SFFH author with shorts in Escape Pod, Fireside Fiction, & more. Somewhere in the middle of the Venn diagram of silly and scary. Dabbler in too many hobbies. ND. She/her. https://allisonmulder.wordpress.com/welcome/what-i-write/
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It sure would help with making this story Cohere if I sent the actual story draft instead of the highlights I've been mulling over for the past year or two,,,
' @ktsimpson.bsky.social : So, I love it. I think it needs to be longer. *brief discussion* Me: Well I thought I addressed XYZ in [Redacted] section KT: [Redacted]? Me: *dawning horror as I realize I sent her the 300 word notes doc instead of the 3000 word story* ... WELL GOOD NEWS. IT'S LONGER.
I just think this one is gonna have people like Perplexed Bewildered
See that sounds weird-delightful. I fear the draft I just finished may be more "weird-what-is-even-happening-though."
IDK IF IT'S THE RIGHT KINDA WEIRD, THOUGH.
You say this now.,, I am gonna send it to you probably Later and you are gonna be Baffled.
Me: I'm writing something weird. @ktsimpson.bsky.social : *eyes emoji* Me: no like,, I do Not know if this story is going to Function,,
Congrats!!
Horror folks, it's the middle of September, and the Stoker Recommended Reading List is looking extremely small. If you're a member of the HWA, go recommend something you've read that you loved! horror.org/awards/curre...
Asking for an author’s book at a library is a wonderful thing to do. The library buys the book, maybe even multiple copies, which really does help authors. A simple request can spread a lot of good around. Also I just love libraries and I’m always happy when someone checks out one of my books. 📚
A clown car garden (colloquially: clown carden) where you dig a small hole that can fit SO much more into it than you might guess.
"What exactly did the oracle say?" I ready my quill. "Heroes THREE. I remember," the frail old man says, voice gravelly. "Everyone only talks about the one hero, but..." "No, most witnesses said the same." I smile and return to my library of lore, truth rolled up and tucked safely in my pocket.
Strange Horizons is IMO the grandparent of indie online SFF zines. Started IIRC by young writers w no pro publishing experience, online, free to read, paying good rates. Later a 501c3 nonprofit. I would not have known I could start BCS w/o their example. And still fresh & current. Happy Birthday SH!
Forgot how much I love when it CRACKLES.
And BREAD. The first actual loaf made with Ember the sourdough starter. It was largely a test and I Am gonna have to use the ole "baking sheet under the Dutch Oven" trick to keep the bottom from getting too dark. But I don't mind a good Toasting. Still looks like bread!
"Please take a selfie with me," Hugh Jackman begs another student. "I'm trying to reach Sarah Hollowell, and this is the only way I know."
I mean if he's going to show up randomly a mile away, seems just as likely that Hugh Jackman will come hunt YOU down.
Congrats!!
Still thinking about my sister's impeccable comedic timing on a video call when I asked, "I keep seeing ads for a Gabby's Dollhouse movie. Is [Niece] excited?" And she swung her camera 90 degrees to show me "Gabby Movie" already written on their wall calendar.
Yes, good. The texture is maybe a little chewy but--the way a soft pretzel is. I am Likin' it.
I still love how these mushrooms lit up during my walk the other day, right at golden hour...
And I bet NONE of them were in tiny spider-sized car seats. *shakes head*
Decorating for Christmas early, I see.
Your power grows... <3
<3 <3 <3
But they were, all of them, deceived, for another week of 90 degree days was made. In the land of Nebraska, in the fires of late summer...
🚨 FoF Reminder for Registrants: The lottery is open until Sept 15. Results will be emailed Sept 17, even if you didn’t win any seats. After the lottery closes, everyone can directly sign up for remaining seats. Haven't registered yet? Now's the time! flights-of-foundry.o...
At the moment I just keep thinking of the YouTube title card things like I [performed a quest] with [repercussions] leading to [shocking outcome]???? with the MC's face looking shocked. Because that's essentially the format we're getting every other paragraph. I am Tired.
Also full disclosure, this pet peeve developed specifically after I caught myself doing it in novel drafts back in like high school, so now I am Conscious of it. The events have not materially changed since they happened two pages ago, three minutes in-world. We Do Not Need the Recap Every Line.
(I'm not gonna say the title but) All these villains are so quick to announce exactly what they're doing and why, even when it makes no narrative sense. I love exposition. But oof,, not like this... Heugh...
Drabble: I sneezed and hit the word count limit,, I don't,,
(I'm not a DNFer. I understand completely and encourage others to if they wish. But I simply cannot, or I will bow under the weight of things unfinished. XD Also I love the concept, the world should be candy to me. But the exposition. Gah. The exposition...)
