the first in a series of guest posts by Rascal Hartley.

editor’s note: Duck Prints Press is highly anti-gen-AI in all usages, but we recognize it’s very easy to say “don’t do that” and very hard, for people who have gotten used to using a tool, to actually stop. That is the spirit behind this series of posts: not simply “don’t do that,” but a concrete guide for people who have gotten into the habit of using generative AI to do their heavy lifting and want to stop but aren’t sure how to do so. We encourage people who have not ever used generative AI to continue to not do so, but also, we want to arm people who have used this tool and no longer want to with the tools and supports they need to stop. We recognize that “just stop” is rarely helpful advice for people habituated to a poor practice, and that is the why we are making these posts. You, person using genAI who doesn’t want to but isn’t sure how to break away: you can quit. And these posts can help.

Hi! I’m glad you’re here.

I want to start off by removing some of the overwhelm of approaching writing on your own. Writing can feel like a huge beast to tackle, but it isn’t. I promise it isn’t. It can be broken down into steps, and, if we’re being honest, sometimes you can skip some of them. It all boils down to what is needed to tell the story you want to tell.

That is not to say that this will be easy, but it is possible.

Let me assure you, firstly, that perfect grammar and spelling are not required. Editors exist for a reason, and the reason is that the burden does not fall to you. All you have to do is write. We will cover basic editing in a later blog, but for this one, I really just want to hammer home one point:

It should not be perfect.

Writing feels overwhelming because there is so much to do, and “all of it needs to be done to a certain standard” only makes it harder. But it doesn’t need to be. To repurpose a line from one of my favorite fanfics (that link will take you to Bilbo/Thorin smut, just fyi), “There is no room for perfection in a good story.”

AI makes (mostly) technically correct works. It makes them “good enough,” and it makes them fast. The result is there soon after you have the idea. That’s pretty hard to beat. Every writer I know has expressed the wish to just take an idea from their head and transpose it instantly onto paper, which makes the anti-AI stances seem kinda hypocritical, right?

Except I don’t want someone else’s words on that paper. If I did, I’d hire a ghost writer. I want my own words there. And if you’re here, I think you do, too. If you’re here, you have a story worth telling, and you want to tell it yourself. And that is scary. Stepping away from the easy way to do things the way they should be done is really, really scary.

But that’s okay.

We’ll do it scared.

Over this blog series, I’m aiming to guide you in going from idea to finished draft. But bear in mind that, though you’re not using AI to do it, you’re not doing it alone. There is a wonderful community of writers out there who will cheer you on and offer help. Rope in your friends, your pets, and your rubber ducky (seriously, THE best writing companion you could have) and remind yourself that you CAN write a story.

After all, we’re humans. We invented stories.

a guest post by Max Jason Peterson

Happy Halloween! One of my favorite things to do every autumn is create art, fiction, and poetry with spooky, autumnal vibes and Halloween/horror themes. So I’ve written some prompts that I hope will inspire you to create things in your chosen genre! While I typically make prompts with poetry and prose in mind, I hope these are adaptable enough to jumpstart art or other projects you might enjoy making.

When I’m hosting live writing sessions, I typically set a ten-minute timer for each prompt. In those sessions, we are just hoping to get our creative juices flowing; participants who wish to do so may share rough drafts between prompts, and it’s always so inspiring to see what everyone comes up with. The aim with these is to turn off the editing/critical side of our brains and simply spark the joy of making. The short creation time does seem to help with that, so if you’d like to try it, read the prompt through, then set the timer and launch your new work! (Note that artists and other makers may find a longer creation time helpful. Please choose what works for you.)

If you’d like to try this live with other participants, I’m hosting a free, online Micro Horror inspiration session for Hampton Public Library on October 28, 2026, and other autumn and spring sessions. This event is zoom-based, and just need online registration for each session. Register here!

