Spec fic writer and digital artist. Publishes under R. J. Howell. Stonecoast MFA grad. Codex, SFWA. Queer. She/her. rjhowell.com/
Because I've been a bit distracted, the release completely slipped me by, but "Be Like Magic" is out from The Lorelei Signal, and with a gorgeous illustration to boot! Story is free to read online, and while you're there, why not check out the rest of the issue? www.loreleisignal.com/be-like-magic
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Moar bread! Deceptively, there are the remains of three loaves here, not two. (I was doing a bake your own bread presentation thing at work where I taught people to make the dough. Which is why there is so, so much bread.)
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Bread! 2.0.
2.0 looks (and feels) a lot better than 1.0. 1.0 was very dense. 2.0 is airy. I think 1.0 was undercooked OR didn't sit long enough for the second rise. It's very, um. Squat.
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Yeah, couldn't wait. Next time, doing an egg wash on top for the finishing touch.
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And now, it rests. (For about 6-12 hours)
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The bread rises. Soon, I shall have sandwich bread. Soon, we shall discover if, once more, I made bread that could double as a blunt weapon. I have a problem with dense bread. Doesn't seem to matter if I underknead it, overknead it, do it by hand, do it with the machine...
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New short story promo cards have arrived!
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This is very true. I've sadly lost connection with most of my MFA cohort and my in person writers' group; Covid and general life stuff has not been kind to my writerly community.
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I am, yeah, though more so toward October onward due to the expense of Worldcon. International travel is not kind to either my bank account or my accrued vacation days.
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I'd be open to online if there was a big focus on community-building, though. The medium isn't that important. It's just that I've noticed that it was the in person ones that led to long term friendships, and the online have been mostly transactional.
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Desperately. I've done online ones but it seems to mostly be, people show up for the Zoom session, get what they want, and leave, and we never speak again. If online leads to CPs and writer friends, I have not been so lucky.
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Ah, well. That was unexpectedly crushing. I'd been hoping to get into Viable Paradise, but it is not to be.
Okay, I'd been /really hoping/ to meet other writers and find a new community, since most of mine did not weather Covid well and I feel very alone and adrift.
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Update on the cobbler! 'Twas delicious.
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Ooh! I adore raspberry sauce/puree and cheesecake. That tart-and-tangy combo is perfection.
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Bought a container of Michigan raspberries at a farmers' market outside my work this afternoon, but raspberries have a terrible shelf life and these, being freshly picked and sitting in the sun for a few hours, wouldn't last. Thus, three individual raspberry cobblers!
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I had a short story come out today in Worlds of Possibility! This story is about a little dragon and their friends.
There's a bunch of awesome stories by amazing authors in it, too!
Subscribe or get your single issue here: www.juliarios.com/introducing-...
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Reposted by Rhiannon J. Taylor/R. J. Howell
I have a story out today in the latest issue of Worlds of Possibility! "A Hint of Cinnamon, a Whiff of Mint" is about love, and fudge, and secrets, and octopi. I hope everyone enjoys it!
Get your copy here:
www.patreon.com/juliarios/sh...
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Reposted by Rhiannon J. Taylor/R. J. Howell
With stories, poems, and art from @mytherea.bsky.social, @jennreese.bsky.social, @priyajsridhar.bsky.social, @stephanieburgis.bsky.social, @adriabailton.bsky.social, @acsaville.bsky.social, @ianli.bsky.social, Devin Miller, Joshua Gage, and Lena Ng!
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My poem "A Rahokan's Gem" is also in this issue of Worlds of Possibility, alongside talented writers like @adriabailton.bsky.social, @mytherea.bsky.social, @swantower.bsky.social, and many more! Kudos to @omgjulia.bsky.social for their beautiful work putting this together
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"Little Known Facts About Dragons" is out today in Worlds of Possibility!
Subscribe or get your single issue here: www.juliarios.com/introducing-...
I hope everyone enjoys this little story about a little dragon!
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www.patreon.com/juliarios/sh...
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And "Princess Mildred and the Dragon" is live! Check out the new Worlds of Possibility issue that's crammed full of dragons and beaches...or beachy dragons? Dragon-y beaches? Anyhoo! Link below to the single issue, though there's also a subscription available to secure future issues too!
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Print copies!
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Yee! Luna Station Quarterly 058 is out and includes my story "37 Seconds to Say Goodbye"! A tale of time loops and Shakespeare and how even death can become pretty monotonous once you've done it enough times. Oh, and bad limericks.
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It is raining. They are most distrustful of this "outside" business.
