M. C. Benner Dixon
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mchristinebd.bsky.social
M. C. Benner Dixon
@mchristinebd.bsky.social
750 followers 670 following 320 posts
Writer, editor, coach. She/her. Pittsburgh. My writing trends lyrical, peculiar, melancholy, existential. Books: MILLIONS OF SUNS (2023). THE HEIGHT OF LAND (2025). Covid cautious/airborne aware. Rep: Naomi Davis, BookEnds. linktr.ee/mchristinebd
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mchristinebd.bsky.social
M. C. Benner Dixon @mchristinebd.bsky.social · Apr 1
Today, my first novel comes out. Now there are two books with my name on them. They are different creatures, these two, but I put my heart into both of them. Readers: I hope these books move you, encourage you, challenge you. May these books start to feel like your books, too.
Selfie of M. C. Benner Dixon, smiling broadly, as she sits in front of a brick house with a stack of her books, The Height of Land, on her lap, holding one of them to face the camera. Two books by M. C. Benner Dixon, The Height of Land and Millions of Suns, lay slightly on top of one another on a wood floor.
mchristinebd.bsky.social
The deal report for my next novel—written under the pen name Mir Benitz—came out this week. It’s kinetic and swoony and colorful. I can’t wait for readers to get ahold of FIRE POWER. This report doesn’t mention the fact, but the novel is also being published in the U.S. by Little, Brown.
Publishers Marketplace deal report for FIRE POWER by Mir Benitz from Headline. White square of text with a dark blue border.
November 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
markdixon.bsky.social
My wife, @mchristinebd.bsky.social, did a book event yesterday and I tagged along to watch and also set up 6 AirFanta 3Pro air filters to reduce viral transmission. (Five pictured, one more in back. Plug spots limited options.) We both wore high quality masks, too. #COVIDisnotover #AirQuality
Five AirFanta 3Pro air filters in mesh bags on the floor near a table and chair at the front of a room. Lots of books on shelves all around.
November 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
mchristinebd.bsky.social
Pittsburgh! Come out on 11/4 @ 7 PM to hear from @yumewrites.bsky.social Do you like near-future dystopias, stubborn people, climate fiction, pirates, smart and resourceful female characters, complicated family relationships, and gorgeous writing? Join us! www.riverstonebookstore.com/events/an-ev...
An Evening with Yume Kitasei in Conversation with MC Benner Dixon — Riverstone Books
Author Yume Kitasei joins us to talk about her latest dystopian sci-fi book, SALTCROP.
www.riverstonebookstore.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM
mchristinebd.bsky.social
Pittsburgh! Come out on 11/4 @ 7 PM to hear from @yumewrites.bsky.social Do you like near-future dystopias, stubborn people, climate fiction, pirates, smart and resourceful female characters, complicated family relationships, and gorgeous writing? Join us! www.riverstonebookstore.com/events/an-ev...
An Evening with Yume Kitasei in Conversation with MC Benner Dixon — Riverstone Books
Author Yume Kitasei joins us to talk about her latest dystopian sci-fi book, SALTCROP.
www.riverstonebookstore.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
amykdebellis.bsky.social
I’m so excited to announce that ALL OUR TOMORROWS is now available as an audiobook! 🎧 This project was so important to me bc I’m part of the ME/CFS community, and many of my peers can only tolerate audiobooks. I wanted to make sure my book was accessible to everyone. 🩵 Peep my bio!
October 27, 2025 at 9:31 PM
mchristinebd.bsky.social
This essay about weeds and teachers came out today on Vox Populi. It’s part of an essay collection that Sharon and I are working on—all nature essays. We just turned the full manuscript in to our editor this week! Here's the link to the full essay: voxpopulisphere.com/2025/10/16/m...
Color drawing of an orange daylily on a white background. Handwritten text: Will Pull Weeds For Cash (excerpts) by M. C. Benner Dixon Green weeds poke up from the bottom of the image. Text: It was a good summer job for a college kid. A quick drive down Old Plains Road, past the AT&T tower, and pull in at one of the innumerable fieldstone farmhouses nestled among the Pennsylvania back roads of the Upper Perkiomen Valley. Elaine would be waiting for me with my tools—a small trowel, a garden rake, a forked dandelion weeder—and a bucket for the weeds. Various plants mentioned in the text fill the margins around handwritten words. Text: I knew my johnny-jump-ups from my wood sorrel, my daisies from my fleabane. I could spot poison ivy at twenty paces and knew the difference between its leaves and Virginia creeper. A cluster of pokeberries hang from one corner of the image. Text: The typical home gardener creates the perfect environment for these weeds. We disturb the soil. We clear it and dig it and turn it over, keeping it in a perpetual state of starting over. From the perspective of the plants trying to grow in our gardens, we are an ever-collapsing riverbank, an endless landslide, a storm-toppled tree that falls over and over, exposing soil to the sun.
October 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
yumewrites.bsky.social
I wrote an essay for @lithub.com.web.brid.gy about how I think there are two subgenres of dystopian fiction - the allegorical / thought experiment and the potential horrible future - and how they seem to be blending more and more…and converging with reality.

