iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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

My child is on the floor of my office with her laptop, writing her own story, and she's like, "I just finished chapter one and it's already so good!" Somebody put me out of my misery.

210

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. 🫠

150

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? 🫠

110

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.

020

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.

042

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.

6860

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.

03815

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.

000

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

020

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...

000

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.

000

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

I'm trying to remain open to whatever opportunities come my way. If you know me and you know (and have appreciated) my work in the past, let me know if you could use a writer/editor, or if you know someone else who might be looking for someone like me. :) I'm going to manifest the hell out of 2025.

000

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

But I also feel it's time to begin taking on more work-work again. The question is where to focus. I've spent the past 25 years as a journalist. As a copywriter. As an editor. Much of it in the sexuality and bookish spaces.

100

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

This includes being the BOD Chair and associate editor for Feminist Book Club as it transitions into a worker-owned co-op; acting as Essays Editor for Hippocampus magazine; volunteering as a mentor for Girls Write Now; building out my Thunder Thighs newsletter; maintaining Guerrilla Sex Ed.

110

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

In 2025, I want to retain this sense of play. And I want to continue my passion-based work.

100

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.

110

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 & …

130

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

042

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

I always enjoy your work, Alma!

110

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.

000

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.

010

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

My brain just immediately went to #3, which is obviously sweet potato pie with plenty of marshmallows.

030

Steph Auteri @stephauteri.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Welp. I won't show you the abomination of a kitchen witch that I tried to make, but here is my very first ever (non-embroidered) wreath!

020

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!

320

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.

000

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.

000

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!

020

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.

160

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.

100

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...

000

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

I feel like it will be a comfort read, and also a galvanizing read, and I'm wondering: which books are doing that job for you lately?

000

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.

100

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)

000

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

Capping it all off with Gus Moreno’s This Thing Between Us, at least until I pass out, which I may do even before my 10-year-old falls asleep. Keep following for the nonstop thrills.

000

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

Before that, I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for miniature spoons and whisks online, for crafting purposes. I don’t even know who I am anymore.

100

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.

210

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.

250

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

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

010

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

This response is perfect. And you're absolutely correct. I should have described the horror outfit. It's made up of green and black kraken leggings, a TerrorVision tank top, and purple devil horns. Maybe my bloody machete earrings, too?

110