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#sciencefiction

42 posts22 participants3 posts today
Michael Whelan<p>THE INTEGRAL TREES (1984)<br>Acrylic on Illustration Board - 28" x 38" </p><p>Being suspended in space, floating unencumbered yet in control of one's flight, is as close to pure freedom as I can imagine. 1/4</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/scifiart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifiart</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/illustration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>illustration</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/larryniven" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>larryniven</span></a></p>
Joachim Boaz<p>William Gibson (1948-) was born on this day. Bibliography: <a href="https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?172" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="">isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?172</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>L, James Warhola, 1984; R, Rich O'Donnell, 1986<br><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>books</span></a></p>
Joachim Boaz<p>James Morrow (1947-) was born on this day. Bibliography: <a href="https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?77" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="">isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?77</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>L, Ilene Meyer, 1985; R, Simon Ng, 1994<br><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>books</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p>2503.24 /16 — Work <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/Writever" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Writever</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/Mars" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mars</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/SpaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SpaceOpera</span></a></p></blockquote><p>"I've made new friends," May Ri's little girl said brightly over vid-downlink, waving her favorite, worse-for-wear, pink pony toy. "I'm fine." Dozens of nisei girls and boys bounced and hopped behind her to greet Marisela's mother. The image stuttered. An echo group worked furiously on a maker to build a new sats before they lost them all. Marisela added, in a barely quieter child's whisper, "The other fathers are real mean meanies—"</p><p>"Not my Dadie," said a 10 Mars-year-old girl, but otherwise nodded. The kids housed, realizing <em>en masse</em> it was secret stuff.</p><p>Marisela finished, whispering, "—the moms keep everyone here so they can watch over us." (In the crèche domes.) Louder, "Momie, tell everyone we're really friends with the Onēsanue? Please!"</p><p>"We are," May Ri affirmed, to which the kids cheered.</p><p>May Ri felt her gut wrench. When she'd suggested Marisela accompany Randy on assignment, it had been a battle. He wasn't against training the girl, or thought that a girl would be denied a man's job.</p><p>No.</p><p>Former Director Ezekiel Stan had won election as Dome Manager at South Elysian Township. Elected solely by the men. Women hadn't voted, at all—had been intimidated, everyone figured—despite being 2/3rds of the population thanks to the growing number of widows. </p><p>The man who'd tried to rape her eight years ago had recovered his health, and marginal power. She muttered under her breath, "Should've left him in vac."</p><p>No wonder Randy kept being assigned to arbitrate disputes at Elysian, especially between spouses! Stan professed to be Decath, and was blessed by the minister on Deimosbase. Hypocrites! It made the remaining Directors waver. </p><p>Reportedly, the man didn't remember "the accident." Secretary Īto, Reina's mother, had seen the vids. She'd kept Randy's marriage details and all vid out of the public record. <em>Privacy.</em> He might not know who May Ri was. What Īto didn't know, since Stan's management kept vac-safe control, was how the Elysian nisei and mothers fared, other than the contact Randy was allowed arbitrating between spouses, or interviewing chaperoned women. EM Mars Corp had a Decath charter; protecting propriety was interpreted as Elysian's right.</p><p>In the end, it was the ugly face of Mars that Marisela might inherit that made the choice for them. With her father, ten suits, and weeks of training others, Marisela would work "teaching" suit safety to "help" qualify nisei who had the knack at Elysium City.</p><p>All near Marisela's age had the knack, and the desire. Management excluded girls, though.</p><p>"...I just teach the girls in the crèche domes with the spare suit. No dadies." Marisela tittered evilly.</p><p>"...Yesterday, Rufus' twin Raquel went outside."</p><p>"...Ran out of boys today. Nobody's checking the visors! Can't men count?"</p><p>"...The girls won the boy-girl soccer game."</p><p>On day 17, May Ri's call failed at their regular time. Management restricted in-base addresses to the office, which made her call back later. When she got, "Routine Maintenance. Call back tomorrow," she ran shaking to Reina, who spooked worse. Secretary Īto sent a cargoon from Gale crater. </p><p>They might never get the full story, and Elysium couldn't (wouldn't?) find the culprit...</p><blockquote><p>Lured outside at dusk, a man in an enviro suit stabbed Randy multiply, then slashed Marisela, ripping her suit before running. Safety drills triumphed over panic as the girl glued herself—wound then suit—then glued Randy's worst injuries as he went unconscious. Leaking too much air, she got him in an emergency balloon, then dragged him unsure he lived, crying, blaming herself having fun, to the dome. A comms-down didn't apply to inter-suit channels, only range. When Raquel, practicing with her brother, answered, the mothers smuggled them through the docks. That she sat on her father to apply pressure had staunched the bleeding. First aid stabilized him, barely. The cargoon arrived late night; with comms down, they walked in, demanding resupply. Suit comm alerted them and they sent a medic. By early morning, the men on the cargoon smuggled 6 women, 21 nisei, and the two out.