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Amanda M. Blake

~ Of fairy tales and tentacles

Amanda M. Blake

Tag Archives: horrific scribblings

Stirring in cinnamon: Friday Update

22 Friday May 2026

Posted by amandamblake in A Few Thoughts, Novelettes/Novellas, Short Stories, Writing

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Tags

horrific scribblings, horror, may cooler heads prevail, nest/infest, novella, poem, short story

Photo by Karola G on Pexels.com

News:

My COVID-era tale about skin-crawling creepy-crawlies, “Nest/Infest,” is free to read at Horrific Scribblings as part of their Nasty Nature exhibit. Everything on the site is free to read, so explore around for some excellent horror. “Nest/Infest” touches on a number of my own personal icks, so I’m happy to pass those along. Enjoy!

Works in Progress:

I did finish edits for May Cooler Heads Prevail. I need to do another round to clean it up and make sure everything changed flows. I’ll probably have it out next week sometime. I’ve been trying to write a flash piece, but I’m struggling to get started. I’m considering writing it out of order, just to try something new.

However, I have Texas Frightmare this weekend, so I’ll be conserving personal energy and reading in my downtime while waiting in line for panels.

Books I’m Reading:

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Things I’m Listening To:

Singalong playlist
Let’s Hear It for the Girls playlist
Hannibal playlist

Things I’m Watching:

27 Dresses
Obsession
(absolutely amazing, go see it in theaters, if you can)
The Thursday Murder Club
Grey’s Anatomy series
Celebrity Jeopardy series (finished)
NCIS series
Tracker series
Prodigal Son series
9-1-1 series
9-1-1 Nashville series
Absentia series
Wayward series
Power Rangers: Reignition series
Dirty Rotten Cleaners series

Poem of the Week: (throwback to May 2022)

How hideously grotesque,
Your crooked little lies,
Grossly deformed ethics,
Barbed and twisted ties,
Ugly as grubs in gardens,
To be violently pecked
By chickens and crows,
In viscera bedecked.
You scrub your teeth
Until they gleam white
As poisonous bleach,
Your pristine blight
A vile gift
Wrapped round rot,
A pretense at perfect
When emphatically not.
May they see outside
What lurks within,
Monstrous heart riddled
With most disgusting sin.

Lasso the moon: Friday Update

28 Friday Feb 2025

Posted by amandamblake in A Few Thoughts, Novels, Series, Short Stories

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Tags

eco horror, editing, horrific scribblings, horrific scribes, meridian, nature red in tooth and claw, short story, weed killer

News:

My horror story “Weed Killer,” about a large weed growing outside a downtown donut shop, is free to read at Horrific Scribes for their Horrific Scribblings program, which is more like a series of curated exhibits rather than anthologies or individual pieces. “Weed Killer” is one of their first pieces; they’re just getting started. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.

Signed a few more contracts, received a few honorariums, edited another short story for publication.

Works in Progress:

Tattered & Torn (Meridian 6) edits are still slow going, but I think I’m gaining a little momentum. It’s hard when I’m afraid that these books and others are going to become verboten soon (in my state and country), but I’ve got to proceed as though we still have freedom of speech and expression. As though reason will prevail. God, it’s such a precarious place to be.

Books I’m Reading:

The Fisherman by John Langan
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause

Things I’m Listening To:

The Blacklist playlist

Things I’m Watching:

Cuckoo
Nightbitch
White Collar series (finished)
Celebrity Jeopardy series
Grey’s Anatomy series
The Equalizer series
S.W.A.T. series
The Irrational series
Will Trent series
Ghosts series
Home Town series
Watson series
The Hunting Party series
NCIS series
Queer Eye series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine series

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