Daniel Ausema

Daniel Ausema

@danielausema.bsky.social

Writer, poet, experiential educator, stay-at-home dad. He/him. Strange Horizons, Daily Science Fiction, Diabolical Plots, Guardbridge Books, Fantasy Magazine, Adventitious, & more.

590 followers556 following257 posts

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

Read this thread. This is completely unacceptable, what DHS is doing. It's so important to document it, to make sure everyone knows what's happening. Mwen fache. Fè kòlè, tout moun.

Yael Schacher@yaelschacher.bsky.social

I am in Cap Haitien interviewing people deported from the United States. I have been doing this kind of work for almost a decade and it literally does not get more dire than this. People have lost everything they built in the U.S. and are terrified and have no place to go or way to live.

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

I loved this story! It has a fabulist touch and is beautifully told--definitely check it out:

Indrapramit Das@indrapramitdas.bsky.social

THE LAST DRAGONERS OF BOWBAZAR could always do with more readers. It's a tale about growing up in Calcutta in the 90s/00s, in a family that may be members of a diaspora from another reality, in a house that may be a dragons' nest. British Fantasy & Subjective Chaos Kind of Award-winner.

subterraneanpress.comThe Last Dragoners of Bowbazar eBookSubterranean Press creates readable art, publishing limited editions and groundbreaking original works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

Lots to look forward to here!

Adventitious@adventitiouswords.bsky.social

What to expect from Issue Five when it’s available in two days? 1. A gorgeous mystery from @emharriettwrites.bsky.social about a man whose memory was stolen, the villagers who take him into their campfire, and the witch down the road who guides him toward new meaning. Deep and delightful.

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

If you missed my announcement last week, be sure to check back the past couple of posts to get more info about the novella-in-verse The Fall of the City of Bells. And now I wanted to share a bit more about the background of the collection as well as a peek at the poems:

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

A new story from Elis is always worth checking out!

Elis Montgomery@elismontgomery.bsky.social

𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳: 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘦. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. New flash story out in Wyldblood!

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

I suspect that "novella in verse" might mean different things to different people. So what even is this? Well, it's poetry, but I submitted it as a collection, not as a single long poem. It's 65 poems, in fact, from a page to a couple pages long each. Primarily written in free verse.

Daniel Ausema@danielausema.bsky.social

I've been quiet about this one until I had some definite news, but this book is available now!! It's a book that's both taken a long time to come to fruition and a whirlwind of a rush at the same time. Published by Island of Wak-Wak, the same as my poetry chapbook from two years ago.

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Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

Decades after the city falls, she leads a band of wandering traders who fled the city, hiding their past and coping with their part in both the atrocities and the beauty of their fallen home. These poems trace her life and theirs, guilt and survival, the magic and betrayals and what might persist.

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

The format is perfect for dipping in and out, reading a bit here and a bit there as the narrative takes shape. Whether you love poetry (in all its liberated, alliterative and elusive ways) or are leery of poems but enjoy the magic and beauty of a secondary fantasy world, I hope you'll check it out!

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

I suspect that "novella in verse" might mean different things to different people. So what even is this? Well, it's poetry, but I submitted it as a collection, not as a single long poem. It's 65 poems, in fact, from a page to a couple pages long each. Primarily written in free verse.

Daniel Ausema@danielausema.bsky.social

I've been quiet about this one until I had some definite news, but this book is available now!! It's a book that's both taken a long time to come to fruition and a whirlwind of a rush at the same time. Published by Island of Wak-Wak, the same as my poetry chapbook from two years ago.

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

So, if you're unsure about poetry, don't know the forms or terms poets throw around, don't worry. No special knowledge required. It's a secondary fantasy story at its heart, a story built through the kaleidoscopic prisms of these different individual poems. A story of magic that comes from bells.

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

It's the story of the fall of a once-powerful city (hardly a spoiler...). And it's primarily the story of one person we know only as the Charm Binder. Before the city fell, she was an apprentice, learning to create minor magic with small bells and chimes. Into this world comes a silent stranger.

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

I've been quiet about this one until I had some definite news, but this book is available now!! It's a book that's both taken a long time to come to fruition and a whirlwind of a rush at the same time. Published by Island of Wak-Wak, the same as my poetry chapbook from two years ago.

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

"A novella told in verse, swinging like a clapper between the ringing splendor of before the fall and the haunted quiet after, The Fall of the City of Bells is a story of empire and exile, complicity and grief, and of learning what music is worth making after the power of the old song has failed."

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

Can’t wait for people to read this story!

