Catherynne M. Valente

The closest I’ll ever get to being up in lights in Times Square That phrase isn’t Keelah Se’Lai It’s the Quarian phrase I created for #MassEffect Annihilation. The name of my ship Not “by the homeworld I hope to see one day” but “by the homeworld I hope to find one day” I have a lot of feelings…

I’ve had to correct so many people who kept telling me that the phrase was wrong. I kinda wonder if it’s a little more appropriate since a lot of us want to free everyone from EA’s clutches. 💕

Some good news from the other site! #SaveMassEffect now has a billboard in *Times Freaking Square*! 📢 Also, how it reads "Keelah Si'yah"(Khelish for "By the home I hope to find one day")? God, I love my fellow nerds. 🚀🌌 @wearemasseffect.bsky.social @kalaelizabeth.bsky.social x.com/WeAreMassEff...

The closest I’ll ever get to being up in lights in Times Square That phrase isn’t Keelah Se’Lai It’s the Quarian phrase I created for #MassEffect Annihilation. The name of my ship Not “by the homeworld I hope to see one day” but “by the homeworld I hope to find one day” I have a lot of feelings…

Our island art festival was moved up two weeks to this last weekend so that the many hibernating bats on the site would not be disturbed by all the activity. These bats and their anti-woke agenda…

I woke up with the old Big Red gum commercial jingle stuck in my head and to be quite frank that’s mean as hell, Brain. Why are you hitting yourself?

Mass Effect Annihilation is hands down the best tie in I have ever read. I’ve listened to the audio multiple times and wrote a fanfic about what might have happened after… :’( So sorry for everyone who lost their jobs.

Honestly I’m just so tired of being called a cunt And both the n-word and the f-word which…I mean wow, I don’t get those too often it’s almost like a collectible A horrifying collectible Twitter is doing great guys

The Childe, after being the most obnoxious: I did a prank! Me: Define the word “prank” Childe: Um…it’s when you do something you think is funny but no one else thinks is funny?

Working with Derek was beyond special and I’ll never forget it. Keelah Se’Lai, my brother

I'm so sorry to hear this. My heart is with you and everyone who worked so hard on the new ME at Bioware and won't be able to share your incredible work, I can't even imagine how that must feel I'll be doing a reread of ME annihilation asap. you clearly understood & cared for the world so much

Okay, I admit, this one cracked me up. Write a book? Me? Why, I couldn’t possibly!

It’s pretty funny watching them pretend to have played Mass Effect while being furious with me for being queer and posting about trans rights though Like…come on now.

Twitter is being predictably very loving and kind about Mass Effect being cancelled & my having worked on it. They’re specifically mad about my recent tweet regarding supporting your children no matter who they turn out to be. What a great place the internet became.

Holy….NOW I truly feel robbed.

I’m trying to feel super cool about this, especially as I have MFA students arriving tomorrow for a writing retreat. But I feel like a fucking widow. Like I lost a spouse I had all these gorgeous plans with.

Omg what have we lost here

Keelah Se’Lai, my friends. We are all Quarians now. Longing for a home that’s gone.

It was such a blow to read this—knowing her work, it is an absolute metaphysical certitude that a new Mass Effect that she contributed to would have had a heck of a story. I'm just imagining what N7 Day would have been with that bombshell of an announcement. This stings.

No better time to read her best of, I suppose.

I have been at the bar literally dripping tears over what you all will never see now. It was going to be so beautiful. Really. It was so good.

All those times I said I was working on a Secret Project? It was always #MassEffect, darlings. My favorite game. The dream. THE dream. “I would be so good at writing this huge franchise they should call me.” And they did! It happened! And then it didn’t. There is a hole. And always will be.

I now have permission to share something I hoped would be revealed with much more fanfare I spent more than 3 years as one of the writers of #MassEffect4 It was one of the greatest privileges & GLORIOUS challenges of my life So when I say I am devastated by the end of #MassEffect I REALLY mean it

Keelah Se’Lai, my friends. We are all Quarians now. Longing for a home that’s gone.

I hope you know your own legacy in Mass Effect has not, and will never be, forgotten by the Mass Effect community. Annihilation is, and will continue to be, my favourite Mass Effect book, if not one of my favourite pieces of Mass Effect media of all time!

I will have some things to say about Mass Effect. But not right now. My heart is too broken.

Which is one of my favorite tie-ins I’ve ever read and I still recommend to people who want a unique science fiction book because how else can you describe a “one of us is a murderer” mystery on an intergalactic colony sleeper ship that has no human characters?

I've been saying forever that the lack of a huge investment in sustainable sealed environment demonstration projects proves no-one is serious about any plans to live off the Earth's surface anytime soon. And if we had those projects, we could settle places on Earth more easily than off it.

To know that you have changed the life of a someone, for the better, is priceless, especially if it's a child. Better than any award and all the riches of the world.

From my Goodreads review of Annihilation: "I always love it when well-known sci-fi authors write media tie-ins, and Catherynne M. Valente does an excellent job with this tragic story. I'll always remember Yorrick". Thank you for the great story, and to all authors who write great media tie-ins.

Why did I write a Minecraft book? Because last year a shy 11-yr-old boy brought two huge lobsters to my door I asked how much His dad said: No he wants to give them to you. He hated reading before your Minecraft book & now he loves it. He wants to pay you back THAT’S WHY I WROTE A MINECRAFT BOOK

And @catvalente.bsky.social, a generational talent IMO, wrote a Minecraft novel.

This is a crazy week for me, hosting a writing retreat for my MFA students; so I will be a bit quiet until next, folks! Best jokes will of course be posted with credit

Erm

My partner and I are trying to restart our habit of reading to each other. They're reading @margaret.bsky.social's The Sapling Cage and I think when it's my turn I want to reread @catvalente.bsky.social's Deathless.

People who get over-excited about flying cars are always picturing just themselves & maybe a few other philosopher-kings zooming freely through the clear blue. Instead, traffic is now weather You’d never see the sky again—until someone’s jank-ass engine block Donnie Darkos itself through your roof

Time for another giveaway! Win an early copy of this as-yet-unannounced @catvalente.bsky.social beauty, MYTHS OF ORIGIN. To enter, tell us your favorite book of the year so far. Ends Wednesday, Oct. 21 at noon ET. Open int'l.

Alright Bsky, help me out. I’m sick & can’t think so I don’t know why I figured I’d paint a door but How tf do I get this kind of doorknob off to change it? No visible screws, latches, leverage spots etc. Halp?

Lookie lookie…

Fucking “mindfully” GTFOH it’s burning the planet & the human soul. And “follow evolving best practice recommendations” FROM WHO? Oh, that just means “do what we’re told like good little puppies and maybe we’ll get a treat.” Writers live & die on BOOKS & CONTRACTS. We don’t sign sloppy shit.

Truly amazing how a group “devoted” to “authors” “wrote” a “charter” full of weasel words, empty marketing lingo, *classically* slippery philosophical concepts like fucking “good,” & hand-wavy vaguespeak a 3rd grader could chase up a sophist-tree to mean just about anything. GOLD STAR COMRADES ✊

Since yesterday, many people have DM’d to say that they were strongly affected by my essay & wished they could share it. So I've revised, expanded, & posted it for free on both Substack & Patreon. Please feel free to share. www.patreon.com/posts/this-i... catvalente.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...

Just started watching Todd In the Shadows (shoosh) & I…had no idea how many current country stars have the same gout-riddled, dead-eyed, rage-chewing, fungal colony facial haired, baby-scribble face-tattooed, revenant-toothed “look” like an infected foot trying to talk but only able to moan WHISKEY

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