Just finished Villain by @nataliezed.bsky.social - literally just closed the thing - and I'm completely fucking poleaxed. Hench was a glorious pandemonium, but Villain is an absolute fucking Armageddon. Complex, genuine, disturbing, hilarious, it's a goddamned literaturical singularity. #BookSky

Things are crappy -- honestly, I don't know how to deal with the state of the world anymore -- so here is a US #KindleBookGiveaway: 10 copies of Hench, by @nataliezed.bsky.social, which I have, have read, have loved, and have given out before. And will hopefully do so again.

Villain absolutely floored me. I loved Hench, but was, truthfully, unprepared for the brutal rawness in Villain in how it so deftly examines how we become who we are. Just beautiful, will stay with me for quite awhile

Been having a hard go of it lately for personal reasons, so I’ve been reading so much this past week. Finished and adored all three of these this week: Villain by @nataliezed.bsky.social Dead Weight by @hildur.bsky.social Puck by @samanthaallen.bsky.social

every job i see these days is like: LEAD CONTENT ANALYST, Puppy Killing Factory (remote). $350,000 - $500,000. You will edit our internal newsletter (circulation 500). Associate Editor, Nonprofits, Global Good Magazine (in office, NYC). $27,000 - $28,000. Lead ALL of our fundraising efforts!

game developers are now the 1000 psychers a day being sacrificed to the emperor of fiduciary duty

team We Support Women's Wrongs

I got to judge the Specultative Fiction category for the 2026 Emerging Writer's Prize, and every single book on the shortlist was fantastic. Congratulations to Marcus Kliewer for absolutely blowing my mind with We Used To Live Here.

I am so overwhelmed with sheer delight at how VILLAIN DAY went yesterday. Infinite thanks to @audrawilliams.bsky.social, Haritha, @jairuskhan.bsky.social, the staff at Rosefinch, and @arielmarkenjack.bsky.social for their fantatsic Q&A, and everyone who came for teas & readings & conversations <3

just finished villain by @nataliezed.bsky.social , profoundly amazed and delighted by her depiction of a woman in the midst of an abusive relationship but unwilling to describe it as such. the confidence of the book and the way it leaves matters established but still plausibly deniable is Fantastic

Cached US #KindleBookGiveaway: 10 copies of Hench by @nataliezed.bsky.social, which I *have* and *have read* and *have enjoyed* and there's a sequel out now which is, somehow, *better*. This books is a very biting commentary on the effectiveness of police forces.

back at one of my favourite places in the world: the camper at Rosefinch. 🩷 I'm so happy i get to have a launch party here tomorrow; it's one of those comically right things.

The new Antigen Shift record is out today on @artoffact.bsky.social, and it is a monster of an album. I feel so lucky I got to watch so much of it take shape up close. @jairuskhan.bsky.social and Nick Theriault have made something wonderful. antigenshift.bandcamp.com/album/verifi...

@nataliezed.bsky.social Front and centre at the Eaton Centre’s flagship Indigo.

me, walking into the British museum

this whole article is of course incredible, but holy fuck do I need this shirt to exist very badly

Natalie Zina Walshots's Villains returns to the world of Hench, where, as @vanessa-armstrong.com puts it, "corporatized super-powered people exist and the good guys are kinda terrible." Read the review:

a tribute to Them 💚🐍🌒 Drifter and Eris have been my favorite characters since I started playing D2 in 2020, and the subject of the majority of my fan art since... only fitting to draw them again now as D2 retires 💫 #Destiny2 #Destiny2Art #drifteris

Cached US #KindleBookGiveaway: 10 copies of Hench by @nataliezed.bsky.social, which I *have* and *have read* and *love* and *have given out today*. This is a *great* book about the societal damage police forces cause, using superhroes as a metaphor. There is a sequel out now!

Heyo, the @diabolicalplots.com submissions windows announcements are up! Yes, windowS, featuring our general call July 13-27 and a special call, Diabolical Rot, to be edited by yours truly! Send those stories Oct 18-25. Get the deets for both windows here: www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-general-s...

