DK Latta
@dklatta.bsky.social
I write sometimes: F/SF/H/Myst &, when I can, superheroes! Tweets a mix of self-promotion, pop cultural musings, whimsy, politics. Older than I used to be.
http://www.pulpanddagger.com/dk_latta.html
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=dk+latta&crid=3MO9V7TS40KDB&spr
http://www.pulpanddagger.com/dk_latta.html
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=dk+latta&crid=3MO9V7TS40KDB&spr
Pinned
DK Latta
@dklatta.bsky.social
· Sep 30
Strange Horizons turns 25 this year, which is pretty much an eternity in the world of spec fic zines, and I had the privilege of going through the archives for a special short fiction roundup: 2 x 25 Gems from Strange Horizons’ Archives
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
A Short Fiction Treasures Special: 2 x 25 Gems from Strange Horizons’ Archives
Going through the archives of Strange Horizons for this special column has been a bit like exploring a treasure chamber. I’ve picked fifty stories. I could have picked hundreds. Meaning: I left a l…
strangehorizons.com
Probably shouldn't say but...God, I needed this; us little writers don't expect fame/fortune, but thrive on the crumbs of kind words :)
"What I particularly love about it is how Latta fits such carefully drawn characters and so much subtle emotion into a very action-packed short story." ~M. Haskins
"What I particularly love about it is how Latta fits such carefully drawn characters and so much subtle emotion into a very action-packed short story." ~M. Haskins
Got thinking about Vulcans in #StarTrek
(Ready?)
In TOS a central theme (the themes like an onion, with layers upon layers) was man vs technology (with machines also a metaphor for fascism/totalitarianism and inhumanity; told ya there were layers)
Spock *initially* representing the machine
1/13
(Ready?)
In TOS a central theme (the themes like an onion, with layers upon layers) was man vs technology (with machines also a metaphor for fascism/totalitarianism and inhumanity; told ya there were layers)
Spock *initially* representing the machine
1/13
December 22, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Got thinking about Vulcans in #StarTrek
(Ready?)
In TOS a central theme (the themes like an onion, with layers upon layers) was man vs technology (with machines also a metaphor for fascism/totalitarianism and inhumanity; told ya there were layers)
Spock *initially* representing the machine
1/13
(Ready?)
In TOS a central theme (the themes like an onion, with layers upon layers) was man vs technology (with machines also a metaphor for fascism/totalitarianism and inhumanity; told ya there were layers)
Spock *initially* representing the machine
1/13
Reposted by DK Latta
CROSS THE LINE Book 1: “A Green-Eyed Burn”
December 21, 2025 at 11:31 PM
CROSS THE LINE Book 1: “A Green-Eyed Burn”
Reposted by DK Latta
There’s a Donovan Street Press title in here! Our own @markarayner.com’s The Gates of Polished Horn! Amazing! Congrats Mark. 🤓
December 22, 2025 at 10:29 AM
There’s a Donovan Street Press title in here! Our own @markarayner.com’s The Gates of Polished Horn! Amazing! Congrats Mark. 🤓
Share an actor who nailed a role so hard that nobody else will ever be able to live up to it...
Christopher Reeve's Superman
Christopher Reeve's Superman
December 22, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Share an actor who nailed a role so hard that nobody else will ever be able to live up to it...
Christopher Reeve's Superman
Christopher Reeve's Superman
Posted without comment (but thinking of certain political news)
December 21, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Posted without comment (but thinking of certain political news)
Reposted by DK Latta
Back in 2023, nearly all of it could be attributed to side-hustle culture. Non-writers misled into thinking this would be easy money by YouTube and TikTok "experts." In the last year, it's been more co-writing than fully-generated. More of it is coming from inside the SFF house now.
December 21, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Back in 2023, nearly all of it could be attributed to side-hustle culture. Non-writers misled into thinking this would be easy money by YouTube and TikTok "experts." In the last year, it's been more co-writing than fully-generated. More of it is coming from inside the SFF house now.
Reposted by DK Latta
I. am. dying. 😂
I don’t know how to identify a bad parent anymore. But sweeties, you’re doing great!
December 21, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I. am. dying. 😂
A common game/meme on bluesky/twitter is rounds of "Post a pic/gif/quote of your fav _____ (movies/scene/comic/book/song) *without* saying why."
But isn't the "why" what makes it interesting? Either 'cause it provides insight into another's POV, or just to pique your interest in the 1st place
But isn't the "why" what makes it interesting? Either 'cause it provides insight into another's POV, or just to pique your interest in the 1st place
December 21, 2025 at 5:20 PM
A common game/meme on bluesky/twitter is rounds of "Post a pic/gif/quote of your fav _____ (movies/scene/comic/book/song) *without* saying why."
