Marie Brennan
@swantower.bsky.social
Author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent. Also one half of M.A. Carrick. She/her.
Pinned
Marie Brennan
@swantower.bsky.social
· Jan 7
Okay, this is a thread for U.S. folks, but also anybody facing political woes at home. I'm pinning this to my profile as an irregularly updated thread for advice and links on how to take action/take care of yourself. Scroll through it any time you need reminders (that's what I'll be doing myself).
Reposted by Marie Brennan
Today is Giving Tuesday, for donating to nonprofits. BCS's parent co. is a 501c3 nonprofit, so donations & Patreon support are tax deductible (consult a tax professional). We'd appreciate your support. www.patreon.com/beneath_ceas... www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/support-bcs/...
Get more from Beneath Ceaseless Skies on Patreon
creating an online fantasy magazine & podcast
www.patreon.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Today is Giving Tuesday, for donating to nonprofits. BCS's parent co. is a 501c3 nonprofit, so donations & Patreon support are tax deductible (consult a tax professional). We'd appreciate your support. www.patreon.com/beneath_ceas... www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/support-bcs/...
I doubt I'm the first to say this, but ISABELLA NAGG AND THE POT OF BASIL by @deathbybadger.bsky.social is the most Pratchettesque^ thing I've read not written by Terry Pratchett -- and yet, it doesn't read like it's trying to be a Discworld clone!
^complete with footnotes
^complete with footnotes
December 3, 2025 at 7:00 AM
I doubt I'm the first to say this, but ISABELLA NAGG AND THE POT OF BASIL by @deathbybadger.bsky.social is the most Pratchettesque^ thing I've read not written by Terry Pratchett -- and yet, it doesn't read like it's trying to be a Discworld clone!
^complete with footnotes
^complete with footnotes
I inadvertently built Teahenge
December 3, 2025 at 2:15 AM
I inadvertently built Teahenge
Reposted by Marie Brennan
$760 would get this funded TONIGHT. We can do that.
I know that everyone's asking for $ right now and times are hard. But these authors deserve a wider audience and this is how we can help them achieve that.
If you can't donate even a couple of bucks, please share?
ko-fi.com/africantrans...
I know that everyone's asking for $ right now and times are hard. But these authors deserve a wider audience and this is how we can help them achieve that.
If you can't donate even a couple of bucks, please share?
ko-fi.com/africantrans...
Support African Translation Project
African Translation Project / We're overdue - let's rally this. / please see - please share / After nine months - let's complete funding for the translation of Zvinobvinza to: The Crocodile Doesn't Hu...
ko-fi.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:09 AM
$760 would get this funded TONIGHT. We can do that.
I know that everyone's asking for $ right now and times are hard. But these authors deserve a wider audience and this is how we can help them achieve that.
If you can't donate even a couple of bucks, please share?
ko-fi.com/africantrans...
I know that everyone's asking for $ right now and times are hard. But these authors deserve a wider audience and this is how we can help them achieve that.
If you can't donate even a couple of bucks, please share?
ko-fi.com/africantrans...
Reposted by Marie Brennan
I can't stress enough that you should take every opportunity that comes your way to support your local public libraries. Many of them are currently struggling and are being DEFUNDED. Local action matters on this front. Don't sit back until those libraries are gone before taking ACTION.
December 2, 2025 at 10:48 PM
I can't stress enough that you should take every opportunity that comes your way to support your local public libraries. Many of them are currently struggling and are being DEFUNDED. Local action matters on this front. Don't sit back until those libraries are gone before taking ACTION.
Reposted by Marie Brennan
Thank you! BCS ebook subscriptions are available exclusively through indie ebook store @weightlessbooks.bsky.social. Weightless has lots of other indie & SF/F zines too. Subscribe, get delivery to your e-reading device and support indie commerce as well as zines.
weightlessbooks.com/beneath-ceas...
weightlessbooks.com/beneath-ceas...
December 2, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Thank you! BCS ebook subscriptions are available exclusively through indie ebook store @weightlessbooks.bsky.social. Weightless has lots of other indie & SF/F zines too. Subscribe, get delivery to your e-reading device and support indie commerce as well as zines.
weightlessbooks.com/beneath-ceas...
weightlessbooks.com/beneath-ceas...
Reposted by Marie Brennan
BCS parent co. is 501c3 nonprofit; donations are tax deductible. Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday! If you believe paying writers & First Readers a worthy cause, pls consider supporting us, recurring or one-time. THANK YOU. www.patreon.com/beneath_ceas... www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/support-bcs/... 3/3
Get more from Beneath Ceaseless Skies on Patreon
creating an online fantasy magazine & podcast
www.patreon.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
BCS parent co. is 501c3 nonprofit; donations are tax deductible. Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday! If you believe paying writers & First Readers a worthy cause, pls consider supporting us, recurring or one-time. THANK YOU. www.patreon.com/beneath_ceas... www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/support-bcs/... 3/3
BCS has published more stories of mine than any other magazine. For me and many others, they're the main venue for secondary-world and historical fantasy. Check them out, or if you already know them, support them if you can!
