Proud of my profile of JAS in New Edge Sword & Sorcery #3

This is me: take Sword & Sorcery, apply your passion

35) Jessica Amanda Salmonson deserves more kudos. As a writer, Salmonson's work is definitely a continuation of the WEIRD TALES tradition, including historical adventure fiction, S&S, horror, weird fiction, & poetry. Sadly, her peak of influence has passed, & not enough people read her now.

27) Sword & Sorcery can be punk. Not necessarily in the "let's add -punk to a word and call it a new genre" sense, but in the "let's take the attitude of critically reassessing this old thing and finding new uses that fit the needs of contemporary audiences" sense. See also: CONANN.

21) Find what you love and apply it to your Sword & Sorcery. You do not need a doctorate in Welsh history to write S&S set in Wales or inspired by Wales. But the knowledge of history can inform your fiction, and nobody can say that Katherine Kurtz' Deryni saga was less effective for her research.

9) Good sword & sorcery does not confine itself to limitations of genre. Robert E. Howard, C. L. Moore, & Fritz Leiber borrowed left- and right-handedly from both fantasy and science-fiction. Conan explored cities lit with radium-gems; Jirel of Joiry encounters aliens; Fahfrd went to Spacedock.

7) Michael Moorcock deserves a statue. Dude is still alive and writing. Whichever town he's adopted should build a black sword about thirty feet high engraved with runes that casts a shadow like an enormous sundial counting down to the end of days.

1) More women should write sword & sorcery. Please, for the love of Crom, save us from the men's rights douchebros that try to turn hardboiled fantasy into some testosterone-driven epic of macho bullshit.

Melville has the same gravitas found in sword and sorcery.

chromis(?) in london

Current read. 'French feminist journal La Fronde, at its height, had a circulation of 100,000 copies a day... one of the greatest talents of that enclave being May Armand Blanc (1874-1904)... the most extreme and the most relentless of the female Symbolists.' www.snugglybooks.co.uk/the-last-ren...

In memory of free education. Fees were re-introduced in my Honours year; my department felt strongly enough against this to cover those fees for Honours students.

Today is the OFFICIAL publication day for TEXTILE SHAKESPEARE! Please indulge me: I want to say a little (perhaps rather a lot) about it and share my acknowledgements - and a discount code! Appropriately,🧵1/10

Reminder: Please submit recommendations by Nov. 14th for the Otherwise Award jury to consider! Nominate works of speculative fiction - #sciencefiction, #fantasy, and more - that expand or explore our notions of gender: otherwiseaward.org/award/2025-o...

In which I flex my etymological muscles, or mussels. jamesenge.com/2025/11/07/e...

I read By Marsh and by Moor (Marsh and Moor, #1) by Annick Trent

Queer characters are still commonly written to have tragic love stories. They’re isolated from queer community. Their relationships are framed through a heteronormative lens—monogamous, suburban, domestic assimilation. It reinforces a narrow emotional vocabulary for queer life.

This third particularly great for Dariel on his family and personal history in a colonized country.

The third and final part of my interview with @brynhammond.bsky.social and @draq.bsky.social is live! We discuss some of the nuances of writing historical(ly flavored) fiction about people who've been sidelined in mainstream histories, plus writing influences and more.

I have never. I love writing. It's my reason for being. That means two things: Either the pilot light of my soul burns, and so I want to create, and I do it myself. Or the pilot light of my soul is extinguished, something a machine cannot replace. I would sooner be still than defiled.

Yup that was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Distracted by the sheer oil-painting beauty of the first stages THE version

padma lakshmi and melissa king possibly dating is the only celebrity gossip that has ever mattered in the history of time, all other celebrities are just virgins who can't drive

Are you a marginalized author (or the editor/agent/publicist of one) who has a trad pub book coming out in 2026 that is science fiction, fantasy, or horror and either adult or young adult? This book critic wants to know about it! Small press strongly encouraged. bookjockeyalex.com/contact/

"Words are like fish and you catch them and you get to keep them forever." = THE RAVEN AND THE REINDEER thankyou @tkingfisher.com I❣️this story of Gerta, grandmothers, unexpected Lady Bandits, wuffing reindeer laughs, otters (!!!) and Mousebones, who knows everything mostly

Suspect I'm coming on too strong with the humour, *but* on past experience the comic does dissolve itself to be much more subtle in the end result than I fear

'Recipes for low budget' and half of them have chicken in them (if not pancetta); I haven't bought chicken for like nine months, it's just not on the list. We know how to live, we don't need this kind of help.

