Chana Kohl

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Unsolicited writing advice, no. 430: Read. Read widely. Read what you love, and what you don't. Read what you know, and what you don't yet know. The wider your reading, the better your chance of avoiding the limitations of being influenced by only one author, one genre, one culture, one time.

🥹 I’m pretty sure I had a breakthrough today with my MC’s emotional arc (yes it does change the plot and rewrites the opening, but I hope your 💔 for his dilemma). Needless to say I owe this 💯 to what I learned in @odysseyworkshop.bsky.social

Afritondo Short Story Prize 2026 - Theme, Judges, Guidelines — Afritondo

I’ll be judging this year’s Afritondo’s Short Story Prize! The theme is “Transition.” Open to African & Black writers. Cash prize $1,000. Deadline Dec 24. Guidelines below👇🏾

www.afritondo.com/call2026

A Pixel, A Word, A Lie, A Speck of You – FFP 1020

Time for self promo 🙈
My scifi flash, up on Manawaker Podcast, is on the Nebula reading list 🎉🎉🎉
So please give it a go, and if you are in SFWA and enjoy it, maybe a little push?
Flash + audio is a rare and precious mix that needs more support ❤️
open.spotify.com/episode/4Sqd...

Submissions Broadly defined, the type of fiction we are looking for is “fun”. [Go to Submissions]

Our submissions portal closes tonight at midnight US Eastern Time (UTC:-4:00). If you have a speculative fiction story of 5000 words or under, be sure to submit before then! translunartravelerslounge.com/submissions/

Thanks, Ben for doing the hard work but mostly sharing for others’ benefit. 🏆

👀 ICYMI

a man with a beard is talking and saying it 's not a theory . Alt: Main character from Asimov’s Foundation series saying ‘It's not a theory.’

Hari Seldon was right. 👑

🥰 I once let my natural hair grow that big, but then I had to turn my head sideways every time I climbed into the car. Looks fabulous, though!

My mom also used to ship them to me when I was away at university. 🤔 This is inspiring me to finally plant some.

Dude. 😮 Fo real. I was like let me read more info, but your comment section…is its own life form: off the ⛓️‍💥

YouTube video by CommonVEVO Common, John Legend - Glory

"Glory"
Common & John Legend

#resist
#resistance
#resistancemusic
#resistancetunes

youtu.be/HUZOKvYcx_o?...

The Jewish mom.

Mexican grandma will tell you off, pop you a good one, then say she loves you.

Black auntie will tell you off but it’ll be so sly and off-handed, you won’t figure it out until two days later.

Jewish mom will tell you off then make you eat something afterwards 🤷🏽‍♀️

a woman in a gold dress says i loved it in front of a microphone Alt: Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon saying, “I loved it”

Oh. The YHMAMF episode was 🔥 🔥

🧐 Curious about @odysseyworkshop.bsky.social? Check out my graduate interview:

Congrats. 🏆 A deserved story!

Cadwell Turnbull shared on this Insta that his secret hack to writing was when he began setting a "floor instead of a ceiling".

Discovery Alert: A Possible Perpendicular Planet - NASA Science A newly discovered planetary system, informally known as 2M1510, is among the strangest ever found. An apparent planet traces out an orbit that carries it far

This is pretty cool. science.nasa.gov/universe/exo...

😆 That form, though. Style also counts.

Highly recommended reading 📖 💫

Yes, this:

"There's this idea that the future inevitably lies in space, that the future inevitably involves super-intelligent machines. There is nothing inevitable about those visions and a great deal of reason to doubt them."

Analog: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise Analog 1-2/25 The January/February issue of Analog opens with “Our Lady of the Gyre” by Doug Franklin, a post-environmental collapse story, which centers on Mel – a man who lost his wife in a storm…

My review of the January/February issue of @analogsf.bsky.social for @locusmag.bsky.social is now available to read online!

locusmag.com/2025/05/anal...

🔥

Mango Throat

“All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable which makes you see something you weren’t noticing which makes you see something that isn’t even visible.” ~ Norman Maclean.

At home I use Me’am Loez. This year I was a guest in B. Vegan and used a leather Artscroll. Every Haggadah is the same I think, except for commentary. I saw this beautifully illustrated once at the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv. Expensive, but so beautiful. I always regret not buying that one.

Thanks, Elly (glad to try this out 1st thing after Pesach 😜)

Save money & reduce waste! Use toilet roll tubes as biodegradable seed starters for your veggies. They hold moisture well, promote root growth, & can be planted straight into the soil! Just stand them in a tray, fill with seed mix, & sow. Perfect for peas, beans, & root crops. #SustainableGrowing

Shoot your shot: I just beat the buzzer my first year applying and made the wait list…You’ll never know unless you try. 🚀🧑🏾‍🚀