Josh Melican
@jmmelican.bsky.social
Development Coach at West Brunswick (VAFA), Philosophy and English Language teacher, rarely published writer, too-infrequent reader, husband, father, son, brother… wearer of (too) many hats
“He dries his eyes and whets his blade”
Nicely done by @hironennes.bsky.social (in Works of Vermin, which I am close to finishing and greatly appreciating)
Nicely done by @hironennes.bsky.social (in Works of Vermin, which I am close to finishing and greatly appreciating)
September 15, 2026 at 11:16 AM
“He dries his eyes and whets his blade”
Nicely done by @hironennes.bsky.social (in Works of Vermin, which I am close to finishing and greatly appreciating)
Nicely done by @hironennes.bsky.social (in Works of Vermin, which I am close to finishing and greatly appreciating)
Over on my blog, a review of KJ Bishop's 'The Etched City', the second in a series of reviews based on a reading-list of strange (Weird? Fantastical?) cities and inspired by @aptshadow.bsky.social suggestion that this is a sub-subgenre in itself.
jmmelican.com/2026/09/09/r...
jmmelican.com/2026/09/09/r...
Review: The Etched City
This is the second in a series of reviews I am doing based on a reading-list which was inspired by Adrian Tchaikovsky’s proposal for a micro-sub-genre of Speculative Fiction which he has labe…
jmmelican.com
September 9, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Over on my blog, a review of KJ Bishop's 'The Etched City', the second in a series of reviews based on a reading-list of strange (Weird? Fantastical?) cities and inspired by @aptshadow.bsky.social suggestion that this is a sub-subgenre in itself.
jmmelican.com/2026/09/09/r...
jmmelican.com/2026/09/09/r...
Reposted by Josh Melican
Stop making fun of AI or it will spitefully deny your insurance claims. They’re calling it the perfect argument.
August 25, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Stop making fun of AI or it will spitefully deny your insurance claims. They’re calling it the perfect argument.
My first review from a reading list inspired by Adrian Tchaikovsky’s (@aptshadow.bsky.social) proposed ‘Fantastical Realism’ sub-genre:
The City of Last Chances, first book of the Tyrant Philosophers series.
jmmelican.com/2026/08/26/c...
The City of Last Chances, first book of the Tyrant Philosophers series.
jmmelican.com/2026/08/26/c...
City of Last Chances Review
City of Last Chances is the first book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Tyrant Philosophers series, and was my first exposure to Tchaikovsky as an author. It is also the novel which prompted me to exp…
jmmelican.com
August 25, 2026 at 2:20 PM
My first review from a reading list inspired by Adrian Tchaikovsky’s (@aptshadow.bsky.social) proposed ‘Fantastical Realism’ sub-genre:
The City of Last Chances, first book of the Tyrant Philosophers series.
jmmelican.com/2026/08/26/c...
The City of Last Chances, first book of the Tyrant Philosophers series.
jmmelican.com/2026/08/26/c...
First time in a while, but a new blog post just dropped, inspired by @aptshadow.bsky.social and his suggestion of a Fantastical Realism sub-sub-genre: jmmelican.com/2026/08/16/a...
A reading journey
In November of 2024, on Bluesky, Adrian Tchaikovsky (@aptshadow) put forward the suggestion of a small subgenre within Speculative Fiction which he defined in the skeets below, and expanded on in E…
jmmelican.com
August 16, 2026 at 11:28 AM
First time in a while, but a new blog post just dropped, inspired by @aptshadow.bsky.social and his suggestion of a Fantastical Realism sub-sub-genre: jmmelican.com/2026/08/16/a...
Reposted by Josh Melican
"Enough to make a moon undignified."
June 4, 2025 at 9:46 PM
"Enough to make a moon undignified."
