Alex Brandt

Uncanny Magazine Year 11 Covers: The Duet by Nilah Magruder, Barbershops of the Floating City by Grace P. Fong, and Blessed Universe by Galen Dara

PLEASE REPOST! The Uncanny Magazine Year 12: Fly Forever, Space Unicorns! Kickstarter is 88% funded with ONE WEEK TO GO! We are $6K away from funding a 12th year of Uncanny Magazine! WE CAN DO THIS MAGICAL THING, SPACE UNICORNS!!! buff.ly/HPEcU9t

A man jumping, under the words "Make Time For Joy"

Reminder: They're trying to demoralize you, and they're doing a great job of it. Part of resisting is making time for joy despite the attempts to make you feel this is not the time for it. Love your people. Dig the art that speaks to you. Go to the places where life flows into you. You deserve joy.

A stack of paper and hardcover books on a wooden table, with a phone displaying an ebook cover propped against them and a tall pottery mug. Book titles are: For Small Creatures Such as We by Sasha Sagan, Your Heart Was Made for This by Oren Jay Sofer, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Let This Radicalize You by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba, Making Things by Boyle and Pearlman, and The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Neff and Germer.

A sampling of my reading list as I stare down the barrel of 2025. Building grounding, resilience, and self-compassion so I can be the support others need.

Because there will be a lot of need.

(Any suggestions to add to the list are more than welcome.)

Also useful!

Duly noted.

Don't look at the news

Don't look at the news

Don't look at the news

(Looks at the news)

Oh, for fuck's sake

OMG so accurate

Oh noooooo

Making Money in the Next Four Years, and Why You Need to Plan Now to Support Your Favorite Creators This starts out about me, and then becomes about others, too, so stick with it, it’s going places. Over on the former Twitter and elsewhere, at least a few awful people have been publicly cel…

Over on Whatever today I write on how I think the next four years will go for me economically (could be better), whether my experience will be applicable to other creators (probably not) and what you should do to help your favorite creators survive what's coming:

whatever.scalzi.com/2024/11/09/m...

Allegory | Lifeblood Biannual Online Magazine of SF, Fantasy & Horror

One of my stories is available to read for free on Allegory e-Zine: www.allegoryezine.com/stories/fict... along with a host of other great spec-fic stories in their latest issue! Check it out if you're interested in an X-Men-inspired musing on love and sacrifice--and Allegory in general!

WMG Holiday Spectacular 2024 A Holiday Story Delivered Daily through the Holidays! 35 Original Stories Total!

I can finally announce I have a story (that I LOVE) in the 2024 Holiday Spectacular! The Kickstarter is live right now. Check it out if you love the winter holidays, short stories, and receiving surprises in your email inbox: www.kickstarter.com/projects/403...

monch

White mantelpiece decorated with fall foliage, pillar candles, and small furry woodland creatures

Mantelpiece decorations including a wrought-iron mouse, a leaf-decorated pillar candle, a puppet of a tiny mouse hiding inside a plush pumpkin, and a felted chanterelle mushroom

White mantelpiece decorated with fall foliage, pillar candles, and small furry woodland creatures

White mantelpiece decorated with fall foliage and small furry woodland creatures, lit up with fairy lights and glowing candles in the dark

I actually did a little decoration for fall!

On that note:

Trans authors (I mean authors who are trans, NOT cis people who write about trans people), drop your book links here and I'll try to repost as many as I can throughout the day.

Cis people: Repost trans authors' book links.

Cis people who want to complain about being excluded: gtfo

I don’t know why anyone would think we play favorites with our cats.

You know how you name your cats, and then they end up with a half dozen additional epithets?

So we’ve got Maria: sweet fuzzy void, sweet girl, sweetheart, sweet bean, noisy baby, elderly baby, babiest baby

And then Sophie: deranged girl, little weirdo, land shark, monster, broken baby, the worst

Same! I had to bully my doctor into taking me seriously about it, but the difference is PROFOUND with medication. Even if getting the right one has been a rocky road. Late 30’s is better than never!

