Author | Lightnews

Penny Walker

@pennywalker.bsky.social

120 followers 130 following 89 posts

Fiction writer, news editor, TV binger, overthinker. Rock chalk, forks up. Aka auntpeso. She/her. Work in Ninth Letter and the Sine Qua Non. Lots of photos of books and my grandkids on IG @auntpeso.

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Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Jul 2

My latest piece is out! “Badland,” in the inaugural issue of Sine Qua Non.

It is under 300 words — lit for the time-pressed. Would appreciate it if you gave it a read.

CW: Sexual assault.

(My story is on page 96, or 119/129 in the little flipper bar.)

sqtest.paperturn-view.com?pid=ODg88907...

SQN - Sine Qua Non - Issue 1 - Journal - Page 119

Sine Qua Non is not just a journal. It’s a literary revolt against the death of the author. Founded by a collective of writers and thinkers in Dallas, Texas, Sine Qua Non reclaims authorial intent as ...

sqtest.paperturn-view.com

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Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · 1d

The October book stack.

My favorite read of the month is in the second photo. Vampires and werewolves in space? Generational trauma? Not one but two slow-burn romances? Adorably enthusiastic spider bots?

What’s not to love?

A stack of books: “Frankenstein” by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, “Neuromancer” by William Gibson, “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” by Sangu Mandanna, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” by Michael Chabon, “Of Monsters and Mainframes” by Barbara Truelove, and “Far Enough: A Western in Fragments” by Joe Wilkins.

The book “Of Monsters and Mainframes” by Barbara Truelove.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · 4d

How you store your sunglasses on your person when not in use really puts you into a specific category.

Like, forget a sorting hat or being dauntless — my future postapocalyptic story will be organized by: tucked into collar, pushed to the top of head, worn backwards over the neck, stored in a case.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · 11d

The September book stack — delayed until I could get the physical copy of “This Inevitable Ruin” from the library. (I read the ebook last month but wanted to show off how huge that book is in the photo.)

A stack of books: “Exercises in Style” by Raymond Queneau, “The Golem of Brooklyn” by Adam Mansbach,
“This Inevitable Ruin” (Dungeon Cralwer Carl No. 7) by Matt Dinniman and “The World We Make” by N.K. Jemisin.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · 12d

This organ piece — the slowest and longest music piece ever — is being performed for 639 years in Halberstadt, Germany. (It began in 2001.)

It is a real thing, and yet I am absolutely convinced it's something from a @jasperfforde.bsky.social novel.

universes.art/en/specials/...

John Cage Organ Project in Halberstadt

ORGAN2/ASLSP, the slowest and longest music piece ever heard, is being performed for 639 years in Halberstadt, Germany. Information, photos, video with sound.

universes.art

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Sep 14

Probably true of very many endeavors …

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Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Sep 2

August book stack! Not many titles this month, but so many pages — 812 in that top book alone.

A stack of books: “The Eye of the Bedlam Bride” by Matt Dinniman, “Boy Swallows Universe” by Trent Dalton, “The City We Became” by N.K. Jemisin and “Into the Goblin Market” by Vikki VanSickle.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Aug 9

I clicked on one cold-brew-tea ad on Instagram and am now getting a bunch of different tea companies in my feed.

Not mad about it.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Aug 2

The July book stack. See photos 2 and 3 for my favorites.

A stack of books sits on a bed: “Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reid,
“This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch” by Tabitha Carvan, “Auē” by Becky Manawatu, “Upright Women Wanted” by Sarah Gailey, “Scream Queen” by Jeremy Griffin, “A Restless Truth” by Freya Marske, and “The Wishing Game” by Meg Shaffer.

The book “Scream Queen” by Jeremy Griffin.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Jul 30

How you can tell it’s still summer break/summer session: You go to the Panda Express on the edge of ASU’s Tempe campus in the noon hour and there are only two people in line in front of you.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Jul 2

SQN - Sine Qua Non - Issue 1 - Journal - Page 119

sqtest.paperturn-view.com

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Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Jul 1

June book stack.

Still really, really enjoying Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Only two more to go!

