Congratulations to a brilliant writer and my great friend @montelin.bsky.social

It's not enough to narrate intensely to make a story intense. Readers stop flinching at fake punches. They stop believing. Nobody sticks around for fictions authors tell themselves about themselves. Not even a whiff of it.

For interfaces that are memory hogs (like design applications), making the user have to double-click to make a precise selection or input is an egregious usability blunder.

🔥 Phano 17 up at www.phano.com 🔥 Jump through the heavens, save what’s precious, and deposit your remains. Three new pieces fresh and free to read: - “Zugunruhe” by Christopher R. Muscato - “My Mourning Cloak” by Anna Boyce - “How To Use The Dead” by Kalvin M. Madsen

Day 125! I read Dark, Where the Sun Never Sets by Yasmeen Amro. Published in Phano (www.phano.com). Two cousins find a light in the dark of an eternal eclipse. Read my review here: mickstaniforth.wordpress.com/2026/05/05/s...

Excited that 🍃 "Affinity Gradient" by the brilliant Miah O'Malley 🍃 has been shortlisted for ECO25: The Year's Best Speculative Ecofiction (published by @apexmag.bsky.social). Formidable selection, and that cover art... dang! Looking forward to reading this. www.apexbookcompany.com/blogs/frontp...

UPDATE: Gov. @nedlamont.com released the following statement to me on ICE arresting the son of an Afghan interpreter here in Connecticut. Notably, Lamont said ICE detained the 19-year-old "outside of his home." That's new. Read my full story here: www.ctinsider.com/news/article... #nutmegsky

🔥 Phano 16 up at www.phano.com 🔥 Bask in a stationary sunset, leap across the genre branches, man a cosmic outpost. Free to read: - “Dark, Where the Sun Never Sets” by Yasmeen Amro - “Gravity’s Rainbow, Star Wars and SF’s Identity Crisis” by James Machell - “Inferno’s Rings” by Barry Charman

The Sphinx Gate in The Neverending Story symbolizes the judgments of those who listen to stories, who awaken to destroy falsehoods that break a story’s spell. If you tell stories, tell them with confidence.

Shout out to @danpeacock.bsky.social, whose short story "Firestarter" is long listed for the 2025 BSFA Awards. Fingers crossed! www.phano.com/articles/fir...

If you are a writer or an editor who can afford it, I recommend 3d printing as a hobby. Even if you are stuck looking at the same spot on the screen, there is something in the room making progress. Looking forward to that refrigerator can dispenser!

Congrats to @renanbernardo.com and @jordankurella.com for being nominated for the Nebula award! Best wishes and good luck to all the nominees!

My story "Send Down a Hogshead of Whiskey" is up at Phano, and you should read it if you enjoy being inexplicably emotionally involved with a house. www.phano.com/en/ #shortstories #writing #writingwithoutrules

FFer Read of the Day: "Transferable Skills" by @joellekillian.bsky.social in Phano www.phano.com/articles/tra...

🔥 Phano 15 up at www.phano.com 🔥 A dying futuristic home, hidden traditions and questionable friends await your discovery in three free new stories. - “Send Down a Hogshead of Whiskey” by Jeff Somers - “The Secret Procession” by B. Morris Allen - “The Real Claudius Maxwell” by Joshua Mannix

My fiancé and I joke about characters saying "hey" to each other when trying to catch each other from some emotional free-fall. "Don't you dare beat yourself up for that burned batch of cookies," etc. But this and other such tropey shortcuts add up to real erosions to quality writing.

Just a friendly reminder that Phano follows a strict policy of not accepting or publishing AI-generated content. It all comes from human hands and human decisions.

🌌 Nebula Awards Countdown 🏆 If you’re reading eligible short stories, check out “Look for the Helpers” by Dave Walsh, a fan favorite and a story with heart that's free to read at Phano. www.phano.com/articles/loo...

🌌 Nebula Awards Countdown 🏆 If you’re reading eligible short stories, check out “A City in her Heart” by Yasmeen Amro, Pushcart-nominated, recommended at Fusion Fragment and free to read at Phano. www.phano.com/articles/a-c...

🌌 Nebula Awards Countdown 🏆 If you’re reading eligible short stories, check out “The Only Good Billionaire” by Andrew Kozma, shortlisted for Brave New Weird: The Best New Weird Horror + More Vol. 4 and free to read at Phano. www.phano.com/articles/the...

🌌 Nebula Awards Countdown 🏆 If you’re reading eligible short stories, check out “Affinity Gradient” by Miah O’Malley, recommended on Reactor’s list for must read speculative short fiction for 2025 and free to read at Phano. www.phano.com/articles/aff...

Phano is proud to submit Blaize M. Kaye's "Endling" for consideration to the 2026 Cain Prize. Fingers crossed! As always on Phano, his far-striding story is free to read here: www.phano.com/articles/end...

I'm really proud/happy/excited to say that my story "Endling" is now live at Phano. www.phano.com/articles/end... It's a story about the Fermi Paradox, Philosophy, being from the global south, and making a VERY questionable moral decision (over and over again).

