"Art is supposed to break our hearts. It's supposed to crack us open to every raw, elemental feeling a human heart can bear. That's how it makes us more human." --Margaret Renki #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

"We're all up against not finding ourselves perfect, and still wanting to be open and be there for others." --Pema Chodron #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

Newsletter: [BBN] Artificial Intelligence or Let’s play "Let's Pretend." brian-biswas.kit.com/profile/posts And sign up if you'd like to receive email about my books, writing, and my take on the publishing industry! #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

"To every action there is always an equal and opposite or contrary, reaction." --Isaac Newton This applies to the mind as well as the body! #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

"Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety." --Jack Nicklaus #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement

Me, too. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

"There is only one problem, which is ignorance, and there is only one solution, which is to learn." --Plato (attributed to Socrates) #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

"Beauty offers us an invitation to order and coherence and unity. When these needs are met the soul feels at home in the world." --John O'Donohue #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

"Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here." --Max Ehrmann Please remember this. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

"I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me." --Albert Einstein #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

New Newsletter. "Holiday book sale - How book pricing works - Upcoming news." brian-biswas.kit.com/posts/bbn-ho... And sign up below if you want to receive email about my books, writing, and the publishing industry. brian-biswas.kit.com #books #booksky #writingcommunity

"Meditation isn't just a game you play with your head, you're playing it with your whole being." Jeff Warren I think this is profound. It's not "thoughts wander, come back ..." It's an immersion of the body, mind and soul in the present moment. #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

"A room without books is like a body without a soul." --Cicero #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

"Whatever our individual troubles and challenges may be, it's important to pause every now and then to appreciate all that we have, on every level." Shakti Gawain Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! #books #booksky #writingcommunity #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

I wrote a new Newsletter! "Anthropic 101." Sign up below if you want to receive email about my books, writing, and the publishing industry. And giveaways! brian-biswas.kit.com #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

The AI bubble is built on ignoring this fact: language is not the same as intelligence. (Just look at my cat.) Personal opinion: a computer is nothing like the human mind. #books #booksky #writingcommunity #mindfulness #meditation #wellness #animals #cats #dogs #science

"Self-consciousness is the one instrument that unplugs all the rest." --Annie Dillard #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

I loved this. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness

"What a liberation to realize that the voice 'in my head' is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that." --Ekhart Tolle #mindfulness #meditation #selfimprovement #wellness #books #booksky #writingcommunity

Just in time for the Holidays. My short story collections are 40% off if ordered directly from the distributor. A Betrayal & Other Stories: shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params... Blister & Other Stories: shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params... #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

12 short stories that paint a portrait of modern India that shimmers with psychological complexity, spirit, and wisdom. Jeyamohan is considered one of India’s finest authors writing today. This is his first work to be published in English. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

“The reality of where you are is always more important than the ideal of where you imagine you should be.” —Jeff Warren Words of wisdom. Perfectionists: please heed this! #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

“The ocean doesn't complain about the dance of ten million waves; so don't be concerned with the rise and fall of thoughts.” —Papaji Writers need to remember this when our minds lead us hither and thither. Don’t panic. Resolution will come. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

Interesting article from today’s The New York Times Book Review on Philip Pullman’s latest. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

Synchronized sleepers (they’re siblings). #catsofbluesky #cats #pets #catpics #catlover

I’ve just set up an author newsletter. This is a new venture for me. I’ll send something out a few times a year: recent publications, events, thoughts on the writing life. And giveaways. Subscribe by going here: brian-biswas.kit.com Love to have you aboard! #books #booksky #writingcommunity

If you like suspense and noir movies from the 40s and 50s, give this one a try. A young woman is auditioning with Hitchcock for his new movie. Lots of info about the seamy side of Hollywood during the days leading up to World War II (blacklisting). #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

In my book, LeVar Burton is a hero. I don’t know anyone who has done more to promote literacy and a love of reading. Way to go, LeVar! www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/... #books #booksky #writingcommunity

If you’re looking to get into Gene Wolfe, may I suggest starting with this. A brilliant collection of short stories (a couple are novella length) each picked out by Wolfe himself. Start with the first and read them all. His range is amazing. 5 stars. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

I often figure out writing problems when I don’t consciously try to figure them out. I go on a walk instead and, voila, a solution pops into my head. This has happened too often to be mere coincidence. Relaxing the mind seems to allow creativity to flow. #writingcommunity #amwriting

