Tashi Saheb-Ettaba

two men are standing next to each other in front of a red wall . one of the men is wearing a red robe . ALT: two men are standing next to each other in front of a red wall . one of the men is wearing a red robe .

Me ignoring my editor brain as I navigate my weird pizza horror draft.

First query letter sent.
And so, the journey begins.

I don’t know where I’m going with this pizza horror WIP, but I’m loving it.

a cartoon of a woman with her eyes closed and the words probably written below her . ALT: a cartoon of a woman with her eyes closed and the words probably written below her .

3. Probably but nothing comes to mind at the moment. 🙃

2. A creative writing teacher once told me that my writing reminds her of Hayao Miyazaki’s films. Any time I need a confidence boost, I always go back to that memory. 🥰

1. All my life, everyone calls me Tash. Though my fiancé calls me Zoom Zoom, because I walk faster than him. 🐇

Might as well do the thing!

For Liam.

ICE has killed 9 folks in the first 26 days of ‘26:

• Alex Pretti
• Renee Good
• Keith Porter
• Heber Sanchaz Domínguez
• Victor Manuel Diaz
• Parady La
• Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
• Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
• Geraldo Lunas Campos

They all deserve justice. And for us to remember their names.

Publishing for Minnesota Silent auction 'Publishing for Minnesota' hosted online at 32auctions.

There's an auction going for Minnesota! Loads of publishing-related lots and opportunities: have a look!

www.32auctions.com/publishingfo...

Standing with and sending extra love to our Minneapolis bookstore friends and their entire community today 💜

Thanks again Steve!

Not writing related but if you can, please help my home state of Minnesota:

bsky.app/profile/naom...

Join us this Saturday at The Hideout for a fundraiser for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights. Co-Sponsored with StoryStudio Chicago, and featuring a reading and panel with Nissa Rhee, Ananda Lima, Jose-Luis Moctezuma, me, and hosted by Michael Zapata. Doors: 4:30 Reading & Panel 5:00 - 6:30 January Saturday 24 1354 W. Wabansia Chicago, IL 60622 $20 suggested donation

Join us this Saturday at The Hideout for a fundraiser for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights.

Co-Sponsored with StoryStudio Chicago, and featuring a reading and panel with Nissa Rhee, Ananda Lima, Jose-Luis Moctezuma, me, and hosted by Michael Zapata.

It wasn't the human contact that bothered him. He could manage that. It was the necessity to continue to hold them as their bodies liquefied within his embrace, to became part of him. #HorrorWritersChat

Hours had passed, and I was not permitted to break the hug until the Creature was fully recharged. Legs and arms aching, mouth dry and cracked, I watched in despair as its battery display began to flicker and the percentage points starting going back down.

#HorrorWritersChat

Cupboards slammed, lights flickered, and a few heavy nick knacks were tossed across the room... splaying her against a wall for the cacophony. Quick as it began, it ended, with a tea set upright in the center of the living room. The word 'Playdate' written in crayon on the cloth.
#HorrorWritersChat

Annie smiled too wide and happily, holding her arms out and beckoning, the implicit warning of the rest of the Dream House glinting in her eyes.

Sam swallowed her retch for the 4-hundredth time and forced herself forward, wrapping her arms around Annie's waist.

Annie squeezed.

#HorrorWritersChat

Q4. #Horrorwriterschat
Dave is falling. No one can see. He can’t hear himself. When he refused to hug, he felt the sky tugging on him. But there was no one and nothing to grab when it happened. He screamed then, too, and now wonders how much more he can scream before the ground rises up to meet him…

#HorrorWritersChat
Each hug is a gamble. Vesty's they call 'em, those that wear spiked vests underneath their jumpers. You can't see the three inch spikes 'cos they're retractable and work on a nifty hydraulic system. That last person was a vestie. I don't think this one is. Wish me luck.

#HorrorWritersChat Q4

Fail once, hug by the pleaser
Fail twice, hug by the squeezer

(does it make sense? no. but it got stuck in my head and it's too tired to let go of it lol)

National Hugging Day.
Squirrels are meat. Sweatpants and granola bars don't exist yet. Playdates are for children who have homes and futures that aren't soaked in blood.
Her body isn't for comfort or casual contact, but to survive.
Hugging Day demands what to her is obscene.

#HorrorWritersChat

Jacinda recoils. "I'm NOT Hugging that thing!"
Grill Man groans. "I just wanna grill maaan!" the animatronic groans.
"You're not a man, Jacinta, you should be safe," I remind her. 😉

#HorrorWritersChat Q4
(Art by Pierre 99Designs)

#HorrorWritersChat

Zombie Ethan hated International Hugging Day since his rotting body parts fell off whenever someone did that to him. So, he covered his clothing with caustic chemicals before anyone approached him for a hug. They'd dissolve right before his eyes. Best day of his undead life!

#HorrorWritersChat

"Do it! Do it!" They all chant around her.
Raven sees the man with the axe, waiting for her to fail again.

She breathes in, then slowly shuffles towards the mangy straw scarecrow, closing her eyes she reaches out and hugs it.
Everyone cheers and finally it is tossed on the fire.

Q3. #HorrorWritersChat

“Granola Day?” Wise asks
“Granola Day.” Archie says.
“Do we get the day off for that?” Wise says, pulling her hair back into a ponytail.
Nick strums on his guitar. “No. You work extra.”
Wise points a drumstick at him.
“Guys?” Archie says. “I’m bleeding. Honey—and oats? Uhh…”

He's already failed once, but he can't damn it! If They find out will come for him, lock him in a cell until it's his turn to go to the dungeons, where the unable to obey go, and he'll slowly rot there. But he can't. He can't! Hugs. Contact. Skin against skin. No! He'd rather die! #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat

They don't know how they failed. They don't know why. They just knew that if the hug isn't performed in exactly the right way, with the right amount of pressure and length of time, it was deemed "wrong" by The Eye.

And if they failed one more time, they'd undergo The Final Hug.

As she walked down the street, she did not notice the passerby, and a hug was not given by either party. The cameras caught the whole affair; police were sent for their capture. Tomorrow, they both will endure public punishment: facing the ultimate hug creature.
#HorrorWritersChat

#Horrorwriterschat

"I am not... hugging you," said Indy.
"International day of it, bud," said Sara. "Let's go."
"In my culture, a hug is an important part of the marriage ceremony."
"Oh."
"During the, uh, consummation of --"
"OH! ...we can skip it this year."

It wasn't their bodies that scared her, but their clothes, which had a life of their own. The coral frill that wafted in still air. A button that lifted like a nictitating membrane to reveal an eye. But only when you got close would the garments truly show what they could do. #HorrorWritersChat