#365ways2026 — Public Fediverse posts

Just Start

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” — Madeleine L’Engle

* * *

Just Start

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” — Madeleine L’Engle

* * *

Just Start

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” — Madeleine L’Engle

* * *

Just Start

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” — Madeleine L’Engle

* * *

Just Start

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” — Madeleine L’Engle

* * *

Boldly Go!

This week marks the 60th anniversary of Star Trek (it was Tuesday, actually, but alas! I was distracted by the whole “return to work” thing). And the show almost didn’t make it at all.

How ‘Star Trek’ almost failed to launch

“The Cage” – a complicated story about alien mind-control – was an ambitious pilot. When Roddenberry presented it to NBC, the programming executives were blown away. But the sales and marketing department wasn’t convinced. Not enough action, they thought. It would be hard to promote. Pass.

“Star Trek,” it seemed, was dead.

Fortunately, there’s more to that story, and the show not only got off the ground but became the entertainment juggernaut it is today.

I wasn’t a Trek fan growing up, in large part, I think, because my parents had made the conscious decision not to have a television. Now that I’m all grown up and have a TV of my own, though, I appreciate the ideals and more behind the sometimes campy but always fun franchise. So inspiring, and not just for everyday fans. 

‘Star Trek’ and NASA have intertwined legacies – the show championed diversity and inspired generations of real space scientists

When it premiered in 1966, no one could have predicted that it would lead to more than a dozen spinoff shows, more than a dozen movies and one of the most enduring fandoms in popular culture.

“Star Trek” is also unusual for its close connections to NASA, both in its storylines and in the real world. Decades of “Star Trek” adventures have ignited a love of spaceflight across generations, inspiring many who now work as space professionals.

Let’s hear it for the real-world powers of fiction. And now, in life and the imagination, go boldly!

* * *

Boldly Go!

This week marks the 60th anniversary of Star Trek (it was Tuesday, actually, but alas! I was distracted by the whole “return to work” thing). And the show almost didn’t make it at all.

How ‘Star Trek’ almost failed to launch

“The Cage” – a complicated story about alien mind-control – was an ambitious pilot. When Roddenberry presented it to NBC, the programming executives were blown away. But the sales and marketing department wasn’t convinced. Not enough action, they thought. It would be hard to promote. Pass.

“Star Trek,” it seemed, was dead.

Fortunately, there’s more to that story, and the show not only got off the ground but became the entertainment juggernaut it is today.

I wasn’t a Trek fan growing up, in large part, I think, because my parents had made the conscious decision not to have a television. Now that I’m all grown up and have a TV of my own, though, I appreciate the ideals and more behind the sometimes campy but always fun franchise. So inspiring, and not just for everyday fans. 

‘Star Trek’ and NASA have intertwined legacies – the show championed diversity and inspired generations of real space scientists

When it premiered in 1966, no one could have predicted that it would lead to more than a dozen spinoff shows, more than a dozen movies and one of the most enduring fandoms in popular culture.

“Star Trek” is also unusual for its close connections to NASA, both in its storylines and in the real world. Decades of “Star Trek” adventures have ignited a love of spaceflight across generations, inspiring many who now work as space professionals.

Let’s hear it for the real-world powers of fiction. And now, in life and the imagination, go boldly!

* * *

Boldly Go!

This week marks the 60th anniversary of Star Trek (it was Tuesday, actually, but alas! I was distracted by the whole “return to work” thing). And the show almost didn’t make it at all.

How ‘Star Trek’ almost failed to launch

“The Cage” – a complicated story about alien mind-control – was an ambitious pilot. When Roddenberry presented it to NBC, the programming executives were blown away. But the sales and marketing department wasn’t convinced. Not enough action, they thought. It would be hard to promote. Pass.

“Star Trek,” it seemed, was dead.

Fortunately, there’s more to that story, and the show not only got off the ground but became the entertainment juggernaut it is today.

I wasn’t a Trek fan growing up, in large part, I think, because my parents had made the conscious decision not to have a television. Now that I’m all grown up and have a TV of my own, though, I appreciate the ideals and more behind the sometimes campy but always fun franchise. So inspiring, and not just for everyday fans. 

‘Star Trek’ and NASA have intertwined legacies – the show championed diversity and inspired generations of real space scientists

When it premiered in 1966, no one could have predicted that it would lead to more than a dozen spinoff shows, more than a dozen movies and one of the most enduring fandoms in popular culture.

“Star Trek” is also unusual for its close connections to NASA, both in its storylines and in the real world. Decades of “Star Trek” adventures have ignited a love of spaceflight across generations, inspiring many who now work as space professionals.

Let’s hear it for the real-world powers of fiction. And now, in life and the imagination, go boldly!

* * *

Boldly Go!

This week marks the 60th anniversary of Star Trek (it was Tuesday, actually, but alas! I was distracted by the whole “return to work” thing). And the show almost didn’t make it at all.

How ‘Star Trek’ almost failed to launch

“The Cage” – a complicated story about alien mind-control – was an ambitious pilot. When Roddenberry presented it to NBC, the programming executives were blown away. But the sales and marketing department wasn’t convinced. Not enough action, they thought. It would be hard to promote. Pass.

“Star Trek,” it seemed, was dead.

Fortunately, there’s more to that story, and the show not only got off the ground but became the entertainment juggernaut it is today.

I wasn’t a Trek fan growing up, in large part, I think, because my parents had made the conscious decision not to have a television. Now that I’m all grown up and have a TV of my own, though, I appreciate the ideals and more behind the sometimes campy but always fun franchise. So inspiring, and not just for everyday fans. 

