Lmfao. After all this work, I hit submit on my PhD application and despite all the required info being completed and my payment being accepted, it still said 99% and wouldn't let me submit. Reviewed if multiple times, toggling stuff and saving, and no dice. After another third full attempt at...

PhD writing sample for my application needs to get finished today and brain is just ⚡⚡⚡. Gotta clear out that static and get moving on shit sooooon.

Lots of people from beyond mpls looking for ways to support; lots of links and possibilities in this piece:

Sometimes I forget people have never seen me with my hair down.

new story on a brand new journal! welcome to the world, @bulbregion.bsky.social ! "THERE’S A TOWN—Casey, Illinois—in the middle of Nowheresville, Midwest known for enormous, “world’s largest” things. World’s Largest Barbershop Pole, World's Largest Teeter Totter, World’s Largest Golf Driver."

My book comes out in two days! Why might you want to pick up a copy? Do you like speculative fiction? Short story collections that are very intentionally ordered? Stories about memories? Ghosts? Friendship? Monsters? Pie? Whales? Basketball? If so, this might be the book for you!

3 days until this comes out?? Don't everyone rush at me with interview requests all at once* *Actually you can, I don't mind 🥺

SUBMISSION CALL COMING! Wednesday, 1/14, 10 AM (MT) / 12 PM (ET) / 6 PM (CET) Subs will be capped at 150, so be quick. The nitty-gritty: 750 words for prose (or 2 micro pieces of equal combined length) 1-2 poems & hybrid pieces (each no longer than 2 pages) guest ed: @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social

“wanna feel old?” sure brother, i would love to just feel something, anything

I love and miss Minneapolis so immensely, and I'm so grateful to see an incredible place like The Loft is hosting this event. Grew up in Wisconsin, but I still consider the Twin Cities home (so much so, a number of people in Albuquerque assume I'm from Minnesota).

Have genuinely felt like my brain has been broken w/r/t reading since 2020. Making it a priority this year to reestablish some patterns to dig through more of my backlog, knowing it will help immensely with writing more too.

Earlier referenced pinochle bookmark. A Kind of In-Between was a great read. Really looking forward to Tacoma. Paused in the middle because it helped me crack how to write a flash (probably) essay about the Midwest and dad's drinking and driving and spotting for deer, possibly with some levity.

Saw a little kid wearing a cape and a square, plain cardboard box on their head sprinting down the sidewalk in the rain, and it's wild how seeing someone else's sheer delight, even for a few moments, can also fill your cup.

Finished Duplex by @misternagel.bsky.social (fantastic first read of the year, after taking a brief pause at the end of last semester) yesterday, and now dipping into A Kind of In-Between by @aaronburch.bsky.social with my pinochle rules bookmark.

The homie had his novella selected for the first Stephen Graham Jones Horror Novella competition, and having read drafts prior to submission/selection, can absolutely say this is a book worth picking up when it's out this year!

And Barnes & Noble's preorder sale is still going on through today so if you want it: get 25% off with code PREORDER25

Last publication of any type for 2025, and it's a review of @miyokoschinner.bsky.social's The Vegan Creamery. Fantastic cook book. Loved the intro, especially as someone who came from a Midwestern house that went through a minimum of six gallons of milk every two weeks: thebitenm.com/the-vegan-cr...

what if, indeed?!?! new from Jared Beloff https://www.havehashad.com/7k70m

I love when a story gives me the same feeling I have when I'm wiping my glasses and press a little too hard in one direction and hear my frames creak like they might shatter.

Taskmaster may be the best show ever created. Astounded how incredible/dynamic it is every series.

night shades is OPEN! 🛸 500 words max, any speculative 🛸 sim subs ok (multiples not) 🛸 quick response and pro+ pay please read the guidelines! www.nightshadesmag.com/submissions/

It's time to read @aaronburch.bsky.social's "Home for the Holidays." xraylitmag.com/home-for-the...

Not sure if it's because Maple smelled like sea food from the octopus that was on her head pre-walk, but this is the fourth time this year I've had a hawk glide low overhead while out walking.