*reading a book rn that does my pet peeve thing where it recaps the entire situation incredulously every other line, and keeps explaining the same worldbuilding bits over and over* Me: please...stop expositing...please, stop. *weeping* Please Stop Telling Me What's Going On, I Beg You.
Well you know, sometimes. When you're out of spoons. You just Gotta dunk your whole head in the bowl. *nods sagely*
What a souper recovery so far <3
Of course! Hope Cousin George continues to serve you well, and that you enjoy the cookies if you give em a shot!
Apparently it's a spin on the recipe on the back of Tollhouse chocolate chip bags-- --but that was my mom's go-to cookie recipe growing up anyway, so I'm very pleased with how the rye, sourdough discard, and chopped walnuts panned out. :)
I used a discard recipe from a sourdough cookbook I picked up on a whim ages ago, from this site? This looks like basically the exact recipe I used, except the version I went off of said AP flour and rye flour instead of what's listed.
Wonderful xD Ember already makes great cookies. *Chef kiss*
I cleaned her off and took some out for discard cookies and then she filled up again so I took some more out and set it to the side and then BOTH those filled up so I tapped 'em down on the counter and YET, they spring up again like an unobserved slasher at the end of a movie. Ember! Calm down!
I have a new sourdough starter, which I am naming Ember, because she started in the -Ember months and I will be trying to stoke her for the foreseeable future. I rehydrated her from Sis's starter, and at first I wasn't sure it was working. Today. She is Working.
American Girl dolls leading to constant misunderstandings because none of the ghosts correspond with the period-appropriate garb they've possessed.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Also my instinct. XD
...Poll-tergeist Pockets.
Now imagining all ghosts manifesting in various doll sizes according to power, ranging from Polly Pockets to those life-size dolls...
Well, and also, the bones come apart to dodge any direct attacks, to say nothing of the second stage where they come back with a bigger health bar and start chucking ribs at you like lances.
We just met our funding goal! Thank you times infinity to the backers of the last 30 minutes, and everyone in the last 28 days. There will be 3LBE 2026! 🖤🐙 📖 There’s still time for stretch goals, which will add more issues and more stories.
Big Big Skeleton doesn't WANT the people to have giant skeleton halves at affordable prices.
For that price, may as well find a giant and make a WHOLE one yourself at home. 😤
WHATSA MATTA WIT DEM BOIDS
"Excuse me!" I say firmly, stopping short to keep from walking INTO two small birds suddenly getting into a kerfuffle at chest-height. "I'm walkin' here!"
The physical drop-lane beneath the flow stretches emptily in either direction. Seemed superfluous, 'til I was falling. My heart still pounds when an old man on a scooter pulls over. "Just use your emergency wheels." He shows me the button. I inch along. Then race, no traffic but the chaos above.
The @3lobedmag.com Kickstarter is down to 49 hours and they're still $2839 away from their funding goal. I backed to get one of their snazzy T-shirts. If you haven't yet, it would be amazing if you could help them reach their goal. www.kickstarter.com/projects/asf...
Friends, Flights of Foundry is free to attend but it isn’t free to run. If you like what we do, and want to see it continue, consider donating. Those funds are essential to ensure Flights of Foundry continues in the future. flights-of-foundry.o...
Either this or your 6yo is developing super-speed.
A great weekend of support, and only 70 hours left to reach our goal! Let’s visit together the stories of garden planets, sorrow caverns, carnivorous malls, jungle cathedrals, endless basements, whispering tundras, fungus skyscrapers. kck.st/4mIkEm1
My Lil Guys have done it again. Victory in the first match-up. Considering last time I believe I didn't have a kicker in the first game, I've improved much.
I misread this as waiter at first and thought that a bucket of blood was some novelty Halloween menu item at a restaurant,,
Wow, Bluesky didn't show me this reply at All! O _ O But, just as long as the acceptances hold true, lol.
Congrats!
Thank you!! And yeah, it's easy to do, so I don't mind--I'm pretty sure it's even possibly happened to me before? XD Excited for more eyes on a past story!
This sets a Dangerous precedent vis a vis how long I stare at the rejections I receive, but I'll TAKE IT.
Me: Now that I'm done driving home, time to gaze stoically upon the two story rejections I got during my outing. I don't know why. Not like it's going to magically change it into an acceptance-- One Email: HELLO WE HIT THE WRONG BUTTON, WE WOULD LOVE TO ACCEPT YOUR REPRINT SUBMISSION.
👁️ 👁️👄👁️ $5342 out of a $10k base goal! @3lobedmag.com has been going for TWENTY FIVE YEARS, let's help them keep going! www.kickstarter.com/projects/asf...
The Augur Microfiction Contest is BACK for 2025 🏆 until Sep 30! THE THEME: We want microfiction that bursts open the futures we need to see 🌌 show us the who/what/where of your tomorrows! More info below ⬇️ and in our bio!
