Richard Butner
@richardbutner.com
Writer, occasional performer, shipwrecked jester (ghost mixologist, Eagle Scout).
Lotsa Small Beer Press books (including mine) 25% off for the rest of 2025 when you use coupon code SBP25 at Indiepubs.
smallbeerpress.com/not-a-journa...
smallbeerpress.com/not-a-journa...
Indiepubs Sale: 25% off these titles | Small Beer Press
From now until the end of the year with this coupon on Indiepubs: SBP25
smallbeerpress.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Lotsa Small Beer Press books (including mine) 25% off for the rest of 2025 when you use coupon code SBP25 at Indiepubs.
smallbeerpress.com/not-a-journa...
smallbeerpress.com/not-a-journa...
It strikes me that some of y'all might not have seen the video for "I Do the Rock" lately. Time to remedy that. "It's very stimulating."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXPC...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXPC...
Tim Curry Official Music Video - I Do The Rock
YouTube video by Tim Curry
www.youtube.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:11 PM
It strikes me that some of y'all might not have seen the video for "I Do the Rock" lately. Time to remedy that. "It's very stimulating."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXPC...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXPC...
"You may choose one person to tell you The Aristocrats joke"
October 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
"You may choose one person to tell you The Aristocrats joke"
Most interesting (in a not-good way) part of the AWS outage was that none of the affected sites and services I saw put up any kind of "we are experiencing an outage" notice. Things ... just ... didn't ... work. That's as bad or worse than the outage itself.
October 21, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Most interesting (in a not-good way) part of the AWS outage was that none of the affected sites and services I saw put up any kind of "we are experiencing an outage" notice. Things ... just ... didn't ... work. That's as bad or worse than the outage itself.
Thinking about an alternate timeline where Ted Nelson's vision of hypertext and permanent attributions caught on. As opposed to the Berners-Lee implementation and "info wants to be free," which begat some good things, sure. But also enabled LLMs and disenfranchised creators.
October 14, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Thinking about an alternate timeline where Ted Nelson's vision of hypertext and permanent attributions caught on. As opposed to the Berners-Lee implementation and "info wants to be free," which begat some good things, sure. But also enabled LLMs and disenfranchised creators.
This is my mechanical keyboard. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.
Is it my best friend? No. Is it my life? Also no. But it is pretty handy, and I'll take mechanical keys and a wire over chiclet keys and Bluetooth any day.
Is it my best friend? No. Is it my life? Also no. But it is pretty handy, and I'll take mechanical keys and a wire over chiclet keys and Bluetooth any day.
October 14, 2025 at 5:10 PM
This is my mechanical keyboard. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.
Is it my best friend? No. Is it my life? Also no. But it is pretty handy, and I'll take mechanical keys and a wire over chiclet keys and Bluetooth any day.
Is it my best friend? No. Is it my life? Also no. But it is pretty handy, and I'll take mechanical keys and a wire over chiclet keys and Bluetooth any day.
Why yes, I am pondering the utility of adding the fox/hedgehog dichotomy to the ol' pirate/ninja and dwarf/elf matrix.
October 1, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Why yes, I am pondering the utility of adding the fox/hedgehog dichotomy to the ol' pirate/ninja and dwarf/elf matrix.
Reposted by Richard Butner
antifa literally means anti-fascist. that's all it means. it's a descriptor, not a group. declaring yourself against "antifa" means you are the other thing
September 18, 2025 at 1:15 AM
antifa literally means anti-fascist. that's all it means. it's a descriptor, not a group. declaring yourself against "antifa" means you are the other thing
I talked to podcaster/writer/human extraordinaire Scott Edelman about all kinds of stuff. Give it a listen!
Episode 263 of Eating the Fantastic with @richardbutner.com is now live! Eavesdrop on our Readercon lunch and learn why he defines his writerly self as being neither gardener nor architect but explorer, what ambiguity truly means and why it matters — and more. www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/20...
September 15, 2025 at 1:28 PM
I talked to podcaster/writer/human extraordinaire Scott Edelman about all kinds of stuff. Give it a listen!
Reposted by Richard Butner
Coming next month on my Eating the Fantastic podcast — you're invited to join @karenheuler.bsky.social and @richardbutner.com at their Readercon lunches as we discuss how they do what they do and manage to do it so well. I hope you'll subscribe to be among the first to eavesdrop. pod.link/1083737796
August 31, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Coming next month on my Eating the Fantastic podcast — you're invited to join @karenheuler.bsky.social and @richardbutner.com at their Readercon lunches as we discuss how they do what they do and manage to do it so well. I hope you'll subscribe to be among the first to eavesdrop. pod.link/1083737796
Sometimes I still really love the internet: "Investigating the Provenance of a Widely Shared Anthony Bourdain Quotation"
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Bourdain Quote Origin Investigation
Investigating the Provenance of a Widely Shared Anthony Bourdain Quotation I. Introduction: The Enduring Words (Mis)Attributed to Bourdain A. Anthony Bourdain's Legacy and Voice Anthony Bourdain (1956...
docs.google.com
August 30, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Sometimes I still really love the internet: "Investigating the Provenance of a Widely Shared Anthony Bourdain Quotation"
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
A daily question: Do I have outrage fatigue or outrage fatigue fatigue?
August 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
A daily question: Do I have outrage fatigue or outrage fatigue fatigue?
