Philip Athans
@philathans.bsky.social
Liberal author, editor, and SF, fantasy, horror, and TTRPG fan who has some links at https://linktr.ee/philathans and is happy to have rebuilt a #writingcommunity here. NO to AI.
AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS: https://www.authorsagainstbookbans.com
AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS: https://www.authorsagainstbookbans.com
Pinned
January 26, 2026 at 2:58 AM
Hey, everybody, you know that Orwell was telling us what NOT to do when he wrote 1984, right?
The Ministry of Truth has been made real by the Putin-Republican Party and their Useful Idiot.
pen.org/banned-words...
The Ministry of Truth has been made real by the Putin-Republican Party and their Useful Idiot.
pen.org/banned-words...
Federal Government's Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship
Banned words list 2025: The federal government is banning a growing number of words to comply with executive orders from President Trump.
pen.org
January 23, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Hey, everybody, you know that Orwell was telling us what NOT to do when he wrote 1984, right?
The Ministry of Truth has been made real by the Putin-Republican Party and their Useful Idiot.
pen.org/banned-words...
The Ministry of Truth has been made real by the Putin-Republican Party and their Useful Idiot.
pen.org/banned-words...
This shit is just fucking exhausting…
"It all amounts to an increasingly Kafkaesque situation, where reading and talking about book bans and censorship is itself being censored."
pen.org/dont-mention...
"It all amounts to an increasingly Kafkaesque situation, where reading and talking about book bans and censorship is itself being censored."
pen.org/dont-mention...
Don’t Mention It: Even The Discussion of Censorship Is Under Attack
"It all amounts to an increasingly Kafkaesque situation, where reading and talking about book bans and censorship is itself being censored."
pen.org
January 23, 2026 at 9:45 PM
This shit is just fucking exhausting…
"It all amounts to an increasingly Kafkaesque situation, where reading and talking about book bans and censorship is itself being censored."
pen.org/dont-mention...
"It all amounts to an increasingly Kafkaesque situation, where reading and talking about book bans and censorship is itself being censored."
pen.org/dont-mention...
Everyone please immediately share this everywhere:
What the Library Is For and Why “Just Buy the Book” Gets It Exactly Backwards
Libraries exist to guarantee equal access to ideas…
www.freedomtoreadproject.org/what_the_lib...
What the Library Is For and Why “Just Buy the Book” Gets It Exactly Backwards
Libraries exist to guarantee equal access to ideas…
www.freedomtoreadproject.org/what_the_lib...
What the Library Is For and Why “Just Buy the Book” Gets It Exactly Backwards
Libraries exist to guarantee equal access to ideas; telling families to buy books themselves undermines equity, choice, trust, and opportunity.
www.freedomtoreadproject.org
January 23, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Everyone please immediately share this everywhere:
What the Library Is For and Why “Just Buy the Book” Gets It Exactly Backwards
Libraries exist to guarantee equal access to ideas…
www.freedomtoreadproject.org/what_the_lib...
What the Library Is For and Why “Just Buy the Book” Gets It Exactly Backwards
Libraries exist to guarantee equal access to ideas…
www.freedomtoreadproject.org/what_the_lib...
Reposted by Philip Athans
#WritingCommunity, we spend so much time looking critically at ourselves and not enough praising our so-called "small" achievements. Dreams require resilience, strength, and adaptability. Dreams are scary.
But you're chasing your dream anyway. And I'm proud of you for trying. 🥰
#writers #authors
But you're chasing your dream anyway. And I'm proud of you for trying. 🥰
#writers #authors
January 22, 2026 at 10:18 PM
#WritingCommunity, we spend so much time looking critically at ourselves and not enough praising our so-called "small" achievements. Dreams require resilience, strength, and adaptability. Dreams are scary.
But you're chasing your dream anyway. And I'm proud of you for trying. 🥰
#writers #authors
But you're chasing your dream anyway. And I'm proud of you for trying. 🥰
#writers #authors
I am an editing MACHINE.
The fact that this book is fantastic helps.
The fact that this book is fantastic helps.
January 22, 2026 at 9:19 PM
I am an editing MACHINE.
The fact that this book is fantastic helps.
The fact that this book is fantastic helps.
“Big Tech is trying to change the law so they can keep stealing American artistry to build their AI businesses – without authorization and without paying the people who did the work. That is wrong; it’s un-American, and it’s theft on a grand scale…”
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
One of the First Big Anti-AI Campaigns From Hollywood Is Launching Now
Writers, actors and other musicians have come out in support of the Human Artistry Campaign’s “Stealing Isn’t Innovation” push for licensing and opt-out mechanisms for human-created works.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
January 22, 2026 at 4:56 PM
“Big Tech is trying to change the law so they can keep stealing American artistry to build their AI businesses – without authorization and without paying the people who did the work. That is wrong; it’s un-American, and it’s theft on a grand scale…”
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
Happy birthday to pulp fiction legend Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan and one of my favorite authors of all time, born January 22, 1906.
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/h...
#BookSky
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/h...