Halloween prompts

1. Early Halloween. Since the roots of childhood fears often continue to haunt us, think back to your childhood or young-adult experiences of Halloween, autumn, the dark, nightmares, or being scared. What frightened you? Do you remember your first nightmare, spooky Halloween moment, or something that kept you awake at night? Put yourself back in that mindset and create something that explores this terror. Consider magnifying those feelings so that they consume the narrator or main character.
2. Haunted house. Think about the creepiest house or building you’ve ever been in, seen, or imagined; or, alternately, one you’ve heard about and wish you could experience. What would it be like to live there? You could be a new or original tenant, a pet, a ghost, the woodwork, the trees, a wall mirror, etc.
3. Halloween classics. Go wild exploring the point of view of things associated with Halloween, including any of your favorite costumes, decorations, Halloween themes or imagery, or general spooky subjects. (I often return to black cats—I love them and always live with at least one. Ghosts are also a personal favorite.)
4. Be the monster. What if you woke up and discovered that you were the monster of the piece? What terrifies or delights you about this situation? What do you do? Alternately, imagine meeting an allegedly dangerous monster and finding ways to understand them enough to create friendship, share kindness, or convince them not to harm someone or something dear to you.

Edgar Allan Poe prompts

In the spirit of the season, I often turn to one of the writers I admire, Edgar Allan Poe. Feel free to substitute another spooky writer or artist whose work is also in the public domain.

1. New take on a Poe classic. Choose a background detail (animate or inanimate) or minor character (human or not) in Poe’s work. Focus and expand on that detail. You might provide their point of view, creating a new take on a classic, or write a letter to one of the beings or characters in the story. Feel free to create a work whose shape reminds us of any of Poe’s themes or characters, such as a shape poem that looks like a cat, eye, tomb, raven, etc., or an acrostic poem in which the first letter of each line spells something related to Poe.
2. In the style of Poe. Create a scary work in the style of Poe, or one that captures the “feel” of Poe’s macabre tales, but which is entirely your own. Feel free to craft something in which the inhabitants of the work reference Poe in a way that adds depth to the picture (including art in which a raven or black cat turns up in an unexpected or sepulchral place).
3. A portrait of Poe. Craft a portrait of Poe in words or art. This might be a poem about any aspect of his life or legend, a letter to Poe or a micro-fiction from his point of view (or anyone in his life), a solution to a mystery about Poe, or an alternate universe that offers Poe a different life than the one he led. It could be an homage, showing what you like best about his work; or it could be a “letter to Poe,” sharing what you’d say to him if you met.

Under alternate byline Adele Gardner, Max has many Halloween poems published, including a poetry collection, Halloween Hearts, with themes of Halloween, horror, Edgar Allan Poe, and Ray Bradbury (the publisher, Jackanapes Press, often has seasonal discounts). Max also curated the 2019 Halloween Poetry Reading for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association.

Max’s Writers Café: Micro Poetry & Prose, Fall 2026, from Oct. 28-Nov. 25, Noon-1 PM Eastern. All Wednesdays except for November 10. Join us via Zoom (free, ages 18+) to make & take tiny poems and flash fiction. October 28: Micro Horror. November 4, 10, 18, 25: General. Register for each session separately. Registration link!

We’re so excited to share the cover of our upcoming spicy anthology Monster Smash tomorrow that we wanted to show you a tiny teaser of it right now! The artist, Joshua Beeking, did a spectacular job capturing the high-heat and the inherent danger of monsterfucking, it might have made us all blush when we first saw it 🤭

We promise you don’t want to miss the reveal!

Can’t wait ‘til tomorrow? Here’s a little secret: you can find a bigger, exclusive sneak peek at the artwork over at the project’s Kickstarter! And while you’re there, don’t forget to hit the “Notify me on launch” button so that you don’t miss the take o

Wednesday, October 21st is International Pronoun Day, and so we put together a list of books featuring characters who use pronouns other than she/her or he/him – they/them, she/ or he/them, it/its, neopronouns, or anything along those lines – all are included in this list! The contributors to the list are: Lucy K.R., Tryan A Bex, Shadaras, JD Rivers, Rascal Hartley, Shannon, Neo Scarlett, Mikki Madison, Nina Waters, Nova Mason, Terra P. Waters, CarCrash, Linnea Peterson, and 2 anonymous contributors.

