iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

I (somehow) made it to the second round of NYC Midnight's #ShortStoryChallenge2025 and have been tasked with writing a thriller, which is SO far outside my comfort zone. lololololsob. I am already bored by my own story, which does not bode well for the genre. 🫠

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Does anyone else here file a story and, in the ensuing silence that occurs whilst you're waiting on feedback, assume the assigning editor just hates everything you've written and and feels deep regret over the fact that they gave you the assignment in the first place? No? Just me? 🫠

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

I feel perpetually lucky to be a freelancer, despite the ups and downs. One day, I'm editing another writer's post on the oligarchy. The next, a copywriting client is telling me to make an email "hornier." Always an adventure.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Well hell, February really snuck up on me. Next week, I'm leading a session on how to find writing inspiration when you're all tapped out, for @hippocampusmag.bsky.social. The aim is to help you generate a buttload of story ideas in 1 sitting. Register here: hippocampusmagazine.com/event/how-to...

hippocampusmagazine.com

Finding Inspiration When You're All Tapped Out | Hippocampus Magazine

Learn how to generate a buttload of story ideas in one sitting with Hippocampus essays editor Steph Auteri at our February 2025 How-To Tuesday.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

I just successfuly hemmed a single leg on a pair of jeans with my sewing machine could someone please give me a medal and also send hopes and prayers that I don't screw up the second leg.

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Reposted by Steph Auteri

Tina Vasquez @tinavasquez.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

PLEASE read this piece by @freeblackgirl.bsky.social for @theflytrapmedia.bsky.social about the immense challenges of running indie publications. Also consider investing in indie and nonprofit media WHILE IT EXISTS, instead of lamenting when publications shutter due to lack of support/resources.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Finished my egalley for Lucy Rose's The Lamb the other night and now I desperately need someone else to read it so we can discuss all of my feelings.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

As someone who's been writing about sex on the regular for 25 years, I'm surprised by how anxious and exposed I feel about this hermit crab essay of mine, which is intimate in a very different way. Thank you to Cutleaf Journal for giving this piece a home: cutleafjournal.com/content/unbu...

cutleafjournal.com

Unburden Yourself - Cutleaf Journal

June 16, 2023

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Abigail McGrath, founder of Renaissance House, passed away over the holidays. I don't know how many others here were blessed enough to spend time with her there, but my own time there was such a gift, and I am bereft. My deepest condolences to her family. www.mvtimes.com/2024/12/26/a...

mvtimes.com

Abigail McGrath, founder of the Renaissance House, dies at 84 - The Martha's Vineyard Times

Abigail Hubbell Rosen McGrath, the founder of the Renaissance House in Oak Bluffs, died on Dec. 20 after a battle with liver cancer. She was 84. Friends and family say that McGrath was a colorful woma...

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

What are the bestest things to do in Salem when it's *not* October? I'm planning a mother/daughter trip for Spring Break. My kiddo is 10.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

I spent 2024 engaged in a lot of play. I got my first pieces of fiction published. I experimented with hermit crab essays and have one pubbing later this month. I started writing an essay collection. I worked my way through an ice cream cookbook. I got deep into embroidery and visible mending.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

My favorite thing to do on New Year's Day is to wear slipper socks and wrap myself in blankets and maybe noodle over a puzzle or do some writing but most of all READ. To kick off your new year of reading, here are my favorite reads from 2024: www.stephauteri.com/2025/01/01/m...

stephauteri.com

My 29 Favorite Reads of 2024

For much of the past two decades, both my writing and my reading have been tied to my advocacy work. This past year, however, marked a huge shift for me. Aside from a piece I wrote for Poets & …

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

A bit of flash I wrote went up on @litmoralitmag.bsky.social. Sci-fi horror. Hoping to get more of my fiction out there in 2025. :) www.litmoralitmag.com/auteri-night...

litmoralitmag.com

Auteri - Night Sounds — Litmora Literary Magazine

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Someone tell me how the heck I'm supposed to eat a Ferrero Rocher that's as big as my fist.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Made the dubious choice of going to the supermarket the day before Christmas Eve Day. Tips for survival: Have zero investment in how long it takes. Focus on your breath. Be jolly AF. Buy doughnuts for after.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

I'm supposed to be writing about sex toys right now, but all I want to do is *make things*! I recently made a kitchen witch that is the stuff of nightmares, and I also have all the materials necessary to make my very first (non-holiday) wreath. What projects are calling to you? Pics if you got 'em!

