Nishka
@nishka-is-writing.bsky.social
Writer of fantasy and science fiction. She/her. Profile picture made using @horatiosroom.bsky.social 's Medieval Maker picrew.
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Nishka
@nishka-is-writing.bsky.social
· Oct 2
Our 13th issue has been edited by the talented Shreya Ila Anasuya, who has helped us show what the meaning of a true retelling is.
Link to read: tasavvurnama.com
🔮 - #SouthAsian #SpeculativeFiction
Link to read: tasavvurnama.com
🔮 - #SouthAsian #SpeculativeFiction
Thrilled to be a part of the latest issue of @tasavvurnama.bsky.social ! It was a pleasure to work with Shreya to improve my story "Deep in a Lightless Forest", which you can read here: tasavvurnama.com/deep-in-a-li...
Reposted by Nishka
Yep. And you've gotta DO IT. Commit, lean into it. Make it the best darn (metaphorical or otherwise) bagpipe break you can possibly manage.
Don't wonder if you can or should. Wonder how anyone can even begin to stop you (they can't).
Don't wonder if you can or should. Wonder how anyone can even begin to stop you (they can't).
Protip for writers: you want to do the weird thing, you gotta just *do it*
If AC/DC can pull off a *bagpipe break* in It's A Long Way To The Top, you can get us to care about your weird little thing
If AC/DC can pull off a *bagpipe break* in It's A Long Way To The Top, you can get us to care about your weird little thing
January 26, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Yep. And you've gotta DO IT. Commit, lean into it. Make it the best darn (metaphorical or otherwise) bagpipe break you can possibly manage.
Don't wonder if you can or should. Wonder how anyone can even begin to stop you (they can't).
Don't wonder if you can or should. Wonder how anyone can even begin to stop you (they can't).
Reposted by Nishka
You aren't going to fail if you don't make a NYT bestselling novel before you're 30. No, listen to me, look in my eyes: not publishing/not having a smash hit in your 20s is normal. You aren't dead if you don't. Fucking relax
January 25, 2026 at 11:25 PM
You aren't going to fail if you don't make a NYT bestselling novel before you're 30. No, listen to me, look in my eyes: not publishing/not having a smash hit in your 20s is normal. You aren't dead if you don't. Fucking relax
Reposted by Nishka
There's plenty of critiques to make of ahimsa, but "how'd it work out for Gandhi/King/Mandela" gotta be what you get when you grow the worst possible one in a lab
January 25, 2026 at 2:36 PM
There's plenty of critiques to make of ahimsa, but "how'd it work out for Gandhi/King/Mandela" gotta be what you get when you grow the worst possible one in a lab
Reposted by Nishka
The idea that the British Raj respected the rule of law is legitimately one of the funniest things I've ever read in my entire life
Non violence works when the aggressor respects the rule of law. America's laws seem to disappear when one party is power
January 25, 2026 at 2:44 PM
The idea that the British Raj respected the rule of law is legitimately one of the funniest things I've ever read in my entire life
Reposted by Nishka
Please don’t assume female ancient historians do “gender stuff” just because we are women. It is an incredibly important area of study but I do Roman law, collective action, and the Roman economy. Thank you for your attention to this stereotype.
January 24, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Please don’t assume female ancient historians do “gender stuff” just because we are women. It is an incredibly important area of study but I do Roman law, collective action, and the Roman economy. Thank you for your attention to this stereotype.
(Yes they're superficially similar to regular flatworms but finding flatworms so deep underwater is still a big deal.)
January 24, 2026 at 7:30 AM
(Yes they're superficially similar to regular flatworms but finding flatworms so deep underwater is still a big deal.)
Reposted by Nishka
Transphobia is a cancer of the heart and mind.
It is a useless fear, based on ignorance and cruelty.
Trans people are not responsible for a single one of the problems we face.
Do the world a favor and grow the fuck up.
It is a useless fear, based on ignorance and cruelty.
Trans people are not responsible for a single one of the problems we face.
Do the world a favor and grow the fuck up.
January 24, 2026 at 3:15 AM
Transphobia is a cancer of the heart and mind.
It is a useless fear, based on ignorance and cruelty.
Trans people are not responsible for a single one of the problems we face.
Do the world a favor and grow the fuck up.
It is a useless fear, based on ignorance and cruelty.
Trans people are not responsible for a single one of the problems we face.
Do the world a favor and grow the fuck up.
