We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?

Yes, everything is still terrible, but also the Spousal Unit is hammering something downstairs without warning or explanation, so I’m especially alarmed today.

Okay, I got started on a moderation list for all the beta reader bots. Mutuals, feel free to share and let me know when you see something!

Tonight I’m torn between not doing my writing and not cleaning the bathrooms. Good thing I’m an expert procrastinator!

Want a deal on some books? In honor of the Craft Wars being up for the Hugo Award, these are $2.99 in ebook for a limited time, on all retailers: THREE PARTS DEAD (bookshop.org/p/books/thre...) TWO SERPENTS RISE (bookshop.org/p/books/two-...) DEAD COUNTRY (bookshop.org/p/books/dead...)

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Every Space Unicorn Dance Now! The Uncanny Magazine Year 13: The Space Unicorn Believes in YOU! Kickstarter is 80% funded with 10 days to go!! Give us the fully funded music, Space Unicorns! www.kickstarter.com/projects/unc...

Get in on the good stuff! 37 freebies by 32 authors to get your beach reading off to a good start. It's the Coastal Magic FR** book event--including two of mine! Green Man Blues: dl.bookfunnel.com/fwe6pcf8pp Memory and Malice: dl.bookfunnel.com/19rgkrmf98

Only somewhat relevant to writing scams, but this site looks to me like a very helpful general knowledge resource on a variety of common scams, including phishing scams, romance scams, AI voice scams, and more www.tuteladigitalis.com

Online Scam Protection & Fraud Prevention | Tutela Digitalis

Expert guides on phishing, investment fraud, romance scams, and AI threats — free education and confidential help from someone who studied scammers.

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bought candy at the pool for a 13yo and she tried to give me cash. i was like nahh it's nbd, and she goes "girl i have seen your car." 13yo girls remain undefeated. you think you're talking to a child but you're actually talking to whatever gods used to send to punish mortals for their hubris

I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful

Random Friday night thought number two: The ceiling spider in the bedroom, no longer satisfied with ghosting between the light fixture and the shadowy corners, has given birth to a myriad tiny versions of itself. I’m sure they’re adorable, and I need a lead on a cheap flamethrower.

Random Friday night thought number one: Never Say You Can’t Survive by @charliejane.bsky.social is a master class in finding joy in creative work. It’s so easy when things are scary to feel like there isn’t any point in sitting down to write. Charlie Jane Anders is here to tell you to keep going.

Like, I’m watching a true crime show right now so I probably have no room to criticize, but I’ve got some Feelings about the yarn dyer who’s doing a Jack the Ripper set of tonals. Yikes. So many yikes. Side note: read The Five by Hallie Rubenhold for a deep dive on the Ripper’s victims. Stunning.

Hey! If you were published at Daily Science Fiction, be aware that a site called Science Fiction Weekly has stolen the entire story database & posted it on their site. All of my DSF stories are there without my permission. sciencefictionweekly.com

Thursday's Space Unicorn has far to go! The Uncanny Magazine Year 13: The Space Unicorn Believes in YOU! Kickstarter is 77% funded!! WE ARE GETTING SO CLOSE TO MAKING YEAR 13 HAPPEN, SPACE UNICORNS!!! buff.ly/YXbF3WP

Excellent advice. I may have to cross-stitch “Chase your fun” and hang it over my writing desk.

Marie Vibbert@reasie.bsky.social · last wk.

"The best exercise is one you'll want to do." -- this is advice for physical fitness, but I think it applies to art, too. The best writing is the writing you'll be drawn to complete. Chase your fun.

I now have a weird urge to write a second-world fantasy story that contains a bunch of weird product references. Anti-petrification basilisk cream from Dr. Homunculus? Fizzy drinks at the Blacklight All-Night Pub? Why buy a generic cat familiar when you can have a genuine de-extincted dagger-mouth?

Eeeesh! Can we get this closer to 50%, at least?!?! Deadline coming up QUICK!

Dr. Nyri A. Bakkalian@riversidewings.bsky.social · last wk.

39 days are left until I need to pay for my top surgery! Insurance and credit bureau fuckery has left me without coverage or other options. You can help me close the rest of the gap via the link. ⛰️⛰️ Thank you for helping me reclaim my mountains 💙

I started reading a thriller, and the authors have given the brand names of every. single. item. the main character has touched, worn, or used. I don’t think I can take more than a couple chapters of that.

There’s been an important development in this case

Warhammer Dan@jacketdan.bsky.social · 2w ago

Dudes rock

Today’s mystery: what happened to my stitch stoppers? I know I had a pair, and now they’re gone. On a related note, even a simple #knitting project goes better if I take the time to think about how many stitches I need to cast on in order to get the result I want. Who knew?!

Speaking of being a fan of your friends, I’ve been waiting for MONTHS to get my hands on Ali Trotta’s new poetry collection, Offerings for Ordinary Gods. I started reading it today, and it is EVEN BETTER than I expected. Gorgeous and heartbreaking!

Ali Trotta@alwayscoffee.bsky.social · 2w ago

Highly recommend being unabashedly a fan of your friends!

I would buy a full-price movie ticket just to listen for two hours to Alan Ritchson yell about whatever injustices are making him mad. We need more of this energy in the world.

so like, what is writer's block? and do you have it? or is it that you're holding down a job, running household inventory, managing others' schedules, handling emotional labor, expected to cook/clean, and generally haven't had a quiet hour set aside to figure out how to move your story forward?

PLUS, the first THREE books are FREE right now in the Summer/Winter Smashwords sale! 🎉🎉🎉 this is a great way to get started in the series! book 9 comes in October! Run With the Hunted! support women's wrongs! www.smashwords.com/profile/view...

Jen Donohue@authorizedmusings.bsky.social · 2mo ago

it is FINALLY FRIDAY maybe time for you to RUN WITH THE HUNTED Run With the Hunted is my ongoing, female-led, cyberpunk heist novella series! The narrators take turns, and how cyberpunk it is depends on who's telling it. authorizedmusings.blogspot.com/p/run-with-h... itch.io/c/5506291/ru...

Over at #Ebooks Direct: our Summer Reading #Sale is on! Everything's ridiculously discounted —works from the #YoungWizards universe, from the #LGBTQ #MiddleKingdoms series, and lots more! And our Whole Bookstore Sale is still on. Stop in and grab a bargain! ebooks.direct/pages/our-su...

Why am I not writing tonight? All-day pain, a loud concert at a venue in the neighborhood, plus the chickens next door singing along (sorta) and now the ammosexuals at the conservation club are also popping off. Thanks, I hate it. #whine #butnocheese

Love* how the dreaming brain can show you someone who hasn’t earned my trust in forty years of real-world experience and say, “But you should totally try again to earn their approval!” *hate

Folks. This is awful. This family needs help. 😭😭😭

intelligentwat 🇹🇹 BRING BACK ŁINK@zinrock.bsky.social · 2w ago

I'm sorry to do this again, but we really need your immediate help. my partner's kids' mom died suddenly and we need to settle affairs as well as paperwork to get life started on this new normal. this will cover the time we need to take off. please help. gofund.me/f4ba517ba

PSA on the Victoria Line tube in London. Phillipson and every other GC weirdo needs to take note.