So the country has an outbreak of diarrhea lettuce and the air tastes like the ghosts of fire.

This month's reviews are up on Patreon. We have @ajhackwith.bsky.social's forthcoming book GOBLIN MARKET as well as THE SHEEP DETECTIVES. Both were highly enjoyable. I'm particularly fond of Hackwith's story, which was surreal and contradictory and wonderfully heartfelt. www.patreon.com/jchines

Was picking up dinner from QDOBA and I heard this cheerful chirping from above. I look up, and there’s a little bird just chattering away, happy and content as can be, just chilling in the sign’s A-hole.

Silence is the wrong response. That’s why today we are publishing ‘The Machines Are Coming For Your Masthead”, a report on our experiences, small press publishing in the age of AI. Read the blog. Download the report. Share your thoughts - we want to hear them. (20/20 - fin)

Nine days to grab this bundle of humorous SF/F with work from me, @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social, @daveklecha.bsky.social, @jodylynnnye.bsky.social, @alexshvartsman.bsky.social, @ginikoch.bsky.social, and more! This particular bundle also supports the nonprofit publishing house @deepvellum.bsky.social.

Is there something they aren’t telling us about Mitch McConnell’s health situation?

The best way I can sum up my rather complex feelings on this is to say it’s not either/or. America is both. If we won’t admit the cancer is within our own body, how can we hope to treat it?

Happy book birthday to Plague Birds: The Red Day Edition, the rerelease of my Nebula and Philip K. Dick finalist novel about the human-AI hybrids who are judges & executioners in the far future. Thanks to @apexmag.bsky.social for bringing out the new edition! www.apexbookcompany.com/products/pla...

@dawbooks.bsky.social is doing a Pride Month giveaway of 13 of their books. Enter by 7/9 at mailchi.mp/ef4d405953cf... (Thank you, @eiramanig.bsky.social, for finding that link!)

Live-action Muppets!

Anti-Prime Day starts…NOW! 🥳 Today through 6/26, enjoy free standard shipping site-wide, all while supporting local, independent bookstores.

Oh great. Now I have to stress about leveling up my Wikipedia page before I die. Thanks so much, @petersagal.bsky.social

Breaking my social media vacay to boost this StoryBundle that includes my book GOBLIN QUEST. (I’ve got stories in a couple of those anthologies, too) ::vanishes again in a puff of purple ninja smoke::

Taking a week off from social media. Partly to give myself a break. Partly to prove to Jen that I can do it 😝 Have a good week, all! See you again after Fathers Day.

Just finished @jimchines.com's Slayers of Old (who says sales don't work?) and it was FANTASTIC. I loved it! Loved the characters, loved the plot, even loved the villain. If you liked Buffy, you'll like this.

For the evening crowd, SLAYERS OF OLD is on sale at the usual ebook spots for $2.99 for another seven hours or so. Amazon sez it's the #6 title in the fantasy coming of age category. Which...maybe I don't know what "coming of age" means? astrapublishinghouse.com/product/slay...

Looks like there’s 14 hours to snag your copy of SLAYERS OF OLD for only $2.99!

Oh no! The bookspammers are escalating! 🙄

FATHERS FOR PIXELS 2026: Welcome to The Pixel Project’s Fathers for Pixels 2026 blog interview series! Our second Fathers for Pixels interview of 2026 is with Jim C. Hines from the U.S.: tinyurl.com/JCHinesF4P2026

I withdrew a story from an anthology project today. (No contracts had been signed yet.) I'm not going to get into the details. But I think it was the right decision for me, based on the information I have. I've had to do this a couple of times over the years, and it sucks.

It's Pride again, and time for another queer-themed bundle! At a time when the community is once again under threat, we felt it was more important than ever to showcase the work and the writers that celebrate us. storybundle.com/pride

I don’t know if Hawkeye would be the all-around best roommate in the world, but at least he’d never miss the bowl…

Waiting to hear back from the editor, but my agent says he really enjoyed UNCHOSEN ONES. Which is a *huge* relief. I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I always get that ugly fear when I first turn in a manuscript. "Wait, what if this one completely sucks and I didn't even know???" 😬😫

"But why don't more women report it?" 🤬

How did I not know about this Lady Trent/Dragons book from @swantower.bsky.social? Happily for me, TURNING DARKNESS INTO LIGHT is on sale for $1.99 at Amazon and the rest of the usual suspects. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...

