Oh, there's something like #portfolioDay ! Okay, so, I'm an #author, #podcast host and data privacy expert with a strong focus on #ITsecurity awareness. I write #nonfiction, crime and #scifi in German and English. The last two years I mainly spent with making #books and podcasts for others, like the lovely Eltville #WeinSchreibereien anthology and podcast.
Bonjour! 🖖😎
Jingle One
from Electron Rock
https://solarphasing.bandcamp.com/track/jingle-one
#music #fedimusic #musodon #mastomusic #electronicmusic #experimentalmusic #modular #modularsynth #electronica #ambient #drone #soundscape #atmospheric #experimental #scifi #sciencefiction #synthetizer #synth #spacemusic #art #culture #bandcamp
Glennis Cochrane did well from the divorce from Chuck. Despite his wealth, he had decided to represent himself, and, well, you know what they say about that. That he also decided to represent himself in the criminal assault case resulting from what happened outside the court was just icing on the cake. Court officials do not take well to being punched. 10-15 years before any chance of parole.
She sold the house, and purchased a charming heritage building near the CBD. A two story house with an attic. The estate agent said he was obliged to disclose that the house was haunted. Glennis laughed it off..
The reality was that the house really was haunted. She hadn't seen the ghost, but she'd heard it, and seen the effects.
Most noticeable was that the ghost was obsessive about the way the kitchen was set out. The pots and pans had to be just so. The crockery stacked the right way. And the pantry organised by date.
Once she'd figured that out, the ghost started on the bathroom. Then the living room.
The ghost had strong opinions about art. A Mondrian print ended up on the floor, but a Pollock reproduction stayed. Family photos were safe, but often got rearranged. Sometimes in different ways - it seemed that the ghost had moods. Her own paintings were untouched.
And that brought on the studio. Glennis had cleaned out the attic, and had a skylight put in, and set up the area as a studio. Every morning, her brushes would be cleaned, and but any work she'd covered would be uncovered.
Gradually, she started to feel someone watching her as she painted. Just the edge of a shadow out of the corner of her eye. A flicker of movement. So she started talking to the ghost.
About her day, about the divorce, about the current painting, the day's news. Just talking. When she told the presence about Chuck getting dogpiled by the court security team, she was certain she heard a hint of a giggle. And saw the hint of a figure.
---------------------------
Next we have the most famous work by Glennis Cochrane: "Past and Present" where you can see a ghostly outline of a young woman in formal late Victorian clothes on an IKEA lounge chair, illuminated by a shaft of dusty sunlight.
The artist always insisted that it was painted from a live sitting, but no attribution for the model has been found.
What am I bid?
#SF #SFF #UrbanFantasy #ghost #art #SciFi #microfiction #microfic #tootfic #IAmWriting
My storage-bladder clutched the loot tighter as I sprinted for the airlock and my stochastic parrot started posting dire survival probabilities on the body-bus.
The recent mods I'd made for the job had pros and cons. On the one hand the ablative scales on my back did a wonderful job dealing with incoming energy and ballistic fire, on the other hand all that shit was weighing me down and I couldn't get into my usual groove. I was way too slow and I would die.
"Fuck it, fire at will."
As soon as the free-for-all message was on the bus all hell broke loose. My third arm took control of the cam, overrode its own power and projectile budget and went to town on anything that moved and was not me. Nutrient-transport fluids and excrement splashed on the walls behind me.
The locomotion subsystem erased all wear protection on joints and connected tissues. With a jolt (and a lot of cracks and creaks) my body was launched towards the door.
Eris, my delightfully named security subsystem, unlocked all of our precious zero days and started burning out any system stupid enough to still accept any incoming comms.
"Not the DOOR, Eris!"
"I'm having fun, I'm not stupid 
."
I flew through the door and broke some carapace as I slammed into the back wall of the airlock. The door closed with a lot more force than allowed by regulation and instead of a soft disengagement I had to hold on for dear life as the emergency detach bolts exploded.
