R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
@rblemberg.bsky.social
RB (they/them). Immigrant, SFF writer + academic. Neurodivergent. World Fantasy Award winner. Le Guin Prize, Nebula, Ignyte, Locus and Crawford finalist. Views always my own.
Mir veln zey iberlebn
http://rblemberg.net/
https://patreon.com/rblemberg
Mir veln zey iberlebn
http://rblemberg.net/
https://patreon.com/rblemberg
ICYMI - please consider helping and spreading the word!
Thank you to everyone who already boosted and donated.
Thank you to everyone who already boosted and donated.
Mutual aid alert. Siobhán Kirchstein, whom I've known for many years, is a trans woman who works as a janitor at KU and has been targeted for using a bathroom. Her case has been profiled in many venues, including by M. Gessen at the NYT. I've talked to her at length recently.
September 24, 2026 at 10:23 PM
ICYMI - please consider helping and spreading the word!
Thank you to everyone who already boosted and donated.
Thank you to everyone who already boosted and donated.
Mutual aid alert. Siobhán Kirchstein, whom I've known for many years, is a trans woman who works as a janitor at KU and has been targeted for using a bathroom. Her case has been profiled in many venues, including by M. Gessen at the NYT. I've talked to her at length recently.
September 23, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Mutual aid alert. Siobhán Kirchstein, whom I've known for many years, is a trans woman who works as a janitor at KU and has been targeted for using a bathroom. Her case has been profiled in many venues, including by M. Gessen at the NYT. I've talked to her at length recently.
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
For this week's episode of In Your Spare Time, R.B. Lemberg (@rblemberg.bsky.social) reads "First Contact," a story about a rattlesnake, communication, and ingenuity.
As Ursula notes, "The sacred and the comic are not that far apart."
As Ursula notes, "The sacred and the comic are not that far apart."
In Your Spare Time: From the Blog of Ursula K. Le Guin: R.B. Lemberg reads "First Contact"
R.B. Lemberg reads post 22, "First Contact," from May of 2011. You can read Ursula's original post here: R.B. Lemberg's website is
inyoursparetime.libsyn.com
September 9, 2026 at 6:20 PM
For this week's episode of In Your Spare Time, R.B. Lemberg (@rblemberg.bsky.social) reads "First Contact," a story about a rattlesnake, communication, and ingenuity.
As Ursula notes, "The sacred and the comic are not that far apart."
As Ursula notes, "The sacred and the comic are not that far apart."
This happens again, and again. And again. 😡
August 31, 2026 at 1:52 AM
This happens again, and again. And again. 😡
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
The daughters of Asimov's editor Sheila Williams are asking for help funding care for their parents:
www.gofundme.com/f/help-irene...?
www.gofundme.com/f/help-irene...?
Donate to Help Irene's Parents Get Skilled Nursing Care, organized by Irene Bruce
Hi - This is Irene and Juliet, the daughters of Sheila and David. As many of… Irene Bruce needs your support for Help Irene's Parents Get Skilled Nursing Care
www.gofundme.com
August 10, 2026 at 1:18 PM
The daughters of Asimov's editor Sheila Williams are asking for help funding care for their parents:
www.gofundme.com/f/help-irene...?
www.gofundme.com/f/help-irene...?
@bogiperson.bsky.social and I have been married for ten+ years. To each other :)
In 1980s our people were dying of AIDS.
In terms of food, the state of vegan food is AMAZING right now.
In 1980s our people were dying of AIDS.
In terms of food, the state of vegan food is AMAZING right now.
Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.
August 5, 2026 at 2:17 PM
@bogiperson.bsky.social and I have been married for ten+ years. To each other :)
In 1980s our people were dying of AIDS.
In terms of food, the state of vegan food is AMAZING right now.
In 1980s our people were dying of AIDS.
In terms of food, the state of vegan food is AMAZING right now.
I am satisfied with KS primary elections so far. Cindy Holscher is the governor nominee, and establishment Dems better support her here. Kansans of all political persuasions overwhelmingly voted No on politicizing our supreme court (which would have reopened the abortion access question yet again).