You can now order autographed and personalized copies of my books through Schuler Books 😁 (aka @schulerbooks.bsky.social). schulerbooks.com/list/author-...

Look who's on the Gen Con blog today! That's right, it's @erikscottdebie.bsky.social and @johannah.bsky.social and @brklyndragon.bsky.social! (And also me 😁) gencon.blog/2026/05/08/m...

just finished @jimchines.com's Slayers of Old, and ohhh middle-aged heroines! mislead teens! Squidward the cat, who survives! mice! the End of the World(tm) again! loved it, and highly recommend it! <3 <3

It's Deadline Day for UNCHOSEN ONES. Wish me luck!

SLAYERS OF OLD has been sitting at 199 ratings over on Amazon for several days now. Could someone please go make the numbers turn over so I can stop feeling twitchy about it? www.amazon.com/gp/product/0...

Me: You don't have to spell everything out. Trust your readers. They're smart enough to get it. Me after 5 minutes reading internet opinions: THIS IS EVILBALLS MCVILLAIN. HE HAS A PHD IN PUPPY-KICKING. HIS HOBBIES ARE TORTURING ORPHANS AND POOPING ON BUTTERFLIES. HE'S THE BAD GUY, NOT A ROLE MODEL.

Working on catching up on Patreon stuff. This month's reviews are for @jasonsanford.bsky.social's PLAGUE BIRDS and @matociquala.bsky.social's ANGEL MAKERS, both of which I very much enjoyed. www.patreon.com/posts/review...

💜

Choosing local when buying books is more than just where you shop: You’re protecting creativity. You’re defending the freedom to read. You’re uplifting diverse voices. You’re investing in neighbors. Today, and every day, we celebrate and support indie bookstores. Happy Independent Bookstore Day!

Happening in a few hours with @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social! Would love to see you there!

Random Writing-Related Search of the Day: "Goat tongues"

Jim, you are the greatest. I'm only on the first annotation over at SMTB for your Spider Goddess. The laughs were much needed! Thanks. <3 smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/rise... @jimchines.com #writing #WritingTips #booksky

What are some of my favorite book series? Show one a day for 25 days? Okay. Day 3: Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse by @jimchines.com . This is the funniest sci-fi series. The Sanitation crew of a starship needs to save themselves and humanity. Brilliant! #booksky #novels #favoritebookseries

NASA's Artemis II mission has its own Instagram feed. www.instagram.com/nasaartemis/

Kobo has FIFTH QUARTER on sale for $4.99 until Tuesday, April 7th. Emotionally constipated assassins make the best Easter reading! www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/...

Star Trek figured this out thirty years ago. It's not hard. Even an old, drunk Klingon got it.

Since the "keep politics out of stories" argument is popping up again, I'm just gonna link to this article from 2015. "What 'entertainment without politics' means is 'entertainment that regurgitates the norm and doesn’t challenge my assumptions in any way.'" www.uncannymagazine.com/article/poli...

Sunbeam love ❤️

There's not an eyeroll emoji big enough for someone complaining about "cancel culture" while discussing an author who currently has an HBO special coming out and rakes in $60-$80 million in royalties each year.

Thank you! So glad you liked it 😊 No sequel plans at the moment, but we’ll see what happens!

Three emails from Mr. Halfassbookclub so far…

This month's review for supporters over on Patreon is the NAACP Image Award-winning DEATH OF THE AUTHOR, by @nnedi.bsky.social. It's thoughtful, powerful, truthful, challenging, and important. I expect to see it show up on more award lists before the year is over. www.patreon.com/posts/review...

“55% of horses returned to barn after barn doors ripped off by anti-door conspiracists.”

I’m working on these lectures further defining Africanjujuism and I talk about being chased by masquerades (mmuo, “spirits”) when I was little and that being where my obsession with them and what they were began (no one explained ANYTHING to us back then, lol!!). THIS is what I’m talking about:

#Booksky! Today is RELEASE DAY for BONE & BLOOD! There is a story of a widow & her two daughters, Snow White and Rose Red, the most perfect & darling little girls who had ever lived. This is not—quite—that story. I'm so proud of this one, guys! Please RT! :) www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXFPLQW...