Tonight! Bay Area readers and writers, come on down!

Bay Area writers, readers & friends! The next BAIT reading is THIS Friday, May 8 at 6 pm at @sausalitolibrary.bsky.social. Readers are Carvell Wallace, Chia-Chia Lin, Sarah Stone, and Dāshaun Washington. 😍 Free to attend and reading followed by a Q&A. Details and RSVP at baitreading.com

This week I talked to my beloved Christina Wolfgram about quitting social media (IRONY) and protecting your writerly mental health. Also submission opportunities, including deadlines from @boulevardlitmag.bsky.social, @northamerreview.bsky.social, & more: tanyazilinskas.substack.com/p/sweating-a...

and you may find yourself logging on to post your little thoughts on your five social media platforms and you may ask yourself well how did I get here

For this week's Substack, I talked about writing place with Kunle Ologunro and rounded up the juiciest submission opportunities, including contests and residencies galore, and @therumpus.net's amazing new fellowship and microgrant initiatives: tanyazilinskas.substack.com/p/writing-pl...

How many "nos" does it take to get a "yes"? The answer might surprise you! This post will get you fired up. Thank you to @isleofanalia.bsky.social, @simonestolzoff.bsky.social, @josephbienkahn.com, @tanyazilinskas.com, and Kim Henderson for sharing: lexipandell.substack.com/p/on-rejecti...

I am verrrryyyy excited for our upcoming BAIT reading @sausalitolibrary.bsky.social, featuring Carvell Wallace, Chia-Chia Lin, Sarah Stone, and Dāshaun Washington. Join us and listen to these amazing artists read their work! More info/RSVP here: www.baitreading.com

I am very now and have a Substack. This week I talked to writer, journalist, & friend extraordinaire @lpandell.bsky.social on how to research; also a round up of places to submit to now, like @cincinnatireview.bsky.social & @newenglandreview.bsky.social tanyazilinskas.substack.com/p/maybe-the-...

Lots of folks missed the contributor list for NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT, PART II: BACK FOR BLOOD we posted last June. Sharing it again here for all who are curious. Our lineup is crazy, and you aren’t ready for this.

Maybe the Stegner was the friends we made along the way

Vibes for next week's generative writing class at the library (we're talking about characterization and I'm having them read "Pearl, Upward" and "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?")

Writing this unhinged and personal body horror story healed a little something in me. Very grateful to @epochliterary.com and especially @jrobertlennon.com for embracing the weirdness and editing with such kindness. Print and online copies now available at epochliterary.com.

Washington Post is shuttering its book section, part of the ongoing war against literacy & knowledge. We at Current Affairs want to pick up the slack by expanding book reviews. Writers: pitch us anytime! And if you subscribe/donate we'll use the funding to commission book coverage.

Excited for this one!

New year, new BAIT at @sausalitolibrary.bsky.social! Our January 30 event features the superlatively talented readers @jonvhickey.bsky.social, @tomasmmoniz.bsky.social, @lpandell.bsky.social, and Sommer Schafer. Free to attend; more information at baitreading.com. #WritingCommunity #BayAreaWriters

Christmas cards designed by Salvador Dalí, 1950s-1970s

HUGE congrats to our former StoryBoard and PJ Seminar instructor Patricia Smith on winning the National Book Award last night for her poetry collection "The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems". buff.ly/9C9wCGu

Tonight!

This Friday! Join us for a free reading event @sausalitolibrary.bsky.social. Full details at baitreading.com.

Sensible zombies start the day with a brain muffin

This piece does so much in so little space.

I laughed out loud when I read this story by @efghannon.bsky.social in the submission pile, because what else can you do when you encounter something this stunning?

Loved the thin line between humor and disaster in these two pieces by Sophie Klar:

This flash by Christian Fuller had me at “bird shit.” Now live @havehashad.com!

I loved the loneliness underlying the scamminess of this fantastic piece by @jamieyouwere.bsky.social. Give it a read!

Yessssss @lpandell.bsky.social!

The BAIT reading series launches November 7 at 6 pm, featuring @sashavasilyuk.bsky.social, Jaime Cortez, Susanna Kwan, Lisa Teasley, and Armen Davoudian @sausalitolibrary.bsky.social. More info/RSVP here: www.baitreading.com #Authors #WritingCommunity #BookSky #reading #BayAreaWriters

And scene. Thank you to everyone who shared their work!

I think I maybe should have added an addendum not to hex me @havehashad.com @jlyocum.com

Lol @havehashad.com

Tonight! 4 pm PST/7 pm EST. Send me your stellar, weird, inexplicable work (just make sure it’s 500 words or less).

This Tuesday! May the odds be ever in your favor:

Obligatory quote repost so I can tag @havehashad.com and @tanyazilinskas.com This is going to be about the most fun anyone might legally have on any given Tuesday!

This is what we call foreshadowing

Please join me at Stories on Stage Davis for a performance of my story "Overview Effect" (originally published in @yourimpossiblevoice.com) on October 12. Full event info here: storiesonstagedavis.com/authors/10-1...

I didn’t even realize there was supposed to be a rapture when I had my generative writing class read @blackquisition.bsky.social’s “Erasure” last night: kenyonreview.org/kr-online-is...

Brilliant

Bay Area friends! I am teaching a *free* generative workshop starting this month at the beautiful Mill Valley Library, Mondays from 5:30 pm until 6:30 pm. Everyone is welcome--let's write together! More information and register here: millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/151191...

I must smell this. I also wrote a story a few years back about the weird world of perfume and perfume reviewers: porterhousereview.org/articles/sil...

The thing about having a bob with bangs is there's always one day where you look like Lord Farquaad

Editing obstacle

So ready for this @isleofanalia.bsky.social! 🎉

Today is the official pub date for this little freak of a novella by the legendary Mario Bellatin and translated by me.

I adored this flash by Devan Murphy in @electricliterature.com. Give yourself a break from the unconscionable weirdness of the world and bask in its brilliant weirdness: electricliterature.com/the-beginnin...

Cousin in Iran, she lives in a suburb of Tehran: “They’re bombing us, apartment buildings & homes. Apparently where high ranking officials live but entire buildings of other people. Dogs and cats freaking out. We couldn’t get in the basement.” They’re bombing high rises full of civilians.

both parties are the same, i hear

At first I was excited about all the HAGS in my kids’ yearbooks because I thought the youth were into witches now, but turns out it’s just ‘have a great summer’

Why am I only now learning about Goth dahlias?

I'm looking for some volunteer readers for both @fracturedlit.bsky.social & @unchartedmag.bsky.social I love for readers to have a bit of publishing success and a love for the genre/form! Let me know if you're interested! It's 2–4 hours of reading per week, but I'm flexible!