@2natown.bsky.social Hi! This is Paul Booth - the prof that runs the con at DePaul. We chatted at the Forest Park holiday walk. Are you were still interested in vending (link: popcultureconference.com) & if so, can you send me a good email so I can send you more details? Thanks!!

Very happy at the end of the year to have one final short story published - this one's not for the faint of heart (or stomach!): "Words" published in Macabre Magazine: macabremagazine.com/words/ (Sorry, I think you have to subscribe to see it all)

Hi all! Some of you know I am the faculty advisor for DePaul Doctor Who, an inclusive club at DePaul. They're raising money to go to Gallifrey One, the largest US Doctor Who convention. All donations are tax deductible. Please help if you can! givenow.depaul.edu/depaul-docto...

Hi #tabletop #boardgame #gaming friends! @jreylee.bsky.social's new book on CATAN is out! You can read it online for free at the link attached or pick up your copy at online retailers (including the University of Michigan Press) #Catan @tabletopbookshelf.com lookingglance.com/unsettling-c...

Unsettling Catan releases on Monday, so I sat down with Danielle from @uofmpress.bsky.social to do a Q&A on the book. (the interview was written, but I was sitting down at the time) #boardgames #catan @pbooth81.bsky.social @aarontram.bsky.social

Hoping for some academic help...updating my readings in a Monsters class & would love a book that focuses on different monsters (zombie, vampire...) from histor/cult perspective. I've used (& enjoyed!) Asma's On Monsters and Poole's Monsters in America, but both are a bit dated by now. Thoughts?

Can I also add how absolutely gorgeous! The book is? Smart, relevant, beautiful -- this book has it all!

I had an amazing time at Colorado State University's Department of Communication giving the Fall 2025 Gravlee lecture this weekend! communicationstudies.colostate.edu/events/fall-...

Had a fun time talking to USA Today about Costco fandom... www.usatoday.com/story/grocer...

I’ve been having a lot of fun working on my newsletter, Silicon Sea. This month, I wrote about AI slop and figured out what else to say about it other than “I hate it.” W/ thanks to @pbooth81.bsky.social for the interview! open.substack.com/pub/silicons...

Hey #Google, I would happily throw down 1K on another new phone if it was designed specifically *not* to have AI. Don't include it on the searches, don't include it in my texts, don't include it in summarizing my emails. Now *that* I would pay for @developers.google.com @newsfromgoogle.bsky.social

It arrived! ("Do not bend" was taken more as a suggestion than a command by the USPS)

Had a fun time talking fandom, cosplay, and conventions with Where We Live on Connecticut Public radio this morning! www.ctpublic.org/show/where-w...

I had the amazing opportunity to share some of my board game work with Salt and Sass games! Check out the video here: youtu.be/7b9VG4uAIhc and check out their work at bsky.app/profile/salt... and linktr.ee/SaltAndSass

Another productive day - 3000 total, split between a short story (now at 2500 words) and new novel (now at 50K words -- a milestone!) #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

Huge writing day today. 2100 in the novel, up to 48500 now. And 1000 in a new short story which I'm invigorated by! #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

1000 more this morning, and found a fun foil for my protagonist. Murder scene, gruesome, lots of googling to find out the nuances of blood. 46300 total #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

1500 words today and 400 (unexpected) ones yesterday make for 45500 total! #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

2000 words this morning before every pet in my house starts freaking out. I've been up twice to stop cat fights. #stopfireworks #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

Another 1500 words today, and I hit the 40K mark in the manuscript! #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

Another 1500 words down. Up to 38000 now. Had fun new digression which adds tension - hoping to keep it up! #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

Was slightly off on my total word count yesterday, but made up for it today, with 2600 written for 36600 total. #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

After a weekend away (I got a bit of writing done), back at it this morning, with 1500 down and 35000 total. Have to re-outline though, as I'm now completely off base with what I'd intended! #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

2500 more words today (30500 total). Hard at first but I got into the groove eventually! Plus, edited two chapters of Penumbra. Am on a mini vacation over the next few days so may not be doing quite as much... #writing #keepmeaccountable #wip #writinggoals

And what a whirlwind four years it was! Back in 2021, I decided to go back to school for a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. COVID had sucked my energy dry, and I needed something exciting and challenging. It was one of the best decisions I made.