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Hah! I will say, it's right about writers banding together and uplifting each other. I see it all the time when I'm selling anthologies at conventions, where we all learn what everyone writes and if we get a customer looking for a thing we don't have but someone else does, recommend each other.
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Well, that's a rather demoralizing read. Fascinating though, despite my dismay.
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73k, and a whole bunch of unpleasant revelations have just dropped (not the worst--I almost added one and realized that it'd be just TOO many and I should keep a few. For the future. Mwahaha). Anyhoo, everyone is now reunited. Onward! To Gev trying to wrangle cats in the form of a political council.
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gwyllionmagazine.com/product/gwyl...
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gwyllionmagazine.com/product/gwyl...
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"On the Road to Lemenfort" has been published by Gwyllion Magazine in all its punny glory! Join Lady Mirabella Pelfoy as she encounters a reluctant hero hiding from the call to adventure via a loophole in the narrative, dodging their mutual enemy's errant plot-hooks and thematically ironic wiles...
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Contract signed! "Princess Mildred and the Dragon" has found a home! That brings my total to 5 sales in 2024! Yee!
I need to finish noveling so I can write some new short fic. My roster is running low (for the best reason).
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70k! Imet realizes his prophecy has met a terrible fate: editing by committee. His thirty stanza masterpiece has been pared down—the horror!—to two lines. Two...painfully vague...and dismayingly aspirational lines. No wonder it's been pending for 800 years, it's now almost impossible to fulfill...
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LAST DAY for shirts. Not a lot of orders and this really ends today, so if you can, decide if this is the Cool I Support Bold Indie Presses Fashion Club you want to be in. pogo.undergroundshirts.com/collections/...
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The clothing shop is not critical! but it ends in **Two Days** and these clothes are beautiful and I'm stressed about not meeting minimums. I would be VERY grateful for any joyful shares of this link, which I'll repost. Snuggly Graystick pants? Mmm? pogo.undergroundshirts.com/collections/... (7/12)
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'Nother sale, 'nother sale! That brings my total to three in 2024! Yee!
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Been a bit, but 55k! Admittedly, I'm moving rather slower these past weeks cuz I'm currently working two jobs as I shift from one to the other, 6 days a week, with one too many work days clocking 12 hours. It's cutting into writing time. But! I've managed to eke out 15k here and there.
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Darlings, write that book.
Ignore the 'not selling' rhetoric.
Write the book.
Write your fix-up novels or your trashy book or your serious historical epic or your barely-disguised autobiography or your pew-pew SF.
The people who love books depend on you.
Do not fail them.
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Thank you!
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Put in my application for Viable Paradise today. I...didn't think I could ever afford it if I made it in, so never applied, but shockingly, the new job pays enough that it's feasible now, so I went for it! We shall see!
Being paid an actual salary that isn't at or under the poverty line is a trip.
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Ah, but I do have a soft spot for quartets.
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And home from Minneapolis! Minicon was wonderful and I shall be returning next year (bar unforseen disaster). Had a blast last year, had a blast this year, probably will continue to do so in future. However, I am now very tired, and tomorrow is the first shift of my new job. So off to sleep I go.
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Setup done! Minicon, ahoy! And already made a sale, and the author alley hasn't even opened yet. ('Twas to a friend.)
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On my way to Minneapolis early in this morn for Minicon!
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Woo! 40k! Mandate is going a bit slower than Exile and Incarnate (I think by this time last year, I was 70k into Incarnate), but that's all right. In a way, I almost want that lower word count, since there's quite a bit to get through in this book and I'm still in setup. Omesu chapter though!
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34k! At last, it's the Omesu chapter! Which was unfortunately delayed by needing to break up the previous chapter for pacing and to avoid information overload. Writing a third book is interestingly tricky. I have two novels of established content to juggle while also introducing a slew of new stuff.
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...yes, Microsoft Word, 'trepidatious' is a word, but I guess I'll go with 'apprehensive' to make you happy.
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27k! Imet is trying so hard to be personable and, really, just a nice--if somewhat suicidal and utterly terrifying--god-man whose hands are tied and can we please just, y'know, fulfill that prophecy? Gev can't quite figure out why he has a bad feeling about this...
(Next chapter: Omesu returns!)
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This is your semi-regular reminder from your science fiction auntie that you're allowed to just put stuff in your art because you like it.
I mean, you have to make it work once you do that. But you're totally allowed to work around stuff you like rather than stuff you think other people like.
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22k! Technically, this update should have been yesterday, but hey. Yesterday was complicated. ANYWAY. Living gods are utterly terrifying. Gev has the unpleasant revelation that these temple folks are messing with powers they don't comprehend and can barely control. Leaning into the horror here! 😈
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