Authors beware! I've been bombarded with AI-based scams this week -- the book club one John Scalzi mentions below, plus I've been targeted by a whole bunch of scammers offering to write Amazon reviews in exchange for cash. I'm sending them all straight to the trash.

SCAM ALERT! I've been contacted by several authors; someone is impersonating me, offering to make their book an official selection of our club in exchange for a small fee. No reputable book club charges authors a fee.

AUTHORS: It’s time to submit your claims for the Anthropic copyright settlement. 1. Look yourself up here: secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup 2. File your claim here: secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com Form asks for ISBN and copyright reg # for each work. Can find in step 1.

I can't say enough good stuff about Morgan Richter and her very exciting books! If you enjoy a mystery and you haven't checked out THE UNDERSTUDY yet, you are missing out!!

Q&A with Morgan Richter about her new novel, THE UNDERSTUDY. tinyurl.com/4a46f3z3 @morganrichter.bsky.social

Had a great time at Broadway Books in friendly, peaceful, quirky, lovely Portland chatting with the amazing @wnwagner.bsky.social. The crowd may have been small (my sister, my second cousin, my old friend Dave, Wendy's spouse, and one cool stranger), but everyone was lively and engaged.

Portland people, what are you doing tonight? Why not join me and @morganrichter.bsky.social at Broadway Books at 6 pm to talk about mystery, murder, opera, and Jane Fonda???? broadwaybooks.net/event/2025-0...

Great review of @wnwagner.bsky.social's very cool novel, which has stuck with me long after reading it. Her book is ecologically-minded body horror, a microgenre I didn't know I needed until I read it.

As the great @morganrichter.bsky.social once wrote, "Between Napoleon’s tendency to flirt with anyone within winking distance and Illya’s ability to inject a jolt of freeform polysexual chemistry into everything he does, simple scenes between them can turn complicated very fast."

Happy anniversary, Man from U.N.C.L.E., and yes, Sarah's right -- every time I rewatch, I'm struck anew by the utterly delightful flirtatious chemistry between Illya and Napoleon. That series was a treasure.

For some damn reason, my sole Wikipedia citation comes in the entry for "catfight."

Writers Guild protest is starting now at the Disney gate in Burbank….

timeline cleanse: franky watches the garbage truck pick up the trash this morning

Saw @gregpak.net's tweet yesterday and was inspired to get myself a bunch of shots today (covid, flu, threw in shingles just as a little treat), because... well. Seemed like a good idea to get it done soonerish rather than laterish. 10/10, would recommend.

Very nice, thoughtful review of THE UNDERSTUDY at A Book a Week: "The result feels like a classical-opera take on Black Swan, but with Richter’s sharp character work giving even the supporting cast depth and dimension." www.abookaweekblog.com/2025/09/the-...

Everything is bad, but books are good. Get a book. Read the book. Cherish the book. Finish the book. Tell your friends about the book, and leave a review of the book. Hold the book close. Listen to what it tells you. Do as it commands. Place it on the dread altar and let it guide your every choice.

I'm cranky and prickly this morning for a multitude of reasons, so I'm (crankily) sharing this unsolicited email from someone who tries to make me insecure about the low reader interest in THE UNDERSTUDY, then offers to let me pay for Amazon reviews. This is gross.

A “1-2 season TV show (I) sorely miss,” you ask?

I am SO EXCITED about this event!!! Morgan's book is THRILLING, and I can't wait to talk about it.

PORTLAND: On Thursday, Sept. 25th at 6 PM, I'll be at Broadway Books discussing The Understudy with @wnwagner.bsky.social. I'm very excited about this: Wendy is awesome, and her eco-horror novel Girl in the Creek is a gorgeously grotesque delight. broadwaybooks.net/event/2025-0...

Reissuing this as a point of etiquette

Sometimes you're looking through old sci fi novel covers, and you have to share one.

Been listening to The Understudy by @morganrichter.bsky.social this week and finished it this afternoon. It was amazing and I want to see the Barbarella opera sooooo bad!

I see and I hear and I speak no evil; I carry no malice within my breast; yet quite without wishing a man to the Devil one may be permitted to hope for the best. -“An Ethical Grook” by Piet Hein

True confession: Due to my lifelong love of sci-fi, and from being an early adopter of whatever tech suited the moment, I always assumed I'd love AI. But, for reasons that @anthonymoser.com's essay brilliantly lays out ("The machine is disgusting and we should break it"), I am an AI hater.

marvelous speculation from 1914 about the wild and crazy fashions of 1950 however, they were just a little off as there are people wearing this exact outfit at Burning Man

Hi authors! Please remember to file a claim!

