Just wrote and sent the most fraught email of my professional writing career. It’s not a career-breaking thing or anything. Just made me nervous. I’m always nervous when asking for things, and this is a big one. We’ll see what the publisher says.

My coolest ancestor—not a direct-line, but who cares—was Richard Bilby. Richard was one of three people sentenced to death in England after robbing some silver candlesticks from a church. Then his sentence was commuted to Transport to the American colonies. When he got to the colonies, he ran.

A short thread: I was working on my "spaceship heist in enemy territory" novel, and I hit a point where I thought "What even is this story? This plot falls apart at the halfway point!" So I set it aside so I could think on it. It's not yet as ready as I thought it was. 1/5

Had a great time today on a SF writing panel with @andreagstewart.bsky.social, @jasondenzel.com and @authormdneu.bsky.social, moderated by Michele Drier. In fact, that was the most fun I’ve ever had on a panel, and for once I didn’t leave it feeling stupid! Glad to have met all three of you!

With regard to our berobed and beshitted Justice Alito: If the Founders had no capacity to conceive of illegal immigration, then they also had not the imagination to conceptualize automatic weapons. Originalism is and always was a pathetic, desperate lie of miserable, ideological shitheels.

I suspect part of this is pure BS, and part is driven by the BS “AI detector” sites. I put some text I wrote in 1997 through one and it flagged it as “25% AI-written.” Nope. Unless mom and died lied about where I came from.

Excellent thread.

I pretty much lost my primary game group in the divorce. I’m considering starting an online game set in a Marvel universe that is a blend of MCU and Comics continuity, set in the wider galaxy after the Snap as a band of people come together to try to help hold the galaxy together.

Well deserved. IMHO Sinners is one of, if not THE most important film of 2025.

The r/NewAuthors community on Reddit saddens and frustrates me. So many people there have not a clue about the industry and just refuse to listen.

I really detest celebrity impersonator accounts. No, Bluesky, Salma Hayek is not following me, nor is she liking my posts. It’s absurd that anyone can just impersonate someone that famous with no controls to prevent it.

I'm coming to a healthier place re: the divorce. I move out in a week. I'm over the tears for now. STBXW and I had a conversation this morning that was helpful. Neither of us regret the last 22 years; we had a good marriage for a long time, and even when it went bad, it wasn't awful. 1/4

Imagine thinking you had your life figured out. And then realizing how very wrong you were. Divorce isn’t morally wrong. But it is painful and there’s no way to lessen that pain except to survive it. Some day this will be just a part of my story. But right now it’s overwhelming.

The most fun part of being published, by far, is hearing from readers who love my stuff. It happens rarely so far (thems the breaks when you’re still early-career), but one fan message can keep my heart afloat for weeks.

My newest novel is OUT! Available in print and ebook in all the usual online haunts. nancysmwaldman.com/book-liminalis

Going through some Major Life Stuff right now. Can’t really say more at this time. But it’s keeping me from writing or doing other hobbies for the time being. But I’m still here, and I’ll be here when the storm has passed. And then I’ll finish this iteration of This Damn Book.

California lawmakers have passed measures that would ban federal and local law enforcement officers — including ICE agents — from covering their faces, and require them to clearly identify...

Tell the truth.

This secondary character in my latest project just became an old Peter O'Toole in my mind's eye. That voice, those eyes... ah, Magister Wyngarde, there you are!

26602 words. 1/5th of the projected word count. Maybe it's time to send it to the publisher for their "right of first refusal" look. Hmm. Well, perhaps a couple of cleanup passes first.

I'm not sure how, but I just finished a session where I wrote 5,532 new words for The Wardens of Andari, a Science Fantasy novel: High Fantasy tropes with a Science Fiction backstory.

Taking my Maggie girl to the vet for the last time. We had hoped for a dignified death at home, but she is in too much pain. I have many good pictures of this cat over the last 16 years, but this one will always be one of my favorites.

No cops at Pride includes the cop in your head who tells you to police other queer people. Learn the difference between being uncomfortable and being harmed. Deal with your discomfort on your own time. Pride is for the community, not just you.

Has Trump slapped tariffs on Wakanda yet? It’s gonna happen.

Well, okay then. 1344 new words, and most of them are actually pretty good. Still don’t have a solid title for this book, but I have 3 chapters, and that’s not nothing.

I used one of my own novels in a lesson on how to cite sources. That's not the interesting bit; that was just weird. The interesting bit is that the page I randomly opened it to had a typo nobody caught until now. When my next novel comes out I need to be a better proofreader. So does the pro.

Nothing like finding out one’s novels were illegally used to train a LLM/“AI”

No. Christians feel persecuted because there is a vast media apparatus telling them that they are persecuted. There is no evidence whatsoever of large-scale discrimination against Christians in this country.

A hearty THANK YOU to Mr. William Keating, @keating.house.gov of the House of Representatives, for standing up for decency today. We need more like him in the House and Senate. Democrats need to stop pandering to the President and his cronies and SPEAK TRUTH.

@scottdrakeford.com I’m only in Ch. 20, but I love how you set up a sympathetic traitor and worked the tension between his overall decency and the understandable, but awful, compromises that have put him in a very bad place. I keep wondering when it will come out. I hope he makes the right call!

Do not call them peace talks. They are a summit between two neo-Nazi freaks in Washington and Moscow whose downfall is as fated as the coming of the dawn.

Just saying, Gigi Edgely is now top of my “wish we were actual friends” list. She’s such a blast to talk to; I look forward to seeing her every Gallifrey One.

@mclabop.bsky.social you’re missed at Gally1.

At Gallifrey One! Feel free to say hi! If by some weird and ridiculous chance you’ve got one of my books with you, I’ll sign it! Which won’t happen, most likely, but still!

So say we all.

I may have chosen the worst time to teach 1984 in terms of my own mental health. But these kids need it so I soldier on.

Both my grandfathers fought in WWII. One fought on a PTBoat in the Pacific. The other fought in France. I’m certain they would both be disgusted today. My paternal grandfather LITERALLY fought Nazis. He died decades ago and only met me as a baby. And I know beyond doubt he would not like this shit.

It’s been a good writing week. Now we’ll see if I can keep it up.

Finally started @scottdrakeford.com’s THE FATE OF SILENT GODS. Meal continues to be an idiot in chapter 4, but there are signs he’s beginning to figure it out. This book is even better than Book 1; highly recommended for Fantasy fans who enjoy competent-but-flawed protagonists.

For me, the hardest part of writing is starting a new scene.

A couple of years ago I met a writer who, in an earlier career as an NBC exec, was one of the guys in the room who put ER on the air. I’m doing a rewatch of the show now, and every time the show amazes me, I find myself thinking “Thank you, Javi.”

It’s been a long, hard slog, but Chapter 1 of WEAPONS NEVER DIE is finally done. (Tentative Title)

My ankle has been out of commission for over a week. Hopefully by next week I can get back to the gym and get more walking in.

Same here. Moya is life. I was a fan of that show before the first title sequence played.

Our cats: Frankenstein (Frankie), Rory, Mòrag (Maggie), and Loki (aka Meatball).

Chapter 1 of the new book is almost complete. I'd say that's not brag-worthy, except it's taken me SO LONG to get to this point, through multiple rewrites, re-plotting the entire book when I realized I had a plot hole the size of Sagittarius-A* and had to fix it.

My last post did not age well.

Yeah, I’m just waiting for the world to stop burning.

It’s my curse that some of my favorite people live nowhere near me. Even my local friends all live too far away.

This is a thing of beauty.