“because the reason the piece-of-shit AI loves an emdash is because it stole all our work, and all our work features a lot of goddamn emdashes. It doesn’t use emdashes. We use emdashes, and it stole our work and then mimics us. Emdashes and all.”

For #Caturday: a poignant photo by Paul Koudounaris of a beloved pet's tombstone. Despite popular belief, the cat's name was not Dewey. This was the surname of the cat's family. "'He was only a cat,' but he was human enough to be a great comfort in hours of loneliness and pain."

What's a cemetery memoir? I wrote about the spectrum of memoirs that examine cemeteries in all their glory. Check it out at bookdna.com/best-books/c...

The world would be a better place if people read more books

Do you ever feel like you missed your calling, and were meant to be touring the countryside in a motorcycle & sidecar with your well dressed badger best friend, solving minor mysteries and enjoying tea & adventure?

The struggle is not a skippable part of the process!

We are not powerless. We have tremendous potential for good or ill. How we choose to use that power is up to us;. . .We’re told every day, “You can’t change the world.” But the world is changing every day. Only question is … who’s doing it? You or somebody else?” — J. Michael Straczynski (1954)

A heartfelt THANK YOU to all the authors, readers, and volunteers who keep this little organization going. Thank you for supporting women & nonbinary speculative fiction authors. Thank you for inspiring us & giving us your time! 😄

Must watch. Amazing.

How my morning started:

We've received more than 2,500 submissions at Nightmare this submissions period (and we don't close until midnight). I don't know exactly how I'll get through all these subs, but I do know that if every submitter bought just one issue of the magazine, it would pay for a year of content.

Fred Korematsu's fight against the cruelty of Japanese internment camps remains a constant reminder to stand up against injustice wherever it takes place. On the 107th anniversary of his birth, California continues Korematsu's fight for civil rights and freedom.

Did somebody walk over your grave—or was that just Story Hour? Rhiannon Rasmussen and Loren Rhoads read us graveside stories about respect, love, sadness, and different kinds of haunting. Lovely. You can still watch! #Booksky @charibdys.bsky.social @morbidloren.bsky.social youtu.be/WYv0jo5VPZ4

This week, cemetery connoisseur Loren Rhoads (right) makes her triumphant return—and the eerie Rhiannon Rasmussen (left) makes their Story Hour debut! Join us Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. PST! Bring something for the chill. #Booksky @charibdys.bsky.social @morbidloren.bsky.social www.storyhour2020.com

Well... if you need an hour's distraction from all this, @storyhour.bsky.social goes back to basics, the oldest form of entertainment in history: people sitting around telling each other beautiful lies, spinning the fictive dream. I'm reading "Black as Night, Red as Blood, White as Bone" on Wed.

So excited to read with these authors TONIGHT!

This is a lesson I learned as a preteen, listening to Soviet refuseniks talk about how they survived until they were allowed to leave the country. You make art, you make joy, and you fight. Because those three things are the same thing.

Learn more and register: bsky.app/profile/chri...

Hey, that’s me!

This 👇

Conversely, this could help inform you of where to set a nice plate of treats or other small offering for them to enjoy! 🫖 #witchsky

So excited to be joining Strong Women Strange Worlds next month!

The witch may walk the wood intending to brood, but she will often learn that the wood has other ideas for her. – #EmilyCBanting, 1982 #Dawn

That last line just sings.

That last line just sings.

I struck eBay gold and managed to get an almost complete run of Morbid Curiosity + a bunch of the promo mailers! CC: @morbidloren.bsky.social the first issue still eludes me…

Especially for indie authors & publishers, good word of mouth does more than *any amount of promotion an author can do.* Your words about their words are materially valuable.

5 animals you’ve seen in the wild: 1. Blue whales 2. Black bear 3. Mojave rattlesnake 4. Tule elk 5. Elephant seals

🚨 Today is the LAST DAY for my book drive and I’d love to go out with a bang! For every book sold, I'll donate $1 to AFAC, my local food bank. Ebooks, paperbacks, and signed copies all count. Please share! sonorataylor.square.site #booksky

Love this thread!

A bunch of writer friends are noting that they have not used LLMs to write. Me either, absolutely not. I feel like we need to stop asking kids what they want to BE when they grow up and start asking them what they want to DO. Because: I am not here to BE A WRITER, I am here to WRITE.

Never have. Never will. Not interested in going anywhere *near* a crap app built out of countless millions of hard-won words stolen from my colleagues, the use of which will (bonus!) begin progressively to degrade my cognitive skills and blunt the edge of the tool I’ve spent half a century honing. 🤨

It’s 4:15. Time to turn on the lights.

This night was so much fun!

Jane Yolen wrote me yesterday with a marketing plan for my new book!

Not sure I want an extra hour.

The other readers at the HWA event are @writerofweird.bsky.social @morbidloren.bsky.social @fredwiehe.bsky.social @jonathan-fortin.bsky.social & @pronouncedlahra.bsky.social Come join us for a spooky good time!

I need to get my hands on these cards.

Not all crooked trees are bent with age. Some lean over to tell secrets, if only we would listen. Secrets only the owls know.

Cemetery lovers! I'm joining authors Amy Shea (Too Poor to Die) and Beth Winegarner (San Francisco's Forgotten Cemeteries) to talk about our cemetery books at the lovely old San Francisco Columbarium this Thursday night. Register for a free ticket at eventbrite. www.eventbrite.com/e/a-book-tou...

Cemeteries + travel, what could be better? Last day! Enter to win an ebook of my new cemetery memoir, Still Wish You Were Here: More Adventures in Cemetery Travel. www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

Ann Radcliffe eating hard cheese right before bed to give herself nightmares, Stoker claiming Dracula was the result of a nightmare induced by a “too generous helping of dressed crab,” let’s go back to the golden age of eating incredibly rich food before bed to create horror literature

It's October! We're all wearing our SpOoKy hats now, right? Right? #SpookyHats

Had the honor of being on a death care in science fiction panel with @morbidloren.bsky.social at FOGcon a lifetime ago; this event looks great!

SF Bay Area Horror fans! I’m going to be reading with other members of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the @horrorwritersassoc.bsky.social on October 25! www.litquake.org/litcrawl for more details!

Do you like cemeteries? Are you on Goodreads? Enter to win an ebook of my cemetery memoir Still Wish You Were Here: More Adventures in Cemetery Travel on Goodreads! www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

Important info on scams for authors here.