J. D. Hellen
@jdhellenwrites.bsky.social
🖋️✨🐌 Speculative fiction writer near Philadelphia, PA, USA. Here to follow writers, lit mags, and podcasts.
https://linktr.ee/Jdhellen
https://linktr.ee/Jdhellen
My current driving soundtrack: Christmas music or Pet Sematary on audiobook.
November 28, 2025 at 5:33 PM
My current driving soundtrack: Christmas music or Pet Sematary on audiobook.
Last night, I dreamed my sister was being tortured by aliens by her job, and a group of us got in a farm house to attempt contact with the alien ship using water, salt, and oil. Contact sounded like an intense crystal bowl sound bath and made the table move across the room. Also, long 🚽 line.
November 20, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Last night, I dreamed my sister was being tortured by aliens by her job, and a group of us got in a farm house to attempt contact with the alien ship using water, salt, and oil. Contact sounded like an intense crystal bowl sound bath and made the table move across the room. Also, long 🚽 line.
Visceral in all the right ways
A powerful poem about the unexpected payoffs of learning about blood and guts in science class.
Blood and Guts Were Our First Language - Electric Literature
“what i can teach you,” a poem by Eshani Surya
buff.ly
November 19, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Visceral in all the right ways
“We’re crushing #goals!” the instructor calls, twisting the resistance knob on her bike.
The rider next to me raises her towel, spinning it like a lasso above her head. I whirl my towel too, and soon, we're all sweeping the air with our sweaty accessories, whooping until the song ends.
#vss365
The rider next to me raises her towel, spinning it like a lasso above her head. I whirl my towel too, and soon, we're all sweeping the air with our sweaty accessories, whooping until the song ends.
#vss365
November 18, 2025 at 2:03 AM
She shrugs and slouches, cradling her phone. “Not like it's really an #issue,” she says. It's directed more at the phone than me.
It's always directed more at the phone than me.
If we wanted to be honest, we'd admit that. Instead, we focus on petty things and grow farther apart. #vss365
It's always directed more at the phone than me.
If we wanted to be honest, we'd admit that. Instead, we focus on petty things and grow farther apart. #vss365
November 16, 2025 at 10:58 PM
This one touched my mollusk-loving heart. 🐌
“I think about the Black Arions in the basement, living their hermaphrodite lives. I picture their slick black bodies, their movements so slow and sure.”
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Genderless Mollusk - Electric Literature
black-arion-by-charlie-j-stephens
buff.ly
November 16, 2025 at 10:46 PM
This one touched my mollusk-loving heart. 🐌
Really good piece!
Terrific story by @srirachachang.bsky.social in @splitlipthemag.bsky.social's new issue! 🫶💕
splitlipthemag.com/fiction/1125...
splitlipthemag.com/fiction/1125...
How to Make Non-Korean Kimchi — Split Lip Magazine
Think about your mother-in-law’s kimchi. Violently crimson and glossy, redder and thicker than blood, thinly sweet and floral fragrant, garlic and spice that burst through with every crunch.
splitlipthemag.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Really good piece!
This was taken around 4:15 p.m. I've had worse days. I've had better days. But this explains why evening writing doesn't work for me. (So many hours lost!) How's your energy at the end of your work day?
November 11, 2025 at 9:35 PM
This was taken around 4:15 p.m. I've had worse days. I've had better days. But this explains why evening writing doesn't work for me. (So many hours lost!) How's your energy at the end of your work day?
Something you book lovers (and miniatures fans!) may appreciate. This is one of the many creative, skillfully crafted displays I saw yesterday at Philadelphia Miniaturia! Take anything and make it miniature, and I'm fascinated.
November 9, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Something you book lovers (and miniatures fans!) may appreciate. This is one of the many creative, skillfully crafted displays I saw yesterday at Philadelphia Miniaturia! Take anything and make it miniature, and I'm fascinated.
Interesting piece I came across: lithub.com/on-the-many-... . My stories are powered by character, theme, and language, so my challenges make sense. I take a while to get started and struggle with novel-length. What engine(s) power your writing?
