iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you’re all having a lovely festive season. Here is my Christmas haul of horror books. 🎄📚

5 books: The Compound by Aisling Rawle, How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold, The September House by Carissa Orlando, But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo, and We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Had a great time yesterday being filmed for community TV show 5 or 8, who interviewed me about my writing. It’ll be on Channel 31, YouTube, and elsewhere - eventually! This is what I looked like beforehand.

A photo of a smiling 30-something woman with brown hair and glasses.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

This week marks one year since Pick Your Potion was released. In that time it’s been an Aurealis Awards finalist, longlisted for the British Science Fiction Association Awards, and on the Locus Recommended Reading List. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported it. That means so much to me. 💖

A screenshot of the cover of Pick Your Potion from Amazon.com, with a 4.7 star rating on Amazon and a 4.0 star rating on Goodreads.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Some excellent recent reads I’ve really enjoyed.

Discount Dan by James A Hunter, Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven, Honeycomb by SB Caves, Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett and Private Rites by Julia Armfield.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Both of my collections (including Pick Your Potion from last year) have interior illustrations! They’re done by Margot Jenner and they’re beautiful!

An illustrated short story collection, open to an illustration of a girl holding a fan of cards in front of her face.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

My short fiction collection Pick Your Potion is an Aurealis Awards finalist! 🤩🎉 Huge congrats to all of the finalists. 💕 Looking forward to the awards ceremony in May!

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

And finally, some cows, some grumpy and some not so grumpy.

A sign above a brown cow that reads, “I’m grumpy today please ask to pat me”.

A brown cow with orange highlights and majestic horns. It is lying down in hay, possibly asleep.

A small coffee-coloured cow lying down in hay.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

This baby alpaca was only 10 days old! And there were clever herding puppers.

A baby alpaca loafing in straw. It is white with brown spots.

A brown kelpie enthusiastically herding sheep.

Two kelpie puppies, one black and one brown, fast asleep.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Had an enjoyable time at Farmworld this morning. There was this friend! This small crocodile was 4 years old! And there was a dingo!

A small spotty crocodile the size of a large cat, lying in a relaxed manner in between the hands of its human handler. Its jaws are taped shut.

The head of a small, relaxed crocodile being supported by a human hand. Its jaw is taped shut.

A dingo looking up adoringly at a woman who is patting its ears.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Where she wanted to sit today (on my upper back / across my shoulders).

A fluffy grey cat sitting on the shoulders of a hunched over woman.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Had fun last night at the Valentine’s Day Salon where my lovely wife Tara gave a reading. 💖

Two smiling women with glasses and brown hair.

Tara Calaby standing at a microphone, reading from her novel House of Longing.

Three stacks of books displayed in a bookstore window: House of Longing by Tara Calaby, The Spirit Circle by Tara Calaby, and The Love Contract by Steph Vizard.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

My wife’s new book The Spirit Circle is in the January issue of Australian Vogue. 🥲 I am so proud of her. I hope she continues to get all the recognition she deserves. ❤️

The cover of Australian Vogue, January 2025, with Margaret Qualley across the front.

An open page of Vogue January with covers and summaries for 6 books. One of the books is The Spirit Circle by Tara Calaby.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! Mine was filled with family, friends, (too much) good food and some enjoyable reading. 💖 Here’s my Christmas book haul!

5 novels: Fantasticland by Mike Bokoven, Dressed to Kill by Crown Fall, Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire, The Never-Ending End of the World by Ann Christy, and Honeycomb by SB Caves.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Paperback ARCs for my wife’s second novel arrived! 🎉 The Spirit Circle is a gothic historical novel about a spiritualism cult, and it is SO GOOD. Out in January! 👻💖

A paperback copy of The Spirit Circle by Tara Calaby. It has a dark purple cover with lit candles and flowers it.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

At lunchtime I stood in the garden and she lay exactly in my shade (and on my foot), so that I could protect her from the sun. 😭❤️

A fluffy grey cat lying inside a human shadow, and touching the human’s foot.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

My new short fiction collection, Pick Your Potion, has been out in the world for 3 months now and has 49 ratings on Goodreads! 🎉 If you’ve read it and haven’t rated it yet, I’d be very grateful if you became rating number 50. 💜💚

“Pick Your Potion” on Goodreads, with an average rating of 4.10 from 49 ratings and 41 reviews.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Liked "Wicked" but wish it was more sapphic? Perhaps I can interest you in some "Shining Armour"! I don't talk much about my stage shows, but about a decade ago I wrote a sapphic fairy tale musical, and it got produced! 1/3

Zaverr Doctor performing as "Rinaya" in "Shining Armour" (2013).

