Danai Christopoulou | Greek SFF Author (she/they)
@Danaiwrites
Followers
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Following
4,820
Media
1,951
Statuses
51,901
Pushcart nominee /Rep: @lauren_bieker /Latest ✍️: @FusionFragment /Editor: @Khoreomag /Assist. Literary Agent @TheTobiasAgency /Reviews: @HavenSpec / 🏳️🌈🇬🇷
Sweden
Joined March 2009
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Pinned Tweet
It's PM official so I can finally scream about it!
After a year of interning with the amazing
@LaneHeymont
I have now been promoted to Assistant Literary Agent! I'm so excited to keep learning and growing in this new role — let's get some more awesome books published!
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Question for my fellow neurodivergents: do you also feel physically ill when you make a mistake?
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So I posted a TikTok about Cursed the Deer, my YA fantasy based in Greek myth, and someone left me a comment saying "this is 100% Percy Jackson fan-fiction." Putting aside the fact that I've never read Percy Jackson, imagine saying this to a Greek author. With your whole chest.
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Don't scroll. Don't even scroll. Scroll past 600 and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't scroll.
Good luck.
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That's what happens when you leave Greek authors out of the Greek myth retellings conversation. When everything is seen through such a US-centric lens, you don't even realize how insulting this comment is.
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@ReadWriteRyan96
I have absolutely nothing against the PJ books and the author himself is an amazing human being. But I take great offence when I'm being told that writing stories about my own culture is fan-fiction of a book series that was... based on myths of my culture
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To the dude who messaged me on Instagram to be his sugar baby:
I am the furthest thing from a sugar baby you’ve ever met. I am a honey crone. I am menacing molasses. I’m spun sugar with a spider center. I’m the old oak tree where babies are left for Fae changelings. Fear me.
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No, you don’t understand, I’m not tired like “I need a nap” I’m tired like “I need to be put in permafrost for 46,000 years and then see if I can wiggle again”
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Publishing is writing a story about your own culture and being told that it’s a pity it doesn’t resemble more the stories written about your own culture from people who are outside of it.
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My fellow cream puff writers, I beseech you: stop using food to describe POC skin. Unless you don't see anything wrong in that, no unchecked bias or whitecentrism or exoticism, and you're also using food to describe your own, mayo-hued with tones of ranch sauce skin.
Are you?
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Living in a cottage in the woods means I often get to Google fun stuff like "is there an animal that sounds like a woman screaming in the middle of the night"
(yes, by the way, there is. a fox)
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Writers are witches. Think about it: we click on our little keyboards and make strange little marks on a screen, that have the ability to transport people to fantastical realms and make them fall in love with beings who did not exist before we made them up?
Yeah, we’re witches.
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3 years ago, a big dream of mine came true: I signed with my wonderful agent,
@lauren_bieker
.
It’s been a long road. So many “almosts”, so much heartbreak. But throughout it all, Lauren was there for me. And now, another big dream came true.
So I guess this is my Vague Post 👀
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“If you’re not using AI you’re falling behind.” Let me fall behind then, in a bed of leaves while blackbirds observe with beady eyes. Let me fall so behind that the strands of time tug as I travel through and the constellations change in the sky, spelling prophecies of your doom.
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So I post a silly thing about how awesome writers are, how we’re like witches. People seem to like it, and I think okay, even if more people see it it should still be safe, a motivational post about writing, no way this would make anyone react in a weird way right? Right? And yet
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@_TallieRose
I'm looking at their submission guidelines now. They're using the word "gay" throughout instead of LGBT and normally I wouldn't have paid attention to that but given what happened to you it seems like... a choice
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@XiranJayZhao
I see your cats and I raise you mine, who actually create the mouse problem. By bringing in live mice from outside and unleashing them in the living room for us to hunt, while they just sit there looking bored
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Friends, I am so emotional right now 😭
I've been having bad mental health days and feeling deeply demotivated. But earlier today, I signed my first publishing contract for my first short story sale. And just now, I got my 2nd short story acceptance.
Please don't give up. Ever.
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Now that we finally got “romantasy” going, may I also suggest “astromance”? Because, a strong romance arc in a nuanced sci-fi world? Literal star-crossed lovers? Take my money!
