iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

They got me dead to rights lol

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Saw them a bunch back in the day, all the way back to maybe the first tour, when they were still a three piece? Crashed at our house, multiple times. Gonna have to bust these out soon. Way ahead of its time

The covers of the dälek albums abandoned language and absence

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, or Alice in Chains

The cover of Polvo's 1993 album Today's Active LIfestyles, the original with the horned lions before the Jehovah's Wtinesses served them an injunction and forced them to change it

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Apropo of nothing at all in the news, i am heartened to see my local bakery knows what the fuck is up

A photo of a glazed cookie in the shape and likeness of the Nintendo character Luigi

020

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Doing something brand new for me: sharing a story on my website, ostensibly for year-end-awards-bait-type purposes but mainly in case anyone feels like reading it! presenting for a limited time: "The Last Spiderbox", orig. pub'd in @chmmagazine.bsky.social nmwhitley.wordpress.com/the-last-spi...

An excerpt from the short story "The Last Spiderbox" by NM Whitley

"One day I raised my hand in class and asked: what happens to our thoughts when we are thinking of something else? Was there something left over, some electrochemical residue of those microphenomena passing through those electrodes, some surplus that never made its way to our friends the spiders but rather escaped, or was employed to some other end that was not the beautification, the betterment, of the world around us?"

064

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

It's that time of year again* *it is always that time of year

An awards eligibility post
Across the top in bold font it reads FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, and below
"The Last Spiderbox" Cosmic Horror Monthly #58, April 2025
"Enselfening" The Dark #125, October 2025
There is a pale blue paisley background, at the bottom is an old clip art image of two faceless men and a faceless woman all pointing at and/or making notes in a ledger of some sort. their skin appears to be transparent, and the paisley background shows through their faces and hands but not through their hair or their clothing

188

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Yeah its so goddamn good! Oh hey by the way look what i got on the mail just the other day

041

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Posting the logo of this old punk band I like for no reason

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

whoa somehow a whole-ass fortnight has gone by and i still havent shared the August newsletter here where i talk about stuff from @kayv.bsky.social, @spicycloaca.bsky.social, @perfidiousscript.bsky.social and more buttondown.com/shortstoryre...

a collage of images related to the three short story publications discussed in this month's edition of Short Story Rex

064

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

w/o downloading anything new, where are you mentally?

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

All the homies sending Joe strength

110

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Finally getting around to mentioning that my short story "Enselfening" will appear sometime in the nearish future in The Dark and despite everything else going on on this planet I am of course thrilled and honored and psyched and all the typical things people say in such announcements...!

3102

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

A bit bummed the YouTube links inexplicably don't work on this months newsletter but whatever it's short story rex not black sabbath rex feat. @rlsummerling.bsky.social @seanbirnie.bsky.social @stevetoase.bsky.social @christinogle.bsky.social and more buttondown.com/shortstoryre...

266

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

You know the old saying, "Lottery in June, va va voooom"

The cover of an old edition of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery and Other Stories" which features a depiction of a pulpy, bosomy redhead which is possibly not all that appropriate for said book

0102

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Your reply to joes skeet mentioning discourse was immediately followed in my feed by this disc horse bot post so im just gonna assume thats what youre referring to lol

040

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Disagree, controversial Gundams in general rule superhard

Character designs of various ethnically streotyped Gundams (windmill gundam, from the netherlands, toro gundam from Spain, zebra gundam from africa, etc) from the classic anime G Gundam

020

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Um, rude? Seriously though for all you lovers and respecters of Blemmyes aka akephaloi i wrote a story a while back about one and about his relationship with a shipwrecked lizard queen www.seizethepress.com/2024/05/08/m...

Two images side by side, on the left a full-color painting of a reptilian humanoid standing at the controls of a spaceship, on the left a woodcut of a Blemmye (a humanoid with no head, and its face on its chest)

021

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

We used to do Inocentes with my nephews when they were younger, yknow, switch out the salt and sugar, etc or stealthily pin little paper dolls on folks' backs like a kick me sign, that tradition still kind of exists at least in Southern Spain but like, the actual historical Santos Inocentes?

The Michael Jordan " fuck them kids" meme

110

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Not on social media much these days but i should point out that i did a newsletter last week about @spicycloaca.bsky.social & @rlsummerling.bsky.social & @maxinesophiawolff.bsky.social & @gdholloway.bsky.social and more buttondown.com/shortstoryre...

A collage of images related to stories from the January 2025 edition of Short Story Rex

273

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

in addition to my upcoming novel THE STEPLADDER IN THE TREE-PLACE* i also have a newsletter where i recommend short stories, and i just posted one about aalll the stories i recommended this year: buttondown.com/shortstoryre... *i have not written a novel entitled THE STEPLADDER IN THE TREE-PLACE

a collage of images related to the stories listed in the Short Story Rex Year Two in Review post

1145

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

me: hey, if you had to choose a favorite municipality in the province of Granada in Spain, what would it be Robert Plant in the Led Zeppelin song "In My Time of Dying":

A screenshot of the Wikipedia page for Chauchina, a municipality in the province of Granada in Spain

121

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

"You will be visited by three spirits" The three spirits:

The cover of the 12" single "Word Up" by classic R&B group Cameo
They are dressed in extravagant 80s garb and have flat-top hairdos except the guy on the right who is rocking little dreads

020

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Oh hey heres some short stories that recommend, ie Short Story Rex for December feat. @thomasha.bsky.social and @addisonzeller.bsky.social and @timmaughan.bsky.social and more buttondown.com/shortstoryre...

