Jon Olfert 🌾🍁
@jonolfert.bsky.social
Stories in Analog, On Spec, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies. History's eighth or ninth most prolific writer of speculative paleofiction. Polling and policy by day. If we pull this off, we'll eat like kings. http://jonathan-olfert.carrd.co
"You have utterly breached your genre contract with me in my capacity as a reader! Your sword-and-sorcery stories don't have any gloopy monsters!"
And yours don't have any stakes, bub, settle down a bit.
And yours don't have any stakes, bub, settle down a bit.
a man with long hair is saying contemplate this on the tree of woe .
Alt: James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom saying 'contemplate this on the tree of woe' to Conan the Barbarian, offscreen.
media.tenor.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:54 PM
"You have utterly breached your genre contract with me in my capacity as a reader! Your sword-and-sorcery stories don't have any gloopy monsters!"
And yours don't have any stakes, bub, settle down a bit.
And yours don't have any stakes, bub, settle down a bit.
They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me Broadway was waiting for me
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me Broadway was waiting for me
November 23, 2025 at 2:43 AM
They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me Broadway was waiting for me
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me Broadway was waiting for me
Trying to get some more practice with bread-and-butter ggplot and didn't feel like trawling more government datasets today so-
November 22, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Trying to get some more practice with bread-and-butter ggplot and didn't feel like trawling more government datasets today so-
Paleofiction crew, it's a good morning, wake from the grasp of encroaching ice and come check this story out.
@carlc75.bsky.social @handiworkgames.bsky.social @sashabrown.bsky.social @ranylt.bsky.social @rkduncan.bsky.social @mimulus.bsky.social
@carlc75.bsky.social @handiworkgames.bsky.social @sashabrown.bsky.social @ranylt.bsky.social @rkduncan.bsky.social @mimulus.bsky.social
this one was the cover story for the issue, so read to find out what this is all about
Check out this COVER for Volume 5 by Kamille Rodriguez!!
November 22, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Paleofiction crew, it's a good morning, wake from the grasp of encroaching ice and come check this story out.
@carlc75.bsky.social @handiworkgames.bsky.social @sashabrown.bsky.social @ranylt.bsky.social @rkduncan.bsky.social @mimulus.bsky.social
@carlc75.bsky.social @handiworkgames.bsky.social @sashabrown.bsky.social @ranylt.bsky.social @rkduncan.bsky.social @mimulus.bsky.social
Snap up some ostraka for me but I've been saying it: the main way people are reading checks-every-box sword and sorcery these days, by an order of magnitude, is probably Scarlett St. Clair. It's like how one of the absolute juggernauts of science fiction is Nora Roberts.
This is the version of the post that everyone needs to see. And all you readers/authors despairing of non-comprehension, etc, we are gaining new fans of fantasy and SF. It might not be the fantasy or SF you personally read, but they're reading and buying where they weren't before.
It hits different reading this whole thread.
November 20, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Snap up some ostraka for me but I've been saying it: the main way people are reading checks-every-box sword and sorcery these days, by an order of magnitude, is probably Scarlett St. Clair. It's like how one of the absolute juggernauts of science fiction is Nora Roberts.
You can build yourself. You have the technology.
This International Men's Day I'd like to point out to my fellow guys that on average we don't do so hot at conscientiousness, which can have broad impacts on how we live and feel and what we achieve—but conscientiousness is learnable and trainable through setting goals, helping others, pitching in.
November 19, 2025 at 11:15 PM
You can build yourself. You have the technology.
This International Men's Day I'd like to point out to my fellow guys that on average we don't do so hot at conscientiousness, which can have broad impacts on how we live and feel and what we achieve—but conscientiousness is learnable and trainable through setting goals, helping others, pitching in.
November 19, 2025 at 11:13 PM
This International Men's Day I'd like to point out to my fellow guys that on average we don't do so hot at conscientiousness, which can have broad impacts on how we live and feel and what we achieve—but conscientiousness is learnable and trainable through setting goals, helping others, pitching in.
Starting to have some success explaining impact > intention by working through the tech aphorism "The purpose of a system is what it does."
November 18, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Starting to have some success explaining impact > intention by working through the tech aphorism "The purpose of a system is what it does."