I dropped on the floor. Smiling. Nothing like a good near-death experience to make you feel alive.
I could hear faint sobbing from Excel, the new accountant AI as it tallied the cost for burnt exploits.
We were on a deep survey run out towards the far edge of the Orion Arm that Earth is in, so yeah, we were a long way from home. We're just come out of jump, and were recalibrating our sensors, when the collision warning alarm went off.
We had sealed our suits, and were reaching for the controls when the impact happened. Whatever hit the ship got us in the crew quarters. Fortunately we were all on the bridge at the time.
Marcelo went aft to investigate, and a few minutes later we heard him scream, so we went after him like idiots. We found him backed up against the wall, a hexapod advancing towards him - all sharp claws and spines. When we entered, it turned towards us, so we backed out of the common area. It ignored Marcelo, and followed us.
Now I know what you are thinking, why didn't we shoot it. Simple. We were a survey ship. Yes, we had some small arms, but they were kept in a locker near the gravraft. Heck, the ship itself only had a single turret with a couple of popguns.
So, we backed out, and it followed us - but it is not a big ship, and it was not long before it cornered us.
It pulled a rectangular object out and some sort of cylinder with odd grips. Then, before I could do anything, it was right in front of me, and pushed the rectangle against my suit, and did something with the cylinder. Then it turned around and went back into the the object that collided with us.
The thing that had crashed into us reversed course , leaving a three meter wide hole in the hull.
Marcelo made it back to the bridge with a rocket pistol, but it was all over by then.
We sealed the bridge and repressurised, then opened our suits. The outside cameras showed the other craft just sitting nearby. We looked at the rectangle, and it appeared to be some sort of tablet with markings on it. Some of the markings matched the ones on the craft that hit us.
We puzzled over this for an hour or so, then another larger craft turned up, and opened up comms. That was when the one that hit us left.
It took us a while, but we figured out that they were offering to tow us to a repair yard in the next system. Not having any other clue, we sent an image of the tablet, almost instantly, they had tow lines attached.
Marcelo had been sitting thinking for a while but spoke up once we were underway. "Ceinwen, Dargh? I think that thing was giving us its insurance details."
#SF #SFF #SciFi #SpaceOpera #Humour #microfic #microfiction #tootfic #IAmWriting
Thanks to @Steveg58 for the inspiration.
https://communitymedia.video/w/h1jdbHm8xTj5VEDuCWAbBW
#lispyGopherClimate #technology #podcast #weekly
featuring @kentpitman @ramin_hal9001 @jns
Longterm #reliability , the #climateCrisis , technology and knowledge
Kent has found the source to his Cross referenced editing facility from Open University #lisp #lispm example.
#scifi #books with this theme? Ending of Cats Cradle?
On the #art side check, @prahou 's #unix_surrealism, https://photronic.art
Happy #lambdaMOO year! 35 years! https://lambda.moo.mud.org as always.
"I'm sick of AI automatically post-processing my images. It's really fucked up my image library."
- What do you mean?
"It keeps inserting Arnold Schwarzenegger into my photos. There's no way he was around every time. Look!"
- Oh, I see him. Have you still got some old film negatives?
"Let me look. Oh hey, here's my old photo album and... Wait... No! He's in them too! How?"
- Is your name John Connor?
"Yes.Why?"
- I'll be back.
COVER REVEAL! 🚀📷 We are delighted to unveil SHOESHINE BOY & CIGARETTE GIRL, a #scifi #romance novelette by award-winning author P.A. Cornell! Cover art by Kim Herbst! Launching February 3, 2026. Read all about this delightful book: https://www.starsandsabers.com/2025/10/30/cover-reveal-for-shoeshine-boy-cigarette-girl-by-p-a-cornell/
#books #scifi #romance #scifiromance #2026books
My short ebook Tea for Two is available for sale as of now! For over two centuries, Anna Kerroway has refused to upload her consciousness to the Matrioshka Brain. But with the Earth scheduled for demolition, it seems that now she has to... or does she?
