Archive for March 18, 2026


Signing off: the PCT beckons

Filed under: adventuring, wanderlust — Leave a comment
March 18, 2026

I’m starting my big Pacific Crest Trail adventure this Saturday at long last. I’ll give up news, social media, and blogging for the duration of my hike. (Though I reserve the right to blog in the event of exceptionally good news.) Not that there’s much internet out in the wilderness, in any case. I’ll stay online for 60 more hours, till Friday night, but that’ll be it.

I’ll get back online sometime in late August, just in time for the Hugos, which I intend to attend. If you’d like to keep track of my big PCT adventure, here’s my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellamellowfellow

And here’s the podcast I’ve just started: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2KXFco5teNT3rieDQY9Nh3 I plan to record a simple monologue at the end of each day of hiking: no fancy edits, just vibes and a single take. Hike along with me from the comfort of your couch, eh.

Note that the episodes will be uploaded sporadically, if and when I find reception. Some parts of the trail have rather long blackout zones, lasting many days.

And if you want to send some questions (and hear me read them and your nickname on air!), post them in the comments over yonder: pcthikealong.blogspot.com

Try not to start any nuclear wars while I’m gone.

Happy trails.

Tags: , , , ,
Comment

My 2026 Bradbury writing challenge: weeks 9-11

Filed under: writing — Leave a comment

Week 9

One of my big and weird goals is to have a story published in every SFF magazine out there. Buuut that’d be pretty hard to do if I have no fantasy stories in my arsenal. (Or at least classic fantasy, not my fallback urban fantasy subgenre.)

And so… A 4,000-word story that explores the logistics (and side effects) of being a magical being in a typical Dungeons&Dragons type of world.

Week 10

A quick fun flash story! This one was for a submission call for stories about unusual gadgets. I took that weird premise and ran with it, worldbuilding more and more… And so an 800-word story was born.

And then, since it was a remarkably long flight with very patchy wifi (4 hours from Bangkok to Manila, 15 hours from Manila to New York), I went ahead and wrote a second flash story! It’s for the “What Elegant Stars” anthology and in one of my favourite formats – an encyclopedic entry. The grand total is 906 words: short and sweet and fun.

Week 11

This week’s story will be about a futuristic library. (Very meta, eh.) Aiming for roughly 1,500-ish words.

Now that I’m starting the PCT at last, I may have to downgrade or pause this solo challenge of mine. Might still write bespoke flash stories for anthology calls, but I will no longer be going on story submission sprees, like the 329 I’d sent off in January and February.

Or maybe I’ll use all that exercise-induce bloodflow to the brain to come up with cool poems! (This 2,653-mile trail is much more conducive to reading poetry than longer works, in any case.)

We’ll see – or, as Quebecers say, “On sera.”

Tags: , , , , ,
Comment