M. R. Robinson
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mruthrobinson.bsky.social
M. R. Robinson
@mruthrobinson.bsky.social
3K followers 1K following 3.6K posts
MR, she/her. writer, teacher, tired · reader at Diabolical Plots · Clarion West ‘25 · VP2024 · SFWA · Codex · words at BCS, Small Wonders, Haven Spec, elsewhere · co-founder of @othersidespec.bsky.social 🪐 🗡️ 🌈

https://m-r-robinson.com
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mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Lastly, I'll add that it's my second (and final) year of eligibility for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

I have five more stories out this year and more coming soon! If you’ve enjoyed any of my work in 2025, I hope you’ll consider checking out the rest too: m-r-robinson.com/fiction/ (4/4)
White text on a blurry pink and purple background. It reads: Awards Eligibility M.R. Robinson Astounding Award for Best New Writer Second Year of Eligibility Astounded Award for Most Overwhelmed New Writer "Okay, this isn't real, but, listen, it should be. I am overwhelmed by how glad I am that I finally let myself start writing stories and by how much I appreciate everyone who has spent time reading my words. Thank you."
November 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
"Lucinda Espinosa's Twenty-Seventh Death" (4900 words, sci-fi) is a lot of things: a space western, a queer love story, a tragedy you can't outrun in this or any universe. Published by @fusionfragment.bsky.social, rec'd by Locus, named a must-read by Reactor. (3/4)

www.fusionfragment.com/issue-24/
White text atop a blurry purple and pink background. Text reads: Awards Eligibility M.R. Robinson Lucinda Espinosa's Twenty-Seventh Death Fusion Fragment, February 2025 (sci-fi, 4900 words) Below that, text reads "literally just this classic tumblr post," with an arrow reading to a screenshot of a post that reads "Ok listen we NEED to talk about your girlfriend. I know you're doomed by the narrative and all, but she keeps defying the will of fate with her vain and ever more desperate attempts to save you. It's SERIOUSLY going to red the fabric of space-time if she keeps this up. I'm not even joking. We're all going to end up in a closed loop of decaying reality if - it's not cute, stop laughing!!"
November 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
“Handsomest Gentlest” (2100 words, fantasy) is an ode to my boy. It’s also a story about grief and ghosts and the goodness of animals and the power of gentleness. If you've ever loved a dog, I think you'll like this story, published by @havenspec.bsky.social. (2/4)

www.havenspec.com/handsomest-g...
White text atop a blurry purple and pink background. Text reads: Awards Eligibility M.R. Robinson Handsomest Gentlest Haven Speculative, March 2025 (fantasy, 2100 words) Below that, there's a picture of a black and white dog in a white circle, with an arrow pointing to him. Text reads: "An ode to this guy, who is handsome and gentle and doing his best."
November 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Okay, okay, I give in, it’s 2025 awards eligibility time! I still have December stories coming, which means I cannot yet bring myself to make an extra-fancy graphic or a full long thread, but… until then, I hope you’ll consider reading some of my stories! Will link a couple favorites in the 🧵 (1/4)
Over a blurry background in shades of pink and purple and blue, white text reads: Awards Eligibility M.R. Robinson Lucinda Espinosa's Twenty-Seventh Death Fusion Fragment, February 2025 (sci-fi, 4900 words) Handsomest Gentlest Haven Speculative, March 2025 (fantasy, 2100 words) Erysichthon's Daughter Small Wonders, March 2025 (fantasy, 1000 words) A Recipe for the Day Alban Kills the King Orion's Belt, June 2025 (fantasy, 790 words) Even smaller text at the very bottom reads: "There's no way it is November, you guys are stressing me out." Over a blurry background in shades of pink and purple and blue, white text reads: Awards Eligibility M.R. Robinson The Hag of Beinn Nibheis Flash Fiction Online, January 2025 (fantasy, 970 words) Hound, Hart, Crow, Queen Flame Tree Press, March 2025 (fantasy, 3900 words) A Runaway Android's Guide to the Oro-Ti Night Market Small Wonders, June 2025 (sci-fi, 1000 words) Astounding Award for Best New Writer Year Two of Eligibility Even smaller text at the very bottom reads: "And a couple more in December... I'm gonna have to redo this, huh."
November 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Out today! Super excited to share a new essay with you: “The Duchess Who Invented Science Fiction,” a silly and sincere ode to my beloved Margaret Cavendish, a 17th-century duchess who teaches us to 1. think speculatively and 2. wear ridiculous outfits.

