Laurel & the Books (she/they)
@laurelthebooks.bsky.social
Mood Reader - novella, fantasy, queer, Tolkien, and manga fan
(sometimes k-pop and food ‘cause I contain multitudes)
(sometimes k-pop and food ‘cause I contain multitudes)
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
I have a new interview about RAKESFALL up at Reactor! In which I am quite verbose reactormag.com/author-inter...
A Conversation With Vajra Chandrasekera, Author of Rakesfall - Reactor
"I think writers, like all artists, have a responsibility to act as human cultural workers in an actual society"
reactormag.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:17 AM
I have a new interview about RAKESFALL up at Reactor! In which I am quite verbose reactormag.com/author-inter...
I had a list of things to-do on my train ride today (some pretty important), but I've actually just been watching the scenery and listening to music and I love it enough that my eyes are tearing up.
October 3, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I had a list of things to-do on my train ride today (some pretty important), but I've actually just been watching the scenery and listening to music and I love it enough that my eyes are tearing up.
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
#InverteFest 🎉 Nyla the Day Octopus 🐙 Sculpted from clay and lovingly painted 🎨
#Art #ArtYear #ArtGallery #BSNM #CoralReef #ReefSpecies #Sculpture #PolymerClay 🦑🐡
#Art #ArtYear #ArtGallery #BSNM #CoralReef #ReefSpecies #Sculpture #PolymerClay 🦑🐡
August 30, 2025 at 12:13 AM
#InverteFest 🎉 Nyla the Day Octopus 🐙 Sculpted from clay and lovingly painted 🎨
#Art #ArtYear #ArtGallery #BSNM #CoralReef #ReefSpecies #Sculpture #PolymerClay 🦑🐡
#Art #ArtYear #ArtGallery #BSNM #CoralReef #ReefSpecies #Sculpture #PolymerClay 🦑🐡
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
PLEASE SHARE! Writers! Uncanny Magazine is OPEN to Short Story Submissions from August 25 to September 8! We can't wait to read your stories!!! buff.ly/xB0IZOX
August 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM
PLEASE SHARE! Writers! Uncanny Magazine is OPEN to Short Story Submissions from August 25 to September 8! We can't wait to read your stories!!! buff.ly/xB0IZOX
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
If you too have read and enjoyed “Through the Machine” I’d be honored if you kept it in mind for awards. SFWA members can also upvote it on the Nebula list here (upvoting still seems to be working despite the other forum tech issues): www.sfwa.org/forum/readin...
Through the Machine by @cornellwriter.bsky.social, published at @lightspeedmagazine.com, is that kind of SF that almost reads like horror and definitely reads like "too near future SF". I loved it and think it's a necessary reading for everyone.
www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/thro...
www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/thro...
Through the Machine - Lightspeed Magazine
“Steve, over here! Turn to your right. Can we get a smile?” He falls back on his training easily enough, turns to the cameras, gives them his famous crooked smile, tilts his head just so as the flashe...
www.lightspeedmagazine.com
August 25, 2025 at 9:10 PM
If you too have read and enjoyed “Through the Machine” I’d be honored if you kept it in mind for awards. SFWA members can also upvote it on the Nebula list here (upvoting still seems to be working despite the other forum tech issues): www.sfwa.org/forum/readin...
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
It's almost time for my #thehungergames module to begin in SPACE (Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education) #online via #signumuniversity in September 2025.
May the odds be ever in our favor.
https://youtu.be/Tlwojys1CR0?si=ZaYdjoDqyzcvmdf2
Info […]
May the odds be ever in our favor.
https://youtu.be/Tlwojys1CR0?si=ZaYdjoDqyzcvmdf2
Info […]
Original post on universeodon.com
universeodon.com
August 21, 2025 at 3:16 PM
It's almost time for my #thehungergames module to begin in SPACE (Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education) #online via #signumuniversity in September 2025.
May the odds be ever in our favor.
https://youtu.be/Tlwojys1CR0?si=ZaYdjoDqyzcvmdf2
Info […]
May the odds be ever in our favor.
https://youtu.be/Tlwojys1CR0?si=ZaYdjoDqyzcvmdf2
Info […]
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
We're also pleased to announce the opening of submissions for WE'RE HERE 2025.