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Anyway, this is 40. Silly, chaotic, joyful and more childlike than ever.
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CURSED THE DEER is officially out on submission!
Editors, if you're looking for a fast-paced, sapphic YA fantasy steeped in Greek myth (co-written by a Greek author) about liminal spaces, creepy forests and girls who save themselves, I hope you'll give CURSED THE DEER a chance!
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I know it’s early and most people in the US are still asleep, but today my first ever pro-rate story is being published. It’s a weird, neo-folk Greek thing that had my whole heart, a tale I was taught as a child. I’m feeling excited and vulnerable as I welcome it into the world.
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What’s this?! An exciting bio change! I’m over the moon to announce that I’m now an intern and reader for the amazing
@LaneHeymont
of
@TheTobiasAgency
🎉
I can’t wait for this new chapter and all the HORROR (pun very much intended) it will bring 😎🥳
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I just said no to a potential client because I already have too much on my plate, and the Universe didn't explode.
The Universe didn't explode, right? Tell me the truth.
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I'm still pinching myself as I type this: I'm beyond thrilled to announce that I'm now represented by
@lauren_bieker
of
@FinePrintLit
! Lauren is the perfect champion for THE RED CANDLE, my Greek-myth inspired fantasy. I can't wait for us to share Pasiphae's story with the world!
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We found her 💜 thank you all, so much, for the kind words and good thoughts.
My little chaos child had been trapped inside one of our landlord’s buildings and when she couldn’t get out she decided to start a second life as a Viking cat, presumably.
She’s hungry but fine 💜
So my cat has been missing for two days. I'm trying to be realistic (we live in a forest, so there's no danger from cars; last year my other cat went away for 9 days and he was fine) but I'm obviously not doing so great.
If you have any good thoughts to spare, appreciated.
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“Do you write for the female or the male gaze—“
I write for the haunted forest gaze. For the crows’ beedy, keen gaze. For the ancient statues lingering amid the trees, seemingly forgotten, their gaze always, always on you.
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I finished reading "A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking" by T. Kingfisher (aka
@UrsulaV
) and
a) as a former baker, I must say, spot on
b) I will never look at gingerbread men the same way again
c) where is the movie adaptation? This would be the perfect Christmas Netflix film!
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I firmly believe that cinnamon makes *everything* taste better.
Coffee? So much tastier with a pinch of cinnamon.
Red pasta sauce. A hearty spoonful of cinnamon will truly elevate the dish.
The blood of your enemies? Sprinkle that gorgeously aromatic powder, sip and enjoy.
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Happy Pride Month! Read queer books. Write queer books. Publish queer books. Speak up against the banning of queer books. And then, and that's the crucial part, don't stop when June's over.
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Short story acceptance! Really, really happy about this one!
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I will not be participating in
#PitMad
this time 👀👀 but these pitch competitions have been such a great way for me to meet new, talented writers so I want to support the heck out of you! Comment on this post with what you're pitching and I'll RT and boost on the day. Good luck!
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No, hear me out, I had this radical thought: What if we cheered other people's successes* instead of trying to bring them down?
*big or small, even if they don't 100% match our own, specific definition of success.
[Evergreen subtweet because I saw a petty take that annoyed me.]
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Eek, a bio change!
I'm so thrilled to join Team 🚀🦄 at
@UncannyMagazine
as one of their submissions editors (also known as first or slush readers). I've been a fan of Uncanny since the beginning and I can't wait to start reading your wonderful stories!
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I’m bad at celebrating my successes. Most of the time I brush them off as “easy” or “lucky” or any number of things that probably stem from the fact that I grew up with the kind of mother I did.
But I just got an email that made me smile and made me proud. That’s all, for now👀
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Woke up on an internet that believes Greeks are illiterate, can't write in English, and have no connection to our ancient heritage.
Anyway, feels like a good day to announce that my short story Sunset with the Sixth, about the stolen 6th Caryatid, will be in
@FusionFragment
#19
.
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TIRED: “My dream agent/publisher rejected me, I suck.”
WIRED: “Guess they weren’t right for me. I’ll find the ONE!”
INSPIRED: “There’s no such thing as as dream agents/publishers/clients. Just humans, struggling in this industry. May we make good connections.”
