Your first look at this week's 20% off new release book picks, four fiction, four nonfiction. You don't have to support Jeff Bezos to get discounts on hot new books. Come to us: theliteratelizard.com/front-page-b... Titles/authors in alt-text. Authors and publishers on Bluesky in comment #Booksky

"I run an interplanetary curio shop, buying and selling everything from Orion jewelry to Betelgeuse booze and antique curling stones. It makes my hearts pound when I discover an obscure video game from a planet in a remote quadrant." -The Star-Crossed Pelican #WIPSnips

"I need you to store some things.” “Can I use the parts from your floatcar?” Knowing Martian, he’d probably rejigger it into a musical toothbrush or a solar-powered Geiger-counting deep fryer. “Sure, what’s left of it.” “What did Mom & Dad say about the arrest?” -The Cosmic Turkey #WIPSnips

Finally noticed I'd been misnumbering, so this is #PopsugarReadingChallenge book 39, not 40: a book about a running club. "Where They Last Saw Her" by Marcie R. Rendon, a thriller about missing and murdered Indigenous women. www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/po...

The fish leapt out of the tank, chomped the sandwich in one bite, and landed on the ground next to me. It gave me a look of absolute fury, either because I’d tricked it out of the tank, or because it realized the sandwich was tofu. -The Star-Crossed Pelican #WIPSnips

Nlubglub and the Plutonians were screaming at each other about last year’s billiard riots. Zeeko was on the ground, being punched by a fish. Frink appeared to be holding Lola and a Plutonian apart, but was grabbing their wallets. “We’re a peace organization, remember?" -The Cosmic Turkey #WIPSnips

'Wow, Gabe. You're so calm.' 'I've learned to be an #oasis of calm amid chaos.' 'That's great. Especially since I, uh, broke your vase... singed your sofa... smashed your harp...' 'I am an oasis. I AM an oasis.' 'And burned down your house.' 'PIXIE! Get back here.' #vss365

ICE now conducting “Kavanaugh stops” on entire buildings at once:

Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching. secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup

“The smuggler filled an entire town’s water supply with café mocha. And somehow managed to escape.” My heart leapt. My mouth watered. “What town was this?” “Exalted Leaderville.” “Over by the Great Frozen River?” Bogler asked. “No, you’re thinking of Exalted Leaderburg." -The Cosmic Turkey #WIPSnips

Janet is trying to hide her exasperation while asking the computer why it's raining inside a spaceship.

Should this man be in any law enforcement position? Now ask this: do you believe this man will face any consequences for this violent assault on an unarmed, emotionally distressed woman? We can call in complaints to the DHS misconduct hotline: 1-800-323-8603 www.oig.dhs.gov/hotline

#PopsugarReadingChallenge book 39: a book you've always avoided reading. I was warned that "The Fifth Season" by N. K. Jemisin would break my heart. It did. www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/po...

I now have my very own #LittleFreeLibrary! You can find the ones near you at the LFL website: littlefreelibrary.org

“We have a lot of skills in this crew,” I observed. “I can do hair,” Zeeko said, “and train lizards to reenact famous movie scenes. I can even make it look like the lizards have hair.” -The Star-Crossed Pelican #WIPSnips

As goofy as this sounds… Name 1 thing you’ll do for yourself this week To remind you of humanity. Don’t let folks steal your humanity—your soul In a sense, this is a form of resistance I’ll start. Eating apples & honey on Rosh Hashanah to wish for a sweet year for all who wish that for others

“The usual options would be bribery, blackmail, threats, trickery, and strong-arm tactics. Or using diplomacy and appealing to his better nature.” Lola rubbed her aching foot. “You were kidding on that last one, right?” “Well, yes. Obviously.” Beau gave a rueful smile. -The Cosmic Turkey #WIPSnips

companies make it difficult or impossible to disable ai in their products because it is an authoritarian project made from a stack of consent violations in a trenchcoat they don't give you a checkbox for "i don't want this and will never use it" because they know many people would check that box

Since many of us are cancelling streaming services, now might also be a good time to support writers and artists. Times are extremely tough for creatives, so why not buy a book, commission an art piece, sign up for a Patreon, tip your favorite creators. Everything helps.

The typical science fiction universe has laser guns or blasters, as both hand-held and ship-level weapons. Fortunately, villains are usually terrible shots who couldn’t hit the ground if they tried. But don’t wear a red shirt around them. -The Star-Crossed Pelican #WIPSnips

Janet is a walking Red Alert. She can make any technological device implode just by being in the general vicinity. Some corporation will hire her to stand in their rival’s lobby and cause all the computers to expel their core processors and catapult them around the room. -The Cosmic Turkey #WIPSnips

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 38: A redo of one of the 2024 categories. For "Book with a title that's a complete sentence," I read "Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud," by Becky Holmes. Informative and hilarious. www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/po...