Please Don’t Idolize Me (or Anyone, Really) In the wake of the various recent allegations involving Neil Gaiman, people have been both very sad that someone who they looked up to as an inspiration has, allegedly, turned out to be something l…

Apropos to recent events in the literary world, I have written a long essay on why a) you should not idolize creative people, b) come to think of it, you shouldn't idolize anyone, c) holy fuck you really should not idolize ME.

whatever.scalzi.com/2024/08/15/p...

The Future Fire: Social-political and progressive cyberfiction

I'm so honored to have my feminist fantasy story, "The Shape of Her Shadow," featured in the latest issue of The Future Fire, which you can read for free here: futurefire.net/2024.70/inde...

#writing #fantasywriter #dragons

Done

No. We're not fucked. There's no giving up, because if we do THEN we're fucked. Don't just give the fuckers the win, now or ever. Fight for yourself, fight for the people you care about, fight for the people who will be even more fucked than you will be. Be pissed that you have to fight. But fight.

DO IT

Book cover image with background divided vertically into two images: the top half a diagonal swirl of magenta electricity, the bottom half a close-up of a dark-haired teenage girl's face with one eye peeking out from behind her fingers. Title in modern font: "Ellen Double Prime." Subtitle: a short story. Author name: Alexandra Brandt.

"Ellen Double Prime" was first published in the Fiction River YA anthology: WISHES. A contemporary sci-fi story about privilege, empathy, and what it means to do the right thing. (Also teen pregnancy.)

Book cover featuring black-and white image of a close-up of half a dark-haired young woman's face, with one bright green eye. Title in bright green modern font: "Ilene's Box." Subtitle: a short story. Author name: Alexandra Brandt

Originally published in Pulphouse Magazine's Snot-Nosed Aliens anthology (XD), "Ilene's Box" is a contemporary sci-fi featuring an otherworldly visitor on a deeply personal, high-stakes mission...to a local pet store. (CW: abuse survivor).

Book cover with aqua and dark teal background image featuring stylized red blood cells. Title in dark red scientific-looking font: Lifeblood. Subtitle: A quiet superhero story. Author Name: Alexandra Brandt.

"Lifeblood" was originally published in the anthology Fiction River: Feel the Love. I call it a quiet superhero story for people who love low-stakes conflict (with a dash of ethical dilemma), complex inner lives, and the X-Men.

Book cover featuring a woman with her back facing the viewer, in black Regency dress with bonnet, surrounded by storm clouds. Blue-gray color scheme. Title in pale gray-beige historical font: "Poetic Sensibilities." Subtitle: a short story. Author name: Alexandra Brandt

"Poetic Sensibilities" is one of my personal favorites. A short Regency-Era fantasy about the magic of Romantic poetry, emotion, and grief.

Book cover with black background and image of smoke forming a happy face. Title in yellow swirly font: Like the Common Cold. Subtitle: a paranormal short story. Author name: Alexandra Brandt.

This month's release is "Like the Common Cold," an irreverent "odd couple" demon hunter story about superstition and sneezing (and a helping of heart).

Image of five book covers with caption: 2024 Releases! Sci-fi, Superhero, and Fantasy 0.99 eBooks.

I've had five new short stories published as standalone ebooks this year and utterly failed to tell anyone. I want to talk about each one just a little bit. But you can access all of them easily here: books2read.com/Alexandra-Br...

#writing #fantasy #sci-fi #paranormal #superhero #shortstory #ebook

Yes! Or many excellent things by Ruthanna Emrys!

The Giving Year Cycle Visit Amazon's The Giving Year Cycle Page and shop for all The Giving Year Cycle books. Check out pictures, author information, and reviews of The Giving Year Cycle

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B... The Amazon series page

Book 1: The Taking Year Universal Link to all platforms: books2read.com/thetakingyear 
Book 2: Hindkin and Huntress Universal Link: books2read.com/hindkinandhu... 
Book 3: A Thread of Daylight Universal Link: books2read.com/threadofdayl...