iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Leyelle M.G.'s illustration for that lastmentioned story also provided the cover art for this issue. futurefire.net/2026.77/

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The Future Fire: Social-political and progressive cyberfiction

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“It is a town of working two jobs in the summer and unemployment checks in the off season. High school diplomas, maybe. Family businesses, paid cash under the table. Locals and their superstitions about the Deep Ones; old gods and their cultists, the locals joke, something that lurks in the water.”

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“Salt Water in Their Veins” by @baxtersa.bsky.social (art also by Leyelle M.G.), a fantasy family drama of generational secrets, and #ecoSF sensibilities. futurefire.net/2026.77/fict...

futurefire.net

Salt Water in Their Veins, Sam Baxter

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“The storm would make landfall within an hour, but there would be no rain. That simply didn’t happen anymore. As Karga walked across the coastal hills, sore and parched, she watched the dark knot of clouds taking shape due east of Daia.”

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“A Word, and Its Keeping” by Gwendolyn Hicks (with art by Leyelle M.G.), a novelette smelting magical fantasy and social-political jeopardy in a fierce crucible futurefire.net/2026.77/fict... #freescifi @prioryruins.bsky.social

futurefire.net

A Word, and Its Keeping, Gwendolyn Hicks

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

“The boy and his dog are back again. He thinks I don’t see him skulking around the edges of the phytomining grid. Maybe he doesn’t even know I’m here. I stay inside and watch through the window. His dog doesn’t worry me. But he does.”

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

“Those Who Remember the Promise” by Nissa Harlow, somewhere between #ecopolcalypse and #solarpunk, effective and brilliant. futurefire.net/2026.77/fict...

futurefire.net

Those Who Remember the Promise, Nissa Harlow

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Arthur Robert Tracy IV @arttracy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm very happy to see this piece back in print. If you have not read it, you should read it. If you have read it, you should read it again.

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“I adjust my glasses. They’re where the real treasure trove of information is being recorded: images of an early 18th century farm at work, recordings of actual sounds and voices of the era, tiny micromeasurements of the air.”

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“Time Travel Triad” by Kyle Aisteach, a time-travel paradox novelette with a progressive twist. futurefire.net/2026.77/fict... #freescifi #butterflyeffect #sciencefiction

futurefire.net

Time Travel Triad, Kyle Aisteach

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

“All around the ground, desiccated fronds of seaweed and molluscs and bones get caught in the treads of our boots. Tiny beings that once skittered over the ebbs and groundswells, now crushed by our clumsy steps into fine white sand.”

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Also: “A New Shell” by @mahailasmith.ca (art by L.E. Badillo), #ecoSF flash fiction, moral dilemma and environmental pillaging. futurefire.net/2026.77/fict...

futurefire.net

A New Shell, Mahaila Smith

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

“The ground was cold and resistant, tight from three weeks without rain. It was the kind of cold that had no intention of warming, that had worked itself so deep into the earth’s grain that nothing as temporary as a season could argue it out. He welcomed it. It matched something in his chest.”

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

In TFF #77: “The King of Swords” by @mxmerrow.bsky.social (and art by L.E. Badillo), an epic of resistance, popular revolt and imperfect leaders. futurefire.net/2026.77/fict... #magicalarmor #nokings #fantasyfiction #novelette

futurefire.net

The King of Swords, M.X. Merrow

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The Future Fire #77 futurefire.net/2026.77/ (September 2026), social-political and progressive cyberfiction, free online and as downloadable/archived e-books. All work is paid-for, human-authored, awards-eligible and delightful.

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The Future Fire: Social-political and progressive cyberfiction

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The Future Fire #77 came out earlier this month: futurefire.net/2026.77/ Featuring stories from @mahailasmith.ca, Nissa Harlow, @baxtersa.bsky.social, @prioryruins.bsky.social, @badwriter.bsky.social and @mxmerrow.bsky.social Cover art by Leyelle M.G. Artists: Carmen Moran and L.E. Badillo

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Sam Baxter @baxtersa.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I have a short story in the latest issue of The Future Fire! Thanks so much @thefuturefire.bsky.social for giving it and its sibling stories a home. “Salt Water in Their Veins” is a generational tale about the transience of home and the inseparableness of who we are and where we come from.

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

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Mahaila Smith (they/them) @mahailasmith.ca · 20/09/2026

I have a new flash piece about space crabs in The Future Fire! 🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀https://futurefire.net/2026.77/fiction/new.html Let me know what you think!!

futurefire.net

A New Shell, Mahaila Smith

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gwendolyn hicks @prioryruins.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

i have a very gay novelette out in @thefuturefire.bsky.social 🌧️ a goatherd travels to the edge of the world as she knows it, searching for missing rain, but what she comes upon instead is a lonesome woman in a lighthouse. i hope you enjoy “A Word, and Its Keeping”: futurefire.net/2026.77/fict...

futurefire.net

A Word, and Its Keeping, Gwendolyn Hicks

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M. X. Merrow @mxmerrow.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

"The King of Swords" is out now in Future Fire. A man finds a sword in a grave. He swears an oath. The sword keeps its promises — and so does he. @thefuturefire.bsky.social #booksky #specfic #sff

The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Very cool. (I think there's Singaporean content in at least two or three of our other anthologies. ;-) Been a long time though.)