BCS Patreon has fallen below the monthly amount we need to pay our authors a pro rate and our First Readers a worthy honorarium ($125/mo). Sometimes folks need to lower or pause their support; we understand. But less than 1% of BCS readership donates or supports. www.patreon.com/beneath_ceas... 1/3
Get more from Beneath Ceaseless Skies on Patreon
creating an online fantasy magazine & podcast
www.patreon.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:21 PM
BCS has published more stories of mine than any other magazine. For me and many others, they're the main venue for secondary-world and historical fantasy. Check them out, or if you already know them, support them if you can!
I COULD NOT BE MORE PLEASED
Looking forward to high-fiving the 2026 winner of the Hugo for Best Poem!
Looking forward to high-fiving the 2026 winner of the Hugo for Best Poem!
THE BEACONS ARE LIT! GONDOR WILL ANSWER!
This seems to be a good time to note that I'm still hoping that we will have a Special Hugo Award for Best Poem in 2026!
December 1, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I COULD NOT BE MORE PLEASED
Looking forward to high-fiving the 2026 winner of the Hugo for Best Poem!
Looking forward to high-fiving the 2026 winner of the Hugo for Best Poem!
Reposted by Marie Brennan
If you're interested in a sonnet about undoing the apocalypse, "The Great Undoing" is live now at @zoeticpress.bsky.social's 4LPH4NUM3R1C! My part of the podcast starts around the 4-min. mark, or you can read the text version on that page.
November 29, 2025 at 7:06 PM
If you're interested in a sonnet about undoing the apocalypse, "The Great Undoing" is live now at @zoeticpress.bsky.social's 4LPH4NUM3R1C! My part of the podcast starts around the 4-min. mark, or you can read the text version on that page.
If you're interested in a sonnet about undoing the apocalypse, "The Great Undoing" is live now at @zoeticpress.bsky.social's 4LPH4NUM3R1C! My part of the podcast starts around the 4-min. mark, or you can read the text version on that page.
November 29, 2025 at 7:06 PM
If you're interested in a sonnet about undoing the apocalypse, "The Great Undoing" is live now at @zoeticpress.bsky.social's 4LPH4NUM3R1C! My part of the podcast starts around the 4-min. mark, or you can read the text version on that page.
A much more radical history of Thanksgiving than I knew:
thenationmagazine.substack.com/p/make-thank...
thenationmagazine.substack.com/p/make-thank...
Make Thanksgiving Radical Again
The holiday’s real roots lie in abolition, liberation, and anti-racism. Let’s reconnect to that legacy.
thenationmagazine.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:58 PM
A much more radical history of Thanksgiving than I knew:
thenationmagazine.substack.com/p/make-thank...
thenationmagazine.substack.com/p/make-thank...
Reposted by Marie Brennan
1st, you've probably heard this before, but pay in cash when you can. Every time you swipe or tap it costs the store, eh, 2-4% of the total of the transaction. That may not sound like much but for small businesses 2-5% can be the difference between being nervous & comfortable, even open or closed...
November 26, 2025 at 10:26 PM
1st, you've probably heard this before, but pay in cash when you can. Every time you swipe or tap it costs the store, eh, 2-4% of the total of the transaction. That may not sound like much but for small businesses 2-5% can be the difference between being nervous & comfortable, even open or closed...
Reposted by Marie Brennan
Double issue of MicroVerse Spec Flash Roundup with Oct-Nov recs!
Flash Roundup * October-November 2025
A gathering of recent speculative flash & micro fiction, each presenting a tiny-yet-powerful universe. How tiny? About one-thousand words for flash; four-hundred words for micro. The word count…
mynachang.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Double issue of MicroVerse Spec Flash Roundup with Oct-Nov recs!
Reposted by Marie Brennan
What are the odds that these ICE folks who can’t risk unmasking now were complaining endlessly about having to wear a mask during the peak of COVID?
November 25, 2025 at 4:55 PM
What are the odds that these ICE folks who can’t risk unmasking now were complaining endlessly about having to wear a mask during the peak of COVID?
