazon.com/Coping-Saw-B...

Fave short fiction read this week was The Water Dragons of Harney County by @bmorrisallen.com in Trollbreath. Whimsical, both modern and folkloric, and incredibly compelling magazine.trollbreath.com/the-water-dr...

There's nothing sustainable about non-Vegan pet food

If you dry a bunch of apples but then leave them overnight and then decide to finish them off in the oven and then forget them in the oven and then turn the oven on to preheat, burnt apple chips make a surprisingly decent cereal. Or so I assume. I would never do this.

Cooking pro tip: When a recipe calls for "1 clove of garlic", this is the one they mean.

My latest story is out in the latest @trollbreathmag.bsky.social today! "The Water Dragons of Harney County" is about magic (and irrigation) on an Oregon farm.

It’s Free Fiction Friday!! Today, join a farm girl as she gets a little help from unlikely friends @bmorrisallen.com magazine.trollbreath.com/the-water-dr...

Not sure how to describe the futility of one more class action settlement that provides me with free credit monitoring. I've got credit monitoring coming out my ears at this point. If I had acted on all the settlements, they'd probably total more years than I have left to live.

My latest story is out in the latest @trollbreathmag.bsky.social today! "The Water Dragons of Harney County" is about magic (and irrigation) on an Oregon farm.

@kimrichey.bsky.social , curious about "09/14 – Lake Oswego, OR – Parrott House Concerts (message me about tickets)" (my e-mail was returned for some reason...)

For panelists and others who need to know: 'sapient' and 'sentient' are not the same thing. I know the terms are often misused in SFF, but it's always jarring to me to hear how humans should respect sentient beings when this world is full of sentient creatures we mostly mistreat.

Another beautiful day of kayaking in a nearby estuary. Cormorants and herons by the dozen, a pod of seals on the shore, a 'heated discussion' between a hawk and some crows, crabs strolling by beneath... #OregonCoast

On this episode, @benjamingorman.bsky.social gabs with @bmorrisallen.com , @maggiedotwrites.bsky.social , Lisa Fransson, and Louie Sullivan, authors of HOPE: THE THING WITH FEATHERS, a new anthology from @metaphorosis.com . Show: bit.ly/WNWHome Ad-free version: bit.ly/PatreonBG

On this episode, @benjamingorman.bsky.social gabs with @bmorrisallen.com , @maggiedotwrites.bsky.social , Lisa Fransson, and Louie Sullivan, authors of HOPE: THE THING WITH FEATHERS, a new anthology from @metaphorosis.com . Show: bit.ly/WNWHome Ad-free version: bit.ly/PatreonBG

After a 2 year hiatus due to construction and injury, finally got the kayaks back in the water in a nearby estuary. Martins, egrets, herons, cormorant to eagles... Great weather, too! Grateful to live in such a beautiful place. #OregonCoast

It's obviously Biden who was "sedatious". Obama was wide awake. And Trump is the only one who approaches "seditious". www.axios.com/2025/07/22/o...

If you've been published by Metaphorosis and will be at Worldcon, come join us! Metaphorosis Authors Meetup, Terrace Lounge (4F), Fri. 9–10 a.m.

#Trump really is the modern Teflon president. No matter what crap he cooks up, none of it sticks to him, and he sheds toxic elements all over the place that will take decades to clean up.

Grinding by the Numbers Yesterday, I published new data on my own submissions, analyzed in part because of the TRUNK anthology project I'm planning, of stories that took a long time to place. I set criteria for submitted stories of at least 20 rejections (10 for novelettes because there are fewer…

I'll be at Worldcon and happy to talk about all sorts of subjects - editing, the new HOPE anthology, writing, veganism, short fiction, mushroom foraging, the state of punctuation today, you name it. Not con-savvy enough to schedule a table talk, but just look me up or track me down.

Writing by the numbers II More statistics about submission rates.

My latest story is out today! "Gods in Reduced Circumstances" was inspired by an H.G. Wells reference to a Richard Garnett story. Find it in Black Cat Weekly blackcatweekly.com/b/o7bcp

Watching season 1 of Severance (which I had honestly expected to be a straight-up show about corporate infighting), it felt more and more like a remake of The Prisoner.

