Sage Tyrtle
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sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Sage Tyrtle
@sagetyrtle.bsky.social
2.6K followers 540 following 2.1K posts
Award-winning storyteller, writer, and workshop wizard. Moth GrandSLAM champ. NPR/CBC/PBS contributor. Taught 150+ workshops for Second City, Clarion West, and more. Work in Apex Mag, The Offing. Helps writers dig up stories that stick. www.tyrtle.com
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sagetyrtle.bsky.social
I'm usually good with understanding UK books published in the 1930s but this one befuddled me. I had to ask a British friend, who explained that the richies are so bored and so exhausted from spending money that they are placing bets on who is going to come downstairs next. GOOD LORD.
Text from a book: The usual clatter of the breakfast table was in full progress. Everybody was already down except Freddie and Henry Kentisbeare, and Annette was trying to get up a hasty sweepstake on which of them would be the last. Stephen, helping himself to bacon and eggs, took a shilling ticket and was promptly informed that he had drawn a blank.
November 11, 2025 at 5:53 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
to my Ergodox EZ keyboard, which is 2 split keyboards and EVERY key can be changed, so I've taken full advantage of that. As a result, I'm the only person on the planet who can use it but I've also lost my ability to use anyone else's keyboard *laughing*
5. Wrote to 3/4 mark on haunted short story.
Keyboard key for my Ergodox EZ keyboard.
November 9, 2025 at 1:14 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Two day #WritingWorkshop coming up! Craft #FlashFiction using the repetition-driven frameworks of a pantoum and a sestina, pushing their prose toward unexpected resonance:

writingworkshops.com/en-ca/produc...

#AmWriting #Writer #Writing
Blue sky with dark clouds at dusk. A black telephone pole with many wires leading to and from and silhouetted trees.
October 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
I stopped using Amazon about a year ago, and LOVE these little notes which often come in my Canadian online orders. They give small businesses a face, and make me smile every time. (Bonus: high quality products, and paying shipping means in the end I spend much less than I (1/2)

#BuyCanadian
Small note which says "Sage - Thank you so much for your order and for your patience while we were on vacation! Enjoy your new stamp - it is one of my favourite products!"
October 25, 2025 at 2:39 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
This morning @gooutsidetoday.com called cat treats "An offering to the god of the house" and if THAT was religion, I'd be first in line to join. (Wait, did I already join? IS IT A CULT? A CAT CULT?)

#cat #CatsOfBlueSky

(Yes, he's a weirdo who loves blankets.)
Tabby cat asleep under a yellow blanket.
October 22, 2025 at 1:21 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
May you sleep tonight as peacefully and deeply as my silly cat Squishy.

#Cat #CatsOfBluesky
Tabby cat sleeping on top of a yellow blanket with the edge turned up over him.
October 16, 2025 at 2:16 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Join me for this #WritingWorkshop with @smokelong.bsky.social -- let's work together to use the impossible to talk about the deeply real. Leave with a fresh, impactful piece of flash #SpeculativeFiction.

www.smokelong.com/product/spec...

#WritingCommunity #Writing #AmWriting
Alien in a spaceship, black and white headshot of a person with a shaved head and bangs wearing black and white glasses. Text reads: Speculative Fiction as Metaphor with Sage Tyrtle, 2 hour webinar, Oct. 25 11 AM NYC, using the impossible to talk about the deeply real. Leave with a fresh, impactful piece of flash fiction.
October 16, 2025 at 1:54 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Sushi Rejection Project Update: I'm at 33 out of 100, and feeling a little like this photo of Squishy the cat. (Well, to be fair, I love a cold room and so he's really just trying to stay warm.) This is once again the highest I've ever gotten, but I do have a piece pending with a fancy pants (1/??)
Cat under a yellow blanket, just his nose and muzzle visible.
October 15, 2025 at 2:10 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Aw, thank you! (This is the first time I've looked like anyone in media since I was ten years old)
Cover of Harriet the Spy. Ink drawing of a child with glasses, a red sweatshirt, blue jeans, black shoes. Carrying a notebook.
October 10, 2025 at 8:49 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
I always wanted a twin. (This character appeared on the screen in Dead End Paranormal Park and my whole family went SQUEEEEEE!) This made me super happy.

#NonBinary
Character from the animated show Dead End Animated Park and real person. Both have shaved head, blue bangs, a backpack, a purple shirt, and an orange overshirt.
October 10, 2025 at 7:58 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Squish the Cat says there are #WritingWorkshops galore coming up! Whether it's #SpeculativeFiction, #ProsePoetry, #CNF, or POV you're into, I can give you tools to create fabulous new pieces:

tyrtle.com/writing-work...

#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writers #AmWriting
Tabby cat lying on a desk being cuddled.
October 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Love #FlashFiction? Love #SpeculativeFiction? Join me for this @smokelong.bsky.social #WritingWorkshop and I'll give you the tools to write speculative fiction as metaphor, one of my FAVOURITE THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE:

www.smokelong.com/product/spec...

#Writing #WritingCommunity
Spaceship with an alien inside. Headshot of a person with black and white glasses, shaved head, and bangs. Text says "Speculative Fiction as Metaphor with Sage Tyrtle, 2 Hour Webinar, Oct. 25, 11 AM NYC".
October 7, 2025 at 1:42 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
I made my own shoelaces! On the right, my old shoelaces, and on the left, the shoelaces I just finished making. You can get fancy metal aglets or heat shrink tubing but I used good old scotch tape (see: Going To High School (1/??)

