Mara Lynn Johnstone
@marlynnofmany.bsky.social
Author of science fiction and fantasy. Exploring the multiverse, with pens, pencils and enthusiasm! She/her. Further shenanigans all over the internet and at MaraLynnJohnstone.com
Pinned
I don't know about you, but I've been making up stories since I could talk, & writing them down since shortly after.
In 5th grade, I decided that since I probably (probably) wouldn't get to ride a dragon / turn into a dragon etc, I'd write about it all instead.
Here's a thread of my books so far!🧵
In 5th grade, I decided that since I probably (probably) wouldn't get to ride a dragon / turn into a dragon etc, I'd write about it all instead.
Here's a thread of my books so far!🧵
Ironic typo to make in an email about a writing project:
"Thanks for all your hard word!"
Yes, I meant hard work.
Yes, words are hard.
Yes, I did actually catch that before I sent it.
"Thanks for all your hard word!"
Yes, I meant hard work.
Yes, words are hard.
Yes, I did actually catch that before I sent it.
November 24, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Ironic typo to make in an email about a writing project:
"Thanks for all your hard word!"
Yes, I meant hard work.
Yes, words are hard.
Yes, I did actually catch that before I sent it.
"Thanks for all your hard word!"
Yes, I meant hard work.
Yes, words are hard.
Yes, I did actually catch that before I sent it.
Writing while falling asleep:
Pro: you can look at this writing with fresh eyes tomorrow, because you'll have no memory of ever writing it.
Con: watch out.
Pro: you can look at this writing with fresh eyes tomorrow, because you'll have no memory of ever writing it.
Con: watch out.
November 22, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Writing while falling asleep:
Pro: you can look at this writing with fresh eyes tomorrow, because you'll have no memory of ever writing it.
Con: watch out.
Pro: you can look at this writing with fresh eyes tomorrow, because you'll have no memory of ever writing it.
Con: watch out.
Working on two different stories, in two different tenses: Do Not Recommend. That's a short route to second-guessing every single verb on the page.
November 22, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Working on two different stories, in two different tenses: Do Not Recommend. That's a short route to second-guessing every single verb on the page.
I don't know what this hold music is called, but I've heard it before, and it's familiar in a peaceful-old-memory kind of way. "90's space age jazz," or something along those lines.
November 21, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I don't know what this hold music is called, but I've heard it before, and it's familiar in a peaceful-old-memory kind of way. "90's space age jazz," or something along those lines.
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
Whereas the top wolves are basically just acting like parents and making sure everybody’s got food and letting the cubs crawl all over them.
Honestly, the most wolf-like people around are mom friends and the dads who check your oil and sneak jumper cables into your trunk.
Honestly, the most wolf-like people around are mom friends and the dads who check your oil and sneak jumper cables into your trunk.
November 19, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Whereas the top wolves are basically just acting like parents and making sure everybody’s got food and letting the cubs crawl all over them.
Honestly, the most wolf-like people around are mom friends and the dads who check your oil and sneak jumper cables into your trunk.
Honestly, the most wolf-like people around are mom friends and the dads who check your oil and sneak jumper cables into your trunk.
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
THE NEW VINE WILL TAKE YOUR CONTENT like everybody is excited because “vine is back and they don’t allow AI!!!” But that is only because they want new content to scrape for training AI. Don’t be fooled.
Just so it's clear. It's not allowing AI because it's trying to create a clean dataset for training AI. It's not because any of the involved parties actually care about human created art.
Demons can lie to you. You have to rebuke them categorically, rather than fold when they say the right words.
Demons can lie to you. You have to rebuke them categorically, rather than fold when they say the right words.
Vine is being rebooted under the name diVine, with funding from Twitter’s former CEO Jack Dorsey.
The app plans to feature more than 10,000 previously archived Vines and does not allow AI-generated content.
(divine.video)
The app plans to feature more than 10,000 previously archived Vines and does not allow AI-generated content.
(divine.video)
November 21, 2025 at 6:31 AM
THE NEW VINE WILL TAKE YOUR CONTENT like everybody is excited because “vine is back and they don’t allow AI!!!” But that is only because they want new content to scrape for training AI. Don’t be fooled.
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
My little big dude Hobbs has claimed my chair and I can’t say he isn’t using it better than I would.
November 16, 2025 at 7:17 PM
My little big dude Hobbs has claimed my chair and I can’t say he isn’t using it better than I would.
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
Socks have the highest ROI of any object. If you choose them right, every day brings a ping of joy. Cozy socks? Hell yeah, a soft little hug for my feet! Funny socks? Hell yeah, my homie sent me these, and it's so great to have friends and socks. New socks? Hell yeah, this is destiny, eat my foot.
