Last year my publisher closed and Deficient disappeared from the market. Today I’m revealing the new cover for its return. Curious what you think! open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

Anyone interested in a free drop-in poetry class? 🌿✨ Starting today, Writers & Books is hosting Poetry Oasis with Kitty Jospe, a weekly, welcoming space to read, explore, and respond to poems. All are welcome! 🗓 Fridays, 12–1 pm 📍 Writers & Books in Rochester, NY More info: wab.org/poetry-oasis/

Thoughts on Renée Good and the state violence we all witnessed. open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

Many people I know have described 2025 a “cluster****” or a “hellscape.” I can’t really disagree. Here are a few personal reflections on this year of tumult. open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

GivingTuesday is here, and we at Writers & Books have already raised over $3000 for of youth writing programs and scholarships! Because of a match contribution, this is doubled to over $6000. Please help support young writers on their creative journeys here: www.unitedwayrocflx.org/roc-the-day/...

Fresh start…everything is new! The city, the job, the rhythm. New beginnings shake things up, and they’re often overwhelming. But reinvention isn’t about starting over from scratch. It’s about growing from the roots that were always there. 🌱 Read on for more! open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

Hope to see readers and writers at the Rochester Children and Teens Book Festival this weekend! Will you be going? 📚

For those of us in the spirit of Novel November season…check out my recent article with Planetside on alternatives to NaNoWriMo. Though I went for a DIY approach over the summer, I’m actually giving ProWritingAid’s Novel November a try now. I’m really enjoying it! Thanks for sharing @sfwa.org !

Got the very random 1,667-word badge on day 2 of PorWritingAid’s Novel November! Taking a mental health break and going for a hike while the sun is shining! 😎 Is anyone else giving Novel November a try?

Decided to jump into ProWritingAid’s Novel November to get over the finish line with a novel! (4th and final book of a YA/speculative series with dystopian elements). I have about 50k words already…aiming to finish! Anyone else doing NovNov? Any writing goals? prowritingaid.com/novel-november

NaNoWriMo’s over…now what? I wrote about finding your writing flow after the NaNo era…and keeping the spark alive. Thanks @sfwa.org ! www.sfwa.org/2025/10/30/f... #NaNoWriMo

After the US defended Israel at the UNGA yesterday, Israel has now attacked a peaceful flotilla carrying aid to Gaza. This is horrific and unacceptable. Condemnations are insufficient. Israel must be sanctioned and prosecuted for breaches of international law. Hands off the flotilla! 🇵🇸

Feel like I am listening to an aged King Joffrey speaking at UNGA. Trump’s speech is delusional and unhinged.

Recognition of Palestinian statehood is welcome and long overdue. But the genocide must end. Halt all arms sales to Israel. Those responsible — including US officials across parties — must be named, held accountable, and prosecuted.

Hey writers out there! As we get closer to November, I’m writing an article on alternatives to NaNoWriMo to help inspire novel writing. If you have come across any organized initiatives that are worth mentioning, please share your thoughts! I’ll also be writing about DIY approaches. 🙏🏼

One of my favorite shots of Lady Gaga at the Mayhem Ball while she performed Paparazzi. This is how you wear a cape. Legend!

No offense to the Swifties, but today is all about Lady Gaga’s Mayhem ball in NYC. Once a Little Monster, always a Little Monster. ✨🪩👹

We should not be paying a dime of our tax money to the genocidal terror state of Israel. This is common sense. Sanction. Boycott. Divest. Prosecute. And free the People of Palestine. 🇵🇸

Israel bombs a hospital. Waits for rescuers and journalists to arrive. Then bombs them too. Never forget where our tax dollars are going: genocide, crimes against humanity. This is how history will remember us — absolutely complicit. Sanction, boycott, divest, prosecute. #GazaGenocide #Gaza

Excited for “Oh, Mary!” And to see Jinkx Monsoon!

The question I keep hearing: what’s going on with Deficient? 👀 I spill the tea in my latest Substack. Your comments are very much welcome! 👉 open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

Aid must enter Gaza immediately, and not through the sham GHF. Leaders have failed. Call your reps anyway. Speak out. Demand action. Silence is complicity. We cannot look away while Gaza starves. (2 of 2)

How did we allow famine in Gaza? This is monstrous. The people of Gaza do not deserve this. No one does. It is calculated, vile, and criminal. World “leaders” stood by. Israel is responsible. U.S. tax dollars enabled it. Our media gaslights us. I’m furious. You should be too. (1 of 2)

Sharing my latest reflections + tips from Seattle WorldCon! I did a similar post last year (and promptly forgot my own advice 😅), but a few folks told me it helped, so here’s the 2025 edition. michaelsolisauthor.substack.com/p/what-i-lea...

