There're plenty of great books from new authors. Plenty. It's just hard to find them in the waves of new books, while it's easier to find good books from the past since, well, they're still available. This is why I like when people post a list of their new favorites. I liked X. Y is new. Read Y.

People, talk to your librarians! There are tons of books and they can help you find books based on your preferences! They're doctors for your soul, imo. Trial and error book medicine. Or Fandom groups, I have gotten great suggestions for better books to get over others.

I struggle to keep up with releases these days. Like, "I love books by X", but there's no way to find out when author X publishes a new book, unless I follow them on Bsky and even then it's easy to miss

I feel like a lot of the sentiment is really just “I wish I could enjoy this one specific book for the first time again”

who has a book coming out that people can preorder so they have something to look forward to and then be pleasantly surprised when the book just shows up on their doorstep

Back In The Day my editor tweeted about this, and given the timing I'm pretty sure he was subtweeting my MS. You're damn right she can hiss without sibilants, dude. Do you know her at all?

I will say, to all copy-editors who come to work on my books, the CE-vs-writer hill I tend to die on is, yes, you absolutely 100% can hiss without sibilance.

What strikes me about the "they don't write books like X anymore" is that yes, they do. There is so much to choose from right now. The trouble is it's often difficult to find. I read a lot of books I like. I read very few I *love*, and it can be difficult to jump off those to something similar.

I gather the SF&F subgenre formerly referred to as'blokes in cloaks' is now to be known as 'mantasy', and may be considered the counterpart to 'guy fi'. You may now go on with your day.

Never been more sure it’s a publicity stunt

Just because he backed off shouldn’t stop efforts to remove him. He is dangerous and cannot be left in power.

Shoutout to folks releasing a book today.

going to start a combination bookstore and mortuary and call it: CHAPTER & HEARSE

During this incredible, unifying moment of inspiring international cooperation and spectacular technological achievement, I would really appreciate it if the US president would stop threatening to murder an entire country with bombs.

my parents on the moon launch mom: why are they going to the moon dad: same reason we go to your brother in Australia- some people like going very far away to a place where you die if you go outside

It is best to understand this not as a policy document but as an advertisement for OpenAI. If your tools are so powerful that we need to reshape the American economy, then clearly you are worth an absurd amount and everyone should invest in you/buy your product.

AI commercial produced on budget of just 3 lakes

I know this and you know this and we all know this but sometimes you gotta say the obvious thing out loud (so to speak) just so you don’t feel alone or crazy: our president is a deeply unwell and utterly vile man who shouldn’t be in charge of driving a golf cart much less the free world.

I put TWO prologues in both Book of Accidents and Black River Orchard. Keep on with this nonsense and I’ll put three in the next one and seven epilogues and nothing in between them

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

Revisions are my favorite part.

I can't speak for Scalzi, but the great thing about writing is that you can go back and edit so that the thing looks exactly like you planned it even if it was slightly sideways when you first started writing it.

I write prologues and epilogues because they’re important to the story. If you dislike them on principle, there are lots of fabulous books out there without them. But most of us, when we write them, include rhem because they need to be there for the shape of the story.

You should give this a listen. Be patient, listen to the end.

All of the AI companies have a strong need to make people believe their tech is inevitable, so we'll all pay for it and maybe buy them out of the fiscal house of cards they've built themselves. (There aren't enough of us to do that, but they're hoping the VCs continue not to notice.)

It’s lovely that many first-generation Americans feel pride in securing citizenship under the 14th Amendment, but I think it’s important to understand that they became citizens the exact same way as an American born here to descendants of the Mayflower. There is zero constitutional distinction.

[reading a book in first person] i dont remember doing any of this

I do think it can be frustrating for people to confront the fact that you can do everything right in terms of skill, talent and work and still not succeed because of factors outside of one's own control. But this is just a fact of life, in writing and outside of it. Just do the best work you can.

I also don't think it would be enjoyable in even the slightest way. The woman who was like "ha ha ha I put out 200 books a year with AI" -- what an absolutely terrible job she has.

I would rather never write again that use AI.

I worked hard to become a writer. And I enjoy being a writer. I'm not here to let techbro robots take that shit away from me.

Audible has a big sale going on, and my book, Cosplay: A History, narrated by Eunice Wong, is on sale for $11.94 (41% off!) If you haven't snagged a copy, it's a good opportunity. www.audible.com/pd/Cosplay-A...

If I was using AI to write, I'd be trying to write to market instead of clinging to my own weird little tales.

"all writers are using AI and lying about it" is up there with "all writers are millionaires"

Why would I use "AI," I actually know how to fucking write

I keep seeing "all authors use AI, the real issue is they're being forced to be sneaky about it" headlines. Full stop No. This is a lie peddled for normalization. It's schoolyard-level pressure tactics "C'mon, all the cool kids are already doing it. We won't tell. It's fine. We're on your side."

if you don’t like the process of writing then don’t be a fucking writer, it’s not that complicated

Free newsletter: The Subprime AI Crisis is here. I explore the disturbing parallels between the run-up to the global financial crisis and the heavily-subsidized AI bubble, and how Anthropic and OpenAI's rush to IPO accelerates the crisis further. www.wheresyoured.at/the-subprime-ai-crisis-is-here/

I said this in replies elsewhere, but I want to say it loudly here. Anything other than a fullthroated affirmation of birthright citizenship in this country by SCOTUS is an act of treason. It is grounds for immediate impeachment. It is a violation of every oath they have made.

Oh is it science-fiction-shouldn't-be-political-o'clock again already? It is. It always is. Writing is. Writing is a political act. Possibly why tech bros want to take it away from us. Keep writing. The madder the better. You mightn't hear the song you're putting out but others will.

Dealing with a loved one who is so flattened by the state of the world that they get actively angry with me when I try to inject any kind of optimism. Like, we're all gonna die, my friend. Everybody knows this. Might as well fight back. Might as well enjoy a sunset now and then.

I don't know what SCOTUS will do on birthright citizenship case, it's anybody's guess. But if they endorse Trump's diktat, the only response is defiance. Outright, open defiance by the states. A decision not just erroneous but illegitimate, beyond their power, null and void from the day it's issued.

“I’m a lifelong fan of musical theater, but it’s always bothered me that they feel the need to sing all the time. I just want to see them walk around the stage and talk calmly to each other”

A vague-ish skeet: ...Sometimes it's amusing to discover that not only were you absolutely *not* writing for a given (type of) person, but even if they *did* stumble across your stuff, they'd completely misunderstand it. Or hate it. Or both. 😏

This is the question I wake up with and go to bed with every day and the rest of my real life is just a deserpate and failing attempt to avoid the question, since I have no answer for it. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

I thought long and hard before doing this, but I did in the end. I expect any $$$ I receive to be double-digits, max. This settlement is an absolute gift to Anthropic. But they are thieving bastards, and if this helps keep that public, then it’s well worth reining in my natural cynicism.

Writers, take note. The Anthropic filing deadline is today!

Reparations now. UBI. No means testing. Just checks. Emergency welfare available to all on request as cash payments & OPTIONAL counselling. Nationalize the internet. Categorize internet access as a basic utility, like water. Free college. Forgive all student debt. 100% tax rate above $10 mil.

I'm political. My writing is political. All art is political.

I have been disappointed by non-male writers, and will be again. But the number of male writers who have straight-up torched their reputations without provocation is legion. I don't really believe in differences between the sexes, but some of those boys are pretty dumb.