iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 5h

It's funny when it's a rejection, but I worry that one day somebody is going to have slotted it into their next issue and send me an acceptance after I've already sent a withdrawal! But glad I'm not the only one! 😅

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 5h

If I had a nickel for every time I've received a rejection on a story I've already withdrawn because it was accepted elsewhere, I would be up to...three or four nickels now? Plus an extra for the time I got an R&R on a story I'd withdrawn. Maybe that one gets a dime!

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 8h

Ah awesome! I'm on the opposite coast so I can't drop by unfortunately, but I would love to hear how it goes! I recently let the staff at our local coffee shop know that I was just finishing a book and I'd written most of it there, and they loved that

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that St. Martin's Essentials has acquired FUTURE PULL, a life-changing body/mind/spirit book by my incredible client and Reality Revolution founder, Brian Scott. This book will help a lot of people, and I'm so honored to be a part of bringing it to the world.

A publisher's Marketplace deal announcement. FUTURE PULL by Brian Scott. Imprint: St. Martin's essentials. Podcaster and founder of The Reality Revolution movement Brian Scott's FUTURE PULL, teaching readers how to make shifts in their life through the future self method, based on retro causality, where future events influence the present, to Sarah Stanton at St. Martin's Essentials, by AJ Van Belle at Booker Albert agency (world). Nonfiction: body, mind and spirit

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Good thing I have deadlines to keep me occupied or I would be hitting refresh on PM all evening 😅

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

In agenting news, I just submitted a VERY exciting deal to Publisher's Marketplace. Announcement coming soon... 👀

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Heather Weidner @heatherweidner.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Hmmm....

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Well, that was a first: I woke up and mentally criticized a plot hole in my dream. 😂 You know you're a writer when...

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Monique AC @moniqueac.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Hey! I have a new story out, "The Orchard-Bay" in Stellar Parallax: Human Hope in Grimdark Worlds, edited by @ajvanbelle.bsky.social You can find and/or order it at all the usual book places or directly from @inkedingraypress.bsky.social at www.wordsmakeart.com/collections/...

An image of a book cover that is in darker colours. In the foreground is a large spaceship above what appears to be a planet, with another planet at the top and behind, which shows light emerging from behind it.

The text on the image says: Stellar Parallax: Human Hope in Grimdark Worlds, Edited by A.J. Van Belle

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Formatting the bibliography for From Mushrooms to the Moon is oddly satisfying. That is all.

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I haven't seen this but your post makes me want to check it out!

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Amelie Ahern-Williams @artfuldoodling.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Wanted a chill drawing activity, so I started designing little creatures inspired by plants n leaves. (Currently going by Leaflings.) These are Dogwood and Alder :) 🍃 #kidlitart #nature #fantasy

Woodland creature inspired by Dogwood leaf, large eyes and long cylindrical nose, leaf ears, and leaf atop head.

Woodland creature inspired by Alder, body made from a brown alder cone, and head based on leaf, with cylindrical nose growing from the stalk. Creature holds a little wooden staff.

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Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab @bpal.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Well dang, should’ve just memed it in the first place

An illustration by Gustave Dore for Dante’s Divine Comedy that shows two silhouetted figures standing on a tall summit gazing up at a great celestial conflagration of souls in heaven. Text reads “We already had free art for people who are broke or bad at designing things. It’s called the PUBLIC DOMAIN”

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Jeremy Ghooooost Shipp @jeremycshipp.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

As always, today is a great day to support artists, writers, creators of all sorts. If you have the means, buy a book, sign up for someone's Patreon, commission an art piece. It's also a lovely day to leave a nice comment, post a short review, spread the word about someone's work. Everything helps.

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Edmonds Scanner @edmondsscanner.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Your daily affirmation: Like antlers, it's time for you to branch out, become sharper, and get more weathered and beautiful with age.

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Helen Whistberry @whistberry.northsky.social · 19/09/2026

Today's #SciArtSeptember theme is #star It's easy to feel alone in the universe when gazing upon a sky full of distant stars. It's good when friends rally round you...

Black and white drawing of a melancholy-looking toad perched on a rock under a starry sky with thin clouds visible. There are five tiny ghosts surrounding the toad to give it moral support.

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Very excited to take one-on-one pitches at the 2026 (Online) Florida Writing Workshop on Oct. 9-10, 2026. Join me! Anyone from anywhere can attend. Learn more about the virtual writers conference here:

floridawritingworkshops.com

The 2026 Online Florida Writing Workshop

Get Your Writing Published: October 9-10, 2026

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I'm trans, pronouns they or he. If you call me she, I'll correct you. I look feminine(ish). My gender identity doesn't match my sex assigned at birth; that's what trans means. I'm not transitioning to fit someone else's idea of how my gender identity should look. That doesn't make me less trans.

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

My newsletter today is an interview with the fabulous kidlit author Mary Boone! She's the author of more than 70 non-fiction books for children, and in this post she shares some great wisdom about building a writing career. I'm proud to say Mary is also one of my amazing clients!

