Geoffrey W. Cole
LightNews LightNews
banner
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
Geoffrey W. Cole
@geoffreywcole.bsky.social
140 followers 130 following 76 posts
Speculative fiction writer, father, husband, engineer, Newfoundland dogfather, gamer (TTRPGs and mtg), disc golfer, Scouter, skier, fencer, singer, cyclist, atheist, white, cis, settler, anti-fascist, peanut butter enthusiast, grizzly feeder, he/him.
Posts Replies Media Videos
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
I'm so delighted to be on the Eco-Horror panel at the Little Ghosts Festival in Toronto. Come on out this Sunday, October 5th, 1PM at the Tranzac Club!

www.littleghostsbooks.com/product/litt...
Little Ghosts Festival ! | Little Ghosts
Save the Date!The first weekend of October celebrate Spooky Season with Little Ghosts' Fest. A Collection of vendors, programming, and film all dedicated to the Horror Genre! General admission dur...
www.littleghostsbooks.com
October 3, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
patrickwyman.bsky.social
Today's the big day, friends - my new book, Lost Worlds: The Rise and Fall of Human Societies from the Ice Age to the Bronze Age, is available for preorder! Smash that link and purchase from your retailer of choice, if that's the kind of thing you're into. www.harpercollins.com/products/los...
Lost Worlds
The creator of the hit podcast Tides of History offers a new look at humanity’s deep past, showing us how our world was built not by inevitability, but by t...
www.harpercollins.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
tricon-hfx.bsky.social
Introducing TriCon! ✨May 15-17, 2026 in Kjipuktuk | #Halifax. Celebrating spec fic, we couldn't be prouder to have @amalelmohtar.com @englelaird.bsky.social and @kurestinarmada.bsky.social joining us as our Guests of Honour. Earlybird tickets available now! 🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/tricon-the...
Blue graphic stating that Earlybird Tickets for TriCon: The Trident Conference for Soeculative Fiction are on sale now. Lower right corner says Kjipuktuk | Halifax, May 15-17 2026
September 24, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
rbreich.bsky.social
The 400 richest Americans are now worth a record $6.6 trillion.

The entire bottom 50% of America is worth just $4.2 trillion.

Our problem isn't a lack of resources.

Our problem is ever-expanding inequality.
September 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
georgetakei.bsky.social
This is * chef’s kiss *
September 10, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
lexie-henning.bsky.social
August 16, 2025 at 12:58 AM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
I saw an honest to god UFO tonight. Around 10:45 PM near Carp, Ontario. No idea what it was. Maybe Perseids? Never seen a meteor move like that though Initially thought it was the ISS but the ISS was over Africa. Anyone else see this? Any ideas what it was?
I saw an honest to god UFO tonight. Around 10:45 PM near Carp, Ontario.
August 13, 2025 at 3:27 AM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
Instead of thinking of the wild fires ravaging North America and Europe as random events loosely associated with climate change, we should reframe them: this is the oil and gas industry and the politicians that support them waging war on us. They are fire bombing our forests.
August 12, 2025 at 10:35 PM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
Tune in to the Prix Aurora Awards, live now!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy2k...
The 2025 Aurora Awards
YouTube video by Mark Leslie Lefebvre
www.youtube.com
August 10, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
instascience.bsky.social
It's just a “swarm of fish" following a duck.
July 30, 2025 at 2:04 PM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
This is top notch
greenleejw.bsky.social Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · Jul 21
The other day I drew a subway-style map for The Hobbit, and it was very well received. Some of you asked if I could do one for LoTR, so I have!

Forgive the eel watermark; I'm working on making these something you can buy, if you like.
Subway style map to go with The Lord of the Rings, showing the different pathways of various parties throughout the book. The title reads: "Lord of the Rings Transit Map: One Does Not Simply Walk Ino Mordor When One Can Ride." The map takes up the middle part of the page, and there are two keys. The one on the left is titles "Standard Service Lines, and has color keys matched to the subway lines on the map. Lines are named: "Shire-Bree Commuter Line Old Forrest Crescent Wildland Scenic Line Fellowship Line Gollum / Sméagol Line Uruk Hai Express Three Hunters Line Fangorn Slow Service Rohan to Gondor Business Line Black Ships Ferry Service Oliphant Direct Line Army of the West Line Gandalf Express A smaller key on the right side of the map is labeled: "Limited Service Lines" and has color keys matched to the following names lines: "Eagle Express Paths of the Dead Line Nazgûl Search & Resuce Valinor Ltd." A note at the bottom reads: "* Mount Doom station only accepts Rings of Power in payment. Plan accordingly."
July 22, 2025 at 2:00 AM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
Hi folks, I'm teaching a writing workshop this fall and I want to write hot hot climate fiction with you!

Whether you're writing stories about the world finally conquering climate change or telling bleak post-collapse stories, I want to help you write the best story you can.
ONLINE Writing Climate Fiction
The Earth's climate is at the start of an unprecedented period of change caused by human activity. For many of us, human-caused climate change is a source of anxiety, fear and despair, but it can also...
www.alexandrawriters.org
July 17, 2025 at 7:15 PM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
Voting for the Aurora Awards (Canada's top fan-voted SF literary award) closes July 19th! I'm nominated for Best Short Story for "Desolation Sounds" and Best Novelette/Novella for "Zebra Meridian". Get your votes in before voting closes!