Vantid+Water

'no single lifestyle or form of civilization is a prerequisite to living with dignity and intelligence.' This review captures much of my ambition in writing steppe peoples -- since 2003. People of the past, and of the steppe, as intelligent as you or I? As engaged in ideas? My axiom 1. Thanks EM

As we prep to open to nonfiction and reprint subs on November 24th, we’re getting excited! And we're still amazed by your support, which has been beyond our wildest dreams. Thank you for ensuring OTHERSIDE will exist for at least TWO YEARS and hopefully many more 🪐🗡️ othersidespec.com/guidelines/

It's back! We're just a bunch of local authors sitting around and talking plots and contracts and editing woes over beer and pizza. If you're in Naarm/Melbourne and you write literally anything, join us!

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Song of Spores is launching TODAY, read the many fun quotes from the book in this thread and enjoy! The preorders link is already down, you can buy here - From publisher: www.brokeneyebooks.com/catalog/p/so... Amzn US: amzn.to/3LkmdJC Bookshop: bookshop.org/a/14302/9781... (associate links)

My Whispers of Truatra universe has many short stories/novellas looking for homes. See the thread below and let me know if you might know of a good home: 11k words - Boy framed for a religious taboo, leads to him murdering someone and fleeing. Spends rest of story trying to right his exile.

This piece was shortlisted for NESS! 5k words - Barbarian woman is appalled by a strange village's interpretations of a religious fest. Uses her big axe to impress the local priest.

I know that it sounds sus to say that the story arc where Doctor Who travels around with a Nazi companion is one of the best bits, but I want to be clear that he is trying to convince her that being a Nazi sucks

speaking of oil paintings

oh yeah, finished "The Black Coast" by @mikebrooks668.bsky.social . It was a certified banger with an interesting take on cultural taboos and culture shock.

hm, bringing arts to S&S as Lloyd Biggle 'brought the arts to sci-fi' (writing about a Michelangelo-style ceiling painting important to the plot; he hinged his alien-planet plots on trumpets)

On Dec 6th I'll be part of a panel discussion on writing, publishing, and selling SFF! It'll be at the Merril Collection and I'd really appreciate y'all sharing this with any Toronto people in your life. facebook.com/events/s/cra...

Just wrote a review of @brynhammond.bsky.social and @draq.bsky.social's recent novellas. Rambling in places, perhaps? But I think these two are genuinely on to something when it comes to writing about steppe nomads and others who've been demeaned and dismissed in mainstream histories.

The latest Pasts Imperfect is out! @rhigarthjones.bsky.social discusses Ottoman receptions of Roman antiquity. Then, Black Death mythbusting; wampum beads in Canada; celebrating Native American Heritage Month; ancient Mexican coprolites; ancient world journals by @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social & more!

Back on the market after, uh, quite a while, so I made a little portfolio site. Feeling like an actual grown up. Please have a look!

Hey you all, kinda been dry on new clients recently and it's been worrying me about my long-term prospects as an independent artist. I would really appreciate some commissions for the next few months or some more substantial projects. #art #commissions

Kindle bestsellers so far this month are BANDIGOAT and GUJARATI PULP FICTION Notice: You don't have to pay the Beastly Bezorg to read our books! Buy MOBI, EPUB or PDF format ebooks from our website! The prices should be lower than Ama$on's! (Ping us if they're not!) www.blaft.com/collections/...

Thanks to Kerra for this write up on the Plague maqama article. @uniofexeternews.bsky.social news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...

I was very kindly asked to do an interview with Alex Puncekar at Grimdark Magazine, & it's now up!: www.grimdarkmagazine.com/interview-wi... If you're interested in my New Edge Sword and Sorcery Novella, The Barbarian at Dream's End, give it a look! I'm surprisingly less incoherent than I thought 🤣

The Middle English Dictionary is freely available online and if you have a certain kind of mind it's great fun to play around in! quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-eng...

Come and study with me! Call for doctoral proposals in the field of Romance and/or Erotica at Falmouth University: www.falmouth.ac.uk/research/phd...