Nicole Sune Sbitani

The absurd hyperlocal drama I am in invested in: an LA bagel truck chain called (help) Yeastie Boys did a collaboration with the New York Post’s new California branch. Painted trucks red, handed out mock papers. You’re never gonna believe this but bagel truck patrons aren’t Murdoch fans, turns out

I flipped through the album, admiring how her bangs used to #kiss her forehead before she lost her hair. She was beautiful 'til the end, of course, but those old photos held things my last memories of her didn't: energy, excitement, hope. I wished I had cherished our time together more.

#vss365

Chart showing percentages of professors by race and gender who are represented in different ranks of academia. People of color and women of color are underrepresented in proportion to their numbers in the US population across the board. At the rank of Full Professor: white men (48.5%), white women (27.2%), Asian men (8.6%), Asian women (4.5%), URM men (5%), URM women (4%), other men (2%), other women (1%).

Even though I know these patterns, the percentages continue to shock me. Full article: www.tiaa.org/content/dam/...

You pull the kill switch lever, but the handle breaks off into your palm. You hear the #thrum of the machine starting up, and your heart starts to race. You smash buttons and switches, but the thrumming intensifies. You curse under your breath. What will you do now?

#vss365

I reached out to #touch the glass and it shivered. I shivered? No, the universe shivered. When it stopped, I could tell something had changed... but what?

#vss365

What will those feisty Gen-Zers purchase next? Recklessly splurging on the $1.50 hot dog at Costco? An actual vegetable every other day? Perhaps even a second serving of gruel?

"But I hate her, Dad!"
"Wow, those are some strong words. She sure hurt your feelings, huh?"
"Yeah! She's so mean!"
"Underneath all those mean things she said, though, do you know what she is? Here's a clue: it's the same as you and me."
" #Bones?"
"...I mean, yes, but she's also a person."

#vss365

1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.

Hundreds of kids are still detained.

We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵

Reminder: In light of Bad Bunny's Superbowl performance spotlighting Latino culture, here's a hefty list of Latino speculative fiction authors I curated if anyone wants to take a gander and read some phenomenal work. Much love to all!
go.bsky.app/6BAmgpi

There are some great threads going about how awful sugar plantations were.

I just want to add something as a historical romance author: every time you see someone adding a sugar cube to tea in a historical romance, think of those threads and the blood-soaked cost of the sugar.

Thank you! 😄

My hand went #pale. At first, I thought my blood was draining but then I felt the heat. My skin glowed, and my hairs started to stand. I had to release it somehow! I clenched my fist and gathered the power in my palm. When I let go, five beams shot from my fingertips, singing the curtain.

#vss365

There is no one way to write a novel, only your way.

I'm in the last tenth of my novel, and I've been skipping around, writing the scenes I *know* before going back to write the scenes I struggled with. This is mostly thanks to @runwithskizzers.bsky.social, who posted that it's okay to do so, and I've been so much more productive because of it.

Mom and Dad were fighting downstairs, and someone threw something.

The girl was tired of covering her ears. She #wound her special toy, twisting the shiny metal handle. When she let go, it teetered from leg to leg, walking forward, never back.

She followed it straight into another world.

#vss365

Yup. This is also why I get annoyed when people start suggesting "golden age" science fiction titles to people who are new the genre and are asking for suggestions. You want to turn a modern 15-year-old off science fiction forever, recommend stories that were old when her grandparents were her age.

Every teen girl wants to read stories about it being the far future and yet it’s all just men named Johnson or Thompson smoking and rolling up their shirt sleeves, and talking about whether or not they’re going to see their mistress before the end of the world

groomers, abusers, and predators being tacitly accepted and protected by their social circles is not a rich people phenomenon

they're just doing it on private islands instead of the back of an Arby's kitchen

"I love you so much."
"I love you so much!"
"You could never leave me. #Ghost me, I dare you."
"You know? What a relief!"
"Holy shit, where did you go?"
"I'm here!"
"Why can't I see you?"
"Because... I'm a... isn't this what you asked for?"
"I..."
"...didn't mean that kind. I see that now."

#vss365

At the same time the Epstein Files are reinforcing how protected sexual abusers really are, Neil Gaiman is using the nightmarish sexual violence allegations against him to market his next book. His DARVO defense is the first selling point. Rape culture is everywhere and unavoidable.

neil gaiman watching the epstein news thought bubble "oh yeah that reminds me"

"Take these pills to #soothe the child."
"Have these been tested on kids? What if they hurt her?"
"They'll hurt less than you both being thrown out an airlock because a crying baby gave you away."
"..."
"Sorry, there's no sugar coating the risks for a starship stowaway."

#vss365

I do believe in redemption. I believe that people can make mistakes, learn from them, and improve. But I also believe that there is work involved in self-improvement, whether it be therapy or redirection or...it's all therapy. It's just different ways of doing therapy. Humans are fancy animals.

What would it take for you to trade your #soul? To save someone you love? No, that's not enough... To save a nation?

Ooh, now I see you're tempted!

You could give your people a homeland. End the war, begin the peace, and change the future forevermore... Just give me your one measly soul.

#vss365

I step through the #shadow into a void. At the end of a vast expanse, I catch a pinprick of light. I sprint towards it, and as I get closer I see it's a portal back to my real life. I turn around and retreat back into the darkness. There must be another way.

#vss365

“The Machine Stops” (1909)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mac...

Authors, please talk about your books.

We needs breaks from the suck or we won't make it.

tag yourself i’m I AM MANOEUVRING WITH DIFFICULTY

Thank you so much! 🥹🌊 I may have had water on the mind after a recent trip to stunning Musandam, Oman!

As someone who wrote in 'snatched time' for many years, and still writes at the kitchen table, this resonates. (I gave up my office so my kids could have their own rooms.) I would love 'a room of one's own,' but for most people, and female caregivers in particular, that's just not possible.