All Rights Reserved is 50% off in the Kobo Spring Sale! John Adam's mind has been uploaded and forced into slavery in a far-future corporate dystopia. Can he build a union strong enough to fight OmniCor's AI management bots? Find out for only $0.99 this April!
I have a new patron-only post up on Patreon! COMING SOON: RECORDED AUDIO READINGS of my published work! Plus access to my Discord and free copies of 3 short ebooks -- all for as little as $5USD/month!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/january-2026-148008531
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #AmWriting
Yay August!🎉 THU-THU 7/30-8/6 weekly #Mastodon/ #Fediverse #WatchPartyCalendar
📅LiveCal http://bit.ly/MastodonWatchParties
⏰️️All times US Eastern
🔍Monthly #ColumboTV 8/1
🎭 #Comedon back on 8/6
NEW: #SilentFlickerSunday & #LaEsoterica
#Westerns #Music #Mysteries #scifi #Action #Comedy #anime #SilentFilm #FilmMastodon #CineMastodon
Tx hosts🌺 @MatthewTitus88 @MirrorAyako @Taweret @analgesicsleep @rsmon77 @hyde @kamikat @lilymarswrites @LisaMarieBowman @AlsoPaisleyCat @klu9 @GrillChill @heavydishongry
Hablando de libros, avisadme si os enteráis de que a Verónica Pazos le reeditan en algún momento "En el camino a Xanadú" porque se lo quiero comprar. Si acaso alguien la conoce o la sigue por otras rrss y se entera de algo al respecto, mensajeadme sin miedo, que me interesa. Espero de verdad que esté intentando moverlo por otras editoriales y alguna apueste por él porque es demasiado bonito y perfecto para que esté descatalogado.
#Libros #Literatura #Literaverso #Bookstodon #Fantasía #Scifi #CienciaFiccion
On Exoplanet 09774 these seeds have gained the name of Walking Apples. Plants don’t walk, (well, except for Triffids) but these ones do, sort of. Once dropped from the branch, the ‘legs’ move the seed along the soil upwards of 10 meters. There are no birds to spread the seed on this planet, which is probably why they walk. The seeds mostly trundle along at night, although we don’t know why at night, or how they know it’s night, although the nights do normally last 37 earth hours.
#scifi #exoplanet #seed #nature #photography #magicinthemundane
On a hot day here in the multiverse, there's nothing like a much-awaited book and a frosty beverage. Am I right, @bookstodon? #NewBookEuphoria #HopePunk #SciFi
Updated the alt text with @annaleen's blurb!
Fresh newsletter incoming in one week! Want to catch up on past missives? Trawl the archive to sample the mini-essays or book and game recs, then sign up to get a free ebook delivered hot and ready!
1/
In these times of despair, here is a hopeful story - “A New Faith”.
Available to read online or download (EPUB and PDF) for free at: https://tinjar.ghost.io/a-new-faith
#bookstodon #books #book #novel #story #fiction #hopepunk #solarpunk #climatefiction #sciencefiction #speculativefiction #mystery #thriller #detective #women #climate #climatechange #climatecrisis #extinction #survival #adaptation #migration #immigration #indie #indieauthor #clifi #scifi
I've got a new patron-only post up on Patreon! Interested in joining the fun? Get access to my next audio dispatch, plus a Discord invite and three complimentary ebooks, for as little as $5USD!
You have to live for one year (Earth time) at an isolated research station on an alien world. 🚀 🪐
The research post has all of your survival requirements, but your work will entail frequently going outside on the surface.
❓ 👉 Which world would you choose?
#poll #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Dune #StarTrek #StarWars
A nice older review of my fantasy story The Last Philosopher from a non-fantasy reader 😊
Free ebook in comments.
