This is a reminder that we exist! Monthly free essays about cool SFF-related topics! And monthly subscriber-only essays about the same!
If you want BOTH, get it for AUD30/year! That's about GBP16 or USD22 (... forex depending...).
28 free essays to read already! www.speculativeinsight.com
The pope thing was funny I guess
I know I should let people have their fun but a piece of my soul crumbles to ash every time I see an American relate a non-US political event back to JD fucking Vance
Fundraiser Announcement!
Next Wednesday April 1st, Anathema will launch a Kickstarter Campaign to raise funds for one or more years of operation. We plan to offer a few incentives (merch, services, subscriptions) to people who support the campaign. Stay tuned!
Our Editors are [drumroll]... (1/2)
A New York subway train hurtles past a deserted platform, motion blurring as it goes. At the top of the image is the quote 'An absolute delight to read a thriller this damn good.' by Mark Greaney. Below that is the title THE SURVIVOR. Below that are the words A NOVEL and below that is the name ANDREW REID
A green background with an image of an ink well in black and the words 'invisible ink' written in white lower case text
Pink flowers and curved dark green leaves in mosaic form on a white background in a New York subway station
A kneeling woman in a dress snarls on a concrete floor. Above her the words SONIC YOUTH are written in the air. Below her in the bottom left corner is the word EVOL.
#TheFullLid - 20th March - Happy Friday! We're back with a @mygoditsraining.bsky.social 's brilliant The Survivor, Nancy Blum's amazing subway flowers from @thisiscolossal.com , @brendonconnelly.bsky.social 'snew newsletter and Sonic Youth takes us out to the weekend.
mailchi.mp/8b1e48dbc800...
This is outstanding advice in many circumstances
With the caveat that there are much more important things in need of financial support in our fucked up times, the support page for the Ignytes is back up for the 2026 cycle.
ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/support/
As it's Hugo time, I wanted to talk about a category I care about, and which I think could do with a bit of extra love when it comes to nomination time - it's best fan writer!
(this is gonna be a thread of me doing hype, which I'm bad at, but that is much deserved by all here linked, pls be nice)
Eligibility post:
I’m Hugo-eligible for Best Fan Writer for my blogging at Tar Vol On and work facilitating discussion for the Hugo Readalong and Short Fiction Book Club
🧵
Hugo Noms have opened and I want to get in quick with this: there is a fabulous and vibrant contemporary SFF novella scene and the quality is *not* disproportionately located at tordotcom, which puts out brilliant work but does not have a monopoly on it.
5 titles for your consideration follow:
Cover of Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy by Sam J Miller. Babt blue cover with white text, title on top, author name on bottom, a boxing glove and a pistol in three concentric circles in the centre.
Not enough of you have read Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy by @sentencebender.bsky.social
Gay Jewish love story, tattoo magic, (historical!) Jewish lesbian mobster, 1920s New York City, boxing…and really one of the best examples of novella writing I can think of (suiting story to word count).
GO READ!
Come to my thing
A green banner with an Expedition-33 style stone monument on it, a rocky structure with glowing text reading "RS1". The text of the banner reads "Ready Singer One presents SING GLORIOUSLY: a video game concert 30 March, 31 March, 1 April, 7:45pm, Crypt on the Green, Farringdon"
Londoners! Londoners who like video games and music! Do I have the event for you:
readysingerone.co.uk/sing-gloriou...
I'll be singing in this on 30 March but you should go to any day, they'll all be spectacular. (I'll probably go watch both nights I'm not singing in)
A green banner with an Expedition-33 style stone monument on it, a rocky structure with glowing text reading "RS1". The text of the banner reads "Ready Singer One presents SING GLORIOUSLY: a video game concert 30 March, 31 March, 1 April, 7:45pm, Crypt on the Green, Farringdon"
Londoners! Londoners who like video games and music! Do I have the event for you:
readysingerone.co.uk/sing-gloriou...
Not at all! you can wear anything when you publicly tell sexual predators to fuck off. You can indeed do it on any platform, in any language. Be free with your fuckoffs!
I'm not eligible for any Hugos in 2026, so one of you will have to tell Neil Gaiman to fuck off into the sun this year
I haven't even played the game and this video gives me regular joy
A large brindle (brown with black stripes) greyhound lying on a carpet next to a small brown dog who is curled up in a small grey bed. Both are staring intently at the human.
The rare double dog pic, to give your timeline and your soul a tiny bit of relief
I read The Everlasting. I did not have a good time. I wrote about why I think it's a deeply, deeply problematic novel here. I'm pretty nervous about posting this because my response is very emotional and quite specifically mine but there it is.
One, sent The Rose Field by Philip Pullman back to the library at 66% because I simply did not care. Haven't finished anything yet, been a big gaming year for me so far instead!
If you come play against me and win, does that count, or is this an Ed specific metric?
I *love* this! A few nights ago I dreamed that science had proved that sharks could be fans of other sharks and they'd decoded the type of interactions that fan sharks had with their idols. I am adding crab weddings and lobster celebrants to my undersea dream lore as well, what else are they up to
Excellent man!
A BLESSED THREAD
Dog sport, the only way it should be
me tooooooo
That was the moment of "oh ok it's not about the issues, it's just about you and your feelings".
I feel terrible about not being able to wholeheartedly support projects e is linked to, which I think deserve to be celebrated and promoted on their own merits and not linked to this behaviour. But.
Then I saw em spinning a narrative about World Fantasy Con in Brighton and how inclusive and unproblematic European fandom is compared to the rude mean Americans. At an event with significant accessibility issues, all-white panels, where someone(s) kept tearing down the gender neutral toilet signs
