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Benjamin C. Kinney

@benjaminckinney.com
3.6K followers 1.3K following 991 posts

SFF writer, neuroscientist, Hugo finalist. Escape Pod 2017-2023. Codex, VP, SFWA. Short stories in Analog, Lightspeed, Sunday Morning Transport, etc. Neuroscience (not under pen name): rehabilitation, neuroimaging, movement control, handedness

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Reposted by Benjamin C. Kinney
Melissa Caruso @melissacaruso.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
While I'm talking about how tough discoverability is for books these days...I keep hearing that people didn't realize I've got a book coming out! So yes! The third and final book of The Echo Archives, THE LAST STAR IN THE VOID, is out on Nov 10! bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
bookshop.org
The Last Star in the Void
The brilliant conclusion to Melissa Caruso's Echo Archives trilogy; a whip-smart adventure fantasy where a detective has to solve the greatest mystery of all--her own murder. Kembral Thorne is back o...
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 25/09/2026
Excited to announce that I'll be attending the @banffcentre.bsky.social Futurisms Intensive Writing Residency in February 2027! It's a dream-trifecta for me: a two-week writing residency, awesome mentors, and finally getting a chance to visit Banff.
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
“That’s right: We can no longer have towering, absurdly hirsute, functionally deranged drainpipes made from bears murdered with medieval weaponry on the heads of our rigidly immobile palace guards, because of Woke.” Amazing. Read the footnotes.
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Sascha Stronach🏳️‍⚧️, The Sunforge out now @understatesmen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Gordan Ramsay: Monstresor's got himself into a spot of trouble. His restaurant has an excellent wine selection, but the decor is in shambles. He tells me he's planning to renovate but I'll believe it when I see it. Fuck me where's the exit gone?
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Amanda Helms - Preorder THE UPPER TENTACLE @amandaghelms.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Hey, my book THE UPPER TENTACLE I've been talking about? Here's Union Square's press release announcing their new novella line Singularity, of which TUT is a part! ("high-impact, one-sitting fiction! That's me [too]!) www.hachettebookgroup.com/articles/uni...
hachettebookgroup.com
UNION SQUARE & CO. ANNOUNCES “SINGULARITY”: A BOLD NEW NOVELLA PROGRAM DEDICATED TO HIGH-IMPACT, ONE-SITTING FICTION
The curated line bypasses traditional page counts to champion narrative velocity across genres, kicking off September 2026 with titles from Harlan Ellison, Adam Cesare, and more. NEW YORK, NY (Augu…
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 23/09/2026
You know it's strangely long when it has five quarters! (Legit, sometimes you want 125% of a book)
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 22/09/2026
Neuroscientist speaking: this article has a horribly misleading headline. The scientists actually found, "the most primitive parts of the brain come from a different embryonic starting point, and may have evolved separately." Your face also has 2 embryonic start points, doesn't make it 2 faces.
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Amanda Helms - Preorder THE UPPER TENTACLE @amandaghelms.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It's September 18, which means that in exactly one month, my special call for @diabolicalplots.com, Diabolical Rot, will be opening for submissions! Check out the full details here: www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-general-s...
diabolicalplots.com
DP General Submission Window and “Diabolical Rot” Themed Window – Diabolical Plots
If you are thinking about starting a short fiction publication and would like to discuss with someone experienced how to get started, please do contact us!
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Lightspeed Magazine @lightspeedmagazine.com · 15/09/2026
The 2026 LIGHTSPEED + NIGHTMARE Kickstarter is NOW LIVE! Check out our star-studded lineup of authors & peruse our rewards: subscriptions, signed books, rare magazine collectibles, t-shirts, mugs, and other fun stuff. Thank you in advance if you're able to offer your support.💖 bit.ly/LS-NM-26
LIGHTSPEED & NIGHTMARE Kickstarter graphic. Left side: Bright light blue background with rays (as of light) bursting out from the center. Central image is an open book with a rocket blasting up out of it. Below the book is the LIGHTSPEED magazine wordmark; the word lightspeed is rendered in a orange-to-yellow gradient, with a white outline around it and dropshadow underneath it.
