It's been several days and the New Puppy still doesn't understand the clocks "falling back." So here we are. Up since 6 a.m. on a rare morning I could've been sleeping in. She's lucky she's cute.

If you or anyone you love has trouble sitting still, read this bite-sized story by @bdcutkomp.bsky.social. "My teachers exchange concerns abt the pacing the rocking the bouncing..Theyve got it all wrong." xraylitmag.com/in-another-life-i-am-a-direct-descendant-of-sharks-by-bethany-cutkomp/fiction

I’m excited to announce the sale of my short story “Blood and Talent” to @castofwonders.org . It’s a murder mystery set in the old Wild West … with magic! Many thanks to Katherine Inskip, Alicia Caporaso and team for giving it a home.

Well hello there, gorgeous. Fancy meeting you here.

What a hilarious article!!!!!!!! Also, my heart hurts a little now. "Oh no! Please love me! Or no worries if not!" www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Who’d think mold could be so pretty? We don’t carve our pumpkins until the day before Halloween b/c mold grows so fast here — it’s usually black, nasty & makes a slimy mess if I let it go more than a week. If it grew like this, I might revisit that decision.

Come on, guys! There's not much time left to support this great magazine ...

I have some September short science fiction, fantasy, and horror picks for you on this fine October day. reactormag.com/must-read-sh...

"We are not all built to be beautiful, we are not all built to rampage." Wow. Although I have to disagree, @shanaross.bsky.social. This poem *is* built beautiful.

This 3D map, which you can "fly" through like you're in your own starship, is so humbling. It reminds me of a Barbara Kingsolver quote about our need for nature and timeless landscape: "It reminds us that our plans are small and somewhat absurd.”

Translunar Travelers Lounge closes to submissions end of day tomorrow, 15th October at midnight Eastern Time (US) (UTC-4:00). If you want to submit speculative fiction to us, make sure it's before then! Please read the guidelines. translunartravelerslounge.com/submissions/

Important Pupdate! The New Puppy is growing fast and getting into all sorts of wonderful trouble. The Old Man has gone from being sullen, grumpy and jealous to playing like he's a youngin' again. They are so sweet together! 🥰🐾

This gorgeous story contains the most bittersweet recipe. "The forest needs a witch like the sky needs lightning and the night needs wolves. ... But to become a witch you first have to do this thing. This last, difficult, and horrible thing."

Lush strange & beautiful flash by @mizukiyamagen.bsky.social "A snail no larger than my pinky glides from the wound leaving a delicate silver calligraphy across the pillowcase. .. I hold my breath astonished less by its existence than bythe elegant hydraulics of emergence. hexliterary.com/?p=2878

I’ve always had a good feeling about life on Enceladus. The very first short story I ever had published imagined an ancient forest of giant, coral-like sea life hibernating there. With studies like this, maybe we'll have some exciting news in my lifetime.

RIP, Jane Goodall.

This is the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), native to North America. And it runs a PROTECTION SCHEME. It's 'connected', see, A Wise Guy, an Avian Cosa Nostra, a Made Bird. "Nice nest here, be a shame if something happened to it." Let's talk about the MAFIA HYPOTHESIS & brood parasitism.

I just finished The Starving Saints by @caitlinstarling.com. Wow! 🤯 What a strange, beautiful novel that somehow manages to be both stomach churning and intoxicating.

Starts today! I'm always amazed at the quality of programming given this accessible, all-online conference for writers and creators of speculative fiction is FREE. Just a few sessions I'm 👀 today: Publishing Contracts Sinners film discussion Spec Biology New Gender Gothic LET'S GOOOOOOO ...

Love this. Congrats @pedroiniguez.bsky.social

I'm the mother of two teenage daughters, so this story hits home. And that ending? 💀 I see you @jenniferhudak.bsky.social ! smallwondersmag.com/piece/echo-s...

Life is wild. 🐝 🐜 🕷️🧬 www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...

I have a room full of framed, favorite literary quotes. This one seemed particularly relevant this week.

I spent a lot of time potty training the new puppy today, which meant more time outside staring at my lawn between rainstorms. Guess what I found hiding in the blades? 🍄 (I promise none of the photos are 💩 😂) Bonus points for anyone who can help me identify them! 🧪 #fungi

Incredibly important news flash: WE HAVE A NEW PUPPY!! ❤️🐶🐾🥳

It’s normally too hot for mushrooms to grow in my yard, but it’s been raining so much this little guy pushed through the soil to say hello. 🍄 #fungifriday

Hey! Are you sure being on social media is what you need right now? Maybe you'd be better served by a book, a Discord call with friends, or diving face-first into a tub of chocolate pudding. If socials are right? Then great. But please be good to yourselves.

