Nichole L. Lightner
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nicholeon.bsky.social
Nichole L. Lightner
@nicholeon.bsky.social
470 followers 380 following 49 posts
weird writer and managing editor at Violet Lichen

https://nichole-l-lightner.neocities.org/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
sashabrown.bsky.social
My 9-yo and I wrote the cover story for Interzone #303, and we've created this handy synopsis using legos. Pictured: shark wearing a mech suit made of pirate shipwrecks, attacking a surfer on a chainsaw board. Oh, it gets weirder.

Check it out: shop.interzone.press/b/E76yw
October 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM
nicholeon.bsky.social
The Butter Thief pictured has not harmed any butter in 2026.
ruadanbooks.bsky.social Ruadán Books @ruadanbooks.bsky.social · 3d
Do you write short fiction? Eat a stick of butter immediately! And read @nicholeon.bsky.social's rules for submitting genre fiction.

It's a tough gig, so you better believe it's worth it.

Read now:
📖 links.ruadanbooks.com/lightner

#AuthorSky #writingcommunity #WriterSky #shortstories
Photograph of Nichole L. Lightner snuggling with Ham, a Rottweiler and notorious Butter Thief. The bottom of the photograph features an inset author photo of Nichole, and text reading "Eat a Stick of Butter Immediately" and "Thoughts from the Writer's Desk" alongside the Ruadán Books logo. Read the essay at links.ruadanbooks.com/lightner.
January 2, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
undertow.bsky.social
Writers! Vol. 2 of 'The Best Weird Fiction of the Year' is open to your submissions. Please adhere to the guidelines.

undertowpublications.com/best-weird-f...
GUIDELINES (Please read carefully) NOTE: I receive over 2,000 submissions per call. Only writers whose work is selected for the volume will receive a response. Thanks for understanding. This is a reprint fiction anthology, to be published later this year, 2026. I am seeking material first published last year, in 2025. To be clear, only weird fiction FIRST published in 2025 is eligible for inclusion in this volume. I will accept translated work as long as the first English-language publication was 2025. To repeat—this volume is for stories originally first published in 2025. We are not accepting previously unpublished stories, or stories published prior to 2025 in any form. Stories between 500 and 17,499 words are considered. Please check with your publisher if you are uncertain about the reprint rights to your work. Stories created with or assisted by Generative AI, in any way, are ineligible and will not be considered. Audio only stories are also ineligible, unless they also appeared as text. Writers can send in their work using the form below only. Do not e-mail your story. You can send up to three (3) stories, but each must be sent separately. Ensure your byline and e-mail address are on the manuscript. NOTE: The submission form does not like any strange characters—asterisks, parenthesis, hashtags, etc.—in the form fields. Please use text and numbers only. Deadline for all material is February 28. Payment is a small $25 U.S. honorarium and 1 copy each of the print and electronic editions.
January 2, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
kaleidotrope.bsky.social
By the way, Kaleidotrope is open again to cover art submissions. As with everything, nothing AI-generated or assisted, but reprints are more than acceptable. You'll find the full guidelines, along with where to email me links to your portfolios or galleries, here:
Guidelines
kaleidotrope.net
January 2, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
elalitmag.bsky.social
♥️SUBMISSIONS OPEN♥️

We are opening up our Call for Submissions for our next issue! 🖋️✒️📚

This issue is all about reinventing the romance genre, taking ideas around love and sex and hatred to a whole new dimension.

#BookSky #WritingCommunity
November 14, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
chmmagazine.bsky.social
Our next submission call is right around the corner. Check out our guidelines to learn more: https://bit.ly/3FZcgMA
December 26, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
thatsgoodweb.bsky.social
Vincent Chong, cover art for the Polish version of Wizard and Glass, 1997/2000’s
Vincent Chong, cover art for the Polish version of Wizard and Glass, 1997/2000’s
December 18, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
tbskyen.com
Tumblr post by and-fishing-equipment reading "in 2026 DO NOT ask yourself whether your art is GOOD instead ask: - Is it SINCERE - is it CATHARTIC - was it FUN TO MAKE - is it MADE BY ME and don't forget to stay silly"
December 27, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
fiyahlitmag.bsky.social
Fam heads up on a call for submissions: please share with a Black Horror writer who you know would eat this up. Look at that dream editing duo: @mauricebroaddus.bsky.social and @chesyaburke.bsky.social 🔥🔥🔥 Deadline January 14th, 2026...!
blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-goth...
Black Horror | Call for Submissions
We are very excited to announce a new call for submissions which is now open!
blog.flametreepublishing.com
December 21, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
kaleidotrope.bsky.social
Speaking, you know, *as a market*, writing to what you think my tastes are as an editor is a bad idea. What I want most are the stories I don’t yet know that I want.
December 23, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
sliceduppress.bsky.social
Simpsons meme in 2 panels. Panel 1: A bus driver says "don't make me tap the sign" Panel 2: bus driver taps the sign which reads "Gen AI is garbage"
December 17, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
chrisdeleon.bsky.social
AI writing is people expecting readers to spend more time reading it than they put into making it, which is the opposite of the way value was created by an author putting in thought, organizing, research and editing that benefitted each reader in less time than it'd take for them to do it themselves
bookspotlight.bsky.social Indie Book Spotlight @bookspotlight.bsky.social · 16d
The frequency with which this is happening is so bleak and depressing. Knowing a book has no AI before beginning it, and paying for it, and spending time on it, shouldn’t be a guessing game.
An AI prompt found in another novel.
December 21, 2025 at 3:10 PM
nicholeon.bsky.social
These are STUNNING.
apexmag.bsky.social Apex Magazine and Book Company @apexmag.bsky.social · 19d
Enjoy a celestial take on a vintage paper garland 🎄 our paper chain templates feature artists' depictions of the Northern lights across history, From 19th century Arctic expeditions to Medieval atmospheric phenomena 🪢🌙✂️

