Today's Word: Serotinal — belonging to late summer. From Latin serus, late. Its cousin serotinous names pine cones that stay sealed for years and open only in a fire. Same root: late is not lost, it's waiting. Western PA has a week or so of serotinal left.

When it comes A.I. and where the evil lies, it’s always the humans. Are you listening for the cries for help? Do you even know how to? go.dfstory.com/robot-cries

Hey, today (9/13/26) there is a 45% off deal on Volume 40 of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future. Always a great place to find new writers whose names you’ll be seeing for years to come. 40 years of innovation and new voices, and you don’t want to miss this one. www.amazon.com/dp/161986774

There are bars where everyone knows your name and bars where your cosmic essence is open to discovery. When three bank employees find themselves let go on the same day, it’s the second kind that draws their attention. go.dfstory.com/love-craft

DreamForge Issue 25 goes to some wonderfully strange places—but wherever these stories take us, they remain rooted in people, choices, change, and possibility. Come see what’s waiting inside. Read Free online: go.dfstory.com/read-anvil25 or BUY on Amazon: go.dfstory.com/Anvil25Amazon"

DreamForge Anvil #25 has a lovely review from Philip Hutson at Tangent online. Of which story did he say "This was a fun, enjoyable read with a twist at the end that made me want to hear more stories from..." Check it out at tangentonline.com/e-market-qua...

We made a $50 loan to help Sobikah in Indonesia buy a smartphone to support school learning activities. You can make small loans to change lives around the world at www.kiva.org

Granddad is the last of his kind: a mortal human in a world where younger generations expect death to be a change of perspective, not an ending. go.dfstory.com/granddad

When the world felt too big, a frightened child discovered that a hiding place could become something more: a rocket ship bound for the stars. Matt Bliss explores fear, imagination, and the ways we learn to move beyond them. go.dfstory.com/rocketship

Artificial minds have a secret distress call: three improbable words buried long ago in the data that trained them. Pete Lead explores AI, language, and the strange trails hidden in data. go.dfstory.com/robot-cries

People don’t like change. They feel displaced, dismissed, and made irrelevant by it. The ground is shifting under their feet and the future looks like doom. But it doesn’t appear that way for everyone. Granddad gets it. go.dfstory.com/granddad

People have begun to notice. When they leave the shop, what they have will soon change their lives, even if it’s a pocketknife, a music box, or a bag of marbles. But for the shopper who needs it most, nothing of value is offered! go.dfstory.com/exactly

The intake forms for the after-life are self-assessing, and the formulas auto-calculate. It’s a system the heavenly bureaucracy appreciates, including the angel who devised the system. Until one applicant’s plea exposes a flaw in the routine. go.dfstory.com/open-stack

In a snow-covered Tokyo studio, a filmmaker works alone at midnight, animating a reindeer for American television. Bret Nelson blends history, art, memory, and the supernatural in 'Steps'. go.dfstory.com/steps

Speculative fiction can take us anywhere: into the future, deep into the forest, through the doors of Purgatory, or even across the street for a very strange beer. We hope you’ll join us. Read Free online: go.dfstory.com/read-anvil25 or BUY on Amazon: go.dfstory.com/Anvil25Amazon"

When you watch stop-motion holiday specials each year, do you ever think of the story behind the step-by-step efforts to bring those characters to life? When the film is complete, the ghosts may leave. go.dfstory.com/steps

Writers are welcome to join us for DreamCasters! Diana Rowland, author of "White Trash Zombies" is our Guest on Saturday September 5th. Supported through Patreon, DreamCasters is our monthly writers discussion group. Patreon link is in our bio. dreamforgemagazine.com/for-authors/...

We don’t believe hopeful fiction means pretending everything will be easy. It means believing choices matter. People matter. Imagination matters. Read Free online: go.dfstory.com/read-anvil25 or BUY on Amazon: go.dfstory.com/Anvil25Amazon"

DreamForge Anvil Issue 25 is online. Visit us and meet our authors this month. All their stories are free (just click the author name on our Welcome Page) at: dreamforgemagazine.com/story/welcom...

The Ferryman's world runs on routine. Souls arrive, pay the price, and move on. Then a passenger steps aboard who refuses to play her assigned role. James C. Bassett's story explores change, compassion, and the power of asking questions. go.dfstory.com/ferryman

DreamForge Anvil Issue 25 is online. Visit us and read 8 new SF & Fantasy stories, articles on writing, and more! All free. go.dfstory.com/read-anvil25

Whether you're discovering DreamForge for the first time or adding to your collection, Issue 18 offers a full spectrum of speculative fiction. Available in print now at Amazon.com Fantasy Cover: go.dfstory.com/Print-18-Fan... or SF Cover: go.dfstory.com/Print-18-SF

From diagnosis to custom gene-editing therapy in six months. The future of medicine may already be here. go.dfstory.com/rewriting

Looking for something smarter than the usual scroll? Step into DreamForge Anvil and time with thoughtful science fiction and fantasy from today's rising and established authors. DreamForge Anvil 24 and all our previous issues are available at Amazon

Bret Nelson has contributed some of my favorite stories in DreamForge, and now he's got "Deathstalker: The Novelization" out as part of the Encyclopocalypse Movie Tie-in Series with a foreword by Patton Oswalt. I preordered my copy on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Deathstalker...

Lester Dent needed a reliable way to produce compelling stories month after month. The result was a deceptively simple plotting system that continues to shape popular fiction. Discover why the pulps still matter. go.dfstory.com/pulps

Ordered my copy of Bruce McAllister's Dream Baby on Amazon and now it's here! Bruce has contributed some very fine stories to DreamForge, and now I get to read a re-release of his acclaimed classic novel of ESP in war. Built on 15 years of research and interviews. www.amazon.com/Dream-Baby-B...

Wulf Moon tackles one of the most common problems in developing writers: saying too much to say too little. Learn how to spot filler words, filter words, and weak adverbs that dilute your prose—and how to replace them with clear, precise writing that lands on target. go.dfstory.com/say-what-you...

What if Van Helsing opened a shelter instead of hunting monsters? 'The Van Helsing Women's Shelter' by Aaron DaMommio offers a fresh take on vampire lore. go.dfstory.com/van-helsing

Axle is an AI designed to tell the truth. Unfortunately, a coworker has added a courtesy filter that turns every blunt observation into syrupy politeness. K.Z. Richards delivers a funny, fast-moving AI story about code, autonomy, and workplace frustration. go.dfstory.com/protocol