iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Oct 1 I have risen. After the fuss of the last two years, I rented a cottage in the hills of VT. Somehow, Tiny Tibby smuggled himself in my bag, but he seems ready for holiday too. I waste no time finding a cozy corner & spooky book. It will be nice to rest my bones before The Big Day. #TibbyTime

a human sized fake skeleton dressed in plaid and a denim vest rests on a green velvet chair, a book (Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia) in one hand and a pumpkin beer in the other. With him is a small one-armed skeleton waving its remaining hand, and a skeletal owl dressed in a pink hat with pompoms.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 30/09/2026

Finished HAMMAJANG LUCK, by @makana-yama.bsky.social last night, and what a blast! A fabulous SF heist with great worldbuilding and a crew you can't help but love. The pacing's tight, and I could practically hear cool jazz in the background. Definitely check this one out! #AmReading #BookSky

A hand holds a paperback copy of HAMMAJANG LUCK, by Makana Yamamoto. A youth in a red hoodie, green pants, and work boots looks over a futuristic, smogged cityscape. The background features a crowded bookshelf.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 29/09/2026

Watched Oddity over the weekend, and what a treat! It had a creeping dread I loved - quieter, but spooky. Give this one a try! And man, what a house! I'm sure it'd be a nightmare to live in (ghosts aside), but I still would.

Movie poster for Oddity. A woman with white hair sits at an invisible table, eyes closed and hands spread as if conjuring at a seance. As if reflected in a pond, the figure below is of a screaming, wooden man in the same pose. The tagline reads 'Every Murder Lives On.'

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 27/09/2026

All right readers/writers, it’s Saturday! Time for another literary-leaning cocktail. Let’s lift a glass to literature‘s saddest donkey! My take on Eeyore’s Requiem 1.5 oz Campari 1.5 oz Cocci 0.75 oz gin 0.5 oz Cynar 0.5 oz Fernet Stir over ice, express lemon. Cheers! #WritingCommunity #BookSky

A hand holds a small wine glass, full of a bright red liquid, a lemon peel sticking out of it. The backdrop is a crowded bookshelf.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 25/09/2026

The temp’s dropping, the wind’s up, and a nor’easter’s on the way. Perfect timing for a book & brew. Y’all reading anything good this weekend? #AmReading #WritingCommunity #BookSky

A bearded man in a brown suede jacket and flannel holds up a beer and smiles.

A book, Hammajang Luck, by Makana Yamamoto, rests on a leaf-strewn wooden bench alongside a beer can.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 24/09/2026

All right, computer. I don't need this judgement.

A Windows error message that reads:

Error Copying File or Folder
X
Catastrophic Failure

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 24/09/2026

Bit north of a thousand words today on SLIPSTREAM TANGO - nice, steady progress. Better yet, I got to mess with a character’s head pretty bad. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #BookSky

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 23/09/2026

Getting ready for my annual skeleton nonsense and was reminded of my absurd, hardboiled, Halloween mystery: The Case of the Kernel Witch. It's got thrills! It's got chills! Give it a read if you want to get caught up: (1/31) #AmWriting #AmReading #BookSky #WritingCommunity

A skeleton dressed as a PI sits at a bar with a glass of amber liquid in front of him and one hand cradling his chin. A full bottle is nearby, just out of frame.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 23/09/2026

As the first leaf touches dead grass, something stirs under the earth. He emerges, bone by bone, with a rumbling tear as the cold wind breathes his name like a benediction: “Tibby.” #TibbyTime #Halloween

A skeletal hand emerges from loose garden soil

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 22/09/2026

Man, I love it when I find out about a book that could be a new comp! Pausing my current read as I dive into this. Put Frances in space, and she’d fit right in with my crew! #AmReading #BookSky

Audible cover for Rules for Aging and Larceny, by Julia London. An illustrated martini glass stands askew, an orange liquid within. A lanky, shadowed figure of an older lady in heels stands behind the thin stem.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 22/09/2026

Hey writing folks & readers, how do you feel epistolary sci fi these days? Dunno if I’ll go full Captain’s Log, but part of this story feels like it wants to dip a toe… A) Aye aye, Cap’n! B) Save your letters, Bram #AmWriting #AmReading #BookSky #WritingCommunity

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 20/09/2026

All right readers and writers, in the mood for a literary(ish) cocktail on this beautiful Saturday night? Join me in…The Beatnik: 1.0 oz amaro averna 0.75 oz rye 0.75 oz port Stir w/ ice, add an orange peel (or dried lemon). Dark, sweet, goes great with a book. Cheers! #BookSky #WritingCommunity

