iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 55m

I'm repairing an old beloved book for my sister, and sighhhh do you remember when hardcovers were actually still properly sewn together and had nice fabric on the covers, not just a block of glued-together pages wedged too tightly into paper-covered cardboard? This is from the 70s

Close up of the spine end of a book block out of its cover. You can see how neatly the signatures have been sewn together

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 29/09/2026

This whole thread. I'm around sixth graders now and there is a world of difference between the boys who like and respect girls the same as the rest of their friends and the ones who don't

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 29/09/2026

Fighting for my life driving against the rising sun while my kid blasts Yu-Gi-Oh memes over the car speakers

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High Priestess, Low Patience @cheriepriest.com · 29/09/2026

this is tonic masculinity + semiotically clever as hell 👍

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Undertow Publications 🇨🇦 @undertow.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Publishers and Editors! I'm taking subs for Vol. 3 of the award-nominated "Best Weird Fiction of the Year" til end of the year. Writers! You'll get a chance to submit your 2026 stories in January. bestspecfic(at)gmail.com

Esteemed Editors and Publishers,

I am now taking submissions of original 2026 short fiction projects — magazines, anthologies, single-author collections — for consideration in The Best Weird Fiction of the Year, Vol. 3. (Publishing Sept. 2027). Vol. 1 is a World fantasy Award Finalist.

I am seeking material first published this year, in 2026. To be clear, only weird fiction FIRST published in 2026 is eligible for inclusion in this volume. I will accept translated work as long as the first English-language publication was 2026.

Stories should be between 500 and 17,499 words. Audio only stories are also ineligible, unless they also appeared as text.

Publishers and editors are encouraged to send electronic or digital copies, via the email address below. (I am not accepting hard copy submissions.) ePubs are preferred, but I will also accept text files (Word), Mobi, or PDF. Please do not cherry-pick selections. Send the entire book, journal, or magazine to:

bestspecfic@gmail.com

Thank you for your time and kind consideration.

Warm Wishes,

Michael
--

Michael Kelly / Publisher / Editor-in-Chief
undertowbooks@gmail.com

Undertow Publications
https://undertowpublications.com/

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weeder @weeder.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

God, grant me the courage to change the things I can and incredible new powers to change the things I can't.

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 24/09/2026

Not to be a brag, but my 9yo knows her times tables AND all our phone numbers 💅

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 24/09/2026

Four Autumn Movies The Lady in White October Sky Addams Family Values Penelope

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Robert Hill @vonotar.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This column at Reactor has turned me on to SO MANY anthologies that I've fallen for short-form fiction all over again. I encourage anyone who follows me to go find some short stories to read.

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 23/09/2026

Oh rad I got a readalong!! This is great

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Liana Brooks @lianabrooks.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Writers used to be able to live comfortably off the sale of a short story or two a month. Authors like Terry Pratchett made enough money selling silly fantasy books in the 80's that they quit their day jobs. That doesn't happen any more.

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 22/09/2026

Gosh it was this or Windows 95, I can't remember now. I do remember that upon acquiring dial-up internet, I immediately used it for its proper purpose: looking up facts about cheetahs

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Corey Brickley * Blight's Hollow Dot Com @coreybrickley.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

hmmm Sam Altman reminds me of a certain other dystopian business exec obsessed with the illegal procurement of Hugging Face

Paul Reiser's slimy business executive character Carter Burke in the movie Aliens

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Keira Perkins @thatkeira.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Have you ever been at a concert where the music has transformed you to something else, something fierce and powerful? Remember that feeling. Hold it. Then imagine a man there that keeps grabbing you by the hips despite your “friendly” efforts to make him stop. You get to kill him in this poem.

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Matt Simon @mattsimon.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Khaw, Wise, Ha ... Undertow serving banger after banger ... buy their stuff!

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K.M. Veohongs @kmveohongs.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

yes, I have been to the big in-person cons and yet somehow FoF has the BEST programming in terms of breadth and depth that I’ve ever seen. Please donate!

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Cislyn Smith @cislyn.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

There's a long way to go before we reach our fundraising goals. Every single dollar helps, is meaningful, and goes to supporting great things - no fee contests for beginning professionals in writing and illustration, Con or Bust grants, and the convention itself. Help us keep doing cool things. <3

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Thomas Ha @thomasha.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

shitty little sentence that makes no sense but i just like the sound of it

bilbo looking down at ring with smile, then serious grimace showing resolve to keep it, hesitance to give it up

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Sandy Parsons @zazzeaux.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 18/09/2026

Imagine the Walken sex doll staring at you with ill-disguised disdain the whole time

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 18/09/2026

Watching one of my old faves, Wolf (1994), the romantic horror movie about Jack Nicholson turning into a wolf, and the B plot is that he's an editor at a publishing house being taken over and restructured by a rich tycoon

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 17/09/2026

For my final novel editing round, I put spaces in front of the headings on chapters that still need work, so opening the navigation menu in Word gives me an easy visual of what remains. And oh man, watching that line of chapter numbers gradually snap into a straight line is very satisfying.

