Jon Olfert 🌾🍁

A $65 USD tank of gas cost us $95 USD today in Nova Scotia so that was nice.

As a matter of total defence, Canada will now operate exclusively in third person.

Jonathan Olfert History's eighth or ninth most prolific writer of speculative paleofiction

Finally bit the bullet and got the Churchlands and Five Deserts stories all down in one place — chronologically by main, even. jonathan-olfert.carrd.co#churchlandsf...

I would, sometimes, like people to pause before posting and ask themselves: is this actually still happening, or have I just not let it go yet?

That's not true. But in June 1944, Joseph Smith ordered the Nauvoo Expositor's printing press destroyed, not — as has been supposed — because it called him a 'self-constituted monarch,' broke the polygamy story, and criticized his conduct toward women, but to avoid an interview with Chotiner.

I hadn't gotten out yet when they made that change but I remember being disturbed by it. As if the mission experience needed any more weights, hooks, caveats, and transactionality added to every bit of meaningful human connection.

Thanks a ton for the detail and link, I figured it was probably along those lines given the various pyrotechnics in the trailer. But yeah, practical ships! Always a fan.

‘Project Hail Mary’ Contains Not a Single Greenscreen Shot in the Entire Movie, Director Says Amazon-MGM's entire 156-minute, big-budget sci-fi gamble was shot without any green (or blue) screen, Christopher Miller says.

“What’s fun about the movie is that there is no greenscreen in the movie whatsoever. Not a single green- or bluescreen was used. The whole ship was built as a set from the inside. We had a huge section of the exterior of the ship on the outside that we built." Hey @thespaceshipper.com check this out

Dr. Strangelove | 'Pre-taliate' | National Theatre Live YouTube video by National Theatre

Escalations so inane and bleak all I can turn to is Strangelove.

'We pretaliate before they even think of taliating.' www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnr-...

While I'm a short story guy, every year the Aurora Awards category I enjoy the most is cover/interior art. Always some great stuff in there.

This year my standout favourite was 'Sensory,' the weird sci-fi painting that Robert Pasternak did, the cover of issue 35 of the poetry zine Polar Borealis.

"A government that shows no imagination about what the province could be if it invested in the knowledge economy? A government that obtusely chooses to see institutions as cost centres rather than tools to make the province more competitive? In this country, in this decade, those are a dime a dozen"

Year-in-Review: 2025 Magazine Summary Whether writers’ playground, experimental sandbox, record of the community and the field, or trove of criticism or enthusiasm or scholarship… the magazines of science fiction, fantasy, and ho…

Studying the holy scriptures of my people locusmag.com/feature/year...

Wrapped in a dinosaur blanket beneath a beautiful moon, surrounded by snowdrifts and flipping through Alberta's new Government Estimates. A beautiful night for budget docs.

"The [workplace AI adoption] data seems unexpectedly stable and presents little evidence of any imminent displacement risk" to jobs overall.

A shampoo bottle, white with accents in gold, purple, and blue. The caption is 'Indulge in Whispering Wisteria from the new Dove x Bridgerton collection.'

New author goal unlocked.

Staring toward the horizon, fist clenched in resolve:

Someday, my work will be a shampoo.

The great fiscal–economic decoupling of Alberta Alberta’s energy sector grew more resilient—its finances did not

In a strong economy, voters "are less inclined to demand deep structural reform. Deficits become more tolerable. Other fixes involving “other people” become politically acceptable, even more preferable...Alberta may be able to postpone the harder, longer-term questions about revenues and spending."

Tag yourself, I'm a man þat haþ no rewþe in his herte

Talking recently with a couple of longtime conservatives in two of those leaning-blue areas, I was surprised by how derisive and disappointed they were about CPC leadership and how much they liked the current government. Some focused polling of rural AB conservatives right now could be interesting.

Taking a closer look, I'm at 3 minimum, maybe 4, MAYBE 5 - Empress of Mars which I adored, one or two Company books, one or two Anvil of the World books.

Five+ women by whom I've read at least five books:

C.J. Cherryh
Robin Hobb
Anne McCaffrey
Nnedi Okorafor
Premee Mohamed
Naomi Novik
Ursula Le Guin
Seanan McGuire
Tamora Pierce
K.A. Applegate
Nghi Vo
Monica Hughes
Suzanne Collins

Not sure I cracked 5 for Kage Baker at some point but it's possible.

Cover of the March April 2021 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, with Harry Turtledove, Cat Rambo, Marie Brennan, C.L. Polk, and Molly Tanzer's names on the cover. The image features a strange assemblage of discordant pieces, forming a composite face, and an astronaut walking up to the massive face.

Cover of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Volume 1, Summer 2025, with Nnedi Okorafor, Maurice Broaddus, Justin C. Key, Matthew Kressel & Mercurio D. Rivera, John Shirley, Inda Lauryn all listed on the cover. A Black cyberpunk-ish figure is in the front, full, long dreadlocks, trench coat, having pulled a sword with an umbrella handle from its sheath, against a futuristic cityscape and a stunning orange-red sky with turquoise touches.

My first "By the Numbers" was in the Mar/Apr 2021 F&SF!

Each entry examines an aspect of genre publishing - magazines, awards, publishers, etc.

This one asks: What are the experiences of people of color in the publishing industry?

(Not counting my experiences LOL)
arleysorg.com/by-the-numbe...

Church Handbook Offers Enduring Guidance on Artificial Intelligence The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has updated its “General Handbook” to include principled guidance on the use of artificial intelligence.

Got to be such a big problem in Mormonism that the LDS Church recently instituted rules around AI use in some of those contexts and more (some pretty hair-raising). newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/gene...

I've sure got my own takes and suspicions, but who you want to talk with is Don Mills and David Campbell, the Toward Prosperity guys.

@mapleknighthrayr.bsky.social I feel like this is very much your speed

The year is one million AD. Guys are still very much into a) brooding about 'what is guy? WHY is guy?' and b) swords.

Two-thirds of Canadians say that right now it feels like no matter what they do, they can’t get ahead financially.

A similar share feel less financially secure than a year ago.

This is what erosion feels like.

More:
abacusdata.ca/canadians-a...

To me that sounds like a 'curse of knowledge' problem tbh. The more I talk with writers impacted by situations like this, the more I find people who just... didn't know. Or took the editors at their word, or misread how the messy last round went down, or wish they'd done more than a cursory search.

This is just to say

I have once again made off with
the funds
that were resting in
my personal account

And which
you probably thought
I would
distribute equitably

Forgive me
I like money
so green
and so tasty

#disclosuremaxxing

After an outcry from unpaid authors, Hedone has finally paid me what I was owed. I hope all the authors receive their payment and authors' copies. I'm curious if everyone who purchased the anthology ever received their copy.