DK Latta
@dklatta.bsky.social
I write sometimes: F/SF/H/Myst &, when I can, superheroes! Tweets a mix of self-promotion, pop cultural musings, whimsy, politics. Older than I used to be.
http://www.pulpanddagger.com/dk_latta.html
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=dk+latta&crid=3MO9V7TS40KDB&spr
http://www.pulpanddagger.com/dk_latta.html
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=dk+latta&crid=3MO9V7TS40KDB&spr
Pinned
DK Latta
@dklatta.bsky.social
· Sep 30
Strange Horizons turns 25 this year, which is pretty much an eternity in the world of spec fic zines, and I had the privilege of going through the archives for a special short fiction roundup: 2 x 25 Gems from Strange Horizons’ Archives
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
A Short Fiction Treasures Special: 2 x 25 Gems from Strange Horizons’ Archives
Going through the archives of Strange Horizons for this special column has been a bit like exploring a treasure chamber. I’ve picked fifty stories. I could have picked hundreds. Meaning: I left a l…
strangehorizons.com
Probably shouldn't say but...God, I needed this; us little writers don't expect fame/fortune, but thrive on the crumbs of kind words :)
"What I particularly love about it is how Latta fits such carefully drawn characters and so much subtle emotion into a very action-packed short story." ~M. Haskins
"What I particularly love about it is how Latta fits such carefully drawn characters and so much subtle emotion into a very action-packed short story." ~M. Haskins
Reposted by DK Latta
That cancelled TV show you'll never stop thinking about.
Willow.
Willow.
December 1, 2025 at 10:50 PM
That cancelled TV show you'll never stop thinking about.
Willow.
Willow.
That cancelled TV show you'll never stop thinking about.
December 1, 2025 at 11:12 PM
That cancelled TV show you'll never stop thinking about.
I know I'm a nobody-writer but kind of depressing when you see an already-filled anthology announced that is kind of right up your alley (theme/story-wise) but you never heard of the submissions call (or maybe it was invitation-only)
Alas
Alas
December 1, 2025 at 4:46 PM
I know I'm a nobody-writer but kind of depressing when you see an already-filled anthology announced that is kind of right up your alley (theme/story-wise) but you never heard of the submissions call (or maybe it was invitation-only)
Alas
Alas
Belatedly added (my thread about James Bond films incorporating pop cultural influences):
Arguably the Craig films are also influenced by Mission: Impossible films (which, of course, are influenced by...Bond). The Craig films tilt toward a "team" with Q, Moneypenny, M having bigger roles 4/3
Arguably the Craig films are also influenced by Mission: Impossible films (which, of course, are influenced by...Bond). The Craig films tilt toward a "team" with Q, Moneypenny, M having bigger roles 4/3
The more operatic sense of melodrama; personalizing relationships (enemies & friends) - esp. retconning (a comic book term!) Blofeld as his stepbrother; the more emotional inner turmoil; the more complex exterior moral dilemmas. (I mean, Bond was always comic book/superhero a bit, but still...)
3/3
3/3
November 30, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Belatedly added (my thread about James Bond films incorporating pop cultural influences):
Arguably the Craig films are also influenced by Mission: Impossible films (which, of course, are influenced by...Bond). The Craig films tilt toward a "team" with Q, Moneypenny, M having bigger roles 4/3
Arguably the Craig films are also influenced by Mission: Impossible films (which, of course, are influenced by...Bond). The Craig films tilt toward a "team" with Q, Moneypenny, M having bigger roles 4/3
This bugs me too; even supposedly Left Wing pols fetishize "hard working" as if as long as you grind yourself to death from cradle to grave then maybe, maybe, they'll help you mortgage a house. Don't talk about helping "hard working" people...talk about helping so they don't have to work as hard!
November 30, 2025 at 7:32 PM
This bugs me too; even supposedly Left Wing pols fetishize "hard working" as if as long as you grind yourself to death from cradle to grave then maybe, maybe, they'll help you mortgage a house. Don't talk about helping "hard working" people...talk about helping so they don't have to work as hard!