Reposted by Josh Melican
Authoritarians love "Gen AI" because it
- Sounds confident even when factually wrong
- Broadly conforms to & reproduces their biases, off the shelf
- Lets them create bespoke realities (text, audio, moving & still image) which agree w/ their biases
- Degrades trust in knowledge/evidence/expertise…
- Sounds confident even when factually wrong
- Broadly conforms to & reproduces their biases, off the shelf
- Lets them create bespoke realities (text, audio, moving & still image) which agree w/ their biases
- Degrades trust in knowledge/evidence/expertise…
April 24, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Authoritarians love "Gen AI" because it
- Sounds confident even when factually wrong
- Broadly conforms to & reproduces their biases, off the shelf
- Lets them create bespoke realities (text, audio, moving & still image) which agree w/ their biases
- Degrades trust in knowledge/evidence/expertise…
- Sounds confident even when factually wrong
- Broadly conforms to & reproduces their biases, off the shelf
- Lets them create bespoke realities (text, audio, moving & still image) which agree w/ their biases
- Degrades trust in knowledge/evidence/expertise…
Reposted by Josh Melican
Reposted by Josh Melican
I’m seeing a lot of outrage about this story but honestly it’s preferable to the old way of doing this which was both disrespectful of the deceased and traumatising for the puppeteer
May 8, 2025 at 2:35 AM
I’m seeing a lot of outrage about this story but honestly it’s preferable to the old way of doing this which was both disrespectful of the deceased and traumatising for the puppeteer
Reposted by Josh Melican
[Velma]: Okay gang: Let's see who this technoscientific technosocial paradigm REALLY is!
[All]: Old Man Eugenics??!
[Old Man Eugenics]: And I would've gotten away with it too, if only it… Wait. I *Did* get away with it. I'm *Still* getting away with it! Huh. Welp… …See ya!
[All]: ☹️
[All]: Old Man Eugenics??!
[Old Man Eugenics]: And I would've gotten away with it too, if only it… Wait. I *Did* get away with it. I'm *Still* getting away with it! Huh. Welp… …See ya!
[All]: ☹️
January 31, 2024 at 1:14 AM
[Velma]: Okay gang: Let's see who this technoscientific technosocial paradigm REALLY is!
[All]: Old Man Eugenics??!
[Old Man Eugenics]: And I would've gotten away with it too, if only it… Wait. I *Did* get away with it. I'm *Still* getting away with it! Huh. Welp… …See ya!
[All]: ☹️
[All]: Old Man Eugenics??!
[Old Man Eugenics]: And I would've gotten away with it too, if only it… Wait. I *Did* get away with it. I'm *Still* getting away with it! Huh. Welp… …See ya!
[All]: ☹️
All of this is valuable perspective for writers in times when you need some motivation to push through
I have heard so many newer writers—including extremely good ones!—bemoan that they think they're a failure because they might have to throw out a half-finished draft and start over.
Throwing out a draft is
a) very very normal and
b) progress, not failure.
Throwing out a draft is
a) very very normal and
b) progress, not failure.
March 26, 2025 at 9:04 PM
All of this is valuable perspective for writers in times when you need some motivation to push through
Reposted by Josh Melican
I finished five novels before BLACKBIRDS was ever published — none good and all necessary to write. That doesn’t include the many more novels I began and never finished. I still think of myself as a failed novelist — my failures outweigh my successes and I am glad for that. Failure teaches.
I wrote seven novels before Someone You Can Build A Nest In. I didn't just throw away drafts. There are some eras of my life and spirit that will go unpublished.
And that's okay, because they helped me become the writer I am. They weren't failure. They were education.
And that's okay, because they helped me become the writer I am. They weren't failure. They were education.
I have heard so many newer writers—including extremely good ones!—bemoan that they think they're a failure because they might have to throw out a half-finished draft and start over.
Throwing out a draft is
a) very very normal and
b) progress, not failure.
Throwing out a draft is
a) very very normal and
b) progress, not failure.
March 26, 2025 at 8:32 PM
I finished five novels before BLACKBIRDS was ever published — none good and all necessary to write. That doesn’t include the many more novels I began and never finished. I still think of myself as a failed novelist — my failures outweigh my successes and I am glad for that. Failure teaches.
Reposted by Josh Melican
In a world of Matts, be a Derek.
March 10, 2025 at 7:44 PM
In a world of Matts, be a Derek.
Had a moment of realisation in the shower the other day which has led me to return to a novel I finished in 2019 and change the ending, so I’ve rewritten the pivot-point chapter this morning, scrapped about 16,000 words of the original Act 3, and back to the drafting phase.
Weird how writing works.
Weird how writing works.
February 16, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Had a moment of realisation in the shower the other day which has led me to return to a novel I finished in 2019 and change the ending, so I’ve rewritten the pivot-point chapter this morning, scrapped about 16,000 words of the original Act 3, and back to the drafting phase.
Weird how writing works.
Weird how writing works.
Reposted by Josh Melican
Reposted by Josh Melican
People disturbed by the way that Chinese AI systems seem to ignore information that’s inconvenient to Chinese authorities - the Tiananmen Square massacre for example - might want to think about what that implies for American AI systems.
