iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

bayana a. davis (updates) @yanawroteit.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

When I first read about the maroons of the Dismal Swamp a couple years ago, the idea for TROUBLE THE WATERS practically unfurled before me & I'm so so so excited and honored to be able to share Blessing's story with readers.

Lois Evans at Knopf has acquired, in a seven-way auction, Trouble the Waters by Bayana A. Davis, a YA historical fantasy debut in which a Black teenager from the antebellum South, bound by her masters' blood-magic, escapes with her sister to a mystical maroon settlement deep in the Dismal Swamp, only to discover that her very presence threatens the newfound freedom and community she holds dear. Publication is slated for spring 2028; Ernie Chiara at Fuse Literary did the six-figure, two-book deal for North American rights.

Art by Nicole Deal

TROUBLE THE WATERS
By Bayana A. Davis
Imprint: Knopf Children's
Bayana A. Davis's TROUBLE THE WATERS, in which a Black teenager from the Antebellum South, bound by her masters' blood-magic, escapes with her sister to a mystical maroon settlement deep in the Dismal Swamp only to discover that her very presence threatens the newfound freedom and community she holds dear, to Lois Evans at Knopf Children's, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2028, by Ernie Chiara at Fuse Literary (NA).
Rights: ernie@fuseliterary.com
Film/TV: ddeuble@independentartistgroup.com

Born with the ability to sense and control water, Blessing has always been drawn to the Dismal Swamp. But she has never considered running into its wild depths, especially not after her master sold her to the Mason siblings—a doctor with deep interest in the secrets of the swamp and his sister, whose blood magic keeps Blessing tightly bound to her. When her mother meets the fatal consequences of leading a failed rebellion against the enslavers of Sweet Tide Plantation and the surrounding county, she's the only one left to protect her younger sister from the doctor's experiments and her mistress's binding magic. Determined to keep her sister from a beastly fate, she decides it's time to leave Sweet Tide behind.
Fleeing into the Dismal Swamp, Blessing and her sister find Solace, a maroon settlement cloaked in magic and secrecy.
Determined to be welcomed into the village, Blessing hopes to keep the true nature of her magic secret-but when a strange rot forcing its way through Solace's barriers connects back to her own traumatic past, it's up to her to confront the monsters who bound her in order to keep her sister and new community safe.

A picture of Blessing, a Black girl in a blue dress walking through the swamp. Words float around her with descriptions of TROUBLE THE WATERS:
YA historical fantasy
Set in 1808
Magical maroon community
Dismal Swamp
Ancestral magic
Black resistance

Art by Nicole Deal

36122

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Black Nerds Create @blacknerdscreate.com · 13/03/2026

Hey, it’s DJ! I know it’s been a minute but I had to come out of hiatus for this one: BNC Co-Founder, Brilliant Writer, and Community Builder @yanawroteit.bsky.social got her first book deal, y’all! 🎉

11310

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

NEW YORK (AP) — Democrat Zohran Mamdani sworn in as mayor of New York City.

374265801

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

JJ DeBenedictis @jjdebenedictis.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

"[M]onetized the dysfunction" is a good way to describe the American health care system too.

61035226

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Miami DSA @miamidsa.org · 26/11/2025

Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷

8135570114729

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

tinybaby @tiny.baby · 05/11/2025

so many good pictures out there

stupid dipshit sitting at a table with cuomo signs on it holding his phone looking like he's going to barf

8973981221

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

derek van vliet @derek.bike · 05/11/2025

good morning specifically to the FBI agent who introduced Mamdani’s dad to Marx

guy said, “Do you like Marx?”

I said, “I haven’t met him.”

Guy said, “No, no, he’s dead.”

“Wow, what happened?”

“No, no, he died long ago.”

I thought the guy Marx had just died. So then, “Why are you asking me if he died long ago?”

“No, he wrote a lot. He wrote that poor people should not be poor.”

I said, “Sounds amazing.”

I’m giving you a sense of how naïve I was. After they left, I went to the library to look for Marx. So that was my introduction to Karl Marx.

BS: The FBI.

MM: The FBI. Then, of course, I took a class on Marx. Couldn’t just get Marx out of the library. But,

4393012581

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Jess Zimmerman @jesszimmerman.com · 05/11/2025

Never let them say you can’t be a mensch AND a hater

101304161

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

jj skolnik @supremenothing.myatproto.social · 05/11/2025

just want to remind everyone again that zohran is the one cis candidate i am aware of that had his platform on trans rights written by trans people. i think that matters

1376721654

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Jason Concepcion @netw3rk.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

big question of the night: why didnt NYC like the billionaire backed groper who killed their grandparents

479498

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

stay tuned

Subjecy: Barstool leaving NYC?

Hi Dave-

Now than Zohran Mamdani is the mayor-elect, will Barstool be leaving New York? And if so, when?