A dark ruby cocktail in a small wine glass with a dehydrated lemon sitting on the rim. It sits on a wooden table near a typewriter and small lamp

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 18/09/2026

When I start slacking off on my wordcount, all I do is look at my Shakespearian insults mug. Nothing like being called a clod of wayward marl to get the creative juices flowing. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #BookSky

A mug of tea sits on a wooden desk along with a keyboard, mouse, and computer monitor. The mug is decorated in Shakespearian insults in various fonts.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 18/09/2026

A project so new I don't even have a working title! A decent writing day today - 1,361 words. Still feeling things out in this new story, but I'm liking how the characters are shaping up. VERY excited for the next chapter. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #BookSky

Screenshot of a Project Target window for wordcounts. It shows the manuscript at 2,187/30,000 words, and today's session as 1,361/2,000

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 17/09/2026

How had I not seen (or even heard!) of this movie until now?? What a wild ride: Dafoe vs Malkovich with a dash of Elwes. Essentially, what if F.W. Murnau (the director of the 1922 Nosferatu) hired a real vampire to play Count Orlok? So much fun, very meta. Give this one a watch! #FilmSky

Movie poster for Shadow of the Vampire with John Malcovich's portrait in the foreground. Behind him, Willem Dafoe in vampire makeup lurks menacingly.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 17/09/2026

Sounds an awful lot like a solicitation, pal

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 16/09/2026

Should have been called Goodest Boy. I loved it. Charming, fun, and refreshing. Indy is my hero.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 16/09/2026

Taking a night off from writing! Think I’ll mess around and build a model ship, try (and fail) to translate the Italian instructions, and watch a bad horror movie

A wooden model ship partially constructed on a coffee table. The space is littered with sawdust and little bits of wood, a rocks glass with an amber liquid inside, tools, and paper instructions.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 14/09/2026

Swiped from the other sites, but here are four books from my TBR I will DEFINITELY (I hope) be reading before the end of the year: #AmReading #BookSky

Book cover for THE LAST CONTRACT OF ISAKO, by Fonda Lee. A lone warrior with a flowing red cloak walks toward a frozen city, unsheathed sword in hand.

Book cover for KILLER ON THE ROAD, by Stephen Graham Jones. A pulpy, yellow-tone image of a woman looking to the side is ripped diagonally by a red muscle car, a green skull revealed under the tear.

Book cover for MOBY Dick, by Herman Melville. A wood-block style illustration of a ship tossing on rough seas, a brilliant, white whale breaching over its prow.

Book cover for THE EVERLASTING, by ALIX E HARROW. A sword, point-down, used as a silhouette for the images of a woman's face. Golden vines and flowers grow upward around it.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 12/09/2026

Book find! Stoked to crack this one open #AmReading #BookSky

A hand holds a copy of ANJI KILLS A KING, by Evan Leikam. A person with white hair and a birds beak dominates the cover, but within the silhouette is a scene of two fantasy adventurers approaching a cavern.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 12/09/2026

One of my favorite planning resources: the scene card from Lisa Cron's Story Genius. Simple, effective, and ties character development to the plot. Really digging my new project - I've finished half a dozen cards, and I'm dying to start actually writing! #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #BookSky

A copy of Lisa Cron's Story Genius leans against a curved monitor. PowerPoint is open, showing an empty planning grid for a novel scene

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 08/09/2026

Query woes? In a place like this? Never heard of ‘em. #AmWriting #AmQuerying #WritingCommunity #BookSky

A rocky shore, seaweed clinging to smooth stone with a cove beyond and pines stretching along the water.

A high vantage of a long, narrow cove flanked by stony shores and pines.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 04/09/2026

Where the magic* happens. *I panic over whether or not to remove the 7,395th instance of the word 'just' from my WIP #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #BookSky

An office with a dark teal wall lined in overcrowded bookshelves. Between them is a wooden desk with a computer monitor. Nearby is a leather couch, upon which a cat rests.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 03/09/2026

You thought I would stop Toilers of the Sea posting just because I finished reading it and no one cares except me?? Fools! Look at the peril! The drama! #AmReading #BookSky

Page from Victor Hugo’s Toilers of the Sea. Highlighted is this passage before a chapter end:

Their distant gallop was heard on the Douvres reef as Gilliatt was constructing his break water.
As we have said, Wind is all winds. The whole of this horde was now coming.
On one side was this legion.
On the other, Gilliatt.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 03/09/2026

Finished ALTERATION, by S. E. Wheeler - what a fantastic mix of drama (fam & otherwise), political intrigue, and romance. The worldbuilding's top-notch, the romance is perfect, and it’s got villains I loved to hate. Definitely check this one out! #AmReading #BookSky