January 28, 2025 at 9:06 AM
People disturbed by the way that Chinese AI systems seem to ignore information that’s inconvenient to Chinese authorities - the Tiananmen Square massacre for example - might want to think about what that implies for American AI systems.
Reposted by Josh Melican
Apologies to Tooze, "polycrisis" is too technical. @greatdismal.bsky.social 's "Jackpot" is better (all our humor is gallows humor), but we need a new term for "self-inflicted sociopath-flamed soulcrushingly-stupid systemic clusterfuck we can't fix or ignore."
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Coal use to reach new peak – and remain at near-record levels for years
Spike in fossil fuel use a result of global gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
www.theguardian.com
December 18, 2024 at 9:41 AM
Apologies to Tooze, "polycrisis" is too technical. @greatdismal.bsky.social 's "Jackpot" is better (all our humor is gallows humor), but we need a new term for "self-inflicted sociopath-flamed soulcrushingly-stupid systemic clusterfuck we can't fix or ignore."
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Josh Melican
"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..."
December 6, 2024 at 1:14 AM
"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..."
Reposted by Josh Melican
"At one time in the world there were woods that no one owned."
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy
November 17, 2024 at 12:32 AM
"At one time in the world there were woods that no one owned."
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy
Reposted by Josh Melican
I found it! "Talk to Your Children About Two-Tongued Jeremy" by Theodore McCombs in Lightspeed. www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/talk...
November 16, 2024 at 11:50 PM
I found it! "Talk to Your Children About Two-Tongued Jeremy" by Theodore McCombs in Lightspeed. www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/talk...
Hello folks,
I have reactivated this account and am migrating across from the bad place.
I have reactivated this account and am migrating across from the bad place.
November 14, 2024 at 7:45 AM
Hello folks,
I have reactivated this account and am migrating across from the bad place.
I have reactivated this account and am migrating across from the bad place.
Reposted by Josh Melican
man what am i even supposed to do here
January 6, 2024 at 5:51 AM
man what am i even supposed to do here
Reposted by Josh Melican
My article "Any Sufficiently Transparent Magic…" is part of the journal American Religion's Fall 2023 roundtable "On Religion and Algorithms." I explore both religious & magical concepts w/in "AI," & the obfuscatory work done by hype-laden "AI" discourse. Hope you enjoy!
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
January 6, 2024 at 6:06 AM
My article "Any Sufficiently Transparent Magic…" is part of the journal American Religion's Fall 2023 roundtable "On Religion and Algorithms." I explore both religious & magical concepts w/in "AI," & the obfuscatory work done by hype-laden "AI" discourse. Hope you enjoy!
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
Reposted by Josh Melican
When we warn the real threat of AI is how it’s used against people in the present, not the fantasies that some day computers might think for themselves, this is exactly the kind of thing we’re talking about: health insurers using AI to deny care.
arstechnica.com/health/2023/...
arstechnica.com/health/2023/...
November 18, 2023 at 11:00 PM
When we warn the real threat of AI is how it’s used against people in the present, not the fantasies that some day computers might think for themselves, this is exactly the kind of thing we’re talking about: health insurers using AI to deny care.
arstechnica.com/health/2023/...
arstechnica.com/health/2023/...
Reposted by Josh Melican
#Novellavember day 5
The amazing Voidwitch saga by @cjwhite.bsky.social
Just a psychic revenge seeking space witch and her feline companion out for an adventure or three.
If you love the snarky Murderbot voice, space opera, or Stranger Things, this one is for you.
Bonus awesome Australian author
The amazing Voidwitch saga by @cjwhite.bsky.social
Just a psychic revenge seeking space witch and her feline companion out for an adventure or three.
If you love the snarky Murderbot voice, space opera, or Stranger Things, this one is for you.
Bonus awesome Australian author
November 6, 2023 at 12:08 AM
#Novellavember day 5
The amazing Voidwitch saga by @cjwhite.bsky.social
Just a psychic revenge seeking space witch and her feline companion out for an adventure or three.
If you love the snarky Murderbot voice, space opera, or Stranger Things, this one is for you.
Bonus awesome Australian author
The amazing Voidwitch saga by @cjwhite.bsky.social
Just a psychic revenge seeking space witch and her feline companion out for an adventure or three.
If you love the snarky Murderbot voice, space opera, or Stranger Things, this one is for you.
Bonus awesome Australian author