Rachel

Barnacle. Written by Kate Elliott. Illustrated by Juan Bernabeu. Edited by Oliver Dougherty. A rocky cluster of barnacles rests on a beach. Crows fly over head and two have landed to pick at the barnacles. Red sky, white cloud/background, and green-toned beach.

An older medic with scant resources fights to support her community as they survive life behind the company wall.

This novelette is my only near future sf story, inspired by a long-ago convo with my dad & by the activists who never give up.

Free to read at
reactormag.com/barnacle-kat...

THE NAMELESS LAND by Kate Elliott (book two of The Witch Roads duology). So, yes, it completes the story. Cover by Raja Nandepu depicts two individuals standing side by side on a road, backs to the viewer, lookinginto a misty distance where a castle. The man is wearing a fancy knee length coat with embroidery. If you look closely at the woman's right arm, you might see a viper.

With the release today of THE NAMELESS LAND, my grimsweet fantasy road trip w/ a humble deputy courier forced to guide uppity court officials + bonus ravenous fungal ghost plague, court intrigue, & a mysterious haunt is a complete duology (The Witch Roads).

us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

Black and white dog with nose facing camera

Snug

Image one description The image has a clothes rack with different coloured shirts and pants on it. Below is black text in a white box with a pink border. The text reads as follows: “People in prison are unable to access basic clothing items.”

Image two description The image contains a text-based post against a brown background. At the top is a white text box with a pink border, the text is orange. Under this there are four bullet points with images of underwear, socks, a t-shirt and shoes. Underneath is some orange text. The text reads as follows: “In the 2024/2025 year, PAPA has provided people in prison with: 240 pairs of underwear, 255 pairs of socks, 102 thermals, 111 pairs of shoes. Corrections is legally responsible for providing reasonable clothing requests! Are underwear, shoes, socks and warm clothes not reasonable?”

Image three description The image has a white title on a black background and below it black text in a white text box with a pink border. On the bottom left side there is a stack on money. The text reads as follows: “Where is the money going??? In 2022 it cost roughly $151,000 per year to imprison someone. This is more than double the average yearly NZ salary ($65,749). Where is the money going if not providing basic?”

Image four description The image contains a text-based post against a brown background. One text box is white with orange around it and the other is pink with white around it. The text reads as follows: “People in prison are made to make requests for their basic property needs. When they get told no, they have to request items externally or go without. Why is the burden of being warm, safe, and comfortable put on those already suffering?”

The Department of Corrections is failing to provide people basic necessities like hygenic bedding, underwear, socks, shoes and thermals. This is a breach of human rights and a failure to care for those in state care. Sign our petition: our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/ge...

15 Common Tropes And Narratives Uses To Marginalise Māori The Weekend Spy - @weekendspy@mastodon.nz (Oct 31, 2025) https://mastodon.nz/@weekendspy/115464239518163279 Here’s a list of common tropes a...

A list of common tropes and narratives people use to marginalise Māori, especially in discussions about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Treaty settlements.

#Māori #TeTiriti #TreatyOfWaitangi #Aotearoa #NewZealand

Barnacle, Kate Elliott. Washed up on a beach, a big cluster of barnacles holds together while crows flock down from the sky, trying to pry them loose from each other. A truly stunning image by Juan Bernabeu.

I am required to show off this spectacular cover (artist: Juan Bernabeu) for my near future political novelette coming on @reactorsff.bsky.social on Nov 5.

An older medic with scant resources fights to support her community as they survive life behind the company wall.

Send prisoners some holiday cheer! Help the Prisoner Correspondence Network send holiday cards to hundreds of prisoners in Aotearoa.

We rely on the volunteer support from everyday people to get this important mahi done - if you can this year, please consider donating to our Holiday Card Drive fundraiser here: givealittle.co.nz/cause/send-p...

Photo of an orange cat making a silly face.

Photo of an orange cat covering her face with her paws

I took a picture of Donna making a silly face, and then she got embarrassed.

"Maintain a community focus.
Let us keep close together, not wide apart.
A waka which we are ALL IN
with no exception."

We Have to Move "There are living, breathing people all around you who need your sense of decency to be made material. Don’t give up on them, or on you."

"If you are still breathing and trying, it’s not over. It’s not too late, because too late is a fake idea. The people around you will always be worth fighting for, as will your community, as will your humanity."
organizingmythoughts.org/we-have-to-m...