‘Star Trek’ and NASA have intertwined legacies – the show championed diversity and inspired generations of real space scientists

When it premiered in 1966, no one could have predicted that it would lead to more than a dozen spinoff shows, more than a dozen movies and one of the most enduring fandoms in popular culture.

“Star Trek” is also unusual for its close connections to NASA, both in its storylines and in the real world. Decades of “Star Trek” adventures have ignited a love of spaceflight across generations, inspiring many who now work as space professionals.

Let’s hear it for the real-world powers of fiction. And now, in life and the imagination, go boldly!

* * *

Boldly Go!

This week marked the 60th anniversary of Star Trek (it was Tuesday, actually, but alas! I was distracted by the whole “return to work” thing). And the show almost didn’t make it at all.

How ‘Star Trek’ almost failed to launch

“The Cage” – a complicated story about alien mind-control – was an ambitious pilot. When Roddenberry presented it to NBC, the programming executives were blown away. But the sales and marketing department wasn’t convinced. Not enough action, they thought. It would be hard to promote. Pass.

“Star Trek,” it seemed, was dead.

Fortunately, there’s more to that story, and the show not only got off the ground but became the entertainment juggernaut it is today.

I wasn’t a Trek fan growing up, in large part, I think, because my parents had made the conscious decision not to have a television. Now that I’m all grown up and have a TV of my own, though, I appreciate the ideals and more behind the sometimes campy but always fun franchise. So inspiring, and not just for everyday fans. 

‘Star Trek’ and NASA have intertwined legacies – the show championed diversity and inspired generations of real space scientists

When it premiered in 1966, no one could have predicted that it would lead to more than a dozen spinoff shows, more than a dozen movies and one of the most enduring fandoms in popular culture.

“Star Trek” is also unusual for its close connections to NASA, both in its storylines and in the real world. Decades of “Star Trek” adventures have ignited a love of spaceflight across generations, inspiring many who now work as space professionals.

Let’s hear it for the real-world powers of fiction. And now, in life and the imagination, go boldly!

* * *

Bayeux Mania!

Books are just one of the many ways to interpret and record history. The 11th-century Bayeux tapestry, is going on display to the public today in the UK. The tapestry has more than 220 feet of embroidery detailing the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England in 1066. And the public is loving it.

British Museum Opens Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition

Inside the exhibition on Thursday morning, the first visitors made their way along the tapestry, snapping photos as they went. They were all quiet until one — Cheryl Prax, 71, a retired property manager — spotted some of the nude figures in the tapestry’s borders and laughed loudly. “I love quirky historical things like that,” Prax said afterward.

(And what would this type of storytelling look like with more modern topics? Artist Edith Pritchett drew a modern-day version depicting “today’s battles with online trolls, social media addiction, the manosphere, AI agents” and more: The trollers v the scrollers: Edith Pritchett’s Bayeux tapestry for the modern age)

Want to see the tapestry in person but can’t get tickets to see the original? You still have options!

Where to See the World’s Bayeux Tapestry Replicas

Here are links to just some of the animals, people, and other items depicted (the astronomical object included, and some less safe for work items) in the tapestry. And if you can’t make it in person, check out this high-res digital version from the Bayeux Museum: Explore the Bayeux Tapestry online.

Fair warning, though, many of the main websites linked to the tapestry are slooooow today. Because history is cool, and Bayeux Mania is real!

* * *

Let It Bloom

A relative of Irish descent reminded me that today is Bloomsday, or a day to celebrate the life and work of James Joyce. 

What is Bloomsday? – Bloomsday Festival

Bloomsday celebrates Thursday, 16th June 1904 — the day immortalised in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, one of the novel’s protagonists. The novel follows Bloom’s life and thoughts (as well as those of Stephen Dedalus and a host of other characters, real and fictional) from early in the morning to the twilight hours of the following day.

It may also be helpful for other writers to know that even Joyce worried about his work being forgotten.

No chance of that today!

* * *

The 61st Annual Nebula Award Winners

This weekend, The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association presented the 61st annual Nebula Awards. If you saw the finalist roster I shared in March and thought, “Gosh, I wonder who will win?” well, wonder no more!

Just some of the winners of the Nebula awards for the best speculative fiction from 2025:

The Nebula Award for Novel

★ The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan UK) ★ 

The Nebula Award for Novella

★ The River Has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia) ★ 

The Nebula Award for Novelette

★ “Uncertain Sons”, by Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Undertow Publications) ★

The Nebula Award for Short Story

★ “Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything”, by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots 5/25) ★

For more, see the complete list of finalists and winners at SFFWorld!

* * *

Remember to Keep Laughing

I’m watching holes being punched in democracy, and I don’t like it. At the same time, my father is sending nature notes from the beach.

/headline

Pigeons, house finches

/headline

Black-backed gulls

The headlines are important. 

/headline

Willets

The headlines mark a world changing in ways that will hurt the people and things I care about. That’s… not great.

/headline

Sanderlings

/headline

Osprey

But there is more to the world than just headlines.

Pelicans, herring gulls, terns, mockingbird, starlings, boat-tailed grackles, house sparrows, swallows, dolphins!

Laughing gulls.

* * *

The New Nebula Award Finalists

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 

• “Through the Machine” by P.A. Cornell (Lightspeed Magazine, 5/25)
• “Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny Magazine, 1-2/25)
• “In My Country” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld Magazine 4/25)
• “The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead” by E.M. Linden (PodCastle 2/18/25)
• “Because I Held His Name Like a Key” by Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons 6/16/25)
• “Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots 5/25)

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

* * *