iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Occult and stormy and liminal and highly autumnal. My literary speculative fiction book The Quiet is Loud is about a woman who reads tarot cards as a cover for her prophetic dreams, and it takes place during autumn - including a Thanksgiving scene. ⁠ ☽ My book belongs to witchy season ☽⁠

A photo of me holding up my literary speculative fiction book The Quiet is Loud, with text overlay: My book belongs to witchy season.

Quote from my literary sci-fi book The Quiet is Loud: “If Mary was the Queen of Swords then I was the Two. Blindfolded, two swords crossed at my chest, the rocky sea and weak moonlight at my back. I was the card of the crossroads, indecision, that held-breath moment as the blindfold slips. Time to pick a sword.”

My literary fantasy book The Quiet is Loud next to a Two of Swords tarot card.

120

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Pls spare a thought for yr local arachnophobic goths this spooky month; we are already struggling 🫠

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The new version of my Patreon, Undone Rituals, is now live. I’m making room for folklore, research rabbit holes, strange stories, observations, creative fragments & all the other things that inform my writing life. I’ve made a little preview zine to show you what I mean.

patreon.com

Undone Rituals: the new tiers are here | Samantha Garner

I’ve been wanting more room for the different threads that make up my creative life: reflections, historical or folkloric fragments, photogr

000

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Snippet from a little something I'm working on starting in October (with a soupçon of trying-to-read-16th-century-writing headache).

"ASH TREE protects against storm and witchcraft

1507 Gospelles of Dystaues pt. 3 VIl. Whan some tempest doth aryse in the ayer we oughte anone to make a fyre of foure staues of an asshe tree in crosse wyse aboue the wynde and thenne afterwarde make a crosse vpon it, and anone the tempest shal torne a syde.

1852 DENHAM North of England (1895, 30) A bunch of Ash Keys carried in the hand preserves the bearer from Witchcraft."

001

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I was just in Uniqlo where a toddler looked me dead in the eye, let out a bloodcurdling scream, and dropped to the floor crying. I know toddlers are like that sometimes but that’s definitely a bad omen, right? Like who hexed who here?

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

It's been a while since a book has affected me as profoundly as The Iron Garden Sutra by AD Sui. I am NOT okay, in the best way.

My hand holding AD Sui's The Iron Garden Sutra, with a yellow cover.

020

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I’m taking my Patreon somewhere slightly different this autumn: a home for the folklore rabbit holes, observations, cultural research, strange historical stories, & questions that inform my novels. A seasonal zine, which feels so natural for me. The new direction launches in October - more to come!

000

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

A stranger on the street told me I was dressed like a lawyer today. A criminal lawyer specifically. I'm taking that as a compliment.

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Happy First Day of 'Ber Months to all who celebrate! And to those who don't: fear not, it's technically still summer and cicadas are screaming at me as I write this at 8.17am.

020

Reposted by Samantha Garner

Peter Counter, Nightmare Host @peterbcounter.com · 21/08/2026

"Good Hunter, you've done well, the night is near its end. Now I will show you mercy. You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun. You will be freed from this terrible Hunter's Dream."

The Muppet Gonzo the Great as Charles Dickens

172

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I feel like many people at the margins know where the seams in the system are. They comment with sharpness. Sometimes there’s even a certain freedom in creating when removed from what's conventional. I wrote about what that distance can mean for creative work.

samanthagarner.ca

How being an outsider can shape your creative work | Samantha Garner

Explore how outsider perspectives can shape creativity & artistic identity, and how creative professionals build practices outside conventional expectations.

030

Reposted by Samantha Garner

r o o @jakepaulsartre.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

"Bluesky is dying" bro you're talking about a website full of 38 year olds who have fringe political beliefs and listen to black metal bands with >1000 listeners on spotify, nobody here cares about popularity

742186932825

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Summer saps my creative energy every year. I'm trying to adjust my creative-brain times around the strongest heat & noise of summer. It's an experiment in seasonal creation. Curiosity instead of hostility. Fingers crossed! What seasons or times of year affect your creativity in different ways?

000

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

1980: - air guitar - electronica - home video - poutine - veg out

000

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

This year I've realized my favourite conversations are about helping creatives untangle a project, or figuring out why their practice suddenly feels heavy. So I started offering gentle project guidance & accountability for creatives. More here if you're curious: samanthagarner.ca/creative-str...

samanthagarner.ca

Creative Project Guidance & Accountability | Samantha Garner

Creative advising for writers, artists, and thoughtful creators who need accountability or project clarity. Creative project support & self-guided resources.

000

Reposted by Samantha Garner

khōréō magazine @khoreo.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Our Kickstarter is live! Help support another year of speculative fiction by immigrant & diaspora writers over at @Kickstarter. 🧡 With your help, we can keep funding our work, expand to regular author interviews, raise our artist pay, & more! Support us at: www.kickstarter.com/projects/kho...