A list of good books you can buy and read. For pleasure, even.
Distracted from news by
1) sleeping (aka blasted long covid)
&
2) calculating writers' royalties (aka hoping US dollars still ok usable)
So: thanks for buying these books! — most still orderable from any bookstore or this handy place:
bookshop.org/lists/small-...
(illo by @tanaudel.bsky.social)
1) sleeping (aka blasted long covid)
&
2) calculating writers' royalties (aka hoping US dollars still ok usable)
So: thanks for buying these books! — most still orderable from any bookstore or this handy place:
bookshop.org/lists/small-...
(illo by @tanaudel.bsky.social)
Small Beer Press titles
Checkout out this list on Bookshop
bookshop.org
August 25, 2025 at 5:03 PM
A list of good books you can buy and read. For pleasure, even.
"captive on a carousel of time"
August 18, 2025 at 1:53 PM
"captive on a carousel of time"
Help keep this historic tradition going: the Fantastic Fiction reading series at KGB Bar.
Our longrunning Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series needs your help to continue. Would you please donate and share? @datlow.bsky.social
www.gofundme.com/f/fantastic-...
www.gofundme.com/f/fantastic-...
Donate to Fantastic Fiction reading series at the KGB Bar, organized by Matthew Kressel
Fantastic Fiction at KGB is a monthly speculative-fiction reading seri… Matthew Kressel needs your support for Fantastic Fiction reading series at the KGB Bar
www.gofundme.com
August 6, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Help keep this historic tradition going: the Fantastic Fiction reading series at KGB Bar.
Christopher Priest, Inverted World
Go to your nearest bookshelf. Which book is standing sixth from the right?
July 22, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Christopher Priest, Inverted World
Lunch with Scott Edelman was one of several high points for me at this year's Readercon. Really glad that I returned (my 25th anniversary of first attending) and hope to get back there more frequently. Great to see all y'all who I saw, sad that I missed plenty of others.
Snuck off from Readercon for a fascinating lunch conversation over tacos with Richard Butner at Border Cafe — and you’ll be able to join us on a future episode of Eating the Fantastic! pod.link/1083737796
July 21, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Lunch with Scott Edelman was one of several high points for me at this year's Readercon. Really glad that I returned (my 25th anniversary of first attending) and hope to get back there more frequently. Great to see all y'all who I saw, sad that I missed plenty of others.
My story "Bad Boys" is in the new issue of Bourbon Penn alongside a bunch of other fine folks. Check it out.
Bourbon Penn 36 is live with new stories by Richard Butner, Aliya Whiteley, Sam Asher, Phoebe Barr, and K. Alexander Perez, and Alex Irvine.
@richardbutner.com @samasherwriter.bsky.social @kapzwrites.bsky.social
@richardbutner.com @samasherwriter.bsky.social @kapzwrites.bsky.social
Bourbon Penn 36
Stories by Alex Irvine, Richard Butner, Aliya Whiteley, Sam Asher, Phoebe Barr, and K. Alexander Perez. Cover art by Stuart Pearson Wright.
www.bourbonpenn.com
July 15, 2025 at 3:19 PM
My story "Bad Boys" is in the new issue of Bourbon Penn alongside a bunch of other fine folks. Check it out.
People don't use the word "fickle" near as much as they used to.
July 2, 2025 at 2:34 AM
People don't use the word "fickle" near as much as they used to.
A subgenre of post I almost always hate: the "can you imagine anyone actually wearing THAT?!?" post, with accompanying runway pix from fashion houses that have been around 50-100 years. Don't worry, darling, you can't afford those clothes anyway.
July 1, 2025 at 6:31 PM
A subgenre of post I almost always hate: the "can you imagine anyone actually wearing THAT?!?" post, with accompanying runway pix from fashion houses that have been around 50-100 years. Don't worry, darling, you can't afford those clothes anyway.
Not Paul Krugman using AI slop in his otherwise informative newsletter! Ah well. Instant unsubscribe.
June 13, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Not Paul Krugman using AI slop in his otherwise informative newsletter! Ah well. Instant unsubscribe.
Reposted by Richard Butner
AI propaganda that matches your left-wing values is still AI propaganda. You are not a part of the fight for the importance of reality if you are helping to destroy it.
May 31, 2025 at 2:44 PM
AI propaganda that matches your left-wing values is still AI propaganda. You are not a part of the fight for the importance of reality if you are helping to destroy it.
Anil Dash on "The Internet of Creeps." A quick and worthwhile read.
www.anildash.com/2025/05/27/2...
www.anildash.com/2025/05/27/2...
The Internet of Consent - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
www.anildash.com
May 29, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Anil Dash on "The Internet of Creeps." A quick and worthwhile read.
www.anildash.com/2025/05/27/2...
www.anildash.com/2025/05/27/2...
Reposted by Richard Butner
It's all about the words and the words in the first 49 issues of LCRW came from the writers whose name are on the cover of the 50th issue:
smallbeerpress.com/lcrw/2025/05...
smallbeerpress.com/lcrw/2025/05...
May 27, 2025 at 9:04 PM
It's all about the words and the words in the first 49 issues of LCRW came from the writers whose name are on the cover of the 50th issue:
smallbeerpress.com/lcrw/2025/05...
smallbeerpress.com/lcrw/2025/05...
Show us your creative process in a gif
May 19, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Show us your creative process in a gif