Kelsey Josephson
@kelseyjosephson.com
Author of strange steampunk and reinvented fairy tales. 💖⚙️📚
she/her
Member of SFWA and ALLi
www.kelseyjosephson.com
https://news.kelseyjosephson.com/
she/her
Member of SFWA and ALLi
www.kelseyjosephson.com
https://news.kelseyjosephson.com/
Pinned
Kelsey Josephson
@kelseyjosephson.com
· Jul 17
I'm Kelsey Josephson, author of strange steampunk and reinvented fairy tales. Genre mashups and sympathetic monsters are two of my favorite things. When I'm not writing, I'm taking care of my sons and two rescue cats. I'm partial to videogames, crafting, movies, and reading. 💖⚙️📚
#BookSky
📚💙
#BookSky
📚💙
Visiting and working at the Art Center was so good for my soul today. I forgot my headphones, which could have been a disaster for someone like me, but it turned out better than expected.
My uncle passed away earlier this week, and today was his funeral. Since there was no way that I could make the trip all the way to Oklahoma on such short notice, I decided to visit the Día de los Muertos exhibit at the Des Moines Art Center after revisions this afternoon.
Here are a few pieces:
Here are a few pieces:
January 10, 2026 at 3:46 AM
Visiting and working at the Art Center was so good for my soul today. I forgot my headphones, which could have been a disaster for someone like me, but it turned out better than expected.
My uncle passed away earlier this week, and today was his funeral. Since there was no way that I could make the trip all the way to Oklahoma on such short notice, I decided to visit the Día de los Muertos exhibit at the Des Moines Art Center after revisions this afternoon.
Here are a few pieces:
Here are a few pieces:
January 9, 2026 at 10:58 PM
My uncle passed away earlier this week, and today was his funeral. Since there was no way that I could make the trip all the way to Oklahoma on such short notice, I decided to visit the Día de los Muertos exhibit at the Des Moines Art Center after revisions this afternoon.
Here are a few pieces:
Here are a few pieces:
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
Beaded choker below has sold 🥰, rest of items pictured in-thread are still available, many things are 10-20% off for limited time!
% of all bat sales go towards my monthly donation to Lubee Bat Conservancy which educates the public & maintains endangered bat populations!
torchandarrow.etsy.com
% of all bat sales go towards my monthly donation to Lubee Bat Conservancy which educates the public & maintains endangered bat populations!
torchandarrow.etsy.com
The world is full of difficult things.
But I made new bat things.
Things in quoted post below still available, + cuff links & tie bars! 1-of-a-kind!
Such things keep lights on in my quiet months between conventions/shows/tours & book payouts.
torchandarrow.etsy.com
Thanks tons for your support 🖤
But I made new bat things.
Things in quoted post below still available, + cuff links & tie bars! 1-of-a-kind!
Such things keep lights on in my quiet months between conventions/shows/tours & book payouts.
torchandarrow.etsy.com
Thanks tons for your support 🖤
January 9, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Beaded choker below has sold 🥰, rest of items pictured in-thread are still available, many things are 10-20% off for limited time!
% of all bat sales go towards my monthly donation to Lubee Bat Conservancy which educates the public & maintains endangered bat populations!
torchandarrow.etsy.com
% of all bat sales go towards my monthly donation to Lubee Bat Conservancy which educates the public & maintains endangered bat populations!
torchandarrow.etsy.com
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
My darlings! @teagrandarbiter.bsky.social is hosting a cosy teatime this Friday, the 9th, with special guests, Morelitea! Get ready for scads of tomfoolery and charming nonsense
madameaskew.com/2026/01/08/f...
madameaskew.com/2026/01/08/f...
Friday Tea with special guests, Morelitea
Friday, January 9th, at 6:30 PM Pacific (Seattle) This week, while I am off gallivanting in the fae wild over the next few days, the Grand Arbiter welcomes the wonderful people behind Morelitea to …
madameaskew.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:32 PM
My darlings! @teagrandarbiter.bsky.social is hosting a cosy teatime this Friday, the 9th, with special guests, Morelitea! Get ready for scads of tomfoolery and charming nonsense
madameaskew.com/2026/01/08/f...
madameaskew.com/2026/01/08/f...
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
All righty -- this year's writerly resolution is live, should you care to read it. The tl;dr is it's actually quite an optimistic read, so hopefully it'll give you some juice to kick open the new year and put words to stories that need to be told.