August 5, 2026 at 2:16 AM
I am satisfied with KS primary elections so far. Cindy Holscher is the governor nominee, and establishment Dems better support her here. Kansans of all political persuasions overwhelmingly voted No on politicizing our supreme court (which would have reopened the abortion access question yet again).
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
The Soviet animated version is set on Dec 31 2026, but it is also very much worth experiencing (thank you to @rblemberg.bsky.social who showed it to me!) -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oxP...
Possibly even more terrifying than the original story.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oxP...
Possibly even more terrifying than the original story.
August 4, 2026 at 10:36 PM
The Soviet animated version is set on Dec 31 2026, but it is also very much worth experiencing (thank you to @rblemberg.bsky.social who showed it to me!) -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oxP...
Possibly even more terrifying than the original story.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oxP...
Possibly even more terrifying than the original story.
An editor I never interacted with, and whom I never mentioned, was in my mentions attacking me for my skeets. This is the type of behavior that makes authors afraid to say anything.
Don't look for them on my behalf. Thanks.
I'm going to step away again. I'll see you when I see you.
Don't look for them on my behalf. Thanks.
I'm going to step away again. I'll see you when I see you.
July 15, 2026 at 8:11 PM
An editor I never interacted with, and whom I never mentioned, was in my mentions attacking me for my skeets. This is the type of behavior that makes authors afraid to say anything.
Don't look for them on my behalf. Thanks.
I'm going to step away again. I'll see you when I see you.
Don't look for them on my behalf. Thanks.
I'm going to step away again. I'll see you when I see you.
Exactly this.
To jump off something RB said above, the problem isn't so much genAI but the system itself. It's the same issue we have in education. GenAI is making already weak/corrupt systems worse at an exponential rate, but it didn't create the root problems.
July 15, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Exactly this.
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
I've just seen a very obvious "AI" scammer claim to be a SFWA member yesterday, so some of the people doing this are definitely knowledgeable enough about genre to know what respectability signals to send - or know how to prompt their LLM to get these respectability signals.
July 15, 2026 at 5:21 PM
I've just seen a very obvious "AI" scammer claim to be a SFWA member yesterday, so some of the people doing this are definitely knowledgeable enough about genre to know what respectability signals to send - or know how to prompt their LLM to get these respectability signals.
It occurred to me that instead of forcing authors to prove they are not AI, editors need to prove to authors that they are able to distinguish original work from AI slop.
It should not be all that difficult.
It should not be all that difficult.
July 15, 2026 at 5:08 PM
It occurred to me that instead of forcing authors to prove they are not AI, editors need to prove to authors that they are able to distinguish original work from AI slop.
It should not be all that difficult.
It should not be all that difficult.
This thread from JJA echoes my own thoughts on the topic, which I posted some days ago.
All due respect to Bona Books (who recently accidentally bought an AI-written story): We cannot allow the procedures and methodology they outlined in their article to become the standard practice.
www.bona-books.com/news/we-boug...
www.bona-books.com/news/we-boug...
Honey, We Bought an AI Story — Bona Books
Bona Books share a hard-learned lesson: we accidentally bought AI-generated fiction. This deep dive into our experience with submission fraud covers the "red flags" we missed, the toll it took on our ...
www.bona-books.com
July 15, 2026 at 4:47 PM
This thread from JJA echoes my own thoughts on the topic, which I posted some days ago.
I stg I was going to pitch something morose and elegiac but the MC's special interest is clumps
July 15, 2026 at 3:32 AM
I stg I was going to pitch something morose and elegiac but the MC's special interest is clumps
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
i resent and push back against the idea that we should have to show draft work. it was frustrating for visual artists to have to do, and its frustrating for prose artists as well.
for a lot of people, the parts of the drafting process they don't already share w editors are pretty personal?
for a lot of people, the parts of the drafting process they don't already share w editors are pretty personal?
