Mari Ness, writer of things
@mariness.bsky.social
I write things. Occasionally they get published.
Also occasionally on other sites, including marikness.wordpress.com, https://medium.com/@marikness, https://www.patreon.com/mari_ness. Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/mari_ness
Also occasionally on other sites, including marikness.wordpress.com, https://medium.com/@marikness, https://www.patreon.com/mari_ness. Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/mari_ness
Pinned
So yes, delighted to say that I am one of the inaugural finalists for the Hugo Award for Best Poem, alongside @angelaliu.bsky.social, @aijiang.bsky.social,
@swantower.bsky.social, @devanbarlow.bsky.social
& Oliver K. Langmead!
@swantower.bsky.social, @devanbarlow.bsky.social
& Oliver K. Langmead!
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
My neighbor told me he keeps losing falcons to the widening gyre so I asked how many falcons he has and he said he just goes to the falconry and gets a new falcon afterwards so I said it sounds like he’s just feeding falcons to drown with the ceremony of innocence and then Yeats started crying.
January 23, 2026 at 11:48 PM
My neighbor told me he keeps losing falcons to the widening gyre so I asked how many falcons he has and he said he just goes to the falconry and gets a new falcon afterwards so I said it sounds like he’s just feeding falcons to drown with the ceremony of innocence and then Yeats started crying.
Gemini/Google, I don't WANT to hit TAB to improve my emails.
What I want you to do is REMOVE that little box so that I can see WHAT WORDS ARE IN MY EMAILS and then - stay with me here - FINISH TYPING MY EMAILS all by myself without your suggestions.
What I want you to do is REMOVE that little box so that I can see WHAT WORDS ARE IN MY EMAILS and then - stay with me here - FINISH TYPING MY EMAILS all by myself without your suggestions.
January 23, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Gemini/Google, I don't WANT to hit TAB to improve my emails.
What I want you to do is REMOVE that little box so that I can see WHAT WORDS ARE IN MY EMAILS and then - stay with me here - FINISH TYPING MY EMAILS all by myself without your suggestions.
What I want you to do is REMOVE that little box so that I can see WHAT WORDS ARE IN MY EMAILS and then - stay with me here - FINISH TYPING MY EMAILS all by myself without your suggestions.
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
Tomorrow!
SFWA members and Nebula attendees, save the date! January 24th at 11 am Pacific, @nytebird45.bsky.social will be the guest poet at the SFWA Quarterly Poetry Open Mic! Read a poem or just listen! @sfwa.bsky.social
January 23, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Tomorrow!
FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANWEILER. Turned me into a museum person.
Never managed to do the whole taking a bath in a museum fountain, though.
Never managed to do the whole taking a bath in a museum fountain, though.
What is "your" Newbery book? The one you read when you were little (or not so little), and took into your soul?
Mine's The Perilous Gard.
Mine's The Perilous Gard.
January 23, 2026 at 5:31 AM
FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANWEILER. Turned me into a museum person.
Never managed to do the whole taking a bath in a museum fountain, though.
Never managed to do the whole taking a bath in a museum fountain, though.
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Vance: If we're trying to find a sex offender, tell us where the guy lives.
January 22, 2026 at 9:10 PM
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
(just me over here noting that this story is also FULLY ELIGIBLE for the Nebula and the Hugo Awards)
(just saying!)
(just saying!)
Holy crap “Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything”is on the BFSA Long List! I’ve never been on an award list of any kind before! Eeeeeeee!
Congrats to everyone on there, and thank you to whoever nominated it!
www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...
Congrats to everyone on there, and thank you to whoever nominated it!
www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...
Vote for the BSFA Awards
www.bsfa.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 11:12 PM
(just me over here noting that this story is also FULLY ELIGIBLE for the Nebula and the Hugo Awards)
(just saying!)
(just saying!)
