Mike Chen
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mikechenwriter.bsky.social
Mike Chen
@mikechenwriter.bsky.social
10K followers 990 following 4.4K posts
NYT Bestselling Author
Dabbles in time travel and vampires, Star Wars and Star Trek, novels and comics. Former NHL guy. Friend of dogs.
Next: The Photonic Effect, Star Wars: Low Red Moon

Mikechenwriter on all socials.
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mikechenwriter.bsky.social
One petty thing that really bugs me about TFG is how he always uses "like a dog" as an insult.

Dogs are the fucking best, you asshole. Get their name out of your fucking mouth.
A schnauzer/lab mix wearing dinosaur pajamas
November 8, 2025 at 7:08 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
On this #N7Day, I think of the time my wife almost left me for Garrus and I was totally okay with that.
A woman holding hands with a standee of Garrus from Mass Effect
November 7, 2025 at 9:13 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
First the Democrats wipe the floor on election day, and now THIS. Nature is healing.
The NHL points race, with Macklin Celebrini at the top.
November 6, 2025 at 6:45 AM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
It's pretty telling when the only upside is holding seats that your party previously won by 10 points.
Some “consolation” for Republicans came from elections expert Dave Wasserman: “The bottom didn’t entirely drop out,” he wrote on X, noting that Republicans were looking on track to hold on to the five Virginia House of Delegates seats where Trump won by five to 10 points.
November 5, 2025 at 8:38 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
The NCR flag from Fallout
November 5, 2025 at 5:51 AM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
And since we're talking about attraction, don't forget to preorder Star Wars: Outlaws - Low Red Moon for all the big feels about sexy droids. (Note: There's gonna be a bookplate preorder reward coming soon, preorder at your favorite place)

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/761127...
November 4, 2025 at 12:50 AM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
It's daylight savings day, which means that you set your clocks back and Morrissey cancels some concerts
November 2, 2025 at 3:58 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
We are all "Confused Garfield" these days
A person in a Garfield costume looking lost on a school campus
October 31, 2025 at 9:11 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
Here's my Halloween costume. You might think I am doing a pose similar to the Strange New Worlds promo photos where everyone is looking up inspirationally. But I am more averting my gaze to the hellscape that is our real world.
October 31, 2025 at 6:15 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
I, uh, may have a YA portal fantasy coming out next year. (I mean, it's a portal fantasy but it's really about universal basic income and taking down oppressive systems and child of immigrant trauma and found family AKA Mike's greatest hits on shuffle; also it's getting a new title)
October 31, 2025 at 12:30 AM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
In THE PHOTONIC EFFECT, Captain Demora Kim of the starship Horizon has a greyhound named Indy, rescued from an underground track on a Mars colony.

This is Indy in real life, our first racer rescue.