Thank you,

--
Marisa Kabas
Independent journalist
The Handbasket

240135981507

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

The last New York City mayoral candidate to secure over 1 million votes was John Lindsay in 1969. Zohran Mamdani will be the seventh New York City mayor ever to receive more than 1 million votes.

7854169

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

I'm happy that Mamdani won. But I won't let that get in the way of my celebrating Cuomo losing.

115150121962

Ryan thee Dyke (she/her) @seltzersage.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

So happy to have voted for Zohran today 🥹 I love my city and I want to be able to afford to stay here, ONWARD FOR A BETTER NEW YORK 😤😤😤

020

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

No Dana only Zuul @danaw.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Haven't been this aggrieved to hear about new variants since the Biden administration

062

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Ed @notdred.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

I guess this has probably already gone viral somewhere but I am simply dying at this picture of a bear that looks like it hired a photographer to do a glamour shoot

A bear in the wild, smiling and posing coyly

298223354623

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Jorge A. Caballero, MD @datadrivenmd.social · 03/09/2025

::taps mic:: Autism is a) not caused by vaccines and b) a mental health diagnosis made using criteria developed specifically for humans and therefore impossible to diagnose in dogs. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

1513837

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

40% of Republicans think the COVID vaccine killed more people than the COVID virus. One in four believe that QAnon is real. No matter how far they radicalize, we are told over and over again that the people being rude to them are the problem.

11262651794

Ryan thee Dyke (she/her) @seltzersage.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Weather in New York today is immaculate. FALL COME THROUGH 🍂

020

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

AmeriKraut @inchargeofthegirls.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

you have no idea what black americans are about to do with this picture.

40677193

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Ursula @ladyofsardines.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

I don't know what wave of new Bluesky users we're on, but the ask remain the same: Let's use alt-text and make our posts better for everyone.

5251145

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Ole Soul @olesoul57.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

😮‍💨🤞🏾🫠😅

23413

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Jorts (and Jean) @jortsthecat.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

I did not think this through

an orange cat has gotten into a difficult situation in a room with green paint. he is standing on a very high ledge

1034354244

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Emily Baker-White @ebakerwhite.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

The people who are supposedly guarding this system from misuse are in some cases “former military personnel with little coding experience who are paid barely more than minimum wage for the work.” yikes

11478158

Ryan thee Dyke (she/her) @seltzersage.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Please donate and/or share to help this family 🙏🏾

020

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Elana Levin @levin.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Tell your friends in nonprofit land: I’m leading a Bluesky training July 22 online…

212030

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Pop Base @popbase.tv · 09/07/2025

Hugh Grant falls asleep at Wimbledon.

1758260

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

onion person @junlper.beer · 08/07/2025

it’s insane that real antisemitism like this is intensely normalized and endorsed by the most powerful people in the world but you can’t say free palestine without people trying to ruin your life

7375551351

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 08/07/2025

Meanwhile, every Black person actually hired in a newsroom has to overtly demonstrate they’re not “biased” by their lived existence.

445385

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 08/07/2025

“likely above the median score for Black students” just blasted out to the media without…any proof to back the assertion.

2459989

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

So glad they're getting $170 billion to do more of this all across the US.

515422

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Military documents confirm that the LA operation today was a “show of presence” intended to send a message to LA residents about the power of the federal government. After staging with armed soldiers and Border Patrol agents on horse, they packed up and left after a short walk.

Per the briefing:
"On order, 1-18th Cavalry Squadron provides static interagency site protection, mounted mobile security, and Joint Force Land Component Command UFLCC) Reserve support to Customs and Border Patrol (CRP) and supporting federal agencies, whose intent at MacArthur Park is to demonstrate, through a show of presence, the capacity and freedom of maneuver or federal law enforcement within the Los Angeles Joint Operations Area (JOA)."

86775033325

Ryan thee Dyke (she/her) @seltzersage.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Fucking FINALLY some good food ((being back in Brooklyn rules))

000

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Blue sky nice ghost @rajandelman.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Guy who watches a Hallmark movie like, "Where the FUCK are the cards"

6914137

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Niq Fury @niqfury.com · 06/07/2025

When you are a human but love using em dashes 😂

media.tenor.com

Shame GIF

Alt: Black boy looking sidewards to the camera in shame

161

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Lisa Bee (she/her) @leebee4life.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

If a community tells you, “this a racial slur that’s been used to denigrate us,” you should listen. It’s really not that hard to not say certain words.

38410

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Saeed is a real person. And he’s understandably upset that some anonymous person with a much larger megaphone online is not only continuing to question his humanity, but creating AI videos to do it.

450096

Reposted by Ryan thee Dyke (she/her)

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

It feels like it’s about power. Arson was wrong. Saeed is a real person just trying to survive in Gaza. In order to re-exert control or rationalize denying someone their humanity, Arson creates the first AI-generated video of Saeed that I’m aware of. And by doing that he dehumanizes Saeed again.

11806113