• Withered by A.G.A. Wilmot
• A Hundred Vicious Turns by Lee Paige O’Brien
• Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault
• Love, Lies, and Cryptids by M.L. Nolan
• Key Lime Sky by Al Hess
• Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
• On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
• Homebody by Theo Parish
• All Systems Red by Martha Wells
• Translation State by Ann Leckie
• Book Boyfriend by Kris Ripper
• Otar’s Universe series by J.D. Rivers
• Worst-Case Scenario by Ray Stoeve
• Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon
• Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield
• Love, Misha by Askel Aden
• The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
• The (Most Unusual) Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish
• No. 6 by Atsuko Asano & Hinoki Kino
• Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
• The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia
• Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens
• Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky
• Acting the Part by Z.R. Ellor
• Wavelength by Cale Plett
• Daybreak by Moosopp
• Soulstar by C.L. Polk
• I Was A Teenage Death God by M.J. Beasi
• A Monk and Robot series by Becky Chambers
• Sworn Soldier series by T. Kingfisher
• Can’t Take That Away by Steven Salvatore
• Phase Shift by Terra P. Waters
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
• Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao
• The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo
• Have You Seen This Girl by Nita Tyndall
• Beyond The Binary: Eight Non-Binary Plays by Next Stage Press
• Aether Beyond the Binary ed. by Nina Waters

Find these and other books on our Goodreads book shelf, Pagebound list or buy them through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page.

Join our Book Lover’s Discord server to chat books, fandom, and more!

Have you ever had a plot bunny – a story idea you just can’t resist, that keeps spawning new ideas? Plot bunnies can be overwhelming, especially when they keep proliferating and you just can’t seem to figure out which bunny to focus on, what to write, how to get started, or just need a reality check on if the idea is good. If you’ve ever had these problems, then have we got a panel for you!

Topic: So You’ve Been Nipped By a Plot Bunny. Now What?

Description: Congratulations, you have a story idea – often called, jokingly, a plot bunny. But there’s a huge journey to traverse between point A (a story idea) and point B (a completed story). In this panel, we’ll talk about how to get that journey started! We’ll discuss “next steps” on story ideas, how we decide which plot bunnies to raise into full-grown rabbits (or is that taking the analogy too far?), and how we take our ideas and work toward getting them on paper – how we record them, whether we outline and outlining approaches we’ve used, and more. For everyone who has ever had a story idea they really wanted to write, then immediately hit up against a solid wall of “now what,” this panel is for you!

Date: Saturday, October 17th

Time: 9:00 p.m. Eastern (converter)

Panelists: Sage Mooreland, MJ Kiwiana, Dei Walker, and Max Jason Peterson

Join us on Discord and RSVP here!

Interested in our panels? Want to watch our past ones? You can! All our past panels are available to backers at the $10/month level or higher as recordings. Become a backer and join the conversation!

Every Sunday in Schenectady, the M.A.D.E. Market (featuring Makers, Artists, Designers, Etc.!) sets up on Jay Street while the Greenmarket runs around City Hall. I’m attending this market for my third and last time this coming Sunday, October 18th. We’ll be there from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., so if you’re in the neighborhood, I hope you’ll come on out and say hi!

Learn more about the Schenectady Greenmarket and the M.A.D.E. Market!

a guest post by Xianyu Zhou, creator of the Fannish Safety Signs!

Stuck on what to draw or write today? No worries, for a special set of oracle cards is here to help!

How this works:

1. Think of the character(s) or scene you would like to work on. You can even try asking a question like “What is something that this character is always thinking about but would never admit?”
2. Pick a number from 1 to 3 that resonates the most with you at the moment.
3. Check out the set of cards matching your number.

We’ve provided possible interpretations in the card draw, but feel free to interpret them any way that suits you! We’re providing the source of inspiration, the outcome of that inspiration is up to you.

