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Posts Tagged ‘#365Ways2026’

SFWA, Writers and the Anthropic Settlement Deadline

Posted in Writing, tagged , , on March 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Today’s post is a bit particular, but if you are an author who thinks they might be eligible for the Anthropic/AI training settlement (i.e. they stole your work to train their software and now they owe you money), this may interest you!

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association has put my membership dollars to very good use by assembling an extensive guide to the settlement. If you have questions about whether you’re eligible, how to file a claim, recent updates and more, check out this series of articles from SFWA’s Advocacy Team.

Anthropic FAQ – SFWA – The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association

How do I tell if I am affected? 

The official List of Works is available on the Anthropic Settlement website. Search it for your name or pseudonym and any titles for which you think you may be either the legal or the beneficial owner. 

Why mention this now? Because the deadline to submit claims is March 30, 2026.

And if you happen to be SFWA eligible but are not yet a member, I recommend it!

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

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Note to Self, Monday Edition

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on March 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Creativity is abundant, it’s execution that’s scarce. — Adam Grant

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Write more, erase less! Photo by Tracey Parish on Unsplash

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Humanity’s Next Top Ambassador

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on March 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Are you a writer in the “1,000 words or less” space? Do you care about the future of humanity? Harbor a secret desire to be named the new Ambassador of the Human Race? 

This no-fee super fun writing contest may be for you!

Dear Aliens

The aliens are coming. Or at least they told us they were.

They asked us for just one item: a written document from humanity.

This is the only thing they are going to read before they arrive.

We have no idea what the document should be, so we’re asking you.

…

We’re giving $2,000 USD to the best submission. Second and third place get $250 each.

We’re going old school here. You’ll have to physically mail in your writing, and it needs to reach us before May 15, 2026.

(I bolded that last bit because prizes are nice, but also it’s been a while since most submissions had to use the mail, and while I love the whole concept of the postal service, it does not travel at the speed of the electron.)

We’d better get writing. And I for one am going to work on cultivating a slightly more positive outlook than I may have in the past (an example I still like, but would be a poor choice in this case! We Are Mirrors).

The fate of humanity may depend on it!

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Photo by Cyrus Crossan on Unsplash

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Just Luck

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , on March 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

A brief short on what I call The Balance, used for good:

He was nervous when he left. Big day, a presentation that would be the culmination of months of work, weeks of overtime, uncounted hours of stress. It all came down to one day, and this meeting.

His grin slipped a little as he said goodbye. “Here’s hoping things work out.”

I reached out and touched his right hand, just above the silver circle I’d given him. He laughingly referred to as his magic ring. I felt a spark.

“You’ll be fine,” I said. 

I could tell he wasn’t convinced, but I meant it.

My own day was a maelstrom of mishaps. I sloshed hot water on the stairs and watched helplessly as a raw egg slipped from my fingers to break over the fridge drawer, the freezer seals, and the floor. Emptying the dishwasher was a humbling lesson in the fragile properties of glass and ceramic.

That’s okay, I thought. Worth it.

He came home exhausted but happy. Everything that could go wrong, didn’t. 

“Somehow,” he said.

I smiled.

“Just lucky, I guess.”

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Photo by Robert Bottman on Unsplash

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Snowy Equinox

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , , on March 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Happy Spring Equinox, everyone! (I say with some amusement, as a plow removes the latest storm’s worth of snow out front!)

This is a great image of the celestial equator, from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. (And just for fun, here it is as an online jigsaw puzzle🙂

And here’s a quick article and video with the essentials on the vernal equinox: March equinox 2026: Here’s all you need to know

The March equinox – aka the vernal equinox – marks the sun’s crossing above Earth’s equator, moving from south to north. Earth’s tilt on its axis is what causes this northward shift of the sun’s path across our sky at this time of year. Earth’s tilt is now bringing spring and summer to the Northern Hemisphere. At the same time, the March equinox marks the beginning of autumn – and a shift toward winter – in the Southern Hemisphere.

I did spot a lovely V of Canada Geese a couple of days ago, and hopefully we’ll see more signs of spring soon!

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Photo by Aaron Diaz on Unsplash

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The New Nebula Award Finalists

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association has released its list of finalists for the new Nebula Awards. These are some of the best stories, movies, games and more from 2025, and a great way to boost your to be read list. If you’re an SFWA member you have until April 15th to vote on your favorites.

The list is available in lots of places but I’ll link to Andrew Liptak’s site because he has already done the work of finding links for the stories that are available online. Thanks, Andrew!

I’ll copy the short stories here, but click through to Andrew’s site for links to the novelettes and more. And do I love that many of the top short story markets are open access? I do!

Here are the finalists for the 2026 Nebula Awards

Best Short Story 

I’ve only read a couple of these stories so this promises to be a treat. Happy reading everyone!

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Photo by Enis Can Ceyhan on Unsplash

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The Path to Greatness

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

There are a number of reasons why AI can be problematic, but lawsuits over stolen copyrights and the like don’t touch on one of the more interesting and important reasons why AI should be used judiciously in creative work.

It can undermine your skills. And who among us wants to fall victim to that most dreadful of problems, creative atrophy?

This essay by Storm Humbert goes deeper into the perils of cognitive offloading, skill atrophy, and more.

Not a Scab, But a Wound – Apex Book Company

Don’t be drawn in by the allure of never having to go through the “being-bad-at-it” phase of learning a craft. We must allow ourselves to be bad—to downright suck—for a little while. Outsourcing our infinite potential to limited tools is how we become limited ourselves. Instead, pick up a pencil. Sit at a keyboard. Contend with the blank page and the empty canvas—the unsullied slab of granite. It’s the only path to greatness.

Like any tool, AI can be good at some things and not great at others. Knowing the why and when and how is critical to making good use of such tools, and those decisions require thought and good judgement. And what’s the best tool for building people who are good at thinking?

Why, a library card! AI Literacy Starts With Reading Books, Not Prompts

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Photo by S.Ratanak on Unsplash

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A Bit of Luck for You

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , on March 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! Here’s wishing you a little luck and a lot of fun:)

Photo by Michelle Baker on Unsplash

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A Good Day

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on March 16, 2026| 1 Comment »

Today is a good day. Why, you might ask, and perhaps you have forgotten that today is Monday?

I stand by my statement, because I got this in the mail:

Three (quiet) cheers for libraries!

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Photo by Roman Denisenko on Unsplash

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To the Grindstone!

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , on March 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

My list of things to do today is extensive, but there’s only one thing I really have to do: taxes. Ok, fine, I baked some chocolate chip cookie bars. But also taxes! Time to put ye olde nose to the grindstone and get this done.

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Photo by Ian Cylkowski on Unsplash

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