"This garden was such a good idea. I love that it brings the fauna here so we can look at them." "So many different shapes and colors, and the noises they make, fascinating." Randy found his voice first. “Are the plants talking about us?” -The Star-Crossed Pelican #WIPSnips

Squeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

“There’s no need for you to shoot at each other. Space is big enough for both of you to go on your way, and you won’t have to cross paths. Where are you headed?” “To the peace conference,” they said simultaneously. -The Star-Crossed Pelican #WIPSnips

I couldn’t afford the fancy floatcar with the built-in time warp, where the pilot could send it into the future until it was needed. Those were technically illegal, but rich people found ways to get around that, usually by paying the fine in some other century. -The Cosmic Turkey #WIPSnips

Battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life. 1. Little Free Libraries. 2. The smell of the candle in a jack-o-lantern. 3. Swimming in the ocean. 4. Any combination of chocolate and caramel. 5. Meeting a new cat or dog.

P!nk Champagne

REPOSTING WITH MORE SPECIFIC INFO ABOUT WHAT TO PRESS: HAVE YOU CALLED #FoxNews TODAY TO SAY THAT BRIAN KILMEADE MUST BE FIRED? 🚨 888-369-4762 ☎️ Press 1 for FoxNews then Press 3 after the intro recording to leave a comment. Be brief. #FireBrianKilmeade #ThatApologySucked

I wrote a column responding to Ezra Klein’s eulogy for Charlie Kirk, and argued that democracy depends not just on civil disagreement, but on the civic equality that Kirk passionately opposed. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Let’s flood the zone with complaints about #BrianKilmeade suggesting that the homeless be killed off. #FoxNews

Make a band singular. One Maniac.

I think it's good to keep getting mad about evil and unjust things, if only to remind yourself and everyone else that these things are in fact evil and unjust. I don't think it's naive. Nor is it wise and sophisticated to adopt a "You fool, nothing matters and nothing good can ever happen" posture

Slightly diminish a book The Sisterhood of the Traveling Panties

Doctors I trust more than RFK Jr.

I got up and dusted myself off. “Lola, I’m not sure you’re clear on the concept of this peace organization thing.” “So write me up when we get home." -The Cosmic Turkey #WIPSnips

California Parents: If you’re having trouble finding the Covid vaccine for your child (as I was, at both their pediatrician’s office and chain pharmacies), check the California vaccine appointment website, My Turn. I was able to make an appointment last night for a vaccine today! myturn.ca.gov

There is no chance in all of hell But it sure would be nice to win There is no argument to sell There is no chance in all of hell Keep fighting till the final bell Stopping now is a cardinal sin There is no chance in all of hell But it sure would be nice to win #vss365 #Chance #Triolet

Are you new(ish) to haiku? This might be for you - a workshop I'm presenting next week online www.bcwriters.ca/event-6299853

50 Shades of Gary

Author pals: You will get $3,000 per title from today's Anthropic settlement if your book--like my novel DESSERT FIRST--was in the LibGen database used to train AIs. (Links to resources in replies.)

“We have a far superior culture to any of your planets, no offense. We can calculate the best use of all your planets’ resources and eliminate any sporting events that could lead to excessive conflict.” -The Star-Crossed Pelican #WIPSnips

We took the paywall down on this one. defector.com/how-the-fuck...

“You Earthlings nearly melted your entire planet. You remake the same superhero movie every other year. You invented decaffeinated coffee. You don’t get to talk about other species being ridiculous.” “We did fix the melting planet part. Mostly.” -The Star-Crossed Pelican #WIPSnips

Exalted Leader wobbled to his feet. “Coffee is Banned!” “I’m on it,” Nina whispered to me. “I’ll run over to Buck’s Star and be right back.” She raced out the door. “Hurry!” I called after her. -The Cosmic Turkey #WIPSnips

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 36: A highly anticipated 2025 release. "Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism," by Sarah Wynn-Williams. www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/po...

#writerslife #BookEditor #publishing #authorsky #AuthorUproar

I was tired of hearing about my so-called technology jinx. It wasn’t my fault that I always seemed to be nearby during minor computer glitches, antimatter malfunctions, and one really unfortunate incident with a floatcar crashing into my hometown’s city hall. -The Star-Crossed Pelican #WIPSnips