But isn't the "why" what makes it interesting? Either 'cause it provides insight into another's POV, or just to pique your interest in the 1st place
But isn't the "why" what makes it interesting? Either 'cause it provides insight into another's POV, or just to pique your interest in the 1st place
I know it's an unfair onus: but we need this from rich celebs. Businessmen became rich *because* they are awful and conservative; artists become rich by happenstance and so retain a soul (the "liberal" artist cliché); step-up, bail out a newspaper; buy up debts; create a foundation; be-the-change...
The actor Michael Sheen used all his money to start a fake debt collecting business, buy 900 people in Wales's debt, and excused it. If Musk bought ALL $194 billion in medical debt in the U.S. and excused it in the same way, he'd still be the world's riches man by hundreds of billions of dollars.
Michael Sheen spent his own money to write off $1.3 million of neighbors’ debts | CNN
Actor Michael Sheen has bought $1.3 million of his neighbors’ debts and written them off using $129,000 of his own money.
www.cnn.com
December 21, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I know it's an unfair onus: but we need this from rich celebs. Businessmen became rich *because* they are awful and conservative; artists become rich by happenstance and so retain a soul (the "liberal" artist cliché); step-up, bail out a newspaper; buy up debts; create a foundation; be-the-change...
Random self-plug flashback:
"The Maiden's Path"; my attempt at imagining a "new" Fan/S&S trope; specifically finding another profession other'n the mercenary/thief/assassin/etc cliché. I settled on...architect. A tale of a Master Builder bedeviled by a cursed land...
lackingtons.com/2018/04/30/t...
"The Maiden's Path"; my attempt at imagining a "new" Fan/S&S trope; specifically finding another profession other'n the mercenary/thief/assassin/etc cliché. I settled on...architect. A tale of a Master Builder bedeviled by a cursed land...
lackingtons.com/2018/04/30/t...
The Maiden’s Path, by D.K. Latta
The man who rode ahead of our party was dressed in armour, dented and scraped from scores of campaigns. I could not tell if he wore it simply out of habit, or to deliberately intimidate me. I suspe…
lackingtons.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Random self-plug flashback:
"The Maiden's Path"; my attempt at imagining a "new" Fan/S&S trope; specifically finding another profession other'n the mercenary/thief/assassin/etc cliché. I settled on...architect. A tale of a Master Builder bedeviled by a cursed land...
lackingtons.com/2018/04/30/t...
"The Maiden's Path"; my attempt at imagining a "new" Fan/S&S trope; specifically finding another profession other'n the mercenary/thief/assassin/etc cliché. I settled on...architect. A tale of a Master Builder bedeviled by a cursed land...
lackingtons.com/2018/04/30/t...
A Lord of the Rings cover band (Canadian edition):
Gordon Proudfoot
Me Mom & Mordor
Spirit of the Westernesse
The Rohan Junkies
Baggins-Thorin Overdrive
Gordon Proudfoot
Me Mom & Mordor
Spirit of the Westernesse
The Rohan Junkies
Baggins-Thorin Overdrive
December 20, 2025 at 10:57 PM
A Lord of the Rings cover band (Canadian edition):
Gordon Proudfoot
Me Mom & Mordor
Spirit of the Westernesse
The Rohan Junkies
Baggins-Thorin Overdrive
Gordon Proudfoot
Me Mom & Mordor
Spirit of the Westernesse
The Rohan Junkies
Baggins-Thorin Overdrive
Wild thought (or maybe obvious): often with trends (social/cultural/political) you cannot point to 1 factor; usually it's a cultural nexus. So I was thinking how the Satanic Panic sprung out of the '70s' rising interest in cults/occult: this series makes the link to...1/4
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall | CBC Podcasts | CBC Listen
In the 1980s and 90s, Satan and his followers were accused of brainwashing children, sacrificing babies, and infiltrating North American society on a massive scale — yet these thousands of alleged Sat...
www.cbc.ca
December 20, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Wild thought (or maybe obvious): often with trends (social/cultural/political) you cannot point to 1 factor; usually it's a cultural nexus. So I was thinking how the Satanic Panic sprung out of the '70s' rising interest in cults/occult: this series makes the link to...1/4
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
One of the interesting points in CBC's The Devil You Know w/ Sarah Marshall is how the Satanic Panic could shift the focus from real abuse (often perpetrated by people & institutions where it might be an open secret) onto an imaginary - and secret - "other."