Right side: Bright light yellow background with rays (as of light) bursting out from the center. Central image is an open book with a haunted house emerging from it. Below the book is the NIGHTMARE magazine wordmark; the word nightmare is rendered in a dark red to lighter red gradient, with a white outline around it and dropshadow underneath it.
Top: the words "LIVE on Kickstarter"
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L. D. Lewis, Sea Witch Apologist 🧜🏾‍♀️ @ldlewiswrites.blacksky.app · 06/09/2026
Hello and hi! That magazine I've been teasing for funsies for like a year and a half is now mostly a real thing! soundandcolormag.com
soundandcolormag.com
Sound & Color
A digital interdisciplinary magazine of speculative fiction
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 05/09/2026
Great to meet you at WorldCon! Glad you had a fun time, and congrats again for being a Hugo finalist 😎
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Eric Schwitzgebel @eschwitz.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
New podcast interview of me, at High Variance, on AI consciousness and the future of what I call "debatable persons". www.dannybuerkli.com/podcast/2026...
dannybuerkli.com
Debatable Persons: The Coming Crisis Over AI Consciousness – with Eric Schwitzgebel
Eric Schwitzgebel — professor of philosophy at UC Riverside and author of The Weirdness of the World and the forthcoming Human-Like: A Defense of AI Rights — joins Danny Buerkli to ask what happens if...
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 04/09/2026
Oh god no poor Ray [sad-but-unsurprised]
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 01/09/2026
Yes! At last! May your flight be copacetic despite its substantially different length 😁
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 01/09/2026
Boarding my flight home from @laworldcon.bsky.social. What a fantastic time, full of great conversations with new friends (old, new, and previously-online) & on panels. Coming out with so many schemes [positive] and exhaustions [inevitable]!
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 31/08/2026
Nominees are typically known internally in March or April.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 31/08/2026
The polling must be organized carefully, that's for sure. But past Orthodox Jewish nominees have thought differently about its impact on them. But it's all good! Solve both issues with, "Dear all finalists, please let us know which night you can/cannot attend, and briefly explain why."
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 31/08/2026
Yes And: one reason for the Sundays was to support observant Jewish finalists who would not be able to attend on Saturday. Step one would be polling the finalists early on to see whether there are any such people in the current year! I imagine there will be many years when this is not an obstacle.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 22/08/2026
*cracks knuckles* Someone's gonna sleep with the mattresses tonight
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Amanda Helms - Preorder THE UPPER TENTACLE @amandaghelms.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
✨✨✨COVER REVEAL✨✨✨ I'm delighted with my cover design and art by Caroline Teagle Johnson, who nailed the retro, campy vibes I requested for my debut, THE UPPER TENTACLE! TUT publishes 02 09 27 from Union Square &. Co, but preorders are available now! www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/amand...
On a faded background of a green tentacle on a pink backdrop, the cover for THE UPPER TENTACLE shines in all its pink, green, and red glory! A green tentacle coils upward, and a silhouette of a woman dangles one-handed from its tip. Title THE UPPER TENTACLE, in red, interweaves with the upper portion of the tentacle, and the author's name, also in red, is at the bottom. "February 9, 2027" is above the cover, and "Preorders available" is below it.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 18/08/2026
Took me a while to make this coalesce this, the key is that Cygnet has an amazing thematic/character arc but a frustrating plot. So gut that plot and fill it with season after season of intrigue and numinous wonder! The show would be titled "The Heart of the Cygnet." (IYKYK)
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 18/08/2026
Patricia McKillip. All of it. Core arc from "The Sorceress and the Cygnet," but made vast and sprawling by declaring that all of her standalone novels occur in the same setting.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 18/08/2026
I don't doubt it (now, old and jaded), do you have a link?
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 18/08/2026
Even in my idealistic innocent youth I once heard someone refer to Sacks as "the man who mistook his patients for a literary career," and was never quite able to respect him again.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 16/08/2026
Not as good as my time convincing one of the Expanse authors to convince /other/ partygoers to drink a gross chunky lime alcohol.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 13/08/2026
Reach heaven through violence
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 08/08/2026
I'd need to think about what topic(s) to write about, to take it beyond the two-sentence version! Open to requests, I'll have time to work on articles next month :)
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 08/08/2026
Fun thought: you're right that this isn't how "crazy" works, but it is *how people think crazy works*. People react like this because they're familiar with the narrative device!
