Rekha Valliappan
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silicasun.bsky.social
Rekha Valliappan
@silicasun.bsky.social
5.2K followers 4K following 130 posts
Author - Poet
Award-winning Pushcart & Best of Net nom. Writer & Poet- Nature Nomad, Science Scarab, Art Aesthete -Stories, Poems, CNF, Flash Fiction, Haiku, Published in Over 100+ Literary & Genre Journals & Anthologies
https://www.silicasun.wordpress.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
silicasun.bsky.social
#TuesdayTips - Happy to share with you my new #microfiction release THE BIRTH published late last year in this lovely #book of #poetry and #fiction The Stray Branch Fall/Winter 2025 #36 Vol 33. Print copies are available on Amazon : www.amazon.com/Stray-Branch... 📚 #silicasun 🍈📖❤️
February 11, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
mariapopova.bsky.social
"Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real."

Iris Murdoch, easily my favorite philosopher, died on this day in 1999 and left us her abiding wisdom on art, goodness, and love: www.themarginalian.org/2022/01/08/i...
What Love Really Means: Iris Murdoch on Unselfing, the Symmetry Between Art and Morality, and How We Unblind Ourselves to Each Other’s Realities
“Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real.”
www.themarginalian.org
February 8, 2026 at 5:47 AM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
internationaltimes.bsky.social
A Walk of calm on the choppy waters of Love.
internationaltimes.it
www.internationaltimes.it/archive/inde...
January 31, 2026 at 7:38 AM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
bakerart.bsky.social
Fishing in Cambridge in front of the ice cream kiosk on Jesus Green, Cambridge. Small oil painting
#oilpainting #cambridge #fishing
A small oil painting showing people buying ice creams at the kiosk on Jesus Green, Cambridge while a man with a blue hat is fishing. A girl iin a pink dress is feeding the ducks.
February 11, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
folkhorrorrevival.bsky.social
"As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill."

'Bleak House', Charles Dickens, 1852 #WyrdWednesday #BookChatWeekly
Art by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, 1850s. It shows two individuals of Megalosaurus in the original interpretation of them as quadrupedal animals with crocodile-like heads. One of them is standing up and the other asleep. In the background is a rocky outcrop with a flock of pterosaurs on.
February 4, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
rgeirsson.bsky.social
For anyone interested in dystopia, alternate reality, magic realism, the undead, or Crichton-esque scifi with a distinctly Nordic flair, these novels ought to scratch the itch. #wyrdwednesday reactormag.com/exploring-no...
Exploring Nordic Speculative Fiction in Five Novels - Reactor
These five memorable works encompass magical realism, futuristic dystopias, zombies, trolls, and sorcery, and quite a bit more.
reactormag.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
sarahnour.bsky.social
In the Old Norse epic Heimskringla, King Aun of Sweden sacrifices his sons to the god Odin to prolong his life. Aun becomes so old he can't walk. His teeth fall out, so he relies on a drinking-horn for sustenance. He finally dies when his people stop him from sacrificing his 10th son. #WyrdWednesday
February 11, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
silicasun.bsky.social
#FolkloreFriday Celebrating night of the first #FullMoon in Gregorian calendar of 2026 🌕 what joy the #WolfMoon magic propagated down the ages in myth art literature folklore 📚 Listening to wild packs howl at the moon tonight on ghostly moonlit trails matching winter's howling winds 🐺 #silicasun 🐾📕❤️
January 2, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
guhinp.bsky.social
My dad was a talented artist.
February 5, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
ruinsofdespair.bsky.social
Julie had been looking over Perdita's bookshelves with natural envy.

– Richard Le Gallienne, An Old Country House, 1902

#BookologyThursday
Illustration titled 'Julie had been looking over Perdita's bookshelves with natural envy' by Elizabeth Shippen Green. A woman leafing through a giant ornate tome.
January 15, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
ninaantonia13.bsky.social
#BookologyThursday This is the old cover of 'The Greenwood Faun' which will shortly be reissued by Snuggly, with new artwork but the story remains the same - a magical manuscript transported from Arthur Machen's 'The Hill of Dreams' unleashes Pan in Victorian London.
January 29, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
asls.org.uk
“I never read such an impious book,” said the reader, throwing it on the floor.

