Michael Staniforth
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staniforthmick.bsky.social
Michael Staniforth
@staniforthmick.bsky.social
330 followers 810 following 440 posts
Author featured in A Coup of Owls, 4 horsemen pubs, and U is for Unexplained. Bisexual. He/They Trans rights are human rights.
Author website: https://mickstaniforth.wordpress.com/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
fraidycatpress.bsky.social
Pssst: we’re open to submissions of horror fiction, interior art, and full color cover art AND WE’RE PAYING MORE NOW.

Guidelines here: fraidycatpress.com/submission-g...

#horrorlit #cosmic #horror #indie #shortstory #novelette #magazine #art #illustration
Submission Guidelines - Fraidy Cat Press
Fraidy Cat Press Submission Guidelines Guidelines, open dates, and more information for Fraidy Cat Press (novellas/novels) and Fraidy Cat Quarterly (flash, short stories, novelettes, art) are below. W...
fraidycatpress.com
February 16, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
mahto808.bsky.social
To anyone that needs clarification, "your best" is what you can accomplish without damage to your physical, mental and emotional health, not what you can accomplish by destroying them
February 1, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
innerworlds.bsky.social
My conference paper was accepted! 🎉

Has reading or writing speculative fiction supported your mental health in any way?

If it has, please please take 10 mins to tell me about it here: www.cognitoforms.com/InnerWorlds1...

Thank you! ❤️

#SFF #SciFi #Horror #Fantasy #SpecFic
Inner Worlds Madness, Health and Creativity Survey | Cognito Forms
www.cognitoforms.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
samatlounge.bsky.social
Searches if your local NHS Trust is using Palantir and emails them on your behalf, please take a minute to do this because we must fight this evil company getting a hold >> notopalantir.goodlawproject.org/email-to-tar...
Say no to Palantir in the NHS
NHS England is rolling out software to run our health records from Palantir - fight back
notopalantir.goodlawproject.org
February 8, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
indieventurepodcast.co.uk
NEW EPISODE!

The Indieventure trio chat about indies they've been playing this winter. Including:

📀 TR-49
🗻 Cairn
🔮 Strange Antiquities and more!

Listen wherever you get your podcasts!

indieventurepodcast.co.uk/podcast/epis...
Episode 54: What we've been playing this winter (TR-49, Cairn, Strange Antiquities) - Indieventure
The Indieventure trio chat about indies they've been playing this winter.
indieventurepodcast.co.uk
February 5, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
sillysyntax.bsky.social
RUN. RUN FAR AWAY FROM THIS CONTEST.
victoriastrauss.com Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 11d
Venerable magazine Harper's Bazaar is running its short story contest again, with the winner receiving "the chance" of publication in the magazine. Just one catch: per the wording of the guidelines, _just by entering_ you transfer copyright ownership of your story to Harper's parent, Hearst. 1/3
By entering the competition and in consideration for Hearst publishing your entry, you assign to Hearst the entire worldwide copyright in your entry for all uses in all print and non-print media formats, including but not limited to all rights to use your entry in any and all electronic and digital formats, and in any future medium hereafter developed for the full period of copyright therein, and all renewals and extensions thereof, any rental and lending rights and retransmission rights and all rights of a like nature wherever subsisting.
February 4, 2026 at 11:47 PM
staniforthmick.bsky.social
1 month in to my year long reading challenge - go check out all the amazing stories I've read so far! Today, Day 32! I read Wine-Dark Eyes by @junewhitewrites.bsky.social published in @undertow.bsky.social Weird Horror Magazine. Read my review here:
mickstaniforth.wordpress.com/2026/02/01/s...
February 1, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
mayor.nyc.gov
Corporations will not exploit working people in NYC.

Uber Eats, Fantuan & HungryPanda broke the law — shortchanging workers while raking in profits.

Today, we secured $5M+ in restitution for 49,000 delivery workers.