lithub.com/its-okay-but...
“It’s Okay But It’s Also Really Not.” When Dystopian Fiction is No Longer a Thought Experiment
Dystopian fiction is getting real, and I’m here for it. I don’t think I’m the only one. There’s something cathartic about reading about the end of the world. As a science fiction reader and avid fa…
lithub.com
October 6, 2025 at 11:00 PM
mchristinebd.bsky.social
That’s the kind of reader feedback you dream about. (This is my other pen name, by the way.)
mir-benitz.bsky.social Mir Benitz, Author @mir-benitz.bsky.social · Oct 3
This is definitely a first! One of my early readers told me she was so excited reading the climactic race scene in my book that she was physically trembling. I feel both proud of my work and a little bad for hijacking her body’s nervous system.
October 3, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
susankayequinn.bsky.social
Writers, man. What an emotional train wreck! (It's me; I'm the wreck)

I'm a prolific author with lots of novels/short stories over many years... I have a pattern. When I finish a story, the first 24 hours are an emotional rollercoaster.

All the highs.
All the lows.
1/n
#writing
October 1, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
mchristinebd.bsky.social
Woo! Weekend conference followed by a book talk this evening . . . So much writerliness over the last few days!

And more to come! @yumewrites.bsky.social and I are talking about her new book on Thursday! www.riverstonebookstore.com/events/an-ev... #PittsburghBooks
An Evening with Yume Kitasei in Conversation with MC Benner Dixon — Riverstone Books
Author Yume Kitasei joins us to talk about her latest dystopian sci-fi book, SALTCROP.
www.riverstonebookstore.com
September 29, 2025 at 2:14 AM
mchristinebd.bsky.social
Woo! Weekend conference followed by a book talk this evening . . . So much writerliness over the last few days!

And more to come! @yumewrites.bsky.social and I are talking about her new book on Thursday! www.riverstonebookstore.com/events/an-ev... #PittsburghBooks
An Evening with Yume Kitasei in Conversation with MC Benner Dixon — Riverstone Books
Author Yume Kitasei joins us to talk about her latest dystopian sci-fi book, SALTCROP.
www.riverstonebookstore.com
September 29, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
teffeau.bsky.social
A Hunger with No Name has been out in the world for a year! I'm still in love with this story of hope in the high desert, dealing w so many things we’re grappling w now.

Like, follow, share for your chance to win the book in the format of your choice (internat'l e-book only) #giveaway
Book Birthday Giveaway featuring cover of Lauren C Teffeau's A Hunger with No Name A Hunger with No Name by Lauren C. Teffeau cover closeup with the txt LIKE FOLLOW SHARE for your chance to win a copy of the book in any format (non-us ebook only).
September 22, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
leahmcelrath.bsky.social
The best and most accessible explanation I’ve seen about some of the far-right subcultures and how they operate and communicate is this TikTok by @cybelecanterel.bsky.social.

