iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 51m

workshopping a new query letter for my novel with my cohort and it goes: Dear agent, Gay fate swap in Waterworld. Thoughts? C.M. Sullivan

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Lesley Conner @lesleyconner.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It's time! The @apexmag.bsky.social 2027 Kickstarter is live! Help us fund another year of strange, shocking, beautiful, and surreal speculative fiction! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape...

kickstarter.com

Apex Magazine 2027

An award-winning digital literary journal of science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror.

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Rhiannon J. Taylor/R. J. Howell @mytherea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

As I can personally attest, THIS IS A VERY GOOD BOOK! Excuse the caps, but I'm excited by good books. Of which, this is one.

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

AMINA AL-SIRAFI x SONG OF ACHILLES: A dying thief swaps fates with a noble destined to end the worldwide flood—then must race against time to save the man he’s both doomed and fallen for. 🔥 slow burn romance 🌊 flooded world ⛵ high seas hijinks 🐉 sea-dragons 🏛️ floating libraries #dvpit #A #F #W #Q

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M.R. Robinson @mruthrobinson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I jumped out of my seat and had to take a lap around the house when I first saw FOUR recommendations for @othersidespec.bsky.social stories in this issue of Locus. If you haven’t yet, give these stories a read! They’re “devastating,” “luminescent,” “heartbreaking.” othersidespec.com/issues/issue...

Screenshot that reads

Recommended Stories
"Before She Knew About Magic", Joshua Geller Schwartz (Otherside 6/26)
"First To Rot", J.N. Howell (Otherside 6/26)
"Remade, Reshaped, Remembered", Sydney Paige Guerrero (Otherside 6/26)
"This Is C(lone)-Pop", Lia Lao (Otherside 6/26)
"Fletcher's Flights", Jonathan Olfert (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 6/11/26)

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Abhijeet @bingingout.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

"Seneschal of Shattered Tor" is a postcolonial high fantasy about a society trying to Be Better* and the leaders dragging them into the future. I hope you enjoy it! * T&C apply

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

back in martha's vineyard on an author fellowship with MVICW and there's really nothing like being surrounded by a bunch of other writers 🥲

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Rukman Ragas | ருக்மன் @rukmanragas.com · 19/08/2026

New poem release for me! "There are lonely things in the forest", my poem about absence and climate grief is out at @thedeadlands.com today. psychopomp.com/deadlands/is...

psychopomp.com

There are lonely things in the forest / Rukman Ragas / Psychopomp

Read There are lonely things in the forest, by Rukman Ragas, a poem from Issue 43 of The Deadlands, summer, 2026.

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Rio Lombana @riolombana.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

ime nonviolent communication can solve a lot of relationship problems. but, um. not all of them. at least, not problems that ride in with the storm and settle into the whites of your girlfriend's eyes ...anyway, please enjoy Kaitlin's and my cowritten sapphic horror story, it's free to read!

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Wen Wen @muteddragon.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

"That Summer at Aunt Jackie’s Alpaca Farm" was written at Viable Paradise with the prompt of cottage core and alpacas. I added eldest sibling angst and magical wool. Enjoy!

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Uncanny Magazine @uncannymagazine.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

PLEASE SHARE! Writers! Uncanny Magazine will be open for short story submissions from August 24 to September 7! WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR AMAZING, HUMAN-WRITTEN STORIES! www.uncannymagazine.com/submissions/

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Lia Lao @thelialao.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

my favorite story i’ve written (“revolutions, as told by a humble rice farmer”) is out in @podcastle.org! 🥹😭 referencing tang dynasty poetry it asks “what if we focused on this RANDOM RICE FARMER instead of the empire??” it’s a deconstruction of nationalism & v queer podcastle.org/2026/08/11/p...

poster with the words “revolutions, as told by a humble rice farmer”, “fantasy”, “3500 words”, “history from the bottom-up, emperors get decapitated, but we keep farming rice” “@thelialao”

on the left side are picture of rice paddies and on the right side are two men wearing hanfu