Charles is joined this year by the wonderful writer and editor @bogiperson.bsky.social!
More about the series and submission guidelines here:
www.neonhemlock.com/were-here
Charles is joined this year by the wonderful writer and editor @bogiperson.bsky.social!
More about the series and submission guidelines here:
www.neonhemlock.com/were-here
June 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
We're also pleased to announce the opening of submissions for WE'RE HERE 2025.
Charles is joined this year by the wonderful writer and editor @bogiperson.bsky.social!
More about the series and submission guidelines here:
www.neonhemlock.com/were-here
Charles is joined this year by the wonderful writer and editor @bogiperson.bsky.social!
More about the series and submission guidelines here:
www.neonhemlock.com/were-here
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
Last but not least, my review of the incredible Neon Hemlock novella Redundancies and Potentials by Dominique Dickey. Out now! Get it! bookjockeyalex.com/2025/07/23/r...
Review: “Redundancies and Potentials” by Dominique Dickey
Release Date: February 25, 2025Publisher: Neon HemlockGenre: Science Fiction Description All redundancies and potentials must be disposed of in accordance with Agency guidelines. This ensures that …
bookjockeyalex.com
July 23, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Last but not least, my review of the incredible Neon Hemlock novella Redundancies and Potentials by Dominique Dickey. Out now! Get it! bookjockeyalex.com/2025/07/23/r...
Upside Down Kiss by TXT should exist as the track to a Spiderman AMV - just saying (sucker for Spiderverse but I'll take others)
July 24, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Upside Down Kiss by TXT should exist as the track to a Spiderman AMV - just saying (sucker for Spiderverse but I'll take others)
Just started All Things Are Too Small, and I think I will like this BUT only a chapter in and the list of people I can recommend it to has whittled quite a bit. A familiarity with reading academic works will be an edge up if you're thinking of picking this one up!
July 23, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Just started All Things Are Too Small, and I think I will like this BUT only a chapter in and the list of people I can recommend it to has whittled quite a bit. A familiarity with reading academic works will be an edge up if you're thinking of picking this one up!
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
ICYMI, Uncanny Magazine Year 12: Fly Forever, Space Unicorns! Kickstarter features solicited short story writers Christopher Caldwell, P. Djèlí Clark, AnaMaria Curtis, Tananarive Due, A.T. Greenblatt, and Stephen Graham Jones! buff.ly/FTfV1GZ
July 8, 2025 at 12:05 AM
ICYMI, Uncanny Magazine Year 12: Fly Forever, Space Unicorns! Kickstarter features solicited short story writers Christopher Caldwell, P. Djèlí Clark, AnaMaria Curtis, Tananarive Due, A.T. Greenblatt, and Stephen Graham Jones! buff.ly/FTfV1GZ
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
I have some Indigenous Canadian book recommendations for you! Full list in the alt text :) @stevestred.bsky.social is celebrating Canadian Horror on his instagram & it inspired me to share these:
July 6, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I have some Indigenous Canadian book recommendations for you! Full list in the alt text :) @stevestred.bsky.social is celebrating Canadian Horror on his instagram & it inspired me to share these:
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
A great defense of discovery-based science in a time when it is very much needed.
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
July 2, 2025 at 11:57 AM
A great defense of discovery-based science in a time when it is very much needed.
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
the Strange Horizons Kickstarter is at $14,916 out of their $20,000 initial goal
they have ELEVEN DAYS LEFT
we CANNOT LOSE Strange Horizons!!!
plus we want those rad fucking stretch goals!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/str...
they have ELEVEN DAYS LEFT
we CANNOT LOSE Strange Horizons!!!
plus we want those rad fucking stretch goals!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/str...