Reposted by DK Latta
this AI shit is not gonna break me. I am still a writer and I'm still gonna write shit and it's gonna mostly be "just OK" workaday prose elevated by my little poetic flourishes but it's gonna be something only I could write. and maybe I won't even do anything with it, but it will exist
November 30, 2025 at 5:19 PM
this AI shit is not gonna break me. I am still a writer and I'm still gonna write shit and it's gonna mostly be "just OK" workaday prose elevated by my little poetic flourishes but it's gonna be something only I could write. and maybe I won't even do anything with it, but it will exist
Read a series of posts between two opiniated Leftist-Progressive types snidely dismissing each others views; both had valid points (and were kind of at cross-purposes). But both seemed committed to "I'm Right; You Idiot" rather than engaging with alternate POVs
Which is sad and problematic
Which is sad and problematic
November 30, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Read a series of posts between two opiniated Leftist-Progressive types snidely dismissing each others views; both had valid points (and were kind of at cross-purposes). But both seemed committed to "I'm Right; You Idiot" rather than engaging with alternate POVs
Which is sad and problematic
Which is sad and problematic
Random Sunday morning musing:
I've never been sure if, in popular music, "bridge", "turnaround", (and even "Middle 8"), are interchangeable terms/ideas (either literally or at least colloquially) or whether they have subtly distinct meanings and you'd look foolish confusing them in a conversation. 🤷
I've never been sure if, in popular music, "bridge", "turnaround", (and even "Middle 8"), are interchangeable terms/ideas (either literally or at least colloquially) or whether they have subtly distinct meanings and you'd look foolish confusing them in a conversation. 🤷
November 30, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Random Sunday morning musing:
I've never been sure if, in popular music, "bridge", "turnaround", (and even "Middle 8"), are interchangeable terms/ideas (either literally or at least colloquially) or whether they have subtly distinct meanings and you'd look foolish confusing them in a conversation. 🤷
I've never been sure if, in popular music, "bridge", "turnaround", (and even "Middle 8"), are interchangeable terms/ideas (either literally or at least colloquially) or whether they have subtly distinct meanings and you'd look foolish confusing them in a conversation. 🤷
I see so many posts virulently defending swearing in stories (MORE than I see complaints about swearing!) so, to be ornery, I took out all the swearing in a story I was working on once as a wee experiment.
It proved interesting by making me think about swearing, its use, & relevance to writing.
1/2
It proved interesting by making me think about swearing, its use, & relevance to writing.
1/2
November 30, 2025 at 2:33 AM
I see so many posts virulently defending swearing in stories (MORE than I see complaints about swearing!) so, to be ornery, I took out all the swearing in a story I was working on once as a wee experiment.
It proved interesting by making me think about swearing, its use, & relevance to writing.
1/2
It proved interesting by making me think about swearing, its use, & relevance to writing.
1/2
In the original "V" mini-series noble, heroic Mike confronts his evil, collaborator mother and says: "I once knew a woman who taught me right from wrong -- I wonder what became of her her?"
That line still haunts in its insight-into-the-human-animal way
That line still haunts in its insight-into-the-human-animal way
November 29, 2025 at 11:45 PM
In the original "V" mini-series noble, heroic Mike confronts his evil, collaborator mother and says: "I once knew a woman who taught me right from wrong -- I wonder what became of her her?"
That line still haunts in its insight-into-the-human-animal way
That line still haunts in its insight-into-the-human-animal way
Re-reading Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles and remembering how it was a bit of an influence on my superhero-themed The Masques Chronicles (vol. 1 & 2) - besides the "chronicles" title lol.
Book(s) that are both SFF short stories & a history/narrative:
www.amazon.ca/Masques-Chro...
Book(s) that are both SFF short stories & a history/narrative:
www.amazon.ca/Masques-Chro...
The Masques Chronicles: An Imaginary History Vol. 1: The Golden Age to The Silver Age (1939 - 1969) eBook : Latta, D.K.: Amazon.ca: Books
The Masques Chronicles: An Imaginary History Vol. 1: The Golden Age to The Silver Age (1939 - 1969) eBook : Latta, D.K.: Amazon.ca: Books
www.amazon.ca
November 29, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Re-reading Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles and remembering how it was a bit of an influence on my superhero-themed The Masques Chronicles (vol. 1 & 2) - besides the "chronicles" title lol.
Book(s) that are both SFF short stories & a history/narrative:
www.amazon.ca/Masques-Chro...
Book(s) that are both SFF short stories & a history/narrative:
www.amazon.ca/Masques-Chro...
James Bond (movies) are a fascinating cultural artifact.
Few "bad" (while arguably few "great" lol)
Very formulaic; its strength (it's a solid structure) & weakness (repetitive yet when it tries to diverge from formula films can be uneven)
Yet it maps/reflects the cultural zeitgeist of the eras 1/2
Few "bad" (while arguably few "great" lol)
Very formulaic; its strength (it's a solid structure) & weakness (repetitive yet when it tries to diverge from formula films can be uneven)
Yet it maps/reflects the cultural zeitgeist of the eras 1/2
November 28, 2025 at 5:13 PM
James Bond (movies) are a fascinating cultural artifact.
Few "bad" (while arguably few "great" lol)
Very formulaic; its strength (it's a solid structure) & weakness (repetitive yet when it tries to diverge from formula films can be uneven)
Yet it maps/reflects the cultural zeitgeist of the eras 1/2
Few "bad" (while arguably few "great" lol)
Very formulaic; its strength (it's a solid structure) & weakness (repetitive yet when it tries to diverge from formula films can be uneven)
Yet it maps/reflects the cultural zeitgeist of the eras 1/2
Funny thing about No Time to Die is – after decades! – they do the "garden of death" idea from the *novel* You Only Live Twice...but do (almost) nothing with it; no cool sequence of Bond playing cat n mouse while avoiding poison thorns and viper snakes.
