Mame Bougouma Diene

The staggeringly fabulous cover for CE Murphy's upcoming BONE & BLOOD, a retelling of "Snow White, Rose Red" features two women standing back to back: one is garbed all in blood red, with dark red hair and a black mask; the other wears flowing white, with wheat-pale hair and a glittering mask. Cover art & design by Ravven. Preorder at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXFPLQWY/?tag=mizkit-20 The next image is a parchment-colored paper with golden roses along one side, and the first part of the text reads: There is a story of a widow woman and her two daughters, Snow White and Rose Red, who were the most perfect and darling little girls who had ever lived. This is not—quite—that story. In time, people will lose their fear of the forests, but this is not yet that time; this is not yet that place. Not with the enchanted Beast at its heart still living there; not with that heart being the forest itself, embodied, living, aware. But not aware enough for old Widow Adele, who is only called old because she is a widow, and who is only a widow because something had to be done about her husband. The living forest did nothing, but the forest had a sister, white-haired and jewel-eyed, who lived in the village, and who was known to be a witch. The witch was wedded to Lucinda, a good girl, and so when the Widow Adele could bear her husband no longer, she spoke to Lucy, and in a little while the witch, called Pearl, came to visit. He would forbid the witch's presence in their home; he would forbid anyone's presence, though better to have visitors than let Adele go into the village. Within the shadows of their dark little cottage, bruises could not easily be seen, and broken bones could be blamed on uneven floors or a clumsy woman leaving the broom where she oughtn't.

A page of teaser text, framed by golden roses. The remainder of the text, which begins on the previous image, reads: But a witch could see what a man might not. Even in the dim light that shone through the cottage's shuttered windows, the witch's eyes glittered dangerous green and her flawless mouth curved a faultless, merciless smile. "You have no children," Pearl said. Hope fired in Adele's heart, burning her hollow as she nodded, and the fire did not bank when regret twisted Pearl's lips. "I'm sorry. A child is beyond my power. But a tea to increase your husband's vigor is within it." Adele stared, bleak and aching. "He doesn't lack vigor, lady." "No," Pearl replied, gently now, and gentleness from her icy pale gaze was like a knife cutting deep, leaving no mark. "No, I can see he doesn't. But the tea will increase it to apoplexy." She passed her hand across the rough-cut kitchen table, leaving a packet behind. "It tastes of blackberry, and needs a few drops of honey to sweeten it enough for him to drink it all at once. It will be most potent for the next few days, so I wouldn't waste any time." She rose, all languid grace, and her crossing of the threshold was like the moon's light fading, leaving Adele in darkness. Adele jerked to her feet, the packet clutched against her chest as she bolted for the door and cried, "Witch!" The witch turned back, white eyebrows lifted, and Adele faltered apologetically. "Pearl." The name was hardly a whisper, the only kind of forgiveness she dared ask for. Pearl waited, and Adele gathered her courage. "The tea. Is it magic?" "No, my dear," Pearl said, still gently. "It's poison."

BONE & BLOOD, my latest retold fairy tale, will be available in just a few weeks! Preorder at www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXFPLQW...

The alt text for the teaser text image is spread across both images bc it was too long for just one. Sorry about that! <3 #booksky #preorders #fantasy #romance #FairyTales

Our AI dystopias failed to properly predict the future, imagining a future where AI will enslave us, rather than a future where we use AI to enslave ourselves.

And the best movie is the only one he didn’t write or direct.

cover of the band Pure Hell’s album NOISE ADDICTION, featuring four glammed-out Black men looking cool as hell

PURE HELL was the first Black punk band. They lasted from 1974-1979, but a falling out with their manager meant their record didn’t come out until 2010. I gave it a listen:

www.lazyandentitled.org?p=162658013

New York City police officers rescued a bald eagle in distress during a patrol along the Hudson River. The authorities took the injured bird to a rehabilitation center in New Jersey, which is working to stabilize it to allow for further testing and treatment. nyti.ms/3OQvGtC

Where’s the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy?

It’s all about marketing right? I’m honestly surprised they don’t. Erotica and humor sell like hotcakes.

How do I get in on that????

You sold over 1m? Dude… I would like one of those too. Thing for me is, it’s obviously bait right? Like here you are with all those skills, writing fiction for AI so that AI can write as well as you and muscle you out of your own gig eventually.

