Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ruthanna Emrys

@r-emrys.bsky.social

1.3K followers 420 following 650 posts

Author of A Half-Built Garden, Winter Tide, and Deep Roots. Freelance consultant on science policy, policy science, and the future of democracy, governance, and networks. Queer Jewish parent, foodie, cognitive science nerd, collective decision-making wonk.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · Jun 19

My new consulting company now has a website! www.tikanuconsulting.com

15 31

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Reactor Magazine @reactorsff.bsky.social · 5h

Reading the Weird celebrates spooky season all year long, but now an Edgar Allen Poe deep dive feels...thematically appropriate. This week let's discuss "Metzengerstein," Poe's first published story 📖

reactormag.com/two-stables-...

Two Stables Both Alike in Dignity: Edgar Allan Poe’s “Metzengerstein” - Reactor

Maybe one *should* look a gift horse in the mouth...

reactormag.com

3 12

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Aliette de Bodard @aliettedebodard.com · 7h

KJ Charles @kjcharleswriter.com · 7h

...oops?

All Of Us Murderers flyer with book cover. tex says: Readers Say, followed by quotes: All Of Us Murderers is why I am sleep deprived at work today.

Kept me up until 2am on a
work night!

I read this in one sitting and stayed up until 3am because
I couldn't put it down.

I was only going to read a chapter before bed and then I blinked and it was 8am.

end tagline reads: Out Now. sorry about that.

2 21

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Wizard's Tower Press @wtpress.bsky.social · 13h

It is Book Quote Wednesday and the word is 'strong'. In this excerpt from 'The Sheltering Flame' by Ruthanna Emrys in Wiz Duo #3, our heroes need to come up with a magical ritual, which is a challenge for middle-aged academics.
wizardstowerpress.co...

“Sounds awfully Crowley-ish,” says Candace.
“I mean yes, that’s where the tradition comes from, and also fuck the British Empire,” says Chloe. I guess magic “workers” are up there with Neopagans for having strong views on 19th Century cult leaders. Not that I’m personally short on opinions about either Crowley’s fashion sense or his basic grasp of consent, mostly based on Candace’s rants.
“We’re not big drinkers,” says Del, “and I definitely don’t want to magically reinforce my stoned level of stupidity. But music works, and I could paint something?”
“In here!” I wave my hands at the blank wall where we’ve talked about hanging a tapestry. “We could make a mural—Candace’s storytelling, your art, my, um, I realize home improvement is not the most excitingly Bohemian demonstration of identity, but I’m not actually an excitingly Bohemian girl.”

4 1

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 12h

All of Us Murderers is so, so good. Dark chocolate by a roaring fire. I adore @kjcharleswriter.com to begin with, and Charles writing a gothic is great. Entertainingly horrible relatives, a house built by a gothic novelist to embody all the gothic tropes, and an adorable couple trying to survive.

1 1 13

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Jason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · 1d

Exciting news! My novel Plague Birds, which was a finalist for the Nebula & Philip K. Dick Awards, will be rereleased by Apex Books @apexmag.bsky.social in an new edition with extra content in June 2026. And a sequel will be published by Apex in Oct. 2026. 1/
www.apexbookcompany.com/products/pla...

Cover of Plague Birds by Jason Sanford, which was a finalist for the Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards.

14 57 190

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 13h

I will be there, and can't wait to have this out in the world!

Joanne Hall @hierath77.bsky.social · 13h

Happy editor @rozc.bsky.social with the next @wtpress.bsky.social Wiz Duos from @r-emrys.bsky.social and @aknighton.bsky.social - launching at WFC!

Riz, a white lady with curly red hair and oval glasses wearing a grey cardie, holding two copies of Duo 3

1 3 7

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 1d

How many times can I use the phrase "in turn" in one draft? The world will hopefully never know.

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Bogi Takács / SONG OF SPORES coming Nov 2025! @bogiperson.bsky.social · 2d

REVIEWERS: I have e-ARC copies of SONG OF SPORES, my weird trans, intersex space opera book coming Nov 4 from Broken Eye Books!

You can request a copy here:

forms.gle/XZamWpmBUGwH...

I will be offline soon for Sukkot, so tell your friends in the meanwhile & I'll respond on Wed night (G-d willing)

Get an e-ARC of SONG OF SPORES!

This is for reviewers to request a copy (epub, pdf) of the weird trans, intersex space opera book Song of Spores by Bogi Takács, Broken Eye Books (upcoming Nov 4 2025). Please do not self-reject :) I ...

forms.gle

1 33 37

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Slava Greenberg 🩼🏳️‍⚧️✡️🇺🇦 in 🇳🇱 for 🍉 @slavagreenberg.bsky.social · 2d

Amsterdam yesterday, shutting it down for Palestine!