(NTTD was OK, not tryin' to diss it per se)
(NTTD was OK, not tryin' to diss it per se)
Finally saw #NoTimeToDie and reminds me of a story/drama question: (SPOILERS) But does it weaken the drama/tragedy of sacrifice if the hero has no opportunity at a happy ending? Like, isn't the point of self-sacrifice that the hero *could* walk away but chooses not to for the greater good? 1/3
November 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Funny thing about No Time to Die is – after decades! – they do the "garden of death" idea from the *novel* You Only Live Twice...but do (almost) nothing with it; no cool sequence of Bond playing cat n mouse while avoiding poison thorns and viper snakes.
(NTTD was OK, not tryin' to diss it per se)
(NTTD was OK, not tryin' to diss it per se)
Finally saw #NoTimeToDie and reminds me of a story/drama question: (SPOILERS) But does it weaken the drama/tragedy of sacrifice if the hero has no opportunity at a happy ending? Like, isn't the point of self-sacrifice that the hero *could* walk away but chooses not to for the greater good? 1/3
November 28, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Finally saw #NoTimeToDie and reminds me of a story/drama question: (SPOILERS) But does it weaken the drama/tragedy of sacrifice if the hero has no opportunity at a happy ending? Like, isn't the point of self-sacrifice that the hero *could* walk away but chooses not to for the greater good? 1/3
More writing musings:
Editing
Stephen King once wrote a 2nd draft should be 10% shorter than the first.
But we all hate to cut. And dilemma is: if the reader is bored because it's too long...doesn't that mean they're bored period? (Esp with a poem; what is rind and what the fruit?"
Editing
Stephen King once wrote a 2nd draft should be 10% shorter than the first.
But we all hate to cut. And dilemma is: if the reader is bored because it's too long...doesn't that mean they're bored period? (Esp with a poem; what is rind and what the fruit?"
November 27, 2025 at 5:59 PM
More writing musings:
Editing
Stephen King once wrote a 2nd draft should be 10% shorter than the first.
But we all hate to cut. And dilemma is: if the reader is bored because it's too long...doesn't that mean they're bored period? (Esp with a poem; what is rind and what the fruit?"
Editing
Stephen King once wrote a 2nd draft should be 10% shorter than the first.
But we all hate to cut. And dilemma is: if the reader is bored because it's too long...doesn't that mean they're bored period? (Esp with a poem; what is rind and what the fruit?"
Apropos my prev post (about pub rejections): I occasionally send out superhero-themed stories; get rejected.
Here's the thing: a lot of #SFF mags *say* they accept all genres "including superheroes"...but I rarely see 'em publish that genre.
So: bad story or just an editorial brick wall? Dunno.
Here's the thing: a lot of #SFF mags *say* they accept all genres "including superheroes"...but I rarely see 'em publish that genre.
So: bad story or just an editorial brick wall? Dunno.
November 27, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Apropos my prev post (about pub rejections): I occasionally send out superhero-themed stories; get rejected.
Here's the thing: a lot of #SFF mags *say* they accept all genres "including superheroes"...but I rarely see 'em publish that genre.
So: bad story or just an editorial brick wall? Dunno.
Here's the thing: a lot of #SFF mags *say* they accept all genres "including superheroes"...but I rarely see 'em publish that genre.
So: bad story or just an editorial brick wall? Dunno.
Thinking about a story rejected multiple times (even once by an ed who basically implied it was unpublishable without a total rewrite).
Finally found a mag that accepted it.
Came across TWO subsequent reviews that cited that story as a fav (of that issue; another of stories they read recently)
Finally found a mag that accepted it.
Came across TWO subsequent reviews that cited that story as a fav (of that issue; another of stories they read recently)
I've said before the big frustration in story rejects is not knowing if:
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
November 27, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Thinking about a story rejected multiple times (even once by an ed who basically implied it was unpublishable without a total rewrite).
Finally found a mag that accepted it.
Came across TWO subsequent reviews that cited that story as a fav (of that issue; another of stories they read recently)
Finally found a mag that accepted it.
