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Despite being a fast-paced thriller, it manages to drag halfway through, because it’s obvious they’re spinning their wheel to reach the “big finish.” The gif below best sums up my thoughts on the show. #Harker #audiodrama

static.klipy.com

Dumpster Fire

ALT: Dumpster Fire

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Just finished listening to all eight episodes of the Audible drama Harker. The acting and production values are great. The concept for the story is brilliant. Sadly, the script is a master class in plot-moving-character and how not to write an audiodrama. #Harker #audiodrama

Screen capture of Audible with the cover art to “Harker” showing

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Decided it’s time to sell a lot of the comic books I’ve moved again and again for more than thirty years now. One of the more interesting items I have in my collection is a Marvel comic book: “Marc Spector: Moon Knight #1.” Put it up for #auction on eBay. ebay.io/m/XijVoH

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Check out this great listen on Audible.com. From James Patterson, the world's #1 bestselling author, comes Harker — a dark and seductive detective noir that reimagines Dracula as a contemporary crime ...

Listened to the first half of #Harker. The twist at the end of the first episode is great. Acting is solid (Christina Ricci is fantastic, as always). The writing… a little heavy-handed and cliché. The only truly dreadful part was a pointless cameo by James Patterson (it’s eye-roll-worthy bad).

audible.com

Harker

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Suzanne Forbes aka Slurketta @suzanneforbes.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Someone you know is a sex worker. Sex work is work. Sex worker rights are human rights.

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This is why a good 911 dispatcher will always stay focused on determining the location before allowing the conversation to move onto anything else.

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

The most important information when calling 911 will ALWAYS be the location of the emergency. Whenever possible, figure out the address before you call. You’re gambling if you assume a cell phone will plot correctly for the dispatcher you’re calling (the tech isn’t foolproof).

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I can’t believe it’s been 13 years since my first novel came out. The covers aren’t the only things that have changed in that time. I’ve learned a lot, and there are so many things I wish I’d known going into that first book’s release. I’m sharing that to help you. #Writersky #Booksky

Happy 13th Birthday, Gidion Keep!

The 20/20 Hindsight From My Debut Novel

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

We lost Wicket this past Thursday. I’m heartbroken. Think I will be for years. One of my favorite things I’ve ever written was in my novel TO HELL AND BACK, and it’s the chapter inspired by how Wicket found me and Sheri all those years ago. #DogsofBluesky #Booksky

The Dog That Went TO HELL AND BACK (and to Heaven)

Saying Goodbye to Wicket

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

While waiting for the final season to drop, I’m revisiting the storytelling techniques that make the early episodes of “Impact Winter” work so well. #ImpactWinter #audiodramas #podcasts

Revisiting “Impact Winter”

Season 1, Episode 2, “The Truth Unsaid”

Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

A little dragon loose in downtown means big problems in my latest short story “I Lost My Human.” Get this short story for free when you subscribe to my newsletter (which includes pics of my dogs Wicket and Mocha!). To subscribe and get the free story: shorturl.at/XxT4C #booksky #shortstory

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Just finished this last week and LOVED IT!

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Also want to praise the work of narrators Mary Robinette Kowal and Dillon Sickels. One of the best audiobooks I’ve encountered with more than one narrator on it. #booksky #FondaLee #TheLastContractOfIsako

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Isako is one of my favorite characters I’ve encountered as a reader. She’s such a badass, but also struggling with questions about the fabled career she’s built and whether it was all worth it. A brilliant sci-fi action adventure novel! #booksky #FondaLee #TheLastContractOfIsako

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Finished the audiobook of THE LAST CONTRACT OF ISAKO by @fondalee.bsky.social last week, and I loved it so much, I had to get it in hardback to put on my bookshelves. #booksky #FondaLee #TheLastContractOfIsako

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Heartbreaking. 😿 For many of us, he’s the best father figure and librarian TV has ever known. Rest in Peace, Ripper! www.bbc.com/news/article... #AnthonyStewartHead

bbc.com

Anthony Head: Buffy and Ted Lasso actor dies at 72

The British actor, who also appeared in Merlin and Little Britain, died of complications from pneumonia.

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In the past, I’ve released the short story as an ebook for sale, but I won’t be doing that this time. So when the cutoff time arrives, this one is gone.

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Thanks! I was inspired by the anime “Sword Art Online.” My daughter and I both love that series. Couldn’t resist taking that concept and giving it my own twist.

Your chance to get my free short story “Now I Lay Me Down to Play” ends on Friday, May 15th. To get this story of a person trapped in a Virtual Reality game, sign up for my newsletter. eepurl.com/isTfI-/ #Booksky #FreeEbook #ShortStories

Cover of “Now I Lay Me Down to Play” with arrows pointing to various tropes: Virtual Reality, Griffin Riders, Aerial Combat, Strange Creatures, AI Run Amok

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There’s an art to writing a conversation in a story, and I only recently realized how much my career as a 911 dispatcher has helped me with writing the dialogue in my stories. Today, I’m getting into the unexpected ways that improved my characters’ conversations. #Writersky

The Unexpected Benefits of Being a 911 Dispatcher for Writing Dialogue

If This, Then That

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Time is running out to vote for my books in the Indie Visible Awards! Tomorrow, May 8th, is the last day to vote. My novels WEST OF APOCALYPSE and THE DRAGON SPY are nominated for Dystopian/Sci-Fi and Young Adult, respectively. To go vote: shorturl.at/ee7qG #Booksky

Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

If you see this, drop a hero with a sword! Ayleen Torr’s silhouette is there, in the distance, and she always has her sword with her.

