Kel Coleman

8 cents a word, $50 a poem, opening to submissions of speculative fiction/poetry by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors on January 1st. If that sounds like your jam, now is the time to sign up for the Kickstarter pre-launch! Every signup helps get eyes on the project, even if you aren’t able to donate. 🪐 🗡️ 🌈

Image is of the cover of my novella, Death Valley Blooms, with a muted background that is a picture of some of the sand dunes in Death Valley, with a line of mountains in the background. As for the cover itself, a cube of dirt displaying several geological layers hovers midair, with flowers blooming on its top and bones and roots penetrate all the way through the cube and below. The flowers are primarily yellow, but also purple and light pink. The title, Death Valley Blooms, is plastered on the left side of the cube facing the viewer, and on the right it says "A novella." My author name, S.M. Mack, appears at the bottom of the image. At the top of the cover is a blurb from Liza Wemarkor that reads "A breathtaking, atmospheric novella."

Screenshot of the summary of my novella, Death Valley Blooms. It reads: Every decade or so, vast quantities and varieties of wildflowers bloom all at once in Death Valley. But unbeknownst to the wider world, these super blooms are powered by a woman’s life. Mar Ramse lost her mother to Death Valley as a teenager and would give anything to break her family’s curse, but now the desert whispers its call to her. However, she still has a single ace up her sleeve: neither she nor her brother will ever have children. Is it enough for the desert to release its grip on her family?

TA-DAAA, behold the gorgeous cover for my debut novella, DEATH VALLEY BLOOMS, available August 12, 2025 from @neonhemlock.bsky.social. & a little 🦜 told me it's on sale here: bookshop.org/p/books/deat...

And it's on my favorite indie site (www.mystgalaxy.com/book/9781966...) & all other retailers.

The April Worlds of Possibility is split into two parts, and the second contains a number of stories featuring magic and adventure. These range from light and whimsical to a bit more serious, as in Wen Wen Yang's "The Case Against Raven Mail', which finds a grow- ing group of supplicants seeking the intervention of the prince of the realm to intercede on their behalf against a corrupt and despotic duke. What starts as a single person's quest for justice slowly gains a large following as the procession moves through the countryside, finding more and more people impacted and imperiled by the policies of the duke. Together, they bring their case to the highest court in the land, and show that when people come together to help people and to speak out against tyranny, it's often more powerful to do so in person - showing not just those in charge but those other people affected that this is not an isolated problem, and that those pushing back and not doing so alone. Yang provides a powerful and timely reminder of the importance of collective action and mutual aid.

First time a story of mine got a shout out in @locusmag.bsky.social (recommended story!) and Alex Brown's Must Read Speculative Fiction on @reactorsff.bsky.social. Check out Worlds of Possibility, April, editor @omgjulia.bsky.social

My new story. Thanks again so much to @diabolicalplots.com for publishing this. You are a pleasure to work with :)

Go back and fix the first half of your draft if it's really bugging you.

The advice to just finish the first draft and let it be trash was holding me back until I understood that I'm a strictly linear writer and I can't let major inconsistencies just sit there.

Hey, so not medical advice, but if you've got ADHD and you're worried meds might negatively impact your creativity, I just wanted to share that starting them has been really positive for me. I've written more words and FINISHED more projects in the last 6 months than I did in the three years prior.

a robot scaling a wall turns to blow a kiss at the camera - illustration by Ariel Guzman

My short story "Tactical Infantry Bot 37 Dreams of Trochees" is now live in audio at Starship Sofa! 

Listen here: http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2025/07/23/starshipsofa-761-marie-vibbert/

BCS opened for submissions 17 years ago this month, July 2008, and has been open continuously since. Writing all submission replies with personalized comments.

And we're still going! Send us your great character-driven secondary-world setting stories.

August 12, 7pm, Washington DC, hosted by Little District Books August 19, 6pm, Frederick, MD, hosted by Curious Iguana at the C Burr Artz Library in conversation with Jessica McHugh August 30, 1pm to 5pm, Glen Allen, VA, signing at Barnes and Noble with Alma Katsu September 13, Framingham, MA, Spooktastic Book Fair at Framingham Public Library September 26-28, Williamsburg, VA, Killer Pride (Scares That Care) October 18, Stamford, CT, StoryFest

Let's do this, 2025 🤘 my remaining in-person events for the year

Ditto. I can't believe this is other folks' baseline... and we were just expected to keep up.

took me a min 😆

I'm so glad they're working for her!

