M L Clark

"The Traveller V" by Michel Hericot

Couldn't find the title, so here's a near tidbit: Michel Hericot gained his skill in part from getting to sketch corpses while in military service. That might explain the mood of his work, too!

Fantastic realist painting by Michel Hericot. Couldn't find the title.

"The Anunciation" by Michel Hericot

#ArtBreak

I'm stunned to just be learning of Michel Henricot (1936-2022) today. His fantastic realism blends familiar anatomy with transcendental staging. This is body as "mood", and it reminds me of all the ways we can feel both constricted and ethereal.

These would be so cool as covers, too, no?

I help a lot of families who beg for groceries at my local tienda. Many tend to be en route somewhere--& lately, I've seen many on their way back to Venezuela. Professionals may balk, but for hard-up lower-class migrants, there's more willingness to see if things improve.

I wish them every success.

Visit the site's version as well. Make your presence known with media doing important work.

Aw.

That halftime show was a lovely homage to a wealth of subcultures, aspirations, and hardships on the way.

What a wise approach to showing that todos somos americanos (the core of that last sound-off with the flags): all of us just human beings with similar hopes and dreams for a decent life. 💛

A little treat for the kid today to remind her that she is welcome and wanted always, even though adopting a teen also means adopting a whole life story. In the photo, amid candies, is a larger and brighter coloured key chain so she hopefully doesn't lose her keys again. Not seen: a new fuzzy blanket for the equatorial venezolana who is mysteriously always cold.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the kid living with me. Did I expect to take on a teen orphan while barely having my own sh--aving cream together?

No, no I did not.

And it has been a tough year-- but no one said doing the right thing would be easy. Or that there wouldn't be joys on the way. 💛

I *think* tonight will be the night when I'm finished a huge tech lift that took way too long in sandbox testing. Just going for a wee walk before switching on the last filters for this much-needed service, & then I'm looking forward to a weekend of MUCH easier lifts.

Maybe some writing, too!

🤞🏻🤞🏻

Sun glow off a rural truck driving amid golden rolling hillside. A study by Henry Wong.

Artificial blue green light reflects along an inside pool. A study by Henry Wong.

A richly red orange yellow sea of flowers, seen through a dynamic angle over the field. Study by Henry Wong.

A girl looks back while riding a bike on a sun-faded, nostalgia-laden roadway wreathed in greenery. A study by Henry Wong.

#ArtBreak

Henry Wong (@henrywongdraws, Insta) creates visual art for film & TV, where his studies not only bring to life other people's words, but also tell their own stories.

All art is in rich dialogue with itself across forms. We can build upon the best dreaming of fellow creators, if we want.

Wanna Judge? - The Ignyte Awards For the 2026 cycle, we are opening up our longlist judging cohort to folks who may be a good fit (interested, available, organically well-read in a diverse and inclusive titles in sffh whether profess...

Organically inclusive reader? Fan of speculative fiction? Want to judge the 2026 Ignyte Awards? Judges compose our longlist before we open up to public voting. Applications are currently open thru 2/14.
ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/wanna-judge/

By entering the competition and in consideration for Hearst publishing your entry, you assign to Hearst the entire worldwide copyright in your entry for all uses in all print and non-print media formats, including but not limited to all rights to use your entry in any and all electronic and digital formats, and in any future medium hereafter developed for the full period of copyright therein, and all renewals and extensions thereof, any rental and lending rights and retransmission rights and all rights of a like nature wherever subsisting.

Venerable magazine Harper's Bazaar is running its short story contest again, with the winner receiving "the chance" of publication in the magazine. Just one catch: per the wording of the guidelines, _just by entering_ you transfer copyright ownership of your story to Harper's parent, Hearst. 1/3

This park has dirt bike tracks, rollerblading, bike rentals, a skate park, ping pong, soccer, martial arts, zumba, swimming, workout gyms, and of course a large running track.

...But the best part is wandering out amid the music and food vendor carts, listening to the laughter and excitement of kids' lessons, watching an older couple stop to smooch on the walking lane, and seeing families out with picnic blankets on the green.

Hard to put into words how restful it is be among other people for a walk/run before work tonight.

I've been cooped up for so long putting out fires, I've missed the wonderful ambience of families, teens, elderly couples, athletes, all just being alive in the world together. #ThirdSpace #Colombia

The Em Dash - 99% Invisible Last summer, Bryan Vance found himself in an argument with a stranger on Reddit. Vance, a Portland-based journalist who runs Stumptown Savings, a newsletter covering local grocery deals, had been accu...

Coming out of burnout one breath and task at a time. I've got another round of night work ahead, but this episode of @99pi.org on the em dash put me in the right, dorky mood for it.

Three cheers for our beleaguered piece of punctuation, plus a clever anti-AI typography movement near the end! 💪🏻🤓

I think my body just broke down like an old clunker yesterday. Could barely move, let alone think.

Trying to rev the engine today, but whew. I've been running on fumes for weeks, so it might take a little while to recover.

Take care of your health, folks. It's the foundation for everything else. 🫂

Hey, at this point, we take the wins where we can!

Boy howdy, am I overwhelmed.

Hope everyone's taking good care of themselves.

January was awful.

Here's hoping we have a slightly easier month ahead.

A stone cast of Dickinsonia costata, showing stem-bilateralism in its wide, circular formation.