Book cover for Alteration, by S. E. Wheeler. A top-down view of a dark, rocky shoreline as the tentacles of a golden octopus appear from below.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 02/09/2026

Ah, the Maybe Pile. It's good to be back! #AmQuerying

Rows of blue cloud icons, most of which have red lines coming from them terminating in a red frowny face. A few are missing that line and face, including a row highlighted in yellow.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 02/09/2026

Watched In the Mouth of Madness recently, and what a fabulous hidden (to me, anyway) gem! This was so much fun, and there were some seriously unsettling moments too. Not sure why I hadn't come across it before, but it's definitely earned a rewatch (or three)!

Movie poster for In the Mouth of Madness. An illustrated Sam Neill covered in charcoal crosses poses before the wild figure of a man with grey hair and arms outstretched. An angry mob lurks on the edges.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 01/09/2026

Started The Adversary for a long drive today, and man it is BLEAK (complementary). Glad I don’t live anywhere near this point in time/place! #AmReading #BookSky

Audiobook cover for THE ADVERSARY, by Michael Crummey. A seaside village with red buildings divided by water sits in an ink-blot style silhouette that spreads into deer antlers.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 01/09/2026

Finally saw The End of Oak Street - absolute movie magic, loved it, no notes. Fun concept, neat camera work, and everyone involved seemed to be having a blast. Sign me up for more!

Movie poster for The Endof Oak Street. A family huddled against a suburban house cowers at the humongous jaws of a carnivorous dinosaur.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 26/08/2026

How am I supposed to work under these conditions? #AmWriting #BookSky

A cat with green eyes sits in front of a computer monitor, blocking the word processor on screen.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 24/08/2026

Bookmail! Absolutely stoked to start this one! #AmReading #BookSky

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 21/08/2026

There are worse ways to kick off a Friday than a beer and a book #BookSky #AmReading

A stein of beer sits on a table at a brewery outside next to a paperback copy of Ship of Gold in the Deep Blur Sea

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 21/08/2026

I finished TOILERS OF THE SEA, a lesser-known Victor Hugo. It's undeniably a product of its time, referencing 100s of places/figures/events I'd never heard of, but there's a tremendous story in here: so much heart, grit, humor, hope, and tragedy. Give it a try! #AmReading #BookSky

A hand holds a copy of TOILERS OF THE SEA, by Victor Hugo against the backdrop of a full bookshelf. On the cover, a large rock is battered by the wind and sea.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 07/08/2026

Hell yeah this is what I'm talking about #AmReading #BookSky

A page from Toilers of the Sea, by Victor Hugo. The excerpt discusses sea urchins, with the following line highlighted: "...whose mouth is known, for some unknown reason, as Aristotle's lantern..."

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 26/07/2026

Garden’s going nuts, so it’s pickle time! #Cooking #CookSky

A pair of swing top glass jars filled with cucumbers- one whole and one sliced- along with dill flower, garlic, and onion.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 24/07/2026

🚨 SEEKING HEIST CREW 🚨 Must: 👵 be retired 💵 have mob debt 🚀 fly spaceships 🤖 preference given to candidates w/ parasitic AIs in their brain Don't be: 😤 my ex partner (even if you fly spaceships) 🤮 his fiancée LOGAN LUCKY 🤝 SPACE SWEEPERS 🤝 2021 Suez Canal fiasco #QuestPit #Q #SF #BookSky

A black hole spirals in the distance, a fiery trail of material getting sucked into it from across the image. Approaching is a circular, doughnut-like spaceship or station. The title LANE BREAKERS runs along the bottom, the second word highlighted in bright purple and appearing to fall off the edge.

A red ALERT box connected to the ship says 'Now Querying', and the wormhole is labeled 'Taurine Strait'

COMPS & META INFORMATION

Along the bottom right, a black and white sketch of a old woman in a space pilot's outfit holds a glowing magenta martini glass. Smoke from her cigarette glows and wafts in pinks and blues.

Genre: SF Heist
Audience: Adult
Wordcount: +-100,000

Themes and Tropes:
Blue collar heist
(Re)found family
Grungy space life
Sentient AIs

Comps:
Logan Lucky
The Quantum Magician
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Cascade Failure
The Suez Canal incident
Space Sweepers

THE HEIST:

Desdemona Skene hates her job. She spends each day as a glorified crossing guard for traffic through her system’s wormhole. But, ever since she botched a flight of her own, it’s all she has. Dez’s friends have moved on, her ex is seeing someone new, and she’s in debt to the mob. At eighty-three years old, it’s not like she’s a candidate for promotion.

