Paul Evanby
@evanby.bsky.social
Bespoke nonsense. Author of DE SCRYPTURIST and EEN RIVIER VAN GODEN (Meulenhoff Boekerij).
Indeed, my tomato plant is still in bloom, and loaded with cherry tomatoes in various degrees of ripeness.
November 21, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Indeed, my tomato plant is still in bloom, and loaded with cherry tomatoes in various degrees of ripeness.
At least Bombadil and Glorfindel are still pristine.
November 21, 2025 at 5:17 PM
At least Bombadil and Glorfindel are still pristine.
Reposted by Paul Evanby
It’s fun to think about the surgeon who will botch your surgery 20 years from now and what he’s doing at this moment. He just ran all his homework through ChatGPT. He just read that article about vaccines and autism at the CDC website. He just watched an Instagram video about the moon landing hoax.
November 21, 2025 at 4:27 AM
It’s fun to think about the surgeon who will botch your surgery 20 years from now and what he’s doing at this moment. He just ran all his homework through ChatGPT. He just read that article about vaccines and autism at the CDC website. He just watched an Instagram video about the moon landing hoax.
Also reminds me of Paul Harland’s Bullet Poet, the assassin whose deadly projectiles are shaped such that their air displacement produces a line of poetry as they fly past.
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 20, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Also reminds me of Paul Harland’s Bullet Poet, the assassin whose deadly projectiles are shaped such that their air displacement produces a line of poetry as they fly past.
i have eaten
the ai
that was in
the hot server box
and which
you probably thought
would make you
a writer
forgive me
it knew nothing
of anything
and choked on my words
the ai
that was in
the hot server box
and which
you probably thought
would make you
a writer
forgive me
it knew nothing
of anything
and choked on my words
November 20, 2025 at 7:47 PM
i have eaten
the ai
that was in
the hot server box
and which
you probably thought
would make you
a writer
forgive me
it knew nothing
of anything
and choked on my words
the ai
that was in
the hot server box
and which
you probably thought
would make you
a writer
forgive me
it knew nothing
of anything
and choked on my words
Reposted by Paul Evanby
And if you need a little more convincing to check it out, here's what @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org had to say about this "delightful, chaotic" story of queer time travel in Amplitudes ("a standout collection for 2025"): ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/30/s...
November 20, 2025 at 5:35 PM
And if you need a little more convincing to check it out, here's what @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org had to say about this "delightful, chaotic" story of queer time travel in Amplitudes ("a standout collection for 2025"): ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/30/s...
Never too late for a $4 ebook. This one has a remarkable array of excellent stories. (Plus one of mine.)
An update from the team at @erewhonbooks.bsky.social!
While yesterday’s all-retailer ebook sale for Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity only lasted for 24 hours, the $3.99 price will continue to be available until Nov. 30th on Kindle. Apologies for the confusion, everyone 🖤
While yesterday’s all-retailer ebook sale for Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity only lasted for 24 hours, the $3.99 price will continue to be available until Nov. 30th on Kindle. Apologies for the confusion, everyone 🖤
November 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Never too late for a $4 ebook. This one has a remarkable array of excellent stories. (Plus one of mine.)
Obviously the kind of self-pity that needs a thorough self-intervention indeed.
November 18, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Obviously the kind of self-pity that needs a thorough self-intervention indeed.
Sharp analysis of the “my books never get enough attention” malaise. All too recognizable: you’ve just spent months pouring *all* your energy into creating something that *wasn’t there before*, and the number of people who actually seem to (genuinely) care is negligible compared to the effort.
Writers, publishing will suck all the joy and light from your life if you let it.
So don't let it.
This week, on Undercover in the Apocalypse: my dreams came true, but I just found new ways to be miserable.
undercover-in-the-apocalypse.ghost.io/my-dreams-ca...
So don't let it.
This week, on Undercover in the Apocalypse: my dreams came true, but I just found new ways to be miserable.
undercover-in-the-apocalypse.ghost.io/my-dreams-ca...
My dreams came true and I just found new ways to be miserable.
My fifth novel Red Star Hustle just dropped, and on pub day I did what I usually do on pub day - I swung by Union Square, where there's the Strand and a Barnes & Noble very near one another - probably...
undercover-in-the-apocalypse.ghost.io
November 18, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Sharp analysis of the “my books never get enough attention” malaise. All too recognizable: you’ve just spent months pouring *all* your energy into creating something that *wasn’t there before*, and the number of people who actually seem to (genuinely) care is negligible compared to the effort.
Reposted by Paul Evanby
For #transawarenessweek, a bump for Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity!
Featuring contributors from across the globe, including both familiar and fresh voices, it gathers 22 speculative stories about queer and trans futures—and I hope at least one of them will hit for you 🖤
Featuring contributors from across the globe, including both familiar and fresh voices, it gathers 22 speculative stories about queer and trans futures—and I hope at least one of them will hit for you 🖤
November 15, 2025 at 7:15 PM
For #transawarenessweek, a bump for Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity!
Featuring contributors from across the globe, including both familiar and fresh voices, it gathers 22 speculative stories about queer and trans futures—and I hope at least one of them will hit for you 🖤
Featuring contributors from across the globe, including both familiar and fresh voices, it gathers 22 speculative stories about queer and trans futures—and I hope at least one of them will hit for you 🖤
There’s one near here that caught the eye of a developer. Eight modern apartments, was the idea. He vanished before the project got started. It was assumed the money ran out, but some say his voice can now be heard on certain nights of the feral calendar, joining in the wild hymns.