Just finished reading this book. I admit I was drawn in by the Barbarella opera, which I desperately wish existed. I also enjoyed the behind-the-scenes rehearsal drama, which felt real and is always my favorite part of opera. And then there was that murder and I had to know what happened next!

If you haven't already, we urge authors who believe their books may have been unlawfully downloaded by Anthropic to visit the website below and provide the requested information. www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...

We're all going to be heading for the barricades over this, yes? www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump...

Really enjoying “The Understudy” by @morganrichter.bsky.social. I am pausing reading the book to watch “Barbarella”, which is a plot point in the novel.

“The quiet horror of loss, caught in a beautifully written summer of ghosts.” — Hailey Piper Summer in the House of the Departed. Coming next week from @psychopomp.com! psychopomp.com/product/summ...

Thanks Gabino! My last novel was Tradwife. But my newest *releases* are these, the first batch of Nefarious Bat Singles: 4 short, one-sitting horror reads modelled on the EPs and singles we used to love... Grab The Nine O'Clock Horses, Flow, Boarders and Prison Cooking here: tinyurl.com/mun8ffa

It’s #FridayReads time! Let’s boost all signals. Repost this and let us know what to repost for you. Sharing this one because it’s still new to those who haven’t read it! Horror, crime, friendship, magic, monsters, and vengeance… www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0316... bookshop.org/p/books/hous...

I'm a year late to the party, but having just finished my friend @morganrichter.bsky.social's The Divide felt compelled to share my appreciation for a fun and layered thriller. so.axodys.com/the-divide/

@alexdugganreports.bsky.social I’m in Spokane on my book tour, and I went to the Northwest Museum of the Arts today, and I stared at this exhibit, thinking, “wow, that name is very familiar.”

Awfully nice to see THE UNDERSTUDY in the New York Times, and in some very good company, too.

Awfully nice to see THE UNDERSTUDY in the New York Times, and in some very good company, too.

I know I have a cluster of Spokane mutuals on here -- if you're not doing anything tomorrow (Thursday) night, by all means stop by Auntie's and introduce yourself! I'd love to meet you all in person. No RSVP or book purchase necessary. It should be a fun event; Lucy Gilmore is absolutely delightful.

*Really* enjoyed THE DIVIDE by @morganrichter.bsky.social An unusual mystery with a fantastic premise, full of wry humor and beautiful turns of phrase. The keening regret she writes about….hoo boy I felt that. Look forward to reading it again. Easily in the top 5 books I’ve read this year.

I'm part of this "5 Authors, 7 Questions" roundup piece from LitHub, and true to form, I'm kind of a smartass (but in a sincere way). Thanks to Teddy Wayne and LitHub for including me: lithub.com/lit-hub-asks...

This affects my daily walking route -- the WSDOT's detailed PDF about the construction (linked in this article) includes the phrase "Drivers can expect sidewalk closures," which is a pitch-perfect encapsulation of the pedestrian erasure that goes on in this city. No notes.

Happy Duran Duran Appreciation Day! We’ve went into full detective mode to track down as many Summer ’25 tour photos from our social media pages as we could find, and popped them into a special Gallery—so you can celebrate, reminisce, and relive the magic ! duranduran.com/2025/euro-to...

Huge thanks to @cheriepriest.com for making Wednesday night's launch event for THE UNDERSTUDY at Elliott Bay Book Company a ton of fun! And thank you to everyone who braved some erratic Seattle August weather to show up.

I wrote a freewheeling piece for @scalzi.com's Big Idea feature about THE UNDERSTUDY that somehow managed to encompass The Karate Kid, Miami Vice, Duran Duran, and Joe Esposito, all while talking about opera. I'm quite pleased with this one. whatever.scalzi.com/2025/08/07/t...

HELL. YES. The Miami Vice episode "Bushido" is a strange and glorious adventure. Every minute is more unhinged than the last, and before you know it, Castillo is taking on the KGB while armed with a katana. Surf's up, pal.

Just got home from work. Hey @morganrichter.bsky.social ! It arrived!

@morganrichter.bsky.social - look what came! Can't wait!

Good morning, Seattle! It'll be a drizzly day, but the weather should be clear tonight for my Elliott Bay bookstore event with the amazing @cheriepriest.com. Come join us at 7PM as we chat about THE UNDERSTUDY and more. Cherie has promised that there will be shenanigans.

Can't Wait To Read!