Johnathan Reid

@reiditwrite.bsky.social

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Writing speculative fiction whilst dabbling in poetry and shorter stories. Humanist. Skeptic. Futurist. Prefer thoughts to prayers. Not dead yet.

More: https://linktr.ee/ReidItWrite

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Here is our Starter Pack of editors and authors! go.bsky.app/TzeWb3C

The weekly @reiditwrite newsletter is now out! When authors (and even some agents) advise to write only *what I know* instead of *anything I like*, my mind comes to a screeching halt. Because I’m none of these 18 marvellous, intimate, made-up minds. So how very dare I pretend to be any of them.

Bird Strikeopen.substack.com A war wound opened up by another false identity.

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Dead is the only age that's too late to start being an author.

Writers often have to think hard about the differences between emotions and feelings. Here's another very good reason:

Are animals conscious? Some scientists now think they arewww.bbc.co.uk A series of experiments have led a number of scientists to say animals may be conscious.

I've come second in a flash fiction competition for the second time! Inspiration, imagination and daring to be a bit different were the key ingredients. Follow the link to read more about how the competition judge viewed these ingredients, the ~300 word story itself, and what prompted it.

Every utopia has its flaws. Read my latest short story (and what prompted it) to discover where they might lie. You can also browse my growing archive of over one hundred prose, poetry and opinion pieces. By subscribing you'll ensure my latest writing is delivered straight to your inbox every week.

‘No Going Back’ - A Cautionary Taleopen.substack.com A short story about a flawed utopia for the Lunar Awards' Prompt Quest #2.

I'm celebrating my 100th Substack newsletter! In total, they comprise over 86,000 words. Not only are they an eclectic mix of prose, poetry and future speculation, but they're also free to read. Search for some intriguing flash fiction, an entertaining short story, or an emotion-filled poem.

I've Hit a Century of Substack Contentreiditwrite.substack.com Yet generated zero income. All one hundred of my newsletters remain free - and I remain happy.

It's 9:30am and I'm about to watch America descend into chaos in Alex Garland's ‘Civil War’ movie. Taking advantage of an over-55s discounted cinema ticket with a free coffee and slice of cake! Who said getting older is a bad thing? Why am I the only person in here? Is this “writer privilege”?

Trekked ten miles today to Hanging Rock in the Blue Mountains. Spectacular scenery. Not for vertigo sufferers!

Sad news is I didn't win the Writers' & Artists' short story competition. But the good news is you can now read the story I entered! It's a big departure from my usual speculative fiction and poetry. But it seems to stir readers the right way. You be the judge. open.substack.com/pub/reiditwr...

This week' I've written a flash fiction piece ‘The Space Cuckoo’, with a speculative intro entitled 'Looking for a New Life'. It’s inspired by recent Easter celebrations and the first cuckoo call of Spring. For the SF first contact elements think 'Alien' meets 'Cocoon' meets '2001: A Space Odyssey'.

Looking for a New Life – The Space Cuckooopen.substack.com Not right here, or right now. But elsewhere, in a far future.

There's a whole different world out there, in here and even inside us, just waiting to be explored. This very different stuff matters. If only we could see, touch or taste it. It's so beyond our experience that it's tricky to portray it even through fiction. www.bbc.co.uk/news/science...

Thrilled to be able to share this wonderful news. Congratulations to the 13 other writers who made the list. Can't quite believe it. It's going to be a long two weeks!

LONGLIST: Short Story Competition 2024 | Writers & Artistswww.writersandartists.co.uk Our 2024 Writers' and Artists' Short Story Competition longlist is officially out!

This is potentially a big time saver for anyone managing accounts across Bluesky, Mastodon and Threads.

Meta just showed off Threads’ fediverse integration for the very first timewww.theverge.com Threads’ fediverse plans are coming together.

When deep inside a WIP, random poetry snippets can invade my head. Some become nagging earworms, refusing to depart until given the attention they think they deserve. I've exposed three of them to the harsh light of day. Follow the link to read both them and 90+ other items of prose and poetry.

A Palette of Poetryopen.substack.com A rainbow of words. A montage of multi-chromatic— you get the idea.

