iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

today's Publishers Lunch was like a charcuterie board of ways to raise my blood pressure

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Lady Catherine de Purrgh, on the day she came home, took possession of the residence immediately

A gray-brown tabby kitten, about 3 months old, lying down and leaning into my hand as I scritch her ear

Same kitten now sitting on a windowsill blocked with a baby gate. Her fur is long enough and her expression severe enough that it gives the overall sense of “why no, officer, I thought dear Reginald was merely out for his nightly walk along the cliffs”

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

But also, critically: Boo the day Poe came home

A stout gray tabby with pale yellow eyes lying on a purple coverlet beside me. He is gazing into the camera with an utterly nonplussed expression.

Same cat, now gazing balefully over the barrier of my leg.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

“Margaret are you sure you don’t want to stick around for the final day of Worldcon”

Screenshot of the weather app readout for Seattle, which is about 20° cooler than Anaheim and forecasted for three straight days of rain

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

And finally: this was the whole look… before I sweated all my curls out 😬 so if you saw me running around last night and wondered where I got that jacket, the answer is: I’m a stress crafter.

Me wearing the jacket over the dress and actually facing the camera now! I’m also wearing red lipstick and a gold necklace of a harpy with her wings unfurled, claws raised, and titties out to the world.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I forgot to mention this earlier, but the sleeve spangles were also to tactically cover up the area where I had to pull off that weird pocket/loop detail. I also accessorized within the theme! (Not pictured: my gold eye-shaped earrings.)

Bag of pale gold satin with embellishments of gold ribbon, gold beads, and tiny mirrors. I added an eye-shaped pin fringed in gold to it.

A pair of black motorcycle boots with beaded eye ornamentation and gold chain trim.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

And here’s the front of the final jacket:

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I took a couple videos to try to capture what it looks like in motion, so here’s the first:

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Some closeups ✨ I added blue in a couple shades to the back eye, iridescent red trails for a bleeding heart, and a combo of dark gold and iridescent black and purple to the sleeves to give them more of a constellation feel. Also some pin-on epaulettes!

Closeup of the back evil eye, now with iridescent blue beads glued in a loose crescent to the bottom section of the iris.

Closeup of the heart patch with its bloody trails.

Closeup of the sleeve with a scattering of star studs and iridescent beads.

Closeup of an epaulette, particularly the fringe that is made of fine gold metal chain.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

…and then bent the prongs in with the needle nose pliers in my Leatherman, as much as I could. The stars along the collar kept falling off since 2 layers of denim was too much, but I glued them down with the adhesive I had… for the bedazzling kit I ALSO brought 😂

Star studs and iridescent beads have been added to the cuffs, trailing asymmetrically toward the elbow. Stars have also been added to the center bottom corners of the front, and along the button panel trim. Iridescent red beads have been added to the heart patch to mimic blood trails.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Okay SO. There’s probably a better way to attach the stars than my method. It probably involves a tiny hammer, like the one somewhere in my apartment that reads, somewhat paradoxically, “Making Memories” along the haft. I didn’t have it with me, so instead I pushed the star prongs through the denim…

The jacket now draped over my hotel sofa arm. I’ve added a line of star-shaped gold studs along the underside of the collar.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I stayed up late Wednesday night to get the trim sewn in since it was the last component that required a needle and thread, and I did not want to take those on a plane. (I didn’t even have time to snap a process pic until I got to the hotel!)

Picture of the jacket, now with gold trim on the cuffs, bottom hem, top edge of the collar, and up the front edges over the button panels.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

From there I attached two patches I’d gotten on Etsy. The back patch with the evil eye had iron-on adhesive that did most of the work, and I tacked down the ends of any rays that seemed wobbly. The heart patch had no adhesive, so I just stitched that on with red thread.

Picture of the evil eye patch with gold and silver rays pinned to the back of the jacket

Picture of a red heart patch beaded with another evil eye, laid out over the left breast pocket void

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

By “handled” I mean I wasn’t sure if the thread would take black dye and didn’t have time to experiment…. So I just went over it with black sharpie. 🙈 I knew a lot of it would be covered in trim anyway! And the sharpie helped with my other problem, the weird pale outlines where the pockets had been.

Closeup of the sleeve and breast pocket outlines.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I didn’t take a bunch of process shots of this, but the first step was taking off the pockets/loop, then pulling out all the (rivet!) buttons, followed by ripping out the buttonhole threads, and sewing up the holes left behind. Lastly I… handled the white stitching. 😬

Picture of the jacket now with the above changes.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

It took me seven different thrift stores to find a black denim jacket that wasn’t in a child’s size, which feels like a sign that Seattle is in distress; I would have also accepted a fun campy jacket but had even worse luck. This wasn’t the highest quality but I figured it would work as a base!

A cropped black Fashion Nova denim jacket with four plain silver buttons, vivid white stitching, and two boxy front pockets.

Closeup showing the jacket’s messy stitching and plain buttons. Also the cat hair it accumulated within five minutes of entering my apartment.

Photo of the left sleeve, which had an additional pocket and an utterly inexplicable belt loop type situation.

Another loop thing, this time on the back.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Since I got a *few* questions about my jacket for the Hugos last night, a brief thread for bsky about the project I dubbed Jacketquest

A picture of me, a white woman with dark blonde hair, in a hotel room, wearing a black sequined dress and a cropped black jacket over it that is heavily embellished, featuring a sequined patch depicting an evil eye in a nest of gold and silver rays.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Also, if you spot me wandering around Worldcon, I am carrying some very silly ribbons that are up for grabs:

Photo of a badge ribbon lying on a white table. The ribbon is deep red and has gold text that reads “VANJA YES”. Taking no questions at this time.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Beseeching aid from entomologist bsky: I have found my cats playing with two of these caterpillars in the last three hours. The cats are indoor but have access to a catio next to my balcony garden, and there are also many houseplants. I’m in Seattle. What is this guy??

