I'm in this picture and I like it

NYC Midnight@nycmidnight.bsky.social · 5d ago

The winners of the Short Story Challenge 2026 have been announced at nycmidnight.co/4rj7pMa! Congratulations to Erin Kerns Vazquez (Charlotte, NC, USA) for winning the competition with her final round story, “Never Enough,” and thanks to everyone who participated!

As you read for award nominations this year, please consider the short story "Magical Girl: Corporate Failure" by Lia Lao / @thelialao.bsky.social in our ✨January 2026 issue✨! Find it here: havenspec.com/fiction/magi... (Art by @aimeecozza.com)

"Remade, Reshaped, Remembered" is very close to my heart & it's been amazing to see how it's been resonating with readers. It's even cooler to see it appear in the latest Locus column alongside so many other great Otherside stories!!! Thank you so much to @mariahaskins.com for your kind words 🥹💜

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

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

One of my most personal stories, "Kwong's Bath," is out now in @podcastle.org with a moving narration by Pine Gonzalez. It's about siblings, the ghosts we live with, and takes place in the same world as my story, "Barbershops of the Floating City." So happy to see this one get a second life 🛀

🥲 Feeling very honoured for the @locusmag.bsky.social review and shoutout for my story "First to Rot" (and the other amazing @othersidespec.bsky.social stories!).

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

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

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 · 2w ago

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

still so surreal to have my @othersidespec.bsky.social story “this is c(lone)-pop” recommended in @locusmag.bsky.social 🥹😭 thank you @mariahaskins.com for your kind words

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

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

Have you read? This Is C(lone)-Pop be Lia Lao at Otherside This takes parasocial relationships to a new level. Also made me think of "It Doesn't Matter Why" by Silversun Pickups othersidespec.com/pieces/this-...

This Is C(lone)-Pop - OTHERSIDE

You’re only this young and usable once, so you have to make the most of it. At least that’s what your perfect, omniscient parents say. As the founders of CL-1, Neo-Shanghai’s largest genetic…

othersidespec.com

We are about to embark on an extremely small, closed ARC process (with eARCs only!). ARC expressions of interest will be offered exclusively to mailing list subscribers later this week. If you’re interested, sign up to the newsletter at scyllapublishing.com/newsletter

procrastinated so hard i started translating song dynasty poetry someone get me out 😭😭😭

so honoured to see “rice farmer” featured in tar vol on’s august roundup! 🥹🤍🌾 been super tired lately but this made my day

Jay@tarvolon.bsky.social · 3w ago

My August round-up is a bit lighter than usual on the short fiction, and it closes with a few words about a wonderful experience at last week’s WorldCon! www.tarvolon.com/2026/09/03/a...

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!

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 · 3w ago

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

So proud of this story produced by Folded Space and brilliantly narrated by @nikolledoolin.bsky.social. “The Last Astronaut” is a dark sf story about the nature of memory and the yearning for home. Give it a listen!

Folded Space, an Audio Science Fiction Anthology@foldedspace.bsky.social · 3w ago

www.foldedspacepodcast.com/the-last-ast...

My issue of @tasavvurnama.bsky.social is in this! Thank you @mariahaskins.com for your time and your kind words.

Locus Magazine@locusmag.bsky.social · 3w ago

Issue 788 Table of Contents, September 2026 locusmag.com/2026/09...

I missed this release while I was at WorldCon. Pine does an amazing narration, like the "Worse than a Wolf" episode.

Cast of Wonders@castofwonders.org · 3w ago

Cast of Wonders 696: The Purpose of a Pyromaniac Descendent by Wen Wen Yang narrated by Pine Gonzalez hosted by Alicia Caporaso produced by Jeremy Carter First published in Tales & Feathers, February 2025 www.castofwonders.org/2026/08/cast...

"Seneschal of Shattered Tor" is a postcolonial high fantasy about a society trying to Be Better* and the leaders dragging them into the future. I hope you enjoy it! * T&C apply

Beneath Ceaseless Skies Magazine@bcsmagazine.bsky.social · 3w ago

New Issue: BCS #465 out today, featuring stories of leadership under threat by returning BCS authors @denzelscott.bsky.social and Abhijeet Sathe @bingingout.bsky.social, 90-min podcast of Scott read by @smaliamorris.bsky.social, cover art Sam Jumisko: beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/issues/issue...

this one is genuinely sooo gorgeous and brilliantly told go read it neow

Lia Lao@thelialao.bsky.social · last mo.

my favorite story i’ve written (“revolutions, as told by a humble rice farmer”) is out in @podcastle.org! 🥹😭 referencing tang dynasty poetry it asks “what if we focused on this RANDOM RICE FARMER instead of the empire??” it’s a deconstruction of nationalism & v queer podcastle.org/2026/08/11/p...