Strange Horizons 2026
A free weekly speculative fiction magazine with a global perspective.
www.kickstarter.com
July 3, 2025 at 2:20 PM
the Strange Horizons Kickstarter is at $14,916 out of their $20,000 initial goal
they have ELEVEN DAYS LEFT
we CANNOT LOSE Strange Horizons!!!
plus we want those rad fucking stretch goals!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/str...
they have ELEVEN DAYS LEFT
we CANNOT LOSE Strange Horizons!!!
plus we want those rad fucking stretch goals!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/str...
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
Couple more days to get this deal!
It's!
THE FIRST THOUSAND TREES, the last book in the ANNUAL MIGRATION OF CLOUDS trilogy, out this fall from @ecwpress.bsky.social, is one of Indigo's Most Anticipated Canadian Books! You can preorder and save some nickels! :D
www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-fi...
THE FIRST THOUSAND TREES, the last book in the ANNUAL MIGRATION OF CLOUDS trilogy, out this fall from @ecwpress.bsky.social, is one of Indigo's Most Anticipated Canadian Books! You can preorder and save some nickels! :D
www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-fi...
July 3, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Couple more days to get this deal!
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
Strange Horizons is delighted to present our special issue on AfroSurreal SF, edited by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu and Shingai Njeri Kagunda.
Read the entire issue - with stories, poetry, essays, and reviews - here:
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/is...
Read the entire issue - with stories, poetry, essays, and reviews - here:
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/is...
30 June 2025
The Afrosurrealist Special Issue, funded by our 2024 Kickstarter.
strangehorizons.com
July 1, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Strange Horizons is delighted to present our special issue on AfroSurreal SF, edited by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu and Shingai Njeri Kagunda.
Read the entire issue - with stories, poetry, essays, and reviews - here:
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/is...
Read the entire issue - with stories, poetry, essays, and reviews - here:
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/is...
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
As one of the co-chairs of this seminar alongside @gingerprof.bsky.social and Robin Anne Reid, I am absolutely thrilled with this paper lineup. Register now to attend! $20 MythSoc members, $25 nonmembers, online August 2-3
The paper list for OMS #4: More Perilous and Fair: Women and Gender in Mythopoeic Fantasy is now live and looks fantastic! Registration is still open, come join us August 2-3! mythsoc.org/oms/oms-04.htm
Mythopoeic Society - Online Midyear Seminar 2025
Online MidSummer Seminar 2025 More Perilous and Fair: Women and Gender in Mythopoeic Fantasy
mythsoc.org
June 26, 2025 at 3:05 PM
As one of the co-chairs of this seminar alongside @gingerprof.bsky.social and Robin Anne Reid, I am absolutely thrilled with this paper lineup. Register now to attend! $20 MythSoc members, $25 nonmembers, online August 2-3
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
6 years ago today, #TheUntamed/ #CQL was 1st broadcast!
Happy birthday A-Ling!🥹🎉
#陳情令
#陳情令6周年おめでと
#TheUntamed6thAnniversary
#cdrama
#mdzs
#mxtx
Happy birthday A-Ling!🥹🎉
#陳情令
#陳情令6周年おめでと
#TheUntamed6thAnniversary
#cdrama
#mdzs
#mxtx
June 26, 2025 at 4:05 PM
6 years ago today, #TheUntamed/ #CQL was 1st broadcast!
Happy birthday A-Ling!🥹🎉
#陳情令
#陳情令6周年おめでと
#TheUntamed6thAnniversary
#cdrama
#mdzs
#mxtx
Happy birthday A-Ling!🥹🎉
#陳情令
#陳情令6周年おめでと
#TheUntamed6thAnniversary
#cdrama
#mdzs
#mxtx
The fact that TXT's latest comeback has cards stylized after *tarot* is about to be a problem for my wallet.
June 26, 2025 at 8:18 PM
The fact that TXT's latest comeback has cards stylized after *tarot* is about to be a problem for my wallet.
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
🪸 "Coral Garden" no.10 Sculpted Reef Series 🐙
🔗 sculptedreef.com/products/no-...
#Art #ArtYear #BSNM #Octopus #Wildlife #Sculpture #MixedMedia #ArtGallery #CoralReef 🐡🦑
🔗 sculptedreef.com/products/no-...
