iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Ok a lot is happening, but do yourself a favor. Go into the kitchen. Make yourself mint tea. Steep for 4 minutes. Now, add hot chocolate. Now, add half-and-half. Boom! You got yourself a hot mint chocolate extravaganzaaaaaaaaaa.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Fall colors over the Blue River on our daily walk. #colorado

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Could @netflix.com’s recommendation algo be THAT GREAT if it didn’t send me an email to tell me there’s a new season of Party Down?? No. No it cannot.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Yesterday, an author’s nightmare: I geared up to do the final push on revision for my manuscript, which is due to my editor tomorrow. I opened my MacBook and…Black screen of death. Reboot in safe mode. Brightness up. External monitor. Nothing.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Everyone says, “Write the ending of your book so you’ll know the beginning.” But so far, no one has ever said to me, “Write the ending of your book because it’ll catapult you into a revision process that will take up all your free time and keep you up at night but it will make you SO HAPPY to see

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Attending the #Boulder Histories Film Festival is such a treat. There have been some standout stories told, especially about Oscar White, a man who escaped slavery and moved to Goss Grove, about the history of irrigation, about the renovation of #Chautauqua’s auditorium, and Frozen Dead Guy Days.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Enshittification is what’s happening with products and market dynamics. Ensloppification is what’s happening to the output. Enfuckedification is what’s happening to society. Encuntification is what’s happening to my personality, watching all this go down.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Sophomore Bio was my first period class at Boulder High. The classroom had one of those bulky gray TVs with a VCR built in, stored in a recessed, open drawer in the cabinets and only ever pulled out to watch frog anatomy videos. Our bio teacher was silent, except when he sobbed into his hand.

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Reposted by Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna

Elle Cordova @ellecordova.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I am the very model of a modern day typographer A font take on the tune “Modern Major General” by Gilbert & Sullivan #typography #fonts #graphicdesign

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

#Colorado might be sunny all the time, but we can still do #Gothic. What kind of #horror story would you set here?

St. Catherine’s Chapel on the Rock, in front of the Rocky Mountains with foliage in front

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Yesterday, I finished my first draft of my second novel (75,667 words). It changes locations in the last two chapters. The vampire rules start differently than they end. The tone completely shifts halfway through. But I got the skeleton down. Now, the muscles and skin are growing. It’s alive!

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

One of my favorite things about chairing the Historic Preservation Advisory Board for Boulder County is getting updates from the women working on the Latine and Chicano history project, centered on Las Barracas just outside Longmont. Oral histories, migrant stories, community bonding…it’s stellar

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

ChatGPT, Grok, Claude, and Cursor are all down this morning. It’s the only morning I’m a little excited to open LinkedIn

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

ON FIRE AND UNDER WATER will be up for Best Anthology at #Bouchercon in Calgary this October, and one of my fellow short story writers is also up for Best Short Story. Pretty amazing!

Two books of On Fire and Under Water on sale at the Boulder Bookstore

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Today’s vibes. Autumnal showers and the best TV show ever made.

Two mountain peaks in the gore range covered by cloudy skies in front of a wet road and a fir tree

The Tv show Twin Peaks on a television on top of a red cabinet

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

My favorite part of getting out of tech, other than the newly alleviated anxiety and guilt, is that I only now use LinkedIn to stalk people my friends find annoying.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The video from the Nepal-Tibet border crossing will come up in your feeds today. Before it plays, I need to warn you: I have never seen something so raw and heartbreaking in my life. I burst into tears, thinking of the people running from that onslaught. Consider whether you need to watch it.

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Reposted by Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna

NPR @npr.org · 26/08/2026

The disaster is linked to climate change, with experts noting the region's vulnerability to extreme weather. n.pr/4cvl1On

n.pr

8 dead, hundreds missing as Nepal avalanche triggers flash floods

The disaster is linked to climate change, with experts noting the region's vulnerability to extreme weather.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

So what, you get $5mil as the first engineer for the sale of your AI startup? How do you look your friends in the eye? The ones who got laid off when their boss decided their brains were disposable. Aren’t you embarrassed to tell your therapist that chatGPT already diagnosed you with depression?

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Every morning, I walk along the Blue River, which begins near Quandary Peak and flows north until it meets the Colorado in Kremmling. It’s low, like my hope. In the age of climate crises, how do we keep from despairing? I have some ideas. cemckennaauthor.substack.com/p/postcard-f...