My favorite conversation from Seattle WorldCon: Them: “I’m [name], nice to meet you!” Me: “I’m Michael. Nice to meet you too.” Them: “I can’t tell who’s gay and who’s just weird.” Me: “Oh, that’s easy. I’m both.” 😉

After WorldCon, a demonstration in Seattle to demand an end to the siege of Gaza, honor Palestinian martyrs, and call for the dismantling of Israel’s occupation feels like the right place to be. Free Palestine! 🇵🇸

Congratulations to Robert Jackson Bennett for Best Novel at the Hugo Awards for “The Tainted Cup.” 🏆 🚀

Congratulations to Darcie Little Badger for the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book at the Hugo Awards for “Sheine Lende.” 🏆 🚀

Congratulations to Ray Nayler for Best Novella at the Hugo Awards for “The Tusks of Extinction.” 🏆 🚀

Congratulations to Naomi Kritzer for Best Novelette at the Hugo Awards for “The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea.” 🏆 🚀

Congratulations to Nghi Vo for Best Short Story at the Hugo Awards for Stitched to Skin Like Family Is! 🏆 🚀

Congratulations to Marie Brennan for Best Poem at the Hugo Awards for A War of Words! 🏆 🚀

Congratulations to Rebecca Roanhorse for Best Series at the Hugo Awards for Between Earth and Sky! 🏆 🚀

The cover of the Hugo Awards pamphlet reminds me of Katy Perry in space! 🚀 😮

Hello from WorldCon! Fun times in Seattle. Say hi if you’re here!

Wrote a piece called “Trading Words with Genocide Deniers.” It’s an attempt to dissect the logic of rampant denial and deflections, even when Israel’s genocide in Gaza has been live-streamed for us all to see. As Ms. Rachel says, we’ve got to speak up! open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

Another day, another battle of words with genocide deniers… An important piece to read here by Kenneth Roth on the reluctance to recognize Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Worth your time and reflection. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Just saw Superman. You can now find me on Team Hawkgirl. 💜

Consider adding your name to nominate Francesca Albanese and the doctors of Gaza for the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize should honor those exposing genocide and supporting its victims, NOT war criminals enabling it. #gaza #nobelpeaceprize secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/...

Francesca Albanese speaks truth to power, calling out genocide in Gaza and demanding accountability. That Trump/Rubio & Netanyahu want to silence her says it all. We must stand with her and uphold international law. #StandWithFrancesca #Gaza www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Marching with the incredible Mahmoud Khalil in NYC! Welcome back! Free Palestine! 🇵🇸

My latest post is up, in both text and audio. It’s about reuniting with a yoga friend I met in Sierra Leone…and our reflections on a maniacal superpower and the strange theater of American life. Something real, reflective, and raw as the world spirals. open.substack.com/pub/michaels...

On shortly! Excited to be moderating this session on the evolution of sci-fi at the 2025 Nebula Conference! #sciencefiction #nebula2025

Sharing my latest Substack post about about myths we’ve inherited, seasons we grow through and out of, the messiness of living in NYC, and the quiet power of letting go. It’s about blooming, shedding, and simply being. Check out out michaelsolisauthor.substack.com/p/beautiful-.... 🌸 #personalessay

Sharing my new Substack post about what I saw in No Other Land, the Oscar-winning documentary about Israel’s occupation in Masafer Yatta, the violence carried out in plain sight, and the painful ways Palestinians are stripped of their rights. 🙏🏼 michaelsolisauthor.substack.com/p/palestine-...

Happy to share my first Substack post! It’s called Rebuilding. Again. — a personal essay about losing a career, reconnecting with family and one's roots, and starting over with intention. Have you ever had to reinvent or rebuild? open.substack.com/pub/michaels... #personalessay #personalgrowth

I’ve registered to attend the second Latinx Storytellers Conference…and feeling TODAS las emociones! 😻 Can’t wait to connect with more writers, illustrators, and industry professionals. Thanks @lkbfstorytellers.bsky.social #writerlife #authorsofbluesky #latinxwriters

Dispatches from dystopia: A student from occupied land is detained by the Empire’s forces—during a citizenship interview. His crime? Speaking out against the Empire’s actual crime: genocide. #MohsenMahdawi

Dispatches from dystopia: The white male “leader of the free world” deports an innocent man—branded a terrorist—by mistake. No consequences. No accountability. All hail the failed state of this union. #freekilmarabregogarcia

Enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity according to the Rome Statute. Yet more evidence of Israel’s ongoing and abundantly well-documented atrocities. #hamdanballal