#WritingCommunity
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@theneonvulture
The most annoying part is the underlying assumption that if something has escaped his notice is not worth noticing instead of admitting he might not know his Big 5. I kinda feel sorry for people like that
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I despise the phrase "died on sub." Books don't die. They lurk. They turn to silver mist and spiders. They're right behind you, an eerie breeze that comes from some sideways dimension, a pile of rotting leaves dancing a mambo macabre. Beware, editor, for we are all undead on sub.
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If you’re unable to attend all these cool conferences and watch these super interesting panels and meet all these awesome people and feel like a true part of the writing community, I see you.
Come to my woods. We shall howl together under the August moon, resplendently aloof.
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The email I just received... Let's just say I did NOT see this nomination coming and I'm deeply humbled and in awe. That's all for now 👀
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After being on sub for a year I'M ECSTATIC TO ANNOUNCE that my tulips have grown, bloomed and desiccated, my marigolds are blooming, my sweet corn is almost ready to harvest, and publishing is slower than gardening.
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Me: I just want to meet with my writer friends in real life for once why is that so hard 🥺
Also me: Has elected to live in a cottage in the woods literally in the middle of nowhere, where only finches and magpies dare visit
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BREAKING MY SILENCE
This is who really writes my books
I’m just his Ouija board, he points my fingers to the letters he deems yummy
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I feel so much for those who suffer mental health breakdowns. I’ve suffered several. My biggest one in 2015, caused by a change in meds, almost claimed my life. But what these episodes don’t do is make you a bigot, of any kind, if you don’t already have such shadows within you.
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Recently, a kind editor said about my writing: “this author has the heart of a poet.” I was very touched by this comment, and it’s true. I do.
I keep it under the floorboards after I carved it out of a poor poet’s chest. I can hear it pulsing, pulsing, pulsing as I walk on by.
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Anyone needs help with
#SFFpit
today? Let me know what you’re pitching and I’ll do my best to boost!
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Anyway, here’s some new author photos*
*yes, I am aware this is the same pose in three different settings, but see I spent my formative years working for a fashion magazine that taught me this is my one good side for the camera 😅
Me: “I took some author pictures today.”
Her: “Couldn’t you use these wonderful pictures you have from your time at Glamour magazine?”
Me: “Mother, that was 20 years ago. I don’t look like that anymore.”
Her: “What’s the harm in using images from when you were young and pretty?”
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Most people know the tale of Daphne; how she transformed into a laurel tree to escape Apollo’s advances.
But why should her tale end there?
In CURSED THE DEER, our Daphne meets a princess in dire need of saving—and decides there are some things worth finding your humanity for.
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@Little_behemoth
thank you so much for your interest! It's not published yet, it's on submission (we're waiting to hear back from editors and publishers). But hopefully soon :-)
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In this Twitter era, it’s become so difficult to find literary magazines and read short fiction! I have to actively seek mags’ profiles—they don’t show up.
So if you see this, and you read or write short stories, please share one you recently loved? Totally okay if it’s yours!
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I’ve loved
@KhoreoMag
with all my heart, ever since my own short story was accepted there last year. Their ethos, mission and care for writers moved me, and that’s something I’ve wished to pay forward ever since. I’m happy and humbled to be an editor for this fantastic magazine🧡
A few staff announcements! Sachiko Ragosta will be leaving their position as one of our editors. Their thoughtfulness and empathy were a delight to have. Taking their place will be Danai Christopoulou! We look forward to what Danai's keen insight will bring to our editorial team.
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For optimal health, it’s important to follow the 20x20x20 rule:
-20 minutes of physical exercise
-20 hours of recovering from the ordeal
-20 days of rotting on the forest floor while the mossy mushrooms claim you, whispering you sweet mycelium promises, soothing you with decay
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My agent called my book "glorious" so if you're looking for me I'll be in my forest, bawling my eyes out because I have the best champion I could ever hope for. 🥹🥹
Now, some final edits so that my unhinged ladies can go out on submission soon!
In the meantime, a quote:
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YOU: please act normal you need these people to like you
Me: ok!