</p></blockquote><p>Reina jumped ahead of Marisela's mother, grabbing the child, hugging her crying, while the slightly dazed girl (May Ri could tell) comforted the Onēsanue. Other nisei—and the new nisei, one waving a pink pony toy—all piled on, giving their hero support, allowing May Ri to tend to Randy who'd never completely recover. </p><p>Stan raged about nobody reporting in for treatment, found no evidence, claimed no witnesses, lied saying it was fabricated, and manipulated. </p><p>It felt like a turning point. May Ri saw old power grasping to control women. She vowed to help the nisei change that. <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSMarsNeededWomen</span></a> 16</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/microfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>microfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/flashfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>flashfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/tootfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tootfic</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/smallstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>smallstory</span></a></p>
Joachim Boaz<p>Artist Chris Foss (1946-) was born on this day. List of covers: <a href="https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?2195" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="">isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?2195</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>L, 1973; R, 1974<br><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/art" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>art</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/artist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>artist</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a></p>
Lime Bar<p>👆 I am excited to hear some <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/scienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scienceFiction</span></a>, <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/drama" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>drama</span></a>, <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/educational" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>educational</span></a>, <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/science" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>science</span></a>, <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/poetry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>poetry</span></a>, or other <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/texts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>texts</span></a> on air.</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/radioDrama" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>radioDrama</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/spokenWord" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>spokenWord</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p>2503.28 /15 — Feather <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/Writever" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Writever</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/Mars" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mars</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/SpaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SpaceOpera</span></a></p></blockquote><p>Today May Ri tested. Things she invented. A daughter she gave birth to.</p><p>The Meadowbrook rickshaw climbed the sandy hill strewn with rocks, the huge hoop wheels and isolated suspension rolling over obstacles with aplomb. She drove the tractor legs with her reins, to minimize jostling the cart, and got to the solar array minutes earlier than by taking the road compressed into the Martian regolith. </p><p>Marisela hopped out instantly, rolled upon landing to her feet, and rushed the blue and black panels. Though shy, she had taken to suit-qualification... like a duckling to water—a phrase the 4 Mars-year-old wouldn't understand, but her mother did. She stopped before touching, looked expectantly at her mother, her eyes gleaming in the coming sunset inside her glare-free helmet. May Ri's maker v3.2 made spacesuits, something they'd had to import from Earth—Mars was never meant to be isolated from EM Mars Corp. Bankruptcy changed things, maker manufacturing locks only making it worse.</p><p>At May Ri's nod, her daughter climbed the array, giggling, full of energy. Mars-refined metal platforms were simple tech, even gimbaled ones; the array wasn't fragile, only the sweepers and cables. Marisela had trained and given promises.</p><p>She was an inspector!</p><p>The girl's suit was a first production suit, and the only one sized for a child. Colonial planners hadn't thought through the implications of <em>kids.</em> May Ri patted the emergency balloon as she vaulted out of the tall cart and plopped down on the sand.</p><p>"What about this?" Her monkey girl pointed out a bent wire feather wiper over a windblown deposit of red five aisles in. May Ri noted it on the wrist-mounted book plate. The regolith crunched under her shoes. The wind whistled faintly, mixing with the hum of the comm. A massive dust devil spun in the distance, which was why they were here—not for testing the cart, tractor legs, or the pink-striped Mars-green suit her daughter wore. </p><p>Danger of a planetary dust storm was no joke. With a doubled population and dome construction, array efficiency was paramount; the anti-static feathers were her idea to replace fans.