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Stephi Cham

@stephicham.com
741 followers 208 following 978 posts

Editor by day and night | LGBTQ+ Editors Association secretary, board of directors Published by Publishers Weekly, Capstone Press, Strange Horizons, JAMA, et al. Former medical end-of-life music therapist she/her | StephiCham.com

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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 09/08/2026
bit awkward reappearing with no revelation, no exciting secret ventures, etc... no idea how to answer "where have you been?!"
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 19/05/2026
I'm here. I don't wonder as often anymore how I'll get through the day; I just know I probably will, even if I don't want to.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 20/04/2026
My floofreader is sleeping on the job...
small maltese dog sleeping with tiny head resting on a red book, atop two blankets, on a bed that holds another book and a keyboard
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 07/04/2026
If I could talk to young me, obviously other things would take priority but somewhere down the list would be: War and Peace is very long, and life is not. It's okay if you don't finish reading it.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 27/03/2026
And you ask "What if I fall?" Oh but my darling, what if indeed.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 12/03/2026
sometimes courage really does take a little rage.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 06/03/2026
Sometimes I feel so scared of dying that I just want to get it over with. There must be people who can relate or even just understand; I wish there were a socially acceptable way to find out.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 04/03/2026
Has anyone found a good alternative to the saying about eating an elephant one bite at a time (taking things in small steps)? I find the idea helpful but hate the imagery it evokes.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 03/03/2026
You know it's time to reprioritize when tasks are marked as urgent, URGENT, and URGENT!!!
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 26/02/2026
🥡❤️
tiny white dog in a giant plush chinese takeout box that says "happy chew year" with a plush bao zi beside it
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 23/02/2026
"fake it 'til you make it!" ok quick question: how do i fake it
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 21/02/2026
In watching others experience parenthood, I've noticed they can get SO GOOD at optimism. My friends want a baby babble translator so their infants can say "I love you" — but I tend to think what's being yelled in Baby might be closer to "RETURN ME TO NONEXISTENCE" and "NO NO NO NO NO!!!"
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 18/02/2026
it's silly how much bravery this takes for me or how insurmountable it feels, but I'm trying now to ask for support without running away. even if I think I "failed"' their support or I hide anyway, I think I'll try showing back up, even asking again. believing all these people loving me out loud.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 11/02/2026
to teenage me: you know that feeling when you KNOW you're being so so annoying but can't seem to stop? you're not the only one; many teens feel that way and grow out of it! not you, though, so get used to it. 🩷
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 10/02/2026
it's not so much that I sometimes lie when I say "no worries" — more so that I don't clarify when it's short for "nothing but worries"
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 29/01/2026
The thing about grief is that it doesn't get easier with practice. I worked in hospice and end-of-life ICUs for years and stopped a while back, but this morning I unexpectedly cried at my desk upon learning of a former patient's death. Sometimes it just... really hurts.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 27/01/2026
I love being right. "to prove a point" is reason enough to motivate me. but when it comes to my self-image vs how loved ones see me, I hope life makes of me an ignorant fool.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 08/01/2026
I ordered something via DoorDash today and 😭😭😭
Messages with DoorDash delivery person:
DoorDash (DD): The Dasher is nearby but might be having trouble finding you. Send them more details to help them deliver your order.
Hey it's a big raccoon by your door.
me: Omg!!
DD: Yeah it's still there and chased me (laugh-cry emoji)
I'm afraid to deliver it
Me: I just opened the door and didn't see itMe: I believe you though bc I hear them running on the roof sometimes!!
And I think it opened my trash bag
DD:  Probably moved because it was chasing me (laugh-cry emoji)
me:  Do you want me to come find you?
DD: I'll try again but I'm scared
Coming now
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 05/01/2026
I don't (and prob won't) understand what anyone thinks they accomplish by telling me "You can't help that you're not pretty. But you CAN choose not to be ugly. You just need discipline." Kind =/= nice, but that feels very much like it's neither.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 02/01/2026
May 2026 be much kinder to us. I don't want to forget or stop carrying the grief of 2025, but I hope the weight of it won't be so heavy anymore.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 31/12/2025
it's just a day. I don't need to feel panic and guilt. nothing has to change. I can forgive who I am and who I couldn't become. ...right?
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 31/12/2025
but like, what do you do with the two wolves inside you when everyone around you is a cat person?
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 29/12/2025
your life is not ruined, and neither are you.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 28/12/2025
If I can't be happy I'm alive, I can at least be happy that others are.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 24/12/2025
A couple is walking in St. Petersburg Square on Christmas Eve. They feel a slight precipitation. “I think it’s raining,” says the man. “No, it’s snowing,” replies the woman.  “How about we ask this Communist officer here? He is always right!” exclaims the man...
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 23/12/2025
ok for anyone who likes to laugh, here's a random drop of Christmas posts I've saved
