Robert Luke Wilkins

Intergalactic Rejects Story writers face rejection all too often. It can be disheartening, depressing, and downright defeating. Every writer has heard that it happens to all of us, but also to show, don't tell. This anthol...

Want to read stories like these but don't like to wait?
Try Intergalactic Rejects, a similar anthology that just came out from @calendaroffools.bsky.social
calendaroffools.com/intergalacti...

Space Unicorn!

PLEASE REPOST! WRITERS! Uncanny Magazine will be open to Short Story Submissions from August 25 to September 8! Uncanny Magazine will be open to Poetry Submissions from August 9 to August 26. WE WANT TO SEE YOUR SHINY WORDS! buff.ly/9AyStcb

(This story is likely going to hold my "longest published story title" award for a very long time, if not indefinitely.)

Issue 49: August 2025 – Factor Four Magazine

My new story, "We Sang Water into Lemonade, on the Eve of Summer, in the Wasteland", is in the August 2025 issue of @factorfourmagazine.com, with stories by @cornellwriter.bsky.social, @oneminutemonkey.bsky.social, and @authorthealiu.bsky.social. Give it a read!

factorfourmag.com/category/iss...

Fond memories of wandering around with a friend of mine as a teenager, and singing his songs much too loud.

(On this point alone, my fiction would definitely get me flagged as an AI)

Dreams - Su Shi (trans. Arthur Waley) Families, when a child is born Want it to be intelligent. I, through intelligence, Having wrecked my whole life, Only hope the baby will prove Ignorant and stupid. Then he will crown a tranquil life By becoming a Cabinet Minister.

Here's a poem by one of the old Chinese scholar bureaucrats that I think captures a certain Vibe very well

Thank you!

The story, "Eyes of my Brother", is suffixed by Afterlives as "(African/Indigenous Inspired Folk Horror, Body Horror, Grief, Spiritual)", proof positive that they're much better at describing my story than I am.

I'm really delighted that my story (originally published by @kaleidotrope.bsky.social) will be included in this anthology. It looks like a wonderful line-up! And I only have to wait until October to read all the other great stories keeping it company.

I. Breathing Beyond the Veil

“How To Get Away with Living” by @izom-chisom.bsky.social

“Drinking Dead Brazilians” by Lia Mulcahy

“Eyes Of My Brother” by @robertlukewilkins.bsky.social

Ugh. I wake up with a perfect sentence in mind, then by the time I sit down to write it, I've forgotten the words and can't find any half way so good. It's not the first bit of writing I've lost to poor waking memory, nor the last I expect, but they're all irritating.

In 1890, the X and Y chromosomes were discovered. It was found that the men who were tested had 46 chromosomes, including an X and a Y, while women who were tested also had 46 chromosomes, including 2 X chromosomes.
So obviously the conclusion was that the Y chromosome defined masculinity.

Always be wary of story search-and-replace changes without a full read-through after. A last-minute proof-read of a story I thought I had finished editing today revealed "a shadow-cloaked temple as large as a temple".

On Spec VOL 35 No 2 is available! With a cover  by Dan O’Driscoll, our new issue is ready for the readers. Subscribers and reviewers will be receiving links to download their copies. New readers, or those whose subscription m…

My short story "Children of a Bronze Sun" is out today, in @onspecmag.bsky.social's issue #132. Read more at the link below!

onspec.ca/2025/06/22/o...

Being busy is killing our ability to think creatively Here's why you should try to fit less—not more—into each day.

Drudged up an old repost of mine from elsewhere today -- an article about why doing less, not more, is extremely important for us.

bigthink.com/neuropsych/c...

That is a fantastic starting short-list of publications to be pulling stories from, too! This should be epic.

I made a thing! Hi friends! I am so excited to announce It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton, my new podcast. Our first episode drops on March 26th. This idea emerged from my creative self […]

I am so excited to announce It's Storytime with Wil Wheaton, my new podcast. Our first episode drops on March 26th and is available wherever you get your podcasts.

A little bit of brightness in the recently relentless dark.

Plud miles sound like hard work.

I've got a flash-fiction story that'll be coming out in the Chaotic Cupids anthology (cover attached below), which will be released July 2025. For the interested, the book's available to pre-order now: wordfirepress.com/products/cha...

I miss the news being something you checked periodically, rather than this vile, relentless torrent being forced down your neck in an effort to build anxiety and secure your dependency on their nightmare drip-feed.

I'll be uncoupling myself from it for a little while.

BlueSky does feel a lot like old Twitter did.

- Creative folks talking creatively? Check!
- Actually seeing things from people I choose? Check!
- Mostly non-toxic content? Again, check!
- Random OnlyFans porn-bots for me to block? Check!

So...not ALL good, but still beats the pants off X.

Release 22621.4317.67.1 · valinet/ExplorerPatcher CautionMicrosoft and other major antivirus vendors have flagged ExplorerPatcher as "malware". This is likely due to Microsoft's hatred against ExplorerPatcher, not because it contains a virus or su...

Hey, you -- has your Windows updated to 11 without your say-so? Do you miss the old Windows 10 start menu where you could properly find and pin things? Then I have a link for you!

(with notes that Microsoft have flagged it as malware, probably because they don't like it)

github.com/valinet/Expl...

I'm still waiting for #48 to wing its way to me, but I'll be giving this one a read once it makes its way through the seasonal storm of mail...

It's been just a hair over a year since my Dad passed away, and so I'd like to reshare his favourite story of mine, which was republished and narrated by PodCastle back in 2021.

podcastle.org/2021/05/25/7...

I'd add a few podcasts to the 'zines collection:

- Drabblecast
- PseudoPod
- Creepy Podcast

So far, I've found Bluesky to be a nicely chill place, full to bursting with creative folks. Just the kind of place that I'd think a hustle-culture hating software developer with a penchant for daydreaming would fit in very nicely indeed.

The question about AI art/fiction isn't whether it IS art. It's the ethics of massive, wealthy corporate bodies training AI on stolen art, without paying or crediting the artists.

All AI art and fiction, right now, is theft. Until that changes, questions about its artistic merit are moot.