</p><p>Men prospected for Thorium, but aeolian monzonite deposits were rare. Finding the mineral deposits on 16 Psyche proved difficult, but the effort searching for them and the <em>Robinson Crusoe</em> disaster had brought them the dented maker her echo group dissected. At the slow orbital speed required for an asteroid, the ship had flipped and disintegrated, leaving rather gruesome remains of the men and partially intact machinery scattered over kilometers of cratered rusty metallic rock.</p><p>May Ri felt proud of her maker derivative. V4.1 had built a compact thorium reactor prototype (another restricted device). In a dust year, a working reactor would prevent starvation.</p><p>Mars grit and dust clung to everything, compromising moving parts. Together the two identified five repairables and reattached a cable. In the dusk, illuminated by bluish noctilucent clouds, May Ri drove the cart along the "paved" road. Marisela swayed and hummed happily to herself.</p><p>At their dome, May Ri got her chance at exuberance: Randy had returned days early. She jumped into his arms, but knocked him over.</p><p>Marisela said surprisingly dryly, "Momie's going to be making funny noises tonight." She quickly hid behind May Li's legs when she stood, peering apprehensively with green eyes as Randy smiled at her. It had been three months since his last visit, a lifetime ago to a kid.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, May Ri knelt and and pointed at her daughter. "This is Marisela, a brave little girl who today completed her first Mars surface expedition in a plus-plus fashion, the first suit-qualified girl to do that, helping her mother at the Array."</p><p>Randy scooted over. Pointing at him, she said, "This is Randolf, an illustrious Martian arbitrator and HR wunderkind, an all around loving fellow, and your Dadie."</p><p>He reached out a hand.</p><p>Marisela's reddened face screwed up in an expression May Ri couldn't predict, but when she reached out her little hand to his big one, she burst into wild giggles. They shook in the handshake ritual <em>du jour,</em> laughing, before she warned, "Momie loves you, so you keep her happy."</p><p>Martian nisei, besides being hoppy little frogs, were surprisingly open. Precocious. They had no Decath ministers to shame them, girls and boys lived and slept communally most days, and fathers were absent. Nobody bothered—or had time—to teach gender roles, so no nisei acted as either. </p><p>May Ri approved. <em>Which meant...!</em></p><p>"Marisela is suit-qualified. Take her on your next assignment to teach her your job." With ever fewer men, Mars needed women doing men's work. <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSMarsNeededWomen</span></a> 15</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/microfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>microfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/flashfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>flashfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/tootfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tootfic</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/smallstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>smallstory</span></a></p>
Susan Kaye Quinn 🌱(she/her)<p>The SF I write was always "not mainstream"—YA then singularity stuff but not the way many in the genre showcased SV's toxic tech religion...</p><p>But since I've been writing <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/solarpunk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>solarpunk</span></a>, it's the clearest rebuttal to this history of fashy SF. </p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/SF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SF</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>books</span></a> </p><p>Good review: <a href="http://www.nerds-feather.com/2025/03/review-speculative-whiteness-science.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">http://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">nerds-feather.com/2025/03/revi</span><span class="invisible">ew-speculative-whiteness-science.html</span></a></p>
Joachim Boaz<p>Rosel George Brown (1926-1967) was born on this day. Bibliography: <a href="https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1269" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="">isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1269</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>L, McKenna, 1966; R, John Alcorn, 1966<br><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>books</span></a></p>
Michael Whelan<p>QUESTION AND ANSWER (1977)<br>Acrylic on Masonite</p><p>I love painting aliens, as anyone who knows me and my work can attest. 1/3</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/scifiart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifiart</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/illustration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>illustration</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.art/tags/poulanderson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>poulanderson</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/Writever" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Writever</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/Mars" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mars</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/SpaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SpaceOpera</span></a></p><p>The greenish pressure suit the man had stripped out of hung on a peg under his helmet. <em>He'd had clothes underneath,</em> she told herself repeatedly, trying to calm down. The sounds of the spring door on the loo and the personnel entrance banged in her memory—repeatedly.</p><p>Shaking, she pulled the latter door open centimeters, then gently closed it, but recalled Reina's hair flying as she shook her head while hearing him say, "I won't pick the Onēsanue," reverberating like violence.</p><p>She. Faced. Violence. When had she become a bodyguard? She hated women pushed around; she equated it with self.</p><p>Cargo boxes! The task!