Writer Resolution 2026: Wield The Weapon That Is You
It’s never precisely easy to be a writer — professional or otherwise. I mean, it’s easy in the sense of, hey, anybody can open a word processor and start (fiercely or methodically…
terribleminds.com
December 31, 2025 at 4:29 PM
All righty -- this year's writerly resolution is live, should you care to read it. The tl;dr is it's actually quite an optimistic read, so hopefully it'll give you some juice to kick open the new year and put words to stories that need to be told.
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
Happy Twilight Zone Marathon Day!!!
December 31, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Happy Twilight Zone Marathon Day!!!
Happy New Year! 🎉 This week's newsletter is live. Here's what's inside:
📚 My planning tools
📚 Tonight's Hogmanay hosted by Madame Askew and the Grand Arbiter
📚 The BrassGears Adventurers’ Chrononaut Cotillion this Friday
📚 Book news
Read here: news.kelseyjosephson.com/p/new-year-n...
#BookSky
📚 My planning tools
📚 Tonight's Hogmanay hosted by Madame Askew and the Grand Arbiter
📚 The BrassGears Adventurers’ Chrononaut Cotillion this Friday
📚 Book news
Read here: news.kelseyjosephson.com/p/new-year-n...
#BookSky
New Year, New Events, and New Books! 💖⚙️📚
🎁 Open for two end-of-year events to finish 2025 with fun and whimsy
news.kelseyjosephson.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Happy New Year! 🎉 This week's newsletter is live. Here's what's inside:
📚 My planning tools
📚 Tonight's Hogmanay hosted by Madame Askew and the Grand Arbiter
📚 The BrassGears Adventurers’ Chrononaut Cotillion this Friday
📚 Book news
Read here: news.kelseyjosephson.com/p/new-year-n...
#BookSky
📚 My planning tools
📚 Tonight's Hogmanay hosted by Madame Askew and the Grand Arbiter
📚 The BrassGears Adventurers’ Chrononaut Cotillion this Friday
📚 Book news
Read here: news.kelseyjosephson.com/p/new-year-n...
#BookSky
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
Grateful AMERICA'S MOST GOTHIC: HAUNTED HISTORY STRANGER THAN FICTION is ending up on some Instagram "best of 2025" thanks to some lovely reviewers!
Never too late to add us to your TBR pile!
We examine haunted histories that mirror tropes of Gothic lit:
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/781356...
Never too late to add us to your TBR pile!
We examine haunted histories that mirror tropes of Gothic lit:
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/781356...
America’s Most Gothic by Leanna Renee Hieber, Andrea Janes: 9780806543741 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
Instant USA Today Bestseller From the Bram Stoker nominated author team who penned A Haunted History of Invisible Women, the first book of its kind to investigate gothic tropes that define American ...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
December 30, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Grateful AMERICA'S MOST GOTHIC: HAUNTED HISTORY STRANGER THAN FICTION is ending up on some Instagram "best of 2025" thanks to some lovely reviewers!
Never too late to add us to your TBR pile!
We examine haunted histories that mirror tropes of Gothic lit:
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/781356...
Never too late to add us to your TBR pile!
We examine haunted histories that mirror tropes of Gothic lit:
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/781356...
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
The artificers sent out another round of steam-operated woodland scouts to the Feywild...and we ran into a teensy hiccup.
Out of five bee drones, two of them have been turned into…real bees? The fox bot now has THREE TAILS and the crow drone continues to screech, “pass the tea, please!” (1/4)
Out of five bee drones, two of them have been turned into…real bees? The fox bot now has THREE TAILS and the crow drone continues to screech, “pass the tea, please!” (1/4)
December 27, 2025 at 10:24 PM
The artificers sent out another round of steam-operated woodland scouts to the Feywild...and we ran into a teensy hiccup.
Out of five bee drones, two of them have been turned into…real bees? The fox bot now has THREE TAILS and the crow drone continues to screech, “pass the tea, please!” (1/4)
Out of five bee drones, two of them have been turned into…real bees? The fox bot now has THREE TAILS and the crow drone continues to screech, “pass the tea, please!” (1/4)
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
"He walks in such a straight line. Uh-oh. He's coming up on a rock. Is he gonna go around... Nope. Right over the rock."
a man in a trench coat is walking on a beach
ALT: a man in a trench coat is walking on a beach
media.tenor.com
December 30, 2025 at 10:52 PM
"He walks in such a straight line. Uh-oh. He's coming up on a rock. Is he gonna go around... Nope. Right over the rock."