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Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Happy Star Wars Day everybody! #StarWars as photographs from the #Orkney Archive photographic collection. ⭐️ #MayThe4thBeWithYou #StarWarsDay

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

WEST OF APOCALYPSE blends Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” with “Revenge of the Sith” and “Blue Eye Samurai.” Available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook. www.billblume.net/books/west-o... #Booksky #StarWars

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Fill your #StarWars void between May the 4th and “The Mandalorian & Grogu,” with WEST OF APOCALYPSE. The Thirteen took everything from Ayleen except her sword, and she'll journey to the darkest parts of the galaxy to take her revenge. www.billblume.net/books/west-o... #Booksky #MayThe4thBeWithYou

Cover to the novel West of Apocalypse with a moon crumbling in a night sky over a dark, desolate landscape with a gas giant and a distant sun on the horizon with a young knight with a sword in silhouette looking towards the sky

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R.R. Virdi | Buy The First Binding (from TOR) @rrvirdi.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Probably the best take I've ever seen from a pub: genre rules are only guidelines anyways -- we all know what guidelines are too. XD

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Wicket is the smaller one. He’s an old man, but he’s still our baby boy. Bossy and adorable.

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Codfather #FBPE 🇫🇷🇪🇺 @codfather.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

😂 He is getting some stick over that - lol

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Melissa Nadia Viviana 🐸 @resistrebelrevolt.net · 19/09/2025

🔥💯 Jon Stewart's prophecy from 2022: "When a democracy is under threat: comedians are the ones who get sent away first. Authoritarians are the threat to comedy, to art, to music, to thought, to progress. It ain't the pronoun police, it's the Secret Police. It always has been & it always will be."

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Wicket is around 12 years now. Mocha I think is probably somewhere around eight (but less sure about her age). And yeah, the time has passed quickly. I can't believe November will be a full decade since Wicket chose us.

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

This won my follow! My dogs Wicket and Mocha

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Was thrilled to work with translators Samantha Sugey Priego Morales & Carmelo Massimo Tidona on these. #Booksky #Writersky

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

A first in my writing career! One of my books is now available in both Spanish & Italian! The Dragon Spy just came out in ebook in both languages. El Dragón Espía (Spanish): shorturl.at/6tyR9 La spia drago (Italian): shorturl.at/0j3JC #Booksky #Writersky

Cover to El Dragón Espía with the Lincoln Memorial statue of Lincoln in the background with the silhouette of a young girl with dragon wings standing in front of it.

Cover to La spia drago with the Lincoln Memorial statue of Lincoln in the background with the silhouette of a young girl with dragon wings standing in front of it.

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

It’s Indie Bookstore Day! If you want to get my books in paperback, here’s a link to find them at Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia! Support your indie bookstores! shorturl.at/PJWA1 #IndieBookstoreDay #Booksky

Cover art for TO HELL AND BACK with large blocky font over three stacked images with a blue-tinted cemetery against a city skyline in the background, a red “blood swamp,” and a green mausoleum with a creature pushing a gondola through its watery grotto.

Cover to The Dragon Spy with the Lincoln Memorial statue of Lincoln in the background with the silhouette of a young girl with dragon wings standing in front of it.

Cover to Gidion’s Hunt. Gidion holding a sword is in silhouette in an alley at night with the city skyline and moon behind him

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

You can add “The Hand on the Wall” to your preferred ereader. Bookshop: shorturl.at/54F2H B&N: shorturl.at/zh8ii Evil Empire (Amazon): shorturl.at/TlowU #horror #Booksky #ebook

A pair of yellow snakelike eyes looking out from the shadows over the text “The Hand on the Wall”

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Was thrilled to see this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review for my short horror story “The Hand on the Wall.” #horror #Booksky #bookreview

Bill Blume delivers an eerie and unsettling psychological horror in The Hand on the Wall, built around a deeply unnerving premise. When Art wakes up to discover his left hand missing, the real nightmare begins as everyone around him insists he never had one. What starts as a desperate search for truth becomes a descent into obsession, paranoia, and isolation.
Blume effectively blends body horror with psychological suspense, creating a creeping sense of dread as reality itself begins to feel unreliable. The introduction of Heidi, a one-handed mural artist who claims to have suffered the same fate, deepens the mystery and adds emotional weight. Short yet impactful, the story keeps readers questioning what is real, what is remembered, and what lurks unseen in the shadows.

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

I oppose gerrymandering, but I voted YES today. Republicans started this by gerrymandering states they control. People are already dying from a trump presidency when he has a slim majority in Congress. Gerrymandering is wrong, but there’s no moral high ground when it leaves people six feet under.

Closeup of “RVA Votes” sticker on a blue shirt

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Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

The “trump buyer’s remorse” is such horse excrement. These people aren’t upset he’s turning out to be a monster. They’ve always known what he is, but they were fine with it as long as he hurt the more vulnerable people they don’t like. They’re just ticked he’s now making their lives miserable, too.

media.tenor.com

a man says do you know what this is it 's the world 's smallest violin .

ALT: a man says do you know what this is it 's the world 's smallest violin .

Bill Blume @billblume.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

How do you “show” the audience what’s happening in an audio drama? In my latest blog post, I’m revisiting the post-apocalyptic, vampire series “Impact Winter” and examining Travis Beacham’s writing to see how he and the audio effects team make it work. #ImpactWinter #Writersky