</p><p>A shorter spring door on the opposite side latched open when she pulled. She rotated the release ticker to max. <em>Vacuum Cargo Only</em> read the warning sign. A red kick lever read, <em>Emergency Release.</em> She tossed a box; it slid away.</p><p>The pressure suit, an elastic jaunt without excreta connections, smelled of gym socks. Air at 9, power at 10, comms green. She preflighted it.</p><p>She jerked around when she heard a thump in the loo, then noticed the deck camera. Yep, a black decal over the lens. Reina hacked cams; it was a thing.</p><p>He wasn't watching her!</p><p>She could run; he might chase her down, but what could she do, hide? Ask the farmers for help? Couldn't hide in the cargo room wearing the suit; he'd figure that out.</p><p>"Are you working?" he shouted.</p><p>She tossed a box, then another down the chute, making sure she hit the sill.</p><p>If she could find the husbands who'd been herded off... Would Randy and Rod protect her, protect Reina? Against this man's authority?</p><p>She moaned. They were men. Of course not.</p><p>What if she was wrong about him and innocently wanted a helper? She'd be tarred as hysterical, for over-reacting, her word against a man's. She threw more boxes, sliding them loudly, thinking...</p><p>She donned the suit, thanking goodness she'd gotten suit-qualified. She got her legs in, threw boxes clearing the bench, slid then stacked them in the corridor, threw more boxes, got her arms in. Zipped them, zipped it all. She piled boxes blocking the personnel door (an air supply), making it look like she'd run out of space to maximally prepare to rapid-fire toss boxes down the chute like a perky overachiever trying to super-please her new boss. She twisted the helmet on, visor up, and held a box at the cargo hatch.</p><p>Waiting...</p><p>"Better have cleared that bench..." He backed out of the loo. He didn't wear the jumpsuit. He did wear the synth-silk Martians wore, not to scare her immediately, but what the lax fabric outlined in the shorts—all the hirsute man wore—did.</p><p>His eyes went to the bench, cleared now and he smiled. Maybe because the jaunt suit color matched her jumpsuit's, he took a few steps, the loo spring door banging behind him, before he saw her, the boxes blocking him, before blue eyes saw her snap down the visor.</p><p>She stuck out her tongue.</p><p>Screaming expletives, he launched toward the barrier.</p><p>She'd already dropped and held down the box in the hatch, kicking the emergency release. It took two tries, the spring door nearly hitting her foot as the chute unzipped in a long <em>zzzzit!</em> Her fist tightened on the handhold as air roared out.</p><p>He yelled as she sat on the box, pushing the door all the way open with her legs.</p><p>Shoved boxes flew and tumbled from the barrier, him yelling all the while. Wait...</p><p>He could have dodged back into the loo or the pilot bay! <em>Idiot man! Thinking with his hangers-on!</em></p><p>Chest laboring against thining air, gasping, he broke through the barrier sluggishly, reached for her, and collapsed on his face. She imagined the sound of his nose breaking in the newly airless silence. He reached, then stilled. If she didn't want to kill him, she had seconds. She waited. Blood pooled under his face. She waited, closed the cargo door, pressing the chute reconnect button. The pinnace would repressurize, but she opened the personnel door, pulling air in explosively. When her outdoor air light turned green, she stripped the suit, hung it, dashed into the loo, first peeling off the lens decal.</p><p>She rushed out, <em>acting</em> surprised he'd collapsed, turning him over. Hoarse gurgling greeted her. She left, seeking "medical" aid.</p><p>She later learned Reina was embarked on a cargoon. The EM director had lied. Of course he had, but was also unconscious. He later slipped into a coma.</p><p>His loss changed everything. Other directors commed in, countermanding his directives. His men got deauthorized and locked in a dome. A bored man on Deimosbase took her deposition.</p><p>Two days later, the men got shipped away, their leader still in a coma. Two months later, she married Randy.</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSMarsNeededWomen</span></a> 14</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/microfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>microfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/flashfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>flashfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/tootfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tootfic</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/smallstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>smallstory</span></a></p>
Laura Blackwell (she/her)<p>I'm reading for the excellent Strong Women, Strange Worlds next Thursday, March 20 at 4:00 PDT/7:00 EDT—with all these fantastic writers of speculative fiction! These online readings are free—and there are prizes! Sign up at <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/o/strong-women-strange-worlds-33460611105" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">eventbrite.com/o/strong-women-</span><span class="invisible">strange-worlds-33460611105</span></a> to attend. See you there? <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@Writing_Norse" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>Writing_Norse</span></a></span> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Bookstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Bookstodon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/FreeBooks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreeBooks</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/AuthorReading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AuthorReading</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/WomenAuthors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WomenAuthors</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/EnbyAuthors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnbyAuthors</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScienceFiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fantasy</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Horror" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Horror</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/FantasyFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FantasyFiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/HorrorFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HorrorFiction</span></a></p>
