It’s Wilf’s gotcha day! These two photos were taken six years apart: our first day together and today. He has gone from the most terrified boy in the world to… well, still pretty terrified of most things. But now he knows he’s loved, at least, and that is the best feeling in the entire world 💜

Ok y'all -- I have a GIFT MEMBERSHIP for one year of poetry review awesomeness up for grabs! Want a chance to win it? Comment below. I'll choose a winner on Monday at noon Eastern.

Nico Martinez Nocito 🏳️‍⚧️@nicowritesbooks.bsky.social · 24h ago

✒️✨ Calling all SFF poetry enthusiasts! 🌈💫 Stardust & Verse is a new review site where I read and recommend fantastic free-to-read SFF poems. Here's a sneak peak of what to look forward to in September... #StardustAndVerse www.patreon.com/cw/StardustA...

I jumped out of my seat and had to take a lap around the house when I first saw FOUR recommendations for @othersidespec.bsky.social stories in this issue of Locus. If you haven’t yet, give these stories a read! They’re “devastating,” “luminescent,” “heartbreaking.” othersidespec.com/issues/issue...

Locus Magazine@locusmag.bsky.social · 2d ago

Otherside 6/26 and Beneath Ceaseless Skies 6/11/26: Review by Maria Haskins locusmag.com/review/...

As Sappho once wrote, "Some men say an army of horse and some men say an army on foot / and some men say an army of ships is the most beautiful thing / on the black earth. But I say it is / No errors or warnings detected. / Messages: 0 fatals / 0 errors / 0 warnings / 0 infos / EPUBCheck completed."

Reading rec: I taught from this collection in class this week and had the best time. I cannot say enough good things about the entire volume. Gorgeous, lovely, razor-sharp; my favorite translations of Li Qingzhao, a poet very much worth knowing if you don’t already. I’ll thread links to a few poems!

Speaking of distant galaxies, extraordinary creatures, and magical worlds... @heartlines-spec.com is open all through September for submissions!! Send us your SFF stories and poems with a long-term relationship at the core! ✨ Guidelines here ➡️ www.heartlines-spec.com/submission-g...

Submission Guidelines

Learn all about our submissions guidelines, what we're looking for, and our payment details

heartlines-spec.com

I write because writing is a kind of magic, because there's nothing I love more than wrestling with language, because sometimes it feels easy and sometimes it feels hard in the best way. I publish because I've always thought "I like my job, but I wish I had a second job that paid 2 cents an hour."

Kerry C. Byrne@kercoby.bsky.social · 7d ago

Why do you write? Why do you publish? I’ve been working through my answers to these two questions this summer— & I’m curious to hear others’ ✨

Everything I have done as a writer has finally paid off. Every rejection, every late night, every hour at the computer, it’s all been worth it. I have achieved more than I ever dreamt of achieving: this Bluesky account has officially gotten me “influencer” tickets to my town’s Renaissance Faire.

Issue 3 will be here NEXT WEEK! We are so excited and we hope you are too 🧡 So... let's play a game! Reply to this post with a number between 5-106 and we'll give you a spoiler-free line from that page! 👀 P.S. It's a great time to subscibe if you want to be the first to read this issue!

OTHERSIDE — a magazine of the queer fantastic.

Subscribe today for only $2/month or sign up for our free newsletter! Every dollar goes to queer authors and artists.

patreon.com

We're accepting applications to join our first readers team! This is a great way to see what makes a magazine like ours work, read LOTS of different styles of flash fiction and poetry, refine your own tastes, and work with some nifty people: airtable.com/applzdlHLTpe...

Another side-effect of a lengthy to-do list, apparently: outlining a new short story for the first time in almost a year. 👀

M.R. Robinson@mruthrobinson.bsky.social · last wk.

Nothing makes me want to work on my novel quite like writing out a multi-page to-do list of important, time-sensitive chores and work obligations.

Nothing makes me want to work on my novel quite like writing out a multi-page to-do list of important, time-sensitive chores and work obligations.

Sometimes I wish the general SFFH industry at large would admit, and when I say at large I include everyone writers, publishers, and other entities, that there has been a big turn against Black and brown writers and then also within that group queer, women, disabled people

It is 84 degrees outside (at 8 a.m.) and I’M STILL MAKING PUMPKIN SAUCE THIS MORNING AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME. We are so close to being free of the tyranny of summer.

ICYMI: Our 2027 reading schedule is here! Instead of brief quarterly openings, we'll have two longer windows... and you can submit twice in each! 🗡️ December 1, 2026 - January 31, 2027 🪐 June 1, 2027 - July 31, 2027 Same number of subs for authors + a smoother process for our team. We can't wait!

For the first time in my adult life—most impressively/concerningly, for the first time in seven years of working from home most days—I now own… A DESK. This is the closest thing I have had to “good writing news” in months.

