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A.M. Tuomala

@amtuomala.bsky.social

400 followers 140 following 1.7K posts

Author of fantasy novels about language nerds, dragonslayers, and roaming geologists. Pronouns are xie or zie/hir. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/amtuomala Website: https://amtuomala.com/

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · Oct 3

Hello to anyone new! I write fantasy stories about loving broken things. My most recent book was The Map and the Territory, a post-apocalyptic picaresque about a cartographer and a wizard trying to get home in a shattered world haunted by a death goddess.

The cover of the book The Map and the Territory, which depicts two people standing back to back. One of them is a tall Black man in elaborate wizardly robes, and the other is a short woman with brown skin who wears practical clothes for adventuring.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 6h

Even the world that you've observed needs to be built on the page; you're always making choices about what aspects to display, emphasize, or subvert. Those choices enable your themes and character development to land. Your characters' decisions are only meaningful in the context of that built world.

A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 6h

Finished reading A House with Good Bones today, and I'm thinking about how much worldbuilding there is undergirding the action--not just the magic and monsters. So many quiet structures of what it means to be family, to have a home, to be a neighbor, to be a guest or a host, to be from the South.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 7h

(And, I can't stress this enough--follow that joy EVEN IF IT DOES NOT LEAD SOMEWHERE MARKETABLE. There are a million ways of making money, but when you're coming out of depression or burnout, there are so few ways of making joy.)

A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 7h

When your capacity for joy starts to come back, it may return to you in a different shape from what you remember. You may find yourself drawn to writing banter when you used to write lyrical prose. You may find that acrylics call to you when you used to be a digital artist. Even so--follow that joy.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 7h

Without the signal of pleasure, it's difficult to know when you're patiently giving yourself space to return to your creative pursuits, and when you're forcing yourself to create. The best thing to do is to keep being curious: is there joy in this? Where does that joy live? What feels best to do?

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 7h

Some good conversations here today about making art as in itself a joy and pleasure. I just want to add--if you're experiencing burnout, depression, or anhedonia, creating may not feel pleasurable right now, even if at one time it did. That doesn't mean it never will again.

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megasoups.bsky.social @megasoups.bsky.social · 14h

KOSA just got a bunch of new cosponsors so, y'all, kindly tell them to knock it the fuck off.
Make this bill unpassable for the sake of keeping the open internet, enough of this censorship BS and "protect the children" excuses.

#savespeech #KOSA #stopkosa

www.govtrack.us/congress/bil...

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 12h

Had a migraine nap and dreamed up some brand new worldbuilding for the universe of The Map and the Territory; even when I'm unconscious, I am quite literally always trying to think up new things to do with gods

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Theo @theokane.bsky.social · 15h

Read my essay in @uncannymagazine.bsky.social for free — Solace in Fantasy Monster Romances and My Trans Body www.uncannymagazine.com/article/sola...

Thanks to Michael and the team for making this happen, and my friend James for their early feedback. 🏳️‍⚧️💕 #Romancelandia

Solace in Fantasy Monster Romances and My Trans Body - Uncanny Magazine

In July 2022, I lay in bed recovering from gender-affirming bottom surgery.1 Outside of two modest earlobe piercings, I’d never permanently changed my body before; to finally feel in control of my own...

www.uncannymagazine.com

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Alex Larkspur 💛 Queer Fantasy @applesncinnamon.bsky.social · 17h

If you enjoyed Sweet & Wild, you should read:

- Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
- Bookshop & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (or so I've been told!)
- The Faerie Hounds of York by Arden Powell (If you liked S&W's ending!)

Ian Haramaki 🏳️‍⚧️✨ @cometkins.bsky.social · 20h

What books should people be reading if they enjoy yourself? Shout them out! #WritingPrompt

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John Joseph Adams @johnjosephadams.com · 17h

"The Tale of Mahliya and Mauhub and the White-Footed Gazelle" by Sofia Samatar, from THE STARLIT WOOD anthology (2016) [later reprinted in LIGHTSPEED: www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/tale... ]

The Tale of Mahliya and Mauhub and the White-Footed Gazelle - Lightspeed Magazine

This story is at least a thousand years old. Its complete title is “The Tale of Mahliya and Mauhub and the White-Footed Gazelle: It Contains Strange and Marvelous Things.” A single copy, probably prod...

www.lightspeedmagazine.com

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John Joseph Adams @johnjosephadams.com · 16h

We also just published "Aperion" by Cadwell last month in LIGHTSPEED www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/apei...

