M. R. Robinson

Luz tried everything to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Vacuuming, microfiber rags, magic, a feather duster, more magic, compressed air, even more magic (and magic explosions). Still, the door refused her.

Natural Skin - Lightspeed Magazine As I shrug on my jacket, moving across the carpet as quietly as I can, my sister Xuemei pushes her blankets aside and rolls over onto her belly with a soft murmur. “Liin jie. Where are you going?” Fuc...

Somehow I hadn't read this 2016 story until @clairejiawen.bsky.social sent me the link today, and: if you have also not read this story, you must.

The worst combination but the best feeling when it works out! Thank you, Ayida 💜

Wait, this is the first convincing explanation I've seen for my year.

This win is balanced out by the fact that I went to get my oil changed this morning and the guy opened the hood and promptly said “ohhhhh no.”

Acceptance in my inbox this morning for a story I’ve described to friends as both “my best work” and “doomed to never find a home,” and yeah, this is a very good way to start a week.

Hello to everyone else who has spent all week feeling like you are surely forgetting something important, just a few more hours to submit Nebula ballots!

Ahhh, congrats! Can't wait to see what you did with that theme!

Y’all, please nominate—it’s so very helpful to everyone: the authors, the jury, the foundation, and to readers

Thank you!

IT’S HERE ‼️ And yes I cried when I hit send on the issue for subscribers. I hope you love this issue as much as we do.

Congrats, Emma!!! So deserved.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

Thanks so much!

Thank YOU for being part of it!

We ALSO cannot wait for this. Sooooon. (When you do, you’ll spy a shout-out in the acknowledgments to someone extremely generous and helpful whose name rhymes with Boliver Drackenbury 👀)

“Unarm, Eros; the long day’s task is done, / And we must sleep,” &c.

IT’S HERE ‼️ And yes I cried when I hit send on the issue for subscribers. I hope you love this issue as much as we do.

Accidentally a very tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow post. Anyway, it's an awful time to do anything that feels promotionial, but... maybe it helps that I am trying to promote 15 of the best pieces I've ever read, at least? And maybe it's nice to have some incredible queer art on the horizon.

A two panel comic of a dog in a room on fire, sitting at a table with a cup of coffee. In the second panel, he's saying "so I have a book coming out."

Issue 1 of OTHERSIDE drops tomorrow which means this is your last chance to subscribe via Patreon and get it in your inbox tomorrow IN CASE YOU CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO WORRY ABOUT TONIGHT, I GUESS.

www.patreon.com/OthersideSpec

Congrats and congrats and congrats and congrats and congrats, Rick! 😄

On the record as profoundly and violently sick of this shit

Abstraction Is When I Design Giant Death Creatures and Attraction Is When I Do It for You by Claire Jia-Wen Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

2nd-year eligible @clairejiawen.bsky.social's "Abstraction Is When I Design Giant Death Creatures and Attraction Is When I Do It for You" is a hell of a title for a hell of a story. Excellent piece about a designer of monsters and the pilot she does it for.
clarkesworldmagazine.com/jia-wen_09_25/

Blanquitos Fiction by Karlo Yeager Rodríguez.

Helluva day to remind you it's the last day for Nebula nominations. If you're still choosing, please consider my short, "Blanquitos" in the short story category

Sam J. Miller: "...when weighed against U.S. imperialism, are eldritch abominations really so scary?"

www.typebarmagazine.com/blanquitos/

Super honored by this shout-out! Not only am I in great company here but Jordan writes some of my favorite things EVERY year, like this story:

www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/the-...

Some Queer Short SFF - January 2026 | Charles Payseur Get more from Charles Payseur on Patreon

🏳️‍🌈SOME QUEER SHORT SFF - JANUARY 2026🏳️‍🌈
I round up over 40 stories by @mruthrobinson.bsky.social @coreyjwhite.com @thedescenters.bsky.social @sylvie-althoff.bsky.social @marisca.bsky.social @victormanibo.com @seraph76.bsky.social @remedy.bsky.social & MANY MORE!!!
www.patreon.com/posts/151830...

Handsomest Gentlest, Haven Spec Magazine "Handsomest Gentlest" by M. R. Robinson

The Nebula ballot deadline is almost here! Don’t forget to vote for the work you loved most! (This is a reminder to me, I am about to go vote, I swear.)

I had nine stories out in 2025 and I don’t have the energy to do much promoting… but I hope you’ll consider this ode to the goodness of dogs. 🐾

The Cookout: A Speculative Fiction Anthology Sci-fi, fantasy, & horror stories by Black authors, centering traditions of “the cookout” — the joy, the drama, and the delicious food.

Less than one week left to back THE COOKOUT anthology of speculative fiction from the African Diaspora. Only 250 to go until we open public submissions (paying at least 10 cents per word), and just over 1k to go until we're funded. You can push us over the top! #authors #readers #speculativefiction

After 12 years and editing close to a thousand different writers, I've learned there are two edits that will transform a perfectly pleasant human into a nearly homicidal figure:
- Suggesting that a non-grammatical comma used as a pause could be cut.
- Changing an American's use of "grey" to "gray."

Please check out the podcast so it's worth Tina's time to have had to deal with narrating all the weird multilingual-sound-combining words I made up! (Also I love this story and I hope you love it too.) (Also also check out @melmulrooney.bsky.social's lovely bouquet of a story while you're at it!)