sweaty #rollerblading

"There’s no shame in self-publishing. There should be considerable pride. So much so that I’d suggest there’s no utility in self-publishers calling themselves independent publishers. They already have a term that is more than good enough. And it doesn’t hurt to be clear about these things."

On book publishing costs open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/w...

Tasmania/Lutruwita based folk, this is next week! Tickets (possibly) selling fast. Would love to see you there.

"The horror is not in the jump scare. The jump scare is relief. The horror is in the dread." pca.st/episode/7f7c...

Here's me in Guardian Australia on the total debacle with Meanjin. www.theguardian.com/books/commen...

Really not sure why so many recipes talk about oxymoronic 'sourdough discard'. That's just 'using your sourdough starter'. If you regularly use and feed your starter, there's no need to discard. And if you're using some of your starter, by definition you're not discarding it.

Good to hear Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli make the case for public arts funding. The arts ought not only be conceived as a commercial product but a public good—like libraries and parks—and so worthy of public funding. pca.st/episode/078c...

This was a good grim funny read. www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/the-...

WEAPONS is so fabulous. So glad I saw it at the cinema. Naruto running was never so frightening.

I love AFTERSUN so much. www.thecurb.com.au/charlotte-we...

Announcing a new tool to fight AI slop in the book world - and authenticate that the books we publish are written by, you know, humans. Books by people vs books by AI open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/b...

So of course both seasons of ANDOR are excellent. But they really should be 8-or-10-episode seasons rather than 12. Really.

PISSANTS by Brandon Jack is a gritty, gross & funny multi-perspectival book about reserve players in an AFL team. The book event at @ Fullers Bookshop explored experimental forms, sport lit & male readers. Dare I hope agents & publishers might be open to more work in this vein?

The Coen brothers are having fun "but they're having fun in God's universe." @seanfennessey.bsky.social on INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Rob Reiner is such a glorious addition to THE BEAR season 4. "He made you a great offer, go suck his balls."

"She knew the true shape of the world. All else was shadow and the sound of distant drums." Thankful to my daughter's recommendation to read THE SLOW REGARD OF SILENT THINGS by Patrick Rothfuss, a gorgeous, meditative piece of literary fantasy.

A good read, I thought.

Sam Jordison raging against the realities of comparative title: why they're probably necessary & they kinda suck. I provide them when submitting, but don't fret too much. An agent/publisher will always think of 'better' comps to suit their needs than I can. open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/c...

I used to believe that it's rare authors who were bold, brave, daring, innovative.... as in it took a rare writer to do certain things. Now I realise there's probably thousands and thousands who do. The bold thing is actually a publisher taking them on.

"You're yet to have your finest hour." 'Radio Ga Ga' really does play differently in the era of podcasts.

Reading Thomas Pynchon's VINELAND because of the forthcoming One Battle After Another and not especially enjoying it. Just grinding out the last 100 pages. It was on the English syllabus in my first year or university and I didn't read it all then.

Happy Bloomsday! shows.acast.com/friends-of-s...

Gee, I dunno. Against the film's intentions, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN kinda makes Dylan going electric at the folk festival just look like a troll move. Don't accept the invitation if you've moved on, dude.

I personally have gotten the impression that the literary world is not especially interested in straight male authors. And I get that. There are legit reasons to correct the balance. But that you often can't even suggest things may have overcorrected... that's bad. That smacks of brute ideology.

Rewatched THE CROW (1994). Delighted to discover how good it was on rewatch.

Arcade Fire's new PINK ELEPHANT makes me think of the ups and downs of the John Lennon–Yoko Ono relationship, and especially Lennon's flawed-but-good LA 'lost weekend' output.

Saw a comment "Watching TV without looking at your phone is the new reading a book."

"The publishing industry and its surrounding media have spent years telling men to fuck off. And now we have a problem ... Men are reading less, they’re writing less and ... the result is that they’re thinking less." From @samjordison.bsky.social @galleybeggars.bsky.social

"Writers know better than editors in all sorts of ways." pca.st/episode/06b9...

I can't argue with a lot of the critique... but in the end, I thought CAPTAIN MARVEL was good ... and conversely I really don't think WONDER WOMAN deserved the utter adulation it received. www.theringer.com/podcasts/the...

A smart and level-headed response to various takes about ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD at a time (2019) when critical takes seemed so intense and wearying. pca.st/episode/6de4...

A piece I published this week: "Andrews comes up against monastic devotion to Jesus Christ & the pursuit of one’s true vocation, grief and parenthood, true love & the saucy Baroness Schraeder, patriotism & the Third Reich. And she wins against them all."

"One of the categories addressed in every episode of film podcast The Rewatchables is 'Who won the movie?' Without a doubt Julie Andrews won The Sound of Music. A case could be made that Julie Andrews won movies as a whole in 1964 and 1965."

Did a few more submissions today. One of the few things you can control as a writer is your perseverance.

@lorifeathers.bsky.social you really must read Don DeLillo's UNDERWORLD. Honestly, you'd love it. I promise.

Finally got through all of BARRY LYNDON. Formally beautiful. But tbh, I couldn't've cared less if Barry lived or died the entire time. Not my bag, this one.

Finally watched ROOM 237 doco on YouTube. Most of it is extremely silly.

I strongly believe there should be more rollerblading in literature.

A Proustian piece of mine published last year. www.thesmartset.com/forgetting-g...

Reviews, even negative reviews, as long as they are thoughtful and not just mean, are good for readers, authors and editors. Avoiding negative criticism is bad for the soul and integrity of everyone, including the reviewer. A good listen. pca.st/episode/d796...

. @galleybeggars.bsky.social co-publisher @samjordison.bsky.social not only has great taste in literature, but music as well—as evidenced by the P. P. P. S.s in their monthly newsletter. I've set up a playlist of these recommendations with their permission. open.spotify.com/playlist/72G...

This book:

Melania Trump Holds Paint Swatches Up Against Bellowing Void

It's midday, 4 February 2025 - and we're 100% delighted to announce the longlist for the 2024/25 Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize:

"I genuinely believe the “Cities of the Weft” is a masterpiece, a classic of the epic fantasy genre." An early pre-review of Waterblack by Alex Pheby from the great Ian Mond: mondyboy.com?p=10546 Full review coming in Locus soon.

First submission of 2025.

First rejection of the new year. But the only way to stop rejections is to stop submitting.

I've decided to resurrect my New Year's resolution for rollerblading... which I've had for years & in my mid-40s, time's running out: to skate vert like a runner-up in a 1995 U16s competition: 3-4ft air, grabbed invert, backflip, a few grinds & 360s. I've also made peace with the fact I'll fail.

I don't have New Year's resolutions for my writing in 2025, but NEW YEAR'S HOPES & PRAYERS. The thing I most want to achieve this year is largely out of my control: for one of my novel manuscripts to be accepted for publication. I'll keep writing & submitting; but also keep hoping & praying.