Photo of the cover of The Flying Feminist by Mary Boone.

Author/Client Spotlight: Mary Boone, Children's Author. Mary is the author of science filled books for kids. She's also one of my awesome clients, and her latest release, The Flying Feminist, is about early aviator, Lillian Bland.

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Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It is no secret. All power is one in source and end, I think. Years and distances, stars and candles, water and wind and wizardry, the craft in a man's hand and the wisdom in a tree's root: they all arise together.

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Shane M. Bailey @shanembailey.com · 13/09/2026

I say this all the time. You don't know who needs a smile and your comic, your story, your art, will help. You don't know but someone needs you. You've probably saved someone's life somewhere. You've made them feel seen. You've made them feel loved. You help people get by. That's special.

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Speech to text transcribed my statement about "large, woody land plants" as "large, witty land plants," so of course I had to stop writing From Mushrooms to the Moon long enough to create this gem.

A drawing of two trees, quickly sketched in blue pen on lined writing paper. They both have silly faces drawn on their branches. The pine tree has a speech bubble that says, "Why did the tree fall across the road?" A deciduous tree answers, "It was upset to the other side!"

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

While working on From Mushrooms to the Moon, I'm reading a paper on ResearchGate on the fate of all plastic the world has produced over the decades. ResearchGate offered a helpful pop-up that said, "Interested in research on Fate?" I mean, maybe!

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Michael Strode @michaelstrode.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Pre-order sale at Barnes & Noble, today only! Link in comments.

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Cynthia Gómez @cynthiasaysboo.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Strange Horizons is opening for submissions on October 1. I repeat, Strange Horizons is opening for submissions on October 1.

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

"New from Thomas Hardy" isn't the Audible promo notification I was expecting 😅

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Me (working on From Mushrooms to the Moon): Do you think "crap ton" is one word or two? Spouse: I don't know. Are you spelling tonne the Canadian way? 😂

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Jeremy Ghooooost Shipp @jeremycshipp.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Hey Bluesky, could you help me signal boost my Big Cartel shop? Jeremy Creatures are designed and hand-sewed by me, and they take many hours to create. jeremycreature.bigcartel.com

Here's a lovely photo of a plethora of hand-sewn fabric art creatures. There's a watermelon creature with a red face, eight black seed-like eyes, and a wide mouth with five sharp teeth. There's a white ghost trinket bag covered with purple embroidered flowers. She has a gray face, sparkly black eyes and a little frown. There's a strawberry creature with three bulbous green eyes. There's a watermelon ghost, and a black creature with sharp teeth wearing a bulbous eye earring. There's a large purple creature with many yellow eyes and an open mouth, with a little green creature popping her head out. All the creatures are sitting on green fur and there's a galaxy print fabric in the background.

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I just now said "human being." And what did it type? "Human beer"

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Text to speech in Google docs just transcribed "gravitas" as "karate toss." Dying 😂

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Good one! I wonder if Star Trek is what gave people the idea for the IRL tech 👀

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

❤️ and I just added a bunch more thoughts because you got me thinking...hope you don't mind the expounding! 😅

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

So the showrunners very likely didn't realize in 1966 that the actual real-world technology was right around the corner and would, within a few decades, far outstrip what was depicted in the show And it's common for comm tech to advance faster than creators of fiction imagine

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Oh maybe the confusion is over the use of the word "predicted"...by predict I mean included them in a far-future show, which would suggest we have them in 400 years. And, while we don't know how long they've been around in TOS, presumably we're seeing Kirk and Spock using the state of the art

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

You're not missing anything, you're right on point! They predicted communicators as if they were far future, yet the actual tech followed quickly! And communicators were pretty primitive compared to smartphones...which were commonplace by around 2010. We didn't have to wait 400 yrs!

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Thoughts about sci-fi and technology! I've always found it interesting that we seem to get some tech way ahead of what sci-fi or dystopian fiction predicts, and other stuff doesn't happen as predicted at all.

We got cell phones long before Star Trek predicted we would have communicators...but we're a long way from having tricorders.

That's not the only time real-life tech happens faster than sci-fi predicts. I would love to hear other examples you can think of!

And I know tech doesn't always beat fiction...more on that soon!

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Michael Strode @michaelstrode.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

My agent's journey as an author is inspiring - worth reading for any writer.

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AJ Van Belle (they/them) @ajvanbelle.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

My "how I signed 3 book deals in 2025" newsletter has dropped! You know where to go to read it (bio! 🔗!) It's not a unicorn story. I hope it's a whole lot more than that. 💜

Image with part of the cover of my upcoming book A Dozen Dystopias and How to Dodge Them and the text:

I signed three book deals 2025... And it only took me 33 years to get there. How my forthcoming books with Bloomsbury and Orca happened, why it took me so long to get here, and how I almost gave up way too soon

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Kristine Ada Carter @kristineadacarter.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I love the way A.J.'s new website showcases both their science nonfiction and fiction talents. The artwork gorgeous. The layout and visual storytelling breathtaking!

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