i have a new poem out!! it’s a queer love story set in the appalachian mountains :) whitewallreview.com/blue-ridge/

new blog post!! featuring several cross-genre book reviews (hence the dragon image) & a very exciting writing update :) lizvaughanwriter.com/2026/07/06/j...

July 2026 Newsletter

Hi! Welcome to my July 2026 newsletter, the first of its kind for my new blog. Here are my writing updates, short book reviews, and news from the last month. Writing Updates My most exciting news f…

lizvaughanwriter.com

While everyone's "all the love to trans folks" posts are nice and it is good to see support We have been getting them for a decade now. If you want to support trans folks, hire us. Support GFMs and asks for mutual aid. Put yourself between trans folks in public if you see harassment.

We're thrilled to present the shortlist for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction:

i’ve been working on my website the past few days; now, i’m pleased to share my first blog post!! you can sign up for my newsletter for book reviews, conversations about publishing, & updates on my writing :) lizvaughanwriter.com/2026/06/16/p...

Past Book Reviews

Hello, welcome to my first blog post! I’m Liz, a fiction writer, editor, and MFA student. I love reading and talking about books, if you couldn’t guess from that list of descriptions. D…

lizvaughanwriter.com

i’m thinking about picking up some freelance book beta reading & copy #editing, but i’m not sure the best way to go about it. is fiverr a reliable platform for those who don’t have their own customer base yet? do any editors have any advice?

exciting find at my neighborhood little free library!! >:) now i have decide what book from my shelf to trade for it…

finally read my copy of elatsoe by @littlebadger.bsky.social!! what a beautiful, whimsical, moving ya fantasy book. highly recommend :)

Hello hello and welcome to the shortlist announcement thread for the #2026IgnyteAwards, recognizing outstanding contributions to SFFH and its community in 2025! We are grateful to be supported this year by sponsors @bcsmagazine.bsky.social , @edmontonin2030.bsky.social, & @laworldcon.bsky.social

i’m only a few chapters away from finishing the first draft of my ya gothic fantasy manuscript!! i can’t wait to begin the revision process :)

So thrilled that my story “Mother’s Mother’s Daughter” is a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award!! huge congrats to the other finalists, and an extra shoutout to @garnetonwinter.bsky.social and the other SILK & SINEW authors💗💗

Kristy Park Kulski@garnetonwinter.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Immensely proud to see the news that SILK & SINEW has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award AND @audreyzhou.bsky.social is nominated for her absolutely stunning story, "Mother's Mother's Daughter." (Audrey you rock so much!!) I can't express how much this has all meant to me.

happy pride month!! 💚🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Now more than ever, check out a physical novel from your public library and read it in long, big gulps. It's like meditating. It's like putting your bare feet on the grass. It will help heal you.

I wrote this essay last fall for print only & I'm republishing it with their permission bc we're talking about didactism in kidlit right now and I have HAD thoughts about the connection between instructive lit and book banning. I'd be honored if you read it. www.prettyokmaggie.com/blog/2026/5/...

when we mourn le guin, we mourn one of our greatest writers & thinkers. but we also mourn one of our all-time greatest haters

my apocalyptic love story “road trip” will appear in issue 44 of @zoeticpress.bsky.social‘s NonBinary Review!! i’m very excited to publish more speculative fiction :)

You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.

next time you’re looking for new books, please consider getting them from firestorm!! they’re a pillar of the wnc literary community & a wonderful community space.

Firestorm Books@firestorm.coop · 4mo ago

What You Can Do!: If Firestorm surviving and thriving is important to you, we welcome your support. Here are a few ways to pitch in. 🌈 Buy your next book from us, or tell someone who buys books about us! Not a physical media person? We also sell audiobooks through Libro.fm. 7/9

It's time! Nominations are now open for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, which will be given to a work of imaginative fiction, published in 2025, that reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to Ursula’s own work.

Ursula K. Le Guin — Nominate a Book for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction

ursulakleguin.com

i’ll be going to the AWP conference in Baltimore this week, on behalf of the UNC Wilmington creative writing program—i’m very excited to meet writers, attend panels, & explore the bookfair!

I am going to link to organizations that I know for sure are helping trans Kansans. This thread will develop slowly as I either know people or will vet them. At this point we have not heard from anyone being helped via relocation resources. These exist, but I assume they are overwhelmed.

Art matters. And what do we do with things that matter? We protect them. Here is information about H.R. 7661, a US book banning bill that explicitly targets books about trans people, and what you can do right now to help stop it.

Time to Fight: H.R. 7661

Call To Action

stone-soup.ghost.io

Huge announcement: Girl Scouts on our trans girl scout cookies list have sold 250,000!!!!!! Boxes of girl scout cookies, a record for EITM's trans girl scout cookie drive. Some have only sold 20 boxes though. I put those at the top of the list. Lets close out this season and make their day! :)

2026 Trans Girl Scouts To Order Cookies From!

This year, consider ordering your Girl Scout cookies from a trans girl scout to make their day!

erininthemorning.com

tell me it's not true

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D.@sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 7mo ago

To have written a book you actually have to…write the book? Are you sure about that? That doesn’t sound right.

Trans people deserve better.

Not just a novelist, @ursulakleguin.com was also a cartographer. Her fictional geographies were on display this fall at London’s Architectural Association Gallery, and a companion book on Silver Press sheds new light on her peerless world-building. Read our interview with editor/curator Sarah Shin.

Maps and Legends: The Spectacular Cartography of Ursula K. Le Guin - Library of America

Mapmaking lay at the heart of Ursula K. Le Guin’s worldbuilding. An able illustrator whose subjects ranged from realist watercolors to cartoon cats, the author of such SFF classics as The Left Hand of...

loa.org

The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality. And trans lives are grounded in reality. We see y'all. No matter what. www.popsci.com/science/tran...

First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition

Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.

popsci.com

Sharing the Sameer Project/Translating Falasteen's holiday campaign (text and slides from their x page) "The holiday season is filled with family, warmth, comfort, and memories to last a lifetime. You might get together with loved ones for a meal, you might exchange gifts…please keep Gaza in mind:

i’m so happy with how this turned out!! the best book cover illustration i could have imagined :)

Scarlet!@thistle-scars.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The cover I drew for @creaturewriting.bsky.social and their short story collection!🌙🚂🌲

"I can't afford to support my favorite author right now, I—" Reviews. Reviews are free AND they are a gift to authors that can keep on giving (i.e., exposure, marketing, algo boosts, etc.) Please, give the gift of reviews to your authors this holiday season. It really can make a difference!