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
Hi, friends! It's been brought to my attention that Tell Me Yours, I'll Tell You Mine is categorized as a novel on the SFWA Reading List. It is, in fact, not a novel but a short story collection. There's even that handy word "Stories" on the front cover. Thanks for reading and stay cool!
January 22, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Hi, friends! It's been brought to my attention that Tell Me Yours, I'll Tell You Mine is categorized as a novel on the SFWA Reading List. It is, in fact, not a novel but a short story collection. There's even that handy word "Stories" on the front cover. Thanks for reading and stay cool!
Just to be clear, Anna's Archive didn't pay ME for ANY of my work that they stole for their files....
....but they are perfectly happy forcing someone ELSE to pay $200,000 for access to these files.
....but they are perfectly happy forcing someone ELSE to pay $200,000 for access to these files.
A few months ago I was curious to know how much Anna's Archive was charging AI developers for access to their massive library of pirated works for training - so I emailed them saying I was interested in buying access.
Here is their reply.
🧵 1/n
Here is their reply.
🧵 1/n
January 22, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Just to be clear, Anna's Archive didn't pay ME for ANY of my work that they stole for their files....
....but they are perfectly happy forcing someone ELSE to pay $200,000 for access to these files.
....but they are perfectly happy forcing someone ELSE to pay $200,000 for access to these files.
A pair of little red house finches have just landed on a branch just outside the window and I cannot possibly tell you how excited Melody Cat and Murphy Cat are right now to see NEW RED BIRDS.
January 22, 2026 at 6:05 PM
A pair of little red house finches have just landed on a branch just outside the window and I cannot possibly tell you how excited Melody Cat and Murphy Cat are right now to see NEW RED BIRDS.
...well, I can't rec just ONE.
Let's try THREE!
Amal El-Mohtar, THE RIVER HAS ROOTS, a combined portal fantasy/fairy tale retelling, exquisitely told.
Let's try THREE!
Amal El-Mohtar, THE RIVER HAS ROOTS, a combined portal fantasy/fairy tale retelling, exquisitely told.
If you see this and agree, you are obligated to rec a book by a fantasy author who's still writing. I don't make the rules.
I mean, I do. Please though? It'd be great.
I mean, I do. Please though? It'd be great.
I'm always baffled by the "I'll ONLY read old fantasy" crowd.
You know there are LIVING authors doing really cool stuff, right? Like, LOTS of them? And we could get MORE if more people bought their stuff?
You know there are LIVING authors doing really cool stuff, right? Like, LOTS of them? And we could get MORE if more people bought their stuff?
January 22, 2026 at 5:13 AM
...well, I can't rec just ONE.
Let's try THREE!
Amal El-Mohtar, THE RIVER HAS ROOTS, a combined portal fantasy/fairy tale retelling, exquisitely told.
Let's try THREE!
Amal El-Mohtar, THE RIVER HAS ROOTS, a combined portal fantasy/fairy tale retelling, exquisitely told.
To be 100% clear, I am not that someone.
Bessent: "Someone, maybe your parents for their retirement have bought 5, 10, 12 homes."
January 20, 2026 at 6:06 PM
To be 100% clear, I am not that someone.
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
Hey, guess what I'm not gonna shut up about for the next month. It's SINK YOUR TEETH IN #1 and if you like vampires or detectives or lesbians or any combination thereof, I think you'll be extremely happy about it. www.kickstarter.com/projects/dea...
SINK YOUR TEETH IN #1 - Mature Sapphic Noir Chicago Vampires
An undead PI hunts a missing vamp, facing ancient Mob Families, corrupt cops, & a past she buried to survive. Zoe Tunnell/Lauren Knight
www.kickstarter.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Hey, guess what I'm not gonna shut up about for the next month. It's SINK YOUR TEETH IN #1 and if you like vampires or detectives or lesbians or any combination thereof, I think you'll be extremely happy about it. www.kickstarter.com/projects/dea...
....I leave you for THREE HOURS, internet, and you let a bus with a musicology duck aboard get --
Well, I'll let everyone read the thread.
