When we hit puberty I discovered girls. Jack discovered both girls and boys, and really, girls were just a passing phase for him. After that we drifted apart -- not just because of that, but because we were following different paths in school and had developed different interests.

After reading some of the powerful posts about World AIDS Day I find myself wanting to post my own feeble contribution. When I was four I met a kid named Jack who lived across the street from me, and who was just two months younger than me. We quickly became best friends.

Also, though... people spend way too much time worrying about 'their style'. Your 'style' is what comes out when you get out of your own way and just draw with the tools that you're comfortable with.

I moved a list of 503 subscribers to my newsletter from Substack to Beehiiv, which sent my latest newsletter to 487 of them. I don't know what happened to the other 16 addresses. If one of them was yours and you didn't get the Misenchanted Newsletter #194, let me know.

Every $1 invested in SNAP generates $1.80 in economic activity. It’s not about the money, Trump just wants Americans to go hungry.

A habit of mine: I come up with background details I don't need, in case they might come in handy someday. If I need a retro-punk band, it's Voltage Spike. If I need a 1920s cozy/puzzle mystery novel, it's The Chinese Cruciverbalist. If I need a high-level super-villain, it's The Threat.

If generative AI was that wonderful, they wouldn't need to force it on us, make it the default, constantly harass us to use it. No truly useful tech innovation has been forced on people this hard in my lifetime. Something new and cool is invented and people fall all over themselves to try it.

An important message to the people of New York City. More information at zohranfornyc.com/birthday

Police officers who publicly declare that they’ll quit if a mayoral candidate they dislike wins the election are (1) usually bluffing—sure buddy, toss away that paycheck and pension—and (2) exactly the sort of cops cities would be better off without, ones who don’t see themselves as public servants.

Sixty-some years ago my father picked up a second-hand rocking chair for my mother. This spring my sister passed it on to me. We stripped and repainted it, got new foam for the entirely-trashed seat, and on June 18 we ordered fabric for a new seat cover. The fabric arrived today. Finally.

Augh. I just realized that I don't actually have the right yet to reprint one of the stories in Remembrance of Things to Come. I will in a few months. So I'm going to withdraw the book from sale until March 1, 2026, when the rights will be mine again.

It varies, yes. But options can be renewed. I had a story optioned for eighteen months, renewed for another eighteen, and another, and that was all the contract allowed for; to renew again they would need a contract amendment.

My new short story collection, Remembrance of Things to Come, is scheduled for release October 3rd, both ebook and paper. The ebook is available for pre-order on Barnes & Noble and probably other places (though not Amazon yet). I'm publishing this one through Draft2Digital.

its just not defensible in 2025 for democratic candidates and officeholders not to have a clear position on asserting the equal rights of transgender americans. if you're unwilling, step aside and let a patriot take your place.

Walk this way

Looks like my new short story collection will be published October 3 -- assuming I can get my software to cooperate in getting the files ready to upload.

As I've seen it come up, no, authors don't get paid for writing blurbs for other authors. We do it (mostly) to pay it forward and to bring attention to work we think is good. Also, if an editor/publisher tried to bribe me for a blurb, that email would go up here and on my personal site SO FAST

So if one wants to produce audiobooks somewhere other than ACX, where would you recommend?

As I work through editing the stories in my new collection, I sometimes find myself admiring my own writing. It's nice to be reminded I was, at least sometimes, good at my job.

I'm listening to Taylor Swift's "reputation." Anyone who dismisses her music as mere fluff for teenage girls is not paying attention. I particularly like "Don't Blame Me."

It is the job of the Democratic party to sell and defend the policies that most Democratic voters want, not to present a candidate slate that is palatable to moderate Republicans who might switch if they hate their own candidate enough.

So I checked on which of my books were pirated in the Anthropic AI case. After weeding out duplicates and others that don't qualify, there are forty-seven.

I'm getting serious about publishing a new collection of my stories from the past three decades or so. I've decided I will indeed write short intros for them, as I did in Celestial Debris, and here's my first rough pass at the cover.

BREAKING: Over 450 game developers behind hit video-game series Diablo have joined CWA, joining the historic fight for a better video game industry. Hail to you, union champions 💪

Saw my cardiologist today. My heart is still working. I, for one, am pleased to hear this. You know, until recently I never expected to HAVE a cardiologist.

Plus Montreal and Glasgow. I'm probably still forgetting some.

Me, @colleencoover.bsky.social & @ghostgreen.bsky.social continue to be beautiful angels giving you FREE COMICS EVERY MONDAY. And it's about ghosts! And adventure. And giant bears! Weird people! Strange love! Jokes! Clink the link for the FREE-dom! www.webtoons.com/en/romance/h...

(scornful eyeroll) *This* skinny little early-twenties nurse was walking the midnight streets of Manhattan, all alone, when these guys weren't a glint in *anybody*'s eye. I rode the subway untroubled late at night. These guys are—most honestly—sad pitiful weenies unworthy of reproduction. 😏

Well, darn. Now I don't get to post it.

Oh, good. More people are starting to admit what's happening. www.latimes.com/business/sto...

Gavin Newsom holding a mirror up DJT

Well, yeah! He's gotta go stir up some "crime" so he can take credit for ending it.

Just spitballing here, but cryptobros throwing sex toys at WNBA players on the court and other cryptobros and male sports commentators calling it funny and telling the women and their coaches to 'lighten up' both explains the 'male loneliness epidemic' and why I don't care about it.

Good thread:

"Traveling Band," by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Saw "Fantastic Four: First Steps" today. Fun movie; Vanessa Kirby was perfect as Sue Storm. They showed four previews before the feature, and all four were for sequels: "Zootopia 2," "The Bad Guys 2," "Freakier Friday," and "Avatar: Fire & Ash." Originality not exactly a big thing there.

"School's Out," by Alice Cooper

4. Blueberries do not belong in pancakes

If you see this, post a DC comic cover you love.

me and my book project

Just a heads up that in addition to fake accounts popping up across social media, someone is now using a fake email ([email protected]) to mass email other writers with the intent to scam them. Please be aware that THIS IS NOT ME!! 😩 Thank you to everyone who has made me aware of this.

Got my Worldcon schedule: Wednesday Aug. 13 4:30 pm: Table Talk Thursday Aug. 14 1:30 pm: SFF in Comics! (panel) Saturday Aug. 16 1:30 pm: Autograph session

My favorite thing about being a writer is when I walk into a bookstore and see a whole lot of friends' books on a table display.

Democrats keep thinking their voters want to see them collaborate with Republicans, when really we just want to see them collaborate with each other. Be a team, guys!

I was going to say that, but you beat me to it. Since when can a fighter carry a 30,000-lb. bomb?

It would seem that an audiobook of The Unwelcome Warlock is in the works. I just approved Wildside's choice for the reader.

I'm working on a scene in Tom Derringer & the Sinister Statue (#5 in the series) that refers back to something on page 33 of Tom Derringer & the Aluminum Airship (#1 in the series) that just seemed like a throw-away bit of background. Now it'll look like I planned this all along. I didn't. 😜

"Poker Face" has "good buddy," played by the voice of Steve Buscemi, as Charlie's sounding board, so it's not quite just one ongoing character.

This is precisely WHY we moved to the Pacific Northwest. All other considerations were just afterthoughts.