Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
@gothgreenwitch.bsky.social
Writer, poet, editor, reviewer. @anathemamagazine.bsky.social co-founder. Publisher at @huldrahouse.bsky.social. Trans. (She/They)
https://kayaskovdatter.wordpress.com/
https://mathesonfreelancing.com/
https://www.huldrahouse.com
https://kayaskovdatter.wordpress.com/
https://mathesonfreelancing.com/
https://www.huldrahouse.com
Pinned
A bit behind time, but Bound by Blood and Bone is now live!
In which Aoife wanders lost, subject to the whims of a sinister forest's mistress. And a traitor's work bears pernicious fruit.
WLW horrorotica for just $1 USD from:
www.huldrahouse.com/shop/p/bound...
huldrahouse.itch.io/bound-by-blo...
In which Aoife wanders lost, subject to the whims of a sinister forest's mistress. And a traitor's work bears pernicious fruit.
WLW horrorotica for just $1 USD from:
www.huldrahouse.com/shop/p/bound...
huldrahouse.itch.io/bound-by-blo...
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Oh oh oh this is gooooood. Judge Wang ruled that communications about OpenAI deleting its pirated books databases are not protected by attorney-client privilege BECAUSE OpenAI tried to claim the reason they deleted them was "non-use." www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
OpenAI Loses Key Discovery Battle as It Cedes Ground to Authors in AI Lawsuits
The issue has been a major battleground in discovery. OpenAI could be on the hook for hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars if it was aware it was infringing on copyrighted material.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Oh oh oh this is gooooood. Judge Wang ruled that communications about OpenAI deleting its pirated books databases are not protected by attorney-client privilege BECAUSE OpenAI tried to claim the reason they deleted them was "non-use." www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Thank you to everyone who's shared & donated for your generosity. But support has fallen a lot. Please help Archita reach her goal and get some semblance of security in this terrible time for her and her mother. I'm the only one who's donated in 3 days:
Fellow Calcuttan writer/editor Archita Mittra is in desperate need of financial help. She recently lost her father, her home was damaged in the recent rains, & her mother's in hospital. They don't have insurance, & she's a freelancer. I can vouch for her. Please share widely & donate:
Donate to Help Archita and Her Mom Rebuild Their Lives, organized by tehseen baweja
Hey Everyone! My name is Tehseen and I publish an online magazine called T… tehseen baweja needs your support for Help Archita and Her Mom Rebuild Their Lives
www.gofundme.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Thank you to everyone who's shared & donated for your generosity. But support has fallen a lot. Please help Archita reach her goal and get some semblance of security in this terrible time for her and her mother. I'm the only one who's donated in 3 days:
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Remember your favorite creator possibly might be struggling with imposter syndrome and doubt and this timeline sucks.. so if you find yourself thinking “wow I really relate to this persons work” or that persons work gives you joy, you should probably tell them. It’s a hard time to be a creative.
November 26, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Remember your favorite creator possibly might be struggling with imposter syndrome and doubt and this timeline sucks.. so if you find yourself thinking “wow I really relate to this persons work” or that persons work gives you joy, you should probably tell them. It’s a hard time to be a creative.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
folks sticking their heads through the door and shouting "y'all still hate AI?" and getting sad when everyone screams "YES YOU FUCKER" is such a fun holiday game for the whole family.
November 26, 2025 at 10:29 PM
folks sticking their heads through the door and shouting "y'all still hate AI?" and getting sad when everyone screams "YES YOU FUCKER" is such a fun holiday game for the whole family.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
AND supporting your local library is super important! If you actually DO want books to be available to everyone, the library *already exists* and is staffed by the people who are deep in the trenches of fighting censorship! Supporting the library is doing actual good for your community!
TAPS SCREEN
For like the zillionth time: Libraries are FREE for you, but WE still get compensated for our work!!
For like the zillionth time: Libraries are FREE for you, but WE still get compensated for our work!!
Just saw someone claim that authors who want to be paid for their work are "class traitors" because we "only let the wealthy" read our books, and I think I need to go into the woods to scream into the night for a bit.
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
November 26, 2025 at 8:01 PM
AND supporting your local library is super important! If you actually DO want books to be available to everyone, the library *already exists* and is staffed by the people who are deep in the trenches of fighting censorship! Supporting the library is doing actual good for your community!