compellingsciencefiction.com/posts/the-du...
A painting of Margaret Cavendish. She’s smiling slightly and wearing an extravagant feathered hat, plus a fancy cape-dress situation. The background includes golden fabric and columns.
November 12, 2025 at 7:59 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Convincing you to read my short story with the first sentence. Share yours... because I am behind on my 2025 reading, and I need allll the reading recs!

(If you like stories about grief, ghosts, and exceptionally good dogs, you can read "Handsomest Gentlest" here: www.havenspec.com/handsomest-g...)
Everybody said Black Shuck was a great big fearsome devil, but I wasn't so scared the night I met him in the woods. I'd only been dead for two hours, and I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to be afraid of some old black dog curled up crying in the bushes.
November 11, 2025 at 4:52 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Signed my second story contract of the week! This one is a bleak horror-satire about the political and personal agonies of working in higher ed right now. (No time to celebrate: I have 300 papers to grade, and four fellowship deadlines, and I lost a lot of time this week to a shooting hoax, and—) 🫠
A screenshot of a tweet that reads “You want me to apply for a fellowship? After what happened to Boromir?”
November 6, 2025 at 3:14 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Huge congratulations to the mayor-elect from… my wife.
A screenshot of two text messages. The first reads “God Zohran is hot” and the second reads “I’m so proud of him.” These messages aren’t even from tonight. She wasn’t proud of him for winning, she was just proud of him for being hot.
November 5, 2025 at 2:51 AM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
A meme that shows three tweets in a row. They’ve been edited to read: 1. round number enjoyers save me.. 2. round number enjoyers 3. save me round number enjoyers
November 5, 2025 at 12:09 AM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Happy Halloween to one and all 🎃 🦌
A black and white dog with a speckled nose, wearing a brown reindeer costume with gold antlers, standing in a yard full of brown leaves. A different black and white dog, wearing a brown reindeer costume with gold antlers, standing in a yard full of brown leaves. He looks delighted.
November 1, 2025 at 12:13 AM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Me writing this story, me submitting this story, me talking about this story:
The “is this a pigeon?” meme. It originally showed a man looking at a butterfly, asking “is this a pigeon?” The butterfly has been covered with text that reads “Handsomest Gentlest,” and now the caption reads “is this a happy story?”
October 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
The problem here is that my current draft looks like this and my dogs look like this.
A blank Word doc that reads: “Good ideas. 1.” and nothing else. A pair of black and white dogs sitting side by side and making big pleading eyes at the camera. They look similar, but the one on the left is fluffier and has more speckles on her nose.
October 30, 2025 at 12:46 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Excellent taste in skeleton onesies 🙂‍↕️
A screenshot from the Finch app. A cartoon bird dressed in a skeleton onesie with a pumpkin for a head and a pumpkin candy basket on one hand.
October 27, 2025 at 4:26 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Tomorrow I return to the classroom after a two-year non-teaching fellowship.
A screenshot of a Google search that reads "things young people like."
October 19, 2025 at 9:14 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Today is my ELEVEN YEAR anniversary!!! These photos were taken in February 2015, our first Valentine’s Day. We were 19. I am the luckiest person in the world to love and be loved by this woman. I am even luckier that she was willing to go out with me when I had that particular haircut.
A blurry photo of two teenagers, MR on the left with a shaggy haircut, her arm around another woman who’s laughing and covering her face. They’re sitting in a restaurant with wood-paneled walls behind them. A blurry photo of two teenagers, MR on the left with a shaggy haircut, her arm around another woman. They’re both laughing so hard that the photo is wildly out of focus. They’re sitting in a restaurant with wood-paneled walls behind them.
October 18, 2025 at 1:47 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