AndrewNadeau0 on Twitter
Mary: Well, I just had a baby... in a barn.
So, thanks to everyone who brought gifts. The gold, the perfumes. All things babies love
Also the child who inexplicably played drums, like, right in my face.
This.... this was great.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 23/12/2025
these kinds of posts always make me ugly-cry if I let myself pause because it's like... Bob... you don't even know but you're about to have such a good life 😭🩷
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 22/12/2025
Christmas Shoes and Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah do NOT belong on holiday playlists imo, unless what you're going for isn't so much "merry" as it is "death humbles us all"
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 21/12/2025
"you've been suicidal for so long and it's exhausting for us" I can't possibly emphasize enough how WELL AWARE of this I already am.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 18/12/2025
I know AI isn't a monolith and it's not all generative, but this is an astoundingly poor choice of topic given the CONTEXT of AI usage in publishing. Yes, AI is already here, but there's a reason we're not celebrating.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 17/12/2025
This is going to sound so so so ungrateful and it is, but I wish people would stop trying to save my life and just listen.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 16/12/2025
Y'all... ok so Fred is one of my parents' oldest friends, like 20+ years. RECENTLY they were chatting with his wife (he'd stepped out) and my dad mentioned some quirk of Fred's. His wife was like "Who's Fred?" Turns out his name is NOT FRED. It has never been remotely similar to Fred. It's Nathan. 😭
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 14/12/2025
How do you make yourself attend social events when you consistently dread them, even ones you'd enjoy? Is it worse, with depression, to self-isolate or to go through the monumental effort? (This isn't rhetorical; trying to force myself out the door and considering giving up)
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Reposted by Stephi Cham
Selene Kirsten Heidlman @selene-heidlman.story-circle.link · 12/12/2025
This thread really captures it, and deserves far wider coverage than it’s gotten. Thank you, @stephicham.com, for opening up and sharing your experience here!
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 12/12/2025
If you're a journalist or on social media and you wonder if guidelines on discussing suicide really matter, if you think anyone who's that vulnerable should/would know better... I'd like to offer where I'm at.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 12/12/2025
"what have you been watching lately?" my potential being wasted, mostly
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 11/12/2025
I'm almost 30 and still not totally convinced that others don't fear death or think about it daily. I just... how?!
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 10/12/2025
I've never believed in declaring a day Bad before 8 PM. This morning almost changed my mind; I woke up from a nightmare yelling NO and sobbing, then got to work late and puffy-eyed. But maybe I'm not so silly after all, because kind words and good news found me anyway, and the sun hasn't even set.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 10/12/2025
Something I'm still trying to teach myself: Rest, like kindness, doesn't need to be earned.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 10/12/2025
I want SO BADLY to gift this (and have this gifted to me)—books we wrote, books we edited, books we love, books we imagine. #kidlitchat
miniature books, one of which is held by the tips of a few fingers
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 10/12/2025
In my wildest impossible dreams, I get to teach writing and editing in one-on-one weekly classes where we get to use as many books and as much time as we want and neither of us has to worry about affording health care.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 08/12/2025
It just hit me that I might be WRONG when I think no one cares?? I grew up skipping award ceremonies whenever I could, and I've just remembered why: I hated being there alone, having to explain that my family refused to "teach me to expect praise for doing what's expected."
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 07/12/2025
Wikipedia's version of Wrapped has unintentionally captured my range of curiosity
You saved 7 articles
These articles included Rescue of the Danish Jews, Dave Matthews Band bus incident, and Salmon chaos. Each saved article reflects your interests and helps build a personalized knowledge base on Wikipedia.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 05/12/2025
something happened that's a huge honor personally and professionally, and I know it sucks of me to wish I had someone to tell. there are people who care about it and people who care about me and I'm so grateful for both, but today the lack of overlap feels strangely, selfishly lonely.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 03/12/2025
I chronically overprepare and overworry because I'm scared of disappointing others. Is it healthy? No. Do I enjoy it? Never. But is it effective? Nope.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 02/12/2025
I've collected so many memes and posts that I'm pretty sure I could post a seasonally appropriate one for every day of December. ...Should I?
comic by worry lines

1st panel is person looking into black hole, captioned "staring into the abyss"
2nd panel is person holding gingerbread cookie and mug, and the black hole is decorated with holiday lights, captioned "staring into the abyss in December"
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 01/12/2025
"baby steps" are not trivial. have you seen how hard it is for a baby to walk?
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 29/11/2025
worry is not the best use of your imagination.
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 26/11/2025
Something I love about English is how "foul talk," "trash talk," "dirty talk," and "shit talk" all mean different things
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Stephi Cham @stephicham.com · 23/11/2025
I never know how to respond to people who keep offering help and get offended when you say no but also resent you when you say yes.
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