Atara Blake
@strangeisthenight.bsky.social
Artist, PhD in cancer biology, and writer of weird fiction and poetry. Seeking the strange and wondrous in a dying world. She/Her 🌈. Portland, OR. Work appearing or forthcoming in Marrow Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Gavagai.
I am over the moon to share that over the past two weeks I have made my first pro fiction sale to Gavagai and my first pro poetry sale to Strange Horizons. This has been a year filled with tremendous ups and downs, but I'm so grateful for the chance to share my work with you all.
Marrow Magazine is now available in print! What an incredible feeling to see my fiction on paper for the first time! Get a copy here! bookshop.org/p/books/marr...
Received some fantastic news this week that a poem I’ve been submitting for about a year was accepted! It will be my poetry debut and my first pro sale! Also my first acceptance of the year at long last. Can’t wait to share more with you all soon.
Not all art has to be good. What matters is it's true. Or playful. Or energetic. Or striving. That's why sometimes we love things labeled bad. And maybe we encounter them at just the right intersection of time & growth where something ridiculous is made profound only in the privacy of our heart.
Who wants to see something cool? 😎 🐕 ✨ Releasing March 2, 2027. Preorders coming soon. thelongredtomorrow.com for updates!
The Taco Bell finger pointing is a psyop to redirect attention from the real culprit, the deregulation and lack of oversight in our food supply
by the one and only joseph mugnaini -- a sketch for one of his bradbury illustrations --
Rough day, so have a poem about the Jar of Moles in the Grant Zoology Museum in London that everyone has regarded as too thoroughly batshit to publish
"I'm Writing With AI" lmao, what a joke. all you're doing is mining someone else's soul for profit.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that weird fiction will save us. 🤘
Atara Blake@strangeisthenight.bsky.social · 4w agoIn this thread nobody asked for, my semi-coherent solution (perhaps not practically, but spiritually) to The AI Problem. AI is tempting because it offers a bridge across the intolerable "gap" between skill and taste. To subvert it, we need to 'get weird with it' and celebrate "bad" art. (0/)
Great essay that nails what I was trying to communicate about this over the weekend. I have faith that there’s a path forward for genre fiction— it means embracing work that is innovative, boundary pushing, bold, and unquestionably human over what ticks all the boxes of a “good story”
Dorian Dawes@doriandawes.bsky.social · 3w agoHi, SFF Apex, Bona Books, Agita Publishing, And all the others who have gotten tricked by AI, Let's have a nice talk.
In this thread nobody asked for, my semi-coherent solution (perhaps not practically, but spiritually) to The AI Problem. AI is tempting because it offers a bridge across the intolerable "gap" between skill and taste. To subvert it, we need to 'get weird with it' and celebrate "bad" art. (0/)
Incredible news from Chiroptera Press this morning about a new Ligotti collection next year! Also today is Ligotti’s birthday but it feels deeply unfitting to wish him a “happy” birthday (maybe condolences are more appropriate 🤔).
ive seen some folks lately talkin on NEGATIVE REVIEWS and how to deal with them as authors or artists. personally i have not cared about reviews for several decades. negative reviews do not bother me in the slightest and buds often ask me HOW. ill explain a bit here and why this applies to everyone
If you're interesting in indie publishing with real numbers, charts, and a bit of a marketing breakdown, check out my article on my first 3 months of selling THE CORPSE PRIEST. carsonwinter.com/on-selling-b...
On Selling Books: 3 months of THE CORPSE PRIEST - The Official Page of Author Carson Winter
Writing the book is the easy part. What comes after is much harder—at least for me. All of us authors are always fighting for attention in a saturated market. It’s one of the most difficult things abo...
carsonwinter.com
Beautiful and slightly alarming flash from @nightshadesmag.bsky.social out today. This feels particularly timely because my entire critique group has become obsessed with horses lately. Weird westerns, weird fantasy, give me all the weird horses! 🐎
Night Shades ⏾@nightshadesmag.bsky.social · last mo.🛸 new one today from @diebooth.bsky.social 🛸 “There’s a sign on the gate: Do not feed the horses. Why? What do they eat?” www.nightshadesmag.com/do-not-feed-...
Stop what you’re doing and buy this book. @thomasha.bsky.social has done something really remarkable with this collection!
Undertow Publications 🇨🇦@undertow.bsky.social · 2mo agoHey ho, look at all this. Pretty good. Might be your jam, and we have the ebook on sale for just $4. undertowpublications.com/ebooks/uncer...
My preferred AI metaphor is actually Asbestos. - Seemingly magical properties - Developed and experimented with to make endless products - Poisoned countless communities in it's creation - Everything it was used for eventually becomes a toxic hazard to mitigate & it's in the fucking walls now
Greg Pak@gregpak.net · 3mo agoTrying out a new metaphor: "A.i." = cocaine. Cocaine is inevitable! Cocaine can enhance your creativity! Cocaine can make us all faster and more efficient! If your kid doesn't learn how to use cocaine, they'll get left behind!
Really enjoyed seeing Hokum tonight. Damian McCarthy is proving himself a master of weird cinema by not overexplaining his scares and letting the unsettling atmosphere of his setting speak for itself. The weird elements don’t all cohere neatly, but they rhyme in such a satisfying way!
art by francisco fonseca -- just luscious colors plus magical lighting
It's Friday the 13th!🩸🔪💀 Uhh...preorder some Weird horror books? Or maybe stock up on some of our titles that your bookshelves are desperately missing? I dunno, we didn't really think this one out ahead of time. Link, BOOM: store.tenebrouspress.com (nailed it🖤☠️)
Tenebrous Press@tenebrouspress.bsky.social · 5mo ago2026, all laid out. Wanna get Weird with us? store.tenebrouspress.com 🖤☠️
I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.
Happy Women in Horror Month! I urge you to read books by women not only this month, but every month. Let's celebrate and spotlight the many incredibly gifted authors that grace our libraries and bookstores, and shelves. (I've read the top two, here, and am reading the other two.) What you got? WiHM
Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin
Also, ICYMI, our 2 main 2025 titles on sale as a bundle. Both on the Locus Recommended Reading List. And @thomasha.bsky.social 's UNCERTAIN SONS is a Philip K. Dick Award Nominee, and NYPL 'Best Of' 2025. undertowpublications.com/shop/uncerta...
Uncertain Sons + Best Weird — Undertow Publications
A trade paperback copy each of Thomas Ha’s stunning debut collection UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES, and Vol. 1 of THE BEST WEIRD FICTION OF THE YEAR.
undertowpublications.com
