Kaleidotrope will re-open to submissions in 2026. Not until April, but forewarned is forearmed! 😀

I’d be grateful if folks followed this project on Kickstarter 🖤 Aiming right now to go live in January, depending on when I get all my materials ready. We have some exciting invited authors and @mspencerdraws.bsky.social is on board for interior illustrations.

Well lookie here! It's my best of/most notable/favorite young adult science fiction, fantasy, and horror books of 2025! reactormag.com/notable-youn...

For what remains of Puerto Rican Heritage Month, I wanted to share work by other Puerto Rican authors Today, I wanted to shout out @tropicaleccentric.bsky.social whose novel, "Andújar: the Robot Gentleman of San Juan" is a delight

Love this piece on "box-words" in SF, using examples from EMBASSYTOWN, which I happen to be reading now and am loving. Mieville has a unique knack for making it a readerly joy to puzze thru the neologisms!

In "Puerto Rico: A National History", Jorell Meléndez-Badillo talks about how "Diasporicans" make circular migrations, and "jumping the puddle" becomes a way to reconnect with the cultures of the archipelago 2/2 strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...

I really did take the weekend off on this, didn't I? Lol catching up. . . For what remains of Puerto Rican Heritage Month, I wanted to share work by other Puerto Rican authors Check out @benfrancisco.bsky.social's playful take on that most Puerto Rican of customs, "jumping the puddle" 1/2

Such an awesome event! And so lovely to have the chance for a sweet reunion with my old college roomie and fellow Boricua writer @victorpineiro.bsky.social! BBB is always great but this was an especially amazing line-up of four all-star writers I admire!

Alt text: An illustration playing off Garth Williams’s work in Charlotte’s Web. A b&w pen & ink style sketch of a pig from the back staring at a spider’s web between two posts, with the words FUCK ICE woven into the web’s center. A politically engaged spider dangles down from the web.

This weekend's #quasar was one of the most engaging virtual conferences I've attended in a while! Many thanks to the @sfwa.org team and all the amazing volunteers who made it happen!

My review of the Season 2 finale of Gen V. Mostly a solid closing, with a few excellent performances and some fun teases for the final season of The Boys!

Look at this cool LISTICLE that VAL VEGA author @benfrancisco.bsky.social wrote about Latinx SF! Luminaries mentioned include Carlos Hernandez and @willalex.bsky.social! Among others! benfrancisco.net/2025/10/15/1...

Sordidez! 🇵🇷🌿☀️🌋⚡ Sal & Gabi! 🪄🐓🌌🤖🥟 💜💙💚💛🧡♥️🤎🖤🤍🩵🩷

"Pardo weaves a wonderful blend of hard-boiled noir, engaging characters, and imaginative world-building that goes far beyond the usual 'What if the U.S. lost World War II?'" Thanks @benfrancisco.bsky.social for putting THE SHAMSHINE BLIND in such awesome company

In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, I wrote a listicle of awesome Latinx Science Fiction to read ASAP! W/ great books by @boriscrito.bsky.social @pazsays.bsky.social @valerievaldes.bsky.social @latinxfiles.bsky.social @willalex.bsky.social @silviamg.bsky.social benfrancisco.net/2025/10/15/1...

Forgive the cobbled-together feel of this, but eat up! Nine stories in this TropiWeird combo - including two stories never before seen! As they say in PR: buen provecho! kyr-1066.itch.io/a-series-of-...

I loved this @newyorker.com short story by Rivka Galchen. It feels like an anthem for our time, a day-in-the-life of a dystopia, set in the grueling present day of our "current macro-environment."

With the passing of a lead actor and a new season of The Boys over its shoulder, Gen V gracefully lands its season 2 premiere; Ben Francisco reviews the return to Godolkin in "New Year, New U" #GenVseason2 reactormag.com/tv-review-ge...

I have a review of the #GenV season 2 premiere up at Reactor! A fitting homage to Chance Perdomo, though the reset to the status quo is occasionally jarring. Hamish Linklater is a great addition as the casually callous new dean who always seems to see what's coming. reactormag.com/tv-review-ge...

Watching #StarTrek Voyager S6Ep22 The Muse. "To the gleaming cities of Earth, where peace reigns, and where hatred has no home." Oh how I wish for these words to someday be the truth of what we live on this earth in the here and now!

TFW you're watching #StarTrek Strange New Worlds and a holodeck character says, "I'm a writer, I'm never happy about anything" and your husband laughs a little *too* hard...

I'm at #SeattleWorldCon! At noon I'm on a panel called "And I'm All Out of Spoons," which seems apt as that is my perpetual state lately! And at 4:30 pm I'm helping facilitate a discussion space for Latinx creators. Please say hi if you're here!

So excited to be part of this panel at #WorldCon2025! This awesome Boricua SF jangueo is virtual, plus I'm doing a few others in person in Seattle.

Yay!!! These stories dazzled, horrified, fascinated, filled me with hope. How diminished this the world would be without queer voices, queer stories, queer magic and prophecy and brilliance!