Reposted by Nishka
I have fully changed my opinion re: novels, they are terrible, actually the most terriblest, if you ever hear me even suggest writing another novel you must immediately smother me in a large blob of amber and then step back and watch me deservedly struggle and finally perish
January 23, 2026 at 3:26 AM
I have fully changed my opinion re: novels, they are terrible, actually the most terriblest, if you ever hear me even suggest writing another novel you must immediately smother me in a large blob of amber and then step back and watch me deservedly struggle and finally perish
Reposted by Nishka
"A writing career is not a sprint. It is also not a marathon. A writing career is one of those wilderness survival challenges where they dump you in the woods without a map or a compass or food and whoever finds their way out wins."
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/how...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/how...
How to Become a Professional Writer
Do you enjoy writing? Do you like the idea of taking the thing you love doing the most in the world and turning it into work? So that your access t...
www.mcsweeneys.net
January 20, 2026 at 2:20 AM
"A writing career is not a sprint. It is also not a marathon. A writing career is one of those wilderness survival challenges where they dump you in the woods without a map or a compass or food and whoever finds their way out wins."
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/how...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/how...
Reposted by Nishka
A lot of you need to learn the difference between "I'm not interested in this story" and "no human being could possibly want to create or read/watch this story and its existence is a personal insult against me."
January 20, 2026 at 9:36 PM
A lot of you need to learn the difference between "I'm not interested in this story" and "no human being could possibly want to create or read/watch this story and its existence is a personal insult against me."
Reposted by Nishka
I had written/ published very little that had anything whatsoever to do with gender, until my translation of the Odyssey came out in 2017, and all of a sudden, I was assumed to be obsessed with nothing else.
January 20, 2026 at 3:24 PM
I had written/ published very little that had anything whatsoever to do with gender, until my translation of the Odyssey came out in 2017, and all of a sudden, I was assumed to be obsessed with nothing else.
Reposted by Nishka
I was the guest fiction editor for the two most recent issues of The Deadlands, and here is the result! Hope you enjoy the stories, and please do follow the authors and support this wonderful magazine if you can. These awesome matching covers are by @carlydraws.bsky.social!
vajra.me/2026/01/19/t...
vajra.me/2026/01/19/t...
The Deadlands, in Fall and Winter
My guest-edited issues of the Deadlands are out and they are beautiful
vajra.me
January 20, 2026 at 1:42 AM
I was the guest fiction editor for the two most recent issues of The Deadlands, and here is the result! Hope you enjoy the stories, and please do follow the authors and support this wonderful magazine if you can. These awesome matching covers are by @carlydraws.bsky.social!
vajra.me/2026/01/19/t...
vajra.me/2026/01/19/t...
Reposted by Nishka
Intense droughts have caused water stress and elevated mortality for trees in the Amazon, foreshadowing the future of tropical forests as the climate changes
go.nature.com/4qpTWRv
go.nature.com/4qpTWRv
Predicting the fate of tropical forests under intensifying heat
Intense droughts have caused water stress and elevated mortality for trees in the Amazon, foreshadowing the future of tropical forests as the climate changes.
go.nature.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Intense droughts have caused water stress and elevated mortality for trees in the Amazon, foreshadowing the future of tropical forests as the climate changes
go.nature.com/4qpTWRv
go.nature.com/4qpTWRv
Reposted by Nishka
I understand that you were aiming for a morally grey protagonist, but in practice what you've ended up with is more of a moral beige.
January 19, 2026 at 4:30 PM
I understand that you were aiming for a morally grey protagonist, but in practice what you've ended up with is more of a moral beige.
Reposted by Nishka
The Nobel Peace Prize becoming so prestigious that wars are fought over a head of state coveting it is some real monkey paw stuff for Alfred Nobel.
January 19, 2026 at 8:47 AM
The Nobel Peace Prize becoming so prestigious that wars are fought over a head of state coveting it is some real monkey paw stuff for Alfred Nobel.
Reposted by Nishka
Shout out to everyone currently experiencing everything
January 18, 2026 at 4:01 AM
Shout out to everyone currently experiencing everything
Reposted by Nishka
damn what is wrong with me, i am having the hardest time concentrating on work, i lament as i compulsively refresh live feeds of unspeakable horrors
January 17, 2026 at 7:52 PM
damn what is wrong with me, i am having the hardest time concentrating on work, i lament as i compulsively refresh live feeds of unspeakable horrors
Reposted by Nishka
Important shit that I’m still trying to learn.
November 30, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Important shit that I’m still trying to learn.
Reposted by Nishka
This is haunting...