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall | CBC Podcasts | CBC Listen
In the 1980s and 90s, Satan and his followers were accused of brainwashing children, sacrificing babies, and infiltrating North American society on a massive scale — yet these thousands of alleged Sat...
www.cbc.ca
December 20, 2025 at 5:22 PM
One of the interesting points in CBC's The Devil You Know w/ Sarah Marshall is how the Satanic Panic could shift the focus from real abuse (often perpetrated by people & institutions where it might be an open secret) onto an imaginary - and secret - "other."
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
Reposted by DK Latta
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
I'm always fascinated by the vagaries of pop cultural footprints/impact. Movies that bombed become beloved classics a generation later; books that were all-the-rage one summer are in the 2-for-1 bin two years later. And people make Zardoz jokes to this day lol
Y'know how there's the thing w/ Avatar movies: they are among the highest grossing films ever (& by extension: film franchise) yet their cultural footprint is comparatively minor? 'least in terms of usual places pop cult (esp. SF) get talked about? This isn't a put-down but a curious phenomenon
1/5
1/5
December 20, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I'm always fascinated by the vagaries of pop cultural footprints/impact. Movies that bombed become beloved classics a generation later; books that were all-the-rage one summer are in the 2-for-1 bin two years later. And people make Zardoz jokes to this day lol
Y'know how there's the thing w/ Avatar movies: they are among the highest grossing films ever (& by extension: film franchise) yet their cultural footprint is comparatively minor? 'least in terms of usual places pop cult (esp. SF) get talked about? This isn't a put-down but a curious phenomenon
1/5
1/5
December 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Y'know how there's the thing w/ Avatar movies: they are among the highest grossing films ever (& by extension: film franchise) yet their cultural footprint is comparatively minor? 'least in terms of usual places pop cult (esp. SF) get talked about? This isn't a put-down but a curious phenomenon
1/5
1/5
Reposted by DK Latta
🚨New gig!🚨@creatorvc and I are launching a new newsletter: Flashback! Join us as we explore the genre classics that defined the '70s, '80s, and '90s. This week we revisit Joe Dante's 1984 classic Gremlins, the perfect mix of merriment and mischief! www.letsflashback.com/p/the-gift-o...
The Gift of the Mogwai
We revisit Joe Dante’s 1984 classic, Gremlins, written by Christopher Columbus. It’s the perfect mix of merriment, moral considerations, and mischief!
www.letsflashback.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:28 PM
🚨New gig!🚨@creatorvc and I are launching a new newsletter: Flashback! Join us as we explore the genre classics that defined the '70s, '80s, and '90s. This week we revisit Joe Dante's 1984 classic Gremlins, the perfect mix of merriment and mischief! www.letsflashback.com/p/the-gift-o...
Relevant to the modern discourse 'cause it reminds you there has always been a tendency in a lot of "news media" to see themselves as people to platform sensational stories (in pursuit of ratings, sales, or to flatter the powerful) rather than do boring stuff like see if the story is actually true.
Listening to CBC's "The Devil You Know" about the so-called Satanic Panic and have thoughts. One is, even having lived through it it's amazing how bizarre it was (and how we've memory holed it): mainstream news claiming rampant cults (that have since, poof, disappeared!)
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall | CBC Podcasts | CBC Listen
In the 1980s and 90s, Satan and his followers were accused of brainwashing children, sacrificing babies, and infiltrating North American society on a massive scale — yet these thousands of alleged Sat...
www.cbc.ca
December 18, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Relevant to the modern discourse 'cause it reminds you there has always been a tendency in a lot of "news media" to see themselves as people to platform sensational stories (in pursuit of ratings, sales, or to flatter the powerful) rather than do boring stuff like see if the story is actually true.
Listening to CBC's "The Devil You Know" about the so-called Satanic Panic and have thoughts. One is, even having lived through it it's amazing how bizarre it was (and how we've memory holed it): mainstream news claiming rampant cults (that have since, poof, disappeared!)
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall | CBC Podcasts | CBC Listen
In the 1980s and 90s, Satan and his followers were accused of brainwashing children, sacrificing babies, and infiltrating North American society on a massive scale — yet these thousands of alleged Sat...
www.cbc.ca
December 18, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Listening to CBC's "The Devil You Know" about the so-called Satanic Panic and have thoughts. One is, even having lived through it it's amazing how bizarre it was (and how we've memory holed it): mainstream news claiming rampant cults (that have since, poof, disappeared!)
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-p...