🔥 Phano 14 up at www.phano.com 🔥 Come chase darkness across worlds, peer into the radio spectrum for life, and win more than you know what to do with in three new free-to-read stories... - “Endling” by Blaize M. Kaye - “The Water's Country” by Miah O'Malley - “Winning” by E. M Dasche

🤞🏼

Fair warning: Phano is migrating domains, so fingers crossed on redirect links working when it happens.

For publishers, editors and writers hosted at Cloudflare who don’t want content scraped by AI crawlers, Cloudflare has easy-to-use bot blockers in the control panel. (nice-to-have)

🎊 Happy New Year! 🎊 Phano has three brand new short stories, free to read here: www.phano.co - “The End of the Line” by Anna Clark - “The End of Everything, the Beginning of Something” by Peter Barretta - “Symbiosis” by Catherine Tavares Also... 🎂 Happy Birthday Phano - Proud of you! 🎂

🎗️Proud to mail along six stories at Phano to be considered for a Pushcart this year: www.phano.co/articles/lif... www.phano.co/articles/the... www.phano.co/articles/a-c... www.phano.co/articles/rub... www.phano.co/articles/a-d... www.phano.co/articles/ele... Fingers crossed! 🤞🏼

🔥 Phano 12 is live! www.phano.co/issues/issue... “Somewhere Between Flesh and Flame” by John Leahy “She Brings the Stars” by Sam W. Pisciotta “The Departure” by Cecilia Maddison Phano Issue 11 if you slept on it… www.phano.co/issues/issue...

A haunting story about periods, bodies, and the moon. The end of a relationship that might also be the end of the world. There's always an opportunity to be true to oneself. Even at the last moment. by @nomonbooks.bsky.social in Phano @ammansabet.bsky.social

Some great selections here! Of course, proud to share "Affinity Gradient" by Miah O'Malley. But also loved reading "Singularities" by Cressida Roe (at Kaleidotrope) and "Ghosts of Summer" by Catherine Tavares (at Apex).

Aaaaahhh! "Ghosts of Summer" is on here!!! I absolutely love @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social's recommended lists, and it has been a career dream to see one of my stories included. I am over the moon right now to see my story in such awesome company. You definitely should check out the full list.

My 2025 Eligibility List See the comments below for links. And hey... thanks. 😌 #WritingCommunity

Awards Eligibility Post: I published a novella, 12 stories, & 5 flash in 2025! Huge thanks to all the publishers, editors, readers, & reviewers who spent their time with my writing this year. 🖤🎈🦇

I've never done an eligibility post before. Be gentle. Share and share alike. Any consideration when it comes time for awards is greatly appreciated.

Dialogue alone is almost never enough for anyone to care about the story the dialogue belongs to.

The title "poet laureate" should be expanded to "author laureate".

I have a new story out! It's speculative fiction piece about what's left at the end of the world, called The Growing Moon. www.phano.co/articles/the... #litmag #specfic #black #sapphic #phano

🔥 Phano 11 is live! www.phano.co/issues/issue... “The Growing Moon” by Mon Misir “Three Days and Two Nights in the Eschatology Arms” by Frank Ward “Elegy for the Nameless Man” by E. B. Helveg Phano Issue 10 if you slept on it… www.phano.co/issues/issue-10

🔥 Phano 10 is live! www.phano.co/issues/issue-10 “Hey, Brad Pitt” by Steve Nelson “Affinity Gradient” by Miah O’Malley “Place is to Society as Nodes are to Networks” by Helen Brain Phano Issue 9 if you slept on it… www.phano.co/issues/issue-9

Who records history after humans depart? Birds remember. Finch, Chickadee, Turkey, Crow... Here is our story, made theirs. Check out my avian mythos, "The Last Harvest," in Phano!

“It Takes a Galaxy” published in Phano Magazine. A found family of aliens are adopting a new member and have *all the feelings.*

It's grating to me to read the term "AI" in sci-fi. Not that there shouldn't be a term, or stories with AI. Just seeing the same two letters in every story feels like reaching into a closet for the same coat hanger to hang an idea on when we're looking for new ideas of what it even is (or could be).

When you've completed your story, pat yourself on the back. Not an easy feat. Now, return to your opening line. This line got you, the writer, to write. But the reader probably needs a different door into your story. Thank your opening line for its help. Now re-buid the story entrance for readers.

Reminder: anyone can found and edit a SFF magazine. There’s no regulatory body or hoops. You create the position for yourself. Many of these people are amazing— But mag Editors are just guys who decided to spend a lot of time on something they love. Just people.

FFer Read of the Day: "The Last Harvest" by @marisca.bsky.social in Phano www.phano.co/articles/the...

Read my story “A Darkling Plain” in PHANO issue 9! I honestly think this is one of the best stories I’ve ever written. www.phano.co/article... #Writing #WritingWithoutRules

New story day! "Oasis" is out to read now on Phano, and I'm grateful to @ammansabet.bsky.social for giving it a beautiful home (and illustration!). Do give it a read: www.phano.co/articles/oasis

🔥 Phano 9 is live! www.phano.co/issues/issue-9 “A Darkling Plain” by Jeff Somers “Oasis” by Plangdi Neple “Holy Mackerel” by Kilmeny MacMichael Phano Issue 8 if you slept on it… www.phano.co/issues/issue-8