In 2022, the LDS Church in Canada got public scrutiny for the amount of members' donations it redirected to the BYU system (effectively a taxpayer subsidy for US schools.) That outflow shrank — which maybe had more to do with the church quietly overhauling its financial practices in Canada 2022-24.
November 18, 2025 at 4:57 AM
In 2022, the LDS Church in Canada got public scrutiny for the amount of members' donations it redirected to the BYU system (effectively a taxpayer subsidy for US schools.) That outflow shrank — which maybe had more to do with the church quietly overhauling its financial practices in Canada 2022-24.
Reposted by Jon Olfert 🌾🍁
In the LDS church's new SEC filing they now have $288 million invested in Palantir, up from $13 million last year. That's a staggering investment. Unreal.
www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...
www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...
November 16, 2025 at 12:24 AM
In the LDS church's new SEC filing they now have $288 million invested in Palantir, up from $13 million last year. That's a staggering investment. Unreal.
www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...
www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...
Reposted by Jon Olfert 🌾🍁
The LDS church is sitting on more wealth than the GDP of the following sovereign nations:
Kazakhstan
Algeria
Nigeria
Greece
Iraq
New Zealand
Hungary
Qatar
Ukraine
Morocco
Kuwait
Slovakia
Uzbekistan
Kenya
Ecuador
Dominican Republic
Bulgaria
Guatemala
Angola
Ghana
Ethiopia
Oman
and 120+ more!
Kazakhstan
Algeria
Nigeria
Greece
Iraq
New Zealand
Hungary
Qatar
Ukraine
Morocco
Kuwait
Slovakia
Uzbekistan
Kenya
Ecuador
Dominican Republic
Bulgaria
Guatemala
Angola
Ghana
Ethiopia
Oman
and 120+ more!
The LDS Church's stock investments at Ensign Peak Advisors have climbed to a new high in value at $60.9 billion. That's double what the fund was worth during the pandemic.
Another federal filing, another record high for LDS Church’s investment fund
The LDS Church's stock investments at Ensign Peak Advisors have climbed to a new high in value at $60.9 billion. That's double what the fund was worth during the pandemic.
www.sltrib.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:34 AM
The LDS church is sitting on more wealth than the GDP of the following sovereign nations:
Kazakhstan
Algeria
Nigeria
Greece
Iraq
New Zealand
Hungary
Qatar
Ukraine
Morocco
Kuwait
Slovakia
Uzbekistan
Kenya
Ecuador
Dominican Republic
Bulgaria
Guatemala
Angola
Ghana
Ethiopia
Oman
and 120+ more!
Kazakhstan
Algeria
Nigeria
Greece
Iraq
New Zealand
Hungary
Qatar
Ukraine
Morocco
Kuwait
Slovakia
Uzbekistan
Kenya
Ecuador
Dominican Republic
Bulgaria
Guatemala
Angola
Ghana
Ethiopia
Oman
and 120+ more!
CONSTANTLY misreading the word 'edtech' (educational technology) as 'eldritch' and getting my hopes up, frankly.
November 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
CONSTANTLY misreading the word 'edtech' (educational technology) as 'eldritch' and getting my hopes up, frankly.
Unpleasantly reminded that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph F. Smith (5 of the first 6 LDS prophets) all married multiple girls under 18, some much younger. Snow and Joseph F. each got two 17-year-olds pregnant between ages 28 and 45.
November 13, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Unpleasantly reminded that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, and Joseph F. Smith (5 of the first 6 LDS prophets) all married multiple girls under 18, some much younger. Snow and Joseph F. each got two 17-year-olds pregnant between ages 28 and 45.
Coming off a blitz of Le Carré and Slow Horses, this was exactly my speed. Great stuff.
In 1975 East Berlin, a band plays instruments made from the Wall itself—but the real question is why the Stasi informant in the crowd can't stop dancing.
go.dfstory.com/love-me-do
go.dfstory.com/love-me-do
November 12, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Coming off a blitz of Le Carré and Slow Horses, this was exactly my speed. Great stuff.
If I was writing this today, I think I'd dwell more on how high-demand religion makes itself your only culture. Leaving is about self-invention but also loss — not just of people and places but of a large fraction of what you talk and think and care about. Some of that will always be an emptiness.