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
Yes! This is such a fun movie and I loved it! It holds a special place in my heart because it got my sons interested in D&D.
Also, this movie managed to make me like a paladin (a class I usually don't enjoy because of past groups.) I needed more of him in more movies!!
Also, this movie managed to make me like a paladin (a class I usually don't enjoy because of past groups.) I needed more of him in more movies!!
a man in armor holds a sword in his right hand and a blue background with the hashtag #popda101
Alt: Paladin from Honor Among Thieves gif
media.tenor.com
December 30, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Yes! This is such a fun movie and I loved it! It holds a special place in my heart because it got my sons interested in D&D.
Also, this movie managed to make me like a paladin (a class I usually don't enjoy because of past groups.) I needed more of him in more movies!!
Also, this movie managed to make me like a paladin (a class I usually don't enjoy because of past groups.) I needed more of him in more movies!!
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
My enemies-to-lovers fantasy rom-com Enchanting the Fae Queen comes out in exactly 4 weeks from today (!) - and if you're in the US, you can preorder it from @barnesandnoble.com for 25% off! Just use code PREORDER25 :
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/enchanting...
#romancelandia
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/enchanting...
#romancelandia
December 30, 2025 at 6:47 PM
My enemies-to-lovers fantasy rom-com Enchanting the Fae Queen comes out in exactly 4 weeks from today (!) - and if you're in the US, you can preorder it from @barnesandnoble.com for 25% off! Just use code PREORDER25 :
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/enchanting...
#romancelandia
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/enchanting...
#romancelandia
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
If we lived in a just media landscape, this would now be a trilogy.
December 30, 2025 at 9:25 PM
If we lived in a just media landscape, this would now be a trilogy.
Love this list! (And look! Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast has been included 💖⚙️📚) If you have a New Year's resolution to read more, I highly recommend joining Temporal Textual Talks: A Book Club hosted by @madameaskew.bsky.social and @b1llz1lla.bsky.social It's so much fun!
#BookSky
#BookSky
For the last few years, I have been sharing my annual list of book recommendations for Jólabókaflóð. We didn't talk about this tradition during our last Friday tea, but giving books for the holidays really is one of my favourite things to do!
madameaskew.com/2025/12/24/1...
madameaskew.com/2025/12/24/1...
16 Book Recs for Jólabókaflóð
Originally posted to our Patreon My favourite gift giving tradition of the year is almost upon us. Jólabókaflóð, Iceland’s book giving tradition during the winter holidays, is a delightful custom I…
madameaskew.com
December 24, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Love this list! (And look! Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast has been included 💖⚙️📚) If you have a New Year's resolution to read more, I highly recommend joining Temporal Textual Talks: A Book Club hosted by @madameaskew.bsky.social and @b1llz1lla.bsky.social It's so much fun!
#BookSky
#BookSky
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
here are some actual, really useful pieces of writing advice that i've read from other people + some of mine. these really reshaped how i viewed writing
1) living your life is research. anything you listen to, watch, overhear, read, experience, survive, that can become material.
1) living your life is research. anything you listen to, watch, overhear, read, experience, survive, that can become material.
December 23, 2025 at 7:00 PM
here are some actual, really useful pieces of writing advice that i've read from other people + some of mine. these really reshaped how i viewed writing
1) living your life is research. anything you listen to, watch, overhear, read, experience, survive, that can become material.
1) living your life is research. anything you listen to, watch, overhear, read, experience, survive, that can become material.
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
Christmas Eve Eve is a *perfect* night to curl up with this Gothic, Ghost-filled, Gaslamp Fantasy Second-Chance Romance novella (many #Romancelandia colleagues and I were writing Romantasy before that was a word 🖤 ) starring Vicar Carroll & Headmistress Thompson from my STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL saga!
How about eerie vibes in a Gothic, Gaslamp Fantasy second-chance Romance (Romantasy before that was a word), check out A CHRISTMAS CARROLL: A STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL Novella. Series favorites Vicar Carroll & Headmistress Thompson are put through Dickensian paces: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-christma...