084

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

people got really hung up on the whole 'Luigi' thing when they IDed the UHC shooter guy however if like me you spent part of your youth flipping through bins of dusty dollar records at thrift stores then its possible this was actually the first image that came to mind:

Cover of trumpeter Chuck Mangione's 1977 LP Feels So Good

340

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

subscribe here if you wanna buttondown.com/shortstoryre...

000

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

november's roundup of short story rex went out a couple of days ago featuring stories in @thebaffler.com @dielaughingmag.bsky.social @undertow.bsky.social and @chmmagazine.bsky.social as well as other stuff buttondown.com/shortstoryre...

3114

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

mfw theres a new film based on the wizard of oz

The giant floating stone head from the classic scifi film Zardoz

1163

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

The family moving into the house? Also fucked up. And the garden? Buddy, you better believe it's fucked up--making this story especially ripe for enjoyment for Thanksgiving or the eldritch harvest ceremony of your choice

Quote from the story "Our Best Selves" by Hiron Ennes

When the harvest is done and we’ve gathered all we can, Mum lies out in the empty garden, wetting the soil and steeping it for the following year. She can’t stop grinning as she feeds the garden, lying in each patch and bleeding for a few hours before moving onto the next. Wordless, hair rustling in the breeze, her voice carries like birdsong through the house.
We’ve done it, she says. We’ve finally done it.

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

The energy I'm bringing into 2025

A low-resolution graphic from Corel Gallery
It depicts a faceless head with three pink lines slanting left to right splitting the forehead in representation of some kind of trauma or injury
Hands on either side of head near the temples in a pained gesture

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Me when i even consider doing one of those "get to know my ____ tastes, 1 like = 1 ____ recommendation" posts

An image Of Tim Robinson from the Bozo Dubbed Over sketch from I Think You Should Leave, touching his forehead like he's thinking really hard
The caption reads: "Oh, God, there's like tons I can think of that just blow me away."

140

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

this is a big reason why i started my newsletter back in jan '23:

162

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

okay okay ive been thinking about it and here goes 4 albums that introduce my taste

the cover of the first Captain Beyond album (1972)

the cover of Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)

the cover of Journey in Satchidananda by Alice Coltrane (1971)

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

And finally "Some Reflections on the Abstruse Campaign" which unfortunately is not eligible for anything. I meant to make it eligible for stuff while i was writing but i forgot to, whoops! www.propagule.co/fiction/some...

Cover of Prorpagule 4
A hand dipping its fonger into concentric circles
The hand has mamy colors on patterns, each finger and each knuckle a different color and pattern

000

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

"Hank Eltz, the Singer" (God's Cruel Joke #4) meanwhile is eligible for the Jack Shit prize (but not the International Jack Shit Prize) www.godscrueljokelit.com/issue-four

Cover of Gods Cruel Joke 4
A cartoon drawing in black and white
A shirtless woman is seen from fhe back and she has bugs on her and she might eat one of them

110

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

2. "The Skullhole Panic" (Gamut #4, Apr 24) is a not a novel or book-length work of fiction but somehow is eligible for the Booker Prize??? (but not the International Booker Prize aka the cool one) houseofgamut.com/gamut-magazi...

Cover or Gamut 4, inspired by my story The Skullhole Panic
A beautoful woman on the left stares into the eyes of a handsome goateed gentlemen and bright beams of light shoot out between them

121

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

When i first shared it i didnt know the source, it was just a random image saved on my phone, and while it wasnt the inspiration for the story it retroactively defined the vibe with an eerie accuracy Later someone helpfully pointed out the original is from the cover of the magazine Cinefantastique

041

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

Recently came to my attention that some kind soul put my story "Manywhere Manyone Manything" on the Stoker Awards Reading List, which is exciting not only because its the 1st time something like this has happened but also it means i can share this picture again List: www.horror.org/awards/2024r...

a very 80's looking drawing of a naked reptilian humanoid at the helm of a completely transparent spaceship, overlooking a transparent grid superimposed on the surface of an Earth-like planet, with some weird space pods and planets and stars and nebula in the background

2124

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 27/09/2024

You're right and you should say it, never saw the appeal You seen this one btw?

Movie poster for El angel exterminador
A large disembodied eye in the middle of a Saul Bass-looking spiral and a woman on her knees looking downcast af

110

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 22/09/2024

TIL that in Spain "She-Hulk" was translated as "Hulka" and im sorry but that's hilarious

Cover of a She-Hulk collection in Spanish, titled Hulka, with the green skinned greenhaited superheroine oddly posed in street clothes

021

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 12/09/2024

Atom from the super friends and the thing on his forehead

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 26/08/2024

What is your current social media strategy?

A screenshot from some old PC game, at the top it says Maze of Filthmouth, Exits: Many" with a pixel art image of disembodied lips teeth and tongue licking a bar of soap, under which it says
OK, but watch your tongue...
Shit
Sorry

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 19/08/2024

Been too busy to post much recently but uhh heres my newsletter from way back in July in which i talk a little about writers like Debbie Urbanski and Percival Everett and others buttondown.com/shortstoryre...

Collage of images from short stories discussed in the July edition of Short Story Rex

110

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 05/06/2024

The challenge is to choose 20 books that greatly influenced you. One book per day, for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews. Just covers. 20/20 #booksky

Cover of Kurt Vomnegut's novel Breakfast of Champions

010

nm whitley @nmwhitley.bsky.social · 04/06/2024

The challenge is to choose 20 books that greatly influenced you. One book per day, for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews. Just covers. 19/20 #booksky

cover of an edition of Poemas Humanos and España Aparta de mi este caliz by Cesar Vallejo

000