But then Dez learns that the largest civilian ship ever designed by humanity will be passing through her friendly neighborhood wormhole. Piloted by an experimental AI, this cruise might prove computers are finally able to successfully navigate wormholes. Stock prices will blast into orbit, but it’ll spell unemployment for Dez and thousands of human pilots. Probably her home station too.

If that ship’s taking her down, Dez is going to drag it along for the ride—and make a tidy profit along the way. She’ll need to gather a crew (if her old friends will still talk to her), shake the mob, and outwit megacorps and empires both.

THE CREW
Golden boxes house titles and descriptions of characters. The top one, Dez, is a magenta circle that looks sci-fi.

Desdemona ‘Dez’ Skene
Washed up and too poor for retirement, Dez has a drinking problem and a mob problem. She might have one last job left in her

Hacker
Finn's got a heart of gold, more backdoors than a hardware store, and would rather be playing video games

The Faces
Dez’s parents might be older than moon dust, but Hank and Gwen have been conning people for almost a century. They still haven’t lost their touch

Sentient Adbot
Marty, the uplifted, digital adbot who dreams of personhood. He also happens to live inside Finn's head

Crack Pilot
Vil is the fastest sled pilot on Midway Station, famous for crushing the illegal racing circuit. Also, he's Dez’ ex of thirty years

The Muscle
The best mechanic on the station, Caius brings some well-needed muscle. But, most annoyingly, he's Vil's new flame

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 24/07/2026

HORIZON 0 Dawn 🤝 ARCHIVE UNDYING When a machine god severs the world from ancient nanotech, two engineer priests, a blademaster, and her warrior-poet twin must hunt it for a cure—and revenge. Failure will doom the world to divine wrath. But success? That will be deadly. #QuestPit #A #SF #F #Q

A giant spaceship hovers over a dusty, walled fantasy cityscape. In the foreground, two figures stand in shadow looking out over the scene. The words "An Agent's Guide to CASCADE, by Gus Ryer" is along the top. His website, gusryer.com, is below.

A slide with metadata and story elements for CASCADE:

Genre: Science Fiction with Fantasy Elements
Wordcount: +-130,000

It shows the book covers for the following:
ASHES OF THE SUN, Django Wexler
THE ARCHIVE UNDYING, Emma Mieko Candon
ELDER RACE, Adrian Tchaikovsky
NOTES FROM THE BURNING AGE, Claire North
Ps5's Horizon Zero Dawn

Below that are the following phrases:
Found family
Failed terraforming
A vast, hidden history
Nanotech magic system
Epic fantasy quest in a sci-fi world
Ancient mechanical gods
Arachnid mammals & guard drones
Sword (1) vs. Railguns (lots)

$A warrior woman with a winged helmet, armor, cape, and spear is along the right side of the image, fractured into triangles. Part of the following pitch is along the left: Lendi never asked to be a God Keeper—one of the engineer-priests who command ancient nanotech. Abandoned on their temple doorstep and raised under their strict thumb, she longs to escape. She almost gets her chance when an ancient machine god crashes to the planet in a blaze of fire. But, instead, Lendi is dispatched far away—alongside her devout friend—to investigate the disappearance of a remote village’s Keeper. And she’ll be tracked. In that village, Sedna has no patience for their Keeper’s rules or mysticism, especially since the fool vanished. She’s more concerned with defending her people with her warrior-poet twin. But, when a flood of malfunctioning nanites devours her town, Sedna and her brother are left with nothing but each other—and vengeance. As the four converge...$

Chapter 1

THE RUSH IS ON! This Tuesday, Planetfall, Inc. announced it would join the rash of megacorps racing to deploy terraforming infrastructure through the newly stabilized Taurine Strait. Previously dominated by New World Corporation, the franchised development of pseudoterra worlds is slated to be the hot market sector of the twenty-fifth century.
-Excerpt from InvestSyder: Stellar Ed., June 15, 2398

The streets of Mahyan never fully slept. Night’s darkness, not yet broken by either the sun’s rise or the blinding, baleful Eye of Toros, wrapped Lendi more completely than her robes. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that eyes were on her. She wanted nothing more than to run.
An eager vendor barred her way with his stringy arm. “A fine morning calls for a fine meal, miss.” He smiled and fanned out a selection of skewered mutton and whalemeat wrapped in sea grass. Pungent, spiced oil dripped onto the dusty street.
Lendi glared at him, her legs practically vibrating with the..

