iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

BALE SNAILS

Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

In light of some magazines pulling scummy things on creators lately, I’m doing a little thread on short story rights. I don't want anybody getting taken advantage of. Also, if you're new, this stuff can be confusing!

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 9h

Yeah... this sort of thing is why I don't post about my (amazing and adorable) kid very much, and generally ask before sharing stuff when I do. The garden can't object and isn't going to be trying to define who it is as a person in shockingly-few-years, so...

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I'm about halfway through the Twilight Zone Negative Word Edit, and... not bad so far, I think? I'm not quite hitting the 10% I meant to cut, but I'm on track to get this thing under 110k words. And then I get to do the big structural edit for the other project where I add words again. Editing!

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I've started playing the Outer Wilds. I'm late to the party, but I'm playing largely unspoiled (so no spoilers). It's a lovely game so far; my notes after a few hours of play are: 1. I love that I can my own marshmallows 2. If our spaceship has an emergency, nobody let me land it

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Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

Phil PlAIt @philplait.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

An absolute giant.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Suddenly realizing that one of the main characters in the secondary world WIP I'm currently editing may have some Midwestern Dad in his pedigree: "We need the rain" is a line of his dialog.

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Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 06/10/2026

It’s especially good today because neutrinos are just so much fun to talk about. They’re little! They’re weird! They sneakily transform themselves to other flavors when no one is looking!

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Partially reassembled office. Very happy to have painting done and various things tidied up. Feel free to guess my favorite color...

Picture of an office. The desk is off-screen to the left. There's a purple hoodie (the brontosaurus one from the Science Museum of Minnesota) hanging on the office chair, which is on top of a fuzzy purple rug. A Captain Proton poster leans against a filing cabinet. A schematic of the Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) leans against a table, which has a Tardis cookie jar and a gold-colored tree hung with various Star Trek starships as ornaments. The walls are very dark purple. There's a couple utility boxes and, plus some painter's tape and newspaper as evidence of recent painting.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Style police: But, it's easier to sell a house with- Me: Not selling. Style police: What next? Me: Once the paint's dry, I'm gonna put up my Star Trek posters, maybe get some of those neat glow-in-the-dark star stickers... Style police: <backs away slowly>

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Sadly, it's a drop ceiling, and the ancient ceiling tiles are really not amenable to painting, or I would absolutely do this.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Me: I'm painting my basement office. Style police: What color? Me: This. <shows bucket> Style police: Are you sure? You don't want something more mature like eggshell white, or- Me: No. Style Police: -beige? Me: Beige is boring. I'm an adult! I can pick whatever _actual_ color I want!

A basement wall with blue painter's tape, a couple electrical boxes, and one corkboard-ish neighboring wall. There's newspaper on the floor to protect it from the drying paint, which is very, very purple. There's a little glare on the wall from the ceiling light.

A basement window with white trim, blue painter's tape, and some furniture covered with tarp. The wall is a freshly painted dark purple.

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Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

Jason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Good news: @sfwa.bsky.social's Recommended Reading List once again lives! The general public and SFWA members can sort the list to see what SF/F novels, stories, poems, comics, scripts and games are receiving the most love and attention from the org's writers. 1/ www.patreon.com/jasonsanford...

patreon.com

Genre Grapevine: Good News as the SFWA Recommend Reading List Returns | Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine

When Professor Farnsworth in Futurama says "Good news everyone!" it's rarely good news for his Planet Express crew. But in this case, the ne

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Just rewatched Star Trek TNG episode "The Boobytrap" with my kid, and whew, if that whole "let's get the computer to construct a copy of Leah Brahms from her research and logs" thing was creepy and uncomfortable the _first_ time I watched it, it isn't any better now that we have generative "AI."

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Having a _negative_ word count goal feels very weird. It's like I'm writing in the Twilight Zone.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

"How did you get into TTRGPs?" College friends, after a near-miss in high school. HS: I had a friend who had the D&D players guide, and shared an electronic copy. I was fascinated. (Still ❤️ building characters.) Nobody got a game together, though. College: Invite to game -> instant acceptance.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Options generally included a mix: 1. Maps, consulted in advance of driving 2. Directions 3. Having a co-pilot with the map and directions 4. Trying to remember the names of streets before and after the critical turn, so I'd know when I was close or if I'd missed it

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Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Oh, what a nice idea. (Closing streets for a safer Halloween.)

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I'm in the middle of editing a fantasy thriller, where there's a bunch of magic and stuff but the _real_ fantasy is the competent, moral people in government... (Yes, it's a democracy with its own flaws, I got tired of fantasy monarchies.) In short, yeah... definitely agree with this feeling.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We grew sugar cube cantaloupe in our yard, and they were delicious! And my debut novel got published, so that's pretty great, too.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Dear melon plant: Look, I appreciate the ambition, but do you really think all these little melons you're growing are going to get ripe before the first frost? Look, the maple's already throwing in the towel for the season... #gardening

A tiny green melon, not even as long as my fingers yet, still growing on the plant. There's some protective chickenwire in the background, and plant and mini-melon are wet from rain.

Somewhat dark view from underneath a huge old maple tree, looking up the trunk into the canopy, where the upper leaves are transitioning from green to a golden yellow.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

In between, but mostly the second option: it's normal to be queer, assorted people are, and it's just part the normal variation of life. For your book... I might have to add "a but there's bigotry in other places, just not the place we're rooting for" caveat.