July 9, 2026 at 8:42 PM
i resent and push back against the idea that we should have to show draft work. it was frustrating for visual artists to have to do, and its frustrating for prose artists as well.
for a lot of people, the parts of the drafting process they don't already share w editors are pretty personal?
for a lot of people, the parts of the drafting process they don't already share w editors are pretty personal?
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
I just had a horrifying realization.
It seems like the new test to prove you didn't use "AI" to write a story is gonna be sharing all your notes and drafts with editors.
Which means all my frantic all-caps "WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING WHY HAVE I FORGOTTEN HOW TO WRITE" might become evidence.
Fuck.
It seems like the new test to prove you didn't use "AI" to write a story is gonna be sharing all your notes and drafts with editors.
Which means all my frantic all-caps "WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING WHY HAVE I FORGOTTEN HOW TO WRITE" might become evidence.
Fuck.
July 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
I just had a horrifying realization.
It seems like the new test to prove you didn't use "AI" to write a story is gonna be sharing all your notes and drafts with editors.
Which means all my frantic all-caps "WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING WHY HAVE I FORGOTTEN HOW TO WRITE" might become evidence.
Fuck.
It seems like the new test to prove you didn't use "AI" to write a story is gonna be sharing all your notes and drafts with editors.
Which means all my frantic all-caps "WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING WHY HAVE I FORGOTTEN HOW TO WRITE" might become evidence.
Fuck.
Needing to prove that I'm not AI to editors after AI stole ALL of my published work, digested it, and can spit garbage stylized with birds and tapestries a la Lemberg: 🤮
Editors needing to decipher my fountain pen chicken scratch intertwined with other weird scribblings I don't want to share: ⛔
Editors needing to decipher my fountain pen chicken scratch intertwined with other weird scribblings I don't want to share: ⛔
July 9, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Needing to prove that I'm not AI to editors after AI stole ALL of my published work, digested it, and can spit garbage stylized with birds and tapestries a la Lemberg: 🤮
Editors needing to decipher my fountain pen chicken scratch intertwined with other weird scribblings I don't want to share: ⛔
Editors needing to decipher my fountain pen chicken scratch intertwined with other weird scribblings I don't want to share: ⛔
I've been using a Fitbit of some kind for years, and it's helped me get through the worst of Long Covid, I'm using it to calibrate my envelope and track my progress with gentle exercise/recovery. Ever since Google Health has been pushed, it's been beyond awful. (short thread)
July 6, 2026 at 9:04 PM
I've been using a Fitbit of some kind for years, and it's helped me get through the worst of Long Covid, I'm using it to calibrate my envelope and track my progress with gentle exercise/recovery. Ever since Google Health has been pushed, it's been beyond awful. (short thread)
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
The Strange Horizons Annual Fund Drive to keep us publishing in 2027 is finally here!
You can find the fund drive at the link ⬇️
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
Some changes have arrived this time around though. Read the thread to learn more.
You can find the fund drive at the link ⬇️
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
Some changes have arrived this time around though. Read the thread to learn more.
June 14, 2026 at 7:40 PM
The Strange Horizons Annual Fund Drive to keep us publishing in 2027 is finally here!
You can find the fund drive at the link ⬇️
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
Some changes have arrived this time around though. Read the thread to learn more.
You can find the fund drive at the link ⬇️
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
Some changes have arrived this time around though. Read the thread to learn more.
@casella.bsky.social I went to find you on bsky and saw that we are already mutuals :) hurray!
June 19, 2026 at 5:30 PM
@casella.bsky.social I went to find you on bsky and saw that we are already mutuals :) hurray!
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
Our Award-Winner #HumbleBundle is now live! Treat yourself to the best of the best science fiction, fantasy, and horror while supporting #DoctorsWithoutBorders
buff.ly/kAZ8PUS
buff.ly/kAZ8PUS
June 18, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Our Award-Winner #HumbleBundle is now live! Treat yourself to the best of the best science fiction, fantasy, and horror while supporting #DoctorsWithoutBorders
buff.ly/kAZ8PUS
buff.ly/kAZ8PUS
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
The 2026 #Pride #StoryBundle is here! 16 queer reads curated by Catherine Lundoff and @blueterraplane.bsky.social in support of #RainbowRailroad!