#BookSky
January 22, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Happy birthday to pulp fiction legend Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan and one of my favorite authors of all time, born January 22, 1906.
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/h...
#BookSky
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/h...
#BookSky
I'll accept any small victory…
“Material created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) either partially or wholly, is not allowed in the art show,” it now says. AI is now banned at the art show.
www.404media.co/comic-con-ba...
“Material created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) either partially or wholly, is not allowed in the art show,” it now says. AI is now banned at the art show.
www.404media.co/comic-con-ba...
Comic-Con Bans AI Art After Artist Pushback
The famed convention's organizers have banned AI from the art show.
www.404media.co
January 21, 2026 at 5:19 PM
I'll accept any small victory…
“Material created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) either partially or wholly, is not allowed in the art show,” it now says. AI is now banned at the art show.
www.404media.co/comic-con-ba...
“Material created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) either partially or wholly, is not allowed in the art show,” it now says. AI is now banned at the art show.
www.404media.co/comic-con-ba...
BENEATH VS. UNDER
Writing trends can be weird. They can come out of nowhere and come and go so fast most people don’t even see them happening. The English language, maybe even more so than any other language on Earth, is an ever-evolving, living thing. That said—that understood—I don’t spend too…
Writing trends can be weird. They can come out of nowhere and come and go so fast most people don’t even see them happening. The English language, maybe even more so than any other language on Earth, is an ever-evolving, living thing. That said—that understood—I don’t spend too…
BENEATH VS. UNDER
Writing trends can be weird. They can come out of nowhere and come and go so fast most people don’t even see them happening. The English language, maybe even more so than any other language on Earth, is an ever-evolving, living thing. That said—that understood—I don’t spend too much time wringing my hands over neologisms and alterations or additions to accepted usage—especially since “accepted” implies there’s someone in charge to either accept or reject things like the singular
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:52 PM
BENEATH VS. UNDER
Writing trends can be weird. They can come out of nowhere and come and go so fast most people don’t even see them happening. The English language, maybe even more so than any other language on Earth, is an ever-evolving, living thing. That said—that understood—I don’t spend too…
Writing trends can be weird. They can come out of nowhere and come and go so fast most people don’t even see them happening. The English language, maybe even more so than any other language on Earth, is an ever-evolving, living thing. That said—that understood—I don’t spend too…
FIGHT ON!
Publishers Move to Intervene in Class Action Suit Against Google for Generative AI Product “Gemini”
Direct Participation Would Support Individual Plaintiffs and Bolster Legal Case
publishers.org/news/publish...
#BookSky #NoAI
Publishers Move to Intervene in Class Action Suit Against Google for Generative AI Product “Gemini”
Direct Participation Would Support Individual Plaintiffs and Bolster Legal Case
publishers.org/news/publish...
#BookSky #NoAI
Publishers Move to Intervene in Class Action Suit Against Google for Generative AI Product “Gemini” - AAP
Direct Participation Would Support Individual Plaintiffs and Bolster Legal Case The Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced today that two of its member companies, Cengage Group and Hachett...
publishers.org
January 19, 2026 at 4:55 PM
FIGHT ON!
Publishers Move to Intervene in Class Action Suit Against Google for Generative AI Product “Gemini”
Direct Participation Would Support Individual Plaintiffs and Bolster Legal Case
publishers.org/news/publish...
#BookSky #NoAI
Publishers Move to Intervene in Class Action Suit Against Google for Generative AI Product “Gemini”
Direct Participation Would Support Individual Plaintiffs and Bolster Legal Case
publishers.org/news/publish...
#BookSky #NoAI
The official super cool but also kinda iffy drunk uncle of genre fiction, Edgar Allan Poe, was born on this day, January 19, in 1809.
#BookSky
#BookSky
January 19, 2026 at 2:03 PM
The official super cool but also kinda iffy drunk uncle of genre fiction, Edgar Allan Poe, was born on this day, January 19, in 1809.
#BookSky
#BookSky
Reposted by Philip Athans
If there's one empirical insight I'd want everyone to understand about American politics, it's this:
America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.
What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵
America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.
What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵
January 12, 2026 at 9:36 PM
If there's one empirical insight I'd want everyone to understand about American politics, it's this:
America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.
What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵
America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.
What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵
Reposted by Philip Athans
LLMs are spam generators. That is all.
They're designed to generate plausibly human-like text well enough to pass a generic Turing Test. That's why people believe they're "intelligent".
But really, all they are is spam generators.
We have hit the spamularity.
They're designed to generate plausibly human-like text well enough to pass a generic Turing Test. That's why people believe they're "intelligent".
But really, all they are is spam generators.
We have hit the spamularity.
January 16, 2026 at 7:23 PM
LLMs are spam generators. That is all.
They're designed to generate plausibly human-like text well enough to pass a generic Turing Test. That's why people believe they're "intelligent".
But really, all they are is spam generators.
We have hit the spamularity.
They're designed to generate plausibly human-like text well enough to pass a generic Turing Test. That's why people believe they're "intelligent".
But really, all they are is spam generators.
We have hit the spamularity.
