José Pablo Iriarte
@labyrinthrat.bsky.social
3K followers 710 following 3K posts
Spec fic author and middle grade novelist. Cuban-American ceterosexual enby. They/them. Debut MG novel BENNY RAMÍREZ AND THE NEARLY DEPARTED is a Norton, BSFA, Ignyte, and Florida SSYRA finalist!!! https://linktr.ee/labyrinthrat
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Pinned
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
Really should get a new pinned post, but I'm feeling lazy. Buy my book! It's out now!
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
Since it's easier to make a new post and pin it than to go back a month to find the old one . . .

Here's a reminder that AJ Torres and the Treasure of Captain Grayshark comes out NEXT MONTH!!!!
AJ TORRES AND THE TREASURE OF CAPTAIN GRAYSHARK

The follow-up to Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed!
Coming June 24, 2025 from Penguin/Random House
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
Congratulations to the Toronto Blue Jays and especially their catcher, R2-D2.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
(Anybody else "watch" on gamecast and notice that it just turned from night to day? Neat trick, that.)
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
I'm not watching the baseball game, because I don't have a television and am too cheap to pay to watch it streaming, but . . . why would you replace your pitcher in the third inning of a 1-1 game? Did something happen that I can't see from the gamecast? Injury?
Reposted by José Pablo Iriarte
Reposted by José Pablo Iriarte
bookshop.org
Can’t decide what to buy on Prime Day?

Try: absolutely nothing, and then go support indie bookstores instead 📚
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
I assume it was unbelievably cringe, because nobody present ever spoke of it again.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
Just thinking about that time at ICFA when I attended a flash poetry reading, and was invited to participate, and I said, I don't have any poetry, and somebody said, "Aren't you a singer?" and and so I ended up singing harmony on an impromptu a capella rendition of "Ghost" by Indigo Girls.
Reposted by José Pablo Iriarte
kiixlyn.bsky.social
i took tylenol while i was autistic and now my son is pregnant
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
Wore a super queer shirt today, yes, in Florida, because I knew I was going someplace safe...

forgetting, as always, the likelihood I would need to stop at *other* places along the way, like the gas station.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
TFW you realize that one of your friends has grown into one of your absolute top pantheon writers.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
Has anybody been getting the really plausible AI generated fan mail spam via their contact form rather than direct email?

Up until now I have thought everything from my contact form was clean, but now I have caused to doubt.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
This tracks with my *own* reading habits/patterns, and I'm somebody who loves to read (and write).
adapalmer.bsky.social
I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
Used to be that if I wanted a recommendation for an app or for hardware, I would Google for what I wanted and find an article from a PC magazine comparing several top options. Now the results are all bogus sites "recommending" whoever gave them a kickback, with the text usually AI slop.
Reposted by José Pablo Iriarte
davidho.bsky.social
If I were starting a civil war, I would send National Guard troops from one state to another.
Reposted by José Pablo Iriarte
thiiirdperson.com
"it's not a shark unless it's eating you" is how some people talk about fascism. to them, it's hysterical to call the shark a shark before an actual shark attack is underway. these people are high on their supply of never forgets, and they forgot to bring along any never agains
Reposted by José Pablo Iriarte
therisingtithes.bsky.social
I wanna be sure:

you can’t hurt AI feelings because it has none. Insulting a JSON file is not a bigoted action.

But non-Black ppl *roleplaying pre-American-Civil-War racism* online for the lolz just telegraphs that the only thing stopping you from performing IRL racism is shame, if you have any.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
I swear, ESPN statistics are such mathematical absurdities.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
What . . . is the meaning of the bar graphical element here?? Is the claim that the Dolphins have "outperformed" the Panthers on third down because they have more conversions,disregarding the fact that they are converting under 50% while the Panthers are converting 50%?
Some kind of line graph from ESPN's GameCast. The Dolphins have converted 5/11 third down opportunities. The Panthers have converted 4/8. A horizontal bar underneath is shaded, let's guess 56% on the Dolphins side and 44% on the Panthers side, suggesting that the Dolphins are outperforming the Panthers on this metric.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
Not shown on the "Account Dashboard": how to close an account.
The Account Dashboard for SmartCity, a landline service provider.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
I don't tend to see them listed when people start listing newspapers to support instead of WaPo, LA Times, and NYT.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
I'm not expert, but the Miami Herald seems like it does good work: They broke the Epstein story, they broke the Alligator Alcatraz story, and they broke the story about that Tampa mansion where a minister was working 50 people for nothing except promises that otherwise their soul was in danger.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
"Remember this device," I ask, again, knowing you will not.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
But he's talking about whether we *feel* like adults or not. I mostly do not.
labyrinthrat.bsky.social
But to be fair, in spec fic in particular, the fear has been virtually unfounded. And with young people the fear has been virtually unfounded. Sometimes entering queer spaces outside of those I've gotten a *vibe*, but not really overt gatekeeping.

The calls are coming from inside the house.
Reposted by José Pablo Iriarte
cheryllynneaton.bsky.social
Creatives aren't anti-technology. They are anti-THEFT! Especially when the people stealing from them have millions and they don't even know how they are going to make rent if they can't get another gig.