Set 1

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat (reversed), Precious Cinnamon Rolls (reversed), Fluff (reversed)

Rough times ahead! There’s something bad and unexpected coming for your character(s), and it will involve someone with ill intentions. Your character(s) will have to toughen up and learn to face it head-on. Standing still and hoping that they have enough cushioning to bear with this won’t work this time!

Set 2

The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known (reversed), Knife (reversed), Arranged Marriage (reversed)

Your character(s)is being Noticed and Seen for the first, and what a gentle first time it is. They will find this wonderful. Their feelings about this situation is akin to using a sharp knife to prepare food—it could be a dangerous thing, but not this time, and definitely not now. The situation will develop smoothly and predictably. One should be careful of their boundaries as they are being explored.

Set 3

Slippery When Wet (reversed), Suspiciously Normal Character, Hurt/Comfort

Watch out! Perilous times are ahead for your character(s). Monsters (physical, spiritual or something else…?) are coming at your character(s) from up top! There will be a feeling of being trapped, but don’t forget to keep both feet on the ground and don’t stop running. Fast! Unfortunately, they will also have to multitask figuring out the trustworthiness of their companions, especially new ones, while on the run (not literally). They might get hurt in the process, but what they find out in the end will be worth it.

So! How did it go? We would love to hear about your thoughts and interpretations of the cards, too, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment or join our Discord to chat about your work!

Made something using these prompts? Let us know!


Information about card deck used

The Fannish Safety Signs deck is a custom printed 54-card deck based off the collection of stickers by the same name launched on Kickstarter last year (Summer, 2025). It consists of 17 “Be Alert” designs and 16 “Caution” designs, as well as 21 new designs in the same style (hint hint: new designs available soon!).

• Get the stickers here.
• Follow the Kickstarter for the new designs (and more!) here.

Information about the statistics of reversed cards

Half the deck (27 cards) are randomly selected and manually inverted before they are reshuffled into the deck. Should any cards fall out while shuffling the deck, all the cards will be checked to make sure that the rightside and reversed ratio remain 50-50. A total of 9 cards (3 sets of 3) are then drawn in succession.

Disclaimer

This post is meant for entertainment and creative prompt purposes. It is not an accurate depiction of the practice of cartomancy and oracle reading.

a guest post by Rhosyn Goodfellow

October is the perfect time to curl up with a cozy blanket and piping hot beverage and dive into a otherworldly tale, and whether you prefer your spooky season reads cozy and festive, bone-chilling, or somewhere in between, there’s something for you on this list of six spooky books featuring LGBT+ characters. Each book is rated from 👻 (spooky season vibes but light on the fright) to 👻👻👻👻👻 (may cause nightmares; read at your own risk) on the Spook-O-Meter so you can choose your level of chills and thrills.

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper

Spook-O-Meter: 👻

Two bisexual witches hatch a plan to get revenge on their mutual ex in this sapphic paranormal rom-com. Emmy Harlow returns to her magical hometown after years away just in time for a spellcasting tournament her family helps judge. Her first night back, she runs into the smart, sexy, and all-around badass Talia Avramov, who is fresh off a devastating breakup with the very man who is the reason Emmy has stayed away from Thistle Grove for so long. Cue an epic revenge plot, a nail-biting witchcraft tournament, and a slow-simmering romance every bit as magical as the town of Thistle Grove. Reading this book is like slipping into your favorite pair of fuzzy, jack-o-lantern-print socks.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Spook-O-Meter: 👻👻

Determined to get his family to accept his identity, a trans brujo attempts to summon the ghost of his murdered cousin, but accidentally ends up summoning the ghost of his bad-boy classmate instead. This YA urban fantasy is part ghost story, part murder mystery, part romance, and wholly a delight. Yadriel is the perfect protagonist—deeply flawed but more than willing to grow and learn, Julian is charming and funny and impossible not to love, and Maritza, Yadriel’s best friend, is the kind of friend everyone should have. Equal parts joyful and heart-wrenching, this book seamlessly blends spooky-season vibes with all the feels. And if you’re not quite ready to let go of this world when you finish, you’re in luck because the sequel just came out!

