Arthur Robert Tracy IV

And that beautiful blue ink that faded so gradually you never knew where your old 'zines went.

I haven't been able to figure out the front page interface, either. Click on "Full Searchable List of Recommended Works" and you'll get a list that's alphabetical by author, but you have to click buttons for each letter of the alphabet.

In my day, we had a mimeograph.

The Reading List - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association Full Searchable List of Recommended Works Recommend a Work Welcome to the New Recommended Reading List! We’re proud to open […]

We would just like to casually point out that the @sfwa.org Recommended Reading List currently contains Hell Itself stories by @rachiea.bsky.social, @crboltz.bsky.social, @deborahldavitt.com, @reggiekwok.bsky.social, @gerrileen.bsky.social, @tedmorrissey.bsky.social, @ktwagner.bsky.social, and more!

This, incidentally, is another one I rushed through editing because current events made it eerily relevant.

I'd love to say that @ladyzinnia.bsky.social was very gracious about it, but I suspect she'd hurt me if I ever told anyone she was gracious about anything.

I find drag rhetoric fascinating. Humor, but in the style of the legendary court jester: getting laughs by speaking uncomfortable truths and not being afraid to offend.

It's definitely a challenging piece. I hope you like it as much as I do.

I see the appeal, but I suspect I'd've liked it better before it was updated.

I have found this also makes editing the short fiction very, very slow.

ICYMI, "The Goblin on My Shoulder" is free to read with @hellitself.bsky.social. This is a story about invisible disabilities. I wrote it before my pain had a name, before I knew what I suffered was real and not "all in my head." I sincerely hope no one can relate, but if you can: I see you.

Even though I came on board this project believing that there are great stories out there that have been rejected at least ten times, I keep being surprised that no one else picked up the pieces I'm publishing.

I will admit that I'm not generally a fan of the short-short. When I like one enough to publish it, it's because I think it's extraordinary.

@cjtavares.bsky.social definitely delivered the extraordinary in this one, managing to create a world in 1,000 words without it feeling under-developed.

I've had editor's block lately. I have half a dozen great stories accepted, but none felt like the right story to start 2026 with. Then I looked at the submissions queue, and this one charged my fence.

@rajivmote.bsky.social was very good about letting me rush him through editing.

Here's to 2026.

@reggiekwok.bsky.social is the sort of writer we need right now: Someone with a distinct and unique voice.

I generally enjoy his work, but when this one was submitted I knew we had to publish it. It's entertaining and timely. And maybe just a bit symbolic.

I hope you like this one as much as I do

hellitself.com/pala/

Go check this out. It's my latest published short story, and it's free to read. :)

(The verdict on the Departure Mirror experiment was no, a pro-rate magazine can't run on advertising alone. They can be loss leaders. They can be expensive hobbies. But self-sustaining quality publications need either subscribers or donors. The alternative is clickbait and/or AI slop.)

This version of the story is very much a today version, but so were Homer's and Ovid's. They made Persephone alive and contemporary, and so does Gerri Leen.

I especially love "The Eleusinian What Now?" because it truly is in the grand tradition of tellings of the Greek myths.

People often think the surviving versions are the official dogma.

They weren't. They were stories, just like this one, spinning a story everyone knew for a new audience.

During the pandemic, my family and I decided to do an experiment to see if a pro-rate, free magazine could sustain itself on advertising alone. That was Departure Mirror Quarterly. Gerri sent us one of my favorite poems ever, which we published, and it was our second Dwarf Stars nominee. "Fetch."

I was absolutely ticked when I saw @gerrileen.bsky.social has sent in a story. I was even more tickled when I read this one and loved it. I'm very glad to have it in my little webzine.

While I can't force anyone to join me in this quest, I do implore you to assess whether the easy path now or the endgame-ready approach is in your best interests.

—ART

And that is why at @hellitself.bsky.social we have a strict no-AI policy across the board. No AI-written stories. No AI editors. No AI marketers. No AI art. Just humans doing the work themselves, preparing for the world where that is valuable again.

I'm going to argue is that you want to be one of the people who still possesses the intellect and the skills to do work yourself. To be the one who can do things the AI can't. To be the one who can understand where the AI fails and fix it.

Realistically, the technology is not going away. I have no doubt that AI slop will continue to be produced, and I expect its abilities will continue to improve.

But do you want to live in a world where the AI produces but only those with money get to enjoy it?

Because if so, you won't have money.

Those who own the AI technology are not trying to build you up. They are trying to build themselves up. Their goal is to render you obsolete in whatever you do.

By embracing this LLM-AI push — even before we get into the ethics and efficacy of the technology — you are speeding your own downfall.

And while that future may sound appealing, again, I ask the question: If the AI can do it for you, why wouldn't the AI do it instead of you?

The future that those behind this push for LLM-AI seems to be careening towards is one where we are a society made up of companies of one. Them. They are each a company that has no need for employees because the AI does all the work for them, and they simply collect the rewards.

I get that it's meant to make my life easier by having the AI do the work for me. In the short term, that sounds very nice.

However, I get paid for my work.

If an AI can do it for me, why would an employer pay me to do it instead of having the AI do it instead of me?

My question to all the companies that are trying to force LLM-based AI on me is this: What is the endgame?

I was told if I wanted to post what they seem to call a rant, I had to do it on my own account. I now have my own account, and I can post a rant if I want to.

If you haven't read the Murderbot books, you really should. Otherwise the previous — what is the word one uses for a "tweet" here? — will make very little sense, and you're missing out on some of the best science fiction being published today.

I also need to apologize to @marthawells.com for stealing her cover art for my user icon, but I've been signing my editorials "—ART" for so long that I couldn't resist the urge to use an image of Perihelion.