I’m gonna watch Best in Show again.

Nazi parallels are wrong and you should never make one.

ZamaShort has switched to a more stable Euros based model over a USD one previously used, you will notice a slight increase in prices, some currencies, like USD, slightly more than others. The standing 50% less for all African currencies at our own shop remains.

Massive.

It may be too late for you but if you or your kids are under 45 but especially 9-14 and they get the HPV vaccine they will be protected against cervical, anal, throat (oropharyngeal), vaginal, vulval, and penile cancers, as well as common genital warts.

New York City turned OUT.
@handsoffnyc.bsky.social ✊❤️

2020 Academy of American Poets Prize On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs by Renée Nicole Macklin

Renee Nicole Good's prizewinning poem when she was Renee Nicole Macklin: 2020 Academy of American Poets Prize | Academy of American Poets share.google/Ic6seOjlrFuP...

2020 Academy of American Poets Prize On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs by Renée Nicole Macklin

2020 Academy of American Poets Prize | Academy of American Poets share.google/Ic6seOjlrFuP...

Fall to Pieces

🩷🩷🩷

#musicsky

5 - Solidarity is what we should be going for not more finger wagging. That’s only gonna create division and it’s the last thing we need.

Justice for Renee Good. End of story. It’s that simple. Really.

4 - It is unnerving to see people reacting like this is the first time it’s ever happened and the worst thing to ever happen, but people are always more affected when issues impact people who look like them. It’s a sad fact but a fact nonetheless.

3 - All I can for hope is that now that it affected a usually “protected” demographic it will galvanize real institutional change. I doubt it because as left wing queer she is not perceived as a legitimate “white woman” but an agitator no different than the usual target of blacks & mentally ill.

2 - I get the impulse but it feels a little dickish to rub it in people’s faces. As a black man who’s been “manhandled” by the police in Florida and held at gun point by two cops in Puerto Rico, all I feel right now is sympathy and horror and not the least bit condescending.

1 - About well intended posts such as what happened to Renee Good is what black people are going through and have been going through since the birth of this nation this is what I have to say:

ANDING ROCK Standing Rock Sioux Tribe The Office of Chairman Sitting Bear P.O. BOx D Fort Yates, ND 58538 CHAIRMAN SITTING BEAR'S STATEMENT REGARDING SRST PUBLIC SAFETY JANUARY 9, 2026 I have been receiving reports and evidence of First Nations people being racially targeted, assaulted, and detained by the federal agency Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). We want to remind our members to be safe and proactive by carrying with you at a minimum your tribal identification cards or a copy of your degree of Indian Blood. Our tribal identification affirms our citizenship and political status. Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands. Any federal activity within our boundaries must recognize and respect our tribal sovereignty, treaty obligations, and established jurisdictional boundaries. Any ICE presence or activity within our lands is not authorized, not welcome, and will be addressed. Unauthorized personnel will be escorted off our lands.

Looks like ICE is now cracking down on … Native Americans.

This letter was just posted by the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North/South Dakota:

“Our Nation is a sovereign government and our members are not immigrants. We are not subject to immigration enforcement on our own lands.”

AUGURS and S@%T Placing Steven Erikson’s Manuromancy in the Larger Tradition of Hieromantic Divination: A Socratic Dialogue By Mame Bougouma Diene with Steven Erikson in Conversation The following real and fiction…

@moudhy.bsky.social sorry, fan boying here… reading the chapter where you mention extispicy and remembered I’d published this little ditty last year. Thought it might elicit a chuckle.

vector-bsfa.com/2024/10/06/a...

Defense Stocks Surge After Trump Calls For $1.5 Trillion Defense Budget “This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to,” Trump wrote.

“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to,” Trump wrote.

😂😂😂

How does it compare with this pizza box? Because 8 years later it’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And the pizza was great too.

Now get out there and get fucked up.

“During the Middle Ages the Christmas season lasted forty days, until Candlemas on 2 February, and January was supposed to be a month of feasting, not fasting – the exact opposite of the modern ‘Dry January’. ”

Excerpt From
Winters in the World
Eleanor Parker

I've got 99 problems and every one of them is a name of Allah.