Leah Blaine
@leahblaine.bsky.social
Probably needs more coffee and definitely lost her glasses. Poet, playwright, prof, and your favorite bad influence.
leahblaine.com for writerly things
leahblaine.com for writerly things
Reposted by Leah Blaine
There are many songs about this city, but Tom Waits wrote one of the best, simply titled "Chicago." Out today, Mavis Staples' new album kicks off with her fantastic version of the song. I'm so glad to hear this quintessential Chicago singer putting her own stamp on it.
Chicago
YouTube video by Mavis Staples - Topic
youtu.be
November 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
There are many songs about this city, but Tom Waits wrote one of the best, simply titled "Chicago." Out today, Mavis Staples' new album kicks off with her fantastic version of the song. I'm so glad to hear this quintessential Chicago singer putting her own stamp on it.
Reposted by Leah Blaine
Audio-visual librarians are quietly amassing large physical media collections amid the IP disputes threatening select availability.
The Last Video Rental Store Is Your Public Library
Audio-visual librarians are quietly amassing large physical media collections amid the IP disputes threatening select availability.
www.404media.co
December 3, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Audio-visual librarians are quietly amassing large physical media collections amid the IP disputes threatening select availability.
This is where I post from (today)
November 29, 2025 at 4:38 PM
This is where I post from (today)
Reposted by Leah Blaine
We are officially less than two years away from the events of CHILDREN OF MEN
Matters seem to be right on schedule
Matters seem to be right on schedule
November 19, 2025 at 5:44 PM
We are officially less than two years away from the events of CHILDREN OF MEN
Matters seem to be right on schedule
Matters seem to be right on schedule
I cannot
I can be trusted with potions and spells
November 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I cannot
So stoked to see this over the weekend!
Highly Recommended! – Chicago Reader
Highly Recommended! – Stage & Cinema
Highly Recommended! – Chicago Theatre Review
You only have TWO more weeks to see STRANGE CARGO: THE DOOM OF THE DEMETER.
#theater #Theatre #Chicago #Plays #Performance #goseeaplay #Horror #Vampire #BramStoker #Dracula
Highly Recommended! – Stage & Cinema
Highly Recommended! – Chicago Theatre Review
You only have TWO more weeks to see STRANGE CARGO: THE DOOM OF THE DEMETER.
#theater #Theatre #Chicago #Plays #Performance #goseeaplay #Horror #Vampire #BramStoker #Dracula
November 14, 2025 at 2:24 AM
So stoked to see this over the weekend!
When the perfect event comes across my feed...
Chicago! You can now pick up tickets to the world premiere of a new adaptation of The Left Hand of Darkness, presented with puppets:
Untitled Theatre Company No. 61 and Yara Arts Group: The Left Hand of Darkness - Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival %
The Left Hand of Darkness is a new work based on the 1969 novel by famed sci-fi author Ursula K. Le Guin, wherein a lone human emissary to an alien world tries to facilitate inclusion in a growing int...
chicagopuppetfest.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:18 AM
When the perfect event comes across my feed...
Reposted by Leah Blaine
Vajra Chandrasekera's Rakesfall has won the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Award for Fiction. Congratulations!!
reactormag.com/vajra-chandr...
reactormag.com/vajra-chandr...
Vajra Chandrasekera's Rakesfall Wins 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Award for Fiction - Reactor
The award comes with a $25,000 cash prize
reactormag.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Vajra Chandrasekera's Rakesfall has won the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Award for Fiction. Congratulations!!
reactormag.com/vajra-chandr...
reactormag.com/vajra-chandr...
So excited for this!
On Tuesday, October 21st—Ursula's birthday—we'll announce the recipient of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction! Join Theo Downes-Le Guin and guest host Ebon Moss-Bachrach on YouTube for a live announcement at 9 am PDT.
The announcement will happen here: www.youtube.com/@ursula.k.le...
The announcement will happen here: www.youtube.com/@ursula.k.le...
October 17, 2025 at 7:34 PM
So excited for this!
Reposted by Leah Blaine
do u like stories about young ladies making very bad decisions in a gothic environment while under the nefarious influence of lesbian vampire novels? well boy do i have a treat for u
October 16, 2025 at 6:39 PM
do u like stories about young ladies making very bad decisions in a gothic environment while under the nefarious influence of lesbian vampire novels? well boy do i have a treat for u
Reposted by Leah Blaine
I spent the summer reporting this essay on why it seems harder than ever to sell a book right now—especially if it isn't a debut and comes with the dreaded "sales track." I'm grateful to the writers, agents, editors, publishers & experts who spoke to me for this piece: thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...
The Publishing Industry Has a Gambling Problem | The Walrus
Companies keep betting on the next bestseller. Literature is poorer for it
thewalrus.ca
September 26, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I spent the summer reporting this essay on why it seems harder than ever to sell a book right now—especially if it isn't a debut and comes with the dreaded "sales track." I'm grateful to the writers, agents, editors, publishers & experts who spoke to me for this piece: thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...