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Anaïs Ornelas Ramirez @a-ornelas.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Very happy to say I’m going to @viableparadise.bsky.social this fall ✨ I received a Writer of Color Scholarship and am fundraising for the rest. Earning in pesos makes getting to a U.S. workshop its own exercise in speculative economics, so any help (or share) means a lot! gofund.me/198c28fdb

gofund.me

Donate to Fund Anaïs' Dream Workshop Experience, organized by Anaïs Ornelas Ramirez

Hello! I’m Anaïs, a Mexican speculative fiction writer, and I’m hoping t… Anaïs Ornelas Ramirez needs your support for Fund Anaïs' Dream Workshop Experience

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Contract is signed! I'm excited to share that my medieval fantasy story “Holly and Axe,” a sapphic reinterpretation of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, has been acquired by @kaleidotrope.bsky.social for publication. 🪓🌲

The graphic shows a misty forest. The text reads: Holly and Axe by C.M. Sullivan, medieval fantasy, 2,000 words, featuring monstrous Arthurian romance, the power of stories, and a sapphic retelling of The Green Knight.

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Wen Wen @muteddragon.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

My latest story is available to Orion's Belt subscribers now! Grief, connection and some special candles.

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Apex Magazine and Book Company @apexmag.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

"In the hospital, they say my brain is melting out my nose. They don’t say it like that. They say I’m dying of a prion disease." 🦠🦌🧫 New fiction today by @anjbaker.bsky.social: "Cervidae, New and Sharp" Read it here: www.apexbookcompany.com/blogs/apex-m...

"Cervidae, New and Sharp" By Anj Baker. Apex Magazine, Issue 154.

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

my story, “The Light Below,” is available to read today in apex’s issue 154!! otherwise, you can catch it online october 20 🕯️🤍 www.apexbookcompany.com/products/ape...

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

So excited to be a part of this issue!! Especially such an honor with this TOC and beautiful art.

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

thank you guys so much for the love on this project!! i’ve been drafting it in isolation since september 2024, and it makes me a little less nervous to query 🥲 excited to catch up on other folks’ pitches!! #questpit

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

AMINA AL-SIRAFI x QUEEN'S THIEF A dying thief switches fates with a man prophesied to end the worldwide flood. What's worse than death? Oh, consigning the guy you love to it. 🐉 sea-dragons 🏛️ floating libraries 🌊 flooded world ⛵ high seas adventures 🔥 slow burn romance #questpit #A #F #W #Q

A graphic depicts the text "THIEF OF THE VASTBORN" by C.M. Sullivan. The graphic shows a dragon statue; a marble column with an ocean view; a red-haired man with a blue eye gazing skyward; a grotto filled with seawater; part of a scarred man's face; a mosaic sun insignia; the statue of a half-veiled woman; a ship-rope and the open sea; and Greco-Roman style columns with an orange tree.

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Thank you!! The artist I worked with is amazing!

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Get to know my main guys for #questpit! From THIEF OF THE VASTBORN: 🐉 Zev: Impostor. Sailor. Accidental thief. Ocelot wrangler. Perpetual loner. 👑 Dimitrios: Prophecied Divine. People’s prince. Book nerd. Chastity vow. Perpetual loner. Maybe they fall in l*ve?! 👀 #F #A #RF #Q #W #LGBTQ

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Rhiannon J. Taylor/R. J. Howell @mytherea.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Starfall: a queer space opera heavy on the intimate-stakes character drama, elfy science-fantasy, and swashbuckling starship adventure about a telepathic space elf who joins off-brand Starfleet. He's a stabby cinnamon roll who doesn't want any friends! (This is a lie.) #Questpit #Q #A #SF #SFF

Title slide that reads "Starfall, Queer Space Opera Adventure, 139,000 words, R. J. Howell."