Request THE PHOTONIC EFFECT on Netgalley now! www.netgalley.com/catalog/book...
A black greyhound with white paws on a green dog bed.
October 30, 2025 at 8:54 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
**the best, honestly
A close up of a schnauzer/lab face
October 25, 2025 at 1:47 AM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
Listening to an absolute end-to-end gem of an album that time has kind of forgotten about. Fans of modern bands like Alvvays and Wet Leg will love That Dog.
A media player view of That Dog - Retreat From The Sun.
October 24, 2025 at 5:00 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
When @ericsmithrocks.bsky.social knows my weak spot and sends me an email to debuff me like a Final Fantasy boss
"Also...update your website!!! Hahah"
October 24, 2025 at 4:36 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
These executive orders are being cited as checks and balances against "full speed ahead" actions. I know the destruction is done, but does this successfully put the action into "legally questionable" territory?
October 23, 2025 at 8:31 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
Addendum to the above, the following executive orders constrain any exemptions claimed by the White House
- Executive Order 11593 (1971) – Protection and Enhancement of the Cultural Environment - Requires all federal agencies (including the Executive Office of the President) to “locate, inventory, and nominate to the National Register all properties under their control” and to consult with the Secretary of the Interior before altering historically significant structures. (Demolishing part of the White House without such consultation would conflict with this order.) - Executive Order 12148 (1979), delegates emergency and historic property responsibilities to the Department of the Interior, reaffirming that federal agencies must protect historic resources even when exemptions exist.
October 23, 2025 at 5:39 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
I found a really good summary of why the White House's demolition process is illegal. It's in the comments of this architect trade journal/forum archinect.com/forum/thread...
1. Initial Proposal: The White House is managed by the National Park Service (NPS) but used by the Executive Office of the President (EOP). Any proposed change, even by a sitting president, begins internally through the Office of the Curator and the White House Facilities Management Division. 2. Historic Review: The NPS, as custodian of the White House under the Presidential Residence Act and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), must review all alterations for compliance with Section 106 of the NHPA. This requires assessing potential impacts on historic and cultural resources in consultation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and the D.C. State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). 3. Planning & Environmental Oversight: The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) evaluates all major federal projects in the National Capital Region, including work on the White House grounds, for design, planning, and environmental impacts under NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act). Public comment and design reviews are part of that process. 4. Aesthetic Review: The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) reviews and advises on the design and appearance of any exterior modifications to the White House or its grounds. 5. Final Authorization: After approvals from NPS, NCPC, and CFA, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the White House Chief Usher / Facilities Management Office finalize funding, scheduling, and logistics. Only after completing this full process could any major construction or demolition legally begin. Section 107, let’s talk about it. The above process has always been the process taken, and here’s why. Section 107 of the National Historic Preservation Act exempts the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and the Supreme Court from being legally required to go through the Act’s formal Section 106 review. In other words, the law doesn’t automatically force those branches to follow the same procedures as other federal buildings. That exemption exists only because each branch of government controls its own seat of power, it was never intended as a free pass to ignore preservation, planning, or environmental rules altogether. In practice, every administration since the 1960s has followed the same review structure out of duty, accountability, and executive-branch policy. The White House is still federal property, managed by the National Park Service under the Presidential Residence Act and subject to Executive Order 11593, which requires federal agencies to protect and consult on historic resources. Major exterior or site work still triggers National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) design reviews, along with NEPA environmental assessments. Any project involving government resources must also comply with the Anti-Deficiency Act and federal ethics rules on funding and gifts. Section 107 means the NHPA can’t force compliance, but presidents are still bound by a network of executive orders, planning statutes, environmental laws, and constitutional duties. That’s why the process described isn’t optional, it’s the framework that has always protected the people’s house from unilateral or politically motivated alteration.
October 23, 2025 at 5:34 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
Marceline looked at the news and decided to resume hiding under her blanket
An upside down black cat with big fangs and big eyes poking out from under a blanket
October 22, 2025 at 6:25 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
Of course women don’t like the Cybertruck.

Women only want one thing, and it’s a speeder with an open cockpit and the right speed capabilities.
Anakin Skywalker borrows a yellow speeder on Coruscant from Attack of the Clones
October 22, 2025 at 2:53 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
In Palo Alto - Mountain View, several Indivisible groups collaborated. A large parade marched down from Stanford to Rinconada Park where they held a democracy fair. And south on El El Camino Real from Stanford, rallies stood at every intersection for 8 miles. We drove the entire path and honked.
A line of protestors along the sidewalk. A group of protestors on an intersection of Grant Road and El Camino Real in Mountain View
October 19, 2025 at 4:33 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
Define “Perfect Ending”?
(AOTC is not a perfect film but the final act is spectacular and the instrumental ending sequence of the clone army/forbidden wedding is possibly my favorite ending sequence in Star Wars)
The ending of Attack of the Clones, where Palpatine and Bail Organa overlook the launching Republic clone army The ending of Attack of the Clones, with the wedding of Anakin and Padme
October 19, 2025 at 3:45 AM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
It's hard to see this sign but it says MIKE JOHNSON IS MY HEALTH CARE PROVIDER
A skeleton at a protest propped up against a tree with a sign taped to its rib cage.
October 18, 2025 at 11:04 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
Scenes from Silicon Valley #NoKings
Pikachu with a sign that says NO SECRET POLICE A prostest being led by people in costume A woman in a Cookie Monster costume holding up a protest sign
October 18, 2025 at 8:28 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
So many people in animal costumes lining the streets of Silicon Valley
October 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
mikechenwriter.bsky.social
They didn't have this hat last night at the Rilo Kiley show in Berkeley, but this is the best hockey x indie rock mashup I've ever seen.
A black cap with a design similar to the LA Kings logo, with LOS ANGELES in block letters and Rilo Kiley in large script below it.
October 17, 2025 at 11:27 PM