I wrote my final book review column for the Washington Post a while back. (I didn't know it was the last one of course.) I was worried it might not even run since the book section is ending, but thanks to the heroic efforts of editor Jacob Brogan, here it is: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2026/0...

New quote from @zzclaybourne.bsky.social 'sBREATH, WARMTH, AND DREAM: Khumalo to the kids: "Resume explorations. And put nothing in your mouths. Including frogs, no matter what they say."

Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the Taínos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous

"So you churned out some AI crap and put a cover on it..."

Wanna sit here and think about u for a good while, wonder if u feel fed, if there's enough daylight to warm u, enough night to restructure u, is love speaking one of its trillion languages & have ya been hugged recently (a trillion diff types of hugs, not all of em physical). Wanna. Will. Do.

Rolling through that thread and Okorafor, Jemisin, Delaney, Marlon James, and Octavia Butler were already mentioned, so I'll toss out Zig Zag Claybourne @zzclaybourne.bsky.social and The Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan for my SFF pick

It's never lost on me that I use the Torment Nexus on a daily basis just like everybody else, but sometimes flowers grow spectacularly out of manure, and most of us wake up each morning with a hand full'a seeds. Try to keep the machines from reshaping you as a cog, yes?

Definitely some sand-in-my-eye moments in the S1E5 run of Starfleet Academy.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! Troy Johnson, President of the African American Literary Book Club, has successfully petitioned Ingram to add a new subject category: FICTION / African American & Black / Fantasy (incl. Sword & Soul)! Happy Black History Month!

I didn't wake up to the scent of pancakes cooking or a melody hummed sweetly but damn if the sun doesn't feel good coming through even though it's half-warm from these arctic temperatures. Do your thing, sun. You're the right one to let in. There's room on my couch. We'll have cereal and chill.

Don't practice writing to impress other people. Write to express yourself. Write to make yourself laugh, or to get something awful off your chest. Write something so weird nobody else will enjoy it--but that you enjoy, and you know it, and the page can be your psyche's confidant in that.

Terrible people don't want love to fix them, they want pain to harm you. Trump, Miller, Noem et al don't wake up a day in their lives thinking they're doing good. Some people are born so dead all they do Is haunt.

Anytime there's a sudden boom, follow the bucks.

There's a chance that writing book three of this trilogy is just therapy for me as we travel these busted up roads. I hope when it's released and people read it they get something that they need. We'll see.

2 words: get some. 3rd word: y'all.

Found in my tote bag: a half-eaten bag of nacho cheese Doritos. Not stale. Happy Friday.

Not often I get a good Dickens reference in.

Come, lovely people, and know me better. I had a good writing day, so if you're thinking about diving in or just curious about what I do, this review is a great place to start.

THE KING MUST DIE (my science-fantasy revolution/friendship book) is on this year’s Locus Recommended Reading List! And in such great company, including many pals. A thousand thanks to everyone who read and talked about these stories. locusmag.com/2026/02/2025...

Also, ICYMI, our 2 main 2025 titles on sale as a bundle. Both on the Locus Recommended Reading List. And @thomasha.bsky.social 's UNCERTAIN SONS is a Philip K. Dick Award Nominee, and NYPL 'Best Of' 2025. undertowpublications.com/shop/uncerta...

It's proven fact that if your pitiful reflexes awkwardly prevent something you dropped from hitting the floor you'll spend the rest of the day thinking you're frikking Spider-Man. Ask me and the piece of muffin I managed to trap in a fold of my shirt how I know.

Publishers, if you want to make some quick easy money, start printing country fact books and general nonfiction (not narrative or bio) for the high school level again. Release updates every couple years. School libraries will auto-buy that shit. Guaranteed profit.

Tapping the sign

These are fantastic books! Read them at once, and join me in being excited for book 3!

And thou mayest aske thyself, 'How do Ich werke thys?' And thou mayest aske thyself, 'Wher ys that large destrier?' And thou mayest telle thyself, 'Thys nys not my beautiful castle!' And thou mayest telle thyself, 'Thys nys not my swift goshawk!'

Just want to remind everyone for Black History that everything we're dealing with in the US? James Baldwin already x-rayed it and showed us the lab results. The pathology is real.