On the Many Different Engines That Power a Short Story
The hard thing about writing—or one of the hard things in the endless series of hard things about writing—is that there’s no one way to do it. Instead, there are infinite paths in the dark woods of…
lithub.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Interesting piece I came across: lithub.com/on-the-many-... . My stories are powered by character, theme, and language, so my challenges make sense. I take a while to get started and struggle with novel-length. What engine(s) power your writing?
Reposted by J. D. Hellen
Wait is pinocchio like....frankenstein for kids?
November 7, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Wait is pinocchio like....frankenstein for kids?
I was so hyped about Halloween that I forgot to go to my writing group today. 😑
November 1, 2025 at 7:23 PM
I was so hyped about Halloween that I forgot to go to my writing group today. 😑
Seriously, why did they ALL single him out?
"One rock? Okay, fine. But every house in the neighborhood? This was obviously a coordinated effort to humiliate our family." (via @mcsweeneys.net)
A Letter to the Parents that Gave My Son Charlie a Bunch of Rocks for Halloween
Fellow parents, I am so angry and drunk right now that I am shaking. This evening, our young son spent several unsupervised hours trick-or-treating...
buff.ly
October 25, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Seriously, why did they ALL single him out?
October 12, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by J. D. Hellen
we have a story by Carleton Whaley @carletonwhaley.bsky.social !
it’s about two brothers who are going through the final steps of their brother’s death – following the funeral hearse that goes to the crematorium. a great story – read it !!
xraylitmag.com/following-th...
it’s about two brothers who are going through the final steps of their brother’s death – following the funeral hearse that goes to the crematorium. a great story – read it !!
xraylitmag.com/following-th...
FOLLOWING THE HEARSE by Carleton Whaley
Driving through the Detroit suburbs, cutting through traffic, honking and cursing at other drivers, the brothers make their way to the crematorium. It is difficult to keep up with the long hearse. Tra...
xraylitmag.com
October 10, 2025 at 12:53 PM
we have a story by Carleton Whaley @carletonwhaley.bsky.social !
it’s about two brothers who are going through the final steps of their brother’s death – following the funeral hearse that goes to the crematorium. a great story – read it !!
xraylitmag.com/following-th...
it’s about two brothers who are going through the final steps of their brother’s death – following the funeral hearse that goes to the crematorium. a great story – read it !!
xraylitmag.com/following-th...
Catching a little local horror
October 9, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Catching a little local horror
Reposted by J. D. Hellen
A cartoonist's review of AI art - The Oatmeal
This is a comic about AI art.
theoatmeal.com
October 7, 2025 at 4:51 PM
THE RAGE
The NY Times Connections is an agent of chaos.
The NY Times Connections Destroyed Society and We're Fine With It - Electric Literature
Flash fiction by Pardis Parker
buff.ly
October 5, 2025 at 4:22 PM
THE RAGE
September 30, 2025 at 12:53 AM
He turned his wrist, listening to the last of the liquid swirling around inside the can. He promised to try harder, to #sublimate his incessant craving with healthy distractions—walking the dog, getting around to chores.
But the soda was already in the house. And he wasn't a wasteful man.
#vss365
But the soda was already in the house. And he wasn't a wasteful man.
#vss365
September 30, 2025 at 12:41 AM
He turned his wrist, listening to the last of the liquid swirling around inside the can. He promised to try harder, to #sublimate his incessant craving with healthy distractions—walking the dog, getting around to chores.
But the soda was already in the house. And he wasn't a wasteful man.
#vss365
But the soda was already in the house. And he wasn't a wasteful man.
#vss365
September 28, 2025 at 11:29 PM
September 28, 2025 at 12:20 AM
“That's it?” I want to bite my tongue, but I'm tired of the disappointment. “Nothing good. It's always #scrutiny with you.”
Mom's lips are tight, wordless. It's her eyes that speak. But before I can make sense of them, she looks away, at the door.
This will never be good enough for her. #vss365
Mom's lips are tight, wordless. It's her eyes that speak. But before I can make sense of them, she looks away, at the door.
This will never be good enough for her. #vss365
September 27, 2025 at 9:29 PM
"Kerfuffle" is a fun word to use in everyday conversation. 😉 You're welcome.
September 20, 2025 at 11:12 AM
"Kerfuffle" is a fun word to use in everyday conversation. 😉 You're welcome.