November 14, 2025 at 8:00 PM
There’s one near here that caught the eye of a developer. Eight modern apartments, was the idea. He vanished before the project got started. It was assumed the money ran out, but some say his voice can now be heard on certain nights of the feral calendar, joining in the wild hymns.
🤚🏻 I prefer to think for myself, weirdly enough. I feel no need to offload any cognitive functions to a text extrusion engine.
Hands up if you've never used Chat GPT ✋
(I feel like Dozer and Tank in The Matrix right now - at first I didn't use it because, rather ironically, I'm lazy and stubborn (peak Taurus energy there) - literally no, don't make me use the new thing I don't wanna. Now I'm glad I didn't 😅)
(I feel like Dozer and Tank in The Matrix right now - at first I didn't use it because, rather ironically, I'm lazy and stubborn (peak Taurus energy there) - literally no, don't make me use the new thing I don't wanna. Now I'm glad I didn't 😅)
Probably a good way to tell right now if the job you’re applying for is run by absolute dumbfucks is to ask if they’re using AI.
November 9, 2025 at 11:19 AM
🤚🏻 I prefer to think for myself, weirdly enough. I feel no need to offload any cognitive functions to a text extrusion engine.
It’s a shame that this needs to be said again (and again). Good literary translations are hard work, and they are not algorithmically solvable or mappable. When I write both Dutch & English versions of a story, they tend to become different stories.
Good literary translation requires understanding (language, culture, genre--on both sides of the translation) and an ability to write well. "AI" can't do that. There are no shortcuts. Treat your work and foreign language readers with the respect they deserve. You won't fool anyone with this.
Amazon has launched a new AI-driven translation service, Kindle Translate, for Kindle Direct Publishing authors 👇 #BookSky
November 7, 2025 at 6:46 PM
It’s a shame that this needs to be said again (and again). Good literary translations are hard work, and they are not algorithmically solvable or mappable. When I write both Dutch & English versions of a story, they tend to become different stories.
Who's your favorite Jedi? (Wrong answers only.)
October 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Who's your favorite Jedi? (Wrong answers only.)
Amen.
(Though Github -> Microsoft -> “AI”, but there are alternatives.)
(Though Github -> Microsoft -> “AI”, but there are alternatives.)
One thing that *needs* to happen is that publishing needs to get the fuck off Word and into an open format.
If they invested just a tiny amount in some form of shareable version control system like a Github for authors a surprising number of team editing pain points could be eliminated...
If they invested just a tiny amount in some form of shareable version control system like a Github for authors a surprising number of team editing pain points could be eliminated...
October 17, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Amen.
(Though Github -> Microsoft -> “AI”, but there are alternatives.)
(Though Github -> Microsoft -> “AI”, but there are alternatives.)
Wilhelm von Gloeden?
October 13, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Wilhelm von Gloeden?
I was never a fan of this particular song, but he had a great voice. Effortlessly rendered Scherpenzeel flourishes there.
#Reekers #RIP #Kayak
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yii6...
#Reekers #RIP #Kayak
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yii6...
Kayak - Ruthless Queen • TopPop
YouTube video by TopPop
m.youtube.com
October 8, 2025 at 7:54 AM
I was never a fan of this particular song, but he had a great voice. Effortlessly rendered Scherpenzeel flourishes there.
#Reekers #RIP #Kayak
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yii6...
#Reekers #RIP #Kayak
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yii6...
And then, of course, my most recent story is published in that horribly queer anthology AMPLITUDES, edited by Lee Mandelo.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/770919...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/770919...
Amplitudes: 9781645660866 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
Revolutionary and visionary, these twenty-two speculative stories edited by Lambda, Nebula and Hugo finalist Lee Mandelo explore the vast potentialities of our queer and trans futures. USA Today Bes...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
October 4, 2025 at 10:38 PM
And then, of course, my most recent story is published in that horribly queer anthology AMPLITUDES, edited by Lee Mandelo.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/770919...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/770919...
Hard to find by now, but my first (collaborative) collection from 1995 is still atrociously queer.
October 4, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Hard to find by now, but my first (collaborative) collection from 1995 is still atrociously queer.
Reposted by Paul Evanby
Somewhere in America, a young Hispanic girl is hiding in an attic writing a diary.
October 4, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Somewhere in America, a young Hispanic girl is hiding in an attic writing a diary.
technologically advance a band
Taylor SwiftUI
Taylor SwiftUI
technologically advance a band
The B-2s
The B-2s
technologically advance a band.
OK GoPro
OK GoPro
September 22, 2025 at 8:06 AM
technologically advance a band
Taylor SwiftUI
Taylor SwiftUI
Visionary composer, polymath and ‘true cosmopolitan’: Greece finally pays tribute to Iannis Xenakis
National museum in Athens mounts major retrospective for pioneer of avant-garde music and apprentice to Le Corbusier who was sentenced to death by the military
www.theguardian.com
September 18, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Precise & well-considered review.
Since it’s up on the @locusmag.bsky.social site now, I do wanna shout out this review of ‘Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity’ by @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social—what a joy it was to see the anthology described thusly 🥹🥹
locusmag.com/review/ampli...
locusmag.com/review/ampli...
September 17, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Precise & well-considered review.