Cynthia Ward

Sent out a pitch. Haven't done that much. Fly high, little pigeon! And come back with the bacon.

Hey friends, if you have taught MAGICAL/REALISM in your classes, or if as a student, it has been assigned to you, could you let me know your university or school? It would be hugely, tremendously helpful. Thank you so much!

Submissions are open for The Cosmic Background's next issue: THROWBACK TECH. Edited by Jacob Baugher. Submissions are open through March 31.

Call for Submissions: Throwback Tech Guest Editor Jacob Baugher Haunted Super Nintendos, Tube TVs that show alternate realities, radios that receive broadcasts from the future or other worlds, GameBoy Colors that receive cosmic messages through Pokemon Yellow. We are looking for flash fiction about our technological pasts that affect our emotional presents and physical futures. Due March 31

Submissions are OPEN for our special issue theme:

THROWBACK TECH 🎥📺📻🎮📀📼🕹️👾
Edited by @prof-bogs.bsky.social

Let's do this. You have until March 31. It's a new year, let's celebrate with old tech.

➡️ thecosmicbackground.moksha.io/publication/...

From the comic 'Tintin en Amérique', published in 1932, created by Hergé.
American publishers were uneasy of this scene but Hergé nevertheless refused to remove it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_...

It’s Women In Horror month! Here’s some stellar writers on the shelf or on order at @eveninghouse.bsky.social

@ravineangel.bsky.social
@kristinaten.bsky.social
@haileypiperfights.bsky.social
@wnwagner.bsky.social
@nicolayoon.bsky.social
@scumbelievable.bsky.social
@alexwoodroe.com
& more

AI-generated artwork is officially not eligible for copyright protection after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the appeal.

The court ruled that a work must have a human creator in order to qualify for copyright.

(Link: www.reuters.com/legal/govern...)

Hello, book people! I am the book content editor for Reactor Mag and I'm looking for 2026 sci-fi, fantasy, horror, romantasy, and speculative books coming out in the second half of the year! If you have an adult or YA SFF/H book out July-Dec (or publicist), share the link/info here!

Well, of course they should. Who is arguing otherwise? This seems like a solution to a non-problem.

“They can have a vote of confidence any time they want to throw out a head of state who turns out to be awful. Is that any way to run a country?”

Yeah, stick with markets aimed at readers, not slop-suckers.

This man is independently wealthy and has been using both his own personal wealth and donations from the MAGAverse to launder his public image via political advertising for at minimum the last six to eight months. His name and face are /very/ recognizable and i really fear that’ll be all he needs

"We will pursue every option except ceasing to aggravate, exclude, and aggressively support the govt / I C E assault on the marginalized communities on whom we used to base our whole brand image and business success."

Yep. Sounds like a win-win to me! Oh, wait.

btw for trans women to offer this kind of practical warning and sympathy is a serious mitzvah and we cis women really owe it to them (and to ourselves!) to step up our solidarity in kind

I've been thinking about romances where the friends actually gave serious thought to the consequences of moving from friends to lovers, and I'm coming up with zero.

It seems like it would be an inevitable concern for BFF-to-lovers, but I've never seen it even alluded to, that I can remember.

Congratulations to you both!

Nostalgia: this was one heck of a week!

How terrible. I'm sorry.

It can be done.

It generally can't be predicted in advance, though.

A stack of thin pink books that say OBSTETRIX * Naomi Kritzer on the spine.

HEY, I AM DOING ANOTHER FUNDRAISER FOR MINNESOTA RENT FUNDS! AND GIVING AWAY ANOTHER SIGNED ARC (Advance Review Copy) OF OBSTETRIX!!!

YOU COULD GET TO READ IT EARLY (it doesn't come out until June) AND HELP MINNESOTA FAMILIES STAY HOUSED!!!!

I don't entirely reject the friends to lovers trope, but I sure do run into it far more in romance than I've ever seen in the RW, especially when it comes to BFFs to lovers.

Perhaps because in RL, friends may be more likely to consider just how MUCH they'll lose if switch to lovers doesn't pan out.

keep seeing people talking about Hugo and Nebula nominations which means it is my professional duty to remind you that nominations for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize open on SUNDAY

Kobo users seem fairly common on F B, too.

As are we ALL.

3 authors I've read at least 3 short stories by in the last 10 years:

@tommarcinko.bsky.social
@cynthiaward.bsky.social
@nisishawl.bsky.social

Will the circle be unbroken? I think not.

Verily, it shall not be.

Reposting this because some people are still being dicks about Criterion releasing Kpop: Demon Hunters. First, fuck all you elitist creeps. KDH is one of the most important animated films of the decade, and with a Criterion release it will introduce a generation to physical media and foreign cinema.

@weemallard.bsky.social
@nisishawl.bsky.social
@tommarcinko.bsky.social

(I haven't checked if the totals are all published new [or forthcoming] in the last 10 years. For one thing, the net in the aggregate has a sort of long-term memory disorder.)

Thanks for the heads-up, Tom (and the purchase)!

Possibly the omission is a simple oversight by @reactorsff.bsky.social / @torbooks.bsky.social.

3 authors I’ve read at least 3 short stories by in the last 10 years:

@weemallard.bsky.social
@cynthiaward.bsky.social
@nisishawl.bsky.social

I can't recommend May Peterson enough as an editor, book doctor, and purveyor of thoughtful critique. I've lost count of the books we've worked on together at this point. She's my first port of call when a MS isn't coming together, because she has a literal genius for teasing out threads, spelling out issues, and otherwise spreading my tangled messes over the table in a way that makes the problem (and thus the solution) become clear. She's thorough, insightful, patient, and even phrases it nicely when telling you you forgot to include the plot. I have also worked with her as a sensitivity reader and found the experience invaluable. As a recovering editor of twenty years experience I am picky about editing to a fault, and I can recommend May without hesitation. You want her help. KJ Charles, bestselling author

I’m actively taking new editing clients!

Whether you’re stuck on a book, want help with a project idea, or simply have a manuscript you want to make the best it can be, check out my website for info about services and fees!

www.maypetersonbooks.com/editorial/