Mari Ness, writer of things
@mariness.bsky.social
I write things. Occasionally they get published.
Also occasionally on other sites, including marikness.wordpress.com, https://medium.com/@marikness, https://www.patreon.com/mari_ness. Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/mari_ness
Also occasionally on other sites, including marikness.wordpress.com, https://medium.com/@marikness, https://www.patreon.com/mari_ness. Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/mari_ness
Pinned
So yes, delighted to say that I am one of the inaugural finalists for the Hugo Award for Best Poem, alongside @angelaliu.bsky.social, @aijiang.bsky.social,
@swantower.bsky.social, @devanbarlow.bsky.social
& Oliver K. Langmead!
@swantower.bsky.social, @devanbarlow.bsky.social
& Oliver K. Langmead!
....today's AI grandmother chatter is reminding me of a couple of my own stories:
"My Own Damn Heaven," which appeared in Bourbon Penn back in 2016, and can be read here for free. (You can also buy the entire issue, and help out Bourbon Penn.)
www.bourbonpenn.com/issue/11/my-...
"My Own Damn Heaven," which appeared in Bourbon Penn back in 2016, and can be read here for free. (You can also buy the entire issue, and help out Bourbon Penn.)
www.bourbonpenn.com/issue/11/my-...
Mari Ness > My Own Damn Heaven > Bourbon Penn
Even I have to admit that everything here, tap, bottle, or can, is incredible. I have the bartender pour me another, and another, and another, always trying to ask for different brews, different liquo...
www.bourbonpenn.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
....today's AI grandmother chatter is reminding me of a couple of my own stories:
"My Own Damn Heaven," which appeared in Bourbon Penn back in 2016, and can be read here for free. (You can also buy the entire issue, and help out Bourbon Penn.)
www.bourbonpenn.com/issue/11/my-...
"My Own Damn Heaven," which appeared in Bourbon Penn back in 2016, and can be read here for free. (You can also buy the entire issue, and help out Bourbon Penn.)
www.bourbonpenn.com/issue/11/my-...
....the eternal struggle between needing to get things done, but also needing to not disturb the cat currently napping on your legs.
December 10, 2025 at 4:16 PM
....the eternal struggle between needing to get things done, but also needing to not disturb the cat currently napping on your legs.
thirty eight minutes of sirens
seriously if an actual fire happens tonight we won't notice
seriously if an actual fire happens tonight we won't notice
December 9, 2025 at 11:39 PM
thirty eight minutes of sirens
seriously if an actual fire happens tonight we won't notice
seriously if an actual fire happens tonight we won't notice
Half hour later, and the sirens have finally - finally - mostly faded.
They'll be back shortly when Santa has to return to the fire station.
#SantasRideOfTerror
They'll be back shortly when Santa has to return to the fire station.
#SantasRideOfTerror
December 9, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Half hour later, and the sirens have finally - finally - mostly faded.
They'll be back shortly when Santa has to return to the fire station.
#SantasRideOfTerror
They'll be back shortly when Santa has to return to the fire station.
#SantasRideOfTerror
December 9, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Not to sound radical or anything, but have we thought about not having ANYONE buy Warner Bros. Discovery?
The Wall Street Journal reports that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison “offered assurances” he would drastically transform CNN if he bought Warner Bros. Discovery www.wsj.com/business/med...
December 9, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Not to sound radical or anything, but have we thought about not having ANYONE buy Warner Bros. Discovery?
.....spoken like someone who has never, repeat never, tried to make a connecting flight on American Airlines at any of its hubs, but especially Charlotte.
Duffy on what he's doing to improve the airport experience for travelers: "Maybe I want a workout area where people might get some blood flowing doing some pull ups or step ups in the airport."
December 8, 2025 at 11:24 PM
.....spoken like someone who has never, repeat never, tried to make a connecting flight on American Airlines at any of its hubs, but especially Charlotte.
....I hear we're discussing both disability issues AND pop culture essays published in 2025?
WELL:
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/port...
WELL:
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/port...