A stack of books: “Quiéreme” by Juliana Delgado Lopera, “This Thing Between Us” by Gus Moreno, “Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon” by Annie Mare, “The Shambling Guide to New York City” by Mur Lafferty, and “The Butcher’s Masquerade” by Matt Dinniman.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Jun 23

You're reading this on a digital device.

Lots of people — way more than you might think — don't have that ability. They might lack the internet, a computer, the know-how to utilize it, or all three.

This @arizonastateuni.bsky.social project is working to change that.

news.asu.edu/20250620-loc...

ASU-led project brings internet connection to thousands in Arizona | ASU News

Hunter Amerine, a recent Arizona State University graduate, was at his job teaching people how to use the internet a few weeks ago when a man walked in and asked for help with a job application.“A lot...

news.asu.edu

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Jun 21

A sign reads: Stevie said, “Don’t be a lady; be a legend.”

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Jun 9

The May book stack.

Books in a nook in a dark gray wall: “The Gate of the Feral Gods” (Dungeon Crawler Carl No. 4) by Matt Dinniman, The Keeper of Lost Things” by Ruth Hogan,” “Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts” by Rebecca Hall (illustrated by Hugo Martínez), “The Sentence” by Louise Erdich, “1,000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused and Productive All Year Round” by Jami Attenberg, and “Conjure Women” by Afia Atakora.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · May 29

Curious if you're using Word docs for that, or how you organize/wrangle all the different files ...

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Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · May 29

Hey, worldbuilders: @arizonastateuni.bsky.social researchers have put together a guidebook that blends biology with fantasy to help creators build more believable fictional worlds and answer questions like: Just how much food would a 5,000-pound dragon need to survive?

news.asu.edu/20250528-sci...

ASU researchers blend biology, fantasy in world-building guidebook | ASU News

Evolution may be the ultimate novelist.Through genes, generations and different environments, it spins characters, conflicts and adaptations.For gamers, fantasy writers and other creators of imaginary...

news.asu.edu

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · May 6

Stepped away from the doomscrolling to juice the last of the oranges from our tree. (There’s more in the fridge.)

You know spring in the desert is at its end when the oranges are all gone.

A glass full of bright orange juice sits on a counter.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · May 5

The April book stack — all read in the final two weeks of the month. (Three cheers for breaking the reading slump!)

A stack of books: “The Night Guest” by Hildur Knútsdóttir, “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt,
“Dungeon Crawler Carl” by Matt Dinniman, “Carl’s Doomsday Scenario” by Matt Dinniman, and “The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook” by Matt Dinniman.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Apr 12

Sometimes day-old pho is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Apr 9

If you've got "from left" in your caption, I promise you don't need "to right." There's nowhere else to go.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Mar 27

#bucharest

Light from a church window illuminates dusty ancient murals of various figures.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Mar 25

Dracula sure had a nice view. (Though of course, he would’ve only had the night view.)

A window set into a deep wall shows buildings with red tile roofs.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Mar 23

A rather tricky bowl to deal with after not having slept in 27 hours.

(I managed to get only the tiniest bit of that sauce on the pale tablecloth, though!)

A rigatoni ragu dish in a bowl whose wide lip is full of holes of various sizes, from tiny to dime-size.

Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Mar 9

February book stack — smaller this month as I find my pace slowing down.

My favorite from the month? The one on the top of the stack: “More Enduring for Having Been Broken” by Gwendolyn Paradice, one of the titles in last month’s subscription box from @blacklawrence.bsky.social.

A hand holds a stack of books: “Babel” by R.F. Kuang, “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead and “More Enduring for Having Been Broken” by Gwendolyn Paradice.

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Penny Walker @pennywalker.bsky.social · Mar 5

"How I view it is that every dollar spent on development and diplomacy is $10 we don’t have to spend on defense."
— Glen Goodman, interim executive director of ASU’s International Development Initiative.

via @sbordow.bsky.social

news.asu.edu/20250305-loc...

ASU's USAID projects provided economic benefits to US | ASU News

For more than a decade, Arizona State University has helped people around the world — and advanced interests in the United States at the same time — through its collaborative projects with the U.S. Ag...

news.asu.edu