iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

One of the guiding songs for the novel I’m (interminably) working on is one I’ve loved since my parents bought the record in my childhood: “Two Doors Down” by Dolly Parton. Gonna listen to it all day long, in honor of the loss of one of the very best of us.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Breaking a long Bluesky silence to offer some friendly advice: if you're a potential MFA applicant, writing a program director with questions, how about not using ChatGPT to draft that email?

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

When Dr. Manhattan explained thermodynamic miracles to Laurie, he possibly meant my wife inexplicably owning a wired mouse, which let me rescue the unsaved 2000 words I'd written, in peril because my computer's Bluetooth decided to give all my peripherals the silent treatment

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Any authors out there getting emails purporting to be from famous-ish writers "just looking to connect"? So far I've heard from "Peter Ackroyd," "Steve Martini," "Chris Hedges," and "Pat Barker." All are clearly AI chatbots. "Pat Barker" used a waving emoji. The darkest timeline keeps sucking on.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Haven’t posted here in a while. The world’s a dumpster and social media posts are either a wail of grief/rage or someone reporting a publication, (or robots) and right now all of those options feel like they’re not great for my mental health. But I do miss you, friends.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Reno is a complicated and sometimes troubled place, but I love it here, not least for the weapons-grade rainbows

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Everyone, my colleague, the brilliant poet Steve Gehrke, has a book arriving next month--please preorder it! He's an astonishing artist. mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/visi...

mainstreetragbookstore.com

Visitation / Steve Gehrke | Main Street Rag

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

I can’t make the world better in any major ways today but here’s my dog, Inspector Bucket, who is not as well read as he might seem.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

At Sierra Trading Post I saw a five-year-old girl look theatrically both ways and then shove several rainbow-colored gift cards into her overalls. I ratted her out to her dad. Take that, lawlessness and chaos. I'm Batman.

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Catherine Pierce @catherinepierce.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Seems like a good day to share this poem, originally published in About Place journal. Here's to turning over the mussel shells.

Catherine Pierce

This Is How We Keep Going

By the surf, a mussel shell
wedged into wet sand, edge-up.
Someone could cut their foot on that,
I thought, and turned it flat,
while behind me the entire beach
rippled with mussel shells.

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Patrick Freivald @pfreivald.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Absolute assclownery.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

David Lynch has died. You wouldn't read my work and think of him, necessarily, but he's one of those artists who shaped the world for me, telling me more about what was possible. A true great. Also he did this to us. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uozh...

youtube.com

Mulholland Drive - Diner Scene

YouTube video by Gogol

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

I will not name the university with the most annoying recommendation-submission portal, but I can let you know they wanted me to check any boxes from a long list that might describe the student. Like “Go-getter” and “natural leader.” Where’s the box for “fuck you, read my letter”?

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Many of you surely know how to do this, but in case you don't: I just learned how to populate a List with all of my friends and pin it to my home page. Makes getting rid of FB a little easier. Now this place feels a little more familiar.

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Bad Hand Books @badhandbooks.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

Hey friends. A favor. @joshruben.bsky.social was one of the first people to put his name behind Bad Hand and he needs our help. The fire took his home. Let’s surround him with love and support. www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-...

gofundme.com

Donate to Help Lauren and Josh Recover After Fire, organized by Amber Schaefer

Lauren and Josh just recently bought their dream home in Altadena this December… Amber Schaefer needs your support for Help Lauren and Josh Recover After Fire

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Doug Murano at Bad Hand Books is one of the best people and editors in the biz, and his success with an indie press he willed and sweated into existence is incredibly cool and heartening. Buy Band Hand titles!

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Bad Hand Books @badhandbooks.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

We're on track to hit 40K total books sold by March of this year. We launched in mid-2022. Distribution to bookstores and libraries starts this year. Giddy up.

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Bad Hand Books @badhandbooks.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Reminder: Big news will drop this Tuesday.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

My kingdom for an edit button!

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

I archived my Facebook account and scheduled it for deletion. I feel surprisingly emotional about it? But maybe like an addict who just dumped all his booze down the sink? I don't know. It was a hellscape but I put in a lot of time there. RIP, I guess.

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Bad Hand Books @badhandbooks.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

In 2018, Bad Hand Books was a joke I told myself after I was laid off. I said if I ever had the chance, I’d take my bad hand and own it. After coverage in NY Times, Esquire, NPR, Paste, the Associated Press and a Shirley Jackson Award, and now an international distribution deal, I’m still laughing.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Someone on Reddit posted this and it's the simple stupid laugh I needed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9nv...

youtube.com

Batman's Infinite Playlist

YouTube video by Flash Sideways

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

RIP to Jimmy Carter, one of the most decent people ever to hold office in this country.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Check out this awesome story by UNR MFA student Drew Willis!

