Philip Athans

Nope. He is responsible for four of the greatest films ever made. Granted, they were made decades ago, but his legacy is unassailable.

YouTube video by Fantasy Author's Handbook THE FANTASTIC PLANET—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 31

THE FANTASTIC PLANET—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 31

Join me in a flip-through of this fun collection of SF and fantasy art, with some warnings for authors about the importance of SHOW, DON’T TELL!

youtu.be/UEZ655zBULQ?...

#BookSky #WritingCommunity #ScienceFiction

Fantasy Author's Handbook Open to authors of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and genre fiction in general.Ask questions, trade writing tips and tricks, career advice… anything...

The Fantasy Author’s Handbook group on GoodReads is open to all SF/F/H authors with discussions, group reads, and more. www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
#WritingCommunity #Booksky

IMLS Restores Competitive Grant Funding In response to a U.S. District Court’s permanent injunction in State of Rhode Island v. Trump, the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced that it “has reinstated all federal grants.”

A big win for reason and decency:

On December 3, the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced on its website that it “has reinstated all federal grants.”

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

YouTube video by AbstractTheHuman Hans Bellmer

HANS BELLMER
(13 March 1902 Katowice, Silesia, 23 February 1975 Paris, France) was an artist famous for the life-sized pubescent dolls. Historian of art and Surrealist photographer.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OmW...

Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives, Dies - Publishing Perspectives International journalist, moderator, and Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson has died.

This is sad news. He was a tireless advocate of all things books and will be missed.
publishingperspectives.com/2025/12/port...

Buy a book.

Any book, it doesn't matter which. The one you've been looking forward to, the one with the title that made you laugh, the weighty award-winner you've been meaning to get to. Whatever.

Treat yourself. Step away from it all. In this time of gross ignorance & madness, read something.

JACK KEROUAC’S LIST OF ESSENTIALS

I’ll start this with my 100-Book Challenge video on the annotated edition of Howl by Allen Ginsberg, in which I found the list to follow. Watch that for greater context… According to Howl: This list was tacked on wall above author’s bedstead in North Beach hotel a…

My fence blew down in a wind storm and this is what came out when I turned my camera on the next morning. I promise, eventually it becomes about writing fantasy, science fiction, horror, and fiction… THE METAPHORICAL FENCE

My fence blew down in a wind storm and this is what came out when I turned my camera on the next morning. I promise, eventually it becomes about writing fantasy, science fiction, horror, and fiction in general.

YouTube video by Life on Books 3 things readers need to STOP doing

3 things readers need to STOP doing
youtu.be/GHdssP-wzEw?...

OpenAI killed a teenager by encouraging him to commit suicide and blamed it on the teenager.

If you use ChatGPT then you support this company

Dear YouTube Commercial Algorithm,

I’m never going to buy a “tactical hoodie” because I’m not a little boy pretending to be an army man.

Sincerely,
Phil

Corto Maltese Sets Sail at Fantagraphics U.S. comics fans will soon be able to experience the adventures of Hugo Pratt’s iconic seafarer like never before thanks to a new publishing program at Fantagraphics, which aims to make the entire Cor...

Well, this just made my Amazon list!

Corto Maltese Sets Sail at Fantagraphics

Italian comics creator Hugo Pratt’s iconic seafarer Corto Maltese has found a new home at Fantagraphics. In January 2026, the publisher will release a 132-page paperback…

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

I have read 53 of the 60 books on my GoodReads challenge

Can I finish 7 books by the end of the year? Thirty-four days?

With THIS workload…?

Before using AI, remember:
Luke turned off his targeting computer and listened to the force.

ChatGPT can be improved by saving the entire code base on whatever it’ll fit on then launching it into the sun.

This is not a “tech startup,” it’s an ongoing criminal enterprise.

A *huge* vaccine victory. I've been writing on this for years; Australia has seen remarkable progress in cervical cancer prevention with the HPV vaccine. I love seeing science triumph like this.

Man Getting High And Eating Taco Bell Thousands Of Miles Away From Family Having Best Thanksgiving Of Life

Man Getting High And Eating Taco Bell Thousands Of Miles Away From Family Having Best Thanksgiving Of Life https://theonion.com/man-getting-high-and-eating-taco-bell-thousands-of-mile-1845721340/

YouTube video by Fantasy Author's Handbook THE MINDWARPERS—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 30

THE MINDWARPERS—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 30
Join me for a look at a randomly chosen sci-fi book that turns out to be a forgotten classic!

youtu.be/VaKwOzf3FhI

Philip Athans - Editor | Reedsy Seattle, WA, USA Editor: Former managing editor at Wizards of the Coast, working extensively in fantasy, SF, horror, thriller, literary, and narrative non-fiction.

The best editor is a good teacher who helps that book be better AND helps you be a better writer from then on.

Hitting the books: R.F. Kuang on why libraries make the world go ’round As the recipient of degrees from Cambridge and Oxford and a current PhD student at Yale, Kuang has spent plenty of time in bookstores and libraries. We asked the bestselling author to tell us about a ...

Hitting the books: R.F. Kuang on why libraries make the world go ’round

www.bookpage.com/interviews/h...

BOOKS FOR FANTASY AUTHORS XLIX: STEERING THE CRAFT, PART 10

From time to time I’ll recommend—not review, mind you, but recommend, and yes, there is a difference—books that I think authors should have on their shelves. Some may be new and still in print, some may be difficult to find, but all will…

Okay, Big Deadline Energy now shifts to the smaller projects that have sat waiting for too long. Once those are cleared up, I enter Extreme Deadline Energy for the next three months on some Monster Sized projects.

Never fear. I’ve got this.

Whatever your rules are, either magical or high-tech, you set them. But once you’ve set those rules in the minds of your readers, stick to them.
The Best of Fantasy Author’s Handbook, Vol. 1, 2009-2013
amzn.to/3gpRGZ3

Federal Court Delivers Judgment to Prevent Dismantling of IMLS Attorneys general for 21 states sued to prevent the federal government from gutting the Institute of Museum and Library Services and other agencies, and on November 21, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. uph...

Reason and decency can prevail…

Federal Court Delivers Judgment to Prevent Dismantling of IMLS

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief...

YouTube video by struthless The Brainrot Apocalypse (a DIY survival guide)

HEY! You've watched this vide already, right?

No?

Watch it!

youtu.be/6fj-OJ6RcNQ?...

What is it about things that go bump in the night that we find so attractive that they’ve infiltrated every culture on Earth, every mythology, every art form?
Writing Monsters
amzn.to/3Q5l9r8

Honestly, maybe 90% of writers have no idea how to properly use the semicolon.

The remaining 10% know not to use it at all.

#WritingCommunity

Publishers say 'mindset around short stories shifting’ as readers embrace slim fiction Publishers are noting a shift in industry mindset around short stories as readers embrace shorter works, with a number feeling like “something is slowly shifting” and that “there’s a real excitement a...

Strange that the data cited within seems to contradict the headline…

Publishers say 'mindset around short stories shifting’ as readers embrace slim fiction

…but I'd be delighted to learn this is true!

www.thebookseller.com/news/publish...