Featuring World Fantasy Award Winner YOKE OF STARS by @rblemberg.bsky.social and more
storybundle.com/pride
@storybundle.bsky.social
Featuring World Fantasy Award Winner YOKE OF STARS by @rblemberg.bsky.social and more
storybundle.com/pride
@storybundle.bsky.social
June 15, 2026 at 3:38 PM
The 2026 #Pride #StoryBundle is here! 16 queer reads curated by Catherine Lundoff and @blueterraplane.bsky.social in support of #RainbowRailroad!
Featuring World Fantasy Award Winner YOKE OF STARS by @rblemberg.bsky.social and more
storybundle.com/pride
@storybundle.bsky.social
Featuring World Fantasy Award Winner YOKE OF STARS by @rblemberg.bsky.social and more
storybundle.com/pride
@storybundle.bsky.social
Reposted by R.B. Lemberg. Yes, still in Kansas
📢 Hey friends and fiends! 📢
I'm (finally) working on the 2026 Queer SFF Book list and I want to make sure I don't miss YOUR book!
So if you have a adult SFF book coming out this year (2026) that has a queer MC, please take this opportunity to SHOUT IT OUT in the comments or QTs!!
📚❤️🧡💛💚💙💜📚
I'm (finally) working on the 2026 Queer SFF Book list and I want to make sure I don't miss YOUR book!
So if you have a adult SFF book coming out this year (2026) that has a queer MC, please take this opportunity to SHOUT IT OUT in the comments or QTs!!
📚❤️🧡💛💚💙💜📚
June 4, 2026 at 10:57 AM
📢 Hey friends and fiends! 📢
I'm (finally) working on the 2026 Queer SFF Book list and I want to make sure I don't miss YOUR book!
So if you have a adult SFF book coming out this year (2026) that has a queer MC, please take this opportunity to SHOUT IT OUT in the comments or QTs!!
📚❤️🧡💛💚💙💜📚
I'm (finally) working on the 2026 Queer SFF Book list and I want to make sure I don't miss YOUR book!
So if you have a adult SFF book coming out this year (2026) that has a queer MC, please take this opportunity to SHOUT IT OUT in the comments or QTs!!
📚❤️🧡💛💚💙💜📚
OMG HURRAY!!
The 2026 #Pride #StoryBundle is here! 16 queer reads curated by Catherine Lundoff and @blueterraplane.bsky.social in support of #RainbowRailroad!
Featuring World Fantasy Award Winner YOKE OF STARS by @rblemberg.bsky.social and more
storybundle.com/pride
@storybundle.bsky.social
Featuring World Fantasy Award Winner YOKE OF STARS by @rblemberg.bsky.social and more
storybundle.com/pride
@storybundle.bsky.social
June 4, 2026 at 3:07 PM
OMG HURRAY!!
Happy Pride month! Thrilled to share a ToC with @cafenowhere.bsky.social @wiswell.bsky.social @polenth.bsky.social @lateonsetgirl.bsky.social and many other wonderful writers! My story reprint is from We Will Rise Again, which won the Locus award yesterday. 😍
Sneaking this announcement out before the weekend:
We are pleased to announce the ToC and share the cover for We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2025!
www.neonhemlock.com/news/cover-r...
We are pleased to announce the ToC and share the cover for We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2025!
www.neonhemlock.com/news/cover-r...
Cover Reveal & ToC: We're Here 2025 — neon hemlock
We’re delighted to announce, along with editor Bogi Takács and series editor Charles Payseur, the full table of contents for We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2025 : “Magical Girl A...
www.neonhemlock.com
June 1, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Happy Pride month! Thrilled to share a ToC with @cafenowhere.bsky.social @wiswell.bsky.social @polenth.bsky.social @lateonsetgirl.bsky.social and many other wonderful writers! My story reprint is from We Will Rise Again, which won the Locus award yesterday. 😍