Nishka
@nishka-is-writing.bsky.social
Writer of fantasy and science fiction. She/her. Profile picture made using @horatiosroom.bsky.social 's Medieval Maker picrew.
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Nishka
@nishka-is-writing.bsky.social
· Oct 2
Our 13th issue has been edited by the talented Shreya Ila Anasuya, who has helped us show what the meaning of a true retelling is.
Link to read: tasavvurnama.com
🔮 - #SouthAsian #SpeculativeFiction
Link to read: tasavvurnama.com
🔮 - #SouthAsian #SpeculativeFiction
Thrilled to be a part of the latest issue of @tasavvurnama.bsky.social ! It was a pleasure to work with Shreya to improve my story "Deep in a Lightless Forest", which you can read here: tasavvurnama.com/deep-in-a-li...
Reposted by Nishka
My mom still regrets letting me read Jacqueline Wilson so young but you could argue it played a huge role in preventing me from imbibing a lot of prejudices against single and teen moms later on
Plus, reading about other girls who were “different” (aka undiagnosed neurodivergent) didn’t hurt
Plus, reading about other girls who were “different” (aka undiagnosed neurodivergent) didn’t hurt
I think so many of people’s lack of media literacy and unwillingness to consider moral complexities that aren’t strict black/white dichotomies comes from parents not teaching kids how to read as God intended: with books kids are far too young to read kept within in easy reach of an 8 year old.
January 15, 2026 at 5:25 AM
My mom still regrets letting me read Jacqueline Wilson so young but you could argue it played a huge role in preventing me from imbibing a lot of prejudices against single and teen moms later on
Plus, reading about other girls who were “different” (aka undiagnosed neurodivergent) didn’t hurt
Plus, reading about other girls who were “different” (aka undiagnosed neurodivergent) didn’t hurt
Reposted by Nishka
Wooo! Congratulations to all the brilliant authors on this list, and especially @amabilisohara.bsky.social whose nominated work "A Sign Hangs From My Hunger" appeared in our sixth issue. Read it here: inner-worlds.ghost.io/a-sign-hangs...
January 14, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Wooo! Congratulations to all the brilliant authors on this list, and especially @amabilisohara.bsky.social whose nominated work "A Sign Hangs From My Hunger" appeared in our sixth issue. Read it here: inner-worlds.ghost.io/a-sign-hangs...
Reposted by Nishka
In the mood for a space opera adventure reviewers have affectionately called “tear-apart-the-empire-with-your-bare-hands wish fulfillment”?
THE SPLINTER IN THE SKY eBook is currently 1.99 *again*!
✨ bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
✨ www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/...
THE SPLINTER IN THE SKY eBook is currently 1.99 *again*!
✨ bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
✨ www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/...
January 14, 2026 at 5:57 PM
In the mood for a space opera adventure reviewers have affectionately called “tear-apart-the-empire-with-your-bare-hands wish fulfillment”?
THE SPLINTER IN THE SKY eBook is currently 1.99 *again*!
✨ bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
✨ www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/...
THE SPLINTER IN THE SKY eBook is currently 1.99 *again*!
✨ bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
✨ www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/...
Reposted by Nishka
One of the biggest scams in the history of India has been granted the right to privacy. The government took funds in the name of COVID and no one knows where that money went.
The bench made the observations while hearing an appeal seeking the disclosure of the information and documents submitted by the #PMCaresFund to get an income tax exemption.
Read more:
scroll.in/latest/10899...
Read more:
scroll.in/latest/10899...
January 14, 2026 at 7:49 AM
One of the biggest scams in the history of India has been granted the right to privacy. The government took funds in the name of COVID and no one knows where that money went.
Reposted by Nishka
Since Joy is capable of experiencing and expressing a full range of emotions, does that mean inside her is an even tinier group of emotions in charge of her emotions?
Is it turtles all the way down?
Is it turtles all the way down?
January 14, 2026 at 7:16 AM
Since Joy is capable of experiencing and expressing a full range of emotions, does that mean inside her is an even tinier group of emotions in charge of her emotions?
Is it turtles all the way down?
Is it turtles all the way down?
Reposted by Nishka
My friend Ursula blogs about how to write Math and Science Poetry: www.sfwa.org/2026/01/13/s...
