Dang if only I was outgoing enough to volunteer, but I'm such a homebody 😅

Ooh, holiday date?! Some people would think the same about you in a similar situation, so you're in a higher league than your brain probably allows you to think!

This is very cool, and I feel honored that our game got such a big nod from a very sincere player of these kinds of games!

🎃 The kobolds are back for Scarecase 2025 — this Friday & Saturday (Oct 10–11)!👻

Two days of monster reveals, art battles, cozy game streams, and sneak peeks at future Kobold Press releases.

Catch it all live on Twitch & YouTube — and bring your spooky energy.

👉 koboldpress.com/scarecase-2025

Desert Sleuths WriteNOW! Conference Anthology Launch Party and Author Signings Sept 26, 2025 The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, Scottsdale, AZ A man seeks refuge from a monsoon only to find himself trapped in a chaotic standoff with strangers and a dead body. "The Microburst" by Michael Thomét, from the Desert Sleuths Anthology, SOWEST: DANGER AWAITS! Michael Thomét is a speculative mystery writer who enjoys crafting a good puzzle. His characters are queer because he’s queer. His fiction has been featured in Black Cat Weekly, the Crimeucopia series by Murderous Ink Press, and Nightmare Fuel by Cloaked Press. He also writes for games. When not writing, Michael enjoys a good narrative game—especially murder mysteries—both as player and designer. Order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FNS2H162 Register for the Launch Party at https://desertsleuths.com/writenow-2025-launch-party/

A man seeks refuge from a monsoon only to find himself trapped in a chaotic standoff with strangers and a dead body.

"The Microburst" by Michael Thomét, from the Desert Sleuths Anthology, SOWEST: DANGER AWAITS!

Pick up a copy: www.amazon.com/dp/B0FNS2H162

#SinC #AmReading @michaelthomet.com

Hey, woah, my game The Necromancer's Tale got shortlisted for the 2025 TIGA Awards?! For Narrative and Storytelling?! That's what I did on The Necromancer's Tale! (along with my fellow writers, and everyone who worked on the game of course! ❤️)

Announcement which reads: Desert Sleuths Virtual Conference, 9/19 - 20/2025 Anthology Launch Party with Author Signings 9/19/25 The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, Scottsdale, AZ A man seeks refuge from a monsoon only to find himself trapped in a chaotic standoff with strangers and a dead body. from "The Microburst" Michael Thomét is a speculative mystery writer who enjoys crafting a good puzzle. His characters are queer because he's queer. His fiction has featured in Black Cat Weekly, the Crimeucopia series by Murderous Ink Press, and Nightmare Fuel by Cloaked Press. He also writes for games. When not writing, Michael enjoys a good narrative game—especially murder mysteries—both as player and designer. Register at https://desertsleuths.com The only free and in-person component of Logo for WriteNow Anual Workshop and Conference by Desert Sleuths. Below the logo are the words Craft, Publish, Market. Follow @DesertSleuths Social icons for facebook, bluesky, instagram, pintrest, and youtube.

Check out 25 dangerous tales in So West: Danger Awaits, an anthology by the Desert Sleuths chapter (@desertsleuths.bsky.social) of Sisters in Crime! I'm in this one 😀 The ebook's available for pre-order on Amazon now (a.co/d/21snd3l), with a physical out 09/19/25!
#mystery #writing #anthology

Hey, I'm in this, along with 24 other fabulous writers!

#mystery #crimefiction #writing #anthology #mysteryfiction #arizona

It seems like Debra H. Goldstein isn't listed on the back cover?

Almondique In Black Cat Weekly The great detective Corinth Allance has gathered all of his suspects to discuss a murder and put the culprit to justice. Except… everyone in the room knows who did it, and there’s a sur…

A great detective gathers five suspects to put a murderer to justice. Except… everyone in the room knows who did it, and there’s a surprise waiting in the detective’s wine. My story “Almondique” is out today in the latest Black Cat Weekly! michaelthomet.com/2025/08/10/a...

Do what you gotta, but I'd be saying fuck you if a guy said that to me (besides, what's he talking about? You're hot!)

For the evening crowd. Also adding some communities for visibility.
#gamedev #game #games #release #gothic #historical #fantasy #rpg #lgbt #lgbtq
(Last two because I wrote this and couldn't help putting LGBTQ stories into this!)

Kind words, but I had to do something to distract me from my looming MFA deadlines 😅 There are definitely some stories I wrote that I want to hear discussions on. I also really want to hear what people think about the direction @unfetteredmuse.bsky.social took her monster.

The Necromancer’s Tale Released! The Necromancer’s Tale is out today on Steam! You play as a minor noble coming home to attend your father’s funeral, but it seems like something untoward is afoot. Delve deep into the a…

That says nothing of all the characters and plots I shared with my fellow writers! I am so very grateful to @psychicsoftware.com for allowing me the opportunity to finally get a writing credit on an impressive game!

For a slightly more in-dept look, I wrote about it on my blog!

I had so much fun writing for this. So many characters I love! From the menacing power behind organized crime at the docks, to a woman who would rather be doing mathematics than attend a ball. I even gave voice to Alexander Pope! Just a small number of characters I penned the first words for.

Logo and title for the game The Necromancer's Tale. A brooding man holds arms outstretched in front of a makeshift altar of candles and incense. A woman watches, hands clasped to her mouth in terror. Above them floats a pale ghost of a fatherly figure who looks on expectantly. Magical energies swirl about the crypt where the ritual takes place.

The Necromancer's Tale is OUT NOW! Play with the dangerous necromantic sciences to get answers about your father's death, and maybe do something about it too. But will that be enough? Check out the game here: store.steampowered.com/app/1315320/... (with a special release sale!)

