Tis the season where half my inbox emails open with "In accordance with the Bram Stoker rules..." Hey, if you are sending out an email to solicit my vote, cool. Maybe try to give me a little about you, humanize the email, give me a reason to open your message or try your book.

I have seen it. It is the tits. Do not sleep on Sour Doe.

I'm familiar with #ifcomp and #ectocomp as well as #springthing, but what other #interactivefiction comps and jams should I be checking out?

ECTOCOMP 2025: Scare up some spooky interactive fiction Oct 1-31! Then vote for stories on a scale of 1-5 until Nov 30. In English, Spanish, French, Italian, or German! itch.io/jam/ectocomp... Tangential tags #ifcomp #fiction #narrascope #amwriting #halloween

The heart caged, I broke open the ribs to remove it, and placed the herbal bundle within. Herbs of protection to keep everything left inside where it should be. The heart though…what should I do with it? #horrorwriterschat

Sorry for the late arrival, #horrorwriterschat team, but I come bearing gifts. Your favorite Martin has a text game! It's free to play in any browser and is sure to make you smarter, or teach you why you should talk to your microwave. Just ask @vanessaperrywrites.bsky.social itch.io/jam/ectocomp...

"You can't reseal a pudding cup!" "Who says?" *rocks fall from the sky as the world begins to come undone.* "The universe!" *grabs a roll of tape from the drawer.* "The universe obviously isn't up to date on Flex Tape!" --- *world burns.* "Okay, so maybe it's not that good..." #horrorwriterschat

*Sirens echo.* "Dude, did you open The Forbidden Pupping Cup?!" *looks up from peeled foil.* "Maybe? How was I supposed to know it was forbidden?" "I put a piece of tape on the side that says 'Do not open, contains cosmic evils.'" *squints at tape* "Your handwriting is terrible." #horrorwriterschat

The great pudding cup lies in wait in the back of my fridge. Life's mysteries are sealed beneath the foil. Also, penicillin. #horrorwriterschat

Hey, guys. It's your favorite Martin coming in hot (and amazingly late because life is hard and stuff). I write word-processor-to-shelf, artisanal, no-GMO, organic horror (oh, and now text adventure games!) My seal containing a terrible truth is a pudding cup.. from 1983. #horrorwriterschat

I am, actually. I'm super excited to get to roam around my house. I feel deeply exuberant and am embracing the title of loveable doofus.

Almost finished with The Sundowner's Dance. Color me impressed! Interesting premise, excellent delivery, a very fast read. It just further drives home a very important life lesson. Don't go to weird retiree parties in strange communities. Anyway, by the moon's eye! ;)

The book that spawned the game that sold the book. It is an ouroboros of story. I am over the moon. I should make sure to thank the microwave, because they really are the best appliances. ;)

This is my text game. It's a simple web game where you click on things to explore the world. In this game NPCs are appliances and they aren't totally sure they like you. So it's like life, just with more tentacles. Play it for free here and toss your favorite Martin a rating! itch.io/jam/ectocomp...

It's official. @vanessaperrywrites.bsky.social 's paperback book order crushes my monthly Amazon numbers for the last year. Amazing! Thank you again, Vanessa. For playing AND for getting the book.

This. 100% this. All of this. I've been heavily contemplating going dark in 2026. Ie. Books without marketing, just for fans and readers who keep in touch. The juice just isn't worth the squeeze at present.

Hey, guys! I made a free text adventure game you can play online that is in a competition and I would be honored if you'd take a few minutes to give it a spin (and a rating) maybe? 📺☠️ @ivygrimes.bsky.social @deepcuts.blog @aebrossbooks.bsky.social @vincentlore.bsky.social itch.io/jam/ectocomp...

Don’t allow burrito boys to cheese your microwave!

It's official. Martin's in the Interactive Fiction Database! (ifdb.org/viewgame?id=...). Now you can play the free text adventure "When the Television Decides to Murder Your Girlfriend." Enjoy the game one reviewer called "...a well-rounded adaptation that strikes the right balance..." #ifdb

I know we're all stretched thin and trying to manage multiple disasters through mutual aid right now but if you have a few bucks left, my friend's medical horror keeps going and she hasn't gotten any donations in a couple weeks. She sure could use them. Please share gofund.me/44f378445

Some people just having amazing beard game. Now imagine you have that AND write good books. Save some awesome for the rest of us, Clay. *shaking my head*

This is why I grew up near an ICBM tracking center. Just be vaporized.

Hey, #authors. Normalize getting a table partner at conventions and exclusively shilling each others books. It's a blast. Last show I did with @michelleheller.bsky.social I shouted "It's not too late to have The Worst Summer of Your Life!" to random people walking buy. 10/10 I would do it again.

