Happy New Year. Welcome to the new age. Throw open the portals and polish off your ancient altars - we have some summoning to do!

I just asked my niece if what she was saying was “rizz” or “sus” and she laughed me back to the Stone Age where I belong. Apparently I didn’t use the former correctly, and no one uses the latter anymore. I used to be cool. 😜

I would commit murder for Mucinex Cold & Cough right now.

Thanks, all. Despite all this, I did get to spend time w/ @briankeene.bsky.social, my daughter, & the rest of my family, and that’s worth any amount of trouble. ❤️❤️❤️ And I got some good loot!

Not phone, it turns out. Email hacked. Money stolen. Tested positive for Covid this morning. Nightmares. Headaches. Deadlines. But all this is ok becuz @ least we have a strong, sensible econ— Uh, peace w/ our neigh— Er, a fair system for immig— Equality for — Well…at least it’s almost 2026.

Phone was hacked. If u get any weird texts/msgs/links from me, don’t click on them. Have to spend afternoon unfucking this mess. I am hot-tears-&-swear-muttering seething right now. I want Biblical-style vengeance. Instead, I get to go to Geek Squad. At the mall. The day before Christmas Eve.

So sorry to hear about James Ransone's passing. He was great in everything he did. No one should ever feel so alone. Rest in Peace, Deputy So-and-So. You were a light in the dark.

I remember when I first got this new thing called email, & every time a cute little envelope appeared in my Inbox, I’d get so excited. Now, I have approximately 8000 of them. I am less excited than I used to be. Not that I don’t appreciate hearing from people. It’s just overwhelming sometimes.

Working on writing/ghostwriting/teaching/household/symposium/book coaching stuff over the next two months. If I owe you something, I’m working on it. Please bear with me.

@briankeene.bsky.social is sharing pictures from Necon on his Patreon this week. Here's a pic from my first Necon, with Brian, @marysangiovanni.bsky.social @jeffstrand.bsky.social @cgolden.bsky.social James A. Moore and many other friends, at The Lobster Pot in Bristol RI.

So right now, @briankeene.bsky.social is making dinner. More accurately, he’s playing air-guitar across the kitchen and belting out Rush’s “Red Barchetta” and occasionally making the drum solo noises in his pjs and bathrobe, and it is as charming and adorable as it sounds.

Remember, this programming is separate from the Women’s Symposium programming; just a heads-up

If you are attending @scaresthatcare.bsky.social's AuthorCon VI as a professional, and you would like to be involved in Programming, please fill out this brief questionnaire. Deadline is December 16. forms.office.com/r/ctEjc4cF8c

The aim of the symposium is to offer practical, actionable advice, positive support, and to enable women to hold each other up whilst celebrating ourselves

I'm excited to announce my involvement in this Women in Horror Writing Symposium, open to any and ALL women, immediately prior to Authorcon VI (Which I'll also be at). I'm running a course on confidence building skills for birds trying to navigate this industry. Tickets: shorturl.at/U3Fba

@gemmafiles.bsky.social I think you'd dig this one. You too, @marysangiovanni.bsky.social, @amandaheadlee.bsky.social.

If you’re a woman and a writer and you read one thing this evening, make it this.

Hey! Psst. Hey! A new post. This is about as open and forthcoming as I get. Please read, particularly if you're a woman. This one is important to me. msgwriterslife.wordpress.com/2025/12/04/h...

Ok I’m gonna try going back to bed.

Demiurge: when you only kinda have a desire to create a material universe.

When I hoped I would always have a reason to get up in the morning, I didn’t realize it would be because I have to pee. 😒

In continuing with tradition, I like to call out when students mention writers they admire or find inspiring. Right out of the gate, first week of classes, a student mentioned being inspired by @ramseycampbell.bsky.social. Good taste in fiction always warms the heart. ;)

If you admire a woman, if her strength, her inner beauty, her talents, and her dignity are an inspiration, tell her. Tell her.

Dignity. People deserve dignity, at least. And I dare say, the mark of a strong woman (or person of any sex or gender, really) is that despite whatever happens around her, her dignity and her belief that she deserves that dignity never wavers. I aspire to that, too.

I aspire to be a woman like that.

I don’t think people give Betty White, Bea Arthur, & Dixie Carter enough credit for their eloquent, outspoken views of women’s equality & well-being. They championed beauty at any age, but more importantly, they championed women finding confidence, embracing their intelligence, 1/2

HUNDREDS of new items just added to our online store! New books! Rare books! Signed books! Comic books! Audiobooks! And hundreds more being added in the weeks ahead. Order now and receive your shipment before the holidays! vortexbooksandcomicsonline.bigcartel.com

Mary inspires a frank and - at times - emotional discussion about Brian's friendship with J. F. Gonzalez, recounting how the two met, things they achieved together, what J. F. would think of things now, and his lasting legacy on the horror genre. www.patreon.com/posts/ido-pe...

I need a laugh. Let’s play a game. Things you could say both at the Thanksgiving table and in the bedroom. I’ll start. “Whew. I’m stuffed. And I could use a nap, after that…” 🤣

I have been a writing machine today and it feels good to be back.

Just checking in with the world. America is still a tire fire, I see. I know it’s exhausting, demoralizing, and depressing, but you’re fighting for the people you love. Keep at it. Keep going. Keep fighting the bullies and the bad guys.

I’m looking forward to this anthology, I only managed to score a couple of the original chapbooks from Keith.

WHITE NOISE PRESS: THE CHAPBOOKS Fully illustrated w/ new Story Notes by the authors. Contributors: Brian Keene, Richard Chizmar, me, Gary Braunbeck, Elizabeth Massie, Jeff Strand, Alison Littlewood, James A. Moore, Kealan Patrick Burke, Gary McMahon, & 11 others! www.amazon.com/White-Noise-...

Also for science!

For science!

Today!!

This is on like Donkey Kong. Be there or be...non-Euclidean.

pssst frenchpresspub.blogspot.com/2025/11/we-n...

Before it's lost in some generational gap forever, fun fact: Gabagool is actually spelled cappacola. It's just phonetically pronounced gabba-gool by NJ/NY Italians. 😆

Our Instacart shopper has @briankeene.bsky.social’s sense of humor when it comes to replacements, I see… 😜

I've been away for a while in my head, but something @briankeene.bsky.social said brought me back. I'm back now. And I'm ready to spark things up.

Peep this

All dressed up for @briankeene.bsky.social’s grandma’s 100th birthday!

Me: I think you’ll be bored in WV. @briankeene.bsky.social: Nah, I have hobbies. Like the old moonshining still. I can have it up and running in 48 hours. Me: …Isn’t that illegal? Me: …How many times in our relationship have I asked, “Isn’t that illegal?” 🤨

Happy Halloween!!! 👻

This is my life: @briankeene.bsky.social: "It's not that I don't listen to you. It's just that you talk a lot." Clearly, Keene is entering the Carl Brutananadilewski phase of our lives together.

OK, this made me giggle out loud.

Was being productive but then I David-Lynch-texted @briankeene.bsky.social a bunch of nonsense. I swear I meant to make sense but autocorrect & blurry allergy eyes conspired against me. My gum's come back in style. hahaha I'm just going to show myself out. Quick lunch/nap & then back to work.

Wonders... we're surrounded by wonders... That phone in your pocket could power a rocket. But what does the military have? Look around & be amazed, @briankeene.bsky.social @kozeniewski.bsky.social That pad on your lap could buy a shirt at the Gap. But what does the military have?

Today I found the Crouch End part of Columbia, PA. It was surreal.