Came across TWO subsequent reviews that cited that story as a fav (of that issue; another of stories they read recently)
I've said before the big frustration in story rejects is not knowing if:
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
November 27, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I've said before the big frustration in story rejects is not knowing if:
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
An example of my half-asleep imaginings?:
Cara Gee, Shawn Doyle, Kristin Kreuk, Terry Chen (why those 4? Who knows) Investigating some sort of empty haunted house. History and tension between them. While waiting in an empty room (for ghosts and/or hiding from ghosts) they decide to play Can-Do. 1/4
Cara Gee, Shawn Doyle, Kristin Kreuk, Terry Chen (why those 4? Who knows) Investigating some sort of empty haunted house. History and tension between them. While waiting in an empty room (for ghosts and/or hiding from ghosts) they decide to play Can-Do. 1/4
I often "cast" actors when reading or just whimsically imagine plots/scenes. Probably lots do that (tho I as I get older I think maybe my brain runs like a hamster on a wheel!)
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
November 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
An example of my half-asleep imaginings?:
Cara Gee, Shawn Doyle, Kristin Kreuk, Terry Chen (why those 4? Who knows) Investigating some sort of empty haunted house. History and tension between them. While waiting in an empty room (for ghosts and/or hiding from ghosts) they decide to play Can-Do. 1/4
Cara Gee, Shawn Doyle, Kristin Kreuk, Terry Chen (why those 4? Who knows) Investigating some sort of empty haunted house. History and tension between them. While waiting in an empty room (for ghosts and/or hiding from ghosts) they decide to play Can-Do. 1/4
I often "cast" actors when reading or just whimsically imagine plots/scenes. Probably lots do that (tho I as I get older I think maybe my brain runs like a hamster on a wheel!)
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
November 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I often "cast" actors when reading or just whimsically imagine plots/scenes. Probably lots do that (tho I as I get older I think maybe my brain runs like a hamster on a wheel!)
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
Predator (1987): first time we saw it, my brother and I felt the jokes Hawkins tells seem...weird, unfunny & tonally not like the rest of the script (vulgar and kind of misogynist) and directed oddly, as if shoe-horned into the moment. Knowing (now) Shane Black became a writer I wonder if he...
1/2
1/2
Thinking I'll post random thoughts on old movies/TV/etc - even if I suspect it's probably been discussed/litigated by fans (but I've never read):
Thinking about my suspicion the scene in Rise of Skywalker with the horses on the star destroyer was originally written for Rose & the beasts from TLJ
Thinking about my suspicion the scene in Rise of Skywalker with the horses on the star destroyer was originally written for Rose & the beasts from TLJ
November 26, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Predator (1987): first time we saw it, my brother and I felt the jokes Hawkins tells seem...weird, unfunny & tonally not like the rest of the script (vulgar and kind of misogynist) and directed oddly, as if shoe-horned into the moment. Knowing (now) Shane Black became a writer I wonder if he...
1/2
1/2
My brother saying a story of mine: "Is so good, it's like it's not your writing." lol
More seriously: one ed saying a rewrite "blew him away" and another saying my style had a "dry wryness" which I should tattoo on my body ('cause I think it sums up a lot of my style, or attempts at anyway)
More seriously: one ed saying a rewrite "blew him away" and another saying my style had a "dry wryness" which I should tattoo on my body ('cause I think it sums up a lot of my style, or attempts at anyway)
What is the best compliment you ever received? Putting aside whether or not you believed it.
November 26, 2025 at 3:57 PM
My brother saying a story of mine: "Is so good, it's like it's not your writing." lol
More seriously: one ed saying a rewrite "blew him away" and another saying my style had a "dry wryness" which I should tattoo on my body ('cause I think it sums up a lot of my style, or attempts at anyway)
More seriously: one ed saying a rewrite "blew him away" and another saying my style had a "dry wryness" which I should tattoo on my body ('cause I think it sums up a lot of my style, or attempts at anyway)
Listening to a BBC Radio play, "Auguste Levasseur - Chefs des Clacquers", a melodrama set in the world of 19th C professional applauders/jeerers and thinking how it sounds a lot like today with people review-bombing review sites and social media "influencers."
Le plus ca change....eh?
1/2
Le plus ca change....eh?
1/2
November 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Listening to a BBC Radio play, "Auguste Levasseur - Chefs des Clacquers", a melodrama set in the world of 19th C professional applauders/jeerers and thinking how it sounds a lot like today with people review-bombing review sites and social media "influencers."
Le plus ca change....eh?
1/2
Le plus ca change....eh?
1/2
Reposted by DK Latta
Reposted by DK Latta
Yes, and also recognize that with creative fields, survivorship bias is real: You hear about full-time creatives with envious career arcs precisely because they've survived in the field where others (for whatever reason and independent of quality of work) have not. This is an important fact.
Would-be/struggling writers can feel like losers or wannabes when they read about other writers writing "full time" or promo'ing their book in various exotic cities. And it's good to recognize that, yeah, sometimes there's another income (or a spouse is helping to pay the bills).
November 26, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Yes, and also recognize that with creative fields, survivorship bias is real: You hear about full-time creatives with envious career arcs precisely because they've survived in the field where others (for whatever reason and independent of quality of work) have not. This is an important fact.