“You need not hurt me,” said the book; “you will only get less for me second hand, and I did not write myself.”

—Robert Louis Stevenson, FABLES: “The Reader”
#BookologyThursday #C19 💙📚
XI—THE READER “I never read such an impious book,” said the reader, throwing it on the floor. “You need not hurt me,” said the book; “you will only get less for me second hand, and I did not write myself.” “That is true,” said the reader. “My quarrel is with your author.” “Ah, well,” said the book, “you need not buy his rant.” “That is true,” said the reader. “But I thought him such a cheerful writer.” “I find him so,” said the book. “You must be differently made from me,” said the reader. “Let me tell you a fable,” said the book. “There were two men wrecked upon a desert island; one of them made believe he was at home, the other admitted—” “O, I know your kind of fable,” said the reader. “They both died.” “And so they did,” said the book. “no doubt of that. And everybody else.” “That is true,” said the reader. “Push it a little further for this once. And when they were all dead?” “They were in God’s hands, the same as before,” said the book. “Not much to boast of, by your account,” cried the reader. “Who is impious now?” said the book. And the reader put him on the fire. The coward crouches from the rod, And loathes the iron face of God. Illustration to “The Reader”, by E.R. Herman, from the 1914 Longman’s edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Fables. A highly detailed illustration in pen and black ink, brush and wash. A man stands on a short ladder in front of a bookcase. He is wearing a cap and a long dressing-gown, finely striped in black and white, and black-and-white checked slippers. He is looking down in disgust at the floor, where a book lies open on the patterned rug. The book has a human face on one open page. Beneath the illustration is a decorative border of six identical figures. Vaguely demonic, they have pointed ears and possibly horns. They are skeletally thin and are kneeling with their heads bowed.
January 15, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
chriswoodyard.bsky.social
#BookologyThursday Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book, M.R. James.
"'Good God! a hand like the hand in that picture!...'
"The shape, whose left hand rested on the table, was rising to a standing posture behind his seat, its right hand crooked above his scalp."
en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ghost_S...
A man with glasses and smoking a pipe holds a necklace with a cross over a large book on the table. The light from the lamp lights up the smoke from his pipe and the face of a demon behind him.
January 15, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
silicasun.bsky.social
#TuesdayTreasure How do we thank the beautiful #litmags which housed my #poems #flashfiction #shortstories in 2025? 📚 #ThankYou 🙏 #literarymagazines #writers #editors #readers who published my work 📚 online, in anthos, Best Of 📖 For list : silicasun.wordpress.com 🦓 #silicasun 🐘📗💛
December 30, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
silicasun.bsky.social
Great resolution for the #newyear, Hope! Stay inspired everyone! #HappyNewWeek #HappyMonday #silicasun 🛵📘❤️
a cartoon of a man riding a motorcycle with the caption happy monday new week ahead have a great day
ALT: a cartoon of a man riding a motorcycle with the caption happy monday new week ahead have a great day
media.tenor.com
January 12, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Well-striped and well-read 🦓

Found in our archives: an illustration of a zebra in a C16 Greek Bible.

