Dor Atkinson is revising dystopian YA 🏹🤖💘
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atkinsondor.bsky.social
Dor Atkinson is revising dystopian YA 🏹🤖💘
@atkinsondor.bsky.social
1.7K followers 2.3K following 520 posts
KidLit author, theatre director, professor, she/ her. MG & YA. SFF. Inkredibles int'l writers group, founded in '22. Aries, ally, bi. SCBWI. BLM. Proud mom of a ND kiddo. Here to cheer on fellow #kidlit folks and writers. doratkinson.com
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atkinsondor.bsky.social
Happy #Caturday and day after Halloween! 🎃

Editing on a holiday is tricky. Especially with pets. And kids. Hope to get more witchy work done on ye olde #WIP tonight.

#writingcommunity #amwriting #YA #dystopian #boo
Woman in black witch's costume and gloves with her computer. Woman in black witch's costume and gloves with her computer and a gold-eyed tabby cat standing in the way.
November 1, 2025 at 11:07 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
WARCROSS x CINDER x Greek mythology

In a future America, where a myth-obsessed tech CEO turns humans into cyborgs, 18yo Sai must use her psychic powers to find her twin sister and free cyborg rebel Eros from a VR Underworld before the CEO programs him to destroy her.

#GhostPit #YA #DS #SF #R #E 💘
Moodboard: Man with a scarred back, implanting a microchip in an arm, blue glowing humanoid robot, the statue of Eros and Psyche, the phrase "to love is human", cracked ground outside a city, white maze, a cyborg girl with the phrase "Psyche"
October 30, 2025 at 8:17 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Psyche & Eros x WARCROSS x CINDER

In a future America, where a myth-obsessed tech CEO turns humans into cyborgs, 18yo Sai must use her psychic powers to find her twin sister and free cyborg rebel Eros from a VR Underworld or become a pawn in the CEO’s game forever.

#GhostPit #YA #DS #SF #SPEC #E 💘
A mood board with these images: a man with a scarred back, someone implanting a microchip in an arm, a blue glowing humanoid robot, the marble statue of Eros and Psyche, cracked, polluted earth around a city, a white maze, and a cyborg girl. The Phrase "to love is human" and the words "Eros" and "Psyche."
October 30, 2025 at 6:04 AM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
One of the perks of working on a production of Macbeth with your kiddo is that sometimes said kiddo coaxes you to indulge in a little post-rehearsal hot chocolate. ☕🎉🥰
Woman in purple scarf sits at a small cafe table with a mug of hot chocolate.
October 15, 2025 at 6:17 AM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Happy #Caturday!

Why my cats = my #WIP characters:

Peri is impulsive. Sticks her tongue out wile sleeping. So, she's like my MC (minus the tongue) 🤺

Selkie understands complex systems, like how to open the treats can. So, she's like my MC's BFF. 🍃

Pepper's on a mission of love. Like my LI. 💘🏹
Tabby cat peeking out from under fuzzy blanket Black cat with yellow eyes stares into camera Tabby cat asleep with tongue sticking out a bit
October 11, 2025 at 11:11 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips

The word of the day is #prize.

#WIP #YA #dystopian 🏹🤖💘
Text from my WIP on a purple backdrop: "He glances back, mischief and pride flickering in his human eye. Even here, forced to perform like Venus’ prize gladiator, he can’t help but enjoy his prowess with a bow."
October 10, 2025 at 11:45 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Best thing that happened this week is that SCARLET MORNING, the next kidlit bestseller #MG #fantasy, came out AND @gingerhaze.bsky.social came to our weird lil beach town and made my kiddo's day by signing her Horde pin.

AND she got to introduce him. 💜😭

Can't express how 🤩 we are. BUY THIS BOOK! 🏴‍☠️
September 28, 2025 at 5:51 AM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Wow. Has anyone else read this? Such a trip.

Many of my MCs are unhoused or close to it, so this book drew me right in. If anyone is looking for a conclusive ending, you won't find it here. But it will suck you into its delirious spell.

#amwriting #amreading #SFF #speculative
Book: Wizard of the Pigeons by Megan Lindholm (who also writes as Robin Hobbs). Bookcover depicts a young man with unusually bright blue eyes, dog tags hanging around his neck, and pigeons flying around his head.
September 12, 2025 at 11:18 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Having fun digging into this one.

He was in love with "monsters and skeletons and circuses and carnivals and dinosaurs and, at last, the red planet, Mars."

What would my list be? "fairies and merboys and artists and cyborgs and tyrannical queens..."

What would your list be? 😊

#writingcommunity
Ray Bradbury's book ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING
September 5, 2025 at 8:26 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
You ever write something and think "Who the hell is this person writing this?"