Closing out the year with a Dave story. “Munger Road” is about Midwest urban legends and the dead still texting like nothing happened. Published by Little Engines. open.substack.com/pub/littleen...

take a few minutes this weekend to visit @hellena.bsky.social ‘s city 🌃 🌆 🌃 www.nightshadesmag.com/maintenance-...

Met someone in a dream who I've known in every other life time/line, and woke up smiling.

You should pre-order a copy of Tacoma and pick one up for a friend while you're there. autofocusbooks.com/store/p/tacoma

Finally started PT for tendinopathy in my achilles (from the end of July/early August), and one of the exercises I need to do is called Toe Yoga. Don't tell Tarantino this is a thing.

Just remembered I was a videographer for a friend's wedding over ten years ago. Got kudos from the whole family. They're divorced now, but you can hire me for your next wedding.

I don't have the time to whip up a piece to submit (sans work, I would certainly be pivoting to that), but you'd be a fool not to submit if you've got a piece ready (or nearly -- you've got a few hours) to go.

@gilozeri.bsky.social is a national treasure (as are all the folks in this episode -- but the DeLuca's Chophouse automated calls really makes me want a lemon pfeiffer [sp?]).

crow & aaron doing a last call of the year. open right NOW, for 150 submissions... and then again this evening for another 150. (please only submit to one.) especially looking for stuff about the holidays and/or "endings" all genre 500 word max havehashad.submittable.com/submit/34430...

You still have a chance to do something cool before the year is over: send your work to us. The rules: the piece needs to be short, about a song, and the song title/artist is the title of the piece. (As long as we haven't played it yet!) Submit by Jan 1! www.major7mag.com/submit #callforsubmissions

Wasn't joking about that Stillhouse Press sale. Copies for me and Christmas presents for four other folks from @kristinaten.bsky.social and @amystuber.com!

Short Story, Long updates: • gonna open submissions in January • for 2026, going to increase payment to $150 (for story publication, and also for artists) ashortstorylong.substack.com

Here's my new fave @keersteemack.bsky.social.

Making paneer from watermelon seeds and will check back in 3-4 hours, but really hope this turns out. Never had the real deal, but this would be a cool alt to tofu (though a more involved process for sure).

“ Once, I thought I saw your face in a painting. Eyes closed, mouth open.” 🛸 four heartbeats, from @ezhang77.bsky.social www.nightshadesmag.com/the-museum/

Wild that the same man who created Dexter's Laboratory created Samurai Jack.

Did you know you can buy two copies of this book for the price of one, which means if you buy 4 you can give 3 to your friend and it doesn't seem like a steep investment for giving the gift of stories? Don't question the intentionally crooked math, that's $9/copy right now.

new Mizuki Yamamoto today with that nice tidal pull! https://www.havehashad.com/i2wjr

Lovely surprise to have some poems in @bruisermag.com today!

If you love a small press, check out these 100 notable small press books from 2025!

“My friends, living and dead, just as I’d left them poolside. Ghosts, no less real than memories. Hello, Andy. Goodbye, Phil. Yet my home remains empty still.” @badguybirnie.bsky.social for Scaffold Lit www.scaffoldlit.com/microwriting...

make @misternagel.bsky.social famous open.substack.com/pub/littleen...

#submissions are now open! Response time will vary. Please submit up to 2 micros/250 word max/2 per sub. Payment 1 calendar. $3 reading fee. More here: eljpublications.submittable.com/submit/34116...

End of an era (season) here in Albuquerque.

latest story from me today. go on and give it a lil looky dirt.fyi/article/2025...

🚨 I have a new chapbook out in the world! 🚨 The Man is a sequence of 24 micro poems, all beginning with ‘The Man’. I also provided the doodles for the cover. I have 50 copies & they’re all pay-what-you-want (+ $4 for shipping) so DM me if you want a copy! 📚❤️

Sometimes a good rejection for a piece is enough to know that you've cracked it through to a solid space to keep sending it out. Genuinely such a nice feeling.