It’s 8 minutes long—so I can’t post it—and it’s worth every minute.

www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6E36akE/
A quick crash course in blackpill accelerationism: the memes are the ideology.
TikTok video by Cy Canterel
www.tiktok.com
September 15, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
nordqvistbooks.bsky.social
✨Blurb reveal from @sonorareyes.bsky.social for IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD, out February 10! ✨
Blurb from author Sonora Reyes for IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD, out February 10, 2026, by Sabina Nordqvist “Nordqvist masterfully balances a swoon-worthy, toe-curling romance with the unfiltered reality of being disabled in our current society—from the frustration of not being heard, to the magic of finally feeling seen. If you have ever wondered if you were too much or not enough to be loved completely as you are, this book is for you.” - Sonora Reyes, author of The Broposal
September 13, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
mikepiero.org
Pleased to share that my book review of @mchristinebd.bsky.social's brilliant debut novel, The Height of Land, just dropped in Rain Taxi. Check it out through the link below! Also be sure to pick up The Height of Land: www.orisonbooks.com/product-page...

#bookreview

raintaxi.com/rain-taxi-re...
CURRENT PRINT EDITION - Rain Taxi Review of Books
Volume 30, Number 3, Fall 2025 (#119) To purchase issue #119 using Paypal, click here.To become a member and get quarterly issues of Rain
raintaxi.com
September 12, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
the-big-quiet.bsky.social
Don't wait until you have a book coming out to write your acknowledgments page. It's not a bad little activity (especially in moments as fraught as this one) to remind yourself of the impact of other people (so many other people!) & institutions have had on your life.
September 11, 2025 at 8:00 PM
mchristinebd.bsky.social
Yume's book is perfect for people who like:
- Sister stories
- Climate fiction
- Boats and sailing
- Stubborn main characters
- Lovely writing
Bring a friend! See you there!

@yumewrites.bsky.social @riverstonebooks.bsky.social
#climatefiction #clifi

www.riverstonebookstore.com/events/an-ev...
An Evening with Yume Kitasei in Conversation with MC Benner Dixon — Riverstone Books
Author Yume Kitasei joins us to talk about her latest dystopian sci-fi book, SALTCROP.
www.riverstonebookstore.com
September 11, 2025 at 8:49 PM
mchristinebd.bsky.social
This fall, I'm going to be talking about writing, learning new writing skills, teaching writing, communing with other writers, and so on. I would love if it you joined me at any of these events! Most are online. Some are free or sliding scale, some are paid. Please come! See bio link for more info.
Background is a painting of a distressed man. Text: All Writers Are Thieves. September 12, 3:30–5 PM. Inkubator Conference @ Cleveland Public Library (Level 2, Room C). This speculative fiction workshop offers techniques for “stealing” treasures for use in your writing. Filch a fairytale here, lift a headline there—fill your writerly pockets with new ideas. inkubator.litcleveland.org Background of a blue-tinted water scene at night. Text: Flight of Foundry. Online conference. Pay what you can. Writing in the Climate Change Era (Panel), 9/26, 7 PM Eastern. Writing with a Pseudonym (Panel), 9/27, 11 AM. Part of This World: Setting Your Story in Real World Locations (Panel), 9/27, 2 PM. Chill n’ Chat with M. C. Benner Dixon, 9/27, 5 PM. 2025 Debuts Group Reading, 9/28, 10 AM. Navigating Hope in the Darkness (Panel), 9/28, 12 PM. flights-of-foundry.org Background of an empty parking lot. Text: The Holy Mundane. Oct. 14, 21, & 28. 7–8:30 pm Eastern $175. Virtual Sessions, Orison Books. We may touch transcendence once or twice in our lives, but we live out our days here in the valley with our to-do lists, our well-worn paths from one place to another, our daily necessities. Where is the sacred in such a workaday landscape? This writing workshop invites writers to honor the holy mundane: the ritual of routine, the miracle of the dust mote, the unornamented prayer. orisonbooks.com/product-page/the-holy-mundane-a-class-with-m-c-benner-dixon Background of a woman in a polkadot dress mid-speech. Text: Say What? Dialogue in Fiction. Nove. 11 & 18. 6:30–8:30 PM ET. $70/$50 (members). Virtual Sessions, Literary Cleveland. This four-hour online skill-building workshop will delve into the pitfalls and opportunities of writing dialogue in fiction. You’ll leave with new tools for capturing the voices of your characters on the page. Sign up for this hands-on workshop to stretch your skills as a writer and sharpen the dialogue in your fiction. litcleveland.org/classes-workshops/say-what-dialogue-in-fiction
September 9, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
markdixon.bsky.social
I went to film an indoor event yesterday and wore a P100 mask + set up 8 AirFanta 3Pro filters to clean the air. Used the box fan to push outside air indoors. #CovidIsNotOver
Inside of Chevy Bolt car filled with seven visible AirFanta 3Pro air filters and a box fan. (There is an 8th AirFanta in the front seat, not visible.)
September 6, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
susankayequinn.bsky.social
Interested in a (free, online) #Solarpunk #Writing Class?