Shelfmark: MS. Laud Gr. 86, 389

#ZebraDay
A medieval illustration features three animals walking across a natural landscape with a sun rising in the background. One animal resembles a deer with antlers, another is similar to a large dog, and the third resembles a zebra with distinctive stripes. The scene includes handwritten text along the borders.
January 31, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
marshslibrary.bsky.social
A map of the arctic circle from Joan Blaeu's Atlas Maior, v.1 from 1662. Interesting take on a polar bear!
Hand-coloured 17th century map showing the arctic circle Detail from the same map showing a polar bear (coloured in brown) and people
December 18, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
foliolit.bsky.social
Folio Volume 40 is LIVE! All our wonderful pieces can be read at www.folioliteraryjournal.com or a physical copy can be purchased at Politics & Prose in DC! (Or online)
Pictured: AZALEA by Xibin Zhang
AZALEA, by Xibin Zhang
May 7, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
embarklitjournal.bsky.social
Embark contributor Bill Mesce, writing under the name Aja Holland, has released a mystery called CASCO BAY with @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social. You can purchase a copy here! – bookshop.org/p/books/casc...
Casco Bay
Check out Casco Bay - <p><strong><em>Shiloh Vail's return to her childhood home to settle her father's estate unveils a web of mysteries she could never imagine.</em></strong></p><p></p><p>Set against...
bookshop.org
October 11, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
jacqdoyle.bsky.social
ICYMI "lIn Grover Cleveland’s childhood home, I’ll be so busy baking sourdough bread and reading poetry that I’ll rarely scroll the internet.flash essay" by Sari Fordham (@sarifordham.bsky.social) via @short-reads.org (& originally in @electricliterature.com). www.short-reads.org/in-grover-cl...
In Grover Cleveland’s Childhood Home
by Sari Fordham | We’ll be us, but more fascinating.
www.short-reads.org
December 31, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
strangehorizons.bsky.social
Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues 
by Seth Wade @sethwade.bsky.social

"A giant throbbing blob of eyeballs hovers
at my front door, long wings flapping"

Poem ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...

Analysis ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
POETRY by Seth Wade Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues Quote A giant throbbing blob of eyeballs hovers at my front door, long wings flapping 26 January 2026 Strange Horizons POETRY ANALYSIS by Seth Wade Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues  Quote This poem was initially inspired by a line of dialogue near the beginning of So Long A Letter by Mariama Bâ, which is also the last line of the poem and the moment I tried to build up to: Lady, death is just as beautiful as life has been. 26 January 2026 Strange Horizons
January 31, 2026 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
silicasun.bsky.social
#SundaySongBook #nature 🦊 🌙 today is #WinterSoldstice ❄️ longest night shortest day of the year as our beautiful bountiful #earth 🌏 returns to light and life ☀️ from the dark 📚 silicasun.wordpress.com 🐦 #silicasun 🎄📗❤️
December 21, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
readalittlepoem.bsky.social
“And still, as I write this poem, I’m waiting / to see what I’m going to tell myself.”

— Acie Clark

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This poem appeared in The Hopper, Fall 2024. Shared here with deep gratitude.
January 10, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
publicdomainrev.bsky.social
Illustrations from the beguiling Clavis Artis, a German alchemical manuscript which claims to hail from the 13th century and have pages made from dragon skin: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/clavis-artis
January 28, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by Rekha Valliappan
admirablewomen.bsky.social
#OTD in 1813, Jane Austen's 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘦 was first published.

One of the most beloved in English #literature, it is a witty, timeless masterpiece of social satire, romance, and character-driven storytelling. #litsky #booksky
This is a side-by-side split image with a dark blue border featuring a classic black-and-white historical portrait of Jane Austen on the left and a modern illustrative book cover for Pride and Prejudice on the right. Left side: A grayscale oval-framed engraving/portrait of Jane Austen (based on the well-known 1870 stipple engraving derived from James Andrews' watercolor adaptation of Cassandra Austen's original sketch). It shows the author as a young woman in Regency-era attire, seated with her head turned slightly to the right (viewer's left). She has curly dark hair partially covered by a white frilled bonnet/cap with a subtle lining, soft facial features, dark eyes, and a gentle, composed expression. She wears a simple dress with a high neckline and puffed sleeves. The portrait is enclosed in a penciled or lightly shaded oval border, giving it an antique, intimate feel typical of 19th-century literary frontispieces. Right side: A warm-toned, artistic book cover illustration for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The design features a silhouetted female figure (representing Elizabeth Bennet) in a long, flowing Regency gown, standing with her back to the viewer and facing toward a grand country manor house in the distance. She is positioned in a lush, golden-hued countryside landscape with rolling hills, wildflowers, tall grasses, and clusters of trees or foliage framing the scene. The manor house has a classic Georgian/Palladian style with chimneys and windows visible against a soft, sunset-like sky in shades of yellow, orange, and amber. The title "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE" appears prominently at the top in elegant serif lettering, with "JANE AUSTEN" below it, all set against the pastoral backdrop for a romantic, period-evoking aesthetic.
January 29, 2026 at 12:14 AM