Author | Lightnews

Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

@shydogs.bsky.social

3.3K followers 4.5K following 1.6K posts

She/her Romance reader 💙📚🌶️ HEA or GTFO ❤️ No AI 🚯 LGBTQ+ rights = human rights 🌈 Black Lives Matter Freelance copyeditor (SFF & Romance): ericapeckedits.com Short fiction: soundcheckingthevoid.com

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · Jun 13

Now booking for November 2025 and beyond. My rates are going up in 2026, but anyone who books before the end of the year gets 2025 pricing.

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Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

SFGATE @sfgate.com · 14h

At around 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, around 200 protesters gathered at the end of the bridge that leads to Coast Guard Island in Alameda, where the Trump administration had threatened to deploy federal Border Patrol agents.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 6h

Much deserved! Your books are wonderful.

Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

Suzan the chalant goth @sillysyntax.bsky.social · 10h

I can't articulate it well but I don't care what punctuation/ set of words is the current tell for Chatgpt. I'm not changing my voice or the way I write for this program, my writing will evolve the way it evolves. I am not panicking that it uses em dashes. They should panic and pay me.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 13h

Can’t imagine what could have possibly brought this to mind 🤔

Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 17h

he's knocking down the literal white house and illegally murdering people by dropping bombs on international boats and the government has been shut down for weeks and it's just like....yep

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 2d

Thank you for coming to my pity party

Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks! At least the covid tests are negative so far, it's just a crappy cold.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 2d

Oh, I could get way more vivid, but you probably don't want that

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 2d

Today I've reached the stage of this lovely respiratory virus where I am just a giant nose drowning in a sea of crumpled tissues. Gah.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 2d

Again, it’s dealer’s choice, but of those two, Ngram Viewer prefers “pre-cum.” Generally, I recommend “cum” for the noun and “come” for the verb. I just think it sounds classier that way.

Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 2d

Always happy to share my tips for dealing with these sticky little problems 😀

Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 2d

As a #romance #editor, it's my job to clean up messy issues like "precum" vs. "pre-cum." Neither are in @merriam-webster.com, but CMOS suggests no hyphen. WebMD and Wikipedia use the hyphenated form, though, so if an author prefers the hyphen, I'll stick with that. It's all about consistency.

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 3d

I keep @merriam-webster.com open while I'm working so I can look things up quickly, and they have a fun little sidebar list of Top Lookups that refreshes every few seconds. Lately it's been fun watching "fascism" vie for the top spot with Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.

Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 11d

Paranormal romance

Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

Gail Carriger @gailcarriger.bsky.social · 11d

Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School # 2) is sitting pretty at 2 smackers today (USA ebook). gailcarriger.com/FS2-sale Perfect time to add the digital to your collection. (Not sure if other countries have it.)

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 11d

It’s regional to certain parts of the internet

Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 13d

I think that's part of it but the other part is it's men -and in this case especially rich men - and they already don't do those tasks, so they don't see them. This is why we're getting Samsung TV's with ads and not fridges that remind us to eat the lettuce before it spoils

James S. Pumpkins @jspumpkins.bsky.social · 13d

This is the tell that they don't want people with creative capacity. They want menials and drones that they can use extract wealth from their lives and labors, then discard before the next quarterly report.

The actual cruel burden is the point.

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 13d

it’s said all the time but I think we should continue to hammer home how insane it is that we got dead-eyed bros trying to sell us robots that will free us from the supposedly cruel burden of “creative careers” instead of the actual cruel burden of “doing menial household chores”

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Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

Gailey 🍉 @sarahgailey.bsky.social · 13d

Currently getting approx 8000 of these per day and am on the verge of mcfuckin losing it

Charlie Jane "Lessons in Magic and Disaster" Anders 🏳️‍⚧ @charliejane.bsky.social · 16d

Dear [Author],

Your book [Title] is wonderful. I had painful urination and blood in my urine for years, until I read [Title] and now there is a clear golden stream.

