Pornokitsch

Interesting ripple effect: Fifty Shades of Grey led to a 40% increase in women searching for BDSM porn. (And 20% overall.) 

We almost had an avocado emoji.

Reveal of Short Story Day Africa's Terra Incognita - gorgeous cover!

Someone said something to piss you off? Welcome to Twitter, where this happens once every half-second. Observe… (waits five seconds) Okay, I just fantasized about murdering 10 different people. That's how quickly Twitter can generate my inner rage.

But you cannot engage. Ever. The second you reply, you've already lost, because your beefing opponent now knows he's gotten in your head. There is no cash prize for winning a Twitter beef (although there ought to be). And losing a Twitter beef will cause you hours upon hours of inner torment.

- Drew Magary, giving Twitter advice to famous athletes (and the rest of us)

"Gunpowder Rye". Sounds delicious. Does anyone know when rye became a thing? It seems to have gone from 'only mentioned in noir fiction' to 'available at a stupid price at expensive stores' to 'everywhere' in a ridiculously swift time.

A very interesting framework for a pair of reviews - the legacy of Kurt Cobain on young adult fiction.

The Bodleian is hosting a hack day for Early English Books. This looks awesome.

Terrific 538 piece on how Madden ratings are calculated. I've tried to crunch mine, and I scored less than the Gatorade cooler.

Gorgeous typography from design students at Chelsea College of Arts.

What is the oldest city in the world?

It feels like we were all trapped in a glass bubble looking out at the wide world of genre and longing to get there and some of us stumbled on the door and left it open behind us.

- Lauren Beukes, interviewed alongside Sarah Lotz, Charlie Human and Joey Hi-Fi on the rise of South African SF.

I'm not sure if this is comforting or terrifying, but there are people working diligently to preserve those books that could be used to 'rebuild civilisation'.

Pornokitsch People Elsewhere

Bex's anthology projects - Jews vs Zombies and Jews vs Aliens - co-edited with Lavie Tidhar - was announced yesterday, and has appeared on Boing Boing, Tor.com, Starburst, SF Signal and many more. Go team.

John J Johnston is leading a walking tour of Amelia Edwards' London on 21 March. This looks amazing.

Mahvesh talks to Monica Byrne for Midnight in Karachi.

Molly on her extensive background research for Vermilion.

Molly and Jesse would like to remind you that submissions to Swords v. Cthulhu need to be in by 1 March. 

Anne on doughnuts and Jupiter Ascending at Hodderscape.

Jared on "prestigious" awards at The Book Smugglers.

Jon, Bex and Jared discuss Grant Morrison and Nameless #1 for The One Comic Podcast.

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