People: hi
Me: The Minoans worshipped a snake goddess, their pantheon was mostly female deities, the throne that’s been discovered is thought to have been built for a female body, so in my book, PASIPHAE’S PLAN-
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Time for a new profile pic, quickly, before the hair fades
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Gamma readers should be a thing. People who read your book when you're finished with it but you're so deep into the querying trenches and waiting to hear back from so many agents and publishers that you want SOMEONE to tell you it has potential and you're not crazy.
#amquerying
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The news is out! My Greek heart is so happy to be a part of this
@flametreepress
anthology.
My little winged horse, Pegasus, first published in
@icaruszine
and nominated for a Pushcart Prize, was the first short story I ever wrote and I’m thrilled that it now has a second home.
Myths, Gods & Immortals | Contents Announcement | Medusa - We’re delighted to announce the list of stories in our new book on Medusa! One of the first two titles in the new Myths. Gods & Immortals series!
Submissions for Anansi and Circe are still open…
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I am so thrilled that my short story of sunlight and carnage and familial grief was nominated for the Pushcart Prize!
Thank you so much to
@icaruszine
for believing in Pegasus.
announcing the icarus writing collective pushcart prize nominees from our first two issues!! congratulations and best of luck to all nominated!!!
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Everything in publishing can change in an instant, so be kind to everyone you meet, and to yourself most of all. Guard closely the wild bird of your hope, as everything in publishing can change in an instant.
And never give up. Everything in publishing can change in an instant.
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Don’t ever give up on your dreams. On your books. On the stories that make your blood sing and your bones sigh. Listen to that little fire inside you, urging you to keep going. Don’t you dare give up.
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Something really exciting just happened, potentially, and regardless of the outcome I am thrilled!
More soon 👀👀
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I’ve published several short stories online by now, and I’ve been publishing non-fiction since 2004, but today is the first time I got to hold a physical copy of my fiction, and it’s such a soft, peculiar, humbling, mesmerizing feeling. I’m sitting with this feeling as 2023 ends.
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My first ever 👀 short story acceptance 👀 has been sitting quietly in my inbox since last night, waiting for when it's okay to officially announce.
My first publishing secret.
Trust me, publishing, I can keep more if needed ;-)
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Three years ago, I knew nothing about publishing. I had no idea about agents and imprints, about short stories and SFF magazines. All I had was years as a journalist, spite, and a half written wip. When I get upset about the things I haven’t achieved yet, I try to remember that.
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I'm happy I've been on sub for 2 years. Happy I kept writing, slushing for SFF magazines, interning as an agent. Because it showed me how much talent there is out there—how publishing is about luck and timing & how, when my time comes, I can use this chance to help uplift others.
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Life is hilarious because this week I emerged from a 4-day migraine like a zombie to get some of the best publishing news of my life, then the very next day I was informed that our water isn’t drinkable so now I’m boiling pots of water like it’s 1524. Chaos is the only constant.
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Today I get to work on my agent’s notes and start revisions so that my weird, queer, Greek mythpunk fantasy goes on sub soon. 🥺 I don’t know how this is my actual life now but thank you, all the Beings who made it so! ✨💜
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So... 👀👀👀
Something really exciting just happened, potentially, and regardless of the outcome I am thrilled!
More soon 👀👀
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@NerdyPam
Noooo! As someone with a 10kg cat who loves jumping on my keyboard this could be me soooo easily! I’m so sorry 🙀hopefully the editor relationship was salvaged?
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@LidsRodney
@ReadWriteRyan96
I do think the books sparked interest in Greek myths for a lot of people who interacted with them as kids. I haven't read them personally, but I'm happy people love them. It's the assumption that I'm writing fan-fiction of them that enraged me.
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Fellow writers with ADHD who struggle with routine and habits, how do you go about creating a more frequent (if not daily) habit of writing? Time-blocking? Sprints? Body-doubling? Whispering your wish to bend Time to your Will at the crossroads at midnight? Do share.
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A really cool feeling I’d never experienced before: sending an acceptance email to an author and waiting giddily for their response. It’s lovely, and humbling and almost makes up for all the sad publishing emails I receive. May I get to send a lot more acceptances in the future.
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My toxic trait is that I can see the burnout, I can smell the burnout, I can sense the burnout, and yet I keep going
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I wish I could tell 2021 Danai (and you, if you need to hear it): don’t give up.
Keep writing.
This publishing thing is weird and wild and never a straight line but sometimes, sometimes, dreams do come true.
Keep writing. Trust me.
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I don’t write Greek myth retellings. I write Greek myth reyellings, with characters screaming at the abyss that they deserve better and they’re going to get it, even if they need to burn the world down. I write Greek myth reyearnings. I write Greek myth rebellions. Rise with us.
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So I retweeted this the way I always retweet things; to boost. And then I read the list more carefully and it hit me: I’m in it. I have award-eligible work 😳🙀👌
It's officially that time of year: Our list of 2023 award-eligible work is now available at:
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Not only am I pleased with how the makeup turned out, but also I just got out of a very exciting meeting 😊
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🕯️It's official: my Greek-myth inspired fantasy, THE RED CANDLE, is now on submission. Thanks to my awesome agent
@lauren_bieker
for sending it out!🕯️
This book has:
🔥 A snake-shifting Queen
🕯️Accidental time travel
🔥 Cinnamon roll Centaurs
🕯️Witchy BFFs
🔥 Sapphic swooning
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I just got accepted at a Master's level course for the Spring semester and it may sound like a small thing but I'm insanely proud of myself right now. Starting university in your 30s while you also work full time is frigging hard. I'm grateful to 2018 me who decided to go for it.
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Last year, when I was Big Sad about my first book, my friend asked me: "Did you write it for yourself or for the world?"
Today, while I was being Big Sad again, my partner asked me: "Do you write for joy or for recognition?"
And in both cases, I wish the answer wasn't "both."
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I just got a very exciting acceptance for something I really didn’t expect! Vague for now, but I’m very happy about this one. I’ve only submitted two short stories so far, this year, and this one was my first acceptance of 2024.
Not bad, May!
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Who really writes my books
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No plot, only forest
With its gnarled trees and misty ambiance, Wistman's Wood—an ancient forest near Devon, England—has captured the imaginations of visitors for thousands of years, inspiring legends about druids and supernatural hellhounds.
📸: Neil Burnell
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In a wonderful twist of fate, it seems like my debut story will be out very soon… 👀👀👀👀
and it’s not the one I thought it would be, but an old favorite, reprinted at an amazing publication! 🌟🌟⭐️💫
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Short stories have saved my life and my sanity, so many times. I’m immersed in them daily, from writing and submitting to reading them, acquiring them and revewing them.
And now, another exciting milestone: I’ll be a guest author in
@ElectricSheepSF
in September! Can’t wait!
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It has finally happened. After having read close to 1,000 submissions in total (ever since I started reading slush), I finally came across one written by AI. 🙃
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I've really tried hard, my whole life, to not be combative online—and then y'all go and create AI writing apps and call them "created by writers for writers." 🙃
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When I was 19, I sent a letter to Glamour Magazine in the form of a listicle titled “19 and 1 Reasons to Hire Me.” To my utter delight, they did. (Listen, it was the ‘00s, that stuff was trendy back then.) I got my dream career at 19; I thought I had the answers to everything.
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RIP the most glorious rooster ever. I’m so sad and so agry because this could have totally been averted. Please, please leash your dogs.
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Get a short story rejection, send a short story submission. Breathe. Write something new. Get a short story rejection, send a short story submission. Breathe. Write something new. Get a short story rejection, send a short story submission. Breathe. Write something new. Get a shor
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With PitMad sadly no more, I would really like to help querying authors any way I can! If you're pitching on
#SFFpit
, comment under this post with what you're pitching (GIFs or pictures of your pets also welcome) and I'll do my best to boost you on Thursday.
#WritingCommunity
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I'm taking a moment to feel proud. I've written 6 short stories since January (one a month!) and 4 of them have gotten hold notices (one of them multiple ones!) from different markets.
I haven't had a yes yet, but perhaps, some day soon...
There, moment's over. Back to work.
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Devastated to report that I accidentally stepped on a crunchy leaf and now I shall require pumpkin spice on everything
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Follow me for more health and wellness tips.
WRITERS, you can only use one Snippet (w/ ALT text) to convince people to follow you
which snippet are you using 👀
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Me, being dramatic: “What if I just disappear into the forest, never to return?”
My partner, being Swedish: “Could you perhaps disappear into the forest for half an hour instead, and return in time for dinner? I’m making pizza.”
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