STEM and Leaf: Writing Math and Science Poetry - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association
by Ursula Whitcher. Learn how to craft STEM‑inspired poems by combining poetic and scientific techniques, guided by close readings of contemporary science‑inspired work.
www.sfwa.org
January 13, 2026 at 8:03 PM
My friend Ursula blogs about how to write Math and Science Poetry: www.sfwa.org/2026/01/13/s...
Reposted by Nishka
There is no meme so domain-specific that I won't laugh at it. Give me train fandom memes about fucked up signal flags. Give me Beowulf scholarship memes about how to correctly translate "hwaet". The fact that I have no frame of reference is no obstacle to a sensible chuckle.
January 13, 2026 at 7:02 PM
There is no meme so domain-specific that I won't laugh at it. Give me train fandom memes about fucked up signal flags. Give me Beowulf scholarship memes about how to correctly translate "hwaet". The fact that I have no frame of reference is no obstacle to a sensible chuckle.
Reposted by Nishka
Listen to the snail. 🐌
January 13, 2026 at 12:03 AM
Listen to the snail. 🐌
Reposted by Nishka
I'll freely grant that fantasy settings where everybody is a girl raise a LOT of worldbuilding questions, but Where Do Babies Come From isn't one of them. "How do they have kids if they're all giiiiirls" my guy, some girls can get other girls pregnant in real life.
January 13, 2026 at 4:11 AM
I'll freely grant that fantasy settings where everybody is a girl raise a LOT of worldbuilding questions, but Where Do Babies Come From isn't one of them. "How do they have kids if they're all giiiiirls" my guy, some girls can get other girls pregnant in real life.
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Biggest writing challenge I've had to overcome last few years is regaining confidence in myself: confidence that I can fix shitty series of first attempts. I started last book over like 50 times. This one,I'm keeping scene bones I know are good and going over it again, and again, til it gets clearer
January 13, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Biggest writing challenge I've had to overcome last few years is regaining confidence in myself: confidence that I can fix shitty series of first attempts. I started last book over like 50 times. This one,I'm keeping scene bones I know are good and going over it again, and again, til it gets clearer
Reposted by Nishka
Reposted by Nishka
Everyone has some shit to say about how they're going to write a book, and they never will because only you are emotionally naked enough to give yourself over to the years of pointlessness, spiraling, and incredibly difficult work that will almost certainly lead to absolutely nothing! Live más.
January 12, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Everyone has some shit to say about how they're going to write a book, and they never will because only you are emotionally naked enough to give yourself over to the years of pointlessness, spiraling, and incredibly difficult work that will almost certainly lead to absolutely nothing! Live más.
Reposted by Nishka
I think so many of people’s lack of media literacy and unwillingness to consider moral complexities that aren’t strict black/white dichotomies comes from parents not teaching kids how to read as God intended: with books kids are far too young to read kept within in easy reach of an 8 year old.
January 12, 2026 at 4:00 PM
I think so many of people’s lack of media literacy and unwillingness to consider moral complexities that aren’t strict black/white dichotomies comes from parents not teaching kids how to read as God intended: with books kids are far too young to read kept within in easy reach of an 8 year old.
Reposted by Nishka
For the record, we saw this shit early in romance, too. There’s a reason @devinharnois.bsky.social had to make a button saying something like “M/M is for gay men, too.”
January 11, 2026 at 9:31 PM
For the record, we saw this shit early in romance, too. There’s a reason @devinharnois.bsky.social had to make a button saying something like “M/M is for gay men, too.”
Reposted by Nishka
Roamed the misty moors during the dusky dawn, so that’s done anyway
January 10, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Roamed the misty moors during the dusky dawn, so that’s done anyway
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It's no doubt annoying when it's a topic you care about, but there's a certain je ne sais quoi to watching folks on social media try to have a serious discussion where it's clear all present have simply inferred what the words they're using mean based on vibes, and no two sets of conclusions agree.
January 10, 2026 at 8:32 PM
It's no doubt annoying when it's a topic you care about, but there's a certain je ne sais quoi to watching folks on social media try to have a serious discussion where it's clear all present have simply inferred what the words they're using mean based on vibes, and no two sets of conclusions agree.
