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James Alan Gardner

@jagardner

Writer: mostly fantasy and science fiction. Currently working on a Big Fat Fantasy, tentatively titled SIX GODDESSES AND A CAT. Also learning Japanese.

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26.10.2023
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Latest posts by James Alan Gardner @jagardner

People are always saying “polyamory makes no sense. How can you love two people?” and then they’ll turn around and buy DC Comics *and* Marvel Comics

07.03.2026 15:42 👍 328 🔁 42 💬 7 📌 0
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07.03.2026 22:37 👍 13415 🔁 5060 💬 88 📌 250

the reverse version of those “evolution of man” drawings

07.03.2026 23:43 👍 13466 🔁 2628 💬 448 📌 86

Specificity is also a good way to create characters whom readers want to hang out with. Who'd want to spend time with someone who's blank and blah?

07.03.2026 00:33 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Born 1955 in Canada. Not too much fear of being nuked, except the night when the air raid sirens went off in the 1980s. (Some sort of electrical problem. By then, they weren't being well-maintained, so we all got a chance to be terrified.)

02.03.2026 03:47 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Hey, I've already done the St. Jacobs Market and the Transylvania Club. If Tor had sprung for Book 3, I was going to do Perimeter and the Clay & Glass Gallery.

01.03.2026 04:45 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

I love how people in manga think. "Oh, when we humiliate and banish the bastard son, let's also give him the only weapon that can hurt us."

25.02.2026 15:18 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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22.02.2026 19:45 👍 1528 🔁 519 💬 2 📌 6

WOMEN👏DON’T👏WANT👏CHOCOLATES 👏FOR 👏VALENTINE’S 👏DAY 👏THEY 👏WANT 👏MERRIAM-WEBSTER’S 👏COLLEGIATE 👏DICTIONARY 👏TWELFTH 👏EDITION 👏

14.02.2026 20:50 👍 6197 🔁 819 💬 225 📌 179
Louise Jensen Duffy (@LouiseWeebe) on twitter: "So, a lot of people ask me why I buy so many books. The truth is, I have a genetic disorder where my body doesn't produce enough books of its own, so I have to supplement."

Louise Jensen Duffy (@LouiseWeebe) on twitter: "So, a lot of people ask me why I buy so many books. The truth is, I have a genetic disorder where my body doesn't produce enough books of its own, so I have to supplement."

01.01.2026 15:59 👍 526 🔁 132 💬 1 📌 8

A lot of you need to learn the difference between "I'm not interested in this story" and "no human being could possibly want to create or read/watch this story and its existence is a personal insult against me."

20.01.2026 21:36 👍 763 🔁 260 💬 6 📌 5

Donald Trump is if Brexit became president. That's obvious, right?

17.01.2026 22:48 👍 169 🔁 33 💬 5 📌 2

living in a world where the only two jobs are “gambling” and “murder” isn’t nearly as cool as Cowboy Bebop made it out to be

12.01.2026 15:47 👍 10665 🔁 2809 💬 68 📌 53

Dogbert weighing Scott Adams’ heart against a feather

13.01.2026 18:05 👍 2990 🔁 525 💬 25 📌 13

My reading stats for 2025 (only counting works I actually finished in 2025, not ones I started but then put down):

Audiobooks: 110
Manga series/graphic novels: 60
Hardcopy books: 22
Ebooks: 4

(I count a manga series if I read it from the beginning to most recent episode, for at least 20 episodes.)

01.01.2026 15:08 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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30.12.2025 00:39 👍 364 🔁 16 💬 10 📌 0

NOW GO OUT THERE AND LIVE THE FINAL DAYS OF THIS SHITSTAINED YEAR BEING KIND AND BOLD AND DARING AND FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE PIT WHEN YOU SEE SOMEBODY GO DOWN YOU HELP THEM THE FUCK BACK UP

29.12.2025 23:45 👍 265 🔁 86 💬 1 📌 1
That black cat named Moon at Stonehenge surrounded by its adoring crowd during this year's winter solstice

That black cat named Moon at Stonehenge surrounded by its adoring crowd during this year's winter solstice

Fine, whatever, this random cat is your new god of the winter solstice

24.12.2025 20:21 👍 8105 🔁 1657 💬 113 📌 126
A bunny wearing a Santa hat peeks out of a red gift box in front of a decorated Christmas tree.

A bunny wearing a Santa hat peeks out of a red gift box in front of a decorated Christmas tree.

25.12.2025 12:38 👍 1341 🔁 307 💬 4 📌 11

It was the Dunning of tymes. It was the Kruger of tymes.

23.12.2025 04:20 👍 478 🔁 133 💬 1 📌 0
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20.12.2025 13:41 👍 14089 🔁 2494 💬 212 📌 92
Google Books Ngram Viewer Google Ngrams: seen, 1800-2022

"Seen" is such a common word, I wondered if you could notice when people started to say, "I feel seen." But it's very obvious:
books.google.com/ngrams/graph...

20.12.2025 02:29 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
yellow poster with drawings of the sailor moons. text says: 

TRANS PEOPLE EXISTING DOES
LITERALLY NOTHING NEGATIVE TO YOUR LIVES, YOU CRYBABY WIMPS

YOUR LIFE IS GETTING HARDER AND COSTLIER BECAUSE OF THE OLIGARGS, NOT TRANS PEOPLE

yellow poster with drawings of the sailor moons. text says: TRANS PEOPLE EXISTING DOES LITERALLY NOTHING NEGATIVE TO YOUR LIVES, YOU CRYBABY WIMPS YOUR LIFE IS GETTING HARDER AND COSTLIER BECAUSE OF THE OLIGARGS, NOT TRANS PEOPLE

reminder:

19.12.2025 15:57 👍 7077 🔁 2864 💬 24 📌 21
A photo of the box for the 90s Sailor Moon "Crystal Message" fortune telling crystal ball toy from Japan. The package shows a "crystal ball" with a Sailor Moon figure inside from Sailor Moon S that will light up and talk, telling you your fortune specifically in things like "luck" and "romance".

A photo of the box for the 90s Sailor Moon "Crystal Message" fortune telling crystal ball toy from Japan. The package shows a "crystal ball" with a Sailor Moon figure inside from Sailor Moon S that will light up and talk, telling you your fortune specifically in things like "luck" and "romance".

"I asked ChatGPT"

"I asked Grok"

Well, I asked the Sailor Moon fortune telling crystal ball. We are not the same.

10.12.2025 23:45 👍 684 🔁 286 💬 11 📌 6

Woah!

Ontario passed a law starting Jan 2026 that it is illegal for companies to ghost you.

If you have interviewed for a job they are legally required to inform you if they hire someone else or close the position.

The law also requires salary transparency on listings and disclosing use of AI

24.11.2025 14:16 👍 2383 🔁 775 💬 26 📌 103

Wow, Mars, that makes me feel really good. Thanks! And good luck on beating your block!

23.11.2025 15:08 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

spoke with the executive director of my local food bank today and got this really incredible line: "if you donate 1 can of green beans, we can give away 1 can of green beans. but if you donate a dollar, we can give away 6 cans of green beans"

10.11.2025 19:32 👍 7478 🔁 3216 💬 53 📌 119
Google Books Ngram Viewer Google Ngrams: big spoon, little spoon, 1800-2022

While the term "spooning" has been around for a while, distinguishing between the big spoon and the little spoon is a 21st century thing:
books.google.com/ngrams/graph...

12.11.2025 00:13 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Got another anti-Covid shot today. This makes my 11th since the pandemic started.

07.11.2025 18:45 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Today's forecast: "chance of flurries". Sigh...

01.11.2025 12:56 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0