These books are SO HOT 🥵

So a wondrous new technology (or more accurately, a kleptomatic bullshit generator) that does the writing for you is not remotely helpful. Nobody asked for it. What would be more helpful would be if the big publishing companies paid us more and weren't so predatory or inscrutable in their practices.

And the big tycoons are relieved, of course, because they see AI as the magical solution. They're willing to do anything, drink any snake oil, toady to any fascist, fellate any tech bro, complement the emperor's new clothes, if it saves them from having to fairly remunerate workers for their labour.

WRITER: Hello! I work very hard to craft diverting art and entertainment projects that I offer for sale; I do this so I can afford things like food and electricity. THIS FUCKIN GUY: Oh my GOD can you not simply divest yourself of the wage-justifying paradigm, you are so cringe

I don't think we're going to have a successful Amazon boycott till we break their monopoly on indie books. They have a clever strategy to build their monopoly, which any functional government would have banned: if you want your indie book listed in Kindle Unlimited, you have to be exclusive. 🧵

Okay, because I need to try and re-spark some writing community joy after… *gestures at everything* how about a revisit on a way you can absolutely support authors you love for zero dollars: by dropping a low-stress, three-sentence review somewhere.

*Clangs pots and pans* Lesbians of Bluesky! Come get your juice!!!

Today is BACK UP DAY! 💾 Here's your monthly reminder. Make sure your back ups are working. Download your cloud writing and put it somewhere else safe. Make a copy of your procreate files. Back up your website too! Check to make sure your back ups are running and USABLE!

I cosign every single word of this anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/h...

I don't know who needs to hear this, but hating yourself isn't an integral part of the trans experience and we need to stop glamorizing it.

Voila, la raison vraiment j'aime les baguettes (I haven't written French since high school, don't at me)

PORN IS ART, PORN IS GOOD, PEOPLE MAKING PORN IS A SIGN OF A HEALTHY SOCIETY

Alternatives to NY Times Games & Puzzles 🧵 If it bothers you that your passive games subscription and clicks to the NYT Games cartel is funding their awful OpEd army and "journalism," there are a wealth of puzzle/game options less iffy/yikes complicit, and many are direct clones to your NYT faves.

every few years it's revealed that the NYT was sitting on information about some horrific thing that public knowledge of would have changed the country's course and for some reason a ton of people still give them money. you can play those games on other sites

Finally getting married instead of avoiding it because I've been so certain the right would be taken away is one of the few bright spots in the last few years. I adore my trans partner and wish every trans person this much happiness.

everybody get more transgender NOW

Lesbians of BlueSky! Come get your juice!!!

Madison Schubert www.tumblr.com/mads-schuber...

TRANS RIGHTS ARE A WINNING POLITICAL ISSUE Every single centrist claiming we must all compromise our bodily autonomy for their personal comfort is a traitor to American democracy & rational human decency. They have no place in a modern Democratic Party, toss them out. Total liberation for all.

New awareness campaign

43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"

I have Issues with the concept of writers block, such that I wrote a post on it. kjcharleswriter.com/2019/11/13/w... There are a ton of things you can do if you're struggling to write, and none of them require using the theft-based environment-ruining plagiarism machine.

Crimson Peak (2015)

WHERE IS THE LIE

One year ago, you met my queer Portland rock band/magical girl squad, and their new trans member, Claire. Soon, it'll be time for their next adventure! "Magica Riot: Full Bloom" is the sequel to my debut. This is the cover, once again by @ambisweetiepie.bsky.social. Release date & preorders soon!

Are the lesbians of Bluesky aware of Sister Claire? It's like 90% lesbians by volume

As I'm learning unmasking and being truer to myself and unearthing the parts I've buried I'm realizing how much that sort of "intrinsically annoyed at the way another person is existing" feeling can often be a fear response of "they're doing something I've internalized as dangerous"

Part of unmasking, healing, becoming, is asking whether we want to keep perpetuating those cycles, both on others and in ourselves. Asking if we're annoyed by their joy, or simultaneously scared and envious. And then asking if maybe there is a joy we should, like them, stop hiding.

And, look, SILVER AND LEAD is book 19 in the series by @seananmcguire.bsky.social. The best time to have started them was yesterday, the second best time is now. See that you do.

October Country Ray Bradbury for @tomsbrown.bsky.social and any others who love this month.

THIS FFS. I am following you on a platform because I would like to give you my money. Tell me how I can do that. Don't make it weird!!!!!

I spent the summer reporting this essay on why it seems harder than ever to sell a book right now—especially if it isn't a debut and comes with the dreaded "sales track." I'm grateful to the writers, agents, editors, publishers & experts who spoke to me for this piece: thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...

The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened on US screens 50 years ago today. Initially a major box office bomb, cult cinema outsiders and queer audiences quickly took up the film’s mantle and turned it into a unique and exciting way of engaging with the movies. Remember kids, don’t dream it—be it!!

and i swear to the fkng heavens if any of you are like "oh but it's just so hard to find sff/h by black writers or for a black audience, spec fic is dominated by white men" im gonna come to your house and physically shake you. neither of those things are true.

From today's lecture deck:

put trans women characters in things i am not asking i am commanding

The answer to why people think sex scenes in pop culture are unnecessary is that we as a society scorn people who practice the craft of making them good, and also scorn the very concept that it is a craft to begin with. It is, very frankly, a skill issue.

Random Morning Grumble: I loathe the entire concept of "cringe". Self-policing yourself because of what other people might think is a fool's game. Love what you love, be who you are, if other people are embarrassed by it, that's their problem, not yours.

Romancelandia: even if you don't read dark romance, the new Bsky guidelines should concern you. Disallowed: "Illustrated or animated" depictions of nonconsensual adult content. Why ban fictional depictions of anything? And how will consent be determined from an illustration?

writing threesome porn is like commentating a sport

just a small portion of what people spend on giant corporations like Disney would change the average indie author/artist/musician/etc.'s life this is why I ask you all to spend money supporting those of us who create outside the system and work to give voice to the things corporate America won't

people who want other people to stay in sad little grey boxes forever and never be happy in their bodies or desires are villains and cowards and they may be winning right now but by god they will lose as water smooths stone and roots break it, because that fierce joy is roots and water and life

Please get off of substack so I and many others can subscribe to your writing, boost your links, etc. I don’t get on mailing lists run by white supremacist platforms & I don’t post/repost/boost them either.

I’ve been enjoying this thread all day but I haven’t seen anyone post the comic version of this classic puchiko post, a perfect work of art coolfrogdude.tumblr.com/post/1907395...

Simply the best slide I have ever seen in a powerpoint presentation care of @premeemohamed.com’s talk at @banffcentre.bsky.social re: Putting the Science in Science Fiction

"if you're gonna wave your dick around, wave it ALL around!!!!" is actually a flawless description of a common artist bad habit where you deploy the trappings of a raw emotional experience without REALLY Going There. a TV main character's shock death just to generate a big reaction, for example

"no sex scenes unless it serves the plot" the plot is I want to see them fuck nasty and that's actually legal

Authors... Please... I am on my knees... PUT YOUR BUY LINKS IN YOUR PINNED POST. I JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY WITHOUT COMBING THROUGH YOUR WHOLE GODDAMN PAGE. MAKE IT EASY FOR ME TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY. (Links in your bio are on thin fucking ice.)