DK Latta
@dklatta.bsky.social
I write sometimes: F/SF/H/Myst &, when I can, superheroes! Tweets a mix of self-promotion, pop cultural musings, whimsy, politics. Older than I used to be.
http://www.pulpanddagger.com/dk_latta.html
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=dk+latta&crid=3MO9V7TS40KDB&spr
http://www.pulpanddagger.com/dk_latta.html
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=dk+latta&crid=3MO9V7TS40KDB&spr
Pinned
DK Latta
@dklatta.bsky.social
· Sep 30
Strange Horizons turns 25 this year, which is pretty much an eternity in the world of spec fic zines, and I had the privilege of going through the archives for a special short fiction roundup: 2 x 25 Gems from Strange Horizons’ Archives
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
A Short Fiction Treasures Special: 2 x 25 Gems from Strange Horizons’ Archives
Going through the archives of Strange Horizons for this special column has been a bit like exploring a treasure chamber. I’ve picked fifty stories. I could have picked hundreds. Meaning: I left a l…
strangehorizons.com
Probably shouldn't say but...God, I needed this; us little writers don't expect fame/fortune, but thrive on the crumbs of kind words :)
"What I particularly love about it is how Latta fits such carefully drawn characters and so much subtle emotion into a very action-packed short story." ~M. Haskins
"What I particularly love about it is how Latta fits such carefully drawn characters and so much subtle emotion into a very action-packed short story." ~M. Haskins
Apropos my prev post (about pub rejections): I occasionally send out superhero-themed stories; get rejected.
Here's the thing: a lot of #SFF mags *say* they accept all genres "including superheroes"...but I rarely see 'em publish that genre.
So: bad story or just an editorial brick wall? Dunno.
Here's the thing: a lot of #SFF mags *say* they accept all genres "including superheroes"...but I rarely see 'em publish that genre.
So: bad story or just an editorial brick wall? Dunno.
November 27, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Apropos my prev post (about pub rejections): I occasionally send out superhero-themed stories; get rejected.
Here's the thing: a lot of #SFF mags *say* they accept all genres "including superheroes"...but I rarely see 'em publish that genre.
So: bad story or just an editorial brick wall? Dunno.
Here's the thing: a lot of #SFF mags *say* they accept all genres "including superheroes"...but I rarely see 'em publish that genre.
So: bad story or just an editorial brick wall? Dunno.
Thinking about a story rejected multiple times (even once by an ed who basically implied it was unpublishable without a total rewrite).
Finally found a mag that accepted it.
Came across TWO subsequent reviews that cited that story as a fav (of that issue; another of stories they read recently)
Finally found a mag that accepted it.
Came across TWO subsequent reviews that cited that story as a fav (of that issue; another of stories they read recently)
I've said before the big frustration in story rejects is not knowing if:
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
November 27, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Thinking about a story rejected multiple times (even once by an ed who basically implied it was unpublishable without a total rewrite).
Finally found a mag that accepted it.
Came across TWO subsequent reviews that cited that story as a fav (of that issue; another of stories they read recently)
Finally found a mag that accepted it.
Came across TWO subsequent reviews that cited that story as a fav (of that issue; another of stories they read recently)
I've said before the big frustration in story rejects is not knowing if:
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
November 27, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I've said before the big frustration in story rejects is not knowing if:
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
1) it's not good but fixable/worth working on
2) not good. forget it.
3) perfectly publishable just not that fresh/exceptional
4) good/great but too outre/not what the eds looking for
Keep subbing it or bench it? how to know?
An example of my half-asleep imaginings?:
Cara Gee, Shawn Doyle, Kristin Kreuk, Terry Chen (why those 4? Who knows) Investigating some sort of empty haunted house. History and tension between them. While waiting in an empty room (for ghosts and/or hiding from ghosts) they decide to play Can-Do. 1/4
Cara Gee, Shawn Doyle, Kristin Kreuk, Terry Chen (why those 4? Who knows) Investigating some sort of empty haunted house. History and tension between them. While waiting in an empty room (for ghosts and/or hiding from ghosts) they decide to play Can-Do. 1/4
I often "cast" actors when reading or just whimsically imagine plots/scenes. Probably lots do that (tho I as I get older I think maybe my brain runs like a hamster on a wheel!)
