All social media genuinely makes me feel bad about myself, but if I ever want hope of returning to some form of a literary life, then I have to at least be tangentially connected to it, and I am just not sure how sustainable that is.

Vaccines cause adults Tylenol causes pain relief Neurodiversity is good

I’m finding it hard to make meaning out of anything. No friends locally. No family locally. Third career, one I don’t care about even slightly but had to remove myself from previous one for many reasons. Total isolation. I try to do stuff. Just doesn’t matter. Nobody to talk to about anything

I think one of the omnipresent pieces of fact that drives my inability to create is knowing that I have nothing to say that hasn’t already been said better by so many other, better people many times over.

Planning on finally finishing a few pieces of writing this week. Been a while since I said, yes, I think I’m done.

It is pretty amazing to see people go from “the left is the enemy of democracy and must be purged” to “who can really know why good kids do bad things?”

Is Bluesky very active for many people?

Have to post joy. What a fun time teaching my little one to paint and have fun with it without being perfect.

Day 22 of the #sealeychallenge August 22nd- Shared Blood, Luke Wortley This collection of prose poems from @lukewortley.bsky.social and @gnashing-teeth.bsky.social feels surreal and magical and true all at once

Yall I started reading a “Terms of Use and Privacy Statement” in earnest tonight, and I’m just so not here for any of it.

Sent a manuscript acceptance offer today for one of our 2027 book picks & she said yes! We now have: Both book picks for 2026 Both book picks for 2027 More info soon 🤐

My titles are getting fun and playful again. Thanks in particular to @danielmiller.bsky.social and @toddedillard.bsky.social for so many reminders to make writing fun again.

Just now occurred to me...I don't know of any formal prose poetry. Certainly there has to be something out there, no?

Understood this is hella niche in 2025 but one thing that gives me joy is that two interests of mine are in the best competitive meta they’ve ever had — Warcraft 3 and NCAA wrestling. Not bc it’s evenly distributed in levels but bc the skill is diffuse enough to be awe inspiring at the top level.

For those who have taken a long time off writing, how do you come back and not just give up immediately? Maybe, more generally, how do you build resilience in total creative isolation?

I don't know if I'll ever get over the disparity between what I wish to create and what I'm actually capable of creating. It totally freezes me, even when I'm motivated. I just don't even know if there's a legitimate reason to continue to try and do anything creative anymore.

Whatever. I'm writing, I guess.

Sometimes music and art CAN heal. I don't feel the need to call out any particular piece, but maybe soon I'll be able to articulate this feeling of figuring something out while having a good soundtrack and tactile timeline.

Anyone know if Gulf Coast is still operational?

Trying to get back into reading and writing more consistently is hard. It’s like when you get super disappointed in your physical fitness level when you step outside to run for the first time after an extended hiatus due to injury and mental health issues and American life and existential dread.

Rediscovering art with my boy as a way to heal our perfectionist and horribly impulsive tendencies has been a revelation.

Not sure why I never thought I had a worthy short story collection…because I totally do. If only it weren’t a negative investment to try and get it published 🙄

Gonna try and rebrand as a slightly less morose person because I've become slightly less morose by being in community with others and making deliberate choices to be better. Finally writing, reading, and creating again.

Anyone else get username jealously? So many people are so much cleverer than me lol

Not sure when I forgot how to have fun creating — painting, writing, drawing, making games, singing, etc. — but it’s a damn shame to think I might’ve lost years of joy in the act of trying to make something from essentially nothing.

Sometimes Pride for me is a sad affair. I remember all my chosen siblings we've lost, and I remember that sometimes there are still people who narrowly define queerness and have a sense of entitlement of what information is on public display to proxy for what counts as being part of the group...

I never did give my thoughts on the conclusion of the ncaa wrestling season, and I should probably do that at some point, even three months late lol

This hits hard. In fact, publishing my manuscript caused inordinately more pain than it brought any sense of relief. Just one writer's experience with a publisher who put in zero effort and doesn't have the reach I thought I did. I'm still very proud of that book, but I'm sad it never had a chance.

sometimes it seems like people want to get published like it will Solve Their Problems and I just want to confirm that after you publish they don't give you a new childhood, you still have to live with yourself, it's just that some of that self is on display this month at a Review

I’m not crying you’re crying because we’re bonding in my sketchbook together with a communal piece.

There's something weirdly freeing about having a tech issue gobble up a lot of your writing from the past. I'm still inclined to write, and I'm not sure how good any of that stuff was, as I'll never see it again, and I'm eager to just continue the work on my newest stuff.

shot in the dark. but any writer friends on here located in/near New Orleans?

Yall fuck it. I’m in the “prove them wrong” stage of my writing life.

I poem'd today. First new stuff I've written in months. Just a draft. Bloated. Probably repetitive, but it's me on the page. I can feel it. There's a crackle, a stone dropping from untold heights. It may never be good, but it's there.

Always great when someone takes the time to comment how different you look than a profile picture taken not that long ago. Thanks, buddy, appreciate that. 🫠🙄

thoughts will come soon on the end of the NCAA D1 wrestling season, and that tournament was a doozy

Literary identity crisis, here, a little. I'm still writing, and I'm still always thinking about it, but I am so far removed from the literary world, now, for so many reasons. It feels like it's honestly harder to publish in the types of places I always dreamed of publishing than ever. More insular.

Bull City Press's INCH was my first ever publication. Happy to promote them even if AWP is probably never feasible for me to attend again.

If you plan to be at AWP next week look for Bull City Press at table T-304! Whether or not you'll be in LA, you can grab BCP titles at AWP prices! bullcitypress.com/on-sale/

Hey, all. Launched a Substack about board games, but not the way most people think of board game coverage. Imma get into the meaty tissue of why games matter and how we connect it to culture and wider gaming context. Check out Issue 0 as a preview here: lukewortley.substack.com?r=64yt2&utm_...

Seen discourse here recently that has me thinking deeply vis a vis posting about literally anything other than current events. I live this stuff every day as a federal grantee, and something I've noticed is that we all need permission to keep posting about books and art and shit we like.

Been in the lab analyzing so much of what I’ve seen this year in NCAA D1 wrestling…and I’m not gonna do a full breakdown. These are my picks by weight class for the podium to earn All American honors in Philly next weekend.

All day long.

@boardgamebarrage.bsky.social Great episode on the Hall of Fame! My principal issue and why I side with Kellen's skepticism is that the BGG HoF is actually missing the point by a pretty wide margin. Halls of Fame are about people, not products - designers, publishers, artists, etc.

My first time ever recording a piece of my fiction is up on Short Story, Long to accompany my story, "Inheritance." If you have the time and didn't get a chance to read it online, I'd love for you to give it a listen! ashortstorylong.substack.com/p/inheritanc...

I’m sorry. I have the most beautiful cat. His name is Burrito. Here he is.

ngl it's hard to justify continuing an overwhelming majority of the time, but I have to give myself permission to have extended absences from the page.

I gotta get to a dual meet in Blacksburg, VA for Hokies wrestling. Seriously, the way they create environments and events with clarity of announcing to make people fans is close to unmatched at a major university that isn't already an institutional power in the B1G or Big XII in the sport.

Catching up on the Zagreb Ranking Series tournament, and I have to say that both Spencer Lee and Zahid Valencia looked impressive. There are reasons to be concerned for Team USA (at least for the men) but also plenty of arguments for optimism. I think David Carr also acquitted himself quite well.