Help! I need advice on getting out of new-project-paralysis! I can't decide which idea I want to dive into. Authors, how do you pick your next project from your idea pile??

Made some cookie dough. These aren't making it to the cookie stage.

Upholding my social duty to my coworkers by bringing in my latest dating app horror stories

My mom just found a note from Grandma to my aunt in the cookbook "June 17, 1990. Carrie, this is for you because you need all the help you can get."

I love my friends and family so much, and I truly appreciate their outpouring of support 💕💕 That being said, it's also really exciting to get my first 5-star review from a total stranger and know that my writing is spreading outside of my immediate circle.

My mom doesn't know I'm flying to see her. Almost messed up the surprise when I called her at my gate while a gate announcement was going on the intercom. Hung up immediately. I think the surprise is intact.

I don’t write queer sci-fi stories for the money. I write them because they need to be told. Because I didn’t have books like this when I was younger. Because creativity IS resistance. Still, I thank you for buying my books and holding space for the stories we need. 💕 #sapphicbooks #booksky #sff

ENTER HERE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF PORTALS is eligible for a Nebula nomination! If you're an #SFWA member and would like a free review copy, get in touch with me and @mstevensonbooks.bsky.social via email and we'd be happy to send one along. #SFF #horror #booksky

Sometimes I think it'd be cool to build a patchwork sleeve based on every story of mine that gets published, but if my latest one gets picked up, that'd probably mean getting a cow molar tattooed on my arm and IDK if I actually want that for life.

A soft place to land

If you see this and agree, you are obligated to rec a book by a fantasy author who's still writing. I don't make the rules. I mean, I do. Please though? It'd be great.

Can I turn a suburban house in the desert into a gothic setting? Let's hope so!!

It feels fitting to listen to Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights on repeat while writing the ending to this Gothic horror short story.

Fiction submissions are open now! The window will be open until January 21st 2026 at 3 p.m. UTC. For additional information about submitting including our Moksha link ⬇️ strangehorizons.com/submit/ficti...

I will never understand the people who are weird about audiobooks “not being reading”

I asked my dad, someone who doesn't really read books, how many books he thought I read last year, and he said, "700?" 42. I read 42.

People think I’m exaggerating when I say this, but I have absolutely no idea how to access ChatGPT. I don’t know if it’s an app, a website, or software that I have to download. I don’t care because I’ll never use it. But the people that think it’s universal have no idea how many people are like me.

Crows mate for life 😭😭😭😭

I don't understand why people say "on my way" in Facebook marketplace instead of giving an ETA. I don't know where you're coming from. I don't when you'll get here!

My mom jsut told me I need to get out of my house for a while because it's not good to stay inside for four days straight... I have pneumonia...

Three cough drops left... day four of pneumonia... only one week into the new year...

Last night, my nephew assembled a team to set up a trap for Santa that'd ring a bell in his room when one of the cookies was eaten. Around 1am, I woke up hearing a bell jingling then little footsteps on the stairs. Christmas feels much more magical this year with little kiddos around.

How do I deal with the query trenches? I have a missed connections breakup playlist I play when I get a rejection notification that starts out sad but slowly builds my spirits back up for trying again.

My issue with cutting filler words to make my writing more confident is that my main characters are not confident. They are bumbling fools, #JustALittleGuy, dropped into horrifying scenarios. They are making stuff up as they go. Maybe they'll have confidence by the end of the book. Probably not.

Woke up at 2:30 with sudden scene inspiration. So glad I left my laptop next to bed so I didn't have to crawl out from the covers to find it

What's worse than naming the writer Paige? Naming the writer Paige AND naming her geological engineer fiancée Roxanne

I feel like it's been months since I've let myself have fun with a writing project, but this one is already making me smile.

My next character... iykyk youtu.be/ZPjSV-lnqvg?...

I'm really tempted to write a horror project next but I'm so scared it'll end up being "slightly disturbing in a cozy way" instead

Tiktok is so messy for telling me every time people view my profile 👀👀 you can't lurk, I see you

I took about 2 months off from querying to do some edits and remind myself why I liked my novel in the first place, and I think I might be ready to start querying again soon. I don't know if it'd be better to wait for the start of the new year though...

Just woke up from an incredibly vivid dream where my friend's grandfather was a priest and we showed up at his church to do karaoke to drive the demons away and the stadium filled with onlookers as I requested to sing Beautiful by Carole King but the song was changed so I had to sing...

Sandstorm by Darude was my most listened to song this year... I blame writing.

Why couldn't Denver have gotten 8 inches of snow on a day where I didn't have to drive through it for an hour 🫠🫠

Thought I'd start the tradition of making a bookmark for every sold story of mine! The Enter Here anthology is out tomorrow! Check it out on goodreads!

If you purchased a copy of the ENTER HERE antho, get ready! Ebook copies go out this weekend and paperback copies are going out in December. @mstevensonbooks.bsky.social and I are so psyched to share it! Thanks @aimeecozza.com for cover! Full update here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/ent...

Woah, I'm a recognized author on Goodreads now!! While you're on goodreads, you should check out all the wonderful stories in the Enter Here anthology, available for pre-order now! www.goodreads.com/brookelanier

The ENTER HERE anthology is all set to release on December 2nd! @mstevensonbooks.bsky.social and I could not be more overwhelmed and thrilled. www.goodreads.com/book/show/24...

Doc said she would've certainly diagnosed my cough as croup if I were under the age of three, but alas, so now we're both stumped and I feel like this cat

The best part about pet sitting is working my way through my TBR list all weekend. 2 books down, on to the next!

There's nothing that makes me flash back to my speech therapy days quite like re-reading the meeting transcripts at my corporate day job.

It's so nerve-wracking seeing your query position trickle downward after weeks without movement in the short story submission tracker.

Mark your calendars for December 2nd!!! www.goodreads.com/book/show/24...

"Hey, hey, are you finished writing yet? Can I read it yet?"

This was pretty awesome to see tonight

faking it works just fine when no one tries to get close enough to see what's underneath

A little bit of good news: "The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a long-shot attempt to overturn the landmark 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide." www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

While it's relieving to hear that the Supreme Court denied the request to revisit same sex marriage, there's also an unsettled grief about it being raised to them in the first place.

Kill your darlings (use them in a different manuscript)

If you write while listening to music, does your music choice match the vibe of what you're writing?