C.L. Irwin is revising her grimdark epic fantasy 🐦‍⬛🏰

You’re most welcome. Your artwork is amazing.🤩

@laurenrayesnow.bsky.social You’re welcome and thank you for your well-wishes; I had a great con and met lots of interesting, cool people, like you for instance.😁

The lack of consent is probably the primary issue I have with genAI. I can’t keep it from stealing my art and words, and then forcing itself in my face everywhere I go.

That, and companies are trying to use it to put all creatives out of work (after stealing from them).

This is why these companies and the techbros who invested in them are expending so much effort to convince you that reliance on genAI programs is inevitable.

It isn't.

(If we can try to support living authors, that would be especially neat btw)

Jeff Bezos has cozied up to Trump and silenced criticism of him at the Washington Post.

Now Amazon will pay Trump's FTC a slap-on-the-wrist fine of $2.5B — just 1/10 of 1% of its total market cap — to settle a major lawsuit.

More pay-to-play schemes in Trump's swamp.

If you’re looking for a ghost story that will make you cry, apparently my new novella will do the trick. Summer in the House of the Departed is about death and grief and trying our best to solve the mysteries of the afterlife. If you liked it, please help spread the word.

@laurenrayesnow.bsky.social It was great to meet you at this year’s @armadillocon.bsky.social. You did an excellent job as our Nosferatu panel moderator. Your choice of outfit was SO perfect!😁 Hope you had an enjoyable con experience.

ArmadilloCon was a blast! Good to see so many friends and make some new ones, too. Thank you to the organizers and many volunteers who helped make this event such an amazing experience.

I already mentioned this earlier on instagram.com/authorclirwin & fb.com/authorclirwin, but 2 weeks ago at #ArmadilloCon, I taught the writers' workshop & spoke on panels. It was a phenomenal experience & I'm looking forward to returning. If you love speculative fiction, I highly recommend this con!

What a beautiful painting.😍 I loved the movie Sinners and have seen it multiple times. Annie was such a memorable character, thanks to Wunmi Mosaku, the fantastically talented actress who portrayed her; I’d watch her in almost anything, and in fact, probably already have! 😁 #Sinners

Then again, the Orange Menace & his Epstein Island pals could probably ALSO be described as "the horror version of Alice in Wonderland."🤪 It's an especially apt metaphor if you know the dark and disturbing history behind Lewis Carroll's relationship with the real-life Alice and her sister Lorina.😖

I just described Gormenghast to a friend as “the horror version of Alice in Wonderland.”🤣

The California Supreme Court has spoken. It’s time to get active.

There is nothing more American than refusing to bow down to authoritarianism, standing in solidarity with communities who have been targeted, and fighting to protect the foundations of our Democracy.

🚨 Eternal Vigilance Action v. State of Georgia Learn more.

🚨BREAKING: Georgia Supreme Court STRIKES DOWN four State Election Board rules concerning certification and hand counting ballots last year. A big victory for GA voters and a stinging defeat for the RNC and election deniers. www.democracydocket.com/cases/georgi...

An LAPD helicopter claimed to have ID'ed protesters from above and threatened to "come to your house" The practice, an expert warns, could lead to "reprisals and retribution by the police for your politics.”

An LAPD helicopter claimed to have ID'ed protesters from above and threatened to "come to your house."

The threat was greeted with extreme concern by civil liberties and digital privacy groups. It suggests the LAPD could be using facial recognition to identify and retaliate against protesters.

Democratic Rep. Ansari to Ingraham on Abrego Garcia: "We are turning into an authoritarian country, and there are Americans from all across the political spectrum who are concerned about this."

First They Came - Wikipedia

This poem keeps popping into my head & its message serves as a profound cautionary tale. However, we need to stand up for the rights of the vulnerable not because we might be next but because it’s the just & ethical thing to do. #fightfascism

To what end? Goebbels also tracked Germans with disabilities.

Holocaust Memorial Day Trust | Disabled people The Nazis targeted for persecution anyone that they believed to have mental or physical disabilities. From 1939-1941 the Nazis carried out a programme of ‘euthanasia’, known as the T4 programme (Tierg...

For those who still think that history has nothing to teach us & that we’re not even close yet… wake up 😖

hmd.org.uk/learn-about-...

Hitler’s regime kept meticulous lists. Over time the lists were helpful in assuring the timely and efficient removal of those less than the Aryan ideal.

Perhaps we need a registry of people who will need to be investigated after this regime is tossed

“The aim of science is not to open the door to everlasting wisdom, but to set a limit on everlasting error.” - Bertolt Brecht

A scary read about where we are and what is at stake.

Beginning of the knit project on a tray table. Two needles with about ten rows of yarn for the collar of a sweater.

The beginning of a cardigan on knitting needles. It’s the shoulders down to the armpit. No sleeves yet.

The cardigan, knit down a little further now, with four skeins of yarn behind it.

Deco posing as a yarn model. His head is resting on a ball of yarn.

It’s #WIPWednesday! 🧶

This is what I’ve been knitting between Fight the Oligarchy rally stops.

Oversized Seasons Cardigan by Ozetta.

Splurged big-time on the yarn (🫣) but honestly after holding this thing for weeks I’m happy I did. Woolerton Estates in Fluffy. #KnitSky

Know a women who writes horror? Repost this! Currently open for submissions!

The media doesn't want you to see that it's not a jail, it's slavery.

Mr Lover, a handsome orange and white tabby cat, standing outside and wearing a blue harness. He looks outwards and upwards, his amber eyes wide and pupils small. His ears and whiskers point in the same direction, and his mouth is very slightly open.

"Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift." (Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass)

The Mystery of ICE’s Unidentifiable Arrests In early March, the agency announced that it had arrested forty-eight people in New Mexico—a month later, their identities and whereabouts remain unknown.

In March, 48 people were arrested in New Mexico, according to an ICE press release. Why is nothing known about who was arrested or their whereabouts?