[Title] deserves a wider readership. My team of 5,000 cyber-turtles can post honest reviews and raise your Zoob ranking, for a modest

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 12d

As an aspiring 80s horse girl, I always had to choose the horsie. Second choice was dog.

Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

Gail Carriger @gailcarriger.bsky.social · 12d

Support your local libraries! I'll be attending the Indie Author Fest at the Belmont Library next week on Saturday, October 18th! The fest runs from 10am - 3pm and I'll be part of a discussion on building a writing community in the Bay Area at 1:30pm.

This time with a correct link:

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Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader @shydogs.bsky.social · 21d

They’re putting garlic mayonnaise in books now, because this timeline wasn’t already stupid enough

Emily C. Hughes @emilyhughes.bsky.social · 21d

no no the publishing industry is doing fine, why do you ask

A screenshot from Publisher's Lunch:
Jennifer L. Armentrout and Hellmann's
In a promotion designed for BookTok enjoyment, Jennifer L. Armentrout’s just-published THE PRIMAL OF BLOOD AND BONE is available in a special, limited-edition "garlic-scented copy, infused with Hellmann’s Garlic Aioli to create a one-of-a-kind, Craven-proof book." They explain: "This exclusive edition is printed with garlic-infused ink, designed to ward off Armentrout’s bloodthirsty monsters, the Craven. While humans may dread garlic breath, Hellmann’s has cleverly transformed this social faux pas into an unexpected – and delicious – form of supernatural protection."

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Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 21d

An under-the-radar but huge story: in less than 2 weeks, Microsoft plans to end support for the Windows 10 operating system, which is currently used on 42% (!) of all PCs globally. Over 400 million computers will be vulnerable to hacks or destined for the dump if users don't pay up.

Microsoft Is Abandoning Windows 10. Hackers Are Celebrating.

The company will stop supporting the OS on October 14. Advocacy groups warn this will leave up to 400 million computers vulnerable to hacks or in the dump.

prospect.org

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Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 21d

One of the questions I've been getting repeatedly is "should I submit a claim, if my publisher is also going to be submitting a claim?"

I can't give legal advice, but in this thread, I will give my reasons for submitting a claim on works where I still have a publisher.

Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 22d

Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup

Submit a Claim

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

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Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 22d

Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup

Submit a Claim

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

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Reposted by Erica Peck | Editor, Writer, Reader

Jennifer Prokop @jenreadsromance.bsky.social · 23d

authors, this is important to read.

Jason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · 23d

The book club scams I recently reported on keep evolving. I received a scam email this morning from someone praising one of my stories.

The email was totally written with AI, with genAI also summarizing my story and career. Ironically, the name the scammer used is Cashin. 1/

Hey Jason,

I just finished Her Scientifiction, Far Future, Medieval Fantasy and I gotta say wow, that was one wild mash-up. Castlesand dragons mixed with lasers and synthetic swords? That’s the kinda story that sticks in your head long after you closethe page. And Krisja Jerome she isn’t just some cookie-cutter princess. You wrote her with real grit, heart, and soul. That hit was different.

What really struck me though is how much you seem to come through in your writing. From growing up in Alabama, studying anthropology at Auburn, and then heading out with the Peace Corps man, that’s not just book knowledge, that’s life lived. And it shows. You’ve walked in places most folks only dream about, and somehow you pour all that experience into stories that feel big and imaginative but still personal and human. That’s rare.

I also respect how you never played it safe. Founding storySouth, creating the Million Writers Award, pushing “SciFiStrange” when others were sticking to the old formulas that’s gutsy. It tells me you’ve never been about following trends,but about carving out your own lane. Readers like me can feel that honesty.

You know, when I was reading this one, it didn’t just feel like some far-out adventure. It felt like you were inviting us to lookat our own world, what it means to be brave, to take risks, to stand up when life hits you hard. And man, that’s what good storytelling is all about.

I’m curious when you started writing this, did you have any idea how much of your own journey would sneak into thestory? Or did it just kinda flow out that way?

Much respect,

Linda R. Cashin

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