Photo of a dull green caterpillar curled into a spiral on a paper towel. Faint darker green stripes run down its sides.

Different angle, same caterpillar, fingertips for scale. (Curled up, it is slightly smaller than my index fingernail.)

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Related to my last post: I've gone ahead and broken out my @laworldcon.bsky.social schedule by day for y'all! Even if you can't make the whole five days, you're statistically likely to catch me running around sometime in the first four!

WHERE TO FIND ME AT LOS ANGELES WORLDCON
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Panel: Authorial Bias and Worldbuilding
3-4 PM, 252AB (Anaheim Convention Center North)

Signing
Pedestrian Bridge (ACC North) 6-7 pm

Friday, August 28, 2026
Panel • A Deeper Magic: Demisexuality and Asexuality in Fantasy
10:30 - 11:30 AM, Manhattan (Hilton)

Panel • For the Youth! Lodestar Award Finalists
1:30 - 2:30 PM, Virtual 2 (Online)

Reading • Little Thieves
3:00 - 3:15 PM, San Simeon B (Hilton)

Table Talk
6:00 - 7:00 PM, Salinas (Hilton)

Saturday, August 29, 2026
Panel • Purple vs Windowpane Prose: Navigating Between Two Extremes
09:00 - 10:00 AM, 252AB (ACC North)

Panel • How to Add Funny to Your Prose
3:00 - 4:00 PM, 261A (ACC North)

Sunday, August 30, 2026
Panel • Let's Get Physical: Positive Body Representation in SFF
1:30 - 2:30 PM, 252C (ACC North)

Panel • Oh No, It’s a TV Trope!
3:00 - 4:00 PM, 256A (ACC North)

Hugo Awards Ceremony
(do not talk to me I will just scream like a goat)

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

August has me running all over the west coast, so I've put together a handy guide to where to find me this month!

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

congratulations, y'all, I am about to become somehow *more* insufferable!!

screenshot of the NYT bestseller list for Young Adult Hardcover, with Rootbound by yours truly sitting at number one. prepare to be sick of me

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Really something to be flying over Wenatchee en route to Seattle right now. I think this is the Little Giant fire?

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The DVD extras for today are some of the fairy tale and folkloric influences on the Little Thieves series! (1/2)

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Today's DVD Extras for Little Thieves is all about MAPS! (1/2)

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Definitely light smoke in the rafters! The food vendors have all closed up! The tv is on mute! And yet the crowd remains unmoved!!

Photo of the rafters at the Seattle center armory, a large indoor structure, with very light smoke visibly catching light from skylights

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

In my pursuit of soaking my balcony garden ahead of the baby heat wave this weekend, I… may have gone too far

Cluster of small brown mushrooms around a wooden dowel in a garden bed. Unacceptable!

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Good morning Bluesky, from my local subreddit I bring you an image with meme potential:

Side by side dumpsters, both painted with pride rainbows because: Seattle!

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Okay bsky, enough of “show me your precious furbabies,” it’s time to put the little jerks on blast. Tell me how your cats bully you in your own home. I’ll start: This stinky menace hides in the shower curtains and tries to swipe at me whenever I get in.

Photo of a little black cat looking like he has never done anything wrong in his entire life. He is sitting in wait by the shower curtain, planning crime.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

And to be absolutely clear about what kind of wealthy we’re talking about here: these are the area houses listed on Zillow

Screenshot of the Zillow house listings for Laurelhurst. The visible ones range from 1.4 million dollars at the low end, to 18.8 million dollars at the high. One cluster obscures a couple listings for a house (3 bed 2 bath, 2000 square feet, for 950k) and the additional unit they’ve squeezed into the back of the lot (2 bed 2 bath, 1000 square feet, 895k.)

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Ooh a second post, I can use the fancy graphic now. (This is ya girl’s first nomination. I am Mrs Bennet levels of excitable today.)

Fancy graphic announcing Holy Terrors’ lodestar nomination. It depicts the cover of holy terrors except the main figure has been photoshopped to be holding a clip art trophy and is standing front of a pile of stolen trophies. I did not photoshop out the shutterstock watermark because I’m a professional.

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

did I have a nice professional graphic ready to go? yes. not important. we're doing this one.

fromsoft meme depicting the cover of Holy Terrors with the text overlay of "LODESTAR NOMINATED"

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Update: I haven’t identified it with 100% certainty, but I think it might be a discontinued Meyda Tiffany Laburnum replica! The base looks like a much more detailed version of the lamp on the left, and the shade has the shape/palette as the shade on the right.

Screenshot of a Tiffany lamp replica by Meyda with a very similar base to the mystery lamp

Screenshot of just the lampshade of a Meyda Tiffany replica, which has similar green/gold foliage against a purple background

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Margaret Owen @what-eats-owls.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Friends, an immensely low-stakes mystery for the day. While out thrifting yesterday, I found this purported Tiffany lamp. What do we think, legit or nah?

Colorful stained glass lampshade made of an elaborate mosaic of glass pieces, creating the image of yellow and green leaves against a backdrop of blues and browns.

Base of the lamp, seemingly cast in bronze in the likeness of a tree with a fan of roots. My incredibly pale hand is grasping the tag, which reads "vintage Tiffany Lamp, $885" which is a significant number of smackeroos

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