I am *delighted* that I had the chance to chat with Alison of Ask A Manager, who is brilliant and hilarious and has been such a champion of both Hench and now Villain. This was a blast and I am so grateful!

Here's the full key art by Katsuya Terada for Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, taken from the website: www.konami.com/games/castle... Featuring Rose Belmont, a new protagonist and the daughter of Trevor Belmont!

it doesn't matter if your protagonist has no clear goals if they're really, really horny

Genuinely great line from @nataliezed.bsky.social in Villain. Moustache-twerling evil-doers have their place, but I love me some villains that have depth, reason, and principles.

this book is GREAT and Amal is a delight and i am just so thrilled!!

last night after i cracked a joke, my mother looked me dead in the face and said, "you can't be funny, you're my daughter." i am going to be processing this one for a while.

god I love being divorced

This was delightful! Thanks so much to Melissa and My Bookcase Slays for thoughtful questions and a great conversation.

The mutter paneer roti from Ghandi Roti in Toronto. Ginger Beef from Ming in Calgary. Tortellini in cream sauce from the Cook's Shop in Windsor (circa 1999).

for a piece I’m working on: destiny 2 devs of all eras, what’s your favorite thing you contributed to the game and why? can be big or small, still in the game or not. DMs are open and my email is [email protected]

I’m like only a quarter into this and it’s just as engaging as its predecessor. Please check this out! If you love deconstructions of the superhero genre and brilliant satire of the toxicity of late stage capitalism, you must. Also, it’s just so sincere and raw.

Many thanks to @ctvnewsatlantic.bsky.social for this incredibly kind interview and follow-up article! yes I did talk about LARP and goon child support at 8am on television. www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/nov...

while this is peak millennial oversharing I cannot handle that this just happened to me so all of you have to deal with it too: today my instacart shopper didn't GET A BAG for the THREE ENEMAS I ordered and just left them NAKED ON THE PORCH

I have about 3000 hours in Destiny 2 (yes i am very sad and am not ready to talk about it yet). I have a little over 900 in both POE 1 and POE 2, just under 1000 in Valheim, and nearly 900 in Elden Ring.

I have the smartest, most talented friends: "speculative fiction just happening to have the same on-sale date" edition.

Many thanks to @literaryhub.bsky.social for letting me go off on one of my favourite topics (and a question I am asked very often): why do we like the bad guys so much? Here's to all the fiction villains who did irrevocable damage to my brain during my formative years. lithub.com/villains-are...

The folks who are connecting with Villain are *really* connecting with it, which is all I ever dreamed of.

1. Not getting into a PhD program -- which had accepted me the year before, an acceptance I tried to defer. I was advised by the department head to simply turn down instead because of the departmental politics at the time. They said I was "guaranteed" a spot next time, with degree in hand.

life is at least a little beautiful idk

Tech culture is weird. Science fiction has some things to say about it. Author @caitlinrozakis.bsky.social (Dreadful, Startup Hell) recommends 5 books on the subject:

What delightful company to find myself in. :D

At last, the day has come. Today is VILLAIN release day! It barely seems real, and I'm thrilled and relieved and so happy this weird, difficult, joyous rejection of a redemption arc exists in the world. US: www.harpercollins.com/products/vil... Canada: www.harpercollins.ca/978006334136...

I asked this question! The answer in the moment was great; this elaboration is also super fascinating!!

I hope these accurately convey my SHEER DELIGHT. Endless thanks to @tricon-hfx.bsky.social for hosting, for @daviddemchuk.com for being a charming interrogator, @tridenthalifax.bsky.social for getting early copies to sell, and @amalelmohtar.com for live-skeeting my exuberance. 🖤

The ways that Sia connected to Villain are exactly what my greatest hopes for the book are, and more. Thank you so much for this.

sounds about right #Tricon #weirdgaysuperheroes

"Hey Natalie how do you come up with convincing supervillain dialogue?" Once again featuring @jairuskhan.bsky.social

Force out 200 words, you'll feel better

me, buying a book written by someone who I've never met but we sometimes like each other's posts on Bluesky: my friend wrote this