My Halloween sale is now live! Many of my titles including @bbnya.bsky.social finalist Wilthaven now only 0.99. See what horrors overwhelm you this spooky season! www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Oli-J... #halloween #booksky #horrorsky #booksale

Your favorite Martin in the process of doing something...different. Yep, it's true. I'm writing a text adventure game (horror focused) for this year's EctoComp game competition. It's all about what happens "When the Television decides to Murder your Girlfriend..." Stay tuned! #horrorwriterschat

#horrorwriterschat ooo so I am Christine, I write much in the way of supernatural horror, or horror with fantasy elements or vice versa. My dream room would have a desk, bookshelves, and my tea/coffee station. There would be fairy lights everywhere. Corkboard, some inspiring pictures on the wall…

Gene Law from The Tales of Weird Florida. He'd have a lot to say to me about what exactly I could do with all that talk of sacrifice I made him go through, but, in the end, I think we'd bond over beers and the insanity that is teenage daughters. #horrorwriterschat

What inspired FAT MONSTER? The 3 biggest fictions would be: Masks of Nyarlathotep, At the Mountains of Madness, & r/antimlm, and the reality would be my 40+ years as a morbidly obese lady. #horrorwriterschat

#HorrorWritersChat I have my laptop and phone. Laptop for writing, phone for catching up on bsky, itch and discord. I use Google docs for writing so when I'm out with just my phone I can still get ideas down. (Also, I am very Hobbity so food and a hot chocolate helps me write too.)

To be honest I just email notes to myself whenever I think of it, and add them to an outline later #HorrorWritersChat

Of Castaways & Castasides was Nautical/Polar horror. Naturally The Terror was an inspiration while an anecdote about the Erebus inspired the title story. Another story, based on a sea shanty, was a tribute to a late family friend. Robin Redbreast also inspired a character. #HorrorWritersChat

I'm most comfortable with Word just because I use it all the time and it's...fine. My most essential tools however are pocket notebooks (Field Notes being the favorite) and good, inexpensive pens, like the Pilot V5. Can't recommend notebooks highly enough. #HorrorWritersChat

A scrying pool, virgin blood, and a quill pen! Or, er, actually, a laptop, Word, and the internet. I'm boring when it comes to tools. While I do like using the net for small details, I highly recommend reading a book or two about a time period if you do anything historical. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Time to shine a light on my rarely mentioned Gothic Cosmic Horror Alt-History Mystery WIP inspiration: > Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë > Ville Valo’s work & HIMself > Regency Cthulhu > Good Faeries/Bad Faeries by Brian Froud Lots of research/prep before I can share much more

Hey again, #horrorwriterschat! I'm E. D. Jones. I mostly write cosmic or weird horror. My dream writing room contains a comfy couch, a sturdy desk, a good computer, and a thousand books on shelves and in piles. It also has a window that overlooks something scenic.

Q2: #HorrorWritersChat I write better (imo) with a QWERTY keyboard. Be that my phone or an actual keyboard. I *need* QWERTY. Nature sounds for white noise. I used to be able to write to music, but I prefer birds and wind in trees now. And finally, a cat fighting for your attention.

#HorrorWritersChat My three big tools for writing: 1. My music apps. I like ambient, New Age, trance, and techno when I write. Which genre depends upon what I'm writing. 2. A drink - flavored seltzer, iced tea, or champagne. 3. An interdimensional portal that drops great ideas into to my lap.

I am late! I am MJR! I write cosmic, often anti-religious blasphemy. Ideal writing space is a white box with a couple pieces of art, a window (openable) overlooking a public square with lots of trees, and a large bamboo standing desk in front of that with a couple plants on it. #horrorwriterschat

I am not Maeve Binchy, I am totally sub-genre promiscuous, and all I really need, like the Spanish Inquisition, is a comfy chair. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Book: Something by Samuel Beckett Film: In a Violent Nature Music: any track by @melissaguerts Art: any portrait by Frank Auerbach

#HorrorWritersChat Ooh! My current WIP is a gestalt creature made from many abandoned ideas now come together to creat something new But I'll give it a go BOOKS - Watchmen FILMS - Angel Heart MUSIC - Mezzanine by Massive Attack ART - Saturn Devouring His Son How's that slice of pie?

Latest published was Fleischerei, which was inspired by Harris' Hannibal novels, Secretary (the short story by Mary Gaitskill rather than the film), ØXN's cover of "Farmer in the City", and Crimes of the Future (2022) #horrorwriterschat

#horrorwriterschat I'm pretty boring. A good laptop loaded with Microsoft Word, some earbuds playing music that helps me focus, and a tasty fizzy water. That'll usually do me.

My WIP is a Gothic romance called The Architect and the Heir. Influences include Dark Shadows TV show, Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp, Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier and the Hitchcock adaptation, and all those Gothic paperbacks I read as a teenager. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Sour Doe (still not out yet, blegh, I've been so sick this month) is my love letter to Creature Features. Think Slither, Boar, Tremors, and Prophecy (the eco horror, not the popular one lol) for vibes.

Little White Flowers was primarily inspired by "Children of the Corn." I went through a huge Alice in Wonderland phase when I was a teenager, so my MC is named after her. Definitely some Shirley Jackson vibes, and let's round it out with Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience." #HorrorWritersChat

What are the essential makings of a wicked midwestern mom summoning party? #horrorwriterschat

Four pieces of flair, eh? #HorrorWritersChat Pearl Jam on vinyl From on MGM Metamorphosis by Kafka A Monarch butterfly under glass

Hey #HorrorWritersChat, my name is Tiff and I'm pan-horrific. If money were no object, I'd write in a multi-floor Gothic library with floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows and a fireplace that hides a second, much smaller writing space that plays "Little Room" by The White Stripes when I enter.

#HorrorWritersChat A dictionary, a thesaurus, and a standing desk. It is great to sit or lie down while writing, but having the option to stand is good for the body. Then obviously a dictionary and thesaurus as I will forget what a word means/spelled or need a synonym to make up for my dumb brain.