And yeah, some things have changed about my brain but honestly, it's still the good kind of chaos in there most of the time

Hey, so not medical advice, but if you've got ADHD and you're worried meds might negatively impact your creativity, I just wanted to share that starting them has been really positive for me. I've written more words and FINISHED more projects in the last 6 months than I did in the three years prior.

I made this. Am making? ...Will make?

What is time?

And The Planet Loved Him by L Chan Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

Story Day!

"And The Planet Loved Him" is out in @clarkesworldmagazine.com

Featuring: academics forced to do contract work for healthcare, a planetwide fungal intelligence, talking with the dead, love and death (no robots)

clarkesworldmagazine.com/chan_08_25/

The Death of Mountains Check out The Death of Mountains - <p>The latest novella by Nebula finalist Jordan Kurella is a moving allegorical tale. As mankind continues to hurt the planet, leaving us with scarred lands, stories...

i write stuff!
like this one about a middling hill in the Appalachians who doesn't want to die. when the Death of Mountains comes for her, they trade story for story to stave off the inevitable. it's been called "good as hell" and "hopeful."

THE DEATH OF MOUNTAINS out from @lethepress.bsky.social

Thank you!

Ty!!

I don't want to say too much atm, but it's a fantasy, horror, romance mashup!

thank you!

Just submitted my first novelette 🤞

The cover of Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz. It's a picture of a robot hand holding biang biang noodles with chopsticks. Below it are pictures of the robot characters from the book, as well as the Golden Gate Bridge. The cover is in bright blue, orange, yellow, and pink.

It's your Thursday reminder that I'm about to go on book tour for Automatic Noodle! Next week I'll be in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and St. Louis. The week after I'll be in Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, BC, and WorldCon (Seattle). Info here: www.automaticnoodle.website/blog/2025-bo...

The Harrowing of Hell (Third Circle, Sausage Counter, Contracts Office) Senior year, my best friend Tony and I worked the sausage counter in Hell. Third Circle. Yeah, I know, but they pay better than Wendy’s, and once you’re working in fast food, Hell isn&#…

My story, "The Harrowing of Hell (Third Circle, Sausage Counter, Contracts Office)" is now free to read at @flashfictiononline.bsky.social!

A hellish high school job, a heist, Cerberus, and helping each other make it out.

How about a short story inspired by whale fall? Except instead of whales it's angels, and we're the scavengers. 👀

Hey you. Yes, you. What are you writing this week 👀

This story has a special place in my heart for being the first story I ever sold to Clarkesworld.

Disclaimer that I've never read "There will come soft rains" by Bradbury, although this story gets compared to it a lot for themes.

Anyway, this is a story about love, about resistance and maybe hope

Oh hey I will miss this, but JR is cool, Marissa is cool, and Moon Palace is cool so this sounds great!

“My name is Braedon Peluso from the United States. If you’re seeing this video, we have been intercepted at sea and I’ve been kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces of a country complicit in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians.”

If you are thinking of starting a fiction publication, do everyone including yourself a favor and do at least the minimum due diligence of doing your best to avoid copyright infringement by making sure the writers have granted you unambiguous permission to publish their work.

Screenshot of OTHERSIDE's Kickstarter pre-launch page. On the left is our banner art with our banner OTHERSIDE logo. On the right the text says: Launching soon. OTHERSIDE 2026: A New Magazine of Queer SFF! A new queer-led literary magazine devoted to speculative fiction, poetry, and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors and artists. Below that it says Notify me on launch and 50 followers, which is a huge milestone to hit on the first day of pre-launch!

Excuse me ??? 50 followers on our Kickstarter pre-launch on day 1?! Thank you SO much. We were unsure what to expect and tempered our expectations—and all your support immediately blew us away. THANK YOUUU for believing in queer speculative fiction!!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...