Portrayals of Disability in The Wheel of Time, Sony Pictures/Amazon Studios - Uncanny Magazine
(Note: this essay contains spoilers for all three seasons of Amazon Studios’s The Wheel of Time, and some mild spoilers for the book series written by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.) The woman i...
www.uncannymagazine.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:56 PM
....I hear we're discussing both disability issues AND pop culture essays published in 2025?
WELL:
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/port...
WELL:
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/port...
The entire purpose of social media is to share the pain, so here we are:
I can't sink a single ball in pool, although I'm great at lining up all the colors on different sides of the table. It's thanks to my Rubik's cue.
December 8, 2025 at 1:06 AM
The entire purpose of social media is to share the pain, so here we are:
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
Today's bat is a round bat with round ears. Adorable!
Day 7 #BatMas: Lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) 🦇🌎🧪
A species found in Europe & North Africa, it is one of the world’s smallest bats (about 5-9 g). They are solitary, however females will congregate in maternity roosts in June where they give birth & raise pups
📸: Rollin Verlind
A species found in Europe & North Africa, it is one of the world’s smallest bats (about 5-9 g). They are solitary, however females will congregate in maternity roosts in June where they give birth & raise pups
📸: Rollin Verlind
December 7, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Today's bat is a round bat with round ears. Adorable!
I don't know if I count as an "average American," but I heard about the whole "affordability" thing from my Duke Energy electric bill.
BRENNAN: When Trump says "affordability is a con job," his approval on the economy is down to 36%. Don't you need to show you feel the pain?
BESSENT: HE's frustrated by the media coverage
BRENNAN: The polling is of average Americans
BESSENT: Average Americans hear a lot of it from media coverage
BESSENT: HE's frustrated by the media coverage
BRENNAN: The polling is of average Americans
BESSENT: Average Americans hear a lot of it from media coverage
December 7, 2025 at 6:34 PM
I don't know if I count as an "average American," but I heard about the whole "affordability" thing from my Duke Energy electric bill.
I didn't realize that Bridgerton actress Nicola Coughlan has ADHD:
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
‘True activism has to cost you something’: Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan on politics, paparazzi and parasocial fandom
The diminutive Derry Girls star isn’t afraid to speak her mind, even if it costs her fans and followers
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 5:59 PM
I didn't realize that Bridgerton actress Nicola Coughlan has ADHD:
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...
I'm not saying that I couldn't do things today. I am saying that doing - or even trying to do - those things right now would force me to disturb the small black cat currently draped all over me.
December 7, 2025 at 5:55 PM
I'm not saying that I couldn't do things today. I am saying that doing - or even trying to do - those things right now would force me to disturb the small black cat currently draped all over me.
Here's another story of a capsized boat off the coast of Florida, from last month.
See if you can spot the difference between the descriptions:
people.com/florida-fami...
See if you can spot the difference between the descriptions:
people.com/florida-fami...
December 7, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Here's another story of a capsized boat off the coast of Florida, from last month.
See if you can spot the difference between the descriptions:
people.com/florida-fami...
See if you can spot the difference between the descriptions:
people.com/florida-fami...
For the record, the answer to "where did I put that cookie" was originally NOT, repeat, NOT, "under the cat."
December 7, 2025 at 2:59 AM
For the record, the answer to "where did I put that cookie" was originally NOT, repeat, NOT, "under the cat."
Rain has stopped so...time for the Winter Garden golf cart parade!!!!
December 6, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Rain has stopped so...time for the Winter Garden golf cart parade!!!!
So envious of the way that cats can be woken up by someone blasting ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU at 7:40 in the morning, look around, yawn, and go back to sleep.
December 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
So envious of the way that cats can be woken up by someone blasting ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU at 7:40 in the morning, look around, yawn, and go back to sleep.
Reposted by Mari Ness, writer of things
It's the last month of 2025, & this year, I published two short stories, one novella, and one novel. ❤️
My short story "Mail-Order Magic" is one of the most personal pieces I've ever written, and it's free to read at
@morningtransport.bsky.social : www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/mail-order...
My short story "Mail-Order Magic" is one of the most personal pieces I've ever written, and it's free to read at
@morningtransport.bsky.social : www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/mail-order...