“The Last Astronaut” (originally published in Cosmic Horror Monthly) is releasing in episode 2 of Folded Space podcast!! So excited to listen 🎉

Folded Space, an Audio Science Fiction Anthology@foldedspace.bsky.social · 3w ago

Season One, Episodes One and Two available Wednesday! "Mother of All Bombs" by Matt Hornsby "The Last Astronaut" by Sam W. Pisciotta podcasts.apple.com/.../folded-s... foldedspacepodcast.com #sciencefiction #scifi @swpisciotta.bsky.social @nikolledoolin.bsky.social @krystalhammond.bsky.social

🏳️‍🌈SOME QUEER SHORT SFF - JULY 2024🏳️‍🌈 I round up over 40 stories by @spacevalkyries.bsky.social @jelliclejay.bsky.social @rfdwrites.bsky.social @elijah.mea.rs @remedy.bsky.social @spocksbrain.bsky.social @christinehanolsy.com @mercwolfmoor.bsky.social & MORE!!! www.patreon.com/quicksiprevi...

Some Queer Short SFF - July 2026 | Charles Payseur

Well, July marked another huge month for queer spec fic, led by Baffling Magazine and a news trans SFF anthology. But even without those the

patreon.com

tis official!! a new book coming to y’all 2028 with @erewhonbooks.bsky.social / @kensingtonbooks.bsky.social 🥺🤍👻 background art: Da Huang Chan 💫

so delighted to be in this, still wrapping my head around it :^)

Clarkesworld@clarkesworldmagazine.com · 4w ago

I'm excited to share that The Best Science Fiction of the Year: 2025 anthology will be published by Wyrm Publishing in November. Full details on my blog: neil-clarke.com/next-install...

I am 100% serious when I say that having an optimistic outlook of the future is an effort to maintain when we're bombarded with bad news, horrific actions & constant harm. You have to show up and do the mental work. You have to hope when it looks hopeless. You have to believe people are worth it.

FFer Read of the Day: "Magical Girl: Corporate Failure" by @thelialao.bsky.social in @havenspec.bsky.social havenspec.com/fiction/magi...

Magical Girl: Corporate Failure, Haven Spec Magazine

"Magical Girl: Corporate Failure" by Lia Lao

havenspec.com

I would read seven books about this random rice farmer

Lia Lao@thelialao.bsky.social · last mo.

my favorite story i’ve written (“revolutions, as told by a humble rice farmer”) is out in @podcastle.org! 🥹😭 referencing tang dynasty poetry it asks “what if we focused on this RANDOM RICE FARMER instead of the empire??” it’s a deconstruction of nationalism & v queer podcastle.org/2026/08/11/p...

TELL ME YOUR 🏳️‍🌈QUEER SHORT SFF🏳️‍🌈 OUT IN JULY 2026!!! Originals only pls, up to novella in length, indie okay. Just reply with the author, title, and a link to read and/or buy and I'll get them on the list. Here's June's list for context & more info: www.patreon.com/quicksiprevi...

Some Queer Short SFF - June 2026 | Charles Payseur

Hi all! I’m still a mess in general but the show continues, this month with works from June—and there are quite a few, thanks in large part

patreon.com

New poem release for me! "There are lonely things in the forest", my poem about absence and climate grief is out at @thedeadlands.com today. psychopomp.com/deadlands/is...

There are lonely things in the forest / Rukman Ragas / Psychopomp

Read There are lonely things in the forest, by Rukman Ragas, a poem from Issue 43 of The Deadlands, summer, 2026.

psychopomp.com

i beta read this one and it slaps 🥰🥰🥰

Lia Lao@thelialao.bsky.social · last mo.

my favorite story i’ve written (“revolutions, as told by a humble rice farmer”) is out in @podcastle.org! 🥹😭 referencing tang dynasty poetry it asks “what if we focused on this RANDOM RICE FARMER instead of the empire??” it’s a deconstruction of nationalism & v queer podcastle.org/2026/08/11/p...

ime nonviolent communication can solve a lot of relationship problems. but, um. not all of them. at least, not problems that ride in with the storm and settle into the whites of your girlfriend's eyes ...anyway, please enjoy Kaitlin's and my cowritten sapphic horror story, it's free to read!

Adventitious.@adventitiouswords.bsky.social · last mo.

“Is that meat?” The question falls out of my mouth in a desperate tumble. “Everything’s meat.” 🥘❤️🦝👩‍🎨 For your unsettling Sunday night: Life Imitates by @kaitlinschmidt4.bsky.social and @riolombana.bsky.social (Scope the CWs please.) www.adventitious.net/stories/life...

It’s Obon season, so here’s my @uncannymagazine.bsky.social poem to all the ghosts returning home again.

there are no taxis for the dead - Uncanny Magazine

The horse brings you home wading through summer rain, reminds you             not to stare too long at the halo of light the flicker of streetlamps, metal heads bowed over fogged streets your bad knee...

uncannymagazine.com