Newly discovered fungus turns cave-dwelling spiders into ‘zombies’ | CNN Scientists have discovered a fungus that turns spiders into “zombies,” luring the arachnids out of their lairs before killing them and using their corpses to spread.

www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/s...

its my birthday but we have a present for YOU! POWERS vol. 1, for FREE! No strings. Thanks to @darkhorse.com & all of our digital partners for a limited time you can enjoy our Eisner award winning saga as part of our #powers25 celebration @oeming.bsky.social direct links below. your choice!

We are so excited to bring back Powers! All new series! All new cases! Deena Pilgrim is back! Incredible covers! @mikemignola.bsky.social (!!!) @davidmarquez.bsky.social @david-mack.bsky.social thank you @darkhorse.com @variety.com SEPTEMBER! #powers25 I love you @oeming.bsky.social

If you loved an author’s book, tell them! They will completely ignore it because they’re fixated forever on the anonymous person who once gave them two stars on goodreads but it’s probably good for your karma

Not sure how much reach this will get, but I'm going to give it a try. Publishing friends, I really need to find some additional work as a copy editor or proofreader. Ideally for SFF, because that's been my bread and butter for almost a decade, but I would consider other opportunities as well.

My favorite new piece of writing advice is "leave scars, not corpses."

A dead family can only hurt your MC once, but a broken, ruined family hurts them for years. Drama is always higher when the problem is still alive and active in the front story rather than relegated to a skeleton in the back.

Immersive Interiority: How to Collapse Narrative Distance to Get Emotion on the Page | Jane Friedman A few simple language shifts can take your reader from watching people on the page to feeling like they’re right inside the scene.

To bring the reader right into your characters’ experience, you need to collapse narrative distance. A few simple language shifts can take your reader from watching people on the page to feeling like they’re right inside the scene.

Insight from Alex Von Tol.

From the PubTips community on Reddit Explore this post and more from the PubTips community

Comp titles are a common thorn in authors' sides - this is one of the best breakdowns and discussions on the topic I've seen in a long time.

#WritingCommunity #pubtips #querytips

www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/co...

Wherein I complete the fifth draft of my dark #epicfantasy novel and submit it for a #developmentaledit.

skpuindo.com/blog/2025052...

#AmWritingFantasy #WritingCommunity

It really is hard to overstate how good the world building in Astro City is. Even re-reading the earlier trades for the fourth or fifth time, I’m struck by how smoothly Busiek sets up the mysteries surrounding each character, and how the answer never feels cheap, or like cheating.

GitHub - marcocrowe/track-ms-word-docx-with-github: Track changes in MS Word (.docx) files using GitHub and Pandoc for effective version control and collaboration. Track changes in MS Word (.docx) files using GitHub and Pandoc for effective version control and collaboration. - marcocrowe/track-ms-word-docx-with-github

In theory, github.com/marcocrowe/t... will allow me to diff docx changes easily. I'll give that a try. #revision #editing

The best argument for writing quickly is you extend that golden period between the completion of the draft and when it's due. This is the fun time when you get to look for better lines, better action beats, better character revelations, while not under any "what if I don't get it done" pressure.

Seeing lots of folks pull back from publishing in a big way or quit altogether, and while it saddens me - and I'm far too stubborn to do it myself - I get it

It's HARD out here, especially with fuckery going on at both Amazon & Ingram + people tightening budgets as probable recession looms

1/?

It looks like this should be out around June 1:

Athans & Associates Creative Consulting

Contact me at Athans & Associates Creative Consulting full book edits at only 3¢ per word.
www.athansassociates.com
Where Story Meets World

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Shades of Spring Bundle Pre-order by Niranjan A bundle by Niranjan, $9.99 for 4 games

Do you like epic fantasy with high stakes? World ending prophecies and no chosen ones? A group of harried adults trying to save the world while they try to get along with each other?

Yeah, you need to get Shades of Spring asap.

itch.io/s/151133/sha...

And did I mention it's queer as fuck?

In June, Amazon is lowering royalties for print books under $9.99 from 60% to 50%. But what does that mean for authors and readers? Let's take look at the numbers. Apologies, this is going to get a bit mathy (check the ALT text if you want even more numbers).

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the word sinners is on a black background with a group of people Alt: the word sinners is on a black background with a group of people dancing

I talked to @npr.org about SINNERS today!

On horror and healing.

How 'Sinners' fits into the Black horror genre one.npr.org/i/wburwp-101...