Four khoreo magazine covers over an orange background.

2242282

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I spotted my book while wandering through the library and had to say hi. Not much makes me happier than seeing it in the wild - especially when its corners are soft from wear. It feels surreal. I’m grateful that The Quiet is Loud is having a life beyond my desk, finding readers through libraries.

My hand holding a copy of my literary sci fi novel The Quiet is Loud in front of library shelves.

093

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Lately I’ve been struck by Helene Schjerfbeck’s hazy brushwork, the silence that’s almost visual. There’s intentional distance, but we’re never fully pushed out of a person’s world. I’m not a cold writer, but I find myself curious what happens when a story steps back a bit, noticing.⁠

000

Reposted by Samantha Garner

💜🎃 Spooky Gloopy Skunksky 🎃💜 @raidenhusky.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Heads up friends ‼️‼️‼️ Be SUPER SUPER careful sharing Youtube links They made a new update that anyone who clicks it starts "interacting" with you, and can expose your name if you use human info on Youtube/Google Settings -> privacy -> channel visibility for shared links

4114511072

Reposted by Samantha Garner

The Blogging Goth @theblogginggoth.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

On this day 47 years ago, #JoyDivision released their debut album "Unknown Pleasures" - probably one of the most influential albums of all time. theblogginggoth.com/2019/06/15/k...

The iconic cover of Joy Division's landmark debut album "Unknown Pleasures", as designed by Peter Saville

18815

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

They’ve put chirpy alarms on the entry gates to my apartment building‘s parking lot. I wish I could go back to the time when I thought it was a fucked-up bird.

020

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I've been writing for a long time, but I'm happy to report that my tradition of crying during my books' endings is still intact - even when I reread them during edits. And this latest book is split into three parts, so I get to experience it three times. I'm taking it as a good sign.

020

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Working through nostalgia in edits, especially when it’s used as a coping mechanism. In this novel I’m interested in nostalgia as a place of retreat. Sometimes it validates. Sometimes it distorts. ⁠ ⁠ I wonder if nostalgia helps us remember the past more clearly, or if it helps us restructure it.

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

1) My idol; and 2) My new novel-in-progress features a woman who befriends a crow and I'm happy it's not too late to add GIFT-GIVING.

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Recently filmed a video for my Path Shifters tier on Patreon where I answered AMA questions about my folklore research process & fiction, and HOO BOY is it a lesson in humility to choose a thumbnail from the video. (Like, are my eyes ALWAYS closed?) Honestly though, I did consider this one.

Still from a video of me talking to the camera, and in this still I'm squinting at the camera with my lips pressed in a stern line.

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Just had the worst nightmare: I was doing a live, in-person interview, and an audience member asked a question that led me perfectly into mentioning a friend’s book - except I FORGOT THE NAME OF THE BOOK. That is Wake Up In Cold Sweat horror, fuck.

030

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

I think my new favourite thing about being a writer is when I bumble into a Scrivener feature. Like just now when I accidentally left-clicked in this part of the toolbar, and discovered you can search there. (Yes that might be a "didn't read the instructions" type of skill issue but here we are.)

Screenshot of the Scrivener toolbar, with the chapter title above and some formatting options partially shown below.

000

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I feel weirdly connected to my mummu and even my great-grandmother, who I never knew, just by the smell and taste of cardamom. It makes me think of folkloric stories of magic in ordinary things. I wonder if they endure because of the small rituals carried across dramatically different generations.

110

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Lately I've been thinking about stories that begin where the veil between the mundane and the magical is thinnest. Like Dad talking about the Filipino vampiric creature tiyanak: "I know it's not real, but it's real." Or Finnish witch's bags, full of scrap objects that're conduits for väki spirits.

010

Reposted by Samantha Garner

Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls.

013363

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

The Quiet is Loud is five years old today! ⁠ My copy of TQIL shows signs of frequent use: wear on one corner, spine cracked in multiple places, scribbles and flags on its pages to help me stay on track during readings.

The Quiet is Loud by Samantha Garner lays open, face down, on a white table. On the edges of its pages sticky page marking flags can be seen.

100

Reposted by Samantha Garner

Peter Counter, Nightmare Host @peterbcounter.com · 04/05/2026

ANNOYING TEACHER: Hmmm... I don't know, *MAY* the fourth be with you? EXAPERATED STUDENT: Ugh—fine... will you please accept the force as a blessing of faith and goodwill? ANNOYING TEACHER: That's better. Thank you. And yes, I accept the force.