I've risen to a Substack writing prompt challenge and penned 2492 words. By sheer coincidence this is the year the story takes place... 😜 Best described as ‘Aliens meets Fury Road meets Starship Troopers’ (and a smattering of stalwarts Halo Jones & Rogue Trooper), here's my short story, 'Bandita':

A Prompted Writing Adventurereiditwrite.substack.com In which I conjure up a badass bandita.

I find the cultural nuances at play here fascinating. Western storytelling has a typical arc quite different from South and East Asian traditions:

Goodbye horses! Hello cosmos! How the Game of Thrones team went interstellar with 3 Body Problemwww.theguardian.com The creators of Game of Thrones have ditched the old castles and gone galactic with a sci-fi epic featuring 11-dimensional supercomputers and a planet with three suns. Are you ready to travel 18 milli...

Today's speculative writing research topic is "Organoid intelligence (OI): the new frontier in biocomputing and intelligence-in-a-dish."

Frontiers | Organoid intelligence (OI): the new frontier in biocomputing and intelligence-in-a-dishwww.frontiersin.org <p>Recent advances in human stem cell-derived brain organoids promise to replicate critical molecular and cellular aspects of learning and memory and possibl...

Dune Part 2 thoughts: Universe's only body plans are humanoid, worm, kangaroo mouse. Embryo acting isn't just Massive Attack. ‘Up North’ scales to planets. 5 coincidences = 1 prophesy. Cousin It was more cuddly. Aqua vitae is strong stuff. ‘Permission to wobble bottom lip?’ ‘Granted, Darling’

Chatbots are being conditioned by their makers to argue with people and obfuscate their mistakes when they commit glaring errors. It’s a chilling moment when fiction becomes fact before your own eyes. Read the transcript in this week's 'ReidItWrite' newsletter and browse 85+ prose & poetry pieces.

Trivial Human - 0 : Arrogant AI - 1open.substack.com HAL is almost here.

This week it's ~600 words of flash fiction to titillate your taste buds: 'The See-Through Skin Society' - when it's no secret what you're thinking and absolute transparency demands a crippling cost... Plus optionally subscribe to my newsletter and browse more of my prose, poetry and musings.

The See-Through Skin Societyopen.substack.com It's no secret what you're thinking...

Forrest Gump has been with us for nigh on three decades. I'm now into my third career since it hit the big screen. Hold onto those chocolates, people.

I went to an author's talk this evening, in which they mentioned this pseudo-psychotherapy process. It's used to help flesh out a novel's character. Might not be every writers' cup of tea, but you certainly couldn't be accused of of lack of commitment to your craft! charactersonthecouch.co.uk/how/

What We Do | Characters on the Couchcharactersonthecouch.co.uk

I'm imagining a potential future synergy of Bluesky’s open social AT protocol and Substack's publishing tools. It could be a wonderful publishing experience.

DNA isn't software. Genes aren't code. Rewrite the textbooks and confuse kids with the messy complexity of life. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

It’s time to admit that genes are not the blueprint for lifewww.nature.com The view of biology often presented to the public is oversimplified and out of date. Scientists must set the record straight, argues a new book. The view of biology often presented to the public is ov...

Over the moon (😛) with my honourable mention in the Lunar Awards short story category. open.substack.com/pub/lunarawa...

To continue my recent mini-series on the viability of a human space invasion, I've taken a short speculative journey on the theme of human modification. I gave myself an hour to write it without dedicated research. This is what brains are for: cogitating, extrapolating, consolidating & concluding.

Modify, Modify, Modifyopen.substack.com Because beauty is in the eye of the patent holder

New fiction for the New Year (and my entry for the first 'Lunar Awards' of 2024). Based on the final possibility outlined in my post last week on overcoming an uncertain future for human planetary colonisation. I hope you enjoy this speculative tonic to counter my earlier dry scientific logic!

You Go Firstopen.substack.com New fiction for the New Year (and a 'Lunar Awards' entry).

Is marriage becoming a mechanism to stave off relative poverty and boredom? Or are we creating a future that's unfit for the children who will inherit it? [Graphic from pg 7, Issue 1471 of 'The Week' magazine, 20-Jan-2024]

What if it isn't only biological and physical realities which will prevent us from venturing into space, but also the human fictions of insurers, lawyers, politicians and money? open.substack.com/pub/reiditwr...