It's the oldest piece of music for which we have both the words and the notes. A song to the Hurrian goddess Nikkal, it was written on clay tablets around 3500 years ago, and was discovered in the 1950s in the ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8tf...
It's the oldest piece of music for which we have both the words and the notes. A song to the Hurrian goddess Nikkal, it was written on clay tablets around 3500 years ago, and was discovered in the 1950s in the ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8tf...
THE OLDEST SONG IN THE WORLD
YouTube video by Peter Pringle
www.youtube.com
January 15, 2026 at 7:48 PM
This is haunting...
It's the oldest piece of music for which we have both the words and the notes. A song to the Hurrian goddess Nikkal, it was written on clay tablets around 3500 years ago, and was discovered in the 1950s in the ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8tf...
It's the oldest piece of music for which we have both the words and the notes. A song to the Hurrian goddess Nikkal, it was written on clay tablets around 3500 years ago, and was discovered in the 1950s in the ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8tf...
Truly a fantastic website
January 17, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Truly a fantastic website
Reposted by Nishka
I will be one of the speakers/mentors at the Indian Ocean Writers’ Residency in Bentota, Sri Lanka from July 9‒15 2026. Applications close at the end of January—please do apply if you're interested, and share with anyone else who might be!
vajra.me/2026/01/16/i...
vajra.me/2026/01/16/i...
January 16, 2026 at 10:54 PM
I will be one of the speakers/mentors at the Indian Ocean Writers’ Residency in Bentota, Sri Lanka from July 9‒15 2026. Applications close at the end of January—please do apply if you're interested, and share with anyone else who might be!
vajra.me/2026/01/16/i...
vajra.me/2026/01/16/i...
Reposted by Nishka
Sometimes you send something you found online to a friend because you want to brighten their day, and sometimes you send something you found online to a friend with the precise attitude and bearing of a cat very carefully lining up their paw with the back of another cat's head.
January 16, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Sometimes you send something you found online to a friend because you want to brighten their day, and sometimes you send something you found online to a friend with the precise attitude and bearing of a cat very carefully lining up their paw with the back of another cat's head.
Reposted by Nishka
"This image (of earned settlement) isn’t neighbours and good friends, it’s guests and strangers. Allowed to stay but never invited to belong."
Yep
This whole thing is worth a read and not just if you're in the uk because every western country seems to follow the same migration policy.
Yep
This whole thing is worth a read and not just if you're in the uk because every western country seems to follow the same migration policy.
Over the weekend the government consultation on earned settlement crossed my feed thanks to @jdportes.bsky.social and @danielsohege.bsky.social. Filling it out made me very sad. So sad that I've written something far too long (as usual) but if you'd like to read them they're here.
What ‘earned settlement’ tells us about belonging, character, and the country we are becoming - bmwelby's blog
Over the weekend I spent some time responding to the Home Office consultation (it closes in mid-February) on proposed changes to settlement and what it calls “earned residence”. I didn’t rush it. I di...
bm.wel.by
January 16, 2026 at 8:59 AM
"This image (of earned settlement) isn’t neighbours and good friends, it’s guests and strangers. Allowed to stay but never invited to belong."
Yep
This whole thing is worth a read and not just if you're in the uk because every western country seems to follow the same migration policy.
Yep
This whole thing is worth a read and not just if you're in the uk because every western country seems to follow the same migration policy.
This is an excellent thread
At every point, the reader is clear on WHY we're, say, fighting the bandits (because they have clue 1) and WHY we're going to Location (bandits said clue 2 was there). And every time we hit that goal, a new question or goal (preferably more than one) opens up. This gives reader sense of progression
January 16, 2026 at 7:22 PM
This is an excellent thread
Reposted by Nishka
From what folks are saying this is a deeply misleading headline
Essentially, all the AI organizations already scrape from Wikipedia because it's open license
This is requiring the AI companies doing the scraping to off-set the strain on Wikipedia's server costs and the like
Essentially, all the AI organizations already scrape from Wikipedia because it's open license
This is requiring the AI companies doing the scraping to off-set the strain on Wikipedia's server costs and the like
January 15, 2026 at 9:16 PM
From what folks are saying this is a deeply misleading headline
Essentially, all the AI organizations already scrape from Wikipedia because it's open license
This is requiring the AI companies doing the scraping to off-set the strain on Wikipedia's server costs and the like
Essentially, all the AI organizations already scrape from Wikipedia because it's open license
This is requiring the AI companies doing the scraping to off-set the strain on Wikipedia's server costs and the like