Maria Roitman as "Sera" and Tayla Thomas as "Penelope", performing in "Shining Armour" (2013). They are sitting next to each other and examining the other quizzically.

Tayla Thomas performing as "Penelope" in "Shining Armour" (2013).

Zaverr Doctor performing as "Rinaya" in "Shining Armour" (2013). She has her sword out and is looking wary.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

So majestic! This is The Baby.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

But why are there no prawn dumplings for The Baby?

A grey cat staring longingly from where she is lounging atop a cat tree.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

I put on makeup for filming, so here’s a selfie.

A brown-haired woman smiling in a garden. She is wearing glasses and a green patterned dress with pink moths on it.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 07/11/2024

You and your cats are fabulous! I read and write speculative fiction (fantasy, sci-fi and horror) and also love cats. Here is my lovely gremlin:

A dark grey cat wrapped up in a light grey blanket.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 27/10/2024

Some excellent speculative books that I’ve read over the last 3 months. What have you read and loved recently? 🙂

6 books: Voyage of the Damned by Frances White, The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland, The Cloud Roost by Travis M Riddle, Little Eyes by Samantha Schweblin, Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield and When Your Heart is a Broken Thing by Helen Whistberry.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 22/09/2024

Pick Your Potion has been officially out in the world for almost 3 weeks now, and I’m pretty delighted by the ratings and reviews on Goodreads. Thank you so much to everyone who has already read it. 💜💚

A screenshot from Goodreads for Pick Your Potion, with 43 ratings and 36 reviews. The average star rating for the book is 4.21 out of 5.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 21/09/2024

We brought her home a cat tree today for the first time and it was an immediate hit. 😭 She loves sleeping on it, playing with the swinging balls, and hiding in the enclosed house. I am a proud cat parent. ❤️

A fluffy grey cat sleeping on top of a furry cat tree.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 14/09/2024

It’s 3 degrees Celsius in my part of Australia right now: definitely blanket weather.

A dark grey cat wrapped in a light grey blanket.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 03/09/2024

Happy Book Birthday / release day to Pick Your Potion! 🎉 Here I am in my mushroom jumper to celebrate. ✨ I’ve heard this month referred to as both Spooky September and Sapphic September so far - Pick Your Potion fits for either one! 💖

A smiling woman in a red jumper that has mushroom-like spots holds a book with a leafy cover: “Pick Your Potion” by Ephiny Gale

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 18/08/2024

About two weeks left to pre-order my new book, Pick Your Potion, before it releases! If you’re keen to pick it up, pre-ordering really does help authors. If you pre-order, let me know and I’ll mail you a free signed bookplate! 💖

A stack of paperback books with “Pick Your Potion” written across the purple and green cover.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 13/08/2024

Lucky to have such beautiful weather for my day off from work - feels like spring is coming! ☀️ Did some chores, mailed some ARCs, paused in the park.

A beautiful sunny day in a park with lots of green grass and trees.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 03/08/2024

My new short fiction collection, Pick Your Potion, comes out in a month! 🎉 Early reviews from NetGalley and BookSirens have been fabulous, and I am feeling incredibly lucky that it's been so well-received so far.

“Pick Your Potion” with 11 ratings and reviews on Goodreads, with an average rating of 4.64 out of 5.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 26/07/2024

Me: I seem to be getting quite a lot of NetGalley requests for Pick Your Potion. Is this a normal amount? I don’t know. NetGalley tonight: [screenshot below] It’s the second most requested book in the Novellas & Short Stories category. 😭💜💚

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 26/07/2024

Why did she decide to loaf here while I was on the treadmill?!

A fluffy grey cat lying right up against a blurry treadmill.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 20/07/2024

Several speculative books that I’ve read recently and really enjoyed. ✨ What have you loved recently? 🙂

Several books: Rouge by Mona Awad; Hovering by Rhett Davis; An Education in Malice by S T Gibson; All’s Well by Mona Awad; Chlorine by Jade Song; Whispers from the Poisoned Isle by Travis M Riddle; Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 07/07/2024

Had a fabulous time at Snatch Game Live. Definitely the best drag show I’ve ever been to, and possibly the best comedy show I’ve ever been to, as well.

