iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Melissa Burkart

Now I am become Jeff, the destroyer of Whorls @trollbreath.com · 07/10/2026

Please donate for a very worthy cause. Keeping Elise in our thoughts and wishing her a speedy recover.

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Melanie R. Meadors @lookingupwithmel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Want to get a jump on your Christmas shopping? I've lowered the prices of my journals because I'm changing how I am doing things in the future (standardizing some things, etc). So now's your chance to grab one! Free US shipping! Please share to help me out! #handmade happycrabconservation.com/store

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Abby The Cleric @abbythecleric.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

How is Maine even real

A photo of a fog bank rolling over a Mains golf course at sunrise

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🍂🍑 Pumpkin Queen Peachy 🍑🍂 @emgiosia.com · 03/10/2026

Hey folks! New hair, new introduction: I'm Lyz - I do a lot of stuff! Paint miniatures, sew dice bags and costumes, and write (mostly solo) TTRPGs, along with performing in APs and talking a lot about doing my nails. You can find all my projects over at bio.site/emgiosia - Glad to have you here!

A photo of a femme presenting person with pale skin and green eyes. Their shoulder length hair is bright orange with medium brown roots. They are wearing a black top, and have a gold necklace and septum ring.

A photo showing a dark blue weave fabric with a neon green buttonhole being seen into it by hand.

A photo showing a miniature watercolor paint and notebook set, being held in a left hand that is also holding a paintbrush full of water. The background is a beach with a sea stack, and the image on the notebook features the same but in watercolor paint.

A photo showing a painted miniature: A crocodile surfing on a coffin in swamp green water. They are wearing a brown jacket and raspberry colored waistcoat, and a top hat. Their left hand is holding a bright pink bottle, and right hand holds a shotgun.

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My older kid turns 9 this month and I’m right there with you

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Lyz’s games are AMAZING 🤩 Go get them, and the rest of the bundle!

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Now I am become Jeff, the destroyer of Whorls @trollbreath.com · 02/10/2026

Happiest of birthdays, Clarkesworld! Thanks for 20 great years of stories, and for inspiring so many of us who have followed you.

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“The socks I am holding in my hands. With my hand things.” Ah, the state kids reduce us to… #ParentSky

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

If you’d left out the word “dog” I’d think this thread was about my 5-year-old 🤣 I got the “do it or else” form of emotional regulation training as a kid and I feel so lost on how to teach my own kids. And they’re VERBAL. No idea how I’d do with a pet

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Trollbreath Magazine @trollbreathmag.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Reminder: we turn off the submission queue at the end of the day tomorrow (00:00 UTC; 8:00 PM EDT). Last chance to send us your poetry, short stories, or non-fiction pitches. And remember folks:

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Melanie R. Meadors @lookingupwithmel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I have local events where I'll be selling my hand-bound journals, sketchbooks, and greeting cards with my nature-inspired art on them!

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Dear comfort corner of the internet, Please send me vibes for good news! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I don’t know how I didn’t know about these! Thank you!!

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

To be clear: when I say “boy doll” I don’t mean some bullshit gendered marketing gimmick I mean a male-presenting doll. They are remarkably hard to find with rainbow or sparkle anything, and my male-presenting child would like one NOW please and thank you

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I just mean a doll that is a boy

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I stopped listening to the radio when I couldn’t turn it on without hearing that song (and I don’t have the patience to sift through other stations to find another one I like) Once in a while it’s fine but it was CONSTANT and the song is not that good. Unfortunately catchy, but not good

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

My mom’s response to finding out my 5 y/o boy would actually love Barbies, thanks, was to ask if he’d like GI Joe 🤦🏻‍♀️ Why is it so hard to find a boy doll with rainbows and sparkles? #ParentSky

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Wish I could have gone this year (but my nephew got married and that was worth missing the fair for)

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I celebrate my rejections and it’s usually not a problem! I just keep getting my hopes up no matter how hard I try otherwise. Generally I’m reeeeally good at managing my expectations, but then the graph of reported subs looks like this:

Screenshot of part of a graph, showing August and September and a whole lot of red for rejected submissions. The graph shows two pending submissions in purple on either end of the available graph. It doesn’t have the black dot to mark my sub, which is the oldest pending submission, because I’m not signed in on my phone

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Someone just called a whoopie pie a whooping pie and 🤣🤣🤣