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

So pleased to welcome Dr. Afsheen Farhadi to the creative writing faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno. He'll be joining us in fall 2025! afsheenfarhadi.com

afsheenfarhadi.com

Afsheen Farhadi

Visit the post for more.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

My story "Souvlaki," published in New Letters this fall, can be read here. It's a tight 3k words about winter, grief, and food-delivery anxiety. Check it out: www.newletters.org/souvlaki-by-...

newletters.org

“Souvlaki,” by Christopher Coake – New Letters

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

Yesterday I met a very very old cat who likes to gaze at the fire for hours on end.

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

"One of my teachers at Columbia was Joseph Brodsky...and he said 'look,' he said, 'you Americans, you are so naïve. You think evil is going to come into your houses wearing big black boots. It doesn’t come like that. Look at the language. It begins in the language.'"

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Seems like overnight the idiom "set foot" has shifted into "stepped foot." I see it everywhere now.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

One of my MFA students crocheted me a birthday axolotl. We have such a wonderful cohort here at UNR right now. I’m very touched. Also please help me name the axolotl.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Writerfolk, please consider/tell students about the MFA at University of Nevada, Reno. Fiction and poetry. Fully funded. Genre-fiction friendly! Deadline Dec 15. We're a small, close program, with an emphasis on community. www.unr.edu/english/grad...

unr.edu

Residential MFA in Creative Writing | English

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in creative writing is designed for students who want to pursue a professional degree with emphases on writing and scholarship in English.

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Adam Sharp @adamcsharp.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

A list of bands in order of efficacy: 3. Placebo 2. The Cure 1. Prevention

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Bradford Pearson @bradfordpearson.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

"If someone else wrote your book and you read it, would you still think it was good?" I felt like I'd been punched through the chest

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I’m home sick from my afternoon class, so here’s some free writing advice to satisfy my teacher-brain: avoid using empty phrases (“it was” and “there was” in all their forms) whenever you can. You’ll usually have to write a more vivid/specific sentence in order to remove the phrase. You’re welcome.

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Wes Blake @wesblake.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Starter pack for #literaryfiction writers to find each other! Comment/repost and I'll add you go.bsky.app/ARue8c8 #literaryfiction #WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors 💙📚

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Grapie Deltaco @grapiedeltaco.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

“What radicalized you?” Bro I was told to treat people the way I would want to be treated in kindergarten and it made sense idk what else there is to say

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Maybe it's because I've been more active here right at a time of crisis and growth, but I've had a lot more interaction, and gained more followers, than I did in years on the Bad Place, where I never felt any sense of community. So, y'know, thanks.

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Jared Stanley @weedlet.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

A good Saturday record - @thatkarimahmad.bsky.social and Michella approve.

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Jared Stanley @weedlet.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

A new long poem is up in the latest (quite amazing) issue of Paperbag www.paperbagazine.com/IssueNo15/St...

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

I’m so proud of my former student joshgalarza.bsky.social, whose debut novel THE GREAT COOL RANCH DORITO IN THE SKY is a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. You should of course all read it! Rooting hard for Josh on the 20th— www.joshgalarza.com

joshgalarza.com

Author | Josh Galarza

Official website of young-adult author Josh Galarza. News, events, and more. The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky, out summer 2024 from Henry Holt & Co. (BYR).

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

New kibble bag means all is well for the small creatures

A small brown dog licking her chops in front of a bag of kibble

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

I'll be posting this a few times this month: Writerfolk, please consider/tell students about the MFA at University of Nevada, Reno. Fiction and poetry. Fully funded. Genre-fiction friendly! Deadline Dec 15. We're a small, close program, with an emphasis on community. www.unr.edu/english/grad...

unr.edu

Residential MFA in Creative Writing | English

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in creative writing is designed for students who want to pursue a professional degree with emphases on writing and scholarship in English.

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 17/11/2024

Folks, I'm seeing a rise in bots/trolls in my replies, so if/when you see them, remember: 1. Don't engage with them; 2. When I see them I'll block them, and then their comments will disappear forever; 3. You can block them too if you want, obviously. They want attention. Disappoint them.

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

If you're a reader, it's imperative that from time to time you try to discover writers completely unknown to you. Go to an indie bookstore and play roulette: close your eyes, spin around, put your hand on the shelf, and read what you land on. If you like it, recommend it.

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Premee Mohamed @premeemohamed.com · 16/11/2024

READ PEOPLE'S BACKLISTS THE MOST RECENT BOOK ISN'T THE ONLY BOOK THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM A GIANT BUG

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Christopher Coake @christophercoake.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Okay. So some business. Writerfolk who teach, I’d be obliged if you tell your MFA-aspirant students about the program at University of Nevada, Reno. Fiction and poetry. Fully funded. Genre-fiction friendly! Deadline Dec 15. Were a small and nice program.

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