Reposted by Leah Blaine
Death to the eight-episode season. Retvrn to 12-13.
September 25, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Death to the eight-episode season. Retvrn to 12-13.
Finally watched the S3 finale of The Foundation. I am not well.
September 25, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Finally watched the S3 finale of The Foundation. I am not well.
Reposted by Leah Blaine
"There is no good and bad when a sentence moves you; there’s only what it does and how it does it."
In the newest Mark As Read, @mollytempleton.com discusses well-crafted sentences, and how they fit into our understanding of "literary" versus "genre" fiction:
reactormag.com/form-functio...
In the newest Mark As Read, @mollytempleton.com discusses well-crafted sentences, and how they fit into our understanding of "literary" versus "genre" fiction:
reactormag.com/form-functio...
Form, Function, and the Sentences We Collect - Reactor
I am not always a collector of sentences, except when I am...
reactormag.com
September 25, 2025 at 3:34 PM
"There is no good and bad when a sentence moves you; there’s only what it does and how it does it."
In the newest Mark As Read, @mollytempleton.com discusses well-crafted sentences, and how they fit into our understanding of "literary" versus "genre" fiction:
reactormag.com/form-functio...
In the newest Mark As Read, @mollytempleton.com discusses well-crafted sentences, and how they fit into our understanding of "literary" versus "genre" fiction:
reactormag.com/form-functio...
I read the shortlist over the summer and it's such a phenomenal set of books with simply amazing storytellers at the top of their craft.
We're thrilled to present the shortlist for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction:
September 23, 2025 at 10:38 PM
I read the shortlist over the summer and it's such a phenomenal set of books with simply amazing storytellers at the top of their craft.
Reposted by Leah Blaine
Those who haven’t been through the cycle of abuse rarely realize a massive part of why people stay is the horribly human conviction that if we could just find the right words, they’d understand what they’re doing is wrong & that it’s killing us.
There are no right words, because they already know.
There are no right words, because they already know.
August 30, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Those who haven’t been through the cycle of abuse rarely realize a massive part of why people stay is the horribly human conviction that if we could just find the right words, they’d understand what they’re doing is wrong & that it’s killing us.
There are no right words, because they already know.
There are no right words, because they already know.
Reposted by Leah Blaine
If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages
August 6, 2025 at 1:01 AM
If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages
Reposted by Leah Blaine
I have some August book recommendations up at @insidehook.bsky.social! www.insidehook.com/books/10-boo...
The 10 Books You Should Be Reading This August
Including a trio of musical biographies along with some gripping fiction
www.insidehook.com
August 4, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I have some August book recommendations up at @insidehook.bsky.social! www.insidehook.com/books/10-boo...
Look, I had all of Writing Group tagged at first. You know who you are (looks sternly).
Between today and the end of the year there are about 151 days.
If you write 600 words every day between today and the last day of the year you’ll have a draft of your novel.
If you write 600 words every day between today and the last day of the year you’ll have a draft of your novel.
August 3, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Look, I had all of Writing Group tagged at first. You know who you are (looks sternly).
You know what, Foundation, I was really excited to watch you, but I didn't need to be this grossed out in the first ten minutes. #pewpewchomp
Still watching. Just through my fingers.
Still watching. Just through my fingers.
July 14, 2025 at 11:47 PM
You know what, Foundation, I was really excited to watch you, but I didn't need to be this grossed out in the first ten minutes. #pewpewchomp
Still watching. Just through my fingers.
Still watching. Just through my fingers.
I still don't want eye contact, though.
(But OMG YESSSSSS!!!)
(But OMG YESSSSSS!!!)
July 10, 2025 at 10:04 PM
I still don't want eye contact, though.
(But OMG YESSSSSS!!!)
(But OMG YESSSSSS!!!)
Yay! So excited!
Stunned and elated to be part of #VP2025! (thank you, haunted placenta story) Cannot wait to meet the rest of my cohort and the faculty.
Notifications have just gone out for the 2025 Viable Paradise workshop! Congratulations/condolences to all!
If you applied and have not received an email, please reach out to contact@viableparadise.com
If you applied and have not received an email, please reach out to contact@viableparadise.com
July 9, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Yay! So excited!
I haven't been to "that stretch where it gets hilly," but now it's mapped into my brain. Crude thing, indeed (and creepy because I'm a scaredy cat!).
Many thanks to @hfr.bsky.social for publishing this weird tale of Jersey psychogeography... heavyfeatherreview.org/2025/07/03/c...
Haunted Passages Short Fiction by Tobias Carroll: “Crude Thing”
Matteo called it a crude thing. In the end that’s what stuck with me the most. A crude thing, a visitation, something unspeakable. The crude thing, and where it took us all. I was there and Erin wa…
heavyfeatherreview.org
July 3, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I haven't been to "that stretch where it gets hilly," but now it's mapped into my brain. Crude thing, indeed (and creepy because I'm a scaredy cat!).