A bio of Charles R. Saunders, an important but sadly too often forgotten Black writer of sword and sorcery fantasy (which he called sword and soul), early critic of racism in fantasy, and journalist is coming out in January. The author, Jon Tattrie, will be on @mealofthorns.bsky.social, too!

"I’m thrilled to read that AI may be able to translate whale song or read charred papyri scrolls. But write emails because that’s hard? Generate pictures of Yoda and Harry Potter sharing a milkshake with a heart-shaped crazy straw? Do your own dirty work." -interview with Nick Mamatas

For Saturday our space opera serial continues as the team re-enter the dimensional gate to learn what happened to Spy Machine. www.patreon.com/posts/spy-ma...

Oh yeah the shadow mayor, maybe let's not talk about that

Second day of Nancy 🏈🏈🏈

Imagine finding a bear that fuckin Eugene Toomsed his way into your crawlspace. You could never be 100% sure he wasn't sleeping off several human livers

No. i want to see them fight

mods are asleep post lutes

Writer hack: If you stand completely still when someone asks "how's that book you're writing coming along?" they can still see you, but they'll be so put off, they'll leave you alone.

Thus poem always astounds me. Sadly the alt text cannot do it justice, for it reads so many ways.

Oh! I didn't notice the date! Here's my new story--it's DEFINITELY NOT about AI! Go check it out--free to read in text and audio! It's about a ten minute read, so you have nothing to lose except, um, ten minutes! www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/hagi...

Most of my life has been in costal, California, Ohio, Seattle, or New Jersey. There were some brief sojourns in Arizona, Missouri and Tennessee, but none were as long as a year a stretch. So yeah, lighthouses are an expected part of the landscape.

I watched Wolf Man, a film about communicating with loved ones, and turning into a werewolf. Mostly the werewolf thing. nightofthehats.blogspot.com/2026/01/i-wa...

For the second day in a row in 2026, a one submission, one rejection day

Can't believe you've forgotten goblin winter already

I read Revenge Of The Slasher Film Archetypes by John A Tures in @rfpress.bsky.social in which the cliched victims find themselves being killed again and again... nightofthehats.blogspot.com/2026/01/i-re...

I have been to the post office to send story postcards to patrons at the physical postcard level of my Patreon. If you want to make me print something out and walk out in 2C weather, you too can subscribe. patreon.com/neilwillcox

They'll make an energy drink out of anything today.

IT'S A GOD? That Doesn't Mean It Outranks You!

The cover artwork from the new Winter issue of Kaleidotrope—as well as my new header and avatar—is by the talented Cita A F, whose art has previously appeared in the zine! www.behance.net/citafarani

LRP: Fine 2026 will be the year I watch Metropolis

At least we don’t live in a world of staggering class disparity in which a tech magnate attempts to quash left-wing sentiment using sexualized artificial intelligence!

"Steal Jo's car," has mysteriously appeared on my 2026 idea list @jmgatford.bsky.social

By the way, Kaleidotrope is open again to cover art submissions. As with everything, nothing AI-generated or assisted, but reprints are more than acceptable. You'll find the full guidelines, along with where to email me links to your portfolios or galleries, here:

never talk to me or my son ever again

new years thoughts

"I asked chatgpt" well I asked this lady. not sure I'm ahead on this one actually

An anonymous source aboard a deep space resurrection vessel, operating outside of local jurisdiction, has sent a covert message. It seems that someone is making unauthorised clones of the rich and powerful who are being brought back to life and ask you to investigate.

There are 242 working days in 2026. If you write just one page a day - just 250-300wds, roughly 5 Bsky posts - you will have two full scripts or a novel by New Years Eve. If you write just two pages a day - just 500-600 words - you will have five scripts or one epic novel. Just. Keep. Writing.

I have been to the post office to send story postcards to patrons at the physical postcard level of my Patreon. If you want to make me print something out and walk out in 2C weather, you too can subscribe. patreon.com/neilwillcox

My sword and sorcery tale, Black Fruit, is out today in Savage Realms Monthly #41. There's been some heavy weight stories in the last 41 issues, and I'm proud to count mine among them. V.K. Boone's story alone is worth the price of admission and was a really tough yarn to follow. a.co/d/4Apyf05

January 1, 1960: Johnny Cash plays first of many free concerts behind bars at San Quentin Prison, California; Merle Haggard is among the inmate audience.

I read Revenge Of The Slasher Film Archetypes by John A Tures in @rfpress.bsky.social in which the cliched victims find themselves being killed again and again... nightofthehats.blogspot.com/2026/01/i-re...

Cosy-mic horror is that anything?

Cosy-mic horror is that anything?

Something that’s bothered me for years. Terrence Oblong solves a long running mystery ‘Taking a Dalek up the stairs’ is today’s hilarious pick of the day. www.abctales.com/story/terren... Please share if you can.

Correct Star Wars viewing order: 1 - Andor 2 - Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure 3 - The Star Wars Holiday Special 4 - The Muppet Show season 4, episode 14 “The Stars of Star Wars” 5 - A New Hope 6 - The Empire Strikes Back

Can't believe you've forgotten goblin winter already

Starting out the new year with a tiny, oblique story A Grave Situation www.patreon.com/posts/grave-...

Narrowly beat my first story submission of the New Year.

Breakfast will be summonable by the press of a button

King Ludd’s Rag submissions are open for the next two weeks! Short stories 4,000 words and up. oleada.io/publication/...

Narrowly beat my first story submission of the New Year.

First story rejection of the New Year! Start as you mean to go on as I always say.

As we observe Public Domain Day I want to call attention to Ars Magica. It's now been more than a year since we declared the text of Ars Magica 5th Edition, plus a lot of supplements going all the way back to 3rd Edition, under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 license. atlas-games.com/arsmagica/op...

2026: YEAR OF THE GOBLIN BAYBEEE WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN

new year, same wizard in my yard, casting spells on my family

We're open for fiction submissions! We publish unsettling bad time stories that straddle the horror, fantasy, and science fiction spectrum. But genre is made up so if you have a dark weird horrible story that could be a fit, send it in and let us worry about it. No closing date, open indefinitely.

Happy Birthday, racehorses.

Y'all should read this brilliant mashup of Beowulf and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. "Every Scylding in Heorot liked mead a lot, But Grendel the beast, roaring outside did not. Grendel hated Scyldings, the whole Danish clan. Can I say why? I don’t think I can."