That's me with this #YA #WIP. 🙃

In shades of...
A collection of books: Cinder, Autonomous, Galatea, Warcross, Never Let Me Go, Ready Player One, The Hunger Games, Alive, and Psyche and Eros.
August 28, 2025 at 7:14 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Yeah, you know, just an ordinary Monday hanging with legend Bobby McFerrin plus the spontaneous participation of audience member Jack Black... 🤯

How was your Monday?

#monday #amwriting #aminspired #improv
Five musical performers on stage at The Freight, including Bobby McFerrin and Jack Black, with a blue curtain upstage of the performers
August 19, 2025 at 3:22 AM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Periwinkle (aka Peri) is master of the chill 😹

Happily, she loves belly rubs 😊

Happy last hours of #caturday!
Super stretched out tabby kitty
August 17, 2025 at 4:04 AM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
#WIPsnips #writesky #amwriting #mythos

Here's an excerpt from my dystopian #YA #WIP with the word "split."

I'm in revisions, and my current word count is 82K.
Text on purple background: He slides toward me. Armor exits his body, folding around him like a burnished skin. Half his forehead slips away to reveal hardware as a repulsive smile splits his face. “He won’t kill me,” I say. “You can’t make him.” Venus hands him a crossbow. “He’s incapable of missing.”
August 12, 2025 at 4:27 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
My writing journal is putting Pepper to sleep.

Maybe that's not a good sign 😅😆😹

#WIP #YA #amwriting #amediting
tabby cat falling asleep over a journal
August 11, 2025 at 6:18 AM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Writing in Mendocino 🧡

#WIP #YA #mythology #dystopian #appletrees
Laptop, soda can, and orange journal on a weathered picnic bench in an apple orchard
July 31, 2025 at 1:42 AM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Mini retreat with writer friends in SF! The sound of fingers typing is truly a soothing balm. Not to mention being surrounded by the stunning work of @amynelder.bsky.social!

#amwriting #WIP #YA #dystopian #writingcommunity #MGDucks 😍🎉
Four people standing in front of modern paintings in an artist studio.
July 21, 2025 at 4:08 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Shakespeare Intensive wrapped up! Whew!

Time to change hats back from director to writer again.

(BTW, my kiddo played Puck and made this hat!) 😄🍃

#amwrting #writingcommunity #WIP
A black top hat with green moss an green ivy and red mushrooms all over it.
July 15, 2025 at 2:52 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Here's a dose of #caturday in the midst of everything.

Staying on chairs while sleeping is challenging sometimes. Or so Peri says.

#writingcommunity
June 28, 2025 at 4:06 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
#WIPsnips - challenge

Here's a snip from my dystopian #YA.

🤖💘🏹 #WIP #amwriting #writesky #writingprompts #writingcommunity
A purple text box with this text: "Some challenges may be virtual, but all are deadly.” Venus lets that warning hover, then flashes a lip-sticked smile. “You’re all amazing, so don’t you worry."
June 26, 2025 at 9:16 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
I'm sure all you college instructors out there who use Canvas will appreciate the joy of this sight... 🎉

Whew!! 😅

#writingcommunity #readyforsummer
Coming up: Nothing for the next week Recent feedback: Nothing for now View grades
May 27, 2025 at 4:43 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
Happy #Caturday! 😻

Despite Periwinkle and Peppercorn crashing across my laptop day after day, I'm now up to 49K on the sci-fi #YA #WIP. 🤖

#writingcommunity
two brown tabby cats cuddled up together
May 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
A message from Santa Cruz today... 🎉
mural says "Be Radical and Stay Magical" with a rainbow and some pine trees branches
May 23, 2025 at 7:27 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
So, while at an Improv show tonight, I jotted some notes in a text message to my spouse, you know, to save them for later, in case I want to practice and teach these games.

So he responded. Best text ever... IMO... 🤣🤣🤣

#writingcommunity #easilyamused
Text message: Crystal Ball, expert panel, do do run run, sing it, countdown half the time Text response: Ballerina, microscope, do wop boogie woogie, time the half countdown.
May 18, 2025 at 6:18 AM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
CINDER x WARCROSS x Greek myth

Driven by her sister's screams in her head, Sai infiltrates a mysterious AI corp to find her. Now she and Eros, a brazen cyborg rebel, must survive the CEO's underworld VR game or suffer with her sister as mindless tools of endless war.

#QuestPit #W #YA #SF 💘🏹🤖
A man with a scarred back, Eros and Psyche statue, a decimated countryside outside a city, tech installed in someone's arm, a person in a labyrinth, a blue android, the phrase "to love is human" over a dark city, and a cyborg girl with the word "Psyche"
May 7, 2025 at 3:17 PM
atkinsondor.bsky.social
#WIPsnips is a fun way to pass the time.

From my #YA sci-fi #WIP: "bed"

#writingcommunity #writingprompts #writesky

CW: fire, creepy hospitals
the text reads: "In some beds, the glow comes from beneath the sheets, a series of crimson and yellow flickers. Fire explodes from one patient’s lungs as his gurney rattles."
May 7, 2025 at 4:24 AM