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Kieren Alderling

@alderling.com

84 followers 300 following 98 posts

Canadian writer and artist. Lover of weird fiction, horror, gothic romance, and SFF. Ghosts and demons; magic and cyberpunk. He/him.

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Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 10d

For the #AugurMicros2025 contest, some thoughts about the net. @augursociety.bsky.social

The microfiction piece "Reprise" appears against a background of a photo looking up a limestone cliff at the trees above. The piece reads: "*Not enough*, we hold, the round hulls of our wings casting oars into the dark, the splash echoing to spill into distant coves. The land will not sustain us; its rocky shores cast a soaring cry over the waves, defiant and daring, but rocks repelling teeth bear little fruit. Our voices swell, songs replete with the ken that magnates always outpace kings: weighing anchor, trading empire, casting out the net. Industry and worship. Reassurance and rapine. One calamitous scramble after another and then: devoured. Reprising, splashing, throats forming the chorus behind bloody teeth. Not enough. Never enough." by Kieren Alderling

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Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 10h

Very excited for the new book from @hironennes.bsky.social (I adored Leech)!

I picked up A Murder of Prose by local author Scott Charlton Paul while I was at Owl's Nest Books in #yyc, because I love crows and also puns.

Two books side by side: The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes, with an oroborus-style centipede eating its own tail, and A Murder of Prose by Scott Charlton Paul. Brown leather backdrop.

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 12h

I LOVE that. I'm terrible at watching TV, but it's been bumped up my list now.

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 15h

But you're going to be now! Enjoy your fun trip!!

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 1d

That happened to me for the first time recently, and even for someone with chronic migraines, it felt bizarre.

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 1d

That IS a real word; autocorrect just hates onomatopoeias.

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 1d

Someday, I will watch this show.

I love that delineation, though. The surfacing dream, carrying the pieces that you need to continue on (with those jagged edges of truth you've hidden from yourself), versus the lure of the fantasy.

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Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 2d

I have absoluuuutley been there. Start with what's shiny and convince yourself that you'll have enough free time to get through the whole pile?

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Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 2d

Bodies really are a scam. They're ridiculous. I hope you manage to get an earlier time slot for the MRI though, seriously.

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 4d

Petitions sometimes have done a bit of the groundwork and note taking for me, although it's hit or miss obviously.

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 4d

You bet. I'm mulling over the wording for a Conservative MP.

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 4d

All good!

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 4d

Thank you! I really appreciate the thorough breakdown. There's a related petition here as well: www.change.org/p/stop-bill-...

Sign the Petition

Stop Bill S-209’s De-Anonymization of Every Canadian Adult

www.change.org

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Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 4d

Do you have anything on the current fight in Canada? I'm having a hard time keeping track of what's going on; I'm more read up on the UK Online Safety Act.

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 5d

There are two ways I look at "grounding" horror in reality:

- The best description is written with the vivid imagining (especially based on memory) of being grounded in a particular moment
- The audience needs the illusion of familiarity to be carried away in the world

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 6d

I think this is one of the things that bugs me about the conclusion that a horror novel being described as "atmospheric" should be taken to mean that it is inherently "tame".

Nameless Evil @simpleimple.bsky.social · 7d

I continue to think that the trend, and it's one that's been building up for more than a decade but it's still a trend of the current era, of style over substance in the chasing of aesthetic without ever comprehending that aesthetic is the philosophical merging of the two. That you get incredibly

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Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 7d

"I've been Alberta bound for all my life" but make it cosmic horror. 🤔

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 7d

I got caught up in things and forgot about Horror Writers Chat! Oh well, next week.

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 7d

Look, vet visits are very stressful for humans! It's important to be compassionate. :D

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Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 7d

Oh, I forgot Joey Batey had a book out this year!

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 7d

OK, yes, I understand entirely.

Reposted by Kieren Alderling

H. Marin @hanmarin.bsky.social · 7d

Got a story at an awkward length creeping you out?

For October I'll be focusing on tackling tales that sit between 6k and 10k for a flat rate of $50USD. Editor with a short fiction portfolio, contract protected.

www.hmarinliterary.com

*To be entered into the raffle, please like AND repost. 👻

let's tackle something truly terrifying this October... pieces that sit in the range of 6,000-10,000 words. $50 flat rate, all projects started in October. full round of developmental, line, and copy editing. plus, a raffle entry for one free short fiction editing round with every like and repost.

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Reposted by Kieren Alderling

Jeannie Marschall 🍇🫐🍏🍋🍊🍓 @jeanniemarschall.bsky.social · 7d

The Wilderness Horror issue of FFO @flashfictiononline.bsky.social is LIVE, my dears!

May I coax you into the deep, dark woods with me??

www.flashfictiononline.com/product/flas...

a sign that says no entry after nightfall is stuck to a tree

Alt: a group of three is hiking in a dark forest, they come across a sign that says no entry after nightfall, stuck to a tree & half overgrown

media.tenor.com

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Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 7d

Thank you very much!

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 8d

Sorry for the silly question, but does "sub cap 800" for October mean that you're looking for 500-800 words only, during this submission period?

Kieren Alderling @alderling.com · 8d

It's compelling! ❤️