Steph Auteri

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My child is on the floor of my office with her laptop, writing her own story, and she's like, "I just finished chapter one and it's already so good!" Somebody put me out of my misery.

I (somehow) made it to the second round of NYC Midnight's #ShortStoryChallenge2025 and have been tasked with writing a thriller, which is SO far outside my comfort zone. lololololsob. I am already bored by my own story, which does not bode well for the genre. 🫠

Like, every time.

Does anyone else here file a story and, in the ensuing silence that occurs whilst you're waiting on feedback, assume the assigning editor just hates everything you've written and and feels deep regret over the fact that they gave you the assignment in the first place? No? Just me? 🫠

I feel perpetually lucky to be a freelancer, despite the ups and downs. One day, I'm editing another writer's post on the oligarchy. The next, a copywriting client is telling me to make an email "hornier." Always an adventure.

A one-month status update on Trump’s executive orders As lawsuits against the administration grow, here is where some of the orders that affect LGBTQ+ people and women stand.

In case you were keeping track... 19thnews.org/2025/02/trum...

Finding Inspiration When You're All Tapped Out | Hippocampus Magazine Learn how to generate a buttload of story ideas in one sitting with Hippocampus essays editor Steph Auteri at our February 2025 How-To Tuesday.

Well hell, February really snuck up on me. Next week, I'm leading a session on how to find writing inspiration when you're all tapped out, for @hippocampusmag.bsky.social. The aim is to help you generate a buttload of story ideas in 1 sitting. Register here: hippocampusmagazine.com/event/how-to...

I just successfuly hemmed a single leg on a pair of jeans with my sewing machine could someone please give me a medal and also send hopes and prayers that I don't screw up the second leg.

PLEASE read this piece by @freeblackgirl.bsky.social for @theflytrapmedia.bsky.social about the immense challenges of running indie publications. Also consider investing in indie and nonprofit media WHILE IT EXISTS, instead of lamenting when publications shutter due to lack of support/resources.

Finished my egalley for Lucy Rose's The Lamb the other night and now I desperately need someone else to read it so we can discuss all of my feelings.

Unburden Yourself - Cutleaf Journal June 16, 2023

As someone who's been writing about sex on the regular for 25 years, I'm surprised by how anxious and exposed I feel about this hermit crab essay of mine, which is intimate in a very different way. Thank you to Cutleaf Journal for giving this piece a home:

cutleafjournal.com/content/unbu...

Abigail McGrath, founder of the Renaissance House, dies at 84 - The Martha's Vineyard Times Abigail Hubbell Rosen McGrath, the founder of the Renaissance House in Oak Bluffs, died on Dec. 20 after a battle with liver cancer. She was 84. Friends and family say that McGrath was a colorful woma...

Abigail McGrath, founder of Renaissance House, passed away over the holidays. I don't know how many others here were blessed enough to spend time with her there, but my own time there was such a gift, and I am bereft. My deepest condolences to her family. www.mvtimes.com/2024/12/26/a...

What are the bestest things to do in Salem when it's *not* October? I'm planning a mother/daughter trip for Spring Break. My kiddo is 10.

I'm trying to remain open to whatever opportunities come my way. If you know me and you know (and have appreciated) my work in the past, let me know if you could use a writer/editor, or if you know someone else who might be looking for someone like me. :) I'm going to manifest the hell out of 2025.

But I also feel it's time to begin taking on more work-work again. The question is where to focus. I've spent the past 25 years as a journalist. As a copywriter. As an editor. Much of it in the sexuality and bookish spaces.

This includes being the BOD Chair and associate editor for Feminist Book Club as it transitions into a worker-owned co-op; acting as Essays Editor for Hippocampus magazine; volunteering as a mentor for Girls Write Now; building out my Thunder Thighs newsletter; maintaining Guerrilla Sex Ed.

In 2025, I want to retain this sense of play. And I want to continue my passion-based work.

I spent 2024 engaged in a lot of play. I got my first pieces of fiction published. I experimented with hermit crab essays and have one pubbing later this month. I started writing an essay collection. I worked my way through an ice cream cookbook. I got deep into embroidery and visible mending.

My 29 Favorite Reads of 2024 For much of the past two decades, both my writing and my reading have been tied to my advocacy work. This past year, however, marked a huge shift for me. Aside from a piece I wrote for Poets & …

My favorite thing to do on New Year's Day is to wear slipper socks and wrap myself in blankets and maybe noodle over a puzzle or do some writing but most of all READ. To kick off your new year of reading, here are my favorite reads from 2024: www.stephauteri.com/2025/01/01/m...

A bit of flash I wrote went up on @litmoralitmag.bsky.social. Sci-fi horror. Hoping to get more of my fiction out there in 2025. :) www.litmoralitmag.com/auteri-night...

I always enjoy your work, Alma!

Someone tell me how the heck I'm supposed to eat a Ferrero Rocher that's as big as my fist.

Made the dubious choice of going to the supermarket the day before Christmas Eve Day. Tips for survival: Have zero investment in how long it takes. Focus on your breath. Be jolly AF. Buy doughnuts for after.

My brain just immediately went to #3, which is obviously sweet potato pie with plenty of marshmallows.

Welp. I won't show you the abomination of a kitchen witch that I tried to make, but here is my very first ever (non-embroidered) wreath!

Loooove that @hippocampusmag.bsky.social made it on this list! 😍

I'm supposed to be writing about sex toys right now, but all I want to do is *make things*! I recently made a kitchen witch that is the stuff of nightmares, and I also have all the materials necessary to make my very first (non-holiday) wreath. What projects are calling to you? Pics if you got 'em!

Older Women Who Insist on Being Visible In recent books, TV series, and films, older women are taking center stage. We must demand more narratives like these.

Love seeing older women coming into their power all over the dang place. Check my latest post for @feministbookclub.bsky.social, on older woman who insist on being visible: www.feministbookclub.com/older-women-...

Our heat has stopped working.

::Gathers up my Oodie, my three sherpa blankets, my weighted blanket, my HugSleep, my shawl, and various other wearable blankets.::

I have been preparing for this moment my entire life.