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

Spook-O-Meter: 👻👻👻

Do you like monster-POV monster romance with a little angst and a heavy dose of humor? If so, this book is for you. After shapeshifter Shesheshen is badly wounded and run out of her home by hunters, she’s found and nursed back to health by Homily, a human woman who mistakes Shesheshen for human. As Shesheshen struggles to figure out the best way to confess her secret to the kind human she’s falling for, Homily confesses a secret of her own—she’s come to hunt a shapeshifting monster who cursed her family. If it’s possible for a book to qualify as cozy horror, then that’s absolutely what this is, and it’s so immersive you might just find yourself staying up past your bedtime to finish.

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Spook-O-Meter: 👻👻👻👻

When retired soldier Alex Easton receives word that their friend Madeline Usher is dying, they rush to her side only to find something perhaps more horrifying than death in this gothic eco-horror fantasy take on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.” The first installment in an amazing series, this book will leave you chuckling even as your heart is pounding and your skin is crawling.

Kill Creatures by Rory Power

Spook-O-Meter: 👻👻👻👻👻

A year ago, Nan’s three best friends disappeared. Now, Jane is back, and the entire town is overjoyed. The entire town except for Nan. She’s the one who killed Jane and the two other missing girls. This fast-paced sapphic YA thriller will have you on the edge of your seat from page one right through the end, desperate to find out exactly what happened a year ago—and how much of it Jane remembers.

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles

Spook-O-Meter: 👻👻👻👻👻

A remote Gothic mansion. A spiteful ex-lover. A deeply dysfunctional family. A rumored haunting. Any one of these things would be a lot for Zeb to deal with, but the combination is enough to have him turning right back around and leaving. Except, it turns out, he and everyone else in the house is trapped until the fog lifts. If they live that long. This is Gothic horror at its finest, with a slow sense of creeping dread that will stick with you long after you’ve read the final page.

Want more queer horror recs? We’ve got those! Check out our shelf on Goodreads, this list on Pagebound.co, or you can buy titles via our Bookshop.org affiliate. You can also check out these other posts:

• A brief, incomplete guide to horror lit of the horror-curious (plus recs!)
• Get Spooked by Our Favorite Queer Horror Titles!
• Queer Horror Books for Frankenstein Day

I was sick, and I was vending and had vending down time, and I had a lot of things with due dates, so... yeah, really a lot for me this week. 

1. What are you currently reading?

• Lout of Count's Family vol. 9 by Yu Ryeo-Han: Cale just collapsed for two weeks and is pretending he's totally fine while everyone around him is nearly panicked and the person I knew was his popular ship but that I didn't really vibe with just said what I consider the aroace equivalent of a love declaration (basically: I will make sure you are able to achieve your goal) so now I guess I do ship it in a very specific aroace way and I am l.i.v.i.n.g. for this volume so far. (I've been head-canoning Cale as aroace since around volume 3. It's a very popular head canon. This man has absolutely no interest in love or sex or romance whatsoever.)
• Exit Strategy (Murderbot 4) by Martha Wells: audiobook. I hate that my schedule this week isn't that conducive to listening to more, vol. 3 hooked my pretty good over the weekend and I want more. Extremely tempted to grab my head phones and take the dog on a long walk and listen to it then.
• Wild and Full of Marvels: I started my final read-through of our entire next anthology yesterday, I have to finish by Friday.
• Chicago Manual of Style vol. 18: this never actually left my currently reading since April but I've made no progress, but I expect to work on it more later this month so just re-pinging that, in fact, I still do aim to read it.
• 天官赐福 revised English edition vol. 1 by 墨香铜臭: almost 1/3rd through!