In ugly times, beautiful things are still being created all around us. The brightest area in this NASA Photo of the Month is the "Butterfly Star," a young protostar still gathering mass from its environment surrounded by a disc where baby planets may be forming. esawebb.org/images/potm2508a/

I love when I’m “forced” to do research for a short story. This incredible book on a deadly 1996 Mount Everest expedition is a classic, and its reputation is well deserved. It’s made me angry, sad and, above all, amazed at what people will put themselves through to achieve a dream.

Great story by @tiatashiro.bsky.social "When Mark told you he was marrying your clone you said congratulations on autopilot, because that’s what you say when your friend tells you theyre getting married & you had promised to stay friendly after the divorce." clarkesworldmagazine.com/tashiro_07_25/

Good thing we have so many limes (and lemons) on our trees right now. I’m thinking tequila shots might help me process yet another brilliant policy decision coming out of the state of Florida. 😣

👀❤️

Making art is labor. Caregiving is labor. I spent Labor Day doing both and that's a wonderful thing. Whether you're getting paid or not, what you create with your time, effort and love is valuable.

Spitfire sawfly larvae doing their excellent synchronised ward-off-a-predator thing.

That wonderful feeling when you forget you've preordered a book and then it shows up on your porch like a gift from the universe. Congrats @thomasha.bsky.social ! I know I'm going to love it.

It’s new story day for me! “Dislocated” in @flashfictiononline.bsky.social is about a support group for sufferers of long teleportation sickness and certainly has no resonance with real world events. www.flashfictiononline.com/article/disl...

Look what just arrived in the mail. It's sooo pretty! I couldn't help but read the first chapter and I know my nieces are going to love it. Congrats @michelleknudsen.bsky.social !

It's been such a dry year. It's nice to finally get some rain and see things green up nicely.

My favorite thing about Worldcon: How welcoming it was. I watched established authors gush abt other writers' works. I was invited to meals coffee and drinks by talented people who had no reason to do so, other than b/c they were kind and generous. Thanks to all who made my first con a fabulous one!

I’m headed to Seattle for Worldcon this week. It’s not only my first #worldcon but my first con of any kind so if you see me, please say hi. I will be doing my best impression of an extravert but IT'S ALL A LIE.

I loved Elizabeth Acevedo's novel-in-verse "Clap When You Land," abt two young women who find out they share the same father after he's killed in a plane crash. The verse is lyrical yet accessible & the story, inspired by real events, is a perfect mix of scandal, heartbreak & coming of age.

So beautiful! We could all use some uplifting stories and original human art rn.

More vacation pics … I fell ill in Edinburgh, so had to scale back plans, but was on the mend as we moved onto the Scottish Highlands and totally fell in love by the time we got to Isle of Skye. It was so otherworldly, I can’t wait to go back to explore further and linger longer.

I'm starting to catch up after vacation, and it's good to be home, but I'll really miss the light during our golden hour walks through Amsterdam ...

It’s fascinating when two great writers use a similar concept to create very different stories. Like @slashnburnett.bsky.social sky.social and @chrisblake.bsky.social’s recent takes on humans-turning-into-plants-to-repair-the-Earth. 🌱🍄🌹🌲🌎 1/4

Only three more days left to support this amazing magazine! If you want more original artwork and better pay for hardworking staff, now's your chance to help them reach their stretch goals.

Perfection by @aimeeogdenwrites.com. "I can teach a caveworm to dance if he hears the word blue, but that does not mean he has ever seen the sky. And Alan asked .. I am the caveworm in this scenario? And I laughed & said, all over teasing, that he was the sky." strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...

I wrote another satire bc I'm the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and I have strong feelings about camps: An Automated Phone Tree for Your Brand New Alligator-Themed Detention Center (That Is Definitely Not A Concentration Camp) Content Warning: totally a concentration camp 1/13

I feel this essay. I wrote some of my favorite stories btween school pickup and soccer practice, doctor visits and endless COVID quarantine. Right now, I’m anxious abt how little writing I’ve done this summer. But sometimes the chaos fuels the work. shanders-red-eye.beehiiv.com/p/microdosin...

Congrats to @maroon-stranger.bsky.social whose story "Lentils for Breakfast" made Reactor's Must Read Short Fiction List. This one warmed my heart, too! reactormag.com/must-read-sh...