Reposted by Nishka
popping in real quick to remind anyone who needs it...
rejection DOES NOT MEAN you are a bad writer!
sending my various communities some creative vibes and lots of affection.🥰
⌨️you got this!💪🏽
rejection DOES NOT MEAN you are a bad writer!
sending my various communities some creative vibes and lots of affection.🥰
⌨️you got this!💪🏽
January 9, 2026 at 9:48 PM
popping in real quick to remind anyone who needs it...
rejection DOES NOT MEAN you are a bad writer!
sending my various communities some creative vibes and lots of affection.🥰
⌨️you got this!💪🏽
rejection DOES NOT MEAN you are a bad writer!
sending my various communities some creative vibes and lots of affection.🥰
⌨️you got this!💪🏽
I loved Leech and I'm looking forward to this!
THE WORKS OF VERMIN OUT NOW!
"A brilliant, shapeshifting puzzle-box of a book"
- Christopher Buehlman
"A hallucinatory scorpion sting"
- Elizabeth Bear
"My dreams were plagued with anxiety and fear of toxins... Thanks for that."
- My barber
Get your copy from your local bookstore!
"A brilliant, shapeshifting puzzle-box of a book"
- Christopher Buehlman
"A hallucinatory scorpion sting"
- Elizabeth Bear
"My dreams were plagued with anxiety and fear of toxins... Thanks for that."
- My barber
Get your copy from your local bookstore!
January 9, 2026 at 9:55 PM
I loved Leech and I'm looking forward to this!
Reposted by Nishka
5. Contract terms that are not "trust me bro"
I saw a contract that had iffy language about rights reversal for a short story. When the person pressed gently about changing it, they were accused of not trusting the publisher and had the contract immediately cancelled.
I saw a contract that had iffy language about rights reversal for a short story. When the person pressed gently about changing it, they were accused of not trusting the publisher and had the contract immediately cancelled.
January 7, 2026 at 12:06 AM
5. Contract terms that are not "trust me bro"
I saw a contract that had iffy language about rights reversal for a short story. When the person pressed gently about changing it, they were accused of not trusting the publisher and had the contract immediately cancelled.
I saw a contract that had iffy language about rights reversal for a short story. When the person pressed gently about changing it, they were accused of not trusting the publisher and had the contract immediately cancelled.
Reposted by Nishka
V. boring answer but teaching myself to outline -- once I have my particular shape for the story, I find it much more fun to pour whatever I want into it in terms of voice, style, rhythm, tone, whatever (see especially AND WHAT CAN WE OFFER YOU TONIGHT for example)
What has helped improve your writing the most? Developing an editing eye for repeated words, plot holes, and missing pieces of some sort #writingq #WritingCommunity
January 8, 2026 at 9:44 PM
V. boring answer but teaching myself to outline -- once I have my particular shape for the story, I find it much more fun to pour whatever I want into it in terms of voice, style, rhythm, tone, whatever (see especially AND WHAT CAN WE OFFER YOU TONIGHT for example)
Recycling my darlings. Sometimes a character or scene in my meticulous outline doesn't feel right when actually written - e.g the ubercool character doesn't have a unique plot function - so I move that chunk to another document and see if I can use it some other way.
What has helped improve your writing the most? Developing an editing eye for repeated words, plot holes, and missing pieces of some sort #writingq #WritingCommunity
January 8, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Recycling my darlings. Sometimes a character or scene in my meticulous outline doesn't feel right when actually written - e.g the ubercool character doesn't have a unique plot function - so I move that chunk to another document and see if I can use it some other way.
Reposted by Nishka
Remember folks: If lots of men like a particular story, that’s fine and good. If lots of women like a particular story, that’s super sinister and deserves at least a dozen hand-wringing think pieces.
January 8, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Remember folks: If lots of men like a particular story, that’s fine and good. If lots of women like a particular story, that’s super sinister and deserves at least a dozen hand-wringing think pieces.
Once upon a time, there was an outcry over the proliferation of foreign scholars of all things Indian dominating their fields, and the colonialist bias that some were bringing, and many people agreed that we should engage with these fields ourselves, and be proud of our own history. 1/
January 7, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Once upon a time, there was an outcry over the proliferation of foreign scholars of all things Indian dominating their fields, and the colonialist bias that some were bringing, and many people agreed that we should engage with these fields ourselves, and be proud of our own history. 1/
Reposted by Nishka
It's the 3rd of January 1939, your name is professor James Smith and you are staring at a drawing of a fish. It's not a regular fish. It is a completely impossible fish.
January 6, 2026 at 10:27 PM
It's the 3rd of January 1939, your name is professor James Smith and you are staring at a drawing of a fish. It's not a regular fish. It is a completely impossible fish.