Michael Solis
@michaelsolisauthor.bsky.social
📖 Author of Deficient (out now!) | 🌍 Humanitarian | 🌈 Queer things rock! | Lover of speculative fiction & creative non-fiction | Exploring power, identity & the supernatural ✨
Pinned
I’m so excited to share that Deficient is a winner of the 2025 YAdudebooks Awards!
This was a complete surprise—I had no idea Deficient was even in the running. Huge thanks to YAdudebooks and the wonderful Weldon Ngetich for reading, reviewing, and nominating. Feeling all the emotions! #bookaward
This was a complete surprise—I had no idea Deficient was even in the running. Huge thanks to YAdudebooks and the wonderful Weldon Ngetich for reading, reviewing, and nominating. Feeling all the emotions! #bookaward
Fresh start…everything is new! The city, the job, the rhythm. New beginnings shake things up, and they’re often overwhelming.
But reinvention isn’t about starting over from scratch. It’s about growing from the roots that were always there. 🌱
Read on for more!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
But reinvention isn’t about starting over from scratch. It’s about growing from the roots that were always there. 🌱
Read on for more!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
A Whole Lot of New
Learning to grow again in Flower City
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Fresh start…everything is new! The city, the job, the rhythm. New beginnings shake things up, and they’re often overwhelming.
But reinvention isn’t about starting over from scratch. It’s about growing from the roots that were always there. 🌱
Read on for more!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
But reinvention isn’t about starting over from scratch. It’s about growing from the roots that were always there. 🌱
Read on for more!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Hope to see readers and writers at the Rochester Children and Teens Book Festival this weekend!
Will you be going? 📚
Will you be going? 📚
November 4, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Hope to see readers and writers at the Rochester Children and Teens Book Festival this weekend!
Will you be going? 📚
Will you be going? 📚
For those of us in the spirit of Novel November season…check out my recent article with Planetside on alternatives to NaNoWriMo.
Though I went for a DIY approach over the summer, I’m actually giving ProWritingAid’s Novel November a try now. I’m really enjoying it!
Thanks for sharing @sfwa.org !
Though I went for a DIY approach over the summer, I’m actually giving ProWritingAid’s Novel November a try now. I’m really enjoying it!
Thanks for sharing @sfwa.org !
Don't miss on Planetside…
Writing momentum doesn’t necessarily need a platform. Here’s how one challenge brought the words back. “Finding Your Writing Flow After NaNoWriMo” by @michaelsolisauthor.bsky.social (includes the author’s narration): www.sfwa.org/2025/10/30/f...
Writing momentum doesn’t necessarily need a platform. Here’s how one challenge brought the words back. “Finding Your Writing Flow After NaNoWriMo” by @michaelsolisauthor.bsky.social (includes the author’s narration): www.sfwa.org/2025/10/30/f...
Finding Your Writing Flow After NaNoWriMo - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association
by Michael Solis. After NaNoWriMo’s collapse, explore alternative writing challenges and tools, and learn how a DIY summer challenge revived creative momentum and pushed a draft past the 50,000-word m...
www.sfwa.org
November 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
For those of us in the spirit of Novel November season…check out my recent article with Planetside on alternatives to NaNoWriMo.
Though I went for a DIY approach over the summer, I’m actually giving ProWritingAid’s Novel November a try now. I’m really enjoying it!
Thanks for sharing @sfwa.org !
Though I went for a DIY approach over the summer, I’m actually giving ProWritingAid’s Novel November a try now. I’m really enjoying it!
Thanks for sharing @sfwa.org !
Got the very random 1,667-word badge on day 2 of PorWritingAid’s Novel November!
Taking a mental health break and going for a hike while the sun is shining! 😎
Is anyone else giving Novel November a try?
Taking a mental health break and going for a hike while the sun is shining! 😎
Is anyone else giving Novel November a try?
November 2, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Got the very random 1,667-word badge on day 2 of PorWritingAid’s Novel November!
Taking a mental health break and going for a hike while the sun is shining! 😎
Is anyone else giving Novel November a try?
Taking a mental health break and going for a hike while the sun is shining! 😎
Is anyone else giving Novel November a try?