Let this be a warning: steal wages, face the consequences.
Mayor Mamdani surrounded by worker justice organizers Worker justice organizers Los deliveristas unidos sign
January 30, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
galaxykate.bsky.social
You can test new tech ideas using the Seinfeld Test

Would the product eliminate the plot of an episode? (Google maps, cell phones, paypal, battery packs)

Good tech.

Would the product inspire new Seinfeld plots? (NFTs, AI chatbots, crypto currency, blindboxes, metaverse land sales)

Bad tech.
January 31, 2026 at 6:57 AM
staniforthmick.bsky.social
Hey Bluesky, are you okay? I'm seeing a lot of "post about a book/tv/film you hate" posts right now. Do we need that negativity bouncing around at the moment? Are things not shitty enough? Maybe try celebrating the things you love instead.
January 30, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
rileyisyelling.bsky.social
A review of my recently published horror story, "Girl in Darkness"!

You should read the review, and read the story, and let me know if you would ride the flaming horse or not.

#bookreview #indieauthor #shortstory #horror
January 27, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
scottsantens.com
The correct answer to this is "Yes, and everyone else too."
Should artists get a basic income like they do in Ireland?
Could the government pay salaries to musicians and artists - no strings attached like they do in Ireland?
www.bbc.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
flashfictiononline.bsky.social
If you are getting words on the page, I’m so happy for you. Creating art is an act of resistance. I believe this to my very core. Folks will always need stories to make sense of the world. We will open to general submissions Feb 1st and I look forward to reading what you’ve been working on.

2/2
January 25, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
gailsimone.bsky.social
Transphobia is a cancer of the heart and mind.

It is a useless fear, based on ignorance and cruelty.

Trans people are not responsible for a single one of the problems we face.

Do the world a favor and grow the fuck up.
January 24, 2026 at 3:15 AM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
tadethompson.bsky.social
Folks, don't listen to the folks that tell you AI will take away your busywork.

Busywork performs a function. While you're doing it, background processes are still working on more complex problems.

You may find yourself 'miraculously' able to solve a knotty problem after some busywork.
January 24, 2026 at 5:35 AM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
indieventurepodcast.co.uk
🔔 NEW EPISODE 🔔

We're back (!!!) with a list of our most anticipated games of 2026.

INCLUDING:
🗻 CAIRN
🚀 ORBITALS
⭐ STARSAND ISLAND
❤️ and many more!

Listen wherever you get pods.

indieventurepodcast.co.uk/podcast/epis...
Episode 53: Our most anticipated indie games of 2026 - Indieventure
It's looking to be a stacked year already. Holy hell.
indieventurepodcast.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 5:11 PM
staniforthmick.bsky.social
Okay, this short story is going to end up a novella. I guess I should bite the bullet and come up with some names for these characters.
January 21, 2026 at 7:24 PM
staniforthmick.bsky.social
Yes! Thank you!
discontinuedfoods.bsky.social Discontinued Foods! @discontinuedfoods.bsky.social · 26d
1. Mayo is the single most disgusting concoction ever devised. It serves no purpose. Sorry your food is dry, make it better next time. Even a sandwich cut with a knife that had once had mayo on it is instantly ruined
January 20, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
yas-mk.bsky.social
January 12, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
frombeyondpress.bsky.social
Bernie Sanders says "I am once again asking for you to specify classic or modern Shunn format in your guidelines. 'Standard' doesn't mean anything."
January 19, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
lukesteuber.com
Oof, right in the gut
The worst part of having mental health issues is that you're seemingly required to have a breakdown in order for people to understand how hard you were trying to hold yourself together
January 18, 2026 at 6:49 AM
staniforthmick.bsky.social
This is a very dark day for the UK. All trans lives are put at risk by this judgement. If you're not terrified for the direction this country is taking, trans or not, then you are not paying enough attention.
January 16, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
bywaterbooks.bsky.social
🙈 We've heard that some major publishers are shadowing queer books.
👀 We aren't.
👊 We are Bywater Books.
🏳️‍🌈📚 LGBTQ+ stories—named, visible & unapologetic.