The life of a part-time poet continues…
Yesterday I got an email rejection for a poem I submitted on January 10…
…of 2025.
It's okay, I'd moved on.
Yesterday I got an email rejection for a poem I submitted on January 10…
…of 2025.
It's okay, I'd moved on.
January 16, 2026 at 4:21 PM
The life of a part-time poet continues…
Yesterday I got an email rejection for a poem I submitted on January 10…
…of 2025.
It's okay, I'd moved on.
Yesterday I got an email rejection for a poem I submitted on January 10…
…of 2025.
It's okay, I'd moved on.
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS BY GEORGE ORWELL—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 39
My thoughts on fourteen (or so) essays by the great George Orwell… and things get a bit intense in this one, because… George Orwell.
#BookSky
youtu.be/QXZdLhH8xpw?...
My thoughts on fourteen (or so) essays by the great George Orwell… and things get a bit intense in this one, because… George Orwell.
#BookSky
youtu.be/QXZdLhH8xpw?...
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS BY GEORGE ORWELL—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 39
YouTube video by Fantasy Author's Handbook
youtu.be
January 15, 2026 at 10:27 PM
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS BY GEORGE ORWELL—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 39
My thoughts on fourteen (or so) essays by the great George Orwell… and things get a bit intense in this one, because… George Orwell.
#BookSky
youtu.be/QXZdLhH8xpw?...
My thoughts on fourteen (or so) essays by the great George Orwell… and things get a bit intense in this one, because… George Orwell.
#BookSky
youtu.be/QXZdLhH8xpw?...
Hey #ShortStorySky here’s a COVID inspired #ScienceFiction story I wrote that could also be read as current political climate inspired…
deepoverstock.com/2024/08/31/f...
deepoverstock.com/2024/08/31/f...
Final Liquidation—Everything Must Go by Philip Athans – Deep Overstock
deepoverstock.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Hey #ShortStorySky here’s a COVID inspired #ScienceFiction story I wrote that could also be read as current political climate inspired…
deepoverstock.com/2024/08/31/f...
deepoverstock.com/2024/08/31/f...
Let’s make #ShortStorySky a thing!
Are there any good feeds for short story love? ShortStorySky? 😅 I would love to tap into (or build) a practice of spreading the love for awesome stories we've read (and written)
January 15, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Let’s make #ShortStorySky a thing!
Happy birthday to #sciencefiction and #fantasy mega-author Robert Silverberg, born Jan. 15, 1935… we should all try to be more like him!
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2022/12/20/m...
#BookSky
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2022/12/20/m...
#BookSky
January 15, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Happy birthday to #sciencefiction and #fantasy mega-author Robert Silverberg, born Jan. 15, 1935… we should all try to be more like him!
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2022/12/20/m...
#BookSky
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2022/12/20/m...
#BookSky
I can be found on REEDSY…
Philip Athans - Editor | Reedsy
Seattle, WA, USA Editor: Former managing editor at Wizards of the Coast, working extensively in fantasy, SF, horror, thriller, literary, and narrative non-fiction.
reedsy.com
January 14, 2026 at 5:04 PM
I can be found on REEDSY…
This is how our entire society has been driven insane by the internet
It's a lack of separation, a lack of context, an absence of a sense of proportion…
It's a lack of separation, a lack of context, an absence of a sense of proportion…
January 13, 2026 at 11:54 PM
This is how our entire society has been driven insane by the internet
It's a lack of separation, a lack of context, an absence of a sense of proportion…
It's a lack of separation, a lack of context, an absence of a sense of proportion…
WHAT THESE AUTHORS SAID…
Join our group on GoodReads! Fantasy Author’s Handbook is also on YouTube! Did this post make you want to Buy Me A Coffee… Send me a book from my Amazon Wishlist? Join me on Bluesky… Get into other stuff at Substack… Link up with me on LinkedIn… Find me at…
Join our group on GoodReads! Fantasy Author’s Handbook is also on YouTube! Did this post make you want to Buy Me A Coffee… Send me a book from my Amazon Wishlist? Join me on Bluesky… Get into other stuff at Substack… Link up with me on LinkedIn… Find me at…
WHAT THESE AUTHORS SAID…
Join our group on GoodReads! Fantasy Author’s Handbook is also on YouTube! Did this post make you want to Buy Me A Coffee… Send me a book from my Amazon Wishlist? Join me on Bluesky… Get into other stuff at Substack… Link up with me on LinkedIn… Find me at PublishersMarketplace… Check out my…
fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com
January 13, 2026 at 6:16 PM
WHAT THESE AUTHORS SAID…
Join our group on GoodReads! Fantasy Author’s Handbook is also on YouTube! Did this post make you want to Buy Me A Coffee… Send me a book from my Amazon Wishlist? Join me on Bluesky… Get into other stuff at Substack… Link up with me on LinkedIn… Find me at…
Join our group on GoodReads! Fantasy Author’s Handbook is also on YouTube! Did this post make you want to Buy Me A Coffee… Send me a book from my Amazon Wishlist? Join me on Bluesky… Get into other stuff at Substack… Link up with me on LinkedIn… Find me at…