iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

open.substack.com/pub/robertme...

Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Just finished Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix. It has reinvigorated my horror sensibility and design ideas that I can't wait to jump back into my own horror tales. #authoraugust #writesky #booksky #horror

Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix

Featuring horror covers from the 70s, 80s, and 90s

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Death's cold touch has preceeded the chill of winter. The Cemetery can barely HANDLE the influx. #wipsnips #writingcommunity #ThePact #Horror

Norman

October 17th ‘19
Twelve more graves need to be dug this week. Between that and maintenance I’m at my wits end. I wish I could hire at least one hand to help me with this. Usually I can handle the work load. Normally people don’t die this fast but this damn flu. It’s a ravager, I can’t keep up. My hands are shaking even now with fatigue from shoveling. I’m going to petition for two more hands at least for the weekend to keep up with this.
I figured that after the war ended and the killing had stopped I would have had some down time. At this rate the whole damn place will be full before too long.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

The pull of void, the call of the abyss. Feeble attempts to scurry from that blasted FRONTIER. (Edge) #wipsnips #authoraugust #writesky #UnderneathEverySmile

She took refuge on the couch as she manifested the energy to move to the final stop. Her eyes stared blankly without recognition, the glow of the computer screen finally gone as it too went to sleep. The only light coming from the red glow of the internet modem. A faint stop light doing its best to keep her seated. Transfixed, she went over all the past saving throws. All the leaps away from the edge when the intrusive thoughts lost sway long enough to be overcome in a burst of fragile self-preservation. None would apply now. Incompatible with the circumstances, no match for the pull of the edge.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Reading a book I can only describe as steampunk-lite. Turn of the century, clockmaker, street urchins, automaton in the making. The Clockwork Three by Matthew Kirby #steampunk #nowreading #tbr #booksky

The Clockwork Three by Matthew Kirby book cover; automaton with its chest open revealing Clockwork parts inside

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

No cheating. Post your lock screen My fiancés name is Tori. And I like Japanese stuff. Bam! Torii Gate.

Person holding parasol underneath a torii gate in water

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

This is giving me some much inspiration and motivation to commit to my crazy horror ideas. #horror #hell #writing #writesky #booksky

Cover of the book Paperbacks from Hell "The Twisted History of '70s and '80 Horror Fiction" by Grady Hendrix

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

One of my favorite vinyl purchases: A Greater Bliss by Wordclock #cryochamber #vinyl #darkambient

Front cover of Greater Bliss by Wordclock; a religious aesthetic scene of a central figure surrounded by adherents

Back cover of vinyl; A greater Bliss, wordclock

Side A
1. By becoming it 2. Meant 3. The spirit chokes 4. Weighed upon us

Side B
1. The less of me 2. Binding with Briars 3. Beatific 4. Unbecoming 5. Come, Triumph

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

In stunning Grey on Grey my collection Next of Kin is available for purchase through Barnes and Noble! #writesky #authorsky #shortstory #booksky www.barnesandnoble.com/w/next-of-ki...

Two paperback copies of a book in greyscale titled Next of Kin, Robert Mead

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

I’m compiling a number of shorts into a collection I’ve called Next of Kin. In them I discuss depression, loss, grief, love, family, and memories. I hope to have it available for purchase by the summer. Keep an eye out for it. #writesky #authorsky #shortcollection

A grayscale picture of a dead tree reflected in a body of water with the text Next of Kin and Robert Mead overlayed

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Check out my latest short on my Substack - substack.com/@robertmeadw... #writing #writesky #life #love #expectation #fantasy

"Once Upon a Lie..." Robertmeadwriting.substack.com Robert Mead
A man stands in a dark wood holding a mirror reflecting a couple of dead trees.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Finished The Idiot's Garden by Kyle E. Miller yesterday and wow it was such an amazing read. Unique, creative, immersive. I heard he wasn't expecting to hear his book was a "page turner" but when I say I had to know the conclusion ASAP I burned through it. www.kyle-e-miller.com/store/p/the-...

Cover of The Idiot's Garden by Kyle E. Miller. An archaic illustration of a man pinchusioned by various arrows, swords, blades, etc. is screened by green growth.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Did an editing pass of my 2025 WIP #UnderneathEverySmile and it felt good to enjoy pouring over the words after so long. That's the best feeling for me, rereading my work and falling in love with it all over again. #writesky #author #novel #writers

Foreshadowing
“Give me a reason. I see no hope; I see no point in existence. We are doomed to wander this plane,
without purpose, without a cause. All I know is that we are the salt of the Earth.” - Black Tongue
What exists beyond the night that never ends? Does the silence persist? Does it echo with the dripping
faucet, keeping time with its droplets? Will day ever break again? Or does the withered form sinking into
the couch become stuck in time? A weight on its chest pulling it down towards the floor.
Perpetual night doesn't sound so bad until your eyes glaze over and your ears are filled with
mothballs. The night owl mentality feels mysterious, but it owes itself to a loneliness not felt by most
others. Being left alone in the sunlight on a busy street is a world away from being alone under a
streetlamp at 2a.m.
Being alone in your head is yet another world.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Collab w/ @ghoulishhag.bsky.social She's making some sick zines featuring my work. Can't wait to share the designs. #writing #writingcommunity #writesky #zines Teaser:

A block of text on white paper overlaid on top of a yellow mushroom cloud

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

A rush of blood to the head. Melissa might just go Postal this time around. #writing #writingcommunity #novels #UnderneathEverySmile #writesky

“Hey, are you alright?” a voice lilted it’s way to her ears past the rumble of blood and the constant shudders of barely contained revulsion.
              She wanted to ignore him but Tyler rolled close to her and looked at her from over his shoulder, keeping his body turned away. Shielding himself from her.
              The pain in her jaw from clenching it for the past hour was starting to take it’s toll. She felt her hands tense up. The ache in her neck returning.
              “I’m fine.” She hissed. Elli bubbled with enthusiasm.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Post your favorite book from the '70s. (I went with the 1870s)

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

What are you three favorite films from 1999? #filmsky The Green Mile (cried my eyes out), The Mummy (practically burned up the VHS), The Matrix (how could you not?)