Mail Order Magic
March comes to you with Sunday Morning Transport stories by Stephanie Burgis, Eric Smith, Sarena Ulibarri, and Leah Cypess.
www.sundaymorningtransport.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:03 PM
It's the last month of 2025, & this year, I published two short stories, one novella, and one novel. ❤️
My short story "Mail-Order Magic" is one of the most personal pieces I've ever written, and it's free to read at
@morningtransport.bsky.social : www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/mail-order...
My short story "Mail-Order Magic" is one of the most personal pieces I've ever written, and it's free to read at
@morningtransport.bsky.social : www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/mail-order...
Speaking of the myriad inaccuracies of Microsoft Copilot, it has an interesting and wildly wrong take on my short story "Without Sunsets or Snow," published by Three-Lobed Burning Eye back in July.
www.3lobedmag.com/issue45/3lbe...
www.3lobedmag.com/issue45/3lbe...
Without Sunsets or Snow by Mari Ness
They'd given my mother exactly three more hours. I could have protested, of course. She had the credits -- financial, green, and gray. An attorney easily could have argued that she was owed at least t...
www.3lobedmag.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Speaking of the myriad inaccuracies of Microsoft Copilot, it has an interesting and wildly wrong take on my short story "Without Sunsets or Snow," published by Three-Lobed Burning Eye back in July.
www.3lobedmag.com/issue45/3lbe...
www.3lobedmag.com/issue45/3lbe...
For REASONS I'm not going to be doing the whole HUGE ELIGIBILITY POST thing until later this month or in January, but since everyone else is doing it, I shall be a lemming and point you to one eligible thing, my poem "Care for Lightning," in Uncanny:
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/care...
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/care...
Care for Lightning - Uncanny Magazine
Sure, she sent those heavenly snakes to slither into that hand-hewn crib, and slide along that baby’s skin. And sure, she sent those stinging insects against that cow, turned that one girl into a bear...
www.uncannymagazine.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:00 AM
For REASONS I'm not going to be doing the whole HUGE ELIGIBILITY POST thing until later this month or in January, but since everyone else is doing it, I shall be a lemming and point you to one eligible thing, my poem "Care for Lightning," in Uncanny:
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/care...
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/care...
....my orange cat SHOULD be insulted by the second mug here but alas, is not currently in possession of that single orange cat brain cell and therefore unable to understand the insult.
Most designs in store will be discontinued after the holidays so get 'em while you can!
December 5, 2025 at 11:55 PM
....my orange cat SHOULD be insulted by the second mug here but alas, is not currently in possession of that single orange cat brain cell and therefore unable to understand the insult.
....ok, at the risk of once again sounding incredibly self-serving, this is a particularly incredible list.
This is our award eligibility post for 2025. We published 18 short stories this year, and love every one of them. We hope you gave them a read, were suitably haunted, and will give each one consideration. And maybe the magazine too.
December 5, 2025 at 4:00 AM
....ok, at the risk of once again sounding incredibly self-serving, this is a particularly incredible list.
The face of a cat who assures you that the large black object spotted on the branches just moments before this photo was taken wasn't him
December 5, 2025 at 3:47 AM
The face of a cat who assures you that the large black object spotted on the branches just moments before this photo was taken wasn't him
.....yeah, based on this post alone, this guy needs to be removed from office.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announces another boat strike in response to a request/wish from Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet.
December 5, 2025 at 3:02 AM
.....yeah, based on this post alone, this guy needs to be removed from office.
Back in summer camp, we were given lessons on how to flip a canoe or kayak back over so that we wouldn't drown in a lake BUT SURE I guess you could describe this as "flip a canoe back over so we could go, uh, wrestle someone. Or shoot rifles. Whichever."
Q: What did you see in the second strike?
Cotton: "I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat -- loaded with drugs, bound for the United States -- back over, so they could stay in the fight."
Cotton: "I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat -- loaded with drugs, bound for the United States -- back over, so they could stay in the fight."
December 4, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Back in summer camp, we were given lessons on how to flip a canoe or kayak back over so that we wouldn't drown in a lake BUT SURE I guess you could describe this as "flip a canoe back over so we could go, uh, wrestle someone. Or shoot rifles. Whichever."