Joachim Boaz<p>Science fiction in the 1930s -- i.e. when a 17-year-old fan could take over a magazine as editor. </p><p>From Mike Ashley's The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines from the beginning to 1950 (2000)<br><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/history" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>history</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>books</span></a></p>
Inner Worlds<p>"Laurence strolls through the woodland, enjoying the heady sensation of walking in the open air. He hasn’t been outside in months. And he can move so easily, in pain-free strides... The proxy body is strong and tireless."</p><p>Read "Blue" by Ian Creasey <a href="https://inner-worlds.ghost.io/blue-ian-creasey/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">inner-worlds.ghost.io/blue-ian</span><span class="invisible">-creasey/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/SFF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SFF</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/SciFi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SciFi</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/SpecFic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SpecFic</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/SpeculativeFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SpeculativeFiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScienceFiction</span></a></p>
Joachim Boaz<p>I'm a big fan of Jersild's nightmare After the Flood (1982, trans. 1986) <a href="https://sciencefictionruminations.com/2022/05/30/book-review-after-the-flood-p-c-jersild-1982-trans-1986/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">sciencefictionruminations.com/</span><span class="invisible">2022/05/30/book-review-after-the-flood-p-c-jersild-1982-trans-1986/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>books</span></a></p>
Joachim Boaz<p>Swedish SF author P. C. Jersild (1935-) was born on this day. Bibliography: <a href="https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?5562" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="">isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?5562</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>L, David Gatti, 1986; R, Rick Grote, 1975<br><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>books</span></a></p>
Joachim Boaz<p>Mildred Clingerman (1918-1997) was born on this day. Bibliography: <a href="https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?902" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="">isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?902</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>L, George Gibbons, 1952; R, Richard Powers, 1961<br><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>scifi</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>books</span></a></p>
heise online<p><a href="https://social.heise.de/tags/TGIQF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TGIQF</span></a>: Das Quiz rund um den Filmklassiker "Das Fünfte Element"</p><p>Luc Bessons Das Fünfte Element gilt als einer DER Science-Fiction-Klassiker der 1990er. Mit unserem Quiz der Woche fragen wir Ihr Nerdwissen ab.</p><p><a href="https://www.heise.de/news/TGIQF-Das-Quiz-rund-um-den-Filmklassiker-Das-Fuenfte-Element-10315700.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&amp;utm_source=mastodon" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">heise.de/news/TGIQF-Das-Quiz-r</span><span class="invisible">und-um-den-Filmklassiker-Das-Fuenfte-Element-10315700.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&amp;utm_source=mastodon</span></a></p><p><a href="https://social.heise.de/tags/Quiz" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Quiz</span></a> <a href="https://social.heise.de/tags/Bluray" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Bluray</span></a> <a href="https://social.heise.de/tags/DVD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DVD</span></a> <a href="https://social.heise.de/tags/Kino" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Kino</span></a> <a href="https://social.heise.de/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScienceFiction</span></a> <a href="https://social.heise.de/tags/news" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>news</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p>2503.10 — Exploit (Ch/March 13) <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/Writever" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Writever</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/Mars" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mars</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/SpaceOpera" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SpaceOpera</span></a> <strong>CW: Fictional violence, women fighting back</strong></p></blockquote><p>Angry to the point of trembling, May Ri gathered in the auditorium with the other women with "non-essential tasks," as ordered over the loud speakers. She, Randy, Reina, and Rod had been waiting for the Deimosbase Decath minister to call to marry them when an emergency in a far off colony separated the men from them. A man past 50—with a gold braid patch on his helmet-less form-fitting Mars-green pressure suit— marched in trailed by his <em>all male goons</em> as May Ri characterized them. </p><p>She knew she was right when he said, "You are Mars' improperly exploited resource. Today we are redistributing that labor." That caused a massive cringe amongst the women amidst a growing roar of desent.