A Christmas Carroll: A Strangely Beautiful Novella|Paperback
London, 1888. An ancient Prophecy has just been fulfilled, leaving Rebecca Thompson, Headmistress of the mysterious Athens Academy utterly heartbroken. Having long served as second in command of The G...
www.barnesandnoble.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Christmas Eve Eve is a *perfect* night to curl up with this Gothic, Ghost-filled, Gaslamp Fantasy Second-Chance Romance novella (many #Romancelandia colleagues and I were writing Romantasy before that was a word 🖤 ) starring Vicar Carroll & Headmistress Thompson from my STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL saga!
Quote with four of your favourite holiday movies! ❄️☃️
December 24, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Quote with four of your favourite holiday movies! ❄️☃️
You've been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you.
Who's coming to save you?
No complaints from me! 😍
(Not sure if I'll actually be safe, but it'll at least be an interesting rescue attempt 💀)
Who's coming to save you?
No complaints from me! 😍
(Not sure if I'll actually be safe, but it'll at least be an interesting rescue attempt 💀)
December 23, 2025 at 5:40 AM
You've been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you.
Who's coming to save you?
No complaints from me! 😍
(Not sure if I'll actually be safe, but it'll at least be an interesting rescue attempt 💀)
Who's coming to save you?
No complaints from me! 😍
(Not sure if I'll actually be safe, but it'll at least be an interesting rescue attempt 💀)
Had so much fun making this slightly unhinged motivational collage for my planner. 😂💖
The lighting is terrible in here, but here's the finished layout for my 2026 Word of the Year, Emerge:
The lighting is terrible in here, but here's the finished layout for my 2026 Word of the Year, Emerge:
December 23, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Had so much fun making this slightly unhinged motivational collage for my planner. 😂💖
The lighting is terrible in here, but here's the finished layout for my 2026 Word of the Year, Emerge:
The lighting is terrible in here, but here's the finished layout for my 2026 Word of the Year, Emerge:
Collecting images for my 2026 Word of the Year, Emerge, has been hilarious and therapeutic. Including Godzilla and Stitch pics brings me joy. This will be fun to finish later! 😂💖
December 22, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Collecting images for my 2026 Word of the Year, Emerge, has been hilarious and therapeutic. Including Godzilla and Stitch pics brings me joy. This will be fun to finish later! 😂💖
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
Going into 2026, a reminder for everyone who's fallen off the creative wagon, game dev, writing, art, music, whatever, no matter how long:
December 16, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Going into 2026, a reminder for everyone who's fallen off the creative wagon, game dev, writing, art, music, whatever, no matter how long:
Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness.
December 20, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness.
This week has been a lot with nasty surprises and bad policies from sources I wouldn't have expected in this industry. Even with some of these reversed, it's not a great feeling.
Time to go back to listening to my new book as I'm making revisions. Pic of my Willow for a timeline cleanse.
📚💙
Time to go back to listening to my new book as I'm making revisions. Pic of my Willow for a timeline cleanse.
📚💙
December 19, 2025 at 11:13 PM
This week has been a lot with nasty surprises and bad policies from sources I wouldn't have expected in this industry. Even with some of these reversed, it's not a great feeling.
Time to go back to listening to my new book as I'm making revisions. Pic of my Willow for a timeline cleanse.
📚💙
Time to go back to listening to my new book as I'm making revisions. Pic of my Willow for a timeline cleanse.
📚💙
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
Reposted by Kelsey Josephson
I agree with this entire thread. I am deeply disappointed by @sfwa.org 's decision, especially considering how many of its members (including me) had our work stolen for the creation of that generative AI. There is NO way anyone should be eligible for a Nebula without doing ALL the writing themself.
I'm so disappointed in @sfwa.org for this. I understand that by requiring disclosure of partial LLM-created works, as their announcement states, means SFWA's letting "nominators and the voters" make the final decision. BUT YOU'RE STILL ALLOWING SUCH WORKS ON THE NEBULA AWARDS FINAL BALLOT! 1/
Another Nebula Awards nomination cycle is in full swing, and the addition of poetry and comics, along with the presence of LLMs in industry, required careful consideration.
Read on, and vote well!
We trust our voters & look forward to what they choose to celebrate.
www.sfwa.org/2025/12/19/p...
Read on, and vote well!
We trust our voters & look forward to what they choose to celebrate.
www.sfwa.org/2025/12/19/p...
December 19, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I agree with this entire thread. I am deeply disappointed by @sfwa.org 's decision, especially considering how many of its members (including me) had our work stolen for the creation of that generative AI. There is NO way anyone should be eligible for a Nebula without doing ALL the writing themself.