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

There are plenty of memories I wish I could burn from my mind too. Better to write them down I suppose. #wipsnips #writing #writingcommunity #novels #UnderneathEverySmile #writesky

One last attempt at finding relevance in past experience reset the film and set the clicking along a new path.
              As soon as the lights went down in her mental theater and the silver screen started to glow, she knew she had made a mistake in her choice of memory. The images playing across the fabric of time sent cold into her bones, twisted her stomach, and turned her limbs to lead preventing her from getting up from her seat, entering the projection room, tearing up the celluloid, and setting the theater ablaze to rid herself of the memory altogether. Movie magic and its alluring sparkle prevented that outcome and she was forced to relive this moment.
              “I’m moving out. Mom is coming to get me tomorrow.” Melissa said from the third step. She was too scared to descend all the way into the basement. Worried if she got closer to him, within arm’s reach, she’d lose her nerve or that he’d hold onto her preventing her from escaping.
              He didn’t turn to meet her gaze or her words.
              “Alright.”

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Hush little baby don't say a word, mama's gonna go postal in this office, mark my words. #wipsnips #writing #writingcommunity #novels #UnderneathEverySmile

“You know they deserve it. Look at them, wasting away. Polluting the air with their filth.”
Images flashed over Melissa’s mind as her eyes were forced open to see the others on her shift milling about, spending yet another night on this dark earth withering away. She clamped her eyes shut as her pulse quickened. A flash of red eclipsed her thoughts as Elli came up behind her and whispered in her ear. The small hairs on Melissa’s neck stood on end, wishing they were porcupine quills to defend her from the ghoul in her presence.
“One day, you’ll do it. One day.” Elli hissed.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

I got quite the Father's Day present. <3 Happy Father's Day! #art #digitalart #family #artsky #fathersday

A digital drawing of my partner, our son, and myself, made by my partner.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

A monotonous existence is driving her down a road she can't come back from. #wipsnips #writing #writingcommunity #novels #UnderneathEverySmile Break - Disable

“I can’t wait.” Melissa said with a big smile. Her mind letting go of finding the memory of a concert attended in the past 6 years. Was that a loose end? Reconciling with a life that was consumed by work and bereft of a social life? The idea that she’d blink and be 50 years old without a past to recollect had only crossed her mind a few times but now, trying to remember something fun she had done, something substantial she had done in the past five years made her wonder if that future wasn’t set in stone. Was the pact the only way to break that cycle? It seemed that way. Something drastic to break the wheel. To set in motion a new future. One that had a hard end; an end that was in sight from where she sat now. Peace, redemption, solace, death.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Road rash and a slight concussion were nothing compared to the wrath of a sister scorned. #wipsnips #writing #writingcommunity #novels #UnderneathEverySmile Align - Synchronize

It took thirty long seconds for him to finally gasp. The bewildered look on his face after gasping for air and realigning himself with the horizon was replaced by a look of stunned relief almost glee at the successful brush with death; successful in that he didn’t die nor had lost a limb. That satisfaction would not last long as he became aware of a new agent of death standing above him, teeth bared with a seething rasp of inhaled air.
The fear in his eyes at Melissa towering over him with Elli’s eyes piercing through to his soft squishy center full of Saturday morning cartoons, sugary cereal, and baby fat he just couldn’t seem to rid himself of was eclipsed by the explosion of vitriol spewed forth from the depths of Melissa. A sight that was second only to the breaking of She’s All That, the birth of Elli and the first crack formed in the sibling bond.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

I love #Supernatural so anyone the Winchester boys take in or are taken in by. #ComJunity #FoundFamily #Hunters

Winchester "Family" photo. Left to Right - Castiel, Sammy, Ellen, Dean, Jo, Bobby (seated).

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

There was no clear path from confrontation to peace. All roads were paved with pain. #wipsnips #writing #writingcommunity #novels #writesky #UnderneathEverySmile

“I still love you.” The lie that echoed through time. That which increased the pressure inside Melissa’s heart.
              The film reel stopped the lights came on and Melissa looking down at her hands felt a drop of wetness hit her palm. She was crying.
              Turned out she had no good path to dealing with confrontation. Violence, explosive words, tears. Those were her avenues and all led to the same place, being alone.
              Under the fluorescent lights she turned her face to the side to catch a glimpse of the man in the seat next to her. All she could see were his hands tapping away at a song in his head, off time no doubt. She could feel the smile peel across his lips, one of genuine joy, a fabrication of her fragile mind.

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Melissa looks at her old journals a little too often. Frankly, I too shared that pastime. #wipsnips #writing #writingcommunity #novels #UnderneathEverySmile

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

When you dread opening your phone but your fingers move on their own. #wipsnips #writingcommunity #novels #UnderneathEverySmile Dude - Chick

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Robert Mead @robertmeadauthor.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

What book cover(s) are burned into your brain? The MM Hyperion Cantos

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