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A.M. Tuomala

@amtuomala.bsky.social

400 followers 140 following 1.7K posts

Author of fantasy novels about language nerds, dragonslayers, and roaming geologists. Pronouns are xie or zie/hir. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/amtuomala Website: https://amtuomala.com/

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · Oct 3

Hello to anyone new! I write fantasy stories about loving broken things. My most recent book was The Map and the Territory, a post-apocalyptic picaresque about a cartographer and a wizard trying to get home in a shattered world haunted by a death goddess.

The cover of the book The Map and the Territory, which depicts two people standing back to back. One of them is a tall Black man in elaborate wizardly robes, and the other is a short woman with brown skin who wears practical clothes for adventuring.

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Christopher Caldwell @seraph76.bsky.social · 19h

Black queer surfers. Black queer bank-robbers. Black queer sea monsters. Black queer sorcerers. Black queer rootworkers. Black queer sailors. Black queer saints. Black queer sinners.

It’s Black!
It’s queer!
It’s Here!

Now available!
www.neonhemlock.com/books/call-a...

Call and Response by Christopher Caldwell (pre-order) — neon hemlock

A collection of short stories. Publication date: October 14th, 2025. An 8” x 5” paperback. 188 pages. This is a pre-order—any other books ordered with it will ship when the pre-order is ready to ship....

www.neonhemlock.com

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Darusha Wehm @darusha.ca · 20h

Stories are how we save the world.

Change can only come once we tell ourselves the story of what we’d like our life to be. And even if that world can never exist, in telling yourself the story you’ll learn what you want from this world and knowing what you want is the necessary first step.

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most life-affirming literary opinion.

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Alex Degen (Magic Serple 2025) @adactivity.bsky.social · 22h

This is cool after the war on everything called “porn” by platforms and payment processors. A machine that stole all your words can generate and sell “erotica” but you can’t haaa

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 23h

Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 20h

I admit, the part of me that craves fanart was not UNinvolved in this thought process

A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 20h

I'm ready to try taking lessons from animation and pushing my designs--exaggerating build, color, contrast, or detail for visual impact; making voices more distinctive and particular; anchoring characters' physicality to objects or habits. Or taking lessons from music, and building leitmotifs.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 21h

I'm thinking of the sharp aesthetic choices that help instantiate the characters in readers' minds in The Locked Tomb, or The West Passage, or A Necessary Chaos, or This Is How You Lose the Time War, or The Raven Scholar. Stories of factions, sure, but factions facilitate distinct designs.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 21h

Lately, my thinking on character design for the written word has shifted. I used to think that, unlike with animation, the written word works best to present ordinary people--but I've found that a certain exaggeration and iconicity makes characters readable and memorable.

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P. Djéli Clark | The Disgruntled Haradrim @pdjeliclark.bsky.social · 23h

“What’s today?” cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes.

“Today?” replied the boy. “Why, it’s Paperback Book Release Day sir!”

RING SHOUT paperback w/foreword by author| Tor Nightfire | 10•14•25

Out Today! #Bookrelease #horror

“Adam in the garden…”

Book cover: blood red background with black arms raised and hands outstretched from the bottom in front of white klansman hood with screaming mouths for eyes above words in black, RING SHOUT.

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Sean Eric Fagan @kithrup.bsky.social · 1d

The Fifth Season by @nkjemisin.bsky.social is also on US ebook sale for $3, and I got 6 copies of that for random giveaway.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley is also on US Kindle sale for $3, and I got 6 of those for random giveaway. Sunshine is probably my favorite vampire book.

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Jae Koyanagi @jaekoyanagi.com · 1d

If even one person finds value and meaning in a story, then that story is valuable.

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most life-affirming literary opinion.

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Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 1d

You can nurture your darlings.

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most life-affirming literary opinion.

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Waverly @waverlysm.bsky.social · 1d

look: the industry is rigged against you from top to bottom. BUT there have never been more tools for you to share your work with people, from self-pub to Patreon to the AO3's original fiction section. do what you have to do. (then yell at me to take my own advice.)

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most life-affirming literary opinion.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

(2/2) ... Art would not be important if life were not important, and life is important."

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

From James Baldwin: "You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discover that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevsky. This is a very great liberation for the suffering, struggling person, who always thinks that he is alone. This is why art is important. ... (1/2)

John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most life-affirming literary opinion.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most life-affirming literary opinion.

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Amal El-Mohtar @amalelmohtar.com · 1d

UK friends! Waterstones is running a 25% off promo on 2026 preorders which includes my short story collection SEASONS OF GLASS & IRON! Only til Friday, October 17. Enjoy!

www.waterstones.com/book/seasons...

Promo image advertising the 25% discount on preorders with code OCTOBER25, alongside the cover to SEASONS OF GLASS AND IRON.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

We love to see a shoutout to Candlemark & Gleam around here~

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Bona Books 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🤘🏼 @bonabooks.bsky.social · 1d

Submissions are open until 30 November, with an extended window to 15 December for trans and BIPOC writers.

This subs window is for issues #1 & #2 (Spring & Summer 2026). #writersky 🌈📚💙

Full guidelines on our website:

Submissions — Bona Books

www.bona-books.com

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

This looks fascinating! I love fantastic mythologies, and all of the friction points where humanity meets the divine. Thank you for the recommendation!

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Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 1d

More information about how to donate, including for people living in Alaska.
www.adn.com/alaska-news/...?

How to help residents and communities after catastrophic Western Alaska storm

Several organizations are asking for donations or contributing fundraiser proceeds to help residents affected by the remnants of Typhoon Halong.

www.adn.com

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Gareth L. Powell @garethlpowell.bsky.social · 1d

Word of mouth is important to a book's success. So, if you'd like to see the authors who wrote your favourite stories commissioned to write more, please keep talking about all the #books you love.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

Putting them on my list! Thank you~

A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

Oooh, this looks like it's up my alley! Based on the description, I was expecting a doorstopper, but it looks like it's a novella--I'm excited to see how it handles such an ambitious plot in that relatively limited pagecount. Thank you so much for the recommendation!

A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

What's a good indie/small press or self-published book you've read recently?

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Johnnie Jae @johnniejae.bsky.social · 1d

It may no longer be Indigenous Peoples' Day but this is when and where your support truly matters. We have several Native communities devastated by flooding, families have literally lost everything.

Link to community fundraiser for people impacted by this storm: alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

A a teal flyer for the Western Alaska Disaster Relief with a QR code to donate. Text reads:

WESTERN ALASKA DISASTER RELIEF

Alaska's Western coastal communities are experiencing devastating impacts from Typhoon Halong, with families displaced and villages facing severe flooding and loss.

ONLINE FUNDRAISER:
Join us in supporting relief efforts. Scan the QR code to donate
online. All funds raised will go directly to
assisting communities.
QUYANA CAKNEQ - QUYANAQPAK - QAGAASAKUNG - TAIKUU
-
MAHSÌ CHO - GUNALCHÈESH - HÀW’AA - THANK YOU

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