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Spoke with a source who told me the call volume is so high, a call center for both Mastercard & Visa is bringing out pizza and ice cream so agents don’t quite amid the rush. Long waits are causing dropped calls.
What you’re doing is working. Call MC & Visa.
What you’re doing is working. Call MC & Visa.
November 26, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Spoke with a source who told me the call volume is so high, a call center for both Mastercard & Visa is bringing out pizza and ice cream so agents don’t quite amid the rush. Long waits are causing dropped calls.
What you’re doing is working. Call MC & Visa.
What you’re doing is working. Call MC & Visa.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Hey, now this is a great indie to support! With 30% off until the 30th!!
Looking for gifts? Last minute #Novellavember reads? A rage-filled quest for justice to read surreptitiously on your phone at family gatherings? We've got you covered!
Get 30% off through November 30 with the coupon code shopsmall!
dancingstarpress.com/product-cate...
Get 30% off through November 30 with the coupon code shopsmall!
dancingstarpress.com/product-cate...
November 26, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Hey, now this is a great indie to support! With 30% off until the 30th!!
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
There are certain songs (and plays) that you can't even pay to quote a line from - that you need to pay for the entire thing. Low five figures to just quote from a play.
Source: I used to work in education study guides.
Source: I used to work in education study guides.
FYI: don't quote song lyrics in your books. This is not fan fiction where you can get away with that. Quoting someone else's intellectual property will get you sued.
November 26, 2025 at 9:55 PM
There are certain songs (and plays) that you can't even pay to quote a line from - that you need to pay for the entire thing. Low five figures to just quote from a play.
Source: I used to work in education study guides.
Source: I used to work in education study guides.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
YEP.
30 year old man + girl child = *gross justifications*
30 year old man + boy child = hideous deviant
30 year old woman + boy child = lucky kid
burn it all down
30 year old man + boy child = hideous deviant
30 year old woman + boy child = lucky kid
burn it all down
November 26, 2025 at 9:56 PM
YEP.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
There’s a reason when I talk and write about writing screenplays, I talk about the *craft* and not the industry. I can write a very compelling screenplay and coach others to do so. But you learn very quickly succeeding the industry has almost nothing to do with how good your script is.
Said with love but there is a tone deafness in the "just write your spec!" advice that seems to be totally ignored in the current climate.
It works if you're repped. If reps are taking new clients. If places are buying A LOT. If rooms are staffing unknowns/lower levels. If not? It's a platitude.
It works if you're repped. If reps are taking new clients. If places are buying A LOT. If rooms are staffing unknowns/lower levels. If not? It's a platitude.
November 26, 2025 at 9:45 PM
There’s a reason when I talk and write about writing screenplays, I talk about the *craft* and not the industry. I can write a very compelling screenplay and coach others to do so. But you learn very quickly succeeding the industry has almost nothing to do with how good your script is.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
They say nothing good comes from hate, but when I see artists hating on AI, it makes me immediately like them and want to check out their work.
November 26, 2025 at 9:11 PM
They say nothing good comes from hate, but when I see artists hating on AI, it makes me immediately like them and want to check out their work.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Cis folks: Shouldn't have to say this, but do not, under any circumstances, refer to a trans person's deadname as their "real name." Whether it has been legally changed or not. For fuck sake.
November 26, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Cis folks: Shouldn't have to say this, but do not, under any circumstances, refer to a trans person's deadname as their "real name." Whether it has been legally changed or not. For fuck sake.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
November 26, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
*Always* tell authors when you like their stuff.
It's an emotional high that we'll ride for days.
Brought to you by someone who liked my book
It's an emotional high that we'll ride for days.
Brought to you by someone who liked my book
November 26, 2025 at 5:24 PM
*Always* tell authors when you like their stuff.
It's an emotional high that we'll ride for days.
Brought to you by someone who liked my book
It's an emotional high that we'll ride for days.
Brought to you by someone who liked my book
Okay, that feels like enough rejections of various projects for one day. This afternoon could definitely do with an acceptance or two to balance things out... :/
November 26, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Okay, that feels like enough rejections of various projects for one day. This afternoon could definitely do with an acceptance or two to balance things out... :/
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
I think "class traitors" is up there with "idea landlords" on the reality disconnect scale.
Just saw someone claim that authors who want to be paid for their work are "class traitors" because we "only let the wealthy" read our books, and I think I need to go into the woods to scream into the night for a bit.
