M. C. Benner Dixon

“It’s Okay But It’s Also Really Not.” When Dystopian Fiction is No Longer a Thought Experiment Dystopian fiction is getting real, and I’m here for it. I don’t think I’m the only one. There’s something cathartic about reading about the end of the world. As a science fiction reader and avid fa…

I wrote an essay for @lithub.com.web.brid.gy about how I think there are two subgenres of dystopian fiction - the allegorical / thought experiment and the potential horrible future - and how they seem to be blending more and more…and converging with reality.

lithub.com/its-okay-but...

That’s the kind of reader feedback you dream about. (This is my other pen name, by the way.)

Gardeners hear “tending to” a little differently than other folks

Writers, man. What an emotional train wreck! (It's me; I'm the wreck)

I'm a prolific author with lots of novels/short stories over many years... I have a pattern. When I finish a story, the first 24 hours are an emotional rollercoaster.

All the highs.
All the lows.
1/n
#writing

Thanks for posting this. At first, I thought my own high/depression cycle was a sign of immaturity. (As a youth adults told me how mature I was, now it’s flipped.) I have come to realize it is part of being a writer for me—not something to fight in myself but to prepare for and tend to.

An Evening with Yume Kitasei in Conversation with MC Benner Dixon — Riverstone Books Author Yume Kitasei joins us to talk about her latest dystopian sci-fi book, SALTCROP.

Woo! Weekend conference followed by a book talk this evening . . . So much writerliness over the last few days!

And more to come! @yumewrites.bsky.social and I are talking about her new book on Thursday! www.riverstonebookstore.com/events/an-ev... #PittsburghBooks

An Evening with Yume Kitasei in Conversation with MC Benner Dixon — Riverstone Books Author Yume Kitasei joins us to talk about her latest dystopian sci-fi book, SALTCROP.

Woo! Weekend conference followed by a book talk this evening . . . So much writerliness over the last few days!

And more to come! @yumewrites.bsky.social and I are talking about her new book on Thursday! www.riverstonebookstore.com/events/an-ev... #PittsburghBooks

There’s no point in denying it!

Book Birthday Giveaway featuring cover of Lauren C Teffeau's A Hunger with No Name

A Hunger with No Name by Lauren C. Teffeau cover closeup with the txt LIKE FOLLOW SHARE for your chance to win a copy of the book in any format (non-us ebook only).

A Hunger with No Name has been out in the world for a year! I'm still in love with this story of hope in the high desert, dealing w so many things we’re grappling w now.

Like, follow, share for your chance to win the book in the format of your choice (internat'l e-book only) #giveaway

A quick crash course in blackpill accelerationism: the memes are the ideology. TikTok video by Cy Canterel

The best and most accessible explanation I’ve seen about some of the far-right subcultures and how they operate and communicate is this TikTok by @cybelecanterel.bsky.social.

It’s 8 minutes long—so I can’t post it—and it’s worth every minute.

www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6E36akE/

Blurb from author Sonora Reyes for IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD, out February 10, 2026, by Sabina Nordqvist “Nordqvist masterfully balances a swoon-worthy, toe-curling romance with the unfiltered reality of being disabled in our current society—from the frustration of not being heard, to the magic of finally feeling seen. If you have ever wondered if you were too much or not enough to be loved completely as you are, this book is for you.” - Sonora Reyes, author of The Broposal

✨Blurb reveal from @sonorareyes.bsky.social for IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD, out February 10! ✨

CURRENT PRINT EDITION - Rain Taxi Review of Books Volume 30, Number 3, Fall 2025 (#119) To purchase issue #119 using Paypal, click here.To become a member and get quarterly issues of Rain

Pleased to share that my book review of @mchristinebd.bsky.social's brilliant debut novel, The Height of Land, just dropped in Rain Taxi. Check it out through the link below! Also be sure to pick up The Height of Land: www.orisonbooks.com/product-page...

#bookreview

raintaxi.com/rain-taxi-re...

I know! Between your books and your Gather library, I feel like I have explored the recesses of your mind already. Can’t wait!

Don't mind if I do!