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
November 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
An example of my half-asleep imaginings?:
Cara Gee, Shawn Doyle, Kristin Kreuk, Terry Chen (why those 4? Who knows) Investigating some sort of empty haunted house. History and tension between them. While waiting in an empty room (for ghosts and/or hiding from ghosts) they decide to play Can-Do. 1/4
Cara Gee, Shawn Doyle, Kristin Kreuk, Terry Chen (why those 4? Who knows) Investigating some sort of empty haunted house. History and tension between them. While waiting in an empty room (for ghosts and/or hiding from ghosts) they decide to play Can-Do. 1/4
I often "cast" actors when reading or just whimsically imagine plots/scenes. Probably lots do that (tho I as I get older I think maybe my brain runs like a hamster on a wheel!)
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
November 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I often "cast" actors when reading or just whimsically imagine plots/scenes. Probably lots do that (tho I as I get older I think maybe my brain runs like a hamster on a wheel!)
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
Point is: 90% time I cast Canadian actors.
Sooo many CDN actors have no idea of movies they've starred in...in my brain
lol
Predator (1987): first time we saw it, my brother and I felt the jokes Hawkins tells seem...weird, unfunny & tonally not like the rest of the script (vulgar and kind of misogynist) and directed oddly, as if shoe-horned into the moment. Knowing (now) Shane Black became a writer I wonder if he...
1/2
1/2
Thinking I'll post random thoughts on old movies/TV/etc - even if I suspect it's probably been discussed/litigated by fans (but I've never read):
Thinking about my suspicion the scene in Rise of Skywalker with the horses on the star destroyer was originally written for Rose & the beasts from TLJ
Thinking about my suspicion the scene in Rise of Skywalker with the horses on the star destroyer was originally written for Rose & the beasts from TLJ
November 26, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Predator (1987): first time we saw it, my brother and I felt the jokes Hawkins tells seem...weird, unfunny & tonally not like the rest of the script (vulgar and kind of misogynist) and directed oddly, as if shoe-horned into the moment. Knowing (now) Shane Black became a writer I wonder if he...
1/2
1/2
My brother saying a story of mine: "Is so good, it's like it's not your writing." lol
More seriously: one ed saying a rewrite "blew him away" and another saying my style had a "dry wryness" which I should tattoo on my body ('cause I think it sums up a lot of my style, or attempts at anyway)
More seriously: one ed saying a rewrite "blew him away" and another saying my style had a "dry wryness" which I should tattoo on my body ('cause I think it sums up a lot of my style, or attempts at anyway)
What is the best compliment you ever received? Putting aside whether or not you believed it.
November 26, 2025 at 3:57 PM
My brother saying a story of mine: "Is so good, it's like it's not your writing." lol
More seriously: one ed saying a rewrite "blew him away" and another saying my style had a "dry wryness" which I should tattoo on my body ('cause I think it sums up a lot of my style, or attempts at anyway)
More seriously: one ed saying a rewrite "blew him away" and another saying my style had a "dry wryness" which I should tattoo on my body ('cause I think it sums up a lot of my style, or attempts at anyway)
Listening to a BBC Radio play, "Auguste Levasseur - Chefs des Clacquers", a melodrama set in the world of 19th C professional applauders/jeerers and thinking how it sounds a lot like today with people review-bombing review sites and social media "influencers."
Le plus ca change....eh?
1/2
Le plus ca change....eh?
1/2
November 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Listening to a BBC Radio play, "Auguste Levasseur - Chefs des Clacquers", a melodrama set in the world of 19th C professional applauders/jeerers and thinking how it sounds a lot like today with people review-bombing review sites and social media "influencers."
Le plus ca change....eh?
1/2
Le plus ca change....eh?
