Devan Barlow

Very large, wild turkey with strikingly, beautiful plumage standing in the road by a snowbank admiring all the cars.

February 6th, 2026
The Market St. turkey at their assigned traffic disruption spot, looking fabulous.

Ben time!

"When I got engaged to Demetrius, I didn't know he was an enchanted Prince who turned into a bird every night.
It's not the sort of question you think to ask."

- Book 1, An Uncommon Curse

Now also available on Bookshop.org !

ICYMI!

thank you for this

I tell myself: "I'm the owner of the company. But more importantly, I'm also the head of Scriveners Local 23, and I have some demands." So what that means is that I have a four day work week. I work monday-tuesday and then Thursday-Friday. Fuck the boss if they don't like it. I have a workplace wellness program that means I can take breaks for yoga, meditation, exercise, and naps. I have unlimited paid personal days thanks to my project oriented work structure--I get to decide what's the best balance between production and restoration. Fuck the boss if they don't like it. I have five days each quarter for vacation. attending a convention, conference, expo, bookstore event tour, or a writing workshop *is not a vacation.* that's business-related travel. taking a day or two for a weekend jaunt *is not a vacation.* that's unlimited paid personal days. Five working days. Each Quarter. Vacation. and since I always have Wednesdays off, it doesn't count. I know there's a piece of your brain saying "I have to hustle, I have to hustle" I know My brain does that too And without the union boss in my head, I'll just work until I drop. That's what I did for years. And then I burnt out so bad that this is the first time I have actually made real, noticeable progress(1.) similar to my pre-burnout rates in years. Because the union boss went on strike, and the boss' bottom line was *destroyed.* If I have to crunch now, the union boss enforces recovery time. that's all overtime. but since I don't get paid a wage, I get all that back in time. The boss never wants to see a strike like that again. There is power in a union, even if it's only the union in your head. (1.) only it's not similar. it's half the "speed" of pre-burnout. It's probably my actual true real speed and not my sweatshop labour hustle culture speed. FUCK THE BOSS IF THEY DON'T LIKE IT.

some people were asking what this meant. i actually said it on tumblr but here it is

He’s so happy!!

So, an error between PayPal and my bank resulted in transactions being processed ten times and accruing over $3000 in overdraft fees.

They are reversing it.

Monday.

Anyway, if you're feeling charitable, anything mine or goblin will get me to Monday.

Thanks.

www.peculiarityshop.com

If you read my poem "Shears" smallwondersmag.com/piece/shears/ and think "hey, that's a fun twist on a familiar tale" then you'll LOVE my collection of retellings!

Donate to Urgent Aid for Family Sheltering in Place, organized by Tami Q This fundraiser is to support a family currently sheltering in place with a newborn … Tami Q needs your support for Urgent Aid for Family Sheltering in Place

I'm not soliciting venmo donations today and am instead highlighting a GoFundMe for a family sheltering in place in Minnesota right now with a NEWBORN BABY. They need about $2,000 more dollars. Can people get them there?

www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-aid...

Promo graphic with a photo and text surrounded by book covers. The text reads: Friendship Centred SFF Book Bundle, 37 Books, Feb 1st-15th, Photo by Helena Lopes, itch.io. The photo shows four friends with their backs to the camera and arms around each other. Covers: The Unidentified Champagne Charlie and the Amazing Gladys Walking the Knife's Edge Bonkpocalypse Bad Grains A Spark in Space The Damsel An Uncommon Curse Courage Is the Price Puppetry Duckett & Dyer, Dicks For Hire The Old Goat and the Alien Spirits of the Relentless Without Wings Clipped Sing In Me, Holy One, and Through Me The Lucky Machine The Lost Star Chart Werecockroach Rescue from the Orc Fortress Riyati Ripple Wherever the Stars Call The Crows Woodspell Common Accord Awakenings River of Crows A Study on Magic and Crystals Once Upon A Wave of Witches Fortitude Waters Dust & Lightning The Re-Emergence

I'm in a bundle of speculative fiction friendship books! "Werecockroach" is about three people getting to know each other when aliens arrive. There are lots of other genres and themes in the bundle, all with friends. #BSNM #BookSky

itch.io/b/3486/frien...