Slide that reads: "Pitch: Erendesirel was raised for two things: political marriage and political skirmishes. Sadly, the galaxy doesn’t have much call for a well-trained ornamental husband or sword-wielding duelist. Banished from his technologically-hostile homeworld, unskilled, and entirely broke, he applies to the Galactic Survey and Security Fleet,
a company of space-faring scientific contractors.

He just has to somehow pass a basic competency exam he is woefully unprepared for. And agree to a 10-year debt contract to pay for his tuition. And avoid being driven insane by the thoughts and feelings of a crew of a hundred and twenty souls serving on a very small starship. And navigate all the well-meaning people trying to be his friend.

Oh, and not get kidnapped by pirates." There is another section below it that reads "Comps" and show the covers of Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell, Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, Slow Gods by Claire North, and Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. There is also an illustration of a space elf named Eren.

This slide reads: "Excerpt: Erendesirel—the nameless, the houseless, the planetless—had tracked his quarry down to a victuals shop on the outskirts of the space station’s medical district. From his hunter’s hide on a public bench opposite the establishment, he glowered at the incongruously-wooden door, breathed in the smell of roasted nuttiness and sticky sugar wafting out through the open bay window, and fought for equanimity.

His hand tightened on the hilt of his family sword, the blade pressed against his leg to accommodate the rather unfriendly design of the bench. Galactic architecture was, as always, crafted for comfort and unobtrusiveness but singularly failed to take into account a full-length sword at one’s hip. It didn’t matter that of all the peoples of the galaxy, there was only one that insisted on carrying true steel swords instead of some technological marvel that, oh, made the sword shrink or disappear or be constructed entirely out of light.

He would never stoop to touch such a thing. No, the sword and dagger set of his clan would serve him for this purpose just fine.

No matter that they were considered contraband. By both his people and station security, if for rather different reasons."

This slide reads "The Trope Nebula" and contains a series of trope-related terms: All the feels, found family, to boldly go (but contractually), swords but space, touch-adverse telepathic space elves, starships!, stabby cinnamon roll, disaster bisexuals, qu3eer, student debt?, lesbians with laser canons, and friendship! (whether you want it or not).

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Lia Lao @thelialao.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

wrapping up edits so here's an updated agent's guide for #questpit! :)) [BREAKING NEWS]: BROKE PHD STUDENT FAKES DEATH AND STEALS IDENTITY OF BILLIONAIRE TECH HEIRESS. TOO BAD HER GENIUS RIVAL IS ONTO HER & IS OBSESSED WITH EXPOSING HER NEW SKIN #A #Litfic #SF #LGBT #OV #Q

slide that reads "an agent's guide to FACELESS". line under reads "literary speculative fiction / 95,000 words @thelialao)

background is a blurry photo of an asian woman with a blue tint

Pitch

[BREAKING NEWS]: BROKE PHD STUDENT FAKES DEATH AND STEALS IDENTITY OF BILLIONAIRE TECH HEIRESS. TOO BAD HER GENIUS RIVAL IS ONTO HER & IS OBSESSED WITH EXPOSING HER NEW SKIN

the opulence of CRAZY RICH ASIANS
x
the futuristic atmosphere of LOCAL HEAVENS & THE BOOK OF RECORDS
x
the socio-satirical tone of THE IMMORTAL KING RAO

set in a floating city owned by tech conglomerates, in a world ravaged by climate change

inspired by Silicon Valley & East/Southeast Asia

@thelialao

Background picture is a black robot in a glass box

First Page

It’s a beautiful night to die.

From the balcony, Fay Soon stares down at the celebration: the silken gowns, the crystal chalices, the laughter resounding like shattered glass. It’s the end of semester which means yet another overpriced soirée for Chang’E National University’s elite. After seven years here, the scene is hardly unfamiliar. She studies the expanse of the university gardens.