Protesters: NZ space launches are enabling genocide

Judith Collins: "Perfectly comfortable" with the ethics and work of the industry, the protesters "live in another world"

1 News: Yeah, actually, we OIAd that shit and the human rights abuse warnings about the launches were there from the start

'He begged for pain relief': The story of a boy who was failed by his carers before he died Oranga Tamariki apologises to the family of a teenager: “There were failings in how we cared for you”

This story was devastating to write. Imagine what it was like to live it.

Something I didn't know is that the ANZACs in Gallipoli (which comes up a lot here) pretty much fought the same regiments again in Palestine (that is not really brought up much wrt WWI here)

I'm getting a bit of this topic from the Empire podcast as I'm listening to their series on Gaza (as a region within successive empires) which is either recently wrapped up or soon to wrap up (I'm behind) and it's really interesting! (Also you might enjoy a history podcast recounting empires)

Donate to Palmetto State Abortion Fund | Palmetto State Abortion Fund (Powered by Donorbox) *While we assist abortion seekers from other Southern states as well, the information below pertains to South Carolina.* Since launching in late 2021, PSAF has supported over 1,500 people in accessing...

Sharing an email from our intake director:

As intake director, I don't typically write these emails, but I am writing today with urgency and clarity: PSAF must raise $50,000 immediately to stay open through the rest of the month into November.

www.donorbox.org/support-the-fund

The Majority AI View - Anil Dash A blog about making culture. Since 1999.

Okay, for the folks who asked: here's the majority AI view, writing up the reasonable, thoughtful view on AI that the vast majority of people in tech hold, that gets overshadowed by the bluster and hype of the tycoons trying to shill their nonsense. anildash.com/2025/10/17/t... Please share!

As ever... the vast, vast majority of people don't want the hellscape the right is forcing on us. they really are the minority viewpoint. vocal? yes. powerful? unfortunately, yes. But there are so many more people who don't want to live in the world they're trying to make.

Folks, Israel is not letting aid in which means Palestinians continue to have to buy food on the black market from Israel sponsored gangs. If you can donate a little money to the fundraisers we're posting, you can keep someone alive. Palestinians wouldn't beg if they didn't have to.

A silly cat peeks excitedly at the camera through a gap underneath a desk.

I’m being watched.

Puer teas from white2tea Oct tea club in individual baggies with labels. They are on top of the tea club insert with their original packaging to the left.

Very glad I save all my wee bags so that I have stock for when I need to label/store some @white2tea.bsky.social tea club goodies :)

The Billionaire Oligarchs and Corporations Profiting from ICE’s Deportation Machine - Little Sis A primer on the billionaire barons and corporate profiteers enabling ICE's deportation apparatus

LittleSis have dropped a new report and data visualization about the billionaires and corporations profiting from the deportation industrial complex:

littlesis.org/news/the-bil...

The ebook of THE WITCH ROADS is still on sale on all US and Canadian platforms. You can read it this month and roll over right into the second half of the duology, THE NAMELESS LAND, which releases November 4. No waiting! Plus you'll understand the title of book two once you read book one.

I'm looking for something low stakes. I was going to start Law and the City after watching your video (my hesitation is that I don't care for law shows) but if this is lowish stakes I think I'd rather cue up a fantasy... any interest in pointing me in a particular direction? :)

ok, maybe won't skip all the way to 7 ;)

A venn diagram featuring three fantasy novels. In one circle is the cover of "Asunder" by Kerstin Hall, in the second circle is the cover of "The Witch Roads" by Kate Elliott, and in the last circle is the cover of "The Last Hour Between Worlds" by Melissa Caruso. Where the circles of Asunder and The Witch Roads overlaps is text reading, "Terrifying eldritch beings and blood magic." Where the circles of Asunder and The Last Hour Between Worlds overlaps is text reading "Charming and incorporeal love interests." Where the circles of The Witch Roads and the Last Hour Between Worlds overlaps is text reading, "MC travels perilously for a living." Where the circles of all three books overlaps is text reading "Appreciation for a good pair of boots." End description.

Had this realization about three of my favorite fantasy novels I've read this year: Asunder by @kerstinhall.bsky.social, The Last Hour Between Worlds by @melissacaruso.bsky.social and The Witch Roads by @kateelliottsff.bsky.social. All of them also have queer characters :) #booksky

So what I'm hearing is, start with ep7... :)

lolololol just a mere 7 hours of your life and you, too, might be semi-ok with watching this show. Hero's work on your part!! I get second hand embarrassment just watching the trailers. Like, you spent how much money to make something that looks this cheap???

SAME!

You never think about bay leaves until you forget to add bay leaf to the lentil soup you're making.

Little bastard leaves making all the difference. It's like yoga. So annoying that it works 😂