Jamie M. Boyd

Ogress (The Incredible Shrinking Woman) We are not all built to be beautiful, we are not all built to rampage.

"We are not all built to be beautiful, we are not all built to rampage."

Wow. Although I have to disagree, @shanaross.bsky.social. This poem *is* built beautiful.

This 3D map, which you can "fly" through like you're in your own starship, is so humbling.

It reminds me of a Barbara Kingsolver quote about our need for nature and timeless landscape:

"It reminds us that our plans are small and somewhat absurd.”

Submissions Broadly defined, the type of fiction we are looking for is “fun”. [Go to Submissions]

Translunar Travelers Lounge closes to submissions end of day tomorrow, 15th October at midnight Eastern Time (US) (UTC-4:00). If you want to submit speculative fiction to us, make sure it's before then! Please read the guidelines. translunartravelerslounge.com/submissions/

Bernedoodle puppy looks into the camera. How can you resist?!

Adult labradoodle lays on his back, play fighting with ferocious little Bernedoodle puppy as she attacks him from above. Insert cute pretend growling noises.

Important Pupdate!

The New Puppy is growing fast and getting into all sorts of wonderful trouble.

The Old Man has gone from being sullen, grumpy and jealous to playing like he's a youngin' again. They are so sweet together! 🥰🐾

This gorgeous story contains the most bittersweet recipe.

"The forest needs a witch like the sky needs lightning and the night needs wolves. ... But to become a witch you first have to do this thing. This last, difficult, and horrible thing."

Lush strange & beautiful flash by @mizukiyamagen.bsky.social

"A snail no larger than my pinky glides from the wound leaving a delicate silver calligraphy across the pillowcase. .. I hold my breath astonished less by its existence than bythe elegant hydraulics of emergence. hexliterary.com/?p=2878

The story was "On Sacrifice," and it appeared in the science fiction anthology Brave New Worlds, edited by S.C. Butler and @joshuapalmatier.bsky.social.

I’ve always had a good feeling about life on Enceladus.
The very first short story I ever had published imagined an ancient forest of giant, coral-like sea life hibernating there.

With studies like this, maybe we'll have some exciting news in my lifetime.

Jane Goodall reaches out to hold the hand of a baby chimp. Photo by Hugo Van Lawick/National Geographic Society.

RIP, Jane Goodall.

a black and brown bird with a red head is perched on a wire fence . Alt: A black and brown bird with a brownhead is perched on a wire fence. It fluffs feathers, swelling in size, and hops to one side.

This is the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater), native to North America. And it runs a PROTECTION SCHEME.

It's 'connected', see, A Wise Guy, an Avian Cosa Nostra, a Made Bird. "Nice nest here, be a shame if something happened to it."

Let's talk about the MAFIA HYPOTHESIS & brood parasitism.

The cover of the novel "The Staving Saints" by Caitlin Starling features a nun in a habit holding a bee hive, only instead of a face, there is a portal to another world with blood and gaping beings.

I just finished The Starving Saints by @caitlinstarling.com. Wow! 🤯 What a strange, beautiful novel that somehow manages to be both stomach churning and intoxicating.

Of course if you can afford to donate, you should!🚀🦅🪐🏰🕊️

Starts today! I'm always amazed at the quality of programming given this accessible, all-online conference for writers and creators of speculative fiction is FREE.

Just a few sessions I'm 👀 today:

Publishing Contracts
Sinners film discussion
Spec Biology
New Gender
Gothic

LET'S GOOOOOOO ...

Here's hoping people can start reaching for an adjective other than "sassy" or "feisty" when talking abt mature women.

Love this.

Congrats @pedroiniguez.bsky.social

Echo Syndrome - Small Wonders When my daughter climbs in the car, there’s three of her. They shouldn’t all fit in the passenger seat, but they overlap each other to save space.

I'm the mother of two teenage daughters, so this story hits home. And that ending? 💀

I see you @jenniferhudak.bsky.social !

smallwondersmag.com/piece/echo-s...

I did! Sorry I didn't see your comment til just now. Hope you enjoyed the virtual con. I heard a lot of it may have been reordered for rewatch. I need to go find out if that's true ...

These Ant Queens Seem to Defy Biology: They Lay Eggs That Hatch Into Another Species Iberian harvester ant queens produce offspring of their own species and of the builder harvester ant, seemingly by cloning males

Life is wild. 🐝 🐜 🕷️🧬

www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...

Image shows a framed quote from George Orwell's Animal Farm next to an ominous illustration of farm animals. "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

I have a room full of framed, favorite literary quotes. This one seemed particularly relevant this week.

Bernedoodle puppy on a leash sits on a grass lawn.

Yellowish orange fan-like fungus grows from a piece of dead wood. I think it's called Orange Jelly?

Yay! A big ugly brown mushroom.

A cream-colored, button-like mushroom with brain-like markings sits next to some delicate orange capped mushrooms.

I spent a lot of time potty training the new puppy today, which meant more time outside staring at my lawn between rainstorms.

Guess what I found hiding in the blades? 🍄

(I promise none of the photos are 💩 😂)

Bonus points for anyone who can help me identify them! 🧪

#fungi

White and brown Bernedoodle puppy paws toward the camera playfully.

Incredibly important news flash:

WE HAVE A NEW PUPPY!! ❤️🐶🐾🥳

Small white mushroom with thin stalk and delicate ruffled cap.

It’s normally too hot for mushrooms to grow in my yard, but it’s been raining so much this little guy pushed through the soil to say hello. 🍄

#fungifriday

Hey! Are you sure being on social media is what you need right now? Maybe you'd be better served by a book, a Discord call with friends, or diving face-first into a tub of chocolate pudding.

If socials are right? Then great. But please be good to yourselves.

Dusty wisps round a dusty disc Dusty wisps round a dusty disc

In ugly times, beautiful things are still being created all around us.

The brightest area in this NASA Photo of the Month is the "Butterfly Star," a young protostar still gathering mass from its environment surrounded by a disc where baby planets may be forming.

esawebb.org/images/potm2508a/

The nonfiction disaster book "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer features a cover with a photo of Mount Everest and a quote that says it "Ranks among the great adventure books of all time."

I love when I’m “forced” to do research for a short story.

This incredible book on a deadly 1996 Mount Everest expedition is a classic, and its reputation is well deserved. It’s made me angry, sad and, above all, amazed at what people will put themselves through to achieve a dream.

I was told the only thing that ever came close to beating it would be stories about endangered puppies (puppy mills, stray pet adoption drives, etc). So there you have it, boobs and puppies. What makes the world go round.

... the most popular feature had been No 1 not for days or weeks but MONTHS. It was (drumroll please … ) a series of photos from Miami Dolphins Cheerleader try-outs.

I covered local news for over a decade and once made the mistake of asking what the most viewed item on our site was. This was back when newspapers were still relatively healthy. We vigorously covered politics, big disasters, and several of our reporters had been nominated for Pulitzers. Turned out

Missing Helen by Tia Tashiro Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

Great story by @tiatashiro.bsky.social

"When Mark told you he was marrying your clone you said congratulations on autopilot, because that’s what you say when your friend tells you theyre getting married & you had promised to stay friendly after the divorce."
clarkesworldmagazine.com/tashiro_07_25/

A sliced lime and green lemon sit on a bamboo cutting board.

Good thing we have so many limes (and lemons) on our trees right now.

I’m thinking tequila shots might help me process yet another brilliant policy decision coming out of the state of Florida. 😣