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Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 29/09/2026

A win on fair use: court rejects fair use defense of AI training

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I don't know... on the one hand, there's got to be a better way than Pangram to handle the flood of slop. On the other, I understand it's a huge tax on small publishers. If you do keep them listed, I'd appreciate a big warning label ("uses AI filters") so I could decide if it was worth it.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Which edit is easier: 1. Restructuring a too-long, ~170k word manuscript into two books, and adding a net 30k words along the way, or 2. Minor cleanup on a 120k word manuscript, but you also need to cut 10% of the words My gut says #1 will take longer, but we'll see how excruciating the cuts are.

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Aliette de Bodard @aliettedebodard.com · 28/09/2026

Any time we hear "AI did this and this", it's not proof programs are becoming sentient, but that the humans deploying said AI did this (which is generally failing to deploy proper sandboxing measures to prevent an AI from going against security) It's not the AI that's rogue, it's the company

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

*hits compile on Scrivener* Alrighty, that's the first big edit done on "Let's Kill The Gods." (Don't worry, they deserve it.) File sent off to my trusty alpha reader (aka, my lovely husband). Next up... <stares at pile of writing projects> I'm gonna make myself a hot chocolate.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

... I also wrote a book that might fit. (The Cloak and Its Wizard; the cloak is agender, but the wizard's a female trauma surgeon from Minneapolis.)

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Ooh, a couple urban fantasy favorites: *Strange Practice, by Vivian Shaw: female medical doctor in modern London who treats vampires, ghouls, etc. *Slayers of Old, Jim C. Hines: Retired lady monster hunter (and friends) have to save the world One More Time And if shameless self-recs are allowed...

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Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Author Simulator. My latest books cartoon for @theguardian.com

Title: Author Simulator

Level 1: Get to desk and begin! (Platform video game-style image of an author jumping from a block onto a cloud with desk and computer) Result: success!

Level 2: Press on despite distractions! (Author typing as the desk/clod moves past a ghost and a spider) ) Result: success!

Level 3: Deliver manuscript to editor! (Author jumping over fire pit onto platform where editor waits) Result: success!

Level 4: Accept minor criticism! (Author lying ded in fronto of editors desk) Result: better luck next time!

Along the bottom are controls for:
Left right jump crouch read write nap coffee

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Local politics commentary: It's a really bad sign when I actually mostly agree with Joe Soucheray. I'm increasingly thinking we're going to need a mayoral recall election...

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

You know, Jonathan Coulton wrote this lovely song "I'm Your Moon" that pretty much agrees with you, so I don't think I can hate you for that stance: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU1Q...

youtube.com

I'm Your Moon

YouTube video by Jonathan Coulton - Topic

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Current status on the big edit: I'm at T-minus five chapters, and counting. (Wrong metaphor for its genre, but, eh.) So, I'm 80% done. My main thought at this stage is that the earliest and latest chapters are going fastest, while the middle required more adjustment. (Middles are hard, I guess.)

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I have also experimentally determined that playing music for, like, ten or fifteen minutes (for me, on piano, the only instrument I have any skill with) also makes me a lot happier. Follow for more shocking life hacks. :P

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Friendly reminder: Sometimes, the best entertainment is a gigantic box, a good selection of art supplies, and a healthy dollop of imagination.

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Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My latest @newscientist.com cartoon. many more here: www.newscientist.com/author/tom-gauld/

Image: A graph with lots of red dots clustered together in a curve. The are all looking upwards at a single red dot wearing sunglasses.

Caption: Mike was an outlier and would probably be excluded from the study, but all the other data points secretly thought he was really cool.

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Reposted by Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet

Kevin Hearne @kevinhearne.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I went outside, y’all, and dang it does wonders for your attitude. Because some of the stuff out there is SUPER CUTE. Lookit this chipmunk climbing out on branches to eat these leafy thingies. LOOKIT. And I saw MORE. Behold the thread— 1/

I don’t know exactly what it’s eating but a chipmunk is framed by spindly branches of some leafy plant that it finds delicious.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Yeah, um... time to start checking the rules for a recall.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Hey, I, too, would like to know this! I assume you're a fellow raw-tomato-hater. I love how the plants smell, but hate the actual tomatoes. In my garden, I grow one cherry tomato plant and my husband is happy to eat all the tomatoes. (He informs me that he has no memory of not liking them.)

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I've seen a fair few of these myself -- the "what genre do you write?" question in a reply is a big red flag. Like, that is not hard to figure out from my posting history or profile. Or, quite possibly, the very post they're replying to.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Spotted between Saint Paul and Stillwater: A dark pink Nissan Cube with custom license plate "BRGSHIP" and a "Resistance is Futile" sticker. To the owner of said vehicle: Nicely done. 🖖

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The book: Kinda like Doctor Strange, but it's all from the magic cloak's point of view and the wizard's from Minneapolis. The WIP: Medieval farmer gets pushed over the edge by one last stupid curse and decides to kill all the worthless gods. Her daughter wants to help.

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Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Reupping this again: MSP please alert the young white women with golden doodles, one of them urgently needs the post-exposure rabies series.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

...this book may be a little slow for some modern readers. My husband made the same book comparison I did, saying he expected I'd love this one (he was right) but it wasn't his favorite.

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Rachel Reddick / RZ Nicolet @rr4idic.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

...so I'm going to have to go get the sequel... yesterday. The writing in this one reminded me of C. J. Cherryh's The Fortress in the Eye of Time, which I also loved. They both do "this world feels deep and old" very well. That being said...

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