Best part of it, tbh. I have no sympathy or understanding for anyone who wants to outsource the good bit.

Andrew F. Sullivan@afsulli.bsky.social · 3h ago

writing the book requires writing the book.

One of my least favorite modern tropes in fiction has got to be "white people food is beige paste with no culture, and everyone else has rich histories of cuisine."

I dunno, if you've got AI shills on your board I'm ok with throwing out the baby with the bathwater. That baby has putrid vibes. Fuck that baby.

Also, it's helpful they exist because if you teach literature you can assign a bunch of these cheaper trade paperbacks without feeling guilty for requiring expensive texts, which is not an option for MOST subjects.

Jennifer Adcock@jenkatwrites.bsky.social · 11h ago

lmao I feel the need to defend them because I have borrowed a version of their branding for my own purposes, but it's weird to see people being mad about penguin classics being printed on cheap thin paper with cheap bindings. like. that's the mission statement of the brand.

You can do emotional terrorism in a level up session, it's legal talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com/2026/08/thir...

Third Novice Advance

We did another "level-up" session for the ongoing Krevborna game. Here's what the players grabbed for their characters: Anastasia took the N...

talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com

This is how I feel about the story I wrote about a hot sauce smuggler with two dicks

Andrew F. Sullivan@afsulli.bsky.social · 6mo ago

a writer saying "this is a deeply personal story" very much like a chef telling you "food is so important to my family"

Book 66 of 2026: @spookypurcell.bsky.social, The Shape of Darkness Laura Purcell is a master of loading a novel with tons of Victorian Gothic oddity; this one's got silhouette cutting, seances, and phossy jaw. (Do not image search phossy jaw if you don't know what it it, it might ruin your day.)

The coral reef rose from the seas & spread rapidly. Transforming the landscape. Mutating every living creature. We never suspected it had a plan. @hazelzorn.bsky.social's REEF MIND will blow yours🧠🪸💀 Art: @headfullopuddin.bsky.social & @echoechoillu.bsky.social Get: store.tenebrouspress.com

Small Spec Book Awards@specawards.bsky.social · 3d ago

Congratulations to @hazelzorn.bsky.social! Her book REEF MIND, published by @tenebrouspress.bsky.social, is a semifinalist in the horror category for the 2026 Small Spec Book Awards. #SSBA #SSBA2026

Book 65 of 2026: Linda Hamilton, The Fourth Wife Mormon Gothic! A woman enters a plural marriage with a man whose isolated household is decidedly haunted and full of hideous secrets. The Fourth Wife was pretty good, but there were a couple elements that could have been stronger or more horrifying.

Lot of stuff was enjoyed in July talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com/2026/08/tota...

Total Skull: July, 2026

Things that brought me delight in July, 2026:   Neurosis, An Undying Love for a Burning World I honestly wasn't sure we'd ever get another a...

talesofthegrotesqueanddungeonesque.blogspot.com

I have the weird indie shit you've been searching for right here. A neurodivergent grave robber involved in a Pre-Raphaelite-inspired poetry heist. A black metal bard giving the finger to heaven. A monster hunter who is so, so tired of this shit. mybook.to/ornamentalwo...

Charlie Jane "Lessons in Magic and Disaster" Anders 🏳️‍⚧@charliejane.bsky.social · 3d ago

You have to vote with your wallet, people. The same goes for books — if you are mostly buying books that are already mega bestsellers or by mega-bestselling authors, then you're sending a message. Seek out the weird indie shit so we get more of it.

"Oh you want to swing me, the Ancient Blade of the Moderate, at the Graxius, the Tyrant Lord of Torture? Hmm, not very collegial, imo. Have you considered reaching across the aisle instead?"

Oh shiiiiiit, blood and guts, lets get some Ws in the chat, fam

I have not idea how you *find* a writing community tbh, but it sounds nice! I have a couple pals who read my stuff as I work on it, but outside of that I guess I write to please myself.

Ivy Grimes@ivygrimes.bsky.social · 4d ago

If I stopped feeling like part of a writing community, I don't know if I would care about who reads my writing. I love writing for its own sake, but not publishing. The sense of collectivity and friendship give publishing a good chunk of its meaning to me.

When will these unrealistic beauty standards cease?

I am *shocked* that OSR guys don't like the apparent changes to Dark Sun!

Making an Indian feast: saag paneer and bhindi masala

That novel is gonna be great, I can feel it in my bones. Mark your calendars now.

Andrew F. Sullivan@afsulli.bsky.social · 6d ago

this piece was a big inspiration for my new horror novel next year called EARTH FILLED WITH BLOOD (Gallery, June 2027) but replace the American gentry with Canadian car dealers and the families that own every newspaper in the province of New Brunswick.

It does my heart a world of good that if you search "dnd" on bsky you get a ton of art for people's original characters, and none of the corp stuff.

Hard to be an old book lately, I tell you what. #sonnet

Book 64 of 2026: Justin D. Hill, Cadian Honour I didn't love Cadia Stands, but Cadian Honour was actually kinda thrilling in places! A nice change of pace from my usual, at least.

Found a whole box of Russ Meyer's movies

A bunch of queer & neurodivergent people have messaged me about how much they like the queer and nd characters in my novel, which is lovely to hear, but I never set out to do "representation." The secret: I wrote them as people, not bundles of identity tropes, flaws and all mybook.to/ornamentalwo...

Book 63 of 2026: @lucyrosecreates.bsky.social, The Lamb Now THIS is what I'm talking about! A deeply unsettling novel about a girl being raised by cannibals in rural England that lives in the margins between Gothic and folk horror. Gutsy, devastating. I was horrified by every page, and I loved it.

I went to the local Indian grocery for the first time today. I knew I was in a good place when the entire Indian family sitting behind the counter didn't look up from the tv they were watching when I came in...or, indeed, when they rang up my purchases.

I write how I want to write. I won't, and probably can't, change it all that much. You can read it here, and you can be assured that every line was written by a person, with all the idiosyncracy that entails. mybook.to/ornamentalwo...

Erik Hane@erikhane.bsky.social · last wk.

I don't know how to say this in a way that isn't snotty: if you are changing your writing intentionally to sound "not like AI" or whatever, I think extremely little of your craft. This is simply not a problem or a consideration for an even moderately developed writer www.wired.com/story/more-t...

I wonder if it smells like grognard in there

Not to polymarket, but my money's on Boy George ending up touring with Morrissey.

Book 62 of 2026: Suzan Palumbo, Countess There's a decent story here, but the imperial villains are so cartoonishly evil that it lessens the overall impact of the colonial critique.

Online, I encounter three groups of media consumers: Fandom: uncritical, "I'll kill you if you say my thing isn't cool" Hipster: will shit on mainstream fandom, but the niche stuff they like isn't any better and is often worse Academic: critical, cares about things irrelevant to 99% of people

Jack Guignol@jackguignol.bsky.social · last wk.

Lot of people just discovering that academics aren't here to pat your head for whatever pop culture fandom you're into.