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I keep trying to avoid it but at least once a week I lose the battle with self control and check. Plus I have a weekly reminder to check my current subs (to make sure I’m keeping my data updated and see if I can send anything else out), which doesn’t help this situation

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The difference is, those were slim enough chances that my usual preempting/assuming rejection worked and I didn’t really visualize those in any detail With this, I can actively see that my chances are higher so I slip into daydreaming without really noticing 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

That’s what normally works for me but this is one of those times I’m struggling 😂😭

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

And just like that I’ve jinxed myself I guess this is my version of The Game How do you avoid thinking about something that’s occupying that kind of mental real estate? And how do I un-jinx myself? #WriteSky

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I’m pretty damn good at imagining things and I sometimes do it without intending to So when I look on Submission Grinder and see my one purple pending sub in a sea of red, my mind wanders and I daydream I envision an acceptance instead of rejection and follows the “what if” cascade from there

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Fam, HOW DO I AVOID JINXING MYSELF? History: literally every time in my life I want a result I can’t control (winning a raffle or lottery, my story getting accepted for publication, etc) if I envision it clearly, I don’t get it The problem is I’m a writer. I envision shit

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Noooo! Why would you tell her?! ( @keitichandesu.bsky.social when you try this please record it! I need to see the reaction)

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Marie Brennan @swantower.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I'm delighted to announce that @lightspeedmagazine.com just bought a new story from me -- head on over to their Kickstarter to help them fund this and more fiction in the coming year! www.kickstarter.com/projects/lig...

kickstarter.com

LIGHTSPEED & NIGHTMARE: Award-Winning SF, Fantasy, & Horror

We've published nearly 10 million words of science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction. Help us write the next chapter.

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Reposted by Melissa Burkart

Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 22/09/2026

Happy mushroom season!

A comic titled "Types of mushrooms" with 12 mushroom species. A wrinkly-looking morel is labeled "creepy but tasty". A brownish deadly galerina is labeled "boring but deadly". A witch's butter on a branch is labeled "jiggles if you poke it". A large puffball is labeled "egg". A creepy red-dripping bleeding tooth fungus is labeled "deeply disconcerting". A fly agaric with a green treefrog sitting under it is labeled "frog umbrella". A black chanterelle is labeled "chalice for forbidden elixers". Three straight-stemmed entolomas are labeled "haha, nipples". A bright purple viscid violet cort is labeled "purple is nice". A birch polypore sticking out of a birch trunk is labeled "tree nose". A complex yellow-tpped coral fungus is labeled "cursed citadel where dwells a fairy queen". A Ravenel's stinkhorn is pixellated at the top for your safety, and labeled "NSFW".

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K. Tempest Bradford @ktempestbradford.com · 22/09/2026

📢 New From @writingtheother.com 📢 Character Deep Dive Workshop 2026 👇🏾 Check it out! 👇🏾 writingtheother.com/character-de...

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Last time I pulled up FB, I got an ad for this bullshit. Which I immediately disappeared. When it asked me why, I chose the "other" option and told it, "fuck AI" I feel good about that sort of feedback

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Professionally Nosy @professionallynosy.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

My Rage Against the Machine/Les Mis mashup is complete. This is my interpretation of the quilt guild’s summer challenge “quilt with your interpretation and/or feelings towards our current ‘democracy’” all hand stitched.

Quilt hanging on a card catalog. Neutral background with navy cursive appliqué “Do you hear thr people sing?” The background is embroidered in red starting light and getting bolder the lyrics to “killing in the name” the quilting effect is a focused sunburst from the center.

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

…I kind of feel like maybe I might be good at this? Now watch it all go to hell. But at least today has been a really good day 💜💜💜

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Today: Walked in to sub for a class I haven’t subbed for before. They were PSYCHED I was their sub the moment they saw me 🤯 Then I led a really good, really fun creative writing workshop (on using intention as a tool) and everyone left excited

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 21/09/2026

And... By far, the greatest danger with short stories is that people conclude too early that they understand them.

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 21/09/2026

Updating the "AI" community's own words for short fiction marketing: Short stories won’t replace humans, but humans who read short stories will replace those who don’t. The true power of short stories lies not in replacing humans, but in working alongside us to achieve what neither can do alone.

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Melissa Burkart @mwithpen.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I’ve been feeling cavities and an alcohol burn just reading your descriptions Thank you for your sacrifice

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