#SewSky #Sewing #Sewer #Sew #MeMade #FatSewingClub #GarmentSewing
Two black sneakers. One has round black laces and the other has homemade flat blue laces.
October 6, 2025 at 12:40 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Pumpkin pie is pretty great, but you know what's MORE fun? #WritingWorkshops. Join me in November for Loop and Spiral: Flash Fiction Through Poetic Forms, where we'll combine ancient poetry forms and prose to create AMAZING new pieces:

writingworkshops.com/en-ca/produc...

#WritingCommunity #Write
Person with blue bangs, shaved head, black glasses and black t-shirt above a pumpkin pie about to be baked. (Pro-tip: if it says you can use heavy cream instead of evaporated milk, don't believe them! IT TAKES LITERALLY HOURS TO BAKE.)
October 3, 2025 at 12:01 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Meanwhile, I am marking off my tasks in my task book.

#Cats #CatsOfBluesky #GettingThingsDone
Tabby cat is lying full length on top of an open task list. There are small coloured wooden blocks on top of the cat in a neat row. Next to the task desk is a sewing table, and a shelf with files on it.
October 2, 2025 at 12:59 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
I'm ready to try a zip fly again, this time with the wonderful Helen's Closet, whose instructions make lovely sense and patterns fit so well. I'm going to try cotton twill with the #FalconerPants and while I'm pretty (1/??)

#SewSky #Sewing #Sewer #Sew #MeMade #FatSewingClub #GarmentSewing
Monochrome drawing of wide legged zipper pants with side pockets.
September 28, 2025 at 10:13 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Sushi Rejection Project update! I'm at 22 rejections in a row, which is the highest number I've ever gotten and is weirdly kind of a relief. I've already gotten to the highest number, what's the worst that can (1/??)

#WritersOfBluesky #WritingCommunity #Writing #AmWriting #Litmags #LitFic
Person in headphones, a black t-shirt and black leather jacket with blue hair and blue glasses. Text says: If you're submitting your writing to lit mags, remember that someone, somewhere, is going to love what you have to say.
September 24, 2025 at 2:48 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Thriving in the uncomfortable moments - my partner @gooutsidetoday.com wrote an awesome essay about thinking he likes to be comfortable and being reminded over and over that he loves to be uncomfortable:

gooutsidetoday.com/blog/2025/09...
Just before dawn, a small grassy hill and stars in the lightening sky.
September 22, 2025 at 11:24 AM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Well, on the bright side I have a lot of polka dot scrap fabric, should I need it in the future. (Also I know how to do godets now.) I am REALLY spoiled by the fantastic instructions from Helen's Closet. This Skirt of Doom (1/2)

#SewSky #Sewing #Sewer #Sew #MeMade #FatSewingClub #GarmentSewing
Person holding a black and white polka dot skirt up to show black godets.
September 16, 2025 at 9:15 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Reading UK books, growing up in California, I was BEWILDERED by torches. My mental image was of modern British children in jeans and t-shirts wandering around dark basements holding this and somehow not setting each other or the house on fire:
Child in the dark holding a stick on fire.
September 14, 2025 at 11:49 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Sewing godets is 9/10 nerve-wracking and 10/10 satisfying when I get it right. Working on the #SaundraSkirt by Syd Graham Patterns. I didn't know what the correct term was until a week ago, but I've adored godets my whole life.

#SewSky #Sewing #Sewer #Sew #MeMade #FatSewingClub #GarmentSewing
September 13, 2025 at 11:49 AM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
I made a t-shirt! A for realsies t-shirt that does all the t-shirt things! The sad t-shirt of doom was cannibalized for sleeves and a collar and I love the inadvertent color blocking. Question for overlocker people: I know they (1/2)

#SewSky #Sewing #Sewer #Sew #MeMade #FatSewingClub #GarmentSewing
Person with shaved head, blue bangs, and blue galsses laughing at something off-camera. Wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with blue collar and blue sleeves.
September 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
New #SpeculativeFiction story: "My eyes feel itchy like they always do when I want to talk. It's like my words know they can't go out of my mouth so they try to go out of my eyes instead. After the W is an O, an M, an E, then an N. Holy, it's a swear word!"

www.oysterriverpages.com/kept-voices
Cartoon face with two dots for eyes and three Xs for a mouth.
September 10, 2025 at 3:57 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
I made sleeping shorts! These are the B version of #JunePants by Helen's Closet, made with fabric I bought because it was on sale and cotton and lightweight but LOVED working with. Super excited to make more to replace (1/2)

#SewSky #Sewing #Sewer #Sew #MeMade #FatSewingClub #GarmentSewing
Person with shaved head and blue bangs, yellow shirt, blue glasses, and shorts made from a fox and bear pattern. Standing in a hallway with gray walls and the corner of an ink drawing. Close up of fabric with a pattern of bears, foxes, hedgehogs and trees.
September 6, 2025 at 11:53 PM
sagetyrtle.bsky.social
Proof of concept! This is my tragically bad #DawsonTshirt by Helen's Closet. I've only sewn with jersey once before and it certainly shows. The collar is a sad mess and I cut (1/??)

#SewSky #Sewing #Sewer #Sew #MeMade #FatSewingClub #GarmentSewing
Person with blue bangs, blue glasses, and a shaved head in a blue t-shirt and yellow striped pants. Standing in a hallway in front of an ink drawing.
September 2, 2025 at 10:11 PM