011

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

The other day I was telling someone about my debut novel but kept pronouncing it “de-BOO” like the Filipino 18th birthday celebration. I haven’t thought of those things in decades. Probably the most unexpected way my Filipinoness has ever slipped out! 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭

020

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

On Patreon this year I've been sharing Filipino & Finnish folklore, myth & stories of everyday people often overlooked in history. If you’ve been curious about joining, use code APRIL10 for 10% off one month of any tier (ends 05/05). www.patreon.com/cw/SamanthaK...

patreon.com

Patreon

Patreon is empowering a new generation of creators. Support and engage with artists and creators as they live out their passions!

000

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Is my novel's culture & language a mixture of Filipino & Finnish influences because that's what I know, or is it because I'm subconsciously trying to construct a homeland & mythology for my mixed-race self who feels deeply rooted in nowhere? 🤔

media.tenor.com

Alt: Gif of Keanu Reeves in the Matrix saying "Whoa."

150

Reposted by Samantha Garner

Peter Counter, Nightmare Host @peterbcounter.com · 24/04/2026

Back by popular demand and with a new way to get your fortune told! Celebrate indie bookstores and get a personalized tarot card with your fortune written on it!

199

Reposted by Samantha Garner

Christiane Knight @christianek.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

A Small Light in the Darkness: * relationships & how we can be manipulated by them * what happens when we tamper with our brains * what makes us who we are * who we might be if circumstances are slightly changed * ambition without empathy christianeknight.com #BookSky

33716

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Sleepy light, a cool breeze, the whistle of a neighbour's kettle through an open window.

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

I keep thinking about how much of the work I care about depends on independent bookstores. Especially if they're books that reveal themselves a little slowly, when you linger. With The Quiet is Loud, for example, the indies felt the most enthusiastic, gave my story a soft place to land. 🖤

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Bouncing around in my head for hours: “[When starting a creative project], the Fool is the proper posture.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZze...

youtube.com

The Fool | Tarot & Literature | Lecture 0

YouTube video by Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Tomorrow in my newsletter: ☾ The liminal space of inhabiting two novels at the same time ☾ How I’m pacing myself in edits despite the spring urge to flip everything over ☾ Links to stories of transformation & a spring journalling workshop It goes out at 10am Eastern! samanthagarner.ca/newsletter/

samanthagarner.ca

Subscribe to Samantha Garner's Newsletter

Join Samantha Garner's newsletter Deadmedia and get a free folklore guide, writing updates, notes on curiosity, lore & history inspiration & exclusive content.

000

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I get the value of just writing without analyzing. But give me the minutes spent staring at the screen, pacing the neighbourhood, working loose the knots of a story that I feel might never give way. Stressful, but it makes me feel more connected to the fact of being a writer more than anything else.

000

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Spring’s here and I feel like walking and walking until my body gives out, like turning everything upside-down to remind myself that I still can.⁠ ⁠ (I put together a Spring Almanac with seasonal mythology, folklore, rituals & reflection. Here's to harnessing that restless spring energy!)

patreon.com

The Seasonal Almanac: Spring Edition | Undone Rituals

Get more from Undone Rituals on Patreon

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

I finished a first draft of a fantasy novel that I've been putting aside for years. It feels unreal, somehow. It's inspired by precolonial Filipino culture, and 19th-century Finland fighting against Russian rule. Now, I have to deal with all the placeholder text that Past Me used. Wish me luck!

My hand holding up a printed-out manuscript with white coil binding, against a white wall.

010

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

If you're a curious person drawn to folklore, myth, and stories of everyday people often overlooked in history, I'd love for you to join me on Patreon. There’s also a 10% discount on the first month of any tier at the moment - use the code APRIL10 (ends in May). www.patreon.com/cw/SamanthaK...

patreon.com

Undone Rituals | Patreon

cultural storytelling & folklore from Filipino & Finnish roots

010

Reposted by Samantha Garner

Christiane Knight @christianek.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Join me for a Launch Party on April 4th 2026! I'd love it if you joined me for a free event on Zoom, happening on April 4th 2026 at 2pm EDT. Sign up here! www.christianeknight.com/join-me-for-... #booksky #🪐📚💙

An image of the book cover of A Small Light in the Darkness by Christiane Knight is on a field of glowing lightning. The cover is a photo of two shadowy figures against a purple and blue sky with a few stars visible. Text reads: Launch Party; Join Christiane for a reading plus a fun chat and other surprises! April 4 2026, 2pm EDT. Free on Zoom and YouTube.

156

Samantha Garner @samanthakgarner.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

I’m excited about the books my grant funding allowed me to order. I’ve built Corrode the Song on some historical research already, but it’s been fun digging into these books to uncover more cultural and historical aspects for my worldbuilding 🖤

Four books: “A History of Finland,” “Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippines Culture and Society,” “Kalevala Mythology,” and “Boxer Codex: A Modern Spanish Transcription and English Translation of 16th-Century Exploration Accounts of East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific”

020