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Love seeing older women coming into their power all over the dang place. Check my latest post for @feministbookclub.bsky.social, on older woman who insist on being visible: www.feministbookclub.com/older-women-...

feministbookclub.com

Older Women Who Insist on Being Visible

In recent books, TV series, and films, older women are taking center stage. We must demand more narratives like these.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Our heat has stopped working. ::Gathers up my Oodie, my three sherpa blankets, my weighted blanket, my HugSleep, my shawl, and various other wearable blankets.:: I have been preparing for this moment my entire life.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

I just barfed all my feelings out into a flash nonfiction piece that I then polished and submitted. Huzzah to writing things / poking the bruise!

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Just spotted a call for pitches about "travel, outdoors, and nightlife," all of which are antithetical to my existence so I think I need to start a magazine called Indoorsy that's about emotional eating and needlework and the pros and cons of various types of wearable blankets.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Today, I hopped into @feministbookclub.bsky.social's FBC Weekly segment and talked about ordering heads off Etsy, making strawberry + brie empanadas, and of course bookish things, too. I love how chaotic these weekly chats are.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Is it weird to join a church just so I can sing with their choir? Seriously considering it. www.instagram.com/p/DCndvpUOC7...

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

I was about to re-read Braiding Sweetgrass, but then I learned Robin Wall Kimmerer was coming out with The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World and I immediately pre-ordered it and it just arrived at my local indie and obviously I'm going there now instead of working.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Oh, before I fall asleep embarrassingly early, transanta is up and running again. A fantastic way to support trans folks in need: www.instagram.com/transanta/pr...

instagram.com

(@transanta) • Instagram photos and videos

130K Followers, 89 Following, 9,146 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from (@transanta)

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

I just spent a reallllly long time taking glamour shots of my cats, in case you were wondering how I spend my evenings. So majestic.

Short-haired grey tabby looking majestic.

Long-haired tortoiseshell cat looking majestic.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

#Intro! Hi! Giving this another go. I'm a CNF writer/editor who dabbles in short horror. I'm also a: *sex ed advocate *contributor to Book Riot + Feminist Book Club *author of A Dirty Word *essays editor for Hippocampus *cat lady, embroidery obsessive, kitchen witch, yogi, singer, mom, etc.

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 22/12/2023

My child’s first response to receiving a letter from Santa was not excitement but nervousness. 🤦‍♀️

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 12/10/2023

Prepping for Comic Con. Made a Mabel (from Gravity Falls) outfit for Family Day, but torn on what to wear tomorrow. Should I go as the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (I still have the outfit from my first con), or should I wear my "I love horror" outfit in honor of all the horror panels on my schedule?

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 12/10/2023

I've had a couple of horror-specific posts go up this week, including this list of 8 horror recs that make my skin crawl: bookriot.com/horror-reads... Now do me a solid and share your fave horror authors who have accounts on Bluesky so I can stalk them and stuff.

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Reposted by Steph Auteri

Bex is WEAK on crime @bextraordinary.bsky.social · 08/10/2023

I think one of the worst quirks of online spaces is the idea that if someone doesn't post about something, they don't care about it. It encourages performative posting often makes things worse. I care a lot. I just don't want to add another poorly-informed voice. I'm reading & thinking.

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Reposted by Steph Auteri

EducateUS @educateusaction.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

Tomorrow is Let Freedom Read Day! 📚 On Saturday, October 7, take at least one action to help defend books from censorship and to stand up for everyone who makes them available! The link below has a bunch of actions, ranging from 5 mins to over an hour. ✨ bannedbooksweek.org/let-freedom-...

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Reposted by Steph Auteri

Emily C. Hughes @emilyhughes.bsky.social · 04/10/2023

reminder: if you have a horror or horror-ish book coming out in 2023-2024, please let me know about it here and I'll add it to my big public masterlist of new horror! shares very appreciated. forms.gle/BBYwJCtziLkR...

forms.gle

2023/2024 Horror Master List Book Submissions

Because I'm out of my mind, I maintain a running list of the year's new horror releases. If you're an author/editor/marketer/publicist/agent who'd like one of your books included, please fill out the ...

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 28/09/2023

When you pack for a long weekend trip in the fall: Flip-flops? Sneakers? Hiking boots? Slipper socks? A giant shawl?? My nighttime cocoon??? Two books + my Kindle? An embroidery project? THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF MY HOME???

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 25/09/2023

My house is being renovated. Nothing is where it should be. And now we have a leaky pipe. Some of the things in the office closet I didn’t expect a plumber to be crawling around inside? Bras. Shapewear. My stash of Nutella crepes from Costco. My favorite vibrator. A riding crop. And SO MUCH MORE. 😭

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Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 19/09/2023

Just had a post go up on Book Riot: 8 Horror Books That Question Our Obsession with Beauty. Reminded me that I need to go searching for all my favorite horror writers on this platform. Where are y'all? 👀 bookriot.com/horror-books...

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