Looked in my call history and found this entertaining conversation between two AIs, with no human involvement at all. The phone never rang.

Just started two books. Dickens' Dombey and Son and Brandon Sanderson's Wind and Truth. Dombey's 740 pages looks trivial compared to Sanderson's 1,340.

My own mini-interview by HOPE anthology author Maggie Slater. More of these on the way. Get to know the authors as the book prepares for launch! maggieslater.com/2025/06/24/t...

Putting up a beach umbrella for my sister when I noticed a swallow nearby. Except it wasn't a swallow, it was a bat. And he came and landed on my back. Felt sorry for disturbing the poor guy, and walked slowly across the street to the bat box at my house. Made it halfway before he took off.

Signed up for Apple+ to watch Murderbot, but watched Silo first. Having read both, I think Murderbot is the better book, but Silo is the better show. I thought of the neuter Murderbot as vaguely female presenting, so Skarsgard just doesn't feel right. Also, some odd changes from the book feel off.

I haven't been writing much lately, but today I picked up a long-(like years or decades long) postponed novella, wrote two chapters of it, and see a clear direction for the rest. With two days free of distraction ahead, I may even finish it. That will mean one book of a planned quintet is complete!

Some of our authors for this issue include: @aardwyrm.bsky.social @ejwilde.bsky.social @stephenspower.bsky.social @ebsommer.bsky.social @rosestrickman.bsky.social @lindseyduncan.bsky.social @iviesofinkribbons.bsky.social @culttvmike.bsky.social @aeneas-nin.bsky.social and @bmorrisallen.com !

Why, that's me in there, with "1 B", a wistful story about neighbours.

Issue 3 is now available! What to love about this issue of our magazine: It's now available both on Amazon AND Barnes & Nobles (links below) Wonderful stories by fantastic authors (some tagged below) Amazing cover art by @moravianart.bsky.social Fabulous interview with @lollardfish.bsky.social

#submissionsopen 😀✍️✍️✍️

Two story acceptances in one morning! That's a rare and pleasant occurrence, esp. along with a story that came out this week. Details of the new stories coming in time.

We live in a little village. My spouse said something this morning about where all the village people were, and I felt compelled to say that they were at the YMCA.

When I was a young teen, my mother critiqued my approach to life by introducing me to the term 'velleity' via Ogden Nash. I'm not sure much has changed. www.scottattenborough.com/blog/master-...

A moments of heartbreak, it's helpful to look back at good times and be thankful for what you had and didn't deserve.

Is there a technical term for why these songs sound similar (beyond a descending scale on a harmonica)? Young & Moody "How Can I Help You Tonight?" youtu.be/1PBDjewR2JA?... Jimmy LaFave "You Got That Right" www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt9n...

PSA: if you ever have trouble finding chayote, unripe honeydew melon tastes somewhat similar.

The US has great public land. I don't like BLM's giveaways to ranchers or the 1872 mining law or the trash many people leave when they visit public land. But I do love the fact that there's vast territory that I can go onto any time I like and just enjoy the natural beauty that's there.

I've got several stories held for consideration at present, so out of curiosity, I used Grinder to do a quick check. It looks like that only results in a sale 25% of the time in my case. I'd thought it was much higher.

That happy feeling when you open an old story start that you set aside years ago, only to now find that it's not a start, but a complete story and a pretty good one! I wrote it for an anthology, decided it didn't fit the bill, and completely forgot about it. It's now out looking for a home.

Lots of bad things in this administration, but here's one (the only?) good one: FDA plans to phase out animal testing in drugs. www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20... via @statnews.com

I distressingly only just learned that Brian Stableford died last year. I encountered his The Realms of Tartarus in the late 70s, loved it, and became a fan.

All that... But also I just snuggled with a dog and two cats.

he stands up like a ramrod When he throws you that salute He believes this is his destiny He believes this is his fate He believes that he born about 50 years too late ... Ready or not, well here they come Just like 1931 1931 (Believe It), Planet P Project youtu.be/IqjpPY-F1M0?...