There’s a cyclical nature to it. Young and eager minds unfurling: the undergraduates, loquacious in their attempts to impress one another, each conversation, each gesture, carefully selected like the finest blossoms in a greenhouse.

There are those on the other end of the cycle too. Senescence. The doctoral candidates wilting in the shadows. Hoping for their ideas to be transfigured by wind or water or even the sorghum wine they’re cradling in their hands.

But no matter how many times Fay experiences it, she doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to the spectacle.

No one in the outer circle speaks like that, not in those sprawling, unmanicured streets. It’s opulent; it’s hypnotizing. It’s—

—a complete and utter waste of funds.

@thelialao

Background is a chandelier in dim lighting

Epigraph

As every flower fades and as all youth
Departs, so life at every stage,
So every virtue, so our grasp of truth,
Blooms in its day and may not last forever

…

We must prepare for parting and leave-taking
Or else remain the slaves of permanence.

– Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game

@thelialao

Background is a white wall with the shadows of leaves

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Excited to finally share my novel, THIEF OF THE VASTBORN, for #questpit!! THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI x THE SONG OF ACHILLES: Fate swap. Drowned world. Queer M/M romance. Enemies to lovers. Sea-dragons?! And more! Read the agent’s guide below. Querying soon! #F #A #RF #Q #W

An agent's guide to Thief of the Vastborn by C.M. Sullivan, adult fantasy + romance, ~112,000 words. The graphic shows a dragon and a sailboat with charts and maps as the background vector.

TEXT: Pitch: In a flooded world survived by waterborne cities, young Zev is given a prophecy that he will die by the same illness that killed his mother. A decade later, when a dying Zev decides to take fate into his own hands, he accidentally swaps fates with the Prophecied Divine, a handsome and sheltered man destined to end the worldwide flood. The graphic shows a sailboat and more charts.

TEXT: Tropes: Queer M/M romance, fate swap, drowned world, sea-dragons, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, slow burn, animal companion, prophecies, pirates, cults. The graphic shows a leaf, an hourglass, and more charts and maps.

TEXT: Comps: The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty, high seas adventures; The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller for mythical doomed yaoi; The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon for dragons; The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart for drowned world. The graphic shows columns and charts.

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Rebecca Mahoney @cafecliche.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

To all staff and affiliates: please mark your calendars and save the date for the worst team-building outing of all time. OTHERLING, my second horror novel for adults, is coming your way in Fall 2028.

An announcement for my new book OTHERLING, a workplace doppelgänger horror novel

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Apex Magazine and Book Company @apexmag.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

We have decided to remove a short story from Issue 153 of Apex Magazine. After meeting with our reading and editorial teams, we'd like to share with you what happened, and importantly, how we plan to move forward from here. Thank you for sticking with us. 💜👽

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M. L. Krishnan @emelkrishnan.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

We’re about $6700 away, and there’s 9 days left. This is doable folks, so please, help us get over the finish line so we can bring you more khōréō gloriousness!

kickstarter.com

khōréō: Year 6

Help us sustain and grow an award-winning magazine of speculative fiction and migration!

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Apex Magazine and Book Company @apexmag.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

STRANGE 👽 SURREAL 👽 SHOCKING 👽 BEAUTIFUL Apex Magazine is OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS for the month of July! We're seeking short spec fic up to 9k words. Closing August 1st, reopening in September and November. We can't wait to read your work! 🖤 Submit here: apexbookcompany.moksha.io/publication/...

"Apex Magazine Submissions OPEN!

We are Seeking:
short sci-fi, fantasy, and horror fiction
short genre-related nonfiction
Up to 9k words

Submissions Close August 1st
https://apexbookcompany.moksha.io/"

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C.M. Sullivan 🍉 is querying @cmsullivan.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

congrats from a VP25 alum!! hope you have the best time!

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Wen Wen @muteddragon.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

"Some prospectors’ ghosts leave their previous clothes real easy. My laundry shop was just a railway station on their way to the afterlife." 🫧👻🌵

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