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Furious is Killing Eve + Epstein + Luigi Mangione and it is the perfect TV show for 2026.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Mt. Audubon is bare. There is no glacier there. I am in mourning.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP by @gradyhendrix.bsky.social : An un-put-downable, fast-as-a-rapid Friday read.

The Final Girl Support Group book by Grady Hendrix, held up in front of a mountain and blue sky with clouds

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I hold a lot of deep-seated beliefs about the world, and one is that you should pretty much always get your feet wet in any body of mountain water if you have the chance.

Feet with pink nail polish on in a creek, standing in rocks

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Sometimes, when I’m feeling stuck, I ride my motorcycle over Swan Mountain to Breckenridge and sit in their beautiful, quiet library.

Library window with two bookcases and a laptop computer

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Celebrate your rejections. Yesterday, I was rejected by a publishing open call (16 months elapsed since I submitted), an agent (only 5 weeks on that one), and a screenwriting fellowship (1 month). But in that time, my work was read, my ideas considered, and my creativity respected.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

My second novel’s vampire is consuming my brain. Must feed her something new. Everyone I know who’s read it says that Dungeon Crawler is particularly tasty. Have at it. 🥢🧠

A photo of a book in front of the Rocky Mountains

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Having every Lyft driver have to open the door of the Tesla Model 3s because none of the doors seem capable of opening from the inside by a normal human passenger with 26 years of car-driving experience realllllllly makes me hate Elon even more than I did already.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

When Facebook first launched, my computer-sci dad told me that if something was free, it meant I was the product. It was feeding on me. I didn’t listen because I was having too much fun with my friends. “Convenience is death,” he said. “Death is inevitable,” I said. openai.com/index/testin...

openai.com

Testing ads in ChatGPT

OpenAI begins testing ads in ChatGPT to support free access, with clear labeling, answer independence, strong privacy protections, and user control.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

My always advice for other women: Everywhere you go, bring the confidence of your mother on the dance floor of a wedding when Dancing Queen is playing.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Everyone knows about elevation sickness, but did you know that if someone lives at 9k feet elevation normally and then goes to sea level, they feel DRUNK on oxygen? It’s too much! I could run a marathon! I’m a super hero!

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Dispatches from the Colorado Mountains: The unique disappointment of realizing that the sleek brunette body you saw from a distance, curving in an accordion as it ran along the lakeside, is not a river otter returned to its familial grounds, but a marmot, making its deep den in the earthen dam.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Just a mid-evening moose behind our house. 🫎

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Had my first encounter with a driver who was visibly angry over my lane filtering today. I’d thought is was a myth! Mad it safely to the coffee shop in Frisco, however. There will soon be a middle-aged white guy in a Range Rover getting their head bitten off by an angry vampire in my novel.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

My best friend told me my Substack headshot from five years ago is too old so I took this new one. Someone call Wilhelmina Models.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Our neighbor got a rescue dog from New Mexico who didn’t know how to trust. Watching him grow and learn over the past few weeks has been such a joy. Read more on my substack :) open.substack.com/pub/cemckenn...

open.substack.com

We Opened The Gate

The simple beauty of a dog who learned to trust

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Finally saw Spiderman vs Batman The Devil Wears Toga Mad Max: Fury Sea The Re-Bourne Identity Homeward Bound: Argo’s’ Tale

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Last night’s sunset was pretty in pink.

Sunset over the mountains with a lake and forest in the foreground

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Reposted by Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna

Emily C. Hughes @emilyhughes.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

once again: we're trying to get to 500 paid subscribers by Aug 14th! here's how you can help: - subscribe (if you haven't already) - tell a friend (or buy them a gift subscription) - share our articles with your friends, coworkers, followers, etc - post about us on your favorite subreddit - donate!

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Things I did today: Wrote a short piece about AI for submission to @mcsweeneys.net Shot a quick video of 5 rainy-day book recommendations for The Masters Review Applied to a job at @macmillanpubusa.bsky.social Watched a monsoon roll in. Didn’t ride my motorcycle because of said monsoon.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I am kicking myself for not buying a #TriumphTrident660 earlier. It’s an amazing bike.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Just wrote a feature-length screenplay in 2 weeks. It’s a a love letter to female friendship and the Colorado wilderness. It’s also a thriller, a murder mystery, and an exploration of childhood trauma. Plus…moose attacks. I hope to see Moosehaven get made, someday.

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Caitlin Eliza (C.E.) McKenna @ce-mckenna.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Slack deactivated. Gmail gone. Terminal shut down. Cursor uninstalled. Mannnnnnnnnn that feels good.

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