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 08/08/2026
Hello yes that does sound exciting! I have dreams of running a workshop like that, getting it funded by neuroscience-communication group like the Dana Foundation
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J.H. Siegal @joshuasiegal.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Proud to be the lead story in this collection of lost children from @metaphorosis.com. Thanks to @bmorrisallen.com for his excellent editorial work on this piece. Pick up a copy of this wonderful weird anthology!
bookshop.org
Trunk: stories that took the long way
"Not all those who wander are lost," as Tolkien famously said. Sometimes they're just taking the scenic route.Here are 20 great science fiction and fantasy stories that took the long way to success. E...
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 01/08/2026
I do love our advantages throwing speech and tacos
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Louis @louisevans.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
I wrote a story about this:
escapepod.org
Escape Pod 683: Flash Crash
MAISIE was seven years old on the day she woke up and died. Blame it on the algorithms, if you wish. The survivors–and there were not many of them–certainly did. MAISIE (Modified Arbitrage…
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 30/07/2026
Just adding "starship armor made of shrimps" to my WIP notes, as you do.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 23/07/2026
Love it! Appears to be signed by @redpenblackpen.bsky.social?
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 19/07/2026
It's not a proper date night until you've been yelled at by security.
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Gizmodo @gizmodo.com · 14/07/2026
Behold: The First Medical X-rays Ever Taken in Space gizmodo.com/behold-the-first-medica…
gizmodo.com
Behold: The First Medical X-rays Ever Taken in Space
This achievement marks the start of a new era for astronaut health as humans endeavor to fly farther from home than ever before.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 12/07/2026
Awesome!! 🥳
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khōréō magazine @khoreo.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
6 days left and we are 70% funded—toss a coin, spread the word, help us reach the finish line!
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 08/07/2026
Hey @liesandperfidy.bsky.social the nature of Fourth Street is a continuous conversing motion
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 08/07/2026
To return to a quote I use often (and to cite its author @orbitaldropkick.bsky.social): The nature of royalty is a continuous cutting motion.
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Kelly Robson @kellyrobson.com · 07/07/2026
There are fewer Best of anthologies every year! We need books that showcase top SFF stories and help readers find new authors. 'Back the Book' and reverse the trend with Locus's new anthology! locusmag.com/anthology #backthebook
locusmag.com
Locus Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume 1
Delve into the creative worlds of the finest minds writing contemporary science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 07/07/2026
Fellow authors: without any context, what's the first line of your current WIP? (WIP #2): "You've forced me to be a truth-teller, so here's my truth: I regret nothing."
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 07/07/2026
Fellow authors: without any context, what's the first line of your current WIP? "Five days before final exams, my girlfriend convinced me to get rid of hands."
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 07/07/2026
Aw thank you! But I hope you know you are even more great! 💖
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 04/07/2026
I think I used to bike past that tree?
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 02/07/2026
I've got a piece in this anthology! About faith and facing uncertainty... and about pirates, retired warlords, and priestess-magi of the ocean's sunken treasures. The story's long road includes time as a Writers of the Future finalist - until I withdrew when I learned about their shenanigans.
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 01/07/2026
🦛🏕️
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 01/07/2026
Good call, I'm awaiting peer review on identification of my top candidate, the Superior Taco Lobule
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Benjamin C. Kinney @benjaminckinney.com · 01/07/2026
The last one could be a really insightful way to imply cultural depth. The rest... uh... please yes tell me about your toy steam grommet factory ☠️
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khōréō magazine @khoreo.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Submissions are opening today! We are seeking speculative fiction by immigrant/diaspora writers for upcoming issues. Open to short stories under 5,000 words; translations under 3,500 words from any language into English; and flash fiction under 1,500 words. Accepted stories are paid USD$0.10/word.
A typewriter in greyscale, with text “Submissions open, July 1-31” at the bottom of the image.
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