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 17/09/2026

Largely surprised, I think. Disappointed that it took so long to get published, but impressed by the critical reception. Surprised that I married and had kids after all. Amazed that daily life can be so relaxed when you live with someone kind. Amazed to learn that I love myself the way I am

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Catbus @catbus.phd · 17/09/2026

great art articulates eternal truths

script of the end of Waiting for Godot which has been modified to read

ESTRAGON: Well, shall we log off?
VLADIMIR: Yes, let's log off.
[They do not log off]

CURTAIN

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 17/09/2026

I am officially covid boosted! 🦾Here's hoping nobody tracks any germs home from school while it is kicking in...

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 16/09/2026

My fridge has been on the fritz for 3 entire months and I have been trapped in an Escher-like maze of phone trees and service calls as the warranty folks make the subcontracted technician replace apparently every part that exists before they will cave and replace the fridge itself

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 16/09/2026

I am doing 3 fun things at Flights of Foundry! All virtual! Saturday, 5pm Pacific: The genre is what now? (about mashup genres!) Sunday, 11am Pacific: Motherhood in SFF (about all kiiiinds of mothers!) Sunday, 3pm Pacific: The Job Nobody Warned You About (about all this extra STUFF writers do)

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Imani Gandy @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 16/09/2026

Trans rights is inherently a bodily autonomy issue. Just like abortion rights is. We can't have gender equity or reproductive freedom without trans rights. Full stop. You can yell at me and make up shit that you claim I've said if it makes you feel better. I don't care. I'm right. And you know it.

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Lightspeed Magazine @lightspeedmagazine.com · 15/09/2026

The 2026 LIGHTSPEED + NIGHTMARE Kickstarter is NOW LIVE! Check out our star-studded lineup of authors & peruse our rewards: subscriptions, signed books, rare magazine collectibles, t-shirts, mugs, and other fun stuff. Thank you in advance if you're able to offer your support.💖 bit.ly/LS-NM-26

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Translunar Travelers Lounge @translunartl.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

And it's open! Please read the guidelines before submitting to avoid any potential misunderstandings.

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 14/09/2026

Aw. Bob Mackie was so iconic that I, a 90s child with zero interest in fashion, knew his name and also desperately coveted his special edition Barbies

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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Ms. Rachel: "Ed Sheeran had an opportunity…Instead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows." "If more than 20,000 white children were killed…everyone would be shouting…Treating some children's lives as less worthy of outrage is racist. Silence during a genocide is not neutral."

Ms. Rachel post:
"Ed Sheeran had an opportunity show that we won't be bullied into punishing people for supporting Palestine. Instead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows. A genocide is happening in Gaza. We all need to speak out against it.

"If more than 20,000 white children were killed in another part of the world, everyone would be shouting about it at their concerts. Treating some children's lives as less worthy of outrage is racist. Silence during a genocide is not neutral."

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 12/09/2026

The bookmark post feature is great except that I keep bookmarking short story links and article links and now I am afraid to open the list and find out how long it is

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 12/09/2026

I need a secret eighth day of the week that only I have access to...

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 11/09/2026

My husband has been gradually rewatching all of Stargate SG1 and our 11yo in particular is hooked. The youths yearn for long-running problem-of-the-week adventures that allow you to invest in the cast over many seasons!!

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Cynthia Gómez @cynthiasaysboo.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Strange Horizons is opening for submissions on October 1. I repeat, Strange Horizons is opening for submissions on October 1.

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 09/09/2026

Ahaha I was just telling my husband how much I love the classic "homebound detective + intrepid field assistant" combo! I will be getting this

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Amanda Helms - Preorder THE UPPER TENTACLE @amandaghelms.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Hey, it's the @barnesandnoble.com preorder sale! My book THE UPPER TENTACLE will be out on February 9, 2027, but you can preorder it now at B&N for 25% off with code PREORDER25. Offer good 9/9-9/11!

"Get in, loser" meme from Mean Girls with Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and Lacy Chabert sitting in a car. Meme text is "Get in, astute reader" at top and "We're going preorder shopping for The Upper Tentacle" at the bottom

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 08/09/2026

We had a gorgeous week of false fall...chilly at night...pleasant all day... but now true summer is here. 9:30am. 100 degrees and still climbing 😭😭

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tunes to make you run away @whippoorwont.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

"people are anthropomorphizing LLMs because they are so astonishingly good at processing human thought and language" people will anthropomorphize a chair if you put the stitches in the right place.

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 08/09/2026

In addition to the ethical issues, the rhetoric is bizarrely pushy. There are PLENTY of devices, technologies, and pieces of software I have never used in my life. I haven't been "left behind," I just don't need everything in the world that exists, and I don't have any NEED for this

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 08/09/2026

Probably: cataloguing books for an order of Franciscan monks, in languages I did not know

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Samantha (Sam) Mills @samtasticbooks.com · 08/09/2026

Every time I write a book, I say, "well I'm never doing it THAT way again" and then I try something else that will prove difficult in an all-new way. But hey, it always ends up a book!

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