Decided to jump into ProWritingAid’s Novel November to get over the finish line with a novel! (4th and final book of a YA/speculative series with dystopian elements). I have about 50k words already…aiming to finish!
Anyone else doing NovNov? Any writing goals?
prowritingaid.com/novel-november
Anyone else doing NovNov? Any writing goals?
prowritingaid.com/novel-november
Novel November: A 30 Day Writing Challenge
Join the only writing challenge that takes you from blank page to first draft in just one month with the help of bestselling authors.
prowritingaid.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Decided to jump into ProWritingAid’s Novel November to get over the finish line with a novel! (4th and final book of a YA/speculative series with dystopian elements). I have about 50k words already…aiming to finish!
Anyone else doing NovNov? Any writing goals?
prowritingaid.com/novel-november
Anyone else doing NovNov? Any writing goals?
prowritingaid.com/novel-november
NaNoWriMo’s over…now what?
I wrote about finding your writing flow after the NaNo era…and keeping the spark alive.
Thanks @sfwa.org !
www.sfwa.org/2025/10/30/f... #NaNoWriMo
I wrote about finding your writing flow after the NaNo era…and keeping the spark alive.
Thanks @sfwa.org !
www.sfwa.org/2025/10/30/f... #NaNoWriMo
Finding Your Writing Flow After NaNoWriMo – SFWA – The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association
www.sfwa.org
October 30, 2025 at 6:13 PM
NaNoWriMo’s over…now what?
I wrote about finding your writing flow after the NaNo era…and keeping the spark alive.
Thanks @sfwa.org !
www.sfwa.org/2025/10/30/f... #NaNoWriMo
I wrote about finding your writing flow after the NaNo era…and keeping the spark alive.
Thanks @sfwa.org !
www.sfwa.org/2025/10/30/f... #NaNoWriMo
After the US defended Israel at the UNGA yesterday, Israel has now attacked a peaceful flotilla carrying aid to Gaza. This is horrific and unacceptable.
Condemnations are insufficient. Israel must be sanctioned and prosecuted for breaches of international law.
Hands off the flotilla! 🇵🇸
Condemnations are insufficient. Israel must be sanctioned and prosecuted for breaches of international law.
Hands off the flotilla! 🇵🇸
September 24, 2025 at 2:21 PM
After the US defended Israel at the UNGA yesterday, Israel has now attacked a peaceful flotilla carrying aid to Gaza. This is horrific and unacceptable.
Condemnations are insufficient. Israel must be sanctioned and prosecuted for breaches of international law.
Hands off the flotilla! 🇵🇸
Condemnations are insufficient. Israel must be sanctioned and prosecuted for breaches of international law.
Hands off the flotilla! 🇵🇸
Feel like I am listening to an aged King Joffrey speaking at UNGA. Trump’s speech is delusional and unhinged.
September 23, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Feel like I am listening to an aged King Joffrey speaking at UNGA. Trump’s speech is delusional and unhinged.
Recognition of Palestinian statehood is welcome and long overdue. But the genocide must end. Halt all arms sales to Israel. Those responsible — including US officials across parties — must be named, held accountable, and prosecuted.
September 23, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Recognition of Palestinian statehood is welcome and long overdue. But the genocide must end. Halt all arms sales to Israel. Those responsible — including US officials across parties — must be named, held accountable, and prosecuted.
Hey writers out there! As we get closer to November, I’m writing an article on alternatives to NaNoWriMo to help inspire novel writing. If you have come across any organized initiatives that are worth mentioning, please share your thoughts! I’ll also be writing about DIY approaches. 🙏🏼
September 19, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Hey writers out there! As we get closer to November, I’m writing an article on alternatives to NaNoWriMo to help inspire novel writing. If you have come across any organized initiatives that are worth mentioning, please share your thoughts! I’ll also be writing about DIY approaches. 🙏🏼
One of my favorite shots of Lady Gaga at the Mayhem Ball while she performed Paparazzi. This is how you wear a cape. Legend!
August 28, 2025 at 12:57 PM
One of my favorite shots of Lady Gaga at the Mayhem Ball while she performed Paparazzi. This is how you wear a cape. Legend!
No offense to the Swifties, but today is all about Lady Gaga’s Mayhem ball in NYC. Once a Little Monster, always a Little Monster. ✨🪩👹
August 27, 2025 at 12:37 PM
No offense to the Swifties, but today is all about Lady Gaga’s Mayhem ball in NYC. Once a Little Monster, always a Little Monster. ✨🪩👹
We should not be paying a dime of our tax money to the genocidal terror state of Israel. This is common sense.
Sanction. Boycott. Divest. Prosecute.
And free the People of Palestine. 🇵🇸
Sanction. Boycott. Divest. Prosecute.
And free the People of Palestine. 🇵🇸
August 26, 2025 at 11:56 PM
We should not be paying a dime of our tax money to the genocidal terror state of Israel. This is common sense.
Sanction. Boycott. Divest. Prosecute.
And free the People of Palestine. 🇵🇸
Sanction. Boycott. Divest. Prosecute.
And free the People of Palestine. 🇵🇸
Israel bombs a hospital.
Waits for rescuers and journalists to arrive.
Then bombs them too.
Never forget where our tax dollars are going: genocide, crimes against humanity.
This is how history will remember us — absolutely complicit.
Sanction, boycott, divest, prosecute.
#GazaGenocide #Gaza
Waits for rescuers and journalists to arrive.
Then bombs them too.
Never forget where our tax dollars are going: genocide, crimes against humanity.
This is how history will remember us — absolutely complicit.
Sanction, boycott, divest, prosecute.
#GazaGenocide #Gaza
August 25, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Israel bombs a hospital.
Waits for rescuers and journalists to arrive.
Then bombs them too.
Never forget where our tax dollars are going: genocide, crimes against humanity.
This is how history will remember us — absolutely complicit.
Sanction, boycott, divest, prosecute.
#GazaGenocide #Gaza
Waits for rescuers and journalists to arrive.
Then bombs them too.
Never forget where our tax dollars are going: genocide, crimes against humanity.
This is how history will remember us — absolutely complicit.
Sanction, boycott, divest, prosecute.
#GazaGenocide #Gaza
Excited for “Oh, Mary!” And to see Jinkx Monsoon!
August 25, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Excited for “Oh, Mary!” And to see Jinkx Monsoon!
The question I keep hearing: what’s going on with Deficient? 👀 I spill the tea in my latest Substack.
Your comments are very much welcome!
👉 open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Your comments are very much welcome!
👉 open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
So What’s Going On With Deficient?
Answering your biggest questions about Deficient, the sequel, and what comes next.
open.substack.com
August 25, 2025 at 12:59 PM
The question I keep hearing: what’s going on with Deficient? 👀 I spill the tea in my latest Substack.
Your comments are very much welcome!
👉 open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Your comments are very much welcome!
👉 open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Aid must enter Gaza immediately, and not through the sham GHF.
Leaders have failed. Call your reps anyway. Speak out. Demand action.
Silence is complicity. We cannot look away while Gaza starves.
(2 of 2)
Leaders have failed. Call your reps anyway. Speak out. Demand action.
Silence is complicity. We cannot look away while Gaza starves.
(2 of 2)
August 22, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Aid must enter Gaza immediately, and not through the sham GHF.
Leaders have failed. Call your reps anyway. Speak out. Demand action.
Silence is complicity. We cannot look away while Gaza starves.
(2 of 2)
Leaders have failed. Call your reps anyway. Speak out. Demand action.
Silence is complicity. We cannot look away while Gaza starves.
(2 of 2)
How did we allow famine in Gaza? This is monstrous.
The people of Gaza do not deserve this. No one does. It is calculated, vile, and criminal.
World “leaders” stood by. Israel is responsible. U.S. tax dollars enabled it. Our media gaslights us. I’m furious. You should be too.
(1 of 2)
The people of Gaza do not deserve this. No one does. It is calculated, vile, and criminal.
World “leaders” stood by. Israel is responsible. U.S. tax dollars enabled it. Our media gaslights us. I’m furious. You should be too.