Very grateful to see such a kind review and a recommendation for this bleak/weird/ugly story: “Lightspeed’s June issue kicks off in grand style with ‘Ghost in the Tank’ … It’s a vividly told story about a world, and a relationship where every good moment feels stolen, broken, and, eventually, lost.”

Ghost in the Tank - Lightspeed Magazine

The first time you killed me, I cried like a baby. Stupid, stupid, to cry over something make-believe—stupid and ugly and pathetic, too, when already the only thing I wanted in the world was for you ...

lightspeedmagazine.com

Locus Magazine@locusmag.bsky.social · 2w ago

Strange Horizons 5/26, Lightspeed 6/26, and Kaleidotrope Spring ’26: Review by Maria Haskins locusmag.com/review/...

Super excited to be part of this excellent lineup. Make sure you're registered for RSM! It's going to be a blast: www.rainbowspacemagic.org

Rainbow Space Magic@spacemagiccon.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hey! We have a starter pack of this year's panelists (who are here): go.bsky.app/PCJJd2t

We do also have hats available (dog hair not included).

OTHERSIDE@othersidespec.bsky.social · 2w ago

Have you ever wanted to look like a page of OTHERSIDE? The incredible artist behind our interior illustrations, @demonography.bsky.social, has designed a t-shirt just for you! These shirts are awesome and super comfy. Available in white/black/purple! Get yours here: otherside-shop.fourthwall.com 💜

The new Kickstarter is live! We’ve published original horror, fantasy, and science fiction in since 1999. Let’s create another year of strange and wondrous tales! www.kickstarter.com/projects/asf... Many haunted rewards available!

Three-Lobed Burning Eye magazine 2027

Publishing original horror, fantasy, and science fiction since 1999. Let’s create another year of strange and wondrous tales!

kickstarter.com

Don't miss your chance to get in on limited attendance sessions at FoF! Lots of FFers there, as usual: Chill-n-chats with @ewenmaer.bsky.social @jenniferhudak.bsky.social @priyachand.bsky.social and @mruthrobinson.bsky.social (of Otherside) and a workshop on xenofiction with @aardwyrm.bsky.social!

Flights of Foundry@flightsoffoundry.bsky.social · 2w ago

🚨 REMINDER! The Flights of Foundry lottery for limited attendance for workshops, gaming sessions, and chill-n-chats closes today, August 31! To access the lottery all you have to do is register to FoF! flights-of-foundry.o...

Last chance to enter the lottery for the @othersidespec.bsky.social chill-and-chat at @flightsoffoundry.bsky.social! Ash, Val, and I want to hang out with you—come yap with us about the first year of the magazine, queer SFFH generally, miscellaneous nonsense! flights-of-foundry.org/lottery/

Finished something today that I have been working on steadily for a couple of months now but also working on (some version of it) for ten years. It feels really weird to be done, good but… weird. Couldn’t figure out the best way to celebrate, so I bought Wilf this lobster. Happy lobster day to us!

There are so many things I love and feel I know how to do well: writing, teaching, research, making dinner out of strange things in the back of the fridge, etc. But there is nothing—NOTHING!!!—in this world that could ever make me feel as good or as powerful as writing the perfect snarky footnote.

OTHERSIDE Only published two issues so far, but I've been impressed with the poetry selections. Literary/queer: othersidespec.com

OTHERSIDE - Queer Speculative Fiction

OTHERSIDE is a queer-led literary magazine that publishes speculative fiction, poetry, and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors and artists.

othersidespec.com

A story about being so gay you kill god (and about some other things, too).

Fusion Fragment@fusionfragment.bsky.social · 2w ago

FFer Read of the Day: "The Last God of Talam Dor" by @mruthrobinson.bsky.social in @giganotosaurus.bsky.social giganotosaurus.org/2026/01/01/t...

He didn’t even bother showing up for Worldcon this year despite the fact that he’s the obvious favorite for the Hugo for Best Teeny Tiny Little Old Man Snores.

Our editors aren’t at Worldcon this year (boooo!) but attendees can still find these shiny OTHERSIDE bookmarks (yaaaay!) on the swag table! If you’re there this weekend, snag the art from your favorite issue, snap a photo, and tag us so we can live vicariously through you! 💜

I too will be in LA for a con… ference… for work… in January UGH I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A LOT OF FUN THIS WEEKEND AND I DON’T EVEN FEEL A TINY BIT JEALOUS NOT AT ALL

Ever wanted to know what goes on behind the curtain at Small Wonders? We are looking for more first readers! If you're interested to help make the magic happen, fill out this form: airtable.com/applzdlHLTpe...

Kermit the Frog Peeks from Curtains

Alt: Kermit the Frog Peeks from behind the stage curtain on the Muppet Show, and encourages folks to fill out the first reader form for Small Wonders.

static.klipy.com