Jacob Baugher

And we talk about #pain on a scale from one to ten and point to a drawing of a face that's meant to show how much we're breaking behind the mask we don't admit to wearing and everything is fine we're fine it's fine it's one long run-on sentence and we hide our bitten nails in our sleeves

🏷️ #vss365

I *knew* it

Hi, did you rip this directly from my unpublished novel that only I've read? 🤣

Dying hurts. No one tells you that. There’s #pain from whatever killed you, sure. Cancer, car wreck, a hail of bullets, but it’s getting ripped out of one state of being and shoved into the next that’s the real agony. In other words, ghosts don’t moan because they’re sad.

#vss365 #microfiction

Tomato soup simmers on the stove. Basil, sugar, acid.

We'd go on lunch dates. Me, 7, you 70. Grilled cheese and BLTs. I can't remember your crooked smile, our checkers games in April.

Just you on the hospice bed. Purple veins, paper skin.

Nothing behind your eyes but #pain
#vss365 #microfiction

Thank you, flash king

Little Junie had the #soul sight. She’d point to nice Mr. Hayward at the grocery and yell, “Cupcake!” When she saw Mrs. Patel at the daycare, she’d clap and coo, “Ice cream!” But when Ms. Ash, the landlord, came around, she’d hide her face, crying, “Broccoli! Broccoli!”

#vss365 #microfiction

The valkyrie descends from the heavens, gathers the dead in her longship. Infantry, officers, bodies gaping open. Blood soaks the deck like rain.

I approach, but she bars my way.

"Are you not the #soul - gatherer?"

"Yes," she replies, "But you must have one to come aboard."
#vss365 #microfiction

My first serious proper book, coming soooooon!

I still can't get over that cover

Did you hear that flame tree is having a vampire call??

When it comes to documenting ICE activity, remember what Eisenhower said at the end of WWII.
"Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened."

Please could the whole world stop exploding

Stand With Minnesota Donation Directory Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.

Now is really good time to pick any org or fund from this list and give what you can. www.standwithminnesota.com

*deep breath*

Fuck I.C.E.

Asimov’s Editor Sheila Williams Hospitalized The Must Read Books Team has shared that Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov’s, has been hospitalized after suffering a brain aneurysm. Asimov’s senior managing editor Emily Hockaday will…

Awful news. Wishing Sheila a complete and swift recovery. There’s a link to a google form here through which those who want to may share memories they have to be passed on to Sheila and her family.
locusmag.com/2026/01/shei...

For those who submitted in the last window: thank you for your patience as we work through the stories. It's been a little challenging for this time of year but are making progress!

Timezones are so weird. Australia is in 2026, Canada is in 2025, and the United States is in 1939.

I'm not a big holiday person, but NYE always surprises me with how significant it feels

The bad guys lose 💜

Zohran Mamdani sworn in as New York City mayor at historic subway station Zohran Mamdani is the new mayor of New York City. He was sworn in around midnight Thursday. He is the city’s first Muslim mayor, its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa.

BREAKING: Democrat Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor of New York City, taking the oath of office at an historic subway station in Manhattan.

A Christmas Carol: a true story about how rich people require intimidating before they consider sharing their wealth.

Wheel Dog | Tractor Beam Who’s pulling for you?

It’s live! “Wheel Dog” is up over at @tractorbeamearth.bsky.social with annotations by @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social. I’m so stoked to end the year with a hopeful cli-fi piece in such a cool, optimistic mag. If you like dogs, sleds, or sled dogs, check it out!

www.tractorbeam.earth/story/wheel-...

Give the gift of crippling self-doubt this holiday season and encourage someone in your life to become a writer. (Form rejections not included)

📚🪐

Adding my take that no one asked for into the SFWA AI Drama:

Maybe just don't use AI? Don't use AI in the missionary position, don't use AI standing up. Just don't use AI.

Maybe it's my Catholic upbringing, but we're an AI-Abstinence-Only-Operation on this account.

Screenshot of P.A. Cornell’s page on Inkfoundry.

If you haven’t spent time on @inkfoundry.bsky.social lately, you’re missing some great new features. Here’s my page which currently links to 11 of my free reads (more to come soon!). Check it out!
inkfoundry.net/writer/p-a-c...

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association AMENDED RULES for the Nebula Awards Dear Meghan, Earlier today, you received an email titled, “Note from the Board on This Year’s Nebula Rules.” To be clear, SFWA does not support the use of LLM generative models in the production of creative work. The Nebula Award Rules did not reflect our current policy and deeply held beliefs and values, and they were amended to reflect that. With further input, today, we made an important change to the Nebula Awards Rules in two board votes that we would like to share with you:

Previous Text: "Works that are wholly written using generative large language model (LLM) tools are not eligible." New Text: "Works that are written, either wholly or partially, by generative large language model (LLM) tools are not eligible." -and- Previous Text: "Works that used LLMs at any point during the writing process must disclose this upon acceptance of the nomination, and the nature of the technology’s use will be made clear to voters on the final ballot" New Text: "Works that used LLMs at any point during the writing process must disclose this upon acceptance of the nomination, and those works will be disqualified." We will update our posted rules in the coming days to reflect this change.

And just like that, SFWA capitulates. Keep fighting. It works.

Brb, buying more of your books

For the record, I've never used Midjourney or ChatGPT or any other LLM or art-mangling AI. I gave up on Google and use DuckDuckGo with the AI functions and images turned off under the Manage AI setting. I use spellcheck in Word because my spelling sucks and I visit the Merriam-Webster website a lot.

‘The most daring idea is to refuse.’

Fuck. Yes.