Wiki diagram showing segments of this circular fan of a critter, with a posterior growth point opposite its featureless head.

Dickinsonia lived in the Ediacaran era, at the tail end of the Precambrian.

Another purdy cast of this leaf-like critter.

#NatureBreak

Today I want to show a lil' love for Dickinsonia, possibly one of the earliest animals on record. This curious sprawl was chugging along without a worry for how scientists would later classify it.

What would you do with your life, if you didn't worry about how it would look to others?

Workbooks here oddly often have inspirational phrases in English, despite most not knowing what they say. Focus on the Good, Rise above the Noise, and We Rise by Lifting Others are her math and science workbooks now.

The teen ward starts school again tomorrow, for the first time in 2.5 years. I have a ton of work this weekend, but right now I'm buying school supplies, probably almost as nervous as she is.

To work as a writer, *for* writers, & not be able to help with her education any faster has been an agony.

An illustration of one of Teschner's favourite puppets, Zipzip.

"Downpour", Richard Teschner, 1907

"Wasserman and the Princess", by Richard Teschner. Wasserman, a water sprite, was another beloved puppet.

"The Spectators" by Richard Teschner, 1916.

Here's a treat for today's #ArtBreak. Richard Teschner (1879-1948) was a puppeteer who advanced Javanese rod work in Western theatre. Many of these fantastic creatures are from the early 20th century. He designed the critters, performed with them, and drew them. Live your art to its fullest, folks.

Stepped out for school supplies for the kid, and am marvelling at this palm. I've seen these plants through all their phases dozens of times, but I'm still left chuckling at what we consider "otherworldly".

Do we not realize how alien so much of our own planet is to us all the time?

#Nature #SFF

"Cat Bath", by Louis Wain

"Cat's Nightmare", by Louis Wain

Cat with three kittens, in a work by Louis Wain.

"I'll draw your portrait", by Louis Wain

You know what?

It's a cats day. These are by Louis Wain. The man loved drawing cats, & they filled his life amid great pain.

Lean into what you love, folks, and try to bring some joy to others with it.

This wretched world, so filled with cruelty and neglect, demands nothing less of us.

#ArtBreak

I slept the deepest, calmest sleep in months yesterday.

:) My teen ward is going to be in school again, after being out for far too long due to international / arbitrary politics.

Every time I think I'm having a rough moment today... I'm not, because the kid's going back to school! 😍 #OverTheMoon

26 January 2026 Welcome to the annual Strange Horizons criticism special!

📣 It's here: the 2026 @strangehorizons.bsky.social Criticism Special!

💡 A whole week of critical insight, with a new essay and new review every day. A podcast, a roundtable, an *editorial*.

📚 The weird! Anthropology! Non-anglophone SFF! Plus thoughts on fantasy series, adaptations, film and more.

Una librería no es una biblioteca. No confundáis la cultura con el mercado.

YouTube video by M L Clark: Better Worlds Theory SFF Review: Clarkesworld, January 2026

This video was made around the kid, who likes to sing her heart out in the background.

😂 But lo! A video for @clarkesworldmagazine.com's Jan 2026 issue now exists. Yes, this issue has a story of mine in it - and some really great other ones, too. Use my time codes to skip past boring intro stuff.

I hope I'm not jinxing this by saying it, but after I duck out to get the kid food, I'm going to try recording a video review of the latest Clarkesworld. First time in months I've had the capacity. Back issues of Asimov's also await, but gosh, were other stories in this issue fantastic. More soon! 🤞

A humbling moment.

Every weekend, I give my newspaper to a street vendor after finishing the crossword.

Today I mentioned a job opening, which he told me he couldn't apply to because he can't read.

Every time I've given him the paper, he was looking at the pictures. Our privilege knows no bounds.

This week, a few folks reached out unprompted to tell me that they enjoyed my latest in @clarkesworldmagazine.com. I am beyond touched whenever anyone takes the time to read my work - but also, this time, INCREDIBLY ENVIOUS that they read the issue before I did.

😂 I have some reading to do tonight!

YouTube video by Animal life His sincere heart was ultimately betrayed and stolen. #wildlife #animals #shorts

Folks, I don't care how hard your weekend was. If the final twist in this documentary excerpt doesn't make you laugh with the deepest of empathy, the problem is you.

#Birbs #Nature
#AttenboroughIsTheRealTreasure

youtube.com/shorts/98WFD...

A view from the other side of the mall nearest to my home. Mountains, people, music... Life! Real, everyday life.

It has been a REALLY HARD few months. I have messages going back to August that I couldn't get to because I was doing two or three jobs at once.

But today I finally got to breathe out a bit (and see how messy the apartment is, oof).

And then I stepped out into the good earth and just... existed. ✨

Cops & Klan

Molly Conger's Weird Little Guys is always an excellent listen, but I strongly recommend this episode.

I used to write longwinded essays attempting to bring history and humanism to current events.

Molly does it so much better, even and especially when world-grief over recent events hits her, too.

a little boy is sitting at a desk with his hand on his chin and a sad look on his face . ALT: a little boy is sitting at a desk with his hand on his chin and a sad look on his face .

There's a bitter irony to waiting on yet another glitching pro plugin to do its work, so that you can launch the CUSTOM build you developed to bypass a ton of other glitchy pro plugins. 🙃

So close, though! I am almost at my long-overdue rest.

Just need these entries to load into my new system...