Listen No it's not as good as the first But did I still watch it at an impressionable age, along with every other mouse movie? YES.
*my brain immediately starts up the soundtrack*
I hope "trying to get him back" here means a convoluted arranged marriage between one of your relatives and one of Marmaduke's actual descendents. XD
THAT'S WHAT I SAID Spiders in the area, Are you okay?
Look how they massacred my boy, etc.
Yes, this is for sure Part of it. *Hugs my meager collection of Halloween mugs in rotation year round*
Me: Okay, it's fine, I don't need coffee to be productive. Me: I could do some writing this morning. Maybe even go to the coffee sho--
Me: Apples! Pumpkin! Golden leaves! AQI: PM2.5. TAKE YOUR LIFE IN YOUR HANDS. Me: *weeping* SKELETON DECORATIONS. MORE PUMPKINS.
*goes outside to check mail, gasps* The air is CRISP! Someone has lit a very strong Autumnal Candle in the vicinity! The air quality is still moderate but it's FEELIN' like FALL.
I think it could easily be a mixture of all three of those for me. XD Coffee's never made me Way More Awake, but I think it has been alright for focus... But I would prefer not to spend as much money / get a migraine every time I miss a day or two, so we will see if I can at least sub in tea etc.
City Worker: *squinting at new AC* Good news. You get to keep it. Me: sir. sir, I just woke up and have abstained from caffeine. It's proportionally too early for jokes and tomfoolery.
Decided to stop daily coffee now that it's not free from a day job, so I rode out the caffeine headaches and managed to reset. Now we learn if that daily coffee was Doing Things for my executive function. As I'm sitting on the couch, staring into the middle distance... Not lookin' good, folks.
Hi! (the ebook version of) The Long List Anthology Volume 9 will be officially released on Monday September 8th! You can pre-order it at many ebook vendors right now, which are super helpful as they all count as release day sales toward the sales algos. www.diabolicalplots.com/support/books/
*sitting in elaborate Tik-Tok style Alexander Hamilton get-up, half in and half out of a window* "I've got an early meeting out of town~" City Worker: *avoiding my gaze* Just one minute ma'am, and I'll let you get back to...whatever this is.
Still lounging around in bed, playing chicken with the city worker apparently coming to tag my new AC today, in like twenty minutes. Guess I should put the ole face on and so forth.
Why, does it stick like to a metal pole in winter? O_O
Me, poised over the fantasy football group chat, ready to let loose with the classic, "is that good?"
Now the Chiefs were one of my Defenses last year and by sheer proximity geographically, they do retain some of their Lil Guy status. I will not be bought for less than THREE cookie-bribes. I have my Principles, after all.
VERY peculiar. And no spitoons in sight? Just strange.
Come to think of it, was it an Eagle or a Cowboy who did the spitting?? Can eagles EVEN spit? If it was a cowboy, that would at least be in-character, though one would hope for some kind of spitoon set up near the Gatorade coolers that I assume are ubiquitous.
This does appear to have group chat in a kerfuffle, yes, tho I'm still not sure if it affected my match-up, or a different friend, or both. I have no lil guys in the mix tonight, and I specifically said non-injurious, just a little bit of a bad time. Next time I'll specify non-spit related???
Now I don't rightly know what happened because as usual, I am not Watching a lick of football. Sometimes the numbers go up. Sometimes the numbers go down. Sometimes a Lil Guy is injured AGAIN and you gotta swap 'em out real quick. WATCH the football? What difference would that make?
Me: *merrily wishes a non-injurious curse upon my first match-up's players. No injury, just doin' a little bit of a bad job* *First play begins* Group Chat: @ktsimpson.bsky.social : Is Allison a football witch? Me: If so, those would be the most underutilized powers on the Planet.
Clearly, it is ~poetry~
But if you upload pictures upside down you could made your nose and chin look like a fun little guy. Clearly this is what bsky craves.
One of the problems of short fiction is *finding* it. There's so much out there, it's hard to know how to find what you'll like. Enter InkFoundry. There are so many ways to search! Search by venue (Small Wonders, for example), by author, by tags... or have the site surprise you ! inkfoundry.net
Please share this far and wide! We need your support this week to continue publishing a pro paying magazine of horror fantasy dark science weird speculative fiction. With six days left, join our parade of 96 backers so far! kck.st/4mIkEm1
P.A. Cornell did a service to our whole community in going public with her experience with the MRM contract. I love these magazines & their editorial teams & I hope that the new publishers get their act together before the damage is permanent. Contracts should protect the interests of both parties.
Have the BEST BIRTHDAY DINNER. <3 <3 <3
Awesome. Thank you!