A bunch of people have asked for my take on ELIO, Pixar's latest. I loved it - you can read my full review at @reactorsff.bsky.social. And if you'd like more Latinx space ambassador stories, you can also check out my YA novel, Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth. reactormag.com/pixars-elio-...

Once you get past the slow beginning, Pixar's Elio combines beautiful animation, an expansive world, and an emotional story of Latinx speculative fiction. Read @benfrancisco.bsky.social's review: reactormag.com/pixars-elio-...

Today is the last day of my writing residency in Tennessee. After nightfall, I am going to close it out by following the advice of @kellylink.bsky.social and writing by the light of the moon! (It should be just about full.)

Squee! So honored and excited to learn that VAL VEGA: SECRET AMBASSAFOR OF EARTH is a finalist for the 2025 International Book Awards - in both the science fiction and young adult categories! www.internationalbookawards.com/2025awardann...

What an honor to be part of such a special event! Thank you, @storyhour.bsky.social for having me, thank you @megelison.bsky.social for hosting, and thank you @sillysyntax.bsky.social for sharing such a powerful story. The unplanned theme was beautiful wounded queers learning to love themselves.

This is TONIGHT! Join us!

Very excited to be reading on @storyhour.bsky.social with the brilliant @sillysyntax.bsky.social tomorrow (WEDNESDAY!) at 10pm ET! Will be reading "The After Party," a queer story of difficult encounters and fabulous parties in the after life.

Story Hour is very proud to start June with stories from the benevolent Ben Francisco and the stupendous Suzan Palumbo. Guest hosting by the magnificent Meg Elison! Join us Wednesday at 7:00 PDT! #Booksky @benfrancisco.bsky.social @sillysyntax.bsky.social @megelison.bsky.social www.storyhour2020.com

Got back from vacation to find that Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth had gotten this lovely 5-star review from Readers' Favorite! "Populated with a dazzling cast of humans and aliens alike, Francisco’s story is witty, moving, and impossible to put down." readersfavorite.com/book-review/...

Apparently there are right-wing shenanigans pushing a specific "slate" for the Locus Awards. Instead of doing that, just vote for all your favorite SF of 2024! And if that happens to include stories of queer Latinx characters saving the Galaxy thru empathy and diplomacy, that's awesome! 🙃

Just one week left to vote in the Locus Awards - and anyone can vote! Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth didn't make the official recommended list, but you can still write it in under the Young Adult Novel category! And you can vote for all your other fav SF of 2024 too. poll.voting.locusmag.com

A reminder that if the government can send migrants to a prison camp without any due process, it can send U.S. citizens there, too. I know because this happened to me and my family in 1942.

Love. One of my college roommates was out today with her mother, her kids, and her grandchildren. 4 generations!

Mother and child together at the #HandsOff rally! Two generations, one struggle. From my parents I learned that love is larger than borders, that free speech is sacred, and that community means standing up for the most vulnerable among us.

Who are the five writers that made you? Samuel Delany Gabriel Garcia Marquez Ursula Le Guin Kelly Link Manuel Ramos Otero Alice Walker *allowing myself 6 due to a tie lol. How are y'all getting these lists down to only 5?

"The temptation to move right on immigration is a trap. It’s a strategy rooted in fear rather than power." -Scot Nakagawa open.substack.com/pub/antiauth...

Love this analysis of "Brincando Charcos" and a whole bunch of great stories!

Great list of SF from 2024!

I’m so excited to share that Deficient is a winner of the 2025 YAdudebooks Awards! This was a complete surprise—I had no idea Deficient was even in the running. Huge thanks to YAdudebooks and the wonderful Weldon Ngetich for reading, reviewing, and nominating. Feeling all the emotions! #bookaward

Friends who are members of SFWA - Friday is the last day for nominations for the Nebulas - incl the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult & Middle Grade Fiction)! Please consider nominating Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth, my queer Latinx YA space opera about overcoming colonialism thru empathy.

It’s hard to describe how much anxiety and anger I’ve felt this past month as I’ve watched Trump drag this country deeper and deeper into becoming a fascist police state. Particularly for undocumented immigrants, this timeline has become a nightmare.

Thanks to our wonderful authors who read at Brooklyn Books & Booze on February 18-- #AlayaDawnJohnson, @jfoster.bsky.social, @benfrancisco.bsky.social and @schanoes.bsky.social --plus sub host @amygoldschlager.bsky.social! More authors, stories and, drinks again on 3/18! 🥃📚 BrooklynBooksBooze.com

featuring ESCAPE VELOCITY and THE LAST DAYS OF GOOD PEOPLE ✨

Finally did 2024 wrap-up with some of my favorite speculative fiction of the year! Incl brilliant novels by @rsagarcia.bsky.social, Sarah Langan, @victormanibo.com @jfoster.bsky.social and @atsayre.bsky.social! benfrancisco.net/2025/02/18/f...