News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 3d

NEW: Extraordinary scenes in Amsterdam this afternoon (Sunday, Oct 5).

An estimated 250,000 bring the city to a standstill; people all wearing red to show solidarity with Palestine 🇵🇸

(🎥 Ahmed Zantac)

1 8 43

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Solaris Books @solarisbooks.bsky.social · 2d

Huge congratulations to @sapphomancer.bsky.social /August Clarke - METAL FROM HEAVEN has won the @lambdaliterary.org Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction!

We're bringing it to the UK later this month, preorder now: geni.us/metalfhe

Congratulations to all the winners at this year's Awards!

1 10 31

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 3d

Chocolate chip banana bread, once some get overripe!

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

R.S.A. Garcia (BUY THE NIGHTWARD) @rsagarcia.bsky.social · 7d

It's Black Speculative Fiction month!

All October, health allowing, I'll update this thread with fun recs for classic & current black spec fic & a bonus work of my own.

1. MY BONES & MY FLUTE www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-bones-a...

2. A RUIN OF SHADOWS
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-ruin-of-... 1/2

1 65 82

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 4d

noted without comment

3 9 57

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 4d

Oooh! I want some and I am not allowed until I use up more tea.

1 1

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 4d

The sooner you set your boundaries in a relationship, the easier and less dramatic it is to enforce them - and the better the relationship will be. Applies to individuals and employers both.

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 5d

We also enjoyed the parade from the safety of our living room.

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 5d

3 Oktober in Leiden: bread and herring for all!

1 6

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 7d

Mycelial Age historians will be frustrated by how we talk about conflict: www.patreon.com/posts/myceli...

The Mycelial Age: I Wasn't Feeling Particularly Nuanced Today | Ruthanna Emrys

Get more from Ruthanna Emrys on Patreon

www.patreon.com

2 7

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Jo Walton @bluejo.bsky.social · 7d

Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival, in which I, astonishingly, share a contents page with W.H. Auden and C.S. Lewis, is now available as a paperback for only $24.46 or an ebook for $22.01

www.bloomsbury.com/us/speculati...

Speculative Poetry and the Modern Alliterative Revival

2025 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award Finalist for Myth and Fantasy StudiesIf a literary movement arises but no one notices, is it still a movement? In Speculative…

www.bloomsbury.com

3 7

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

NPR @npr.org · 7d

Today marks the first day in public media’s history without federal funding. And we’re not going anywhere.

Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself.

Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj

690 9.7K 31K

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Fran Wilde @franwilde.bsky.social · 7d

I love my dictionary. No slop, except for the definition listed under s.

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 7d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

20 120

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 8d

the president of the united states wants to use the american military to kill american citizens on american soil. that's the whole story!

680 16K 50K

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 8d

STARRED review in @libraryjournal.bsky.social for WE WILL RISE AGAIN, the speculative activism anthology edited by @drkarenlord.bsky.social @annaleen.bsky.social and yours truly! Pre-order here: www.simonandschuster.com/books/We-Wil...

We Will Rise Again

From genre luminaries, esteemed organizers, and exciting new voices in fiction, an anthology of stories, essays, and interviews that offer transfor...

www.simonandschuster.com

5 56 84

Reposted by Ruthanna Emrys

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 8d

Ok. So there's A LOT of misinformation about the government shutdown, the continuing resolution and gender-affirming care. There was one article in PinkNews that was VERY shoddy about what Trump said. So let's breakdown what's true and what's BS. 1/
www.thepinknews.com/2025/09/29/t...

Trump threatens to shut down US government unless all trans health care is banned

The US government's looming shutdown hinges on anti-trans measures after Donald Trump refused to speak to Democrats unless they were passed.

www.thepinknews.com

16 820 1.4K

Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 9d

This is clearly correct, because my daughter and co-parent (autistic) just had to explain to me (allistic) the difference between Jigglypuff and Kirby. Eugenicists would not be able to cope with this knowledge.

Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 14d

i made a helpful reference

$top right: a fractured black rectangle where one half is labeled "autism is bad" and the other side is labeled "FACT CHECK: autistic people are productive members of society". top left: WRONG -negating their frame reinforces it -starts with what it isn't instead of what it is - your argument is shaped like their argument bottom right: large image of Kirby, a pink blob inhaling and the "autism is bad" fragment, labeled THEY'RE DOING EUGENICS bottom left: RIGHT - you eat their frame -starts with what's actually happening -contains and explains what they're doing -your argument is shaped like kirby$

3 11