"When I got engaged to Demetrius, I didn't know he was an enchanted Prince who turned into a bird every night.
It's not the sort of question you think to ask."

- Book 1, An Uncommon Curse

Now also available on Bookshop.org !

Guys please

I love having a rhyming dictionary on my shelf that I can consult whenever I need to. I love less that every time I need to consult it, I have to re-teach myself how rhyming dictionaries are organized 😂

Stock up on my books to read this weekend!
All now also available on Bookshop!

Some Hearts Just Need the Right Person Wrestling coach Emmy Park was happy to get his romance fix by living vicariously through his romance books until encountering Jamir Cunnigham, the owner of his favorite bookstore. Can Emmy find the courage to go after his own happily ever after? Black/Korean Relationship Grumpy/Sunshine Geek/Jock Bi4Bi Fat Positive Romance Wrestling Coach MMC Bookstore Owner MMC More to Love by Georgina Kiersten

Grumpy meets sunshine in this tender M/M romance. A wrestling coach and a bookstore owner risk their hearts for love, healing, and a happily ever after. Perfect for Valentine’s Day. 💕https://buff.ly/PqbkMER #booksky #valentinesday #romance #mmromance #interracialromance

🌙🐌

I suspect Tots has enough personality to fill many a box 😂

Tater Tot is an orange and white tabby cat, and Crouton is a brown and gray tabby cat with a white face; they are both sitting in a cardboard box (just fine I should add)

Tots is absolutely NOT convinced there is enough room in the box for two babies

Tea or Coffee, Stars, and Gravity A Hard SF anthology of stories involving tea or coffee, stars, and gravity.

Pleased to say we had another surge yesterday and we are at 86% base goal funded for the anthology (www.kickstarter.com/projects/526...). This means we are 73% to SG1 & 65% to SG2. Spread the word and help us lock in the funding. Thanks to all backers and supporters.

Looking for a new Arthurian read?

The last piece in my collection, the timeloop novella "All the Ways We Drown" is perfect for anyone who's ever been annoyed by Lancelot

AKA "Elaine of Astolat and Elaine of Corbenic take matters into their own hands"

That's very pretty! Love the purple

Here's a BIG bundle of friendship-centered SFF stories. The Unidentified is not alone in showing that the most dramatic love stories don't necessarily involve romance!

The UnID
"A group of outcast friends disrupt corporate control at their ad-funded, game-designed school in this fun tech dystopia."

Meg's Falling Star | Peculiarity Shop Go, and catch a falling star... Components: gold tone ear hooks, rainbow coated volcanic rock Lead/nickel free.

LGBTQIA+ store has cool treats.

Ready? You're ready.

Meg's stars. $12

www.peculiarityshop.com/product-page...

Reckoning reopened to submissions on February 1st! We pay @sfwa.org pro rates, we never charge fees, AND we're piloting a new/improved process for reviewing and publishing submissions, which shows every sign of making our response times MUCH faster. Please submit? Guidelines: reckoning.press/submit/

preorder LIVE on amazon!

(others to follow!)

www.amazon.com/dp/B0GLSCGKL5

oh yay, new Jen book!

20% of the students at Justice Page Middle School in SW Minneapolis are attending remotely b/c they're terrified to leave their homes. Their families can't work & rent is past due.

Parents at Justice Page are trying to raise 100k to cover the needs of 50+ families — can we raise 10k of it?

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Pups, too. Ben is also interested when I'm eating oatmeal 😂

a ticked-off looking fluffy grey tabby sitting on the top shelf of a beige carpeted cat tree, his paws hanging over the edge. behind him is a wall with colourful posters.

Says he's never talking to me again because I was MEAN and UNREASONABLE*

*told him to get his head out of my oatmeal because who just goes around sticking their entire head into someone else's breakfast