Vote here: www.csffa.ca
The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) – Home of the Prix Aurora Awards and CSFFA Hall of Fame
www.csffa.ca
July 14, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
jksteinberger.bsky.social
As promised, here are the slides I shared with students to convince them to NOT use chatGPT and other artificial stupidity.

TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄
NO CHATGPT Or other artificial stupidity: motivation First, clarity on distinguishing AIs: Non-generative: grammar aid, translation, dictionary, text-to-audio (e.g. Natural Reader): no problem As long as you use the appropriate tools (least intensive in data and server energy use). Why? Because you provide the content. Your brain is doing the most important work Generative: ChatGPT & Co. You only supply the prompt, the AI supplies the content. Why is this delegation of work problematic? 3 domains: ethical, environmental, intellectual engagement. (Caveat: generative is probably ok for computer programming, where it can be useful and save time. Not relevant to this class.) 1) AI and ethics Mass theft of all and everything «learning» on books, articles, blogs, social media, images, music, cultural production, without permission of authors/creators, and leading to their mass joblessness. Profits are not reditributed to originators. Permanent destruction of the mental health of underpaid precarious tech workers in the Global South (Kenya, Philippines …): «correction» to avoid production of violent and pedophile contents etc, tech workers are obliged to watch and correct super violent contents for days on end, leading to extreme psychological suffering and trauma, from which recovery is doubtful. No or little compensation (certainly not at the level of the suffering inflicted). In short, an industry built on theft of real human creation and sacrifice of real human health, profiting a few megafortunes. 2) AI and (un)sustainability Massive consumption of electricity, water, server capacity for generative AI. Outcome: keep fossil fuel companies in business, using up new renewable capacity, without any satisfaction of basic human needs. Massive misappropriation of the finance necessary for climate and ecological action (renewable generation, efficiency and retrofit for buildings, public transit, infrastructures for cycling etc) towards AI industry. Overall: undermine climate action, reinforce fossil industry, waste resources necessary for human development. 3) AI and intellectual engagement First, what learning is (or should be) about: The goal should not (only) be the reproduction of «correct» knowledge, But mainly personal engagement and experience of thinking about topics of interest. Personal engagement = using one’s own brain. The most important activity for learning and intellectual engagement is the experience of making one’s own mistakes, by trial and error, corrections based on new ideas, starting over again. Learning to recognise nuances, knowledge gaps, better explanations This kind of learning is possible only through using your own brain, not AI. Also, Ais are not «intelligent». At all. They simply reproduce pre-existing patterns. They «bullshit», invent false references, false facts, false data, simply because those sound plausible. VERY DANGEROUS. If you learn how to NOT use AI, and how to research facts and data on your own, this will serve you and your communities for the rest of your life.
February 23, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
ourmankoto.bsky.social
When I die, I want the starting lineup of the Maple Leafs to be my pallbearers so that the #Leafs can let me down one last time
May 19, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
Happy 13th birthday to this old guy. He's a lot slower and greyer but still brings us joy and slippers every day. We love you, Monti.
Old dog thinking about swimming Old dog birthday boy Old dog snoozing
May 12, 2025 at 11:32 PM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
Happy 13th birthday to this old guy. He's a lot slower and greyer but still brings us joy and slippers every day. We love you, Monti.
Old dog thinking about swimming Old dog birthday boy Old dog snoozing
May 12, 2025 at 11:32 PM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
Anyone else watching BBC's Ghosts? I adore this show. Best after-life comedy I've seen in years.
May 3, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
thegabecole.bsky.social
*clears throat*
*taps mic*
soooo
today is my last day at the day job.
Monday I begin living my dream of making my author career my full-time job 😱
April 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
ourmankoto.bsky.social
We're _THIS CLOSE_ (like, $50) to unlocking extra word count to make it a 150K word anthology! And then? One last stretch goal: a second story translated from French! We have 8 HOURS LEFT--can we do it??? That's up to YOU. So pledge now & pls share this WIDELY down the homestretch! @kickstarter.com
Year's Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume 3
Award winners. Award nominees. Hidden gems. All Canadian. All in one anthology.
www.kickstarter.com
April 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
I'm delighted and honoured to be on the Aurora ballot this year for both Best Story and Best Novelette/Novella. Congrats to all the nominees, and thank you to everyone who nominated! Thanks to @stelliform.press for bringing Zebra Meridian to the world.

Get in your votes!
April 16, 2025 at 12:13 AM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
I'm delighted and honoured to be on the Aurora ballot this year for both Best Story and Best Novelette/Novella. Congrats to all the nominees, and thank you to everyone who nominated! Thanks to @stelliform.press for bringing Zebra Meridian to the world.

Get in your votes!
April 16, 2025 at 12:13 AM
geoffreywcole.bsky.social
I was today years old when I realized Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space is also Pachelbel's Canon. I knew it borrowed from Elvis but didn't realize how deep Jason Pierce and Spiritualized dug for this one. Love it! What else is hiding in there?
April 10, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey W. Cole
oregonthedm.bsky.social
Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen
April 9, 2025 at 6:33 AM