(1 of 2)
August 22, 2025 at 4:23 PM
How did we allow famine in Gaza? This is monstrous.
The people of Gaza do not deserve this. No one does. It is calculated, vile, and criminal.
World “leaders” stood by. Israel is responsible. U.S. tax dollars enabled it. Our media gaslights us. I’m furious. You should be too.
(1 of 2)
The people of Gaza do not deserve this. No one does. It is calculated, vile, and criminal.
World “leaders” stood by. Israel is responsible. U.S. tax dollars enabled it. Our media gaslights us. I’m furious. You should be too.
(1 of 2)
Sharing my latest reflections + tips from Seattle WorldCon!
I did a similar post last year (and promptly forgot my own advice 😅), but a few folks told me it helped, so here’s the 2025 edition.
michaelsolisauthor.substack.com/p/what-i-lea...
I did a similar post last year (and promptly forgot my own advice 😅), but a few folks told me it helped, so here’s the 2025 edition.
michaelsolisauthor.substack.com/p/what-i-lea...
What I Learned at Seattle WorldCon
Musings from a Writer Who Forgot His Own Advice
michaelsolisauthor.substack.com
August 18, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Sharing my latest reflections + tips from Seattle WorldCon!
I did a similar post last year (and promptly forgot my own advice 😅), but a few folks told me it helped, so here’s the 2025 edition.
michaelsolisauthor.substack.com/p/what-i-lea...
I did a similar post last year (and promptly forgot my own advice 😅), but a few folks told me it helped, so here’s the 2025 edition.
michaelsolisauthor.substack.com/p/what-i-lea...
My favorite conversation from Seattle WorldCon:
Them: “I’m [name], nice to meet you!”
Me: “I’m Michael. Nice to meet you too.”
Them: “I can’t tell who’s gay and who’s just weird.”
Me: “Oh, that’s easy. I’m both.” 😉
Them: “I’m [name], nice to meet you!”
Me: “I’m Michael. Nice to meet you too.”
Them: “I can’t tell who’s gay and who’s just weird.”
Me: “Oh, that’s easy. I’m both.” 😉
August 18, 2025 at 1:30 PM
My favorite conversation from Seattle WorldCon:
Them: “I’m [name], nice to meet you!”
Me: “I’m Michael. Nice to meet you too.”
Them: “I can’t tell who’s gay and who’s just weird.”
Me: “Oh, that’s easy. I’m both.” 😉
Them: “I’m [name], nice to meet you!”
Me: “I’m Michael. Nice to meet you too.”
Them: “I can’t tell who’s gay and who’s just weird.”
Me: “Oh, that’s easy. I’m both.” 😉
After WorldCon, a demonstration in Seattle to demand an end to the siege of Gaza, honor Palestinian martyrs, and call for the dismantling of Israel’s occupation feels like the right place to be. Free Palestine! 🇵🇸
August 17, 2025 at 10:59 PM
After WorldCon, a demonstration in Seattle to demand an end to the siege of Gaza, honor Palestinian martyrs, and call for the dismantling of Israel’s occupation feels like the right place to be. Free Palestine! 🇵🇸
Congratulations to Robert Jackson Bennett for Best Novel at the Hugo Awards for “The Tainted Cup.” 🏆 🚀
August 17, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Congratulations to Robert Jackson Bennett for Best Novel at the Hugo Awards for “The Tainted Cup.” 🏆 🚀
Congratulations to Darcie Little Badger for the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book at the Hugo Awards for “Sheine Lende.” 🏆 🚀
August 17, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Congratulations to Darcie Little Badger for the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book at the Hugo Awards for “Sheine Lende.” 🏆 🚀
Congratulations to Ray Nayler for Best Novella at the Hugo Awards for “The Tusks of Extinction.” 🏆 🚀
August 17, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Congratulations to Ray Nayler for Best Novella at the Hugo Awards for “The Tusks of Extinction.” 🏆 🚀
Congratulations to Naomi Kritzer for Best Novelette at the Hugo Awards for “The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea.” 🏆 🚀
August 17, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Congratulations to Naomi Kritzer for Best Novelette at the Hugo Awards for “The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea.” 🏆 🚀