Something I hadn't processed when I read Nero Wolfe/Rex Stout yrs ago was how much he leaned into a mythology. As if taking lessons from Sherlock Holmes fans obsessed with every crumb of minutia (Persian slipper, Moriarty) Stout went all in on specifics: red leather chair; orchids; yellow PJs; etc
Was listening to some old Nero Wolfe / Rex Stout audiobooks. I used to read a LOT of NW when younger and listening/re-reading them now I see why. They really are very good, snappy-paced and funny. And I had some thoughts (of course!)
1) The books are clever n twisty but not necessarily great...1/7
1) The books are clever n twisty but not necessarily great...1/7
December 17, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Something I hadn't processed when I read Nero Wolfe/Rex Stout yrs ago was how much he leaned into a mythology. As if taking lessons from Sherlock Holmes fans obsessed with every crumb of minutia (Persian slipper, Moriarty) Stout went all in on specifics: red leather chair; orchids; yellow PJs; etc
To be blunter: there are examples of artists (and their fans) doing the eyeroll when someone points out problematic stuff in the art, smugly saying depiction≠endorsement...only for the artist to later get outted as problematic and everyone doing the "How could we have known?" thing lol
December 17, 2025 at 6:04 PM
To be blunter: there are examples of artists (and their fans) doing the eyeroll when someone points out problematic stuff in the art, smugly saying depiction≠endorsement...only for the artist to later get outted as problematic and everyone doing the "How could we have known?" thing lol
Posts regularly pop up w/ people insisting (in art) depiction≠endorsement, in response (I guess) to people complaining about problematic behaviour in a story. But saying it does/doesn't is equally simplistic; there are a lot of grey areas...and that's part of grappling with/analysing meaning in art
December 17, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Posts regularly pop up w/ people insisting (in art) depiction≠endorsement, in response (I guess) to people complaining about problematic behaviour in a story. But saying it does/doesn't is equally simplistic; there are a lot of grey areas...and that's part of grappling with/analysing meaning in art
The structure of essays we're taught (introduce your thesis, lay out facts, arguments, re-state thesis) can be problematic. Part of the reason - some - essays can be uninteresting is because the point is stated at the beginning. Rather than teasing it out and unfolding it as you go like a narrative.
An addendum to this is:
How often can you recall reading an essay, blog, tweet, whatever that got you thinking? Not necessarily instantly changed your mind (you might be a bit flighty if that happened lol), but made you re-consider something you previously were certain of (or hadn't thought about)
How often can you recall reading an essay, blog, tweet, whatever that got you thinking? Not necessarily instantly changed your mind (you might be a bit flighty if that happened lol), but made you re-consider something you previously were certain of (or hadn't thought about)
Do people read op-eds/essays interested in new ideas, perspective? Or do most read simply to have their views mirrored back at them? There's a whole industry of opinion writing, political and cultural, (exponentially increased by blogs n social media, x n bluesky) but does it affect...anything?
1/4
1/4
December 15, 2025 at 8:56 PM
The structure of essays we're taught (introduce your thesis, lay out facts, arguments, re-state thesis) can be problematic. Part of the reason - some - essays can be uninteresting is because the point is stated at the beginning. Rather than teasing it out and unfolding it as you go like a narrative.
Practically the first time I ever heard of Trump was yrs ago: my brother describing an interview on Larry King where King asks Trump what made him a good negotiator and trump responded by telling King he had bad breath; King looked nonplussed and Trump crowed *that's* how he did it.
...
Anyhoo...
...
Anyhoo...
December 15, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Practically the first time I ever heard of Trump was yrs ago: my brother describing an interview on Larry King where King asks Trump what made him a good negotiator and trump responded by telling King he had bad breath; King looked nonplussed and Trump crowed *that's* how he did it.
...
Anyhoo...
...
Anyhoo...
Reposted by DK Latta
We want celebrated actors, directors, athletes, singers to be Good People. We want to know that fame can sometimes be deployed in life- and world-enhancing ways not distorting a person. It tends not to be so.
Rob Reiner set the bar for Good People very high.
RIP to him. He‘s already missed.
Rob Reiner set the bar for Good People very high.
RIP to him. He‘s already missed.
December 15, 2025 at 2:23 PM
We want celebrated actors, directors, athletes, singers to be Good People. We want to know that fame can sometimes be deployed in life- and world-enhancing ways not distorting a person. It tends not to be so.
Rob Reiner set the bar for Good People very high.
RIP to him. He‘s already missed.
Rob Reiner set the bar for Good People very high.
RIP to him. He‘s already missed.