Don't wait until you have a book coming out to write your acknowledgments page. It's not a bad little activity (especially in moments as fraught as this one) to remind yourself of the impact of other people (so many other people!) & institutions have had on your life.

An Evening with Yume Kitasei in Conversation with MC Benner Dixon — Riverstone Books Author Yume Kitasei joins us to talk about her latest dystopian sci-fi book, SALTCROP.

Yume's book is perfect for people who like:
- Sister stories
- Climate fiction
- Boats and sailing
- Stubborn main characters
- Lovely writing
Bring a friend! See you there!

@yumewrites.bsky.social @riverstonebooks.bsky.social
#climatefiction #clifi

www.riverstonebookstore.com/events/an-ev...

Background is a painting of a distressed man. Text: All Writers Are Thieves. September 12, 3:30–5 PM. Inkubator Conference @ Cleveland Public Library (Level 2, Room C). This speculative fiction workshop offers techniques for “stealing” treasures for use in your writing. Filch a fairytale here, lift a headline there—fill your writerly pockets with new ideas. inkubator.litcleveland.org

Background of a blue-tinted water scene at night. Text: Flight of Foundry. Online conference. Pay what you can. Writing in the Climate Change Era (Panel), 9/26, 7 PM Eastern. Writing with a Pseudonym (Panel), 9/27, 11 AM. Part of This World: Setting Your Story in Real World Locations (Panel), 9/27, 2 PM. Chill n’ Chat with M. C. Benner Dixon, 9/27, 5 PM. 2025 Debuts Group Reading, 9/28, 10 AM. Navigating Hope in the Darkness (Panel), 9/28, 12 PM. flights-of-foundry.org

Background of an empty parking lot. Text: The Holy Mundane. Oct. 14, 21, & 28. 7–8:30 pm Eastern $175. Virtual Sessions, Orison Books. We may touch transcendence once or twice in our lives, but we live out our days here in the valley with our to-do lists, our well-worn paths from one place to another, our daily necessities. Where is the sacred in such a workaday landscape? This writing workshop invites writers to honor the holy mundane: the ritual of routine, the miracle of the dust mote, the unornamented prayer. orisonbooks.com/product-page/the-holy-mundane-a-class-with-m-c-benner-dixon

Background of a woman in a polkadot dress mid-speech. Text: Say What? Dialogue in Fiction. Nove. 11 & 18. 6:30–8:30 PM ET. $70/$50 (members). Virtual Sessions, Literary Cleveland. This four-hour online skill-building workshop will delve into the pitfalls and opportunities of writing dialogue in fiction. You’ll leave with new tools for capturing the voices of your characters on the page. Sign up for this hands-on workshop to stretch your skills as a writer and sharpen the dialogue in your fiction. litcleveland.org/classes-workshops/say-what-dialogue-in-fiction

This fall, I'm going to be talking about writing, learning new writing skills, teaching writing, communing with other writers, and so on. I would love if it you joined me at any of these events! Most are online. Some are free or sliding scale, some are paid. Please come! See bio link for more info.

Inside of Chevy Bolt car filled with seven visible AirFanta 3Pro air filters and a box fan. (There is an 8th AirFanta in the front seat, not visible.)

I went to film an indoor event yesterday and wore a P100 mask + set up 8 AirFanta 3Pro filters to clean the air. Used the box fan to push outside air indoors. #CovidIsNotOver

I'm still setting up details about when to run a solarpunk writing class, but it will be online and free. Subscribe below to be notified with the class signup information when I get it together (signing up for the class will be separate). Subscribe to be notified about Sue's Solarpunk Writing Classes MEME: crops on fire, figure throwing bucket of water on them "World on fire" "me writing my little hopepunk stories"

Interested in a (free, online) #Solarpunk #Writing Class?

I'm pulling details together but probably will be 2 levels, based on the feedback I'm getting about what people want.

Subscribe to be notified when signups are available!
#booksky #hopepunk #writers

www.subscribepage.com/solarpunk_wr...

Person holding two books and smiling

Book giveaway!!! I just got my author copies of SALTCROP and I’m giving two away! Sign up for my newsletter before Friday 9/5/25, 11AM EST for a chance to win! More details 🧵

In The Height of Land, I talk about the name of my main character and his siblings because it’s a sign of their mother’s radical practicality that she named them for literal things—the red dirt (Red), the setting sun (Dusk), a body of water (River). But other characters have more conventional names.