</p><p>He yelled, "Quiet!" shutting them down.</p><p>When a selection criteria was, "Are you married?" a bristling May Ri found herself backing the teenager into a wall, trying to hide her.</p><p>"You!" the man motioned Reina to the exit.</p><p>May Ri put her arms out. "Not happening!" She glared into blue eyes.</p><p>The man—who turned out to be the Head EM Director and an original colonist—backhanded her. </p><p>In Mars gravity, she flew against the wall and slumped, seeing stars. He bent over Reina—May Ri's fall had knocked her over—offering a hand. When May Ri's eyesight quit swimming, face burning and tasting blood, she launched herself head-first at his gut. She still had Earth muscle. He deflected her, but her leg hit the big man's hip and they tumbled together. She landed no punches before he wrenched her upright, arms locked behind her.</p><p>Chuckling, he said, "I like determination—"</p><p>She jerked, stomping at his foot. He shoved her cheek and nose into the wall, pinned her arms, and pushed a hand into small of her back, preventing anything but sputtering. </p><p>"Fights back. I value that. Sexy. Are you married?"</p><p>"You interrupted our ceremony."</p><p>"Ah." He chuckled more. "About Reina—?"</p><p>"You know her name!"</p><p>"I won't pick the Onēsanue if you calmly come with me." </p><p>May Ri found herself swearing and cursing in her head. She spat blood, which dripped down the wall, noticing the other prey had slunk away from the predators. His goons watched silently at a distance. Reina looked pale, shaking, sitting limbs akimbo, hands on the floor. Red hair flew as she shook her head vigorously.</p><p>May Ri shouted, "Did you hear that promise?"</p><p>Women's murmurs proved they did. Heart ricocheting off her sternum, she said, "Fine."</p><p>Minutes later, the man dragged her by her wrist with a long stride she could barely match. Spring doors guarded all the domes against vacuum breach, but the crèche had windows, as did the farms. Women worked in each, some men in the farms. Nobody in the halls. She thought about crying for help, but thought of Reina whilst palpating her bruising face. </p><p>Was he simply redistributing her labor to another job?</p><p>Equating the, "are you married," question with Decath purity standards, she whispered, probing, "I've been with other men."</p><p>"Experience makes you more qualified," he returned.</p><p>Could her stomach knot up worse?</p><p><em>Best to seem docile,</em> she thought, <em>to hope for weapons.</em> He was an EM Corp manager, bound by the charter. Theoretically. Was she over-reacting? The corporation <em>had</em> run out of money; all Earth transits with supplies and people, cancelled. The term <em>corporate reorganization</em> came to mind. Was the Martian board of directors <em>reorganizing?</em></p><p>She recognized the docks as she let his pace slide her into a doorframe. She saw the circular glass corridor that surrounded a Martian "tarmac." Rovers and motels, with flatbeds, were parked to the right—three orange dust-coated helios, with multiple stacked blades and lots of hyper-nacelles, sat at priority. Jetways connected to two passenger cargoons and one long distance pinnace. He shoved her through the spring door of the latter, following. It jostled like the flex tube it was, with his massive form clumping behind—bouncing her, she thought, to intentionally panic her.</p><p>Rushing, she grabbed the spring door. Stuck! It didn't even rattle. </p><p>He plowed into her, flattening her against it. With a snigger, he unlocked it. When it opened, still smooshed, she stumbled flat onto the deck. The spring door snapped back with a bang as he clamored over her. Vac-safe cargo boxes littered the inside. With no preamble, he unzipped his pressure suit.</p><p>She sucked in her breath, scrambling bruisingly into a bulkhead.</p><p>He had a jumpsuit underneath. Scoffing, he said simply, "Remember Reina. See that bench? Toss the boxes down the cargo chute." He stomped to the loo, shutting it behind himself.</p><p>Sweating, heart racing, she thought, <em>Now what?</em></p><p>(Continued) <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSMarsNeededWomen</span></a> 13</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/microfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>microfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/flashfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>flashfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/tootfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tootfic</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/smallstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>smallstory</span></a></p>
Xauri'EL Zwaan<p>So I know that more important stuff is going on, but nominations for the Aurora Awards are now open and my short story "Anomaly" is on the eligibility list. If you enjoyed this story and you're a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and would be willing to donate $10 to the cause of speculative fiction, please head over to the CSFFA website and nominate me! (And others. We're all in this together - Elbows Up!) <a href="https://www.csffa.ca/awards-information/eligibility-lists/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">csffa.ca/awards-information/el</span><span class="invisible">igibility-lists/</span></a><br><a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/Canadian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Canadian</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScienceFiction</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/SFF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SFF</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/CSFFA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CSFFA</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.nz/tags/AuroraAwards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AuroraAwards</span></a></p>
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