1/2
Reposted by DK Latta
Reposted by DK Latta
Yes, and also recognize that with creative fields, survivorship bias is real: You hear about full-time creatives with envious career arcs precisely because they've survived in the field where others (for whatever reason and independent of quality of work) have not. This is an important fact.
Would-be/struggling writers can feel like losers or wannabes when they read about other writers writing "full time" or promo'ing their book in various exotic cities. And it's good to recognize that, yeah, sometimes there's another income (or a spouse is helping to pay the bills).
November 26, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Yes, and also recognize that with creative fields, survivorship bias is real: You hear about full-time creatives with envious career arcs precisely because they've survived in the field where others (for whatever reason and independent of quality of work) have not. This is an important fact.
Thinking I'll post random thoughts on old movies/TV/etc - even if I suspect it's probably been discussed/litigated by fans (but I've never read):
Thinking about my suspicion the scene in Rise of Skywalker with the horses on the star destroyer was originally written for Rose & the beasts from TLJ
Thinking about my suspicion the scene in Rise of Skywalker with the horses on the star destroyer was originally written for Rose & the beasts from TLJ
November 26, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Thinking I'll post random thoughts on old movies/TV/etc - even if I suspect it's probably been discussed/litigated by fans (but I've never read):
Thinking about my suspicion the scene in Rise of Skywalker with the horses on the star destroyer was originally written for Rose & the beasts from TLJ
Thinking about my suspicion the scene in Rise of Skywalker with the horses on the star destroyer was originally written for Rose & the beasts from TLJ
Reposted by DK Latta
A little chat with the world.
November 25, 2025 at 6:13 PM
A little chat with the world.
Reposted by DK Latta
This fucking timeline, I tell ya. The gutter. The dumpster. The dirtiest asscrack of humanity.
I teased this last night in What I’m Hearing but now confirmed: Paramount WILL release Rush Hour 4 after prodding from Trump on behalf of Brett Ratner. Distribution deal. Producer Tarak Ben Ammar is lining up financing. Get ready for the dumbest possible state-controlled media.
November 25, 2025 at 5:56 PM
This fucking timeline, I tell ya. The gutter. The dumpster. The dirtiest asscrack of humanity.
“Why did they cut off the heads?” Meyer asks. “And what did they do with them?”
Not a question you really want to have to ask about fellow humans but here we are :(
Not a question you really want to have to ask about fellow humans but here we are :(
In addition to being a fascinating (if horrific) insight into a mostly-unknown period of European prehistory, this includes a BANGER of a quote: "I can see why all these people without heads wouldn’t be good for a community, and might be a cause for abandonment."
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:47 PM
“Why did they cut off the heads?” Meyer asks. “And what did they do with them?”
Not a question you really want to have to ask about fellow humans but here we are :(
Not a question you really want to have to ask about fellow humans but here we are :(
My magazine idea - initially it was whimsical: imagining an SFF anthology TV series (Canadian, of course! Lol) within a Star Trek-like milieu. Recycle ship sets/costumes, with a diff cast/characters. Some traditional adven; others with a mad Ahab captain; or everyone dies ala Alien. Etc. 1/6
I've an idea for a science fiction mag. Hypothetical (since I don't have resources) but be interested in floating it as an idea (given talk about publishing dires and SFF mags struggling); if people thought it had merit in terms of readers n writers.
Not sure I have reach to start convo tho
TBC
Not sure I have reach to start convo tho
TBC
November 25, 2025 at 5:30 PM
My magazine idea - initially it was whimsical: imagining an SFF anthology TV series (Canadian, of course! Lol) within a Star Trek-like milieu. Recycle ship sets/costumes, with a diff cast/characters. Some traditional adven; others with a mad Ahab captain; or everyone dies ala Alien. Etc. 1/6
SSF question (esp. re: TV/movies) is the whole idea of how *literally^ u take it?