Apeiron - Lightspeed Magazine

Outside the cabin, there was snow. There had always been snow, far as the eye could see, and further still. It might be true that the snow extended forever in every direction, sitting heavy on mountai...

www.lightspeedmagazine.com

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John Joseph Adams @johnjosephadams.com · 16h

We also just published "Last Meal Aboard the Awassa" by Kel in September, in LIGHTSPEED www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/last...

Last Meal Aboard the Awassa - Lightspeed Magazine

Gardener ladled dark-purple porridge into her primary digestion sac, staring absently out the viewport at black space and the distant smudge of the planet they had come to study. The simple meal and t...

www.lightspeedmagazine.com

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John Joseph Adams @johnjosephadams.com · 17h

Since it's Black Speculative Fiction Month, I thought I'd share a story I love by a Black author each day. Since I'm starting 10 days in, I'll post a bunch to catch up. I'm going to do 15 from the Top 80 of Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy and 15 from Lightspeed/Nightmare.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 14h

CONGRATULATIONS! May the long tail bless you with many dollars yet to come. 💚

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Sarah Faber @sciencebanshee.bsky.social · 15h

I really gave this the business, and so can you!

A lot of the questions are VERY "hey, person who *loves* AI, how can we, a government who *loves* AI, make sure companies who *also love* AI come to Canada to do trickledown economics?"

Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel) @nicomaramckay.com · 2d

Canadians: The federal government is seeking public input on how AI should be developed and used in business, research, and the military.

If this scares the shit out of you, please let them know:

Help define the next chapter of Canada's AI leadership

Current status: Open from October 1 to October 31, 2025 Canada helped invent modern AI. To stay a leader—and protect our digital sovereignty—we're running a 30-day national sprint to shape a renewed...

ised-isde.canada.ca

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Tyler, from the Internet @tylerfromtheinternet.com · 17h

We pick up the work, we continue the work, we do not give up the work 🫡

Dr. Johnathan Flowers, Blade Wielding Bisexual (Lordean arc) @shengokai.blacksky.app · 17h

Since Link is banned, his mutual aid Fridays have gone with him. This was one of the most altruistic things I’ve seen anyone on this site do.

In light of this, I’m gonna try to fill the gap.

Drop your mutual aid requests under this thread and I will repost them for as long as I can.

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Apex Magazine (is funding for 2026!) 🎉 @apexmag.bsky.social · 2d

WE'RE 30% FUNDED!! 🎉🎉🎉 Apex will be open to nonfiction pitches FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! ✨

Want to unlock the next chapter of Apex? Please consider backing our Kickstarter and help us keep publishing the strange, surreal, shocking, beautiful stories you love!

Apex Magazine 2026

An award-winning digital literary magazine of science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror.

www.kickstarter.com

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

I need you to understand that if you think you are a nobody in SFF, I have likely drunkenly ranted to my wife about how ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL you are as a loadbearing member of the genre community

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Premee Mohamed @premeemohamed.com · 1d

Oh also! (I did not know this was announced, haha.) :D

See you online next year for WisCon!

WisCon on Bluesky @wiscon.bsky.social · 5d

Introducing our next Guest of Honor: Nebula Award Winning Author Premee Mohamed!
#WisCon2026 #Wiscon #premeemohamed #WisCONline2026

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · Jun 16

The frustrating thing is. Sometimes the story of your heart is not shaped like the story a publisher is looking for. And while you may find your audience--the people who recognize that it is the story of their hearts, too--you will have to find them on your own.

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DannyAraya @dannyaraya.bsky.social · 1d

Creators, be less tasteful and more indulgent.

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Jae Koyanagi @jaekoyanagi.com · 1d

ASCENSION featured a sapphic polyamorous romance (a "V" rather than a triad) between two disaster lesbians and a bisexual doctor.

My current project's romance is monogamous, strangers to friends to lovers between a holy woman and a kind, dapper "monster" (Guillermo del Toro monster vibes).

Ian Haramaki 🏳️‍⚧️✨ @cometkins.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me about the Romance you’ve written! What is the pair/polycule like? What made them right for each other? How did they get there? #WritingPrompt

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

There's a surprisingly big market for those! "Cozy fantasy" is experiencing a groundswell right now.

For me, I enjoy worldbuilding! I could write landscapes and weather and mythology all day long. I am genuinely excited to think about foodways and what clothing is made of and how labor is divided.

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A.M. Tuomala @amtuomala.bsky.social · 1d

I like to write stories where nothing happens--I find it very restful. I like not having to worry about whether my characters have earned what they get. I like stories that are not rough drafts of a marketable thing that can be edited into shape; their final shape is inherently Not Marketable.

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