#BookSky #LGBTQBooks #QueerBooks #QueerLit #QueerOwned #IndiePublishing #PublishingIndustry #WeAreBywaterBooks
A square rainbow-striped image that says: LGBTQ+ Book Publisher. Proud of our books. Proud of our authors. Proud of our community. On the bottom stripe is a white Bywater Books logo.
January 15, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
profrachelgan.bsky.social
Following coverage over the weekend of Sir Paul Nurse's comments that suggested that the only reason that a Fellow should be expelled from @royalsociety.org is scientific misconduct, I have written to him to explain the risks such an attitude poses of increasing sexual harassment in STEM.
Dear Sir Paul, Re: Royal Society Code of Conduct I am sure that many scientists have written to you about the specific question of Elon Musk’s Fellowship and whether, under the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct, his retaining that Fellowship is appropriate. I will not rehash these issues. Instead, as a female scientist with extensive experience of activities aiming to increase equality, diversity and inclusion in the engineering and physical sciences sector, I am writing to you (in a personal capacity) to ask you to reconsider the statements you have recently made in this context to the UK press about the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct and how it is applied. A 2018 report from the joint National Academies of the United States of America, concluded that “sexual harassment is common in academic science, engineering, and medicine” and that “greater than 50 percent of women faculty and staff and 20–50 percent of women students encounter or experience sexually harassing conduct in academia”. This report described codes of conduct that make clear that sexual harassment is unethical and will not be tolerated as a “powerful incentive for change”. The authors also noted that sexual harassment can have significant and damaging effects on the integrity of research. In my own praxis, I have found that clear and consistently-implemented codes of conduct that address these issues make female scientists and engineers safer, and allow them to focus more effectively on their research. For codes of conduct to have such a positive effect, it is vital that sanctions for actions which transgress the code are meaningful and substantial. I was hence aghast to realise that in an interview with the Financial Times published on 9/1/26, you appear to have suggested that the Royal Society “should only expel fellows if their science proved “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective””. Moreover, in a further interview with the Guardian on 11/1/26 you suggested that the code “may need to be looked at again”, with the implication that your aim would be to remove the option of sanctions on Fellows for reasons not strictly related to faults or defects in their research. I suggest that changing the Royal Society’s code of conduct so that the likelihood of serious sanctions for sexual harassment is reduced, would directly endanger women who interact with the Royal Society at events or otherwise, and would provide a licence to harass to the already powerful people on whom the Society bestows fellowship. The implications of your words - that under your leadership the only infringements of the code which are likely to receive the sanction of the Fellowship being removed are those related to research misconduct - already risk empowering harassers. You stated, in the Financial Times interview, that “there’s many bad people around, but they have made scientific advances”. Given this awareness of the possibility of bad actors in our scientific community, it is wholly irresponsible to suggest that the Royal Society would not act to sanction these people if they harass more vulnerable scientists. I am hence writing to request that you retract any suggestion that the Society’s Code of Conduct should be changed so that the only reason a Fellow might be sanctioned by the removal of their Fellowship is “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective” research. This action is necessary to safeguard female scientists, a requirement placed on the Society by safeguarding legislation and UK statutory guidance. Yours sincerely, Professor Rachel A. Oliver.
January 12, 2026 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Michael Staniforth
kortizart.bsky.social
Comic-con deciding to allow GenAi imagery in the art show —giving valuable space to GenAi users to show slop right NEXT to actual artists who worked their asses off to be there— is a disgrace!

A tone deaf decision that rewards and normalizes exploitative GenAi against artists in their own spaces!
Art Show - Comic-Con
2026 Comic-Con Art Show JULY 23 through JULY 26 The Comic-Con Art Show is open to the public—you do not need a badge to come in and enjoy or purchase artwork. However, everyone entering the Art Show i...
www.comic-con.org
January 14, 2026 at 4:30 AM