A theatre stage with “Snatch Game” written on a TV screen on the back of the stage.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 21/06/2024

Love that Pick Your Potion is holding down the fort as the only ARC currently in the "Lesbian Science Fiction" category on Book Sirens. 🦾😂

A screenshot of the "Lesbian Science Fiction Advanced Reader Copies" category on Book Sirens. The book "Pick Your Potion" is the only one there.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 16/06/2024

Psst! Do you like weird stories? ARCs of PICK YOUR POTION are now available for request! If you're a reviewer, influencer, journalist, librarian, bookseller, or someone else in the publishing industry, please consider filling in the EOI form: forms.gle/CbLSfVCvy4p3... Reposts appreciated! 💜

The "Pick Your Potion" book cover, a purple background with fluorescent green leaves, with the following notes around it: weird fiction; 26 genre-blending stories; mix of fantasy, sci-fi & horror; mostly sapphic; stories shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards & 'Brave New Weird'; magical games & competitions; repeating lifetimes & time-loops; clones, androids, portals & parallel worlds.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 15/06/2024

For anyone who enjoys both games and witches, I would highly recommend you check out The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood. I played on Switch, but it’s also on Steam. I’m pretty sure it’s the only game I’ve ever given a full 10/10 rating. It’s amazing. No notes.

An illustration of The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, with a witch staring at some hovering fortune-telling cards.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 26/05/2024

Huge, huge thanks to the amazing @acwise.bsky.social and @mariahaskins.bsky.social for blurbing my upcoming collection Pick Your Potion. It's an honour to have two of my favourite writers say such wonderful things about my work. 💜💚

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 06/05/2024

It was my birthday recently. That morning I sat out in the sun with this one.

A smiling woman with glasses sitting in the sun.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 25/04/2024

We went to Healesville Sanctuary recently for my wife’s birthday. Saw lots of lovely live animals (the Tassie devils are my favourite) plus some impressive animatronic dinosaurs!

A brown animatronic dinosaur with a hard nose plate and white leg stripes.

A green animatronic dinosaur with a yellow underbelly and large white claws.

An orange animatronic dinosaur with a spiny head.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 13/04/2024

Me, last night while putting antiseptic on my cat bite: I have been betrayed. By my own flesh and blood. By the furry daughter of my own womb! Pictured: The betrayer earlier that day, helping me rake the leaves.

A grey cat curled up next to a garden bin and rake.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 08/04/2024

The sixth and final illustration is for Traces of Us, Hot Enough for Dinner. This story originally appeared in The Dread Machine and was an Aurealis Awards finalist. This is my sapphic, demon apocalypse time-loop story.

A black and white illustration of someone holding a crowbar in front of a nailed-up window. Demonic limbs are reaching through the wooden planks towards our heroine.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 07/04/2024

The fifth illustration is for The Orchard. This story originally appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Magazine and was an Aurealis Awards finalist. It's follows four children and one divorced adult who compete for partial ownership of a magical orchard.

A black and white illustration of three magical trees: one made of muscles, one made of bone, and one made of honey.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 05/04/2024

The fourth illustration is for Neuro. This story originally appeared in Fablecroft Publishing’s The Art of Being Human anthology, an Aurealis Awards finalist. It's about being able to record and play 'experiences' (inc. touch, smell etc.) similarly to how we currently do with videos.

A black and white illustration of a woman lying in bed with a helmet over her head. Wires flow out of the helmet.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 03/04/2024

The third illustration is for Overnight, a Forest Grew. This story was generously commissioned by the City of Literature Office. It follows the assistant to a futuristic perfumer, and what happens when millions of trees sprout underneath the city of Melbourne overnight.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 01/04/2024

The second illustration is for The Candle Queen. This story was first published in @bcsmagazine.bsky.social “The Candle Queen must always carry the sacred candles on her head; otherwise the world will end.”

A black and white illustration of a girl with lit candles strapped to her head.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 31/03/2024

Starting with the first story, CurioQueens. This story was first published in Constellary Tales and was an Aurealis Awards finalist. It's about a girl navigating the consequences of playing a magical and deadly board game.

A black and white illustration of a girl holding cards over the lower half of her face.

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 31/03/2024

I’ve read some excellent books lately, including ones penned by @traviswanteat.bsky.social and @acwise.bsky.social. Really enjoyed all of these. What have you read recently and loved? 🙂

5 books: Makanuele Rumble by Travis M Riddle, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett, The Ghost Sequences by A C Wise, Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko, & Lute by Jennifer Thorne

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Ephiny Gale @ephiny.bsky.social · 11/03/2024

Delighted to be sharing the cover for “Pick Your Potion”, my new collection of short fiction coming out later this year! 💚💜 I reckon it’s giving lush, botanical, and also a little bit radioactive. Which is perfect for a mix of fantasy, sci-fi and horror stories. 😀

The book cover for “Pick Your Potion” by Ephiny Gale: bright green leaves on a purple background with black potion bottles.

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