Beneath Ceaseless Skies - One Ear Left Over by Jonathan Olfert
But you couldn't swim in deep ecclesiastical water without the skill of projecting calm dignity, and she trusted her skill. The prisoner shackled in the Hall of Welcome would see only the two golden p...
www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:43 PM
If I was writing this today, I think I'd dwell more on how high-demand religion makes itself your only culture. Leaving is about self-invention but also loss — not just of people and places but of a large fraction of what you talk and think and care about. Some of that will always be an emptiness.
@mktighewrites.bsky.social - Dusted this off to see if things had shifted in the horror market since your chart (and boy was I glad you included data labels). Wouldn't say these are the healthiest trends!
November 11, 2025 at 6:24 PM
@mktighewrites.bsky.social - Dusted this off to see if things had shifted in the horror market since your chart (and boy was I glad you included data labels). Wouldn't say these are the healthiest trends!
Reposted by Jon Olfert 🌾🍁
Nice to see @onspecmag.bsky.social acknowledged by the CBC: www.cbc.ca/arts/on-spec...
Canada’s premier speculative fiction magazine calls it a day after 35 years | CBC Arts
Edmonton-based On Spec, which showcased authors like Julie E. Czerneda, Tony Pi and a young Cory Doctorow, will publish its final issue in December
www.cbc.ca
November 10, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Nice to see @onspecmag.bsky.social acknowledged by the CBC: www.cbc.ca/arts/on-spec...
Reposted by Jon Olfert 🌾🍁
Petition for a red-letter edition of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
(or, if this already exists, for someone to tell me where I can find it)
(or, if this already exists, for someone to tell me where I can find it)
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Petition for a red-letter edition of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
(or, if this already exists, for someone to tell me where I can find it)
(or, if this already exists, for someone to tell me where I can find it)
Got the last few details locked down and this is my final 2025 roster. Pound for pound this has been my big year.
November 10, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Got the last few details locked down and this is my final 2025 roster. Pound for pound this has been my big year.
Nothing's gonna cure your just-world fallacy faster than looking for convention parking I tell ya what
November 9, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Nothing's gonna cure your just-world fallacy faster than looking for convention parking I tell ya what
Murderbot hasn't clicked for me so far, but Skarsgard's utter horror of PEOPLE is just beautiful.
November 8, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Murderbot hasn't clicked for me so far, but Skarsgard's utter horror of PEOPLE is just beautiful.
Unconscionable. Young men need conscientiousness training en masse, not whatever the hell this is.
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 7, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Unconscionable. Young men need conscientiousness training en masse, not whatever the hell this is.
"The Standing Committee on Health and Research had originally sought details on student and faculty applications to three agencies between 2000 and 2025 but now says it will accept anonymized, high-level data that better preserves privacy."
Thank hell. October was amateur hour.
Thank hell. October was amateur hour.
Parliamentary committee revises order to share federal grant applicant data https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/politics/parliamentary-committee-revises-order-to-share-federal-grant-applicant-data/article_b65acc21-48a2-5a0e-880e-9f9f82b1f75d.html
𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca/newsletter
𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca/newsletter
November 7, 2025 at 2:51 AM
"The Standing Committee on Health and Research had originally sought details on student and faculty applications to three agencies between 2000 and 2025 but now says it will accept anonymized, high-level data that better preserves privacy."
Thank hell. October was amateur hour.
Thank hell. October was amateur hour.
Took a tally and I just passed my 560th publisher rejection for creative writing (533 tracked on the Submission Grinder and 27 that I've got record of before then, going back 13 years or so) plus 62 primary or reprint publications (so about 10% success rate). Not too shabby. Not too bad at all.
November 6, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Took a tally and I just passed my 560th publisher rejection for creative writing (533 tracked on the Submission Grinder and 27 that I've got record of before then, going back 13 years or so) plus 62 primary or reprint publications (so about 10% success rate). Not too shabby. Not too bad at all.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: give me Lee Pace as D. Michael Quinn and Titus Welliver as Boyd K. Packer. Chills just thinking about it.
lee pace at the premiere of THE RUNNING MAN
I would so be vaporlocked like the reporter in the second pic if mr. pace was in front of me like that
I would so be vaporlocked like the reporter in the second pic if mr. pace was in front of me like that
November 6, 2025 at 2:04 AM
I've said it before and I'll say it again: give me Lee Pace as D. Michael Quinn and Titus Welliver as Boyd K. Packer. Chills just thinking about it.