“I’d rather be happy being myself, than sad trying to please everyone else.” —Jermaine Cole The applies to what I choose to write about as well. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

Part two of my short story “The Expansion of Space” was just broadcast on the AntipodeanSF Radio show. antisf.libsyn.com/bohrmann (In case you missed it, here is part 1: antisf.libsyn.com/bohmia ) #books #booksky #writingcommunity

AntipodeanSF Issue 323 - Ionospherics Now available on the intertubes with thirteen of the best in speculative flash fiction stories to read and enjoy. antisf.com.au #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

Originally published in Italy in 1960. A prescient parable of artificial intelligence. Can a human soul be re-created? The Tartar Steppe is Buzzati’s‘s masterpiece, but this is quite good. Sixty years ahead of its time. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

My short story The Expansion of Space (part one) was broadcast today on the Antipodian Speculative Fiction radio program. Part two will be next week. This is excerpted from a novel in progress, Initial Conditions. 2nvr.org.au/playlist/boh... #books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting

While vacationing in a hunting lodge in the Austrian mountains, a middle-aged woman awakens one morning to find herself separated from the rest of the world by an invisible wall. An allegory for our times. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

If you find yourself in Durham, North Carolina … *signed* copies of my novel The Astronomer are available at the New Hope Commons Barnes and Noble. Shortlisted for Publishers Weekly BookLife Priza (General Fiction, 2024). #books #booksky #fiction #writingcommunity

First two novels by the Nigerian fantasy writer Amos Tutvola (published in 1952 and 1954). Both are considered tops in that genre. I must say, I’ve never read anything like them. It’s as if Tutuola invented his own syntax. And it grows on you. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity

That said, if you have a wealthy and benevolent family member looking to support independent arts, please let us know. Books cost money to write and produce and especially to SHIP. And I'm working as many jobs as I can.

It's time to quote this again. We need (your) (anticorporate) literature now. Listen to Dan.

And let me add a couple: 1.) When you think you’re done, read what you’ve written aloud. You’ll find you’re at the halfway point. 2.) A fictional work should be 20% writing and 80% editing. At least that’s the way it’s always been in my case. #books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting

GENE WOLFE: WRITERLY ADVICE 5.) Do not start a story unless you have an ending in mind. You can change the story's ending if you wish, but you should always have a destination. (If you don’t do this, you’ll find yourself wandering hither and thither.) #books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting

GENE WOLFE'S TOP FIVE PIECES OF WRITERLY ADVICE 4.) You do not characterize by telling the reader about the character. You do it by showing the character thinking, speaking and acting in a characteristic way. You simply show it and shut up. #books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting

GENE WOLFE: WRITERLY ADVICE 3.) Remember that it is characterizing that puts your story heads and shoulders over the others in the slush pile. (Now, that’s not always true—Asimov, PKD, for whom plots usually predominate—but it almost always is.) #books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting

GENE WOLFE'S WRITERLY ADVICE 2.) Read what you're trying to write, for Godsakes! (Don't read enormous fantasy series if you're trying to write short stories.) I’d add: Read extensively in your genre, yes, but read other genres as well. You learn from them all. #books #booksky #writingcommunity

Gene Wolfe is one of my two favorite science fiction writers (Stanislaw Lem being the other). GENE WOLFE'S TOP FIVE PIECES OF WRITERLY ADVICE 1.) Get up early and write. I’d amend to say: “Get up and write.” (I’m not an early bird.) More to follow … #books #booksky #writingcommunity #amwriting

“Why We Need Big, Bold Science Fiction,” by Glenn Harlan Reynolds. We need science fiction that inspires us to dream big. We used to have that, he writes, but it's gone. We’ve either lost the ability to do big things or we no longer have the will. #writingcommunity #scifi #sciencefiction #fiction

Interlocked puzzle pieces. I’m not sure why, but I just love this picture. I suppose because it’s so relaxing to look at. (Don’t be deceived, though; much of the day they’re chasing each other around the house—and not always in fun.) #catsofbluesky #cats #pets #catpics #catlover

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” —W.B. Yeats In other words, pay attention to what is all around you. Good writing advice. Good living advice. #books #booksky #amreading #writingcommunity #amwriting

Szabo paints the most fascinating and unforgettable characters. I’ve read most of her books and this one is probably my favorite. An unsettling exploration of the relationship between two very different women: a well-educated, married writer and her housekeeper. #books #booksky #writingcommunity