Doing my own research about how "doing your own research" as a concept has become so corrupted by numbnuts that I don't know if we can ever dig ourselves out of this information-illiterate hole. Throw out the entire internet and start over. #writing #infolit #research

Definitely both -- preferably within the same story! But I'll take it either way. 😊

And they're basically saying in that good-bye email "hey if you have all your writing stuff stored on our servers, good luck getting that back while thousands of other folks scramble to do the same." #nano

As of a few seconds ago, their website is still up, including the donation page. They do say they'll be shutting that down slowly and that they've cancelled all recurring donations, but I'll be very curious as to how smoothly this goes.

#AutismAcceptanceMonth starts tomorrow. Please don't give to Autism Speaks; their $$ rarely supports autistic people/families, and their 'awareness' work portrays autistic people as burdens, not humans. From @autisticadvocacy.org, a good org to support instead. autisticadvocacy.org/considerthef...

Fun fact: I sent a Doctor Who spec script to the BBC 12 years ago and they rejected it because I'm not British and then I got Pete Davidson (the celery one) to autograph it at DragonCon's 50th DW anniversary celebration. He wrote "sorry!" on it. ... I think it might be time to try again. 😁 #writing

I've been in a major writer's block since the start of the year (I WONDER WHY) and every time I complain about it to my partner he quotes Finding Forrester and his Sean Connery is so startlingly accurate it's starting to jar something loose in there. #writing #ptkfgs

Working on a poetry month presentation for April and I just have to show y'all this banger from a local elementary school student in the '80s that makes me feel so seen I might have maybe cried when I found it. #writing #poetry

If you are a neurodivergent reporter, I cannot stress the importance of blocking at least 30 minutes between meetings, phone calls or Zoom interviews to go to the bathroom, review research, eat food, stretch and generally give your brain time to rest and transition in between focused conversations.

Me: I gotta go poke around in the woods this weekend. My partner: For a story or for yourself? Me: Yes.

Trying to follow my own advice to not get antsy waiting on a potential source to get back to me by researching spooky stuff for another client. #writing #journalism #research #podcasts

💯Where can I sign up for both parts of this (both Auntie and Aunt-ee)?

Me, working on my little articles and book projects in February 2025:

The safest place to learn how to become weird is books. #BookSky #writing

This is the part of reporting-based writing that is both the most agonizing and the most transcendent. It's what keeps me at it. #writing #journalism

Time to get off here and get to work.

Support trans reporting support trans reporting support trans reporting support trans reporting! (Also stick to the Washington Post while you're at it.) Support trans reporting support trans reporting support trans reporting support trans reporting support trans reporting support trans reporting

I’m an NSF panel reviewer that was scheduled to meet today. Just got notice that all NSF panels were canceled today. I reviewed some innovative proposals in support of students. Devastating if these scholars don’t get to do this work. For the love of science & students I hope this is just a delay.💔

I'm awkward at this part of my job so please let me mention that I would love to research and write cool evidence-based stuff for your podcast or publication. parasocialinvestigations [at] gmail [dot] com I will emerge from the info ether just for you #writing #podcasts #research #freelance

Writing apocalyptic short stories is keeping me sane, and @bluevilla.org was kind enough to publish one ("Butt of the Spear") last month. Go read it and the excellent company it keeps:

Hi everybody! Back to post about the awesome live episode that @arcanecarolinas.bsky.social put out from Ret-Con. It's about the Pope Lick Monster, which led to some interesting unrelated research results. But here's the relevant spookiness! arcane-carolinas.libsyn.com/ac-00115-ken... #podcasts

Please contribute and share as you can. This is unprecedented and the folks in NC need all the help they can get. actionnetwork.org/fundraising/...

@theferocity.bsky.social Really needed to hear this at this exact moment! Thanks for the psychic inspiration!