Download the templates and instructions here: drive.google.com/file/d/1ahFZ...
a group of sheep wearing party hats are sitting at a table
Alt: An assembly line of sheep in green Santa hats assemble a pile of colorful paper chain garlands
media.tenor.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
chrisdeleon.bsky.social
timeless banger one of the profound mysteries of human culture is that people continued to compose more new songs after music was fully solved
DuckTales The Moon Theme NES ( 1 Hour)
YouTube video by PowerLooper
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
cerberusxt.bsky.social
We can do even more.
December 17, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
kayv.bsky.social
Look what’s arrived! A beautiul volume of @fraidycatpress.bsky.social Fraidy Cat Quarterly, featuring stories by me and others including @nicholeon.bsky.social and @abigailkemske.bsky.social. Pick up a copy at fraidycatpress.com/shop/
Cover of Fraidy Cat Quarterly volume 7, featuring a burning rose, held in my hand in front of some plants The first page of my story, Sundrinker
December 18, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
newedgeswordmag.bsky.social
🏰Will you dare to enter THE GLASS CASTLE?🏰
Just one of the gorgeous illustrations @carlydraws.bsky.social drew for a new story from sorcerous @saracentury.bsky.social.

⚔️ Find all this and more in issue six of New Edge Sword & Sorcery: newedgeswordandsorcery.com/product-cate... 📖
Crop of a black and white illustration by Carly A-F, @carlydraws.bsky.social on Bluesky, showing the back silhouette of a lone, cloaked figure surrounded by wild flowers & tall grass to each side, staring down a tower, crystal city dominating the background of the image, night sky above all.
December 12, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
apexmag.bsky.social
I'm literally just a girl with a basement full of demon jars and I'm not going to apologize for that 💅🍓🫙✨

Satisfy your craving for scrumptious surreal horror and check out THE CELLAR BELOW THE CELLAR by @ivygrimes.bsky.social, available for preorder now!

🌌 www.apexbookcompany.com/products/the...
The "girlhood is a spectrum" meme with "bonne maman advent calendar" on the left and "ted bundy's demonic soul trapped in a jar" on the right Cover of THE CELLAR BELOW THE CELLAR by Ivy Grimes
December 3, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
gnofhorror.com
The call for ice cream hid a descent into a chilling, secret world. Ivy Grimes explores the horror in her grandmother’s basement & the fiction it inspired. A masterclass in eerie memory.

gnofhorror.com/ivy-grimes-t...

#Horror #IvyGrimes
Ivy Grimes: The Deep Freeze Of Memory: What My Grandmother Kept In The Dark - The Ginger Nuts Of Horror Review Website
Ivy Grimes: The Deep Freeze of Memory: What My Grandmother Kept in the Dark
gnofhorror.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
apexmag.bsky.social
"I loved both of my grandmothers, but I never fully knew them. [...] I was the one who was afraid to look in the dark places. Of them, of myself, of everyone." 🌌

Wonderful new feature article by CELLAR BELOW THE CELLAR author @ivygrimes.bsky.social for @gnofhorror.com! ⬇️
Ivy Grimes: The Deep Freeze Of Memory: What My Grandmother Kept In The Dark - The Ginger Nuts Of Horror Review Website
Ivy Grimes: The Deep Freeze of Memory: What My Grandmother Kept in the Dark
gnofhorror.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
ivygrimes.bsky.social
Many thanks to @gnofhorror.com for featuring this little essay o mine about grandmothers and cellars!
apexmag.bsky.social Apex Magazine and Book Company @apexmag.bsky.social · 27d
"I loved both of my grandmothers, but I never fully knew them. [...] I was the one who was afraid to look in the dark places. Of them, of myself, of everyone." 🌌

Wonderful new feature article by CELLAR BELOW THE CELLAR author @ivygrimes.bsky.social for @gnofhorror.com! ⬇️
Ivy Grimes: The Deep Freeze Of Memory: What My Grandmother Kept In The Dark - The Ginger Nuts Of Horror Review Website
Ivy Grimes: The Deep Freeze of Memory: What My Grandmother Kept in the Dark
gnofhorror.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
apexmag.bsky.social
Nominations for ECO25 are OPEN 🌍🌱✨ We look forward to reading your best 2025 ecofiction!

Get the full details in our blog post announcement below ⬇️

Full guidelines: apexbookcompany.moksha.io/publication/...

Submission Portal: apexbookcompany.moksha.io/publication/...
Nominations for ECO25 Now Open!
ECO: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction is an annual showcase of some of the most compelling and thought-provoking ecofiction published every year. If you published speculative ecofiction in 2025 ...
www.apexbookcompany.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
castofwonders.org
It is that time of year again fam! We are in the end-of-year festive and gifting season :D (We love getting presents!!!!) Have you considered gifting a subscription to one of your loved ones?

It’s the best kind of gift because it keeps on giving throughout the year XD escapeartists.net/support-ea/
escapeartists.net
December 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Nichole L. Lightner
trahias.bsky.social
Svend Rasmussen Svendsen
(Norwegian/American, 1864–1945)
"Tree Trunks in Snow", 1920.
Oil on Canvas, 81 × 61 cm.
Private Collection.
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
December 5, 2025 at 12:39 PM
nicholeon.bsky.social
OMG thank you for this compliment!!! 📚📺🎒
sliceduppress.bsky.social Sliced Up Press @sliceduppress.bsky.social · Dec 4
And @nicholeon.bsky.social brings you a Very Special Episode - picture an episode of Saved by the Bell directed by David Lynch.
December 5, 2025 at 4:27 PM