I'm pulling details together but probably will be 2 levels, based on the feedback I'm getting about what people want.

Subscribe to be notified when signups are available!
#booksky #hopepunk #writers

www.subscribepage.com/solarpunk_wr...
I'm still setting up details about when to run a solarpunk writing class, but it will be online and free. Subscribe below to be notified with the class signup information when I get it together (signing up for the class will be separate). Subscribe to be notified about Sue's Solarpunk Writing Classes MEME: crops on fire, figure throwing bucket of water on them "World on fire" "me writing my little hopepunk stories"
September 5, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
yumewrites.bsky.social
Book giveaway!!! I just got my author copies of SALTCROP and I’m giving two away! Sign up for my newsletter before Friday 9/5/25, 11AM EST for a chance to win! More details 🧵
Person holding two books and smiling
September 3, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
the-big-quiet.bsky.social
Four years ago I published my favorite essay. Here at the start of another school year, I’m sharing it again.
Misunderstanding Thoreau: Reading Neurodiversity in Literature and in Life
“How does it feel—emotionally—to be wrong?” Kathryn Schulz asks the audience at her 2011 TED Talk entitled “On Being Wrong.” I show the video to my first-year writing students every semester on the…
lithub.com
August 23, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
susankayequinn.bsky.social
"because Covid-19 evolves quickly – twice as fast as the fastest flu – it is less constrained by season. “Whereas a small change in transmissibility conditions is enough to stop flu in summer, Sars-CoV-2 can basically evolve its way over this barrier,” he said."
baddestmamajama.bsky.social Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · Aug 17
To summarize
-waves are not seasonal
-vaccines are waning
-people are getting long covid
-it’s still not an endemic disease
-very young kids are at increased risk because they didn’t go through the initial vaccine series

Oh and it turns out, Covid Cautious people have been right the whole time.
August 17, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
aspenandersen.bsky.social
You are cordially invited to the red carpet premier of TWO LIES AND A TRUTH, an upmarket psychological thriller with an unreliable narrator. Code #amagenting gets you free admission💄🩸👠💋

#PosterPit #PosterPitQ #T #A #NA
August 16, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Reposted by M. C. Benner Dixon
millieabecassis.com
Forthcoming 10.21.2025 at Brick & Bloom, a spellbinding debut brimming with intrigue and dangerous magic ✨

🌹 Historical fantasy
🇫🇷 Belle Époque
🔥 Slow-burn sapphic romance
🩸 Body-based magic system
🗡️ Family feuds
🗝️ Gothic vibes

#PosterPit #P #A #F #HF

Request an ARC here: forms.gle/N6awtckRwFGy...
A poster, featuring an illustrated portrait of Aubeline de Sterraux from A LEGACY OF BLOOD AND BONE. She is a white woman with brown hair tied in an intricate hairstyle. She wears a black dress with puffed sleeves and white earings. Aubeline is shown kneeling and praying, her head looking up. The top of the poster is colored, and the bottom part is black and white, the two part being separated by a red stain reminiscent of blood. The title of the book is in the center. Underneath is more text reading "A novel by Millie Abecassis," then a quote by April Yates reading "A gothic gem, rich with dread, desire, and a magic system as haunting as it is original." Under the quote are the names of several characters, listed as if they were actors: Aubeline de Sterraux, Vinnie Anneton, Damarisse de Sterraux, and "unhinged dudes." At the top are Cannes festival-style quotes reading "dangerous body-based magic" and "slow-burn sapphic romance."
August 16, 2025 at 4:00 AM