Reposted by Marie Brennan
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by Marie Brennan
Since I have a BackerKit store for the Rook & Rose pattern deck *anyway*, I might as well add more things to it! So if you want signed bookplates for the Memoirs of Lady Trent or foreign language editions of both my books and M.A. Carrick's, check it out!
pattern-deck.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
pattern-deck.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
Pre-order Rook and Rose Pattern Deck on BackerKit
Oracle cards for divination and games -- shipping now!
pattern-deck.backerkit.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Since I have a BackerKit store for the Rook & Rose pattern deck *anyway*, I might as well add more things to it! So if you want signed bookplates for the Memoirs of Lady Trent or foreign language editions of both my books and M.A. Carrick's, check it out!
pattern-deck.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
pattern-deck.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
Reposted by Marie Brennan
You know, I'm not sure I ever really read the Pond Rules at our local nature preserve all that closely before
November 25, 2025 at 1:24 AM
You know, I'm not sure I ever really read the Pond Rules at our local nature preserve all that closely before
Reposted by Marie Brennan
The first #altHallelujah I ever saw, I think on tumblr. Cant find the original anymore to credit it. Does anyone know who wrote this?
December 24, 2024 at 2:45 AM
The first #altHallelujah I ever saw, I think on tumblr. Cant find the original anymore to credit it. Does anyone know who wrote this?
Reposted by Marie Brennan
🎶 Two vast and trunkless legs do stand
Out in the desert, where the sand
Extends around them, measureless and bare-oh.
And stamped upon these lifeless things:
“I’m Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair-oh!" 🎶
#altHallelujah
Out in the desert, where the sand
Extends around them, measureless and bare-oh.
And stamped upon these lifeless things:
“I’m Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair-oh!" 🎶
#altHallelujah
November 1, 2025 at 9:13 PM
🎶 Two vast and trunkless legs do stand
Out in the desert, where the sand
Extends around them, measureless and bare-oh.
And stamped upon these lifeless things:
“I’m Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair-oh!" 🎶
#altHallelujah
Out in the desert, where the sand
Extends around them, measureless and bare-oh.
And stamped upon these lifeless things:
“I’m Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair-oh!" 🎶
#altHallelujah
Since I have a BackerKit store for the Rook & Rose pattern deck *anyway*, I might as well add more things to it! So if you want signed bookplates for the Memoirs of Lady Trent or foreign language editions of both my books and M.A. Carrick's, check it out!
pattern-deck.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
pattern-deck.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
Pre-order Rook and Rose Pattern Deck on BackerKit
Oracle cards for divination and games -- shipping now!
pattern-deck.backerkit.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Since I have a BackerKit store for the Rook & Rose pattern deck *anyway*, I might as well add more things to it! So if you want signed bookplates for the Memoirs of Lady Trent or foreign language editions of both my books and M.A. Carrick's, check it out!
pattern-deck.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
pattern-deck.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
Reposted by Marie Brennan
*STRONGLY* Agee. Worked hard not to do this in class this year. "Content" elides the work and focuses on the box that it's filling. It's an unironic "say we make widgets" for corpos.
Inspired by someone elsewhere, I hereby vow to try to avoid the terms "content" and "content creator," unless I *must* talk about work across so many fields that a generic term is the only one that will suffice. Let's not reduce art, criticism, journalism, etc. to an undifferentiated smear of Stuff.
November 24, 2025 at 1:24 AM
*STRONGLY* Agee. Worked hard not to do this in class this year. "Content" elides the work and focuses on the box that it's filling. It's an unironic "say we make widgets" for corpos.
Reposted by Marie Brennan
Yes, please. The word "content" reduces complex art and discourse to a status that justifies their use as fodder for the "AI" maw.
And we should consider the phrase "content creator" offensive for that reason.
And we should consider the phrase "content creator" offensive for that reason.
Inspired by someone elsewhere, I hereby vow to try to avoid the terms "content" and "content creator," unless I *must* talk about work across so many fields that a generic term is the only one that will suffice. Let's not reduce art, criticism, journalism, etc. to an undifferentiated smear of Stuff.
November 23, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Yes, please. The word "content" reduces complex art and discourse to a status that justifies their use as fodder for the "AI" maw.
And we should consider the phrase "content creator" offensive for that reason.
And we should consider the phrase "content creator" offensive for that reason.
Reposted by Marie Brennan
1000x This. This term has demeaned the work of so many artists and reduced their labor to some kind of commodity 'content' whose value they can race to the bottom
Inspired by someone elsewhere, I hereby vow to try to avoid the terms "content" and "content creator," unless I *must* talk about work across so many fields that a generic term is the only one that will suffice. Let's not reduce art, criticism, journalism, etc. to an undifferentiated smear of Stuff.
November 23, 2025 at 9:58 PM
1000x This. This term has demeaned the work of so many artists and reduced their labor to some kind of commodity 'content' whose value they can race to the bottom