NOT EVEN A LITTLE SCARY
A zoomed in photo of the stream. In the top corner is MR with her hands over her face, descending into her hoodie in panic while a xenomorph attack unfolds. Ash looks incredibly smug, Val has never looked more amused. A zoomed in photo of the stream. In the top corner is MR with her hands over her face, descending into her hoodie in panic while a xenomorph attack unfolds. Ash looks like “oh no” and this time Val looks smug.
October 17, 2025 at 11:16 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
It’s our first zero-backer day… BUT we’re only thirteen backers away from our final backer goal! (And $604 away from unlocking nonfiction.) If you 1. can’t stand me and 2. love queer art, there’s never been a better time to support @othersidespec.bsky.social!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...
Info for our Backer Goals! 50, 100, 150, 200, AND 250 Backers are unlocked! All backer goals are in rainbow with an open lock over a blurred version of OTHERSIDE banner art in purple, with a blurred floating fantastical head on the right. Now at the bottom there is a FINAL GOAL: 300 backers - MR plays Alien: Isolation. Instead of a lock there is a face hugger from the Alien franchise.
October 12, 2025 at 7:56 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Ah, well. At least past me did a great job with the title.
A screenshot of a title page that reads “please help me title this, all my ideas suck.”
October 11, 2025 at 11:47 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Huge thanks to past me for all the support. Really appreciate it.
A screenshot of a draft that reads, in brackets, “describe some things.” A screenshot of a draft that reads, in brackets, “explain this better.”
October 11, 2025 at 11:43 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
I failed to capture a photo of the leaf-hat moment, but here is a photo of Wilf many autumns ago, just because everyone deserves to start their day with an autumnal dog.
The cutest boy in the world, a short-haired border collie, looking up at the camera. It’s an overhead shot so all you can see around him is a huge pile of vibrant red leaves.
October 9, 2025 at 12:17 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
With everything else going on this week… I have also been renovating my parents’ bathroom. Please enjoy this before and (almost, there’s a little more to do) after.
A small bathroom. The top half of the wall is teal, the bottom half is glue-covered cement board, and there’s no vanity, just pipes sticking out of the wall. Also, the light fixture is ugly! Same bathroom, looking much prettier. On the top half of the wall, there’s a grey and white wallpaper with a forest print: deer, bunnies, trees. The bottom half is grey headboard, separated by a leaf-engraved rail. There’s now a vanity, a new mirror, and a different light fixture.
October 5, 2025 at 10:21 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Having a very “I owe my life to a teenaged barista” kind of week.
An iced black sesame oat latte on a picnic table, with a colorful mural in the background.
October 2, 2025 at 12:14 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
I told the @othersidespec.bsky.social Discord that Winnie and Wilf could have whipped cream if we hit $3000 on day one. If we hit $9000 today (only $40 away!) I’ve vowed to introduce them to Cheez Whiz. Support queer art, but also… support Winnie and Wilf.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...
A black and white dog in a green field with his head in a cup of whipped cream. He looks moderately dignified, given the circumstances. A different black and white dog in a green field with her head in a cup of whipped cream. She looks like a completely undignified goblin.
September 30, 2025 at 6:53 PM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Dinner of champions at the end of the best day in a long, long time. 141% funded on Day 1. If you backed us, thank you. If you shared the link, thank you. And if you just patiently endured our excited posting… thank you, too. We couldn’t do it without you, othersiders.
I’m holding up a beer labeled “Otherside: West Coast Style IPA” and a rainbow striped cake. In the background is an Otherside car magnet, repurposed as a fridge magnet.
September 30, 2025 at 2:55 AM
mruthrobinson.bsky.social
Me waiting for the Appointed Time.
Black and white cat biting metal bars, looking consumed by a sort of feral longing.
September 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM