Casey Aimer

Emo + sci-fi = me "Radiation Exposure as Emotional Therapy" Poem's opening: I’m flying under the aurora borealis staring through frosted windshields at green & purple radiation, soaking their subtle energetic dance, wanting these lights to randomly change me through cell death & DNA damage.

Where do radical fantasy writers and editors hang out? Looking to recruit a few of you for a long-term project

This week I was clinically diagnosed with autism. I'm still processing what this means and how to go about life. I'm also grieving all the past trauma that occurred that could have been avoided if I'd known

I should go to more SFF conferences so I can tell the behind-the-scenes stories for issues that are too interesting to put in writing www.radonjournal.com/issue14 Issue 14 is our last of the year and is a perfect bread-and-butter Radon issue that really shows off our quality roots

Some weeks I still get the urge to go for a PhD. But there are only 1–3 programs in the world offering doctorates with a focus on science fiction publishing. Half of those are in the UK and for all of them I am not in the right tax bracket to afford it.

I finally finished reading Neuromancer. It took seven months but don't dwell on that. I did not enjoy reading it. Look, I love the plot, the vibe, and what it's done for cyberpunk. But the prose was the most difficult I've read in my life. Half the time it felt like I forgot how to read English

Finished my second watercolor half-sleeve

I promised my agent I'd stop fiddling with poems from my first full-length that's on sub. The cheeky SFPA Poetry Contest got me to check my long poems and I got carried away making it perfect. Word change turned into a re-format and I've never loved this poem more. But uh, don't tell anyone

In another life I was a slam poet, touring the country with my chapbooks and leading workshops. But I hadn't spoken my words aloud (in person) in over seven years. This week I attended my first public poetry workshop and shared what I wrote that night. I hope to get back on that metaphorical horse

I'm working on more poems again and my god I hate the writing phase, and long for the beautiful editing. We all know getting the rough draft idea on the page is the toughest part. But it's still hard to read the draft, know so intimately that it's shit, and not be discouraged from continuing

Star*Line (SFPA's premier speculative poetry journal) announced today it's raising its pay rates for poems and articles sfpoetry.org/wp/starline/

The best wine sweet spot is when you're just inspired enough to break out your ukulele and learn more emo songs

Great news for the poets, in that the Hugo Award for Best Poem has been secured until at least 2029. And the voters each vote during this years-long process get more and more % in favor of speculative poetry.

Books are all fun, until you have to move them in bulk more than 10 feet. Then they're your worst enemy

Got an extra-nerdy book present for my birthday

New "Meet the Manawakers" interview! This time: Casey Aimer, author of “Descending Digital Mind” , from Dangerous to Go Alone 2. Free to read! Follow Manawaker Studio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/manawaker/po... #AuthorInterview #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor #FlashFiction #SpecFic #Patreon #Booksky

My MFA taught me that the world sees poets as the weird bohemians in the corner talking to themselves. And fiction writers as the cool kids in leather jackets gaining media attention and drawing crowds, drinking like Hemingway, and always just about to write the next Great American Novel

Some days the urge is strong to post overly-cryptic emo statements, like how we did in 2005 with our AOL away messages

Many writers (especially poets) will try to submit works with quotes or song lyrics beginning the text. Please don't do this, as journals have to reject you for this. These things are both copyrighted and you need express permission to use them. No journals have the resources to buy the rights

I challenge fiction editors in the SFF industry to add poetry editors to your teams and begin publishing SFF poetry at an equal elevation to your prose. Don't know where to begin? PM me and I'll help. If I can't help, I know poets. If I don't know enough poets, the SFWA Poetry Committee can help

My Saturday: Watching Starship Troopers, MMO events, and plotting 40/100 poems for the next book

My first Nebula, as a finalist no less, was memorable. Even if my introvert battery often died sooner than I'd like. I didn't meet one non-great person. I always considered a nomination a not-very-likely career-topper, and it's an honor to receive one while just getting started in my early 30s

Why SFF Poetry Matters panel starts at 1 central time today at the Nebula Conference. If you've been curious what all the new hoopla is about poetry in the spec world, this is the best panel to go to this weekend for that answer

A couple days late here apologies! It's the cursed thirteenth issue of the absolutely fantastic @radonjournal.bsky.social available for download freely or £3.50 P/C for the physical copy :) seditionist.uk/distro/reada...

Issue 13 will always be the Cursed Issue to me. Having to edit this on a boat, journal finally getting hit with AI, all the sci-fi body horror in it, the artist going dark at key moments while they went into Iran to protect their family living there Still crazy to me to think we're on Issue 13 now

As an active SFF journal editor dealing with increasing levels of AI bullshit, who spends more and more hours analyzing and reading and investigating all of it I'm increasingly worried my subconscious will accidentally pick up some of their writing ticks

I'll be a panelist at two Nebula Conference panels next week: 1) Why Speculative Poetry Matters @ 4 PM Central (Fri, June 5) 2) Best Poem Finalists in Conversation @ 8 AM (Sat, June 6)

Booked a new session with my tattoo artist. Officially doing that rather than getting tested for neurodiversity this summer

One of the best parts running a semi-pro journal is working so closely with the authors for developmental and copy editing. For some it's the first in-depth experience they've had among spec journals with the process. Getting to know so intimately someone's story feels like getting to know them.

Here I am re-reading Jack Gilbert's poem "Failing and Flying" and bawling my eyes out. I've read this so many times and I can't move past it in the book. Just eternally stuck in this one resonating moment of beautiful heartbreak.

Well this is neat! We are still pretty fresh in our poetry publishing days (although I want to publish more and have increased our rates), but Casey’s “Black Hole Framing” continues to be one of my favorites and the one I point to when people ask what kinds of poems I’m looking for.

Some good news amid my writer's block: "Black Hole Framing" has been announced as a Rhysling Award finalist, having cleared the jury hurdle. Run-off voting by SFPA members happens this summer. Cheers to @foofarawpress.bsky.social for the good run the poem's been having

Tonight was a good night. I took myself on a date and started two mosh pits and one circle pit

How all us SFWA members feel as the final day of Nebula voting dawns

Good overview of some great speculative poetry markets. Good for poets to read as well as curious folks wondering what the poetry scene in the Industry looks like