As a kid I never assumed they were speaking English in Star Trek (tho I later realized they occasionally said so); but to many folk, if we heard Eng that meant they were speaking it. (Same argument when watching...1/3
As a kid I never assumed they were speaking English in Star Trek (tho I later realized they occasionally said so); but to many folk, if we heard Eng that meant they were speaking it. (Same argument when watching...1/3
November 25, 2025 at 5:06 PM
SSF question (esp. re: TV/movies) is the whole idea of how *literally^ u take it?
As a kid I never assumed they were speaking English in Star Trek (tho I later realized they occasionally said so); but to many folk, if we heard Eng that meant they were speaking it. (Same argument when watching...1/3
As a kid I never assumed they were speaking English in Star Trek (tho I later realized they occasionally said so); but to many folk, if we heard Eng that meant they were speaking it. (Same argument when watching...1/3
This question might even be neurological. It's like people who like slow-moving stories sneer at people who like things faster-paced as needing "jolts per min"; equally people who like faster-pace can suggest people who prefer slower pace need the story/themes belaboured
Who's right? Both? Neither?
Who's right? Both? Neither?
Do people like layers in stories?
If I read/watch a story that is, say, entirely characterization...I'm often bored.
If I read/watch/etc something entirely action...I'm often bored.
If I etc something entirely theme/moral/issue...I'm often bored.
To me a story should do ALL that simultaneously 1/2
If I read/watch a story that is, say, entirely characterization...I'm often bored.
If I read/watch/etc something entirely action...I'm often bored.
If I etc something entirely theme/moral/issue...I'm often bored.
To me a story should do ALL that simultaneously 1/2
November 25, 2025 at 3:41 PM
This question might even be neurological. It's like people who like slow-moving stories sneer at people who like things faster-paced as needing "jolts per min"; equally people who like faster-pace can suggest people who prefer slower pace need the story/themes belaboured
Who's right? Both? Neither?
Who's right? Both? Neither?
Do people like layers in stories?
If I read/watch a story that is, say, entirely characterization...I'm often bored.
If I read/watch/etc something entirely action...I'm often bored.
If I etc something entirely theme/moral/issue...I'm often bored.
To me a story should do ALL that simultaneously 1/2
If I read/watch a story that is, say, entirely characterization...I'm often bored.
If I read/watch/etc something entirely action...I'm often bored.
If I etc something entirely theme/moral/issue...I'm often bored.
To me a story should do ALL that simultaneously 1/2
November 25, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Do people like layers in stories?
If I read/watch a story that is, say, entirely characterization...I'm often bored.
If I read/watch/etc something entirely action...I'm often bored.
If I etc something entirely theme/moral/issue...I'm often bored.
To me a story should do ALL that simultaneously 1/2
If I read/watch a story that is, say, entirely characterization...I'm often bored.
If I read/watch/etc something entirely action...I'm often bored.
If I etc something entirely theme/moral/issue...I'm often bored.
To me a story should do ALL that simultaneously 1/2
Reposted by DK Latta
💀
narrator: 50 years ago...
me: [nods] in 1945
narrator: in 1975...
me: what
me: [nods] in 1945
narrator: in 1975...
me: what
November 25, 2025 at 4:41 AM
💀
Reposted by DK Latta
I'd appreciate shares of this as it is free and you know Caribbean SFF is my thing.
GTA friends I will be at this Canadian-Caribbean showcase on Dec 14 discussing Writing Speculative Fiction with Terese Mason Pierre and Lue Palmer! All of it is free. There are workshops on poetry, self pubbing, non fiction, short stories etc!
come say hi? 😀
diasporadialogues.com/diaspora-dia...
come say hi? 😀
diasporadialogues.com/diaspora-dia...
Diaspora Dialogues Presents the 2025 Canadian-Caribbean Literary Showcase - Diaspora Dialogues
The Canadian-Caribbean Literary Showcase is a three-day celebration of Caribbean voices and their influence on Canadian literature, art, and culture. Over the course of the showcase, audiences are inv...
diasporadialogues.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:46 PM
I'd appreciate shares of this as it is free and you know Caribbean SFF is my thing.