For Black History month, I'm going to shout out my first publisher, MV Media (run by the amazing @miltonmvmedia.bsky.social ) who believed in me when I boldly said I was writing the Black Game of Thrones. Check out the website and get yourself some Black Speculative goodness. www.mvmediaatl.com

An ask: Wanna read about a Black mother & daughter wielding powerful magicks to make their travels around the world lovely? I hope so because I'm working on a 3rd one. If you've read books 1 & 2 & enjoyed them plz leave a review or recommendation. Share like pie. Because life is delicious!

I don't know what I'm doing but I know when to do it and the time has never been more necessary than now.

The thought hit out of nowhere: I want a Kitty Pryde against everybody movie.

I have to imagine someone is playing "Uptown" in Minnie, everyday. Playing it loud. Keeping things warm.

Internet, do what you do.

I'd like to add some favorites: @booksbydlwhite.com (DL White - Romance) @itsladarrion.bsky.social (Blood at the Roots), @bbalston.bsky.social (Amari), Amber Fisher (Temple of the Inner Flame). #booksky #blackbooksky

Putting this right in the center of the table so it won't be obscured. It would be nice if, instead of every Black History Month, Black authors saw jumps in sales every month.

Setting a few moments in place. Israel continues its annihilation agenda. The USA continues its We Worship Hatred tour. Probably tens of thousands of people from 1 to 99 were traumatized today.

Me finally using AI in my work: Me: finishes first draft. "ChatGPT?" ChatGPT: Yes! Me: Can you stay the fuck as far away from this draft as the sun? ChapGPT: Sure! Me: Cool.

Obvious Things Said Cheap: There are times the blank page scares me because it demands I change with every word and that somebody comes along for the ride. So when faced with omnipresent evil try to make sure there's omnipresent good for somebody else to find.

They put 10 bullets into someone on their knees and these billion dollar corporations have the hellish gall to regurgitate "Well, he kicked out a headlight last week"?! What the unholy fuck is this world we're choking in?

Why do I want to see your book posts, art posts, happy posts, pained posts, music posts, love posts, human posts, confused posts, did-the-thing posts, look at my garden posts, here's a poem of compassion posts? Because we're not here to cede our hearts to those who exist for ruin.

Nisi Shawl is a visionary brilliant author, editor, critic and teacher, who is working on a book of otherworldly philosophy that sounds incredible. Not surprisingly, this project has grown and flowered, and Nisi needs a bit more support. Please help if you can! www.gofundme.com/f/help-nisi-...

All the money, time, and seemingly inexhaustible resources poured into brutalization squads has never once planted a single tree. Or comforted the sick. Or shown decency without a price tag. Or been stronger than 2 babies holding hands.

authors, please annoy me with book posts! I want them! I need things for my brain to chew on that aren't just The Horrors, please!

I hit 100 pages of WIP today! Behold, ye asswipes of the world, and tremble in the knowledge that JOY is MINE to SHARE, a small truth you are unable to fathom within your horrid, pitiable brains. WE DON'T STOP.

Been a writer a while. I try to be honest with my fiction. What I do might not be your cup of tea but you best believe it won't be phoned in. Or ghost written. Or GPT'd, AI'd, imagination deprived. I vow to stay funky, never refried. Admittedly shit as a salesman but great as a tour guide. Hello.

"I’m the curator of a private reading community of over 500 passionate readers. We’re a quiet circle of book lovers who simply read, talk, and leave honest reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, no spotlight, no promotions, just real readers sharing what they feel. Would you--" Fool, scam elsewhere.

Perfect things: Minnie Riperton's vocals. Star Trek TOS: "The Doomsday Machine". A plush robe on a cold day. A child tugging your hand with excitement. Knowing you've done something that needed to be done. Done well. Maybe your best. A good dream.

Checks out.

Revolutionary Rock and Roll

When I wake up, well, you know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who

There's a book you've never read, waiting. Quietly. I don't know what it'll do to you when you meet. Blow your mind; titillate you; bore 1 of 2 asscheeks off. Nobody knows. Especially not you. All you know is you always see your hand reaching outward and you never once think to stop.