@reading @books @fantasy
@worldbuilding
@bookstodon
#WIPWednesday #Short #Excerpt #AmWriting #IndieAuthor #eBook #eBooks
#SpecualtiveFiction #FantasyBooks #Fantasy #SciFi #WorldBuilding #Satire #Humor #Humour #Comedy
#Book #Books #Novel #Novels #Bookstodon #Bookwyrm #FantasyBooks
#Reading #Readers #ReadersOfMastodon #ReadingCommunity
#Review #Bookreview #Recommendation
Bay Area peeps! What are you doing this weekend? Why not join me and a bunch of other amazing authors at the Bay Area Book Festival?? It's all happening in downtown Berkeley! I'll be there Saturday and Sunday! www.baybookfest.org
PLUS!! If you love science fiction, fantasy, and horror, there is a special
@Locusmag festival for the Locus Awards on Friday and Saturday during BABF, so be sure to check that out too! https://locusmag.com/2026-locus-awards-weekend/
My newest audio dispatch, "For The One Who Has Everything", is up on Patreon and AVAILABLE TO ALL! Consider it a free sample of what you get with a Neo-Human pledge. Enjoy, and don't forget to share if you liked it!
#ReMonsterdon #WatchParty reminder
Sunday 31 May 2026
TERRORE NELLO SPAZIO
Planet of the Vampires
Mario Bava, 1965
TRAILER
https://youtu.be/yJvcqfC8u3Y
FILM LINKS
https://eggplant.place/collection/4fudrrfAyocAtkSv6ltlb6
TIME
- 19.00 UTC / 20.00 WEST / 21.00 CEST / 22.00 EEST
- 12.00 PDT / 13.00 MX Centro / 14.00 CDT / 15.00 EDT
HOW
Buy, rent, stream or download the film, press PLAY at the appointed time & join in the fun posting with the hashtag #ReMonsterdon
Thanks for coming in to discuss this contract.
Like many industries, the demolition industry is pretty tight-knit. Our teams all know each other, and we keep in touch. Sure we compete for contracts, but the work is stupid dangerous, so there is no room for cutting people out - they might know something you don't, and save you and your crews lives.
So when I got your call to bring down a hotel from the 1910s, I had a look around, noted the incomplete demo work, and told you I'd get back to you. That is this meeting.
I asked around.
Turns out almost everyone has had go at that place. And I mean almost everyone. In fact the only local company that hasn't is mine.
So I had to ask "Why is the place still standing?" The answers were weird, to say the least.
I know you know the stories, but let's go over them.
Two teams tried to implode the place. Whenever they got ready to blow the place, they'd find det lines disconnected, fuzes pulled out of charges, even the charges themselves not where they were meant to be. And not once or twice. This went on for months.
Some other crews were going to go the traditional wrecking ball and bulldozer path. Except that every time they went to start, equipment failed. Wrecking balls came off cables, dozers lost tracks or hydraulics, engines would be be missing critical parts.
And then there were the other things. Lights in the windows. Security guards hearing noises, but finding nothing. Security guards who would, one morning, just resign, and never explain why.
Everyone agreed that it was the same problem. The locals. Only not the neighbours, or do-gooders, or NIMBYs.
The locals in the hotel.
The dead ones.
Ghosts.
All the teams were convinced that the place was haunted.
Big Mike, who isn't scared of anything, hired an exorcist. They lasted half a night, and now live on the other side of pond.
Which is why I am declining this contract. If you want my advice, not that you'll take it, stop trying to knock it down.
Either sell it as is, or fix it up, and turn the liability into an asset. You have what looks like a genuinely haunted hotel. Clean it up, renovate, and charge a premium.
Just make it clear to both the ghosts and and the contractors what is going on. You'll want them on your side, after all.
#SF #SFF #SciFi #Horror #Aughost #microfiction #microfic #tootfic #IAmWriting