No, that's just how it is. Every commander deck is somehow a control deck that constantly sets up but forgets how to win.

Also reminder, did you know that Rosewater released this week? This highly anticipated point and click game has been fun right out of the station, even if I can't hope to beat Marisol at shooting bottles!

Thanks! I'm waiting on another story to drop so I can announce it as well. Hopefully sometime in April! You'd like it, since I leaned into humor for that one! (The one in today's announcement is much more serious, but still a good crime story nonetheless!)

Reminder, also, that my novelette, "Bear and Bird in the Snow" published last November in Crimeucopia, Great Googly Moo! In this story, my serial detectives, Andrew Bear and Zach Bird, travel up the mountains in a snowstorm to investigate threats a client got from the friends she's meeting.

The Microburst In SoWest: Danger Awaits! My crime story “The Microburst” will be published this September in SoWest: Danger Awaits! This mystery anthology centers on the theme “Danger Awaits!” and the stories are s…

Happy to announce that my crime story “The Microburst” will be published in SoWest: Danger Awaits!, an anthology of crime stories by @desertsleuths.bsky.social. “The Microburst” is a tale of a tense situation, desperate choices, and a need for answers.
michaelthomet.com/2025/03/30/t...

Color blind friendly palettes for data visualizations with categories A discussion of color blind friendly palettes for labeling unique catergories in data visualization.

Having a color-blind colleague is a good reminder that we need to be more careful when designing figures for scientific publication 🧪
My lab has found this page especially useful for selecting color palettes, used in combination with different symbols: thenode.biologists.com/data-visuali...

#BluePit A STORYTELLING HYPE/PITCH EVENT What is it? An event designed to uplift and encourage members of the writing, game development, TTRPG, and comic communities. All works are welcome, regardless of the stage they are in (e.g. Work In Progress, Querying, On Submission, or Published in any form) When: Jan 13, 2025 12-12 EST Rules -Limit 3 posts per work; multiple works allowed. -Use appropriate tags (see below). -Be sure to include the correct emoji for your post to end up in the proper feed. -All images/moodboards must include alt text. Use of AI images is prohibited. -Likes, reposts, and comments are encouraged. -This is a Bluesky-only event; no cross-posting -Pin the #BLUEPIT feeds to easily find and support others. -Agents, editors, and publishers are welcome to participate. Emojis: Comics 💥 Game Dev 🎮 TTRPGS 🎲 Writers 📖 Additional info: BLUEPIT.CARRD.CO @BLUEPIT.BSKY.SOCIAL (BlueSky) @BLUEPIT (Twitter/x) Hosts: @voicesofvalhoon (writer) @ZProspero (writer) @jadeblack21 (gamedev) @feyearth (TTRPG) Status of work #W (WIP) #Q (QUERYING) #OS (ON SUB) #P (PUBLISHED) Audience #PB (Picture Book) #MG (Middle Grade) #YA (Young Adult) #A (Adult) Genre/System/Representation #F (Fantasy) #H (Horror) #M (Mystery) #T (Thriller) #R (Romance) #Hs (Historical) #P (Paranormal) #D (Dark) #SF (SciFi) #NF (Non-Fic) #Me (Memoir) #C (Crime) #Po (Poetry) #LGBT (LGBTQ+) #WF (Women’s Fiction) #Dis (disabled creators) #OV (Own Voices) #Hu (Humor/comedy) #d20 (d20 based system) #d6 (d6 based system) #d100 (d100 based system) #Dun (Dungeon Crawl) #N (Narrative based system) #I (Indie) #Tr (Traditionally published/developed)

Exciting news, #BluePit is opening up to the wider storytelling community! Creators in the #gamedev, #ttrpg, and #comic communities are now welcome to pitch their projects during our first pitch event. With this announcement comes two new cohosts @jadeblack21.bsky.social and @feyearth.bsky.social🧵

THE BARRICADE // IZ Digital ‘The sea is our home.’ // ‘The Barricade’, a story by Joyce Ch'ng with art by Emma Howitt

It is said that sff writers also foresee future(s). So, for this possible future, sacrifices have to be made. But such sacrifices. Is it hopepunk? Is it something else?

interzone.digital/the-barricade/

The Starter packs are still open! Make sure to check them out or ask to join if you are interested in #indiegamedev and want to show your projects! 💜

Pack 1:
go.bsky.app/RVCiq18

Pack 2:
go.bsky.app/B8sUZ8j

Pack 3:
go.bsky.app/Dz7R41d

#indiegame #gamedev #videogame #bluesky

Good article breaking down C programming to its fundamentals and how to approach leaning. Admittedly, I learned C++ when I was a teen, rather than C (they're different!), but this is a great resource.

I'm trying to compile a Scientists* in SFF starter pack (because I want to find more people on this interface).
Do you know any? Are you one? Give me names!
🧪 #AcademicSky #WritingCommunity

* active in research, any level, any discipline, academia or otherwise.

bsky.app/starter-pack...

This Year in Videogame Blogging: 2024 Welcome back to Critical Distance’s annual roundup of great videogame blogging! We’ve taken one more trip around the Sun in our ongoing mission to highlight and archive some of the best…

Friends, it's time once again! Check out our year in videogame blogging post to see what works excited and incited us to think differently about games last year!

critical-distance.com/2025/01/01/t...

Word of the Day is one I keep posting at the end of the year, hoping its time will come.

‘Respair’, from the 16th century, is fresh hope, and a recovery from despair.

Here’s to a few drops of respair in 2025.

“We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable — but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.”
-Ursula K. Le Guin, 2014