Misunderstanding Thoreau: Reading Neurodiversity in Literature and in Life “How does it feel—emotionally—to be wrong?” Kathryn Schulz asks the audience at her 2011 TED Talk entitled “On Being Wrong.” I show the video to my first-year writing students every semester on the…

Four years ago I published my favorite essay. Here at the start of another school year, I’m sharing it again.

"because Covid-19 evolves quickly – twice as fast as the fastest flu – it is less constrained by season. “Whereas a small change in transmissibility conditions is enough to stop flu in summer, Sars-CoV-2 can basically evolve its way over this barrier,” he said."

You are cordially invited to the red carpet premier of TWO LIES AND A TRUTH, an upmarket psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator. Code #amagenting gets you free admission💄🩸👠💋

#PosterPit #PosterPitQ #T #A #NA

A poster, featuring an illustrated portrait of Aubeline de Sterraux from A LEGACY OF BLOOD AND BONE. She is a white woman with brown hair tied in an intricate hairstyle. She wears a black dress with puffed sleeves and white earings. Aubeline is shown kneeling and praying, her head looking up. The top of the poster is colored, and the bottom part is black and white, the two part being separated by a red stain reminiscent of blood. The title of the book is in the center. Underneath is more text reading "A novel by Millie Abecassis," then a quote by April Yates reading "A gothic gem, rich with dread, desire, and a magic system as haunting as it is original." Under the quote are the names of several characters, listed as if they were actors: Aubeline de Sterraux, Vinnie Anneton, Damarisse de Sterraux, and "unhinged dudes." At the top are Cannes festival-style quotes reading "dangerous body-based magic" and "slow-burn sapphic romance."

Forthcoming 10.21.2025 at Brick & Bloom, a spellbinding debut brimming with intrigue and dangerous magic ✨

🌹 Historical fantasy
🇫🇷 Belle Époque
🔥 Slow-burn sapphic romance
🩸 Body-based magic system
🗡️ Family feuds
🗝️ Gothic vibes

#PosterPit #P #A #F #HF

Request an ARC here: forms.gle/N6awtckRwFGy...

Blood Like Ink movie poster of a girl holding a burning book. Coming to agents soon, this story abs transformation magic, monsters in the dark, the power of choice, orphans, a slow burn, trauma, found family and bi4bi rep.

18yo Selwyn collides w/ an eerily familiar girl made of paper who bleeds ink. Now a story’s cut loose; & they must outrun the plot before it devours all.
🏳️‍🌈bi4bi
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒found family
🩼disability rep
💗slow burn
🪾dark forests
🕷️nightmare monsters
#PosterPitQ #F #YA #PosterPit

A moodboard with 9 pictures. In order from left to right, top to bottom: a frozen white flower, a first quarter moon, a drinking glass with drops of blood, a golden mask, iron gates that lead to a mansion, a violin, a broken mirror with the reflection of a hand, a foggy evergreen forest, and a yellow flower on a striking dark background.

#QueerPit #A #H HALF SICK OF SHADOWS: Gothic horror, disability lens, 1890s setting w modern diversity. Inspired by Dracula w Lovecraftian tone. 2 friends working at a remote manor must uncover bloody secrets and resist seductive nightmares to oppose robber barons that physically drain the people.

But slow violence is easier to dismiss and explain away. The sudden violence of the explosion is horrible. There should be accountability. It should not happen again. The incremental violence of pollution is horrible. There should be accountability. It should not happen anymore.

The response (paraphrased) went: “People died, and you are talking about pollution! You insensitive jagoff!” I sat there staring at the screen, my heart discouraged. People die from the effects of air pollution. Slow, painful, horrible deaths. Do their deaths not count in the tragedy of this place?

After the horrible accident at Clairton Coke Works the other day, my feed was filled with news stories about the casualties. In the comments (because I sometimes torture myself by reading the comments), someone mentioned the air pollution caused by the facility. They were immediately attacked.