Well, I'll let everyone read the thread.
I just woke up from a nap and somehow while I was asleep, everyone on the bus has figured out we are not going to the right place
January 20, 2026 at 5:55 AM
....I leave you for THREE HOURS, internet, and you let a bus with a musicology duck aboard get --
Well, I'll let everyone read the thread.
Well, I'll let everyone read the thread.
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
Invoke the 25th Amendment.
January 19, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Invoke the 25th Amendment.
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
Weird criticism to level at a play about a historical time period in which every single female stage role was performed by a person with a penis
Personally if I was Anne Boleyn I’d be far more upset that someone made a musical about my head getting cut off
January 19, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Weird criticism to level at a play about a historical time period in which every single female stage role was performed by a person with a penis
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace since Kaleidotrope has never been given a Hugo Award.
January 19, 2026 at 1:46 PM
I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace since Kaleidotrope has never been given a Hugo Award.
Cold weather - well, Florida cold weather - means having to type over the body of a cat in your lap who WILL OBVIOUSLY FREEZE TO DEATH if he has to move.
(It's preferable to having him try to sleep on the laptop, the other source of heat.)
(It's preferable to having him try to sleep on the laptop, the other source of heat.)
January 19, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Cold weather - well, Florida cold weather - means having to type over the body of a cat in your lap who WILL OBVIOUSLY FREEZE TO DEATH if he has to move.
(It's preferable to having him try to sleep on the laptop, the other source of heat.)
(It's preferable to having him try to sleep on the laptop, the other source of heat.)
I know, right?
Gosh, if only there were a constitutional mechanism for removing a president who is mentally ill and unfit to hold office.
January 19, 2026 at 6:09 PM
I know, right?
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
in the plus side, watching the president of the United States destroy the entire geopolitical order because he didn't get a shiny award has successfully cured all my hangups about subtle character motivation in writing
January 19, 2026 at 8:10 AM
in the plus side, watching the president of the United States destroy the entire geopolitical order because he didn't get a shiny award has successfully cured all my hangups about subtle character motivation in writing
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
The Nobel Peace Prize becoming so prestigious that wars are fought over a head of state coveting it is some real monkey paw stuff for Alfred Nobel.
January 19, 2026 at 8:47 AM
The Nobel Peace Prize becoming so prestigious that wars are fought over a head of state coveting it is some real monkey paw stuff for Alfred Nobel.
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
INVENTOR OF ICE CREAM: okay okay i’ll make it jfc everyone just stop screaming
January 19, 2026 at 3:13 PM
INVENTOR OF ICE CREAM: okay okay i’ll make it jfc everyone just stop screaming
.....maybe we can all just keep talking about how Greenland is too cold and miserable to host ultra-luxury hotels and golf courses?
January 19, 2026 at 5:21 PM
.....maybe we can all just keep talking about how Greenland is too cold and miserable to host ultra-luxury hotels and golf courses?
Am I, shall we say, a bit concerned about a couple of the emails that I've sent over the last few weeks? Sure!
Would I have been EVEN MORE CONCERNED if I'd asked Gemini to help me draft them? YES. YES. ABSOLUTELY YES.
Would I have been EVEN MORE CONCERNED if I'd asked Gemini to help me draft them? YES. YES. ABSOLUTELY YES.
I don't WANT to draft an email to a new client using Gemini, Google!
January 19, 2026 at 2:21 AM
Am I, shall we say, a bit concerned about a couple of the emails that I've sent over the last few weeks? Sure!
Would I have been EVEN MORE CONCERNED if I'd asked Gemini to help me draft them? YES. YES. ABSOLUTELY YES.
Would I have been EVEN MORE CONCERNED if I'd asked Gemini to help me draft them? YES. YES. ABSOLUTELY YES.
I don't WANT to draft an email to a new client using Gemini, Google!
January 19, 2026 at 2:07 AM
I don't WANT to draft an email to a new client using Gemini, Google!