1800 more words today - 28,000 total. Woo. They're out in the city and about to investigate! Where are your more memorable places in London to write about? #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel #wip

2500 words this morning, 26,200 total. I'm about 25% of the way through my plot, but about 33% of the way through my intended word count. Yikes. Someone sharpen the scissors! #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel #wip

1500 this morning, up to 23,700 words now and things are moving. Saw someone post that plotting a murder mystery is like a masterclass in brain activity, and it truly is. I have so many notes like, "put clue here" or "need to answer this mystery." #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel #wip

I wrote an additional 2,000 words this morning. Unfortunately, I also realized I had been heading in the wrong direction, so the last 2,000 words had to be cut (to be saved for later). So, back to 22,000 but headed in the right direction now! #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel #wip

Another 1000 words this morning, 22,000 total in the draft so far. #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel #wip

1000 words today, like pulling teeth. Don't know why - I knew where point A and point B were, but getting our protagonist there took a Herculean effort. Still, we got there. And now I passed the 20,000 word mark! Like a car, it needs a tune up. #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel #wip

Up to 19,000 words total, added an extra 1500 this morning (to an extra 500 later yesterday after I posted). Having a ball finally introducing the detective I've been seeding throughout the opening :)

Another 1500 words this morning; 17,000 words total now. Extra exciting news, though, is that I have no work after 2pm so I'll hopefully be able to get back to it...if I can #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel #wip #writing

1500 words this morning; 15000 words total. Had one of those strange mornings where nothing seemed to come to me but then somehow I hit my count and kept going. Have an open day, so I'm gonna edit and write some more. :) #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel #wip #writing

1700 words, 13,300 total, on a roll this morning. Have to stop to walk the dog and say hi to the family but I think I'll try to get back to this - things finally feel like they're moving! #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel What was a murder mystery might turn into a thriller

Another 1500 words this morning and I feel like I could keep going! But I know that it's good to pause, let things settle. I'm at 11,600 now, but I can feel everything dragging. I need to get them to the hotel asap! #writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #newnovel

New publication alert! I'm thrilled to announced that my short story "Leap Years" has been published by The Worlds Within! As with many stories, this one started in one of @rebeccajohns.bsky.social classes (on Speculative Fiction) and just spiraled from there. theworldswithin.net/leap-years/

#WritingUpdate Got slightly more than 1000 words done today -- finished a section and am up to 10K in my novel. It's much too long (they haven't even made it to the hotel yet, which is where all the action is) but better to have it all down now and cut later #KeepMeAccountable

After a day of not feeling well yesterday, I am back on the writing train this morning. My #writingupdate is another 1000 words, with a total of 8880 at the moment, and a decent if desperately-in-need-of-rewrite opening to chapter 2 in the bag. #keepmeaccountable #newnovel

#writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #writinggoals today I hit 1000 words, and finished a draft of Chapter 1, at 7600 words total. It's too long for the first chapter, so I suspect in the edit I'll cut that down significantly. But, onwards we plow! Tomorrow, the start of Chapter 2 ...

#writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #writinggoals today I hit 1500 words, but really only like 4 of them are any good. But, I'm up to a total of 6600 and almost done with chapter 1.

#writingupdate #keepmeaccountable #writinggoals hit 1000 words today (5100 total) but it was a slog. Still, I introduced one of my villains and victims, and that was fun :) #newnovel

Got up early to do 1000 words this morning//4,000 total. Lots of stuff happening today so I don't know if I'll be able to do more, but happy to hit my goal today and I love it when a character does something you just don't expect at all. #writingupdate #writinggoals #keepmeaccountable

#WritingUpdate 1000 words this morning, bringing me to 2500 total. Wish I had longer to write :( had to stop right in the middle! #newnovel #keepmeaccountable

Why am I doing this to myself?? Keeping myself accountable on my summer project... #writing #newnovel #writinggoals

And I can officially say, this book isn't just great, it's extraordinary!

Fantastic new #boardgame Blog series!

For my #realitytv folks - I've got an essay on @thetraitorsus.bsky.social & #medievalism in this scholarly collection from the @dpupopculture.bsky.social conference & @pbooth81.bsky.social ! #TheTraitors #AcademicSky @alancumming.bsky.social www.blurb.com/b/12401207-r...

I should tag @depauldoctorwho.bsky.social here too!

It was such a fun chat!