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Colleen Anderson, author of the poem “In Our Nature” in The Future Fire #76, is this week’s #microinterview guest, here to talk about her poem, betrayal and alternate history press.futurefire.net/2026/07/micr...

press.futurefire.net

Microinterview with Colleen Anderson

Colleen Anderson, author of the poem “ In Our Nature ” in The Future Fire #76, is this week’s microinterview guest, here to talk about her ...

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

And this week's guest in the #microinterview series is Toeken, artist of “Believe Me” and “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster” in The Future Fire #76. press.futurefire.net/2026/07/micr...

press.futurefire.net

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

is anyone else being perpetually DDSed by the plagiarism/hallucination scraper bots?

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Until TFF comes back up on August 1, you can still find the latest issue in the Internet Archive: web.archive.org/web/20260516...

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Crystal Koo, author of “Titanium Chef” in The Future Fire #76, joins us for this week’s #microinterview, and for a chat about her story, artificial personalities and writing press.futurefire.net/2026/06/micr...

press.futurefire.net

Microinterview with Crystal Koo

Crystal Koo, author of “ Titanium Chef ” in The Future Fire #76, joins us for this week’s microinterview, and for a chat about her story, a...

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Oh hells yes do we want WorldCon 2029 to be in Dublin! @dublin2029.bsky.social TFF will attend WC for the first time in ten years, if it happens.

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Rae Zalopany, author of “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster” in The Future Fire #76, is with us today for a #microinterview about her story, monsters, writing and water press.futurefire.net/2026/06/micr...

press.futurefire.net

Micro-interview with Rae Zalopany

Rae Zalopany, author of “ The Trident-Tailed Water Monster ” in The Future Fire #76, is with us today for a microinterview about her story,...

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Thanks, Rachel. We'd love to do more of these, but had trouble tracking down the local experts (and don't have resources to pay people to do the research, which is problematic). Anyone with thoughts on filling the gaps, let's chat!

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

In case you didn't get caught up on the stories and poems in TFF#76 before we ran out of bandwidth for the month, the issue has been Waybacked: web.archive.org/web/20260516...

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Katie Conrad @katieaconrad.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

My story The Protector of the Forest is available now on @thefuturefire.bsky.social Click below to read about grief, guilt, community, trees, and bringing folklore to the stars. futurefire.net/2026.76/fict...

A photograph of the tops of tress overlaid with the text "We'd been living on Toivoa for a year when the trees began to die."

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/05/2026

Issue #74 of The Future Fire features free, social-political #speculativefiction (SF, fantasy, horror, surreal, poetry, etc.) and art. futurefire.net/2026.76

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Louise Hughes @trailofleaves.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

The second, in @castofwonders.org, embraces difference as well as accepting it, using its power to make a stand. "Born of the Mountain's Chill" originally appeared in @thefuturefire.bsky.social last year, and is now available in audio. www.castofwonders.org/2026/04/cast...

castofwonders.org

Cast of Wonders 683: Born of the Mountain’s Chill | Cast of Wonders

I was born on a day of deepest cold, on a mountain wrapped in ice, and lived there without worry for the first fifteen years of my life. Then came the newcomers and their village, fires, and judgement...

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LF Howard Writing @lfhowardwriting.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

I can’t believe I missed this for a while! Thanks to The Future Fire for posting a little interview with me for the edition my short story “We Will See” was featured in.

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Thanks. Yeah, it's every couple of months at the moment. When/if I can get direct control of my hosting arrangement, I'll try to install some kind of protective layer, but in the meantime we just kind of suck it up.

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

The TFF website has been brought down by the hallucination and plagiarism scraper bots again (in my experience, this can last up to a week before our hosting provider lets us open again). In the meantime, you can still enjoy issue #75 at the Web Archive: web.archive.org/web/20260402...

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The Future Fire @thefuturefire.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Happy 100th birthday to Marilyn Erskine, who started in show business as an infant and later starred in Science Fiction Theater in the 1950s, includes episodes “The Frozen Sound” (1955), “The Legend of Crater Mountain” (1956) and “Sun Gold” (1956).

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Sylvie Althoff @sylvie-althoff.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Extremely cool micro-interview with the artist who illustrated my story "The Visitor" in The Future Fire! Fascinated to see the manifestation of ideas that emerged from my brain and landed in someone else's.

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Marc "Candy Corn" Criley @marcc.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

I have some thoughts, and a story, at @thefuturefire.bsky.social!

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