November 15, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Socks have the highest ROI of any object. If you choose them right, every day brings a ping of joy. Cozy socks? Hell yeah, a soft little hug for my feet! Funny socks? Hell yeah, my homie sent me these, and it's so great to have friends and socks. New socks? Hell yeah, this is destiny, eat my foot.
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
It’s true of writers as well.
I think most artists hit a point where they’re like, well if I can’t be the best artist, I shall be the most ME artist.
November 14, 2025 at 5:18 PM
It’s true of writers as well.
Fun moments in passive-aggressive narration: "...with all the gentleness that he deserved, which was none..."
November 14, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Fun moments in passive-aggressive narration: "...with all the gentleness that he deserved, which was none..."
I love making cameos for my own characters. Easter eggs. Tie-ins. Callbacks that some readers might catch and others might not. Even if nobody but me knows the connection, I will be mightily entertained.
November 14, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I love making cameos for my own characters. Easter eggs. Tie-ins. Callbacks that some readers might catch and others might not. Even if nobody but me knows the connection, I will be mightily entertained.
Ah yes, the exceptionally helpful part of writing a rough draft: "info-dumping to victory."
Who cares if one character is yammering on for the benefit of the reader? It's all on the page now, and it can be reworked into something more elegant later. On with the show.
#NaNoWriMo
Who cares if one character is yammering on for the benefit of the reader? It's all on the page now, and it can be reworked into something more elegant later. On with the show.
#NaNoWriMo
November 14, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Ah yes, the exceptionally helpful part of writing a rough draft: "info-dumping to victory."
Who cares if one character is yammering on for the benefit of the reader? It's all on the page now, and it can be reworked into something more elegant later. On with the show.
#NaNoWriMo
Who cares if one character is yammering on for the benefit of the reader? It's all on the page now, and it can be reworked into something more elegant later. On with the show.
#NaNoWriMo
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
I can't top this one.
I've been displaying Pride flags at my event booth to make it clear where I stand. Any potential reader who doesn't approve isn't going to like my books, & I'd rather those just kept on stepping.
I've been displaying Pride flags at my event booth to make it clear where I stand. Any potential reader who doesn't approve isn't going to like my books, & I'd rather those just kept on stepping.
But YOur PoLITicS WilL AlienATE reaDERs🥴
November 13, 2025 at 2:29 AM
I can't top this one.
I've been displaying Pride flags at my event booth to make it clear where I stand. Any potential reader who doesn't approve isn't going to like my books, & I'd rather those just kept on stepping.
I've been displaying Pride flags at my event booth to make it clear where I stand. Any potential reader who doesn't approve isn't going to like my books, & I'd rather those just kept on stepping.
Me: "I need to put together advice about that event to share with someone else. It shouldn't take too long to put together from the notes I kept last time."
Past Me: *already assembled three different advice documents*
Me: *high five* "I love being on top of things when I least expect it."
Past Me: *already assembled three different advice documents*
Me: *high five* "I love being on top of things when I least expect it."
November 12, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Me: "I need to put together advice about that event to share with someone else. It shouldn't take too long to put together from the notes I kept last time."
Past Me: *already assembled three different advice documents*
Me: *high five* "I love being on top of things when I least expect it."
Past Me: *already assembled three different advice documents*
Me: *high five* "I love being on top of things when I least expect it."
I got my author copies! Just in time for the bookselling event this weekend. Woo!
(The hand on the cover is more pink than it was supposed to be, but ... oh well. Otherwise everything looks good.)
(The hand on the cover is more pink than it was supposed to be, but ... oh well. Otherwise everything looks good.)
November 11, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I got my author copies! Just in time for the bookselling event this weekend. Woo!
(The hand on the cover is more pink than it was supposed to be, but ... oh well. Otherwise everything looks good.)
(The hand on the cover is more pink than it was supposed to be, but ... oh well. Otherwise everything looks good.)
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
Authors, Beware! There's a firm called "ClaimsHero" doing aggressive social media outreach claiming to
"help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch.
"help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch.
November 10, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Authors, Beware! There's a firm called "ClaimsHero" doing aggressive social media outreach claiming to
"help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch.
"help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch.
Learning something every day. It turns out a "parsec" is a real thing, not an inconsistent bit of Star Wars terminology. According to Wikipedia, it's a shortened form of "a distance corresponding to a parallax of one second," invented in 1913. Wild.
November 11, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Learning something every day. It turns out a "parsec" is a real thing, not an inconsistent bit of Star Wars terminology. According to Wikipedia, it's a shortened form of "a distance corresponding to a parallax of one second," invented in 1913. Wild.