Adventitious@adventitiouswords.bsky.social

More authors of Issue Five: Tehnuka 🌀 @danielausema.bsky.social 📜 @ashvalewrites.bsky.social 🪶 @keyanbowes.bsky.social 🧊 @chrisbaker1337.bsky.social 🦍 @beckyhalsey.bsky.social 🕰️ @jennifleck.bsky.social 🧸 @hanmarin.bsky.social 🪚 @emharriettwrites.bsky.social 🌿 @parkeriswriting.bsky.social 🥶

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

I loved this story when the newsletter came out--thrilled to see it available for all now!

🍬 Abigail Kemske 🍬@abigailkemske.bsky.social

My latest #fantasy flash “Venom is Poison is Strength is Venom” is now free to read at Flame Tree! 🐍 I’m very proud of this story. Head on over to their newsletter archive to check it out: www.flametreepress.com/newsletters/...

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

Had a car in the shop for the weekend. When it was ready, they called a Lyft for me to come get it. My driver was from Colombia, so we got to geek out about some awesome Colombian musicians (at his suggestion, me speaking Spanish and him English so he could practice). Awesome times. De 🇨🇴pa’ 🌎, 🥔

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

"Well there are walls that make a prison / Many names that can bring hate / You tear 'em down and ride 'em over / Before you find it's just too late." Jackson C Frank, "Don't Look Back" I've known his "Blues Run the Game" from the S&G cover on the collection I listened to over and over in college

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

...and more recently learned some of Frank's life story--the fire, the chronic pain, the mental illnesses and institutionalizations. But I never got around to listening to more of his own works. This one is powerful. I'll definitely be listening to "Don't Look Back" again.

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

Digging up old music I haven’t listened to in years and came across October Project’s Falling Farther In. Beautiful voice (Mary Fahl) and hauntingly sung, with well crafted instrumentation. I used to listen to that a lot in college, but forgot about them.

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

Freshman year of college, I saw them in concert (must have been right about the time they split). Opening band was Sufjan Stevens’s college band Marzuki. I loved Shannon’s voice and played that cassette to death. Wish they’d rerelease it

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

I have a story in this! "The Ways of Plants and Spells" I'll have more to say about the story later, but keep your eyes on it--lots of good stories and great writers involved!

Metaphorosis Publishing@metaphorosis.com

Coming in August! TRUNK: stories that took the long way A collection of stories that almost didn't make it.

books.metaphorosis.comTRUNK: stories that took the long wayAvailable 1 August! TRUNK: stories that took the long way "Not all those who wander are lost," as Tolkien famously said. Sometimes they're just taking the scenic route. Here are 20 great science fiction and fantasy stories that took the long way to success. Each of these stories met with initial rejection before finding a home here. Publishing is a weird alchemy of mood, taste, and happenstance, and it takes tenacity to find just the right combination to let a story shine as it should.
Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

I’ve read a lot of Elis’s early drafts, poems and stories, and it’s great to see this one out in Adventitious now!

Elis Montgomery@elismontgomery.bsky.social

Follow Nightraiser into the bone place, where a single floating candle flickers in the shadows. What fills the dark spaces left by devotion? New dark fantasy flash, free in Adventitious! 💀🐴🕯️✨ www.adventitious.net/stories/holl...

Daniel Ausema
@danielausema.bsky.social

The Moth Plateau comes to its dramatic close with Of Moths and Breaking, narrated by Melle, whose story was so much fun to write. When the 15-year-old discovers her family home destroyed, nothing will stop her from confronting the corporate stooges in charge!

Daniel Ausema reposted

Tales & Feathers Magazine
@talesfeathers.bsky.social

We have ‼️8 days‼️left to raise $4800 for year 6 of Tales & Feathers. And if we can get there we might even reach our Print Edition goals!! 👀 Please back if you can! And if you can't, likes and shares are a huge help. We so appreciate your support and can't wait to bring you more cozy fantasy. 💚

Tales & Feathers Magazine@talesfeathers.bsky.social

Hello friends. WE NEED YOUR HELP ‼️ Our Kickstarter runs until May 31. We've funded T&F Year 5, but here's what else we're aiming for: $13k: T&F Year 6 ✨ $15.5k: T&F Print Edition 📚 Funding 2 years is a HUGE boost to the health & sustainability of the magazine. Back & share to help us get there! 💚

kickstarter.comTales & Feathers: A Pro Slice of Life Fantasy Mag | Year 5+Fund the next two years of our pro-rate slice of life fantasy magazine—and help us create our inaugural print edition.