iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 6h

🧵 Attention, Fellow SFF Artists and Authors -- here is my response to Must Read Magazines, after they presented an Asimov's art contract expecting me to waive all Moral Rights and Copyright to my art. And, I would strongly advise the following to my fellow pros…. 1/

John Picacio’s response to Must Read Magazine’s request for his waiver of all Moral Rights and Copyright of his commissioned art for an ASIMOV’S assignment. Short version — Picacio says a resounding NOPE.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Who can even keep track of everything the Raytheon caucus of SF fandom gets up to.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The My Lai massacre as a mere lapse in "command and control," swept over in breathless discussion of AI, drones, and "quantum technology." Grim stuff.

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More Perfect University @mpuniversity.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

@aoc.bsky.social on justice at Cornell: we have an institution that issues a suspension on track for deportation for someone engaging in free speech and protest on campus, but made rapists write an essay in private.

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Wendy N. Wagner 🎃 @wnwagner.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Don't forget that the legendary LIGHTSPEED and NIGHTMARE magazines have a Kickstarter right now! Let's make sure amazing horror, SF, and fantasy short stories keep getting published. www.kickstarter.com/projects/lig...

kickstarter.com

LIGHTSPEED & NIGHTMARE: Award-Winning SF, Fantasy, & Horror

We've published nearly 10 million words of science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction. Help us write the next chapter.

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Misha Grifka Wander @mishagw.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Ancillary Review is looking for more editors! Message me if you're interested in copy-editing, dev editing, or graphics creation for a Hugo finalist magazine of spec fic criticism! It's volunteer-based and fits with your schedule <3

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

That’s less of an issue when the individual is more clearly interwoven with the social. It can go too far (Always Coming Home), but even then it’s deeply interesting.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I also think Le Guin is best when writing anthropologically, which these works lend themselves to. I know some people have issues with her work for feeling cold or impersonal (and I think that’s part of the reason I felt Earthsea was good not great, other than “Firelight” which is outstanding), but

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Honestly Le Guin's best work was her later Hainish novellas and short stories, like Four/Five Ways, Matter of Seggri, Another Story or a Fisherman of the Inland Sea, etc. Oh, also, Changing Planes (unrelated but a favorite).

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The whole book is great, but that first chapter could just be its own phenomenal self-contained story.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This is what Trump is trying to give back to you with low interest rates but the Fed won’t let him.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Congrats! Looking forward to reading.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

We definitely need the Portuguese article.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Growing up in Florida, I did see a lot of Ontario license plates in the winter… Fewer now, though, I would hope.

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Dan Hartland @danhartland.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

📝 We have new editors at SH Reviews! @kateem.bsky.social will be curating a monthly strand of reviews focusing on SFF at least 50 years old. Novelty bias begone! And @ajodasso.bsky.social is moonlighting from Poetry as our new Media Reviews Editor, ensuring films, TV, games get their regular due.

strangehorizons.com

A Note From Reviews

We’re especially happy to announce some new appointments at the Reviews Department.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Congrats! Sounds like a great team.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I’ll take “narrating in a manner that does not suggest you will have to answer for every word on Bluesky.”

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Hard to be genuinely formally revolutionary these days. Unless, for genre, you define it as “formal variance other than ‘cheeky epistolary,’” in which case—agree.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I wrote about feral apples in New York’s new growth forests and the cidermakers foraging fruit from them. Check it out!

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Yeah, it’s meant to just be whatever sounds the most outrageous in the moment. To vary by night and bar, etc etc.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Also yes anyone who says “Bayesian priors” is a loser.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I think in art, as in sports, you can speak of “greatest” as separate from “best.” More about stature. In that sense, Shakespeare is the greatest English language writer like Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player. Perhaps no longer the “best,” but of a high stature BECAUSE of the early impact.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

You had me excited at first. I sent Scott at @bcsmagazine.bsky.social a 2800-word sentence once (a few paragraph breaks were added upon publication). Sadly a misplaced pitch sounds less interesting.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Lol I just saw you already covered this.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Gonna spam Aira novels for Best Novelette.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

But I'm planning to be there, so we can pull something together to counterprogram the most realist hour of the con.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Irrealism in French literature? I don't know, maybe...

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Rachel Cordasco @rachelcordasco.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Issue #2 of Small Planet: The #SFinTranslation Magazine is out today!! www.sfintranslation.com?p=17479

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I've been trying to reach you about your bill. Please call back immediately at 1-800-...

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Thank you! And we'll have to find more ways to work cider and apples into the Readercon program. This year there was the Reckoning panel with a tasting from @michaeljdeluca.bsky.social, and my informal cider salon on the patio. And of course, the subject makes for fruitful metaphors.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Also, to the poor editors who I owe book reviews seeing this and saying to themselves "fucking drinks criticism now??", I promise that I am finally working through my backlog! Not just sitting around drinking cider (or, not always).

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Thanks! And yes, I’d love to read something about Michigan’s trash apple season.

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Michael J. [Fox] DeLuca @michaeljdeluca.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I really enjoyed this! The clock is ticking down to my own cider apple foraging season in SE Michigan (trash apples, I call them), and the balance between the practical and romantic in Will's brilliant writing here is making me want to write something of my own

A beautiful, starry-patterned golden pin Baldwin apple ripening on the cultivated tree in my front yard

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I wrote about feral apples in New York’s new growth forests and the cidermakers foraging fruit from them. Check it out!

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Reposted by Will McMahon

Starbucks Workers United @sbworkersunited.org · 25/08/2026

🚨BREAKING: Our union of over 12,000 baristas are officially calling for a Starbucks boycott. Read this statement penned by Starbucks workers on why a boycott from ALL customers, allies, and organizations is necessary to fight back against corporate greed:

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Any discussion of ethical or sustainable winemaking must begin with workers’ rights.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

“Writer and ARB contributor Will McMahon brought some shockingly good cheese and cider for the patio.” Next year, the Readercon Cider Salon will be going even bigger. Put out the word.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Great article not only for lovers and makers of cider but also for writers of any stripe in the age of LLMs. "An inherent part of much of the human condition, I think, is a reluctance to wait." Give it a read.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Good discussion. I think Martian Chronicles was my first Bradbury; loved it. I made some dandelion wine this year. If it turns out half decent, I’ll bring some to a con next year.

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Will McMahon @willmcmahon36.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

The people cry out for the Airasode.

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Beth Cato @bethcato.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Hey! If you were published at Daily Science Fiction, be aware that a site called Science Fiction Weekly has stolen the entire story database & posted it on their site. All of my DSF stories are there without my permission. sciencefictionweekly.com

sciencefictionweekly.com

Free short science fiction, published weekly · Science Fiction Weekly

Science Fiction Weekly publishes a free short story every weekday and a curated digest every Sunday. Subscribe by email.

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