This is a good day for writerly validation. Two stories published in two different anthologies, and both of them were selected to be the first story in each book. Hard to beat that. 😍
November 10, 2025 at 7:10 PM
This is a good day for writerly validation. Two stories published in two different anthologies, and both of them were selected to be the first story in each book. Hard to beat that. 😍
Everybody remembers Mustache, right? I just got an excerpt of the book published in an anthology, and it's a scene with him in it!
See this fish? His name is Mustache. He can fly, he's the main character's pet, and he has absolutely NO relevance to the plot.
A TEACHER'S GUIDE TO STRING MAGIC
#UnhingedPit #F #A #LGBT
A TEACHER'S GUIDE TO STRING MAGIC
#UnhingedPit #F #A #LGBT
November 10, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Everybody remembers Mustache, right? I just got an excerpt of the book published in an anthology, and it's a scene with him in it!
HEY GUYS guess what I wrote, and even got published? I just got my copy of the anthology, and this story is the first one!
Gotta love typoing by leaving the L out of "gold." That really changes a sentence.
"I found a lump of god in them thar hills! Get the pickaxes; there might be more!"
"I found a lump of god in them thar hills! Get the pickaxes; there might be more!"
November 10, 2025 at 7:01 PM
HEY GUYS guess what I wrote, and even got published? I just got my copy of the anthology, and this story is the first one!
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
If want to get better at art and have an excuse to draw your OCs meeting someone else's. Come.
We don't do activity checks or care if you participate. We don't care if you only doodle one thing once a year or nothing ever. Just read the rules and don't be a dick.
21+ SFW (for mod sanity). #Hetherev
We don't do activity checks or care if you participate. We don't care if you only doodle one thing once a year or nothing ever. Just read the rules and don't be a dick.
21+ SFW (for mod sanity). #Hetherev
November 9, 2025 at 10:43 PM
If want to get better at art and have an excuse to draw your OCs meeting someone else's. Come.
We don't do activity checks or care if you participate. We don't care if you only doodle one thing once a year or nothing ever. Just read the rules and don't be a dick.
21+ SFW (for mod sanity). #Hetherev
We don't do activity checks or care if you participate. We don't care if you only doodle one thing once a year or nothing ever. Just read the rules and don't be a dick.
21+ SFW (for mod sanity). #Hetherev
Muahaha, I'm going to use two things I've already written for this draft, and nobody's going to stop me!
#NaNoWriMo
#NaNoWriMo
November 9, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Muahaha, I'm going to use two things I've already written for this draft, and nobody's going to stop me!
#NaNoWriMo
#NaNoWriMo
Inventing a whole new accent with my typos over here. What kind of person would call something "sigbificant"? Sounds posh and foolish.
#FunWithTypos #AmWriting #NaNoWriMo
#FunWithTypos #AmWriting #NaNoWriMo
November 9, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Inventing a whole new accent with my typos over here. What kind of person would call something "sigbificant"? Sounds posh and foolish.
#FunWithTypos #AmWriting #NaNoWriMo
#FunWithTypos #AmWriting #NaNoWriMo
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
The unicorn listened intently. Somewhere in the forest, someone innocent was singing.
The unicorn followed the sound, found the singer, and laid down with their head in the singer's lap.
"bottles of-"
The young orc fell silent, smiled shyly, then resumed singing.
"Beer on the wall..."
The unicorn followed the sound, found the singer, and laid down with their head in the singer's lap.
"bottles of-"
The young orc fell silent, smiled shyly, then resumed singing.
"Beer on the wall..."
November 4, 2025 at 9:02 PM
The unicorn listened intently. Somewhere in the forest, someone innocent was singing.
The unicorn followed the sound, found the singer, and laid down with their head in the singer's lap.
"bottles of-"
The young orc fell silent, smiled shyly, then resumed singing.
"Beer on the wall..."
The unicorn followed the sound, found the singer, and laid down with their head in the singer's lap.
"bottles of-"
The young orc fell silent, smiled shyly, then resumed singing.
"Beer on the wall..."
Reposted by Mara Lynn Johnstone
Science Bluesky, I need a question answered that is not yielding to Google!
Can you carbon-14 date an alien?
Because I know it requires nitrogen-14 in the upper atmosphere and if the alien homeworld doesn’t have the same nitrogen content…?
Can you carbon-14 date an alien?
Because I know it requires nitrogen-14 in the upper atmosphere and if the alien homeworld doesn’t have the same nitrogen content…?
November 6, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Science Bluesky, I need a question answered that is not yielding to Google!
Can you carbon-14 date an alien?
Because I know it requires nitrogen-14 in the upper atmosphere and if the alien homeworld doesn’t have the same nitrogen content…?
Can you carbon-14 date an alien?
Because I know it requires nitrogen-14 in the upper atmosphere and if the alien homeworld doesn’t have the same nitrogen content…?