2. What have you recently finished reading?

• Ballad of Sword and Wine/Qiang Jin Jiu vol. 8 by Tang Jiuqing: I've already written my first Cezhou fic, I think that says it all about my reaction to this.
• Rogue Protocol (Murderbot 3) by Martha Wells: audiobook listen while commuting for vending stuff last weekend. I didn't like this one quite as much, I was having more trouble than the previous ones tracking who was who and what was going on; I think some of it was me (I was busy and sick) and some was the book (I didn't feel that most of the side characters were particularly well-executed this time, most felt non-existent except for Mickey, Mickey's keeper whose name I can't spell because audiobook, and Wilkin and Girth)
• I Ship My Rival x Me manhua vol. 5 by Pepa: last volume came out in English print edition so of course I re-read it. I really do love this series so much. 
• Camp Spirit by Axelle Lenoir: decent if predictable "there's something creepy in the forest where the sleep away camp is" story about a camp counselor in the mid 90s. Side of GL.
• No Touching At All by Kou Yoneda: decent single-volume modern BL that I didn't realize was by the same author as Twittering Birds Never Fly until I was already reading it lmao.
• Bad Teacher's Equation vol. 1 by Kazuma Kodaka: modern BL. DNF. Oh the 90s yaoi of it all.
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime vol. 24 by Fuse: left me just curious enough to not drop the series yet.
• Pink Candy Kiss vol. 4 by Ami Uozumi: continues to be a very good modern GL
• Twittering Birds Never Fly vol. 7 by Kou Yoneda: it took 7 volumes for this one to fully hook me but it's done, I'm desperate to know what'll happen next, and that's a disaster because the publisher has folded and while 8 and 9 are out in Japanese they're not out in English and not likely to come out.
• Dewdrop by K. O'Neill: I was tired and sick and just wanted to read something braindead that I knew would be done. Unlike K O'Neill's other titles I've read, this one was a children's book (not MG) and was not queer, but it was perfect for how I was feeling at the time and very cute. It's about a cheerleading axolotl named Dewdrop.
• Never Satisfied vol. 1 by Taylor Robin: I suspect this is a story that is dead due to the Hiveworks collapse, but regardless, it was kinda meh. It just tried to do too many things at once, without securing my buy-in as a reader in the first place, so even though there were interesting pieces, it was just kinda all over the place and I didn't care about any of it and couldn't quite figure out what was important. I did appreciate the nb mc and their clothing changes suggesting genderfluidity/take on gender changing depending on the day and how they were feeling.
• Gachiakuta vol. 9 by Kei Urana
• Pathological Lovers vol. 1 by Deng Sa & Xi Yan: the next danmei manhua published by Rosmei that I've got. It's serving Poyun in the best possible way, I really want to know what the fuck is going on. My favorite of the three so far, and that's saying something cause they've all been good.
• Yona of the Dawn vol. 43 - 45 by Mizuho Kusanagi: tbh I'm just really ready to be done; the only reason I stopped is that I couldn't get the next vol immediately, it's on hold.

3. What are you planning to read next?

Part of the reason I read so much this past week was that I was really trying to "clear the decks." Not even for a specific reason, just, idk, it felt like it was time.

Physical print novel: I haven't fully decided tbh, but I'm eying The Mystery of the Bitten Peach by Cecelia Tan, Tailhook by La Rive Gauche, and a few of the shorter multi-volume danmei series I now have all of (such as There's Something Wrong with the Chief, The Killer of Killers, and Soul Vibration)

Physical library loans: none! I finished Camp Spirit and Never Satisfied, which were my last. Now I just have to, ya know. Not go back to the library for at least a little bit, lmfao.

Digital library loans: I only have two books out (next volumes of Dandadan and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and neither is due imminently), so. I've been meaning for aaaaages to switch to being more of a vibe/mood reader on Libby, so that I feel less pressured to read and read and read whatever is due next, and I think losing my access to Brooklyn Public Library (until I can get to Brooklyn to renew it, probably in February) is the kick in the tail I needed to finally officially make that switch. Bad Teacher's Equation and No Touching At All were both me vibe-reading on Libby, I'm hopeful this'll be a good switch for me. Part of the reason I read so much manga this past week was that I needed to free up loan slots, especially with New York Public Library (which only allows three loans at a time) so that I COULD vibe-read on Libby.