J.L. Harned

Silicon Valley did it first…

This makes me want to suck the lives out of all the children of Salem before sunrise and yell “boooOOOOOOk!”

Torty cat with man

Veterinarians and vet techs are some of the best people in the world.

My best friend Tigerlily, a fellow tortie, passed just before her 13th birthday on Halloween and who frequently visits me in my dreams. She passed her love of toes on to my daughter.

Aaaand I cried.

Maybe I’ve got too many pretty shiny bits of story that I keep trying to whittle into shapes that fit together. Maybe this is not the proper way to write a book. But I’m gonna keep whittling anyway!

I just had to say goodbye to my tortie baby 2 months ago and I miss her so badly I still sob in the shower about it. My other kitty has diabetes and hyperthyroidism, he’s a picky eater too, what’s worked for us is the “gravy lovers” cans of Fancy Feast mixed w/ hot water, topped with Churu.

Even back then there were cat people 🐈

“dishtopian” is a fun one, stealing it :)

shout out to all the girls who also sneeze like their dads, aka, like a bear roaring into the wind causing time to freeze, like a montage of all the slow motion explosions in every action film ever made, like a powerful beast that's stood on an upturned plug.

I’m so happy you’re here on Bluesky, Hank!

for Instagram content creators I want desperately to see join BlueSky:
- @hexenkult

- @GreedyPeasant for our shared love of graveyards, Catholic Saints & relic lore, medieval flamboyance, and Yul Brynner
- @KristieZurm b/c she was a new mom about 2 months ahead of me and her content saved my sleep-deprived bacon
- @IAm.MrLuke ’s perfect balance of manic joy and grounded nurturing

I kicked my TikTok/Insta habit once I was through the newborn trenches and desperately needed to stay awake & microdose on dopamine while nap-trapped/during 3am wake-ups. Here’s my BlueSky wishlist of TikTok creators who I hope join this platform at some point because their content brought me joy:

Image shows a notebook open on a train table, with the overlaid text reading: Five Things Friday: issue 3 - courses & competitions with upcoming deadlines

Hey there writers! If you're looking for some writing opportunities, last week's Five Things Friday post is now available to free subscribers. Some good ones this week! halekatie.substack.com/p/five-thing...

My child had a plethora of age-appropriate, semi-educational interactive Fisher Price & Baby Einstein accoutrements. Sometimes, after hours of hearing the same musical blurbs over and over, one of her toys will sling some extended version or all-new ditty at me and it always spooks me.

Fellow historical fiction writers - do any of you go so far down the research rabbit hole that it invades your dreams?

Have I had my mind changed on social media? Yes - NOT by arguing with randoms, but by following experts and first hand folks who share what they do, what they think and what's going on. The change isn't binary - I used to think one thing, and suddenly now another - it's slow and additive: Learning.

Ms. Rachel’s Christmas song video is legit, thank God. It’s not even Thanksgiving and I’m already getting pretty sick of the holiday musical Tonies.

a man in a suit and tie is dancing in a room ALT: a man in a suit and tie is dancing in a room

What was your baby’s first favorite song? I’ll start - the theme song to The Office.