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 24/07/2026

QUANTUM MAGICIAN 🤝 LOGAN LUCKY When an AI-piloted space hauler threatens her home station, aging & indebted traffic controller Dez decides to rob the hell out of it. She's got a plan & a motley crew. But, when things aboard the target aren’t as expected, all bets are off. #QuestPit #Q #SF #A

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 24/07/2026

SPACE SWEEPERS 🤝 LOGAN LUCKY When an AI-piloted space hauler threatens her home station, aging & indebted traffic controller Dez decides to rob the hell out of it. She's got a plan & a motley crew. But, when things aboard aren’t as expected, all bets are off. #QuestPit #Q #SF #A #BookSky

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 24/07/2026

Waiting for midnight to hit with my #QuestPit pals

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 23/07/2026

Seriously, people are sleeping on this book. I'm only partway through but, if you can tolerate/enjoy the Hugo-ian minutia, it's great! You got storms, hubris, pining, a bucolic yet wild setting, drama, and humor. What more do you want?? #AmReading #BookSky

Toilers of the Sea, by Victor Hugo against the backdrop of a sandy beach. The cover shows a wind and sea-battered rock.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 21/07/2026

Hey man, you’re the one who brought it up. Did not realize Victor Hugo was such a gossip, but this book is FULL of dirty laundry #AmReading #BookSky

From a paperback book:

Grace, a pretty and coquettish girl, kept scanning the horizon with the watchfulness of a cat: like Douce, she had a gallant, but also, it was said, a husband, a seaman whose return she dreaded. But that is none of our business.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 20/07/2026

Was too busy eating to post, but I gotta brag: #Cooking #FoodSky

Some deliciously crispy fried chicken on a paper towel. oil bubbling in a cast iron pot in the background.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 13/07/2026

Call me crazy, but across three social media platforms not a single person voted for Hugo. Felt bad. Couldn’t let the ol’ guy have no love. Toilers of the Sea it is! And I’ve already had a whole chapter on grass haha #AmReading #BookSky

A hand holds a copy of Toilers of the Sea, by Victor Hugo against the backdrop of a sandy beach. The cover shows a wind and sea-battered rock.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 01/07/2026

Last night I finished TREAD OF ANGELS, by @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social. Fantastic! 50% mystery, 50% courtroom drama, 50% family (demon) affair–hell of a combo This was a great bite-sized read filled with more mystery & mood than you can drag from a creepy old mine. Recommended! #AmReading #BookSky

Audible book cover for TREAD OF ANGELS, by Rebecca Roanhorse. A golden feather falls across the title, itself surrounded by gold filigree.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 29/06/2026

All right #BookTwitter and #WritingCommunity pals, I'm looking to pick a book for a beach vacation. I'm feelin' nautical. What say you? -Finally tackle Moby Dick -Try a lesser-known Victor Hugo, Toilers of the Sea? -Are you nuts? Something else (noted below)? #AmReading #BookSky

Penguin Classics cover for Moby-Dick, or, The Whale, by Herman Melville. A wood-block style image of a sperm whale breaching the sea, water streaming off it in ribbons as light shines off it like a holy thing.

The Modern Library cover for The Toliers of the Sea, by Victor Hugo. A blue-tone rock sits still as blurry waves crash around it.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 29/06/2026

Finished THE CRYING OF LOT 49, by Thomas Pynchon - still reeling. It's like swimming in the ocean: let the waves/prose take you. If you dunk your head, there's a whole world to see. You'll just have to find your bearings once you're topside again. Loved it! Would recommend. #AmReading #BookSky

A hand holds a copy of THE CRYING OF LOT 49, by Thomas Pynchon against the backdrop of a cluttered bookshelf. The title is spray painted with n stencils over a painting of a figure looking at a distant billboard that displays a brass horn.

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 26/06/2026

Finished DEATH OF THE AUTHOR, by Dr. Okorafor (@nnedi.bsky.social), and WOW! Zelu is one of the most completely realized characters I've read. The novel speaks to desire, expectation, meaning, struggle, self, and love so viscerally. Liz Femi (et al) was flawless! Pick this up! #AmReading #BookSky

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Gus Ryer @gusryer.com · 25/06/2026

He said it, not me: JUST ONE MONTH UNTIL QUERYING! Logan Lucky/Space Sweepers/Suez Canal fiasco #UnhingedPit #W #SF #BookSky

An obviously edited tweet from Pope Leo XIV:

Dear everyone, you need Gus' book, LANEBREAKERS, his narrative creativity and, frankly, unhinged thinking. We need books like his on our bookshelves and in our Kindle/audiobook libraries within which diving grace can make the promise of consolation and peace resound.

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