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Anyway, if you're in Boston, come see Annalee Newitz talk about their book (and while we're at it I will undoubtedly ask about their other works, too) on October 14 at Brookline Booksmith ! RSVP here brooklinebooksmith.c...

A colorful flyer depicting two nonbinary authors wearing glasses and the book A Wall is Also a Road with a mosaic tile theme.
Text of this flyer reads: Annalee Newitz, A Wall Is Also a Road Book Tour • Boston
Brookline Booksmith, October 14th, 7pm in conversation with Cecilia Tan

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 4h

Some people read romance to get their hearts healed when the couple gets together. This is sci-fi where not only is there romance, but also friend groups have to work out their dynamics, shitty advisors have to be overcome, lots of different flavors of healing in here!

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 4h

I hesitate to call the book "cozy." It deals with a lot of big dark themes ranging from scientific research being co-opted for military genocide to natural disasters wiping out cities, but focuses on the local troubles (and solutions) of a group of single-cellular grad students.

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 4h

I'm really looking forward to talking with @Annaleen about A WALL IS ALSO A ROAD at Brookline Booksmith -- this book does what science fiction does best, dislocate us from our reality in order to ultimately provoke thought about ourselves. But in a gentle, hopeful way.

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 28/09/2026

Folks, I could really use some more patrons. Over on Patreon I post a bunch of stuff and I will even launch a new serial there if I can get my numbers up by the end of October? Support a spicy indie author and have some fun. Details: www.patreon.com/ceci...

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 28/09/2026

Link to RSVP (recommended to make sure there's space for ya!) brooklinebooksmith.c...

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 28/09/2026

Coming up on October 14th! Annalee Newitz will be in Boston to launch A WALL IS ALSO A ROAD and answer questions like, but what can single-celled organisms teach us human nature? And how did you make tentacle sex so wholesome?? RSVP to Brookline Booksmith on their website.

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 28/09/2026

The nightly auroras were lovely while they lasted. Looking forward to 11 (?) years from now!

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 28/09/2026

Is the solar maximum over?

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 28/09/2026

More evidence of the hidden ways in which LLMs are powered by (likely exploited and poorly paid) humans

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my ordinary life @calne.ca · 27/09/2026

im very busy

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Diane Duane @diane.dianeduane.com · 28/09/2026

...Who's got a recipe for rose hip jam or jelly that does NOT call for apples? If so: what fruit is substituted? Tempted to use plums. Pectin's not an issue: I have "jam sugar." Any thoughts, friends? Thanks! #cooksky

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Diane Duane @diane.dianeduane.com · 28/09/2026

...So here's a question for the #cooksky crowd. I've got about a third of a kilo of rose hips. Nearly all the rose hip jelly recipes online (as opposed to jam recipes, which are scarce due to the irritating fibers inside rose hips) call for apples. My IBS puts apples off the menu for me. (1/2)

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Cats of Yore @catsofyore.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Please help if you can! Queen City Cat Lounge is an adoption center I visit frequently here in Vermont and their window was vandalized last night. Fortunately they had double glass for the cats' safety, but the broken outer window needs to be fixed ASAP. www.gofundme.com/f/repair-and...

Poster with a black and white screenshot of security footage showing a man peering into the front window of a cat adoption center. Text says "please help Queen City cat lounge recover. last night someone broke the window at Queen City cat lounge - an adoption center that has placed hundreds of cats in loving homes. the cats are all safe but the window needs to be replaced quickly!"

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 28/09/2026

Dystel, Goderich & Bourret resigns from AALA over changes to the Canon of Ethics they deem conflict of interest--namely, new rules allowing agents "to charge editorial fees with the potential to then sign those authors as clients and retain those fees". www.dystel.com/aala-statement

dystel.com

AALA Statement — Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC

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C. L. Polk @clpolk.com · 28/09/2026

Today is my birthday! Please buy my books, I'm so broke

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Kate Sloan (she/her) @katesloan.com · 28/09/2026

“accuracy and sensuality are two unrelated properties”

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 28/09/2026

The only reason I can think that asterisks are better than an embedded graphic is screenreaders may skip the graphic if it doesn't have alt text? (Although I'm not sure how screenreaders handle asterisks, now that I think about it... I should test this out.)

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 28/09/2026

Mitigation effects seem to be letting him get ahead of it! New, pristine CPap accessories, etc, and he's finally making progress. Now to see if a trip to NYC this week makes him relapse or what...

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J. R. Moock, jr. @jrmoockjr.northsky.social · 27/09/2026

Most of the internet is too young to remember the “Paddleboro” controversy here in Massachusetts, and the chilling effect it had on BDSM spaces all over the country. www.thesunchronicle.com/paddleboro-1...

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 28/09/2026

I'm mystified how the AI could think I'm the person to contact? I maybe left a comment for them once? And maybe one link from one of my blogs? Not that I needed more evidence that AI can be wildly incorrect.

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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Fellow GenXers: remember how often we were bombarded with images of late-period USSR? Old, decrepit men in charge, clinging to an ossified ideology. Political repression, nakedly false propaganda, empty shelves, food shortages, inadequate health care, deep-seated cynicism, crumbling infrastructure

static.klipy.com

Ironic Star Wars Moment

Alt: A smirking emperor palpatine says "ironic."

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Cecilia Tan @ceciliatan.com · 28/09/2026

Today in AI spam, some AI out there decided I'm in charge of Chinese Cooking Demystified?? I'm not... I'm just a viewer who loves their YouTube channel and highly recommends it. Here's their biang biang noodles recipe: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiBn...

Text of a scam email that reads:
ALAN and Northeastern University sponsored The Peak in the last month.

I run Sponsor Radar. We find the brands already sponsoring in your niche, email them for you from our own mailboxes, and hand you the ones that respond positively. We can get them your ad kit and cc you in to take them over the finish line.

Want me to run Chinese Cooking Demystified Substack and send you the list? Happy to share $20 in free sending credits too.

Ryan

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Jordan Kurella @jordankurella.com · 27/09/2026

hey all!!! got my contributor copy of "Your Body is a Fever Dream" from @tenebrouspress.bsky.social !!!! you can pre-order this amazing book of trans body horror too! click the link: bookshop.org/beta-search?...