#Art #ArtYear #BSNM #Octopus #Wildlife #Sculpture #MixedMedia #ArtGallery #CoralReef 🐡🦑
June 20, 2025 at 1:30 PM
🪸 "Coral Garden" no.10 Sculpted Reef Series 🐙
🔗 sculptedreef.com/products/no-...
#Art #ArtYear #BSNM #Octopus #Wildlife #Sculpture #MixedMedia #ArtGallery #CoralReef 🐡🦑
🔗 sculptedreef.com/products/no-...
#Art #ArtYear #BSNM #Octopus #Wildlife #Sculpture #MixedMedia #ArtGallery #CoralReef 🐡🦑
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
We're thrilled to present the shortlist for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction:
June 18, 2025 at 3:01 PM
We're thrilled to present the shortlist for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction:
It's a celebration of 5 years of me reviewing books online!
To celebrate I'm giving away signed copies of the first two novellas in The Singing Hills Cycle by @nghivo.bsky.social 💖
Not only was Empress the first novella review I ever posted, it's still one of my all-time favorites.
(1/2)
To celebrate I'm giving away signed copies of the first two novellas in The Singing Hills Cycle by @nghivo.bsky.social 💖
Not only was Empress the first novella review I ever posted, it's still one of my all-time favorites.
(1/2)
June 18, 2025 at 6:12 PM
It's a celebration of 5 years of me reviewing books online!
To celebrate I'm giving away signed copies of the first two novellas in The Singing Hills Cycle by @nghivo.bsky.social 💖
Not only was Empress the first novella review I ever posted, it's still one of my all-time favorites.
(1/2)
To celebrate I'm giving away signed copies of the first two novellas in The Singing Hills Cycle by @nghivo.bsky.social 💖
Not only was Empress the first novella review I ever posted, it's still one of my all-time favorites.
(1/2)
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
A girl reckons with what she must lose–and who she has become–in order to be accepted at the empire's most prestigious university...
"The Name Ziya" by @wenyilee.bsky.social is now free to read at Reactor!
Art by Holly Warburton
Edited by Sanaa Ali-Virani
reactormag.com/the-name-ziy...
"The Name Ziya" by @wenyilee.bsky.social is now free to read at Reactor!
Art by Holly Warburton
Edited by Sanaa Ali-Virani
reactormag.com/the-name-ziy...
The Name Ziya - Reactor
A girl reckons with what she must lose--and who she has become--in order to be accepted at the empire's most prestigious university.
reactormag.com
June 18, 2025 at 1:37 PM
A girl reckons with what she must lose–and who she has become–in order to be accepted at the empire's most prestigious university...
"The Name Ziya" by @wenyilee.bsky.social is now free to read at Reactor!
Art by Holly Warburton
Edited by Sanaa Ali-Virani
reactormag.com/the-name-ziy...
"The Name Ziya" by @wenyilee.bsky.social is now free to read at Reactor!
Art by Holly Warburton
Edited by Sanaa Ali-Virani
reactormag.com/the-name-ziy...
After a decade of making Tolkien Trivia I should have learned to listen to the little voice whispering that I have written that question before.
Because it turns out that I *have* written that question before.
Because it turns out that I *have* written that question before.
a cartoon drawing of a purple kidney using a laptop with the words tappity written on the bottom
ALT: a cartoon drawing of a purple kidney using a laptop with the words tappity written on the bottom
media.tenor.com
June 18, 2025 at 2:22 PM
After a decade of making Tolkien Trivia I should have learned to listen to the little voice whispering that I have written that question before.
Because it turns out that I *have* written that question before.
Because it turns out that I *have* written that question before.
Reposted by Laurel & the Books (she/they)
I read Butcher of the Forest @premeemohamed.com and A Sorceress Comes to Call @tkingfisher.com in quick succession. Sinister and foreboding fairy tales were just what I needed!
June 16, 2025 at 9:35 PM
I read Butcher of the Forest @premeemohamed.com and A Sorceress Comes to Call @tkingfisher.com in quick succession. Sinister and foreboding fairy tales were just what I needed!