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
November 26, 2025 at 3:37 PM
I think "class traitors" is up there with "idea landlords" on the reality disconnect scale.
This is a fantastic thread on the fiscal realities of trad pub books:
I'm going to do a little thread on how the money from books works for traditionally published authors because people have questions, and this is always useful info to share IMO. First, a big disclaimer that every contract is different, and there are a million factors that can change things. 1/
November 26, 2025 at 3:09 PM
This is a fantastic thread on the fiscal realities of trad pub books:
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Just saw someone claim that authors who want to be paid for their work are "class traitors" because we "only let the wealthy" read our books, and I think I need to go into the woods to scream into the night for a bit.
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
November 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Just saw someone claim that authors who want to be paid for their work are "class traitors" because we "only let the wealthy" read our books, and I think I need to go into the woods to scream into the night for a bit.
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
It's $5, not your first-born child! I need that $5 for health insurance!
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Don’t pirate books! And if you do, stfu about it and stop pretending it’s some kind of moral or Marxist or revolutionary stance. Just be brave and own the fact that you don’t care that you are a thief who doesn’t care about artists.
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 26, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Don’t pirate books! And if you do, stfu about it and stop pretending it’s some kind of moral or Marxist or revolutionary stance. Just be brave and own the fact that you don’t care that you are a thief who doesn’t care about artists.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
Grieving the living is always painful, and in some situations this is more true than others, esp when the world around you burns
@amalelmohtar.com wrote an incredible reflection on it
@amalelmohtar.com wrote an incredible reflection on it
Today's Love Letter is a stunning meditation on birdwatching and the loss of a friendship, from the one and only @amalelmohtar.com
stone-soup.ghost.io/love-letter-...
stone-soup.ghost.io/love-letter-...
Why I Need the Birds
A Love Letters Feature by Amal El-Mohtar - November 2025
stone-soup.ghost.io
November 26, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Grieving the living is always painful, and in some situations this is more true than others, esp when the world around you burns
@amalelmohtar.com wrote an incredible reflection on it
@amalelmohtar.com wrote an incredible reflection on it
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
In general, queer games have had a lot of trouble on steam. There’s a bunch of anime titty porn games but anything dealing with themes of exploitation and abuse with any sort of queer coding get axed. It’s an obvious double standard, they ain’t slick.
November 26, 2025 at 1:41 PM
In general, queer games have had a lot of trouble on steam. There’s a bunch of anime titty porn games but anything dealing with themes of exploitation and abuse with any sort of queer coding get axed. It’s an obvious double standard, they ain’t slick.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
My genuine advice to people who want new releases fresh from the oven is become a reviewer and get arcs. Then you get to be ahead of everybody.
You do kinda have to get along with authors for this to work the best that it can tho.
You do kinda have to get along with authors for this to work the best that it can tho.
"I have to pirate because I'm on a fixed income, otherwise I am ALIENATED FROM POP CULTURE."
stg I feel like I'm having a stroke with this app, I gotta put Freedom back up and pretend it doesn't exist.
Is this a thing? Do people need to all engage with the same entertainment at the same time?
stg I feel like I'm having a stroke with this app, I gotta put Freedom back up and pretend it doesn't exist.
Is this a thing? Do people need to all engage with the same entertainment at the same time?
November 26, 2025 at 3:00 AM
My genuine advice to people who want new releases fresh from the oven is become a reviewer and get arcs. Then you get to be ahead of everybody.
You do kinda have to get along with authors for this to work the best that it can tho.
You do kinda have to get along with authors for this to work the best that it can tho.
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽
Literally buying one copy of a book at your local indie bookstore can mean the difference in whether they buy future books from that author.
November 26, 2025 at 1:54 AM
👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽
Reposted by Kaya Skovdatter 🏳️⚧️ (She/They)
almost every novelist you read who's not from the airport fiction or bestseller sections is working a full on day job, including multi-award winners and absolute legends, or they have a spouse or trust that supports them. virtually across the board. just normalize in your mind that's how it works.
I know we know this, but authors need to get better at talking about how they actually make their money. Stop pretending it's from the books.
November 25, 2025 at 10:35 PM
almost every novelist you read who's not from the airport fiction or bestseller sections is working a full on day job, including multi-award winners and absolute legends, or they have a spouse or trust that supports them. virtually across the board. just normalize in your mind that's how it works.