Apropos of nuthing:
An old story of mine I liked, a kind of Old School SF (very much influenced by the colonial/post-colonial, Beach of Falesa, Heart of Darkness, waning-of-empire milieu):
"An Unnecessary Evil"
sites.google.com/newmyths.com...
An old story of mine I liked, a kind of Old School SF (very much influenced by the colonial/post-colonial, Beach of Falesa, Heart of Darkness, waning-of-empire milieu):
"An Unnecessary Evil"
sites.google.com/newmyths.com...
NewMyths.com Archive - An Unnecessary Evil
by D.K. Latta
sites.google.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Apropos of nuthing:
An old story of mine I liked, a kind of Old School SF (very much influenced by the colonial/post-colonial, Beach of Falesa, Heart of Darkness, waning-of-empire milieu):
"An Unnecessary Evil"
sites.google.com/newmyths.com...
An old story of mine I liked, a kind of Old School SF (very much influenced by the colonial/post-colonial, Beach of Falesa, Heart of Darkness, waning-of-empire milieu):
"An Unnecessary Evil"
sites.google.com/newmyths.com...
One of the big controversies in any art/entertainment that's struggling with a small audience:
Is the audience small because the art is too niche/inaccessible? Or is the art niche because the niche audience is the only one who shows up? (And the "bigger" audience is a unicorn)?
Is the audience small because the art is too niche/inaccessible? Or is the art niche because the niche audience is the only one who shows up? (And the "bigger" audience is a unicorn)?
I've an idea for a science fiction mag. Hypothetical (since I don't have resources) but be interested in floating it as an idea (given talk about publishing dires and SFF mags struggling); if people thought it had merit in terms of readers n writers.
Not sure I have reach to start convo tho
TBC
Not sure I have reach to start convo tho
TBC
November 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM
One of the big controversies in any art/entertainment that's struggling with a small audience:
Is the audience small because the art is too niche/inaccessible? Or is the art niche because the niche audience is the only one who shows up? (And the "bigger" audience is a unicorn)?
Is the audience small because the art is too niche/inaccessible? Or is the art niche because the niche audience is the only one who shows up? (And the "bigger" audience is a unicorn)?
I've an idea for a science fiction mag. Hypothetical (since I don't have resources) but be interested in floating it as an idea (given talk about publishing dires and SFF mags struggling); if people thought it had merit in terms of readers n writers.
Not sure I have reach to start convo tho
TBC
Not sure I have reach to start convo tho
TBC
November 24, 2025 at 5:42 PM
I've an idea for a science fiction mag. Hypothetical (since I don't have resources) but be interested in floating it as an idea (given talk about publishing dires and SFF mags struggling); if people thought it had merit in terms of readers n writers.
Not sure I have reach to start convo tho
TBC
Not sure I have reach to start convo tho
TBC
Question for writers: it used to be simultaneous submissions (multiple markets at once) was a No-No. But increasingly markets say that's OK. But I still tend not to, feeling it's bad form (or might annoy the editors).
So...do most writers simultaneous submit these days or no?
So...do most writers simultaneous submit these days or no?
November 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Question for writers: it used to be simultaneous submissions (multiple markets at once) was a No-No. But increasingly markets say that's OK. But I still tend not to, feeling it's bad form (or might annoy the editors).
So...do most writers simultaneous submit these days or no?
So...do most writers simultaneous submit these days or no?
My controversial storytelling take: people who smugly say "depiction is NOT endorsement" in a story are being just as limited as the people they sneer at who get offended when characters behave inappropriately.
The reality is: it depends on character (hero? anti-hero?) & context. We all have lines
The reality is: it depends on character (hero? anti-hero?) & context. We all have lines
November 17, 2025 at 7:30 PM
My controversial storytelling take: people who smugly say "depiction is NOT endorsement" in a story are being just as limited as the people they sneer at who get offended when characters behave inappropriately.
The reality is: it depends on character (hero? anti-hero?) & context. We all have lines
The reality is: it depends on character (hero? anti-hero?) & context. We all have lines