"Babe, you should start a crime writing group called Prose & Cons." I -- #writing

"Her last note is 'penis joke,' so she's definitely writing it all down." IT'S CALLED BACKGROUND COLOR, MA'AM #writing #reporting #interviews

Freelancer self-care is organizing all my recent notebook scrawls into progress spreadsheets to make it easier to move forward than when I was trying to decipher "poison flower? Uncle Tom?? ANTARTICA!!" #writing

Got a rejection letter that said my short story was in the "top 3%" of submissions and I don't know if that was true or just a nicety but it did make it go down smoother. #writing

If I don't at least pretend I'm going to write every day I never get anything done. I do give myself a few days to a week of a break after I've completed a big section (& if I completed a work best believe I'm taking the whole next month off because this shit is DIFFICULT). #writing

I asked my bio prof uncle about controversies in his field & he said, "I don't know who cares, but [extremely niche disagreement about a factor of science I'd never heard of before]." I care!! Pls send me your science controversies for me to write about & get other people to care! #science #writing

@erinmorgenstern.bsky.social Hi Ms. Morgenstern, I'm a freelance journalist working on a pitch about how NaNoWriMo's administration decisions over the past year have fractured their community. Would love to interview you about your experience if possible. Thanks and have a good one!

I stg each and every one of these has a different purpose & I rotate through them like the tool wheel in Animal Crossing. #writing

Happy Pitch Day to those who celebrate #writing #journalism

Who thought it was a good idea to not record the time management webinar that, let's be honest, none of us in the target audience had a 100% chance of actually viewing in the moment?

Major #writing update: finished a chapter!! My brain is doing victory laps while my body is gonna go do some chair yoga because my shoulders have crept up to my earlobes for the last three days.

In that breathless stage of tension where I've finished my giant research document, I've hit send, and now I'm crossing my fingers that I heard my client spell out their email address properly. No pingback so far. *knocks on fake wood desk* I'm gonna go take a walk. #research #writing

My favorite part of #journalism is when my bullshit meter pings and it ends up being right. My least favorite part is when this means I'll be spending the weekend combing through a Terms of Service with a highlighter. (...I'm lying, I love that part too.)

So glad I'm not the only one who uses this system! #writing

@socialistdogmom.bsky.social Hey Molly! Love your work & new show! If you are taking pitches, I want to nominate Lee Atwater, a Weird Lil Guy instrumental in the "Southern Strategy" that paved the way for the current alt right. I'm a podcast researcher & would love to write about him for WLG!

ABIS IS BACK, BAY-BEE! This month is kicking my ass but I'm still writing and here is my total hours written so far: 17 I'm behind (heh) in my butt-in-seat literal time, but I HAVE written at least a bit every day so far, and that's what I'm really here for. #writing

ABIS (August Butt In Seat) numbers for today: 8:30-9:30 a.m., 60 minutes. Finished a major scene! #writing

ABIS (August Butt In Seat) number for today: 5:40-6:20 p.m. 40 minutes. Was hoping to do long but hey, I'll take it. #writing

Experiencing fiction while I'm writing my own is so inspiring! Currently re-reading George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice & Fire series. He is so good at making his characters human & centering the story around that. Grand Ideas are still there but as tone & goals rather than foreground. Love it #writing

ABIS (August Butt In Seat) notes for today: wrote on my novel 12:30-1:50 p.m., 80 minutes. Yay! #writing In totally unrelated & surely not dangerous news, my friend gave me a free PS4 (she bought a 5) & Red Dead Redemption II is on sale for $30 & oh oops I just tamed a horse. ...uh oh.

August Butt In Seat (ABIS! I'm here all month, y'all) count 8/2/24: 6:50-7:30 a.m., 40 mins. Writing a full hour before getting ready for work is hard. Will make up the time this weekend. #writing

Doing an August writing challenge and using you SkyWriters to keep me accountable. No word count but I do have a butt-in-chair hour goal for August: 31 hours in 31 days. Updating here each day so it's public and embarrassing if I fail. #writing 8/1/24: 6:50-7:30 a.m., 40 mins

YOUR ENEMIES LAMENT YOUR VERY EXISTENCE. DO YOU NEED TO ASK FOR HELP?

Just had a very interesting interview with a park ranger about firefly sex. How's YOUR week going? #science #writing

Making stuff is hard. It’s always helpful to hear that somebody likes it!

Hey y'all. I'm still reporting on #NaNoWriMoSucks and the fallout of the National Novel Writing Month scandal, so please let me know if you'd like to talk with me about it. Will accommodate your privacy needs, of course.

Many thanks to Patches the cat, who let me interview their human over the weekend. Enforced much needed cuteness breaks during a discussion of a heavy topic.