when we mourn le guin, we mourn one of our greatest writers & thinkers. but we also mourn one of our all-time greatest haters

"Look what I drew in school today, Dad!" "Stop #fishing for compliments," he grumbled. "You're too old for that." Her shoulders slumped. Later, she crumpled the paper and stuffed it deep in the trash can, where (hopefully) no one would ever see it again. #vss365

Have you ever watched a show that touched on your niche area of expertise and thought, "Why is it so unrealistic?" If so, my latest post might be for you: nicole-sune-sbitani.kit.com/posts/why-ar... 1/?

Loved this drabble from Justin Ocelot!

I really enjoyed this story!

Journalist friends/followers. How do you feel about portrayals of journalists in tv and film? What do you want to see portrayed that you normally don’t and what do you hate?

Like this delicious recipe:

Me, a college professor and graduate program chair: soon, we're not going to have a choice when AI is integrated into the background of every tech. Me, a progressive Sunday school teacher and Bible study leader extremely skeptical about a literal cartoonish hell:

Feel like I should write a newsletter about my ok-hate relationship with book advance review copies (aka ARCs) It makes me nuts that this is the version of the book that gets most read by early readers because it's not the final version, in a big way not a small way

Reason n+1 to get off Substack

Same goes for every "genius" academic or scholar.

Man, we have the same conversations every time a major story like this breaks. It’s exhausting. It is SO HARD to publish a story about gendered violence for a whole host of reasons, a main one being that victims (rightly so!) don’t want to talk.

I could not put down @xiranjayzhao.bsky.social's Iron Widow and can't wait to read the next book! I'm immediately recommending it to my friends, family, and everyone on Bluesky 😊

Reminder that in this house we do not trash other genres of books to support the genre we like the most. One, come on, we're grown ups. Two, the bottom line is people reading and loving books. Three, every writer you know has friends working other genres, don't trash their friends, thanks.

The angry reactions to these kinds of assertions remind me of the desperate desire litfic people sometimes have to see their genre viewed as inherently "higher-minded" or "more cerebral" or "just plain better" than "genre fiction." Anything can be High-Minded and anything can be schlock!

(also TECHNICALLY speaking, all fiction is fantasy, people seem to hate it when you mention that though)

Well, it's all fantasy, it's just some of it has wands and some of it has laser guns, and often the main difference between their tools is whether they work via an allegedly rational basis or through the benefice of the gods. So I don't mind it being thought of as a large single category.

Get your fix of my latest short fiction in @100footcrow.bsky.social! The story's an ode to service workers and the million small, daily interactions that impact us in unseen ways. #writing #fantasy

Would you like to support an #author, read more of my #fiction, and discuss the books, movies, and shows that do international affairs the best (and worst)? Then please subscribe to my newsletter, Fics & Dip, at nicolesune.sbitani.com! #amwriting #amreading

I plunge my hand down and feel the #sand between my fingers. This will do. I fuse the grains together into a shield and pull it up to face my shocked attackers. I gesture to the ocean waves and smirk. "Just wait until you see what I can do with that." They all turn and run. Cowards. #vss365

"The term “cakewalk” describes a dance form that came to characterize a specific musical genre in mid-19th c. U.S.. Dance historian and musicologist Davinia Caddy’s exploration of the cakewalk traces the history of the dance from its roots in African-American slavery"

I've seen people trying to defend it today by saying "No, no, I just use it to brainstorm, bounce ideas, I do the actual writing" and with all the kindness in the world I need to tell you: if there is a stage of writing you are not good at, you need to get good, not use the plagiarism machine.

Being fluent in a foreign language does not make you a translator

“Learning styles” aren’t real.

The publicly held idea that standardized tests reflect merit and giftedness is something many educators and researchers reject, even as those tests continue to structure who gets opportunities and who gets treated as a smart person.

What's something that experts/practitioners in your field universally agree upon, but that remains a "hot take" among the general public?

I made deliberate choice early in my blog days to not write about certain topics -my spouse being one - because I wanted certain precious things in my life to remain mine alone. Having guardrails on what you will/won't write about is healthy. But it does leave us w/many one-sided disaster narratives

Lmao wait I’m adding my own book to this bc it is also magic school kids bsky.app/profile/runw...

When it comes to kid lit and creators, I think a lot about two Stonewall Award speeches I was lucky enough to be in the room for -- both are must reads. 1) Alex Gino, for MELISSA: www.alexgino.com/2016/06/ston... 2) Rick Riordan for MAGNUS CHASE: www.readriordan.com/2019/06/07/2...

ok here are more magical kid lit books off the top of my head that you can share w/ the kids in your lives instead of the one that supports a human trashbag who uses that support as proof her hatred is valid (again, a push for the ENTIRE Rick Riordan Presents line: books.disney.com/character-se...)

there are so many amazing middle-grade magical novels for young readers that have come out in the last decade-ish written by people who are not hateful assholes btw, a quick sampling off the top of my head:

Even the people who win a war, who survive and come out the other side with the conviction that they have done something brave and necessary, don't do a lot of celebrating. There's very little chanting of 'we're number one' among people who've personally experienced war. 7/

Here's what doesn't happen in war: there are no wondrous, climactic battles that leave the good guys standing tall and the bad guys lying in the dirt. Life isn't a World Wrestling Federation Smackdown. 6/

Often relationships that were central during war, dissolve during peace. Some people who were brave and fearless in war are unable to handle peace, feel disconnected and confused. Other times people in war make the move to peace very easily. Always people die in wars. 3/

That there was no grand, final fight-to-end-all-fights. That there was no happy celebration. And everyone is mad about the cliffhanger ending. So I thought I'd respond. Animorphs was always a war story. Wars don't end happily. Not ever. 2/

When the series ended, a lot of people were mad at the last book; Applegate responded with a letter that went *incredbly* hard, that showcased the respect she had for her readers. It follows, below, in full.

Earlier this year @uncannymagazine.bsky.social published my essay "I Write in English Because I Can" and I've thinking A LOT about it. I'm so happy I decided to explore my writing in a second language; it's TOUGH, but it's so, so rewarding! www.uncannymagazine.com/article/i-wr...

Also want to be clear...i don't want more "breaking news" i want more sickos who are like 'i've spent the last 19 years thinking about only liquid natural gas and how you move it and here is a thread about the current sittuation'

Thompson's hematologist at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Robert A. Brodsky, published a study revealing that the research now has an overall 94% disease-free survival rate. "[A cure is now] available to the majority, almost the entirety, of sickle cell patients.” #GoodNews #BlackSky 🌱

"remove friction" is how you get slop

Of course they are. It always comes back to selling a system, method, or class. Not books.

this entire article comes down to an argument that only the final wording is what counts and you can use AI for whatever else and be 'human authored'. IMO that is one step away from the argument that as long as you write your own prompts, it's your work.

Seriously, if you so desperately need to hear a trite agreement that whatever you just said is right and good, I'm sure you could train a parrot at far less cost to everyone around you.

One of the chief virtues of the book is that it’s nearly the only remaining form of media that isn’t constantly being interrupted by ads. Between the covers is the last place on earth where no one is trying to sell you shit, a place where you can still be a human being rather than a mark.

This also applies to boardgames...

Every single time I make a commentary about food in the US, euroboos need to pop in and tell me how Europe is superior. You really do not need to do this.

As a depressed younger artist, my storytelling sometimes suffered. I just couldn't conjure up feelings & images the story needed. Over time I found some strategies for staying professional even when I wasn't feeling it. Thread:

yeah, so much of the ai in education stuff simply assumes that learning isn't important, which is... not great