Chaos is too gentle a word for fascism, for the meanness and cruelty we’re witnessing every single day, but it's exactly what this administration wants to provoke. #NoKings

ICE has been deployed to *provoke* civilians, not to protect them. They want to throw tear gas canisters and get people on the streets riled up, all to create footage for Fox News and Newsmax, et al., that will be used as a pretext for imposing martial law to lower voting rates in Democratic cities.

I recently interviewed #tourettesyndrome advocate and all-around amazing person Vernell Jones for my substack. Watch here: youtu.be/thbBgG7kOoU?...

This is a) utterly terrifying and b) vital. Don’t turn away. The crisis is fixable because it is, ultimately, political. We know the chemistry. We decline the action necessary.

I was thrilled to write a story on adults with #tourettesyndrome for AARP. It features some fantastic humans who've dealt with TS all their lives. Few studies have explored the impact TS has had on us adults with TS, I write, but that’s beginning to change. www.aarp.org/health/condi...

I'm looking forward to this event with @sejalshah.bsky.social at Brighton Memorial Library next week. bml.libcal.com/event/14829483

Prepare for the upcoming weekend when you treat yourself to THE BOOK OF LOSMAN by @kesemmel.bsky.social on #Audible! buff.ly/fI1eG0H @susanschulman.bsky.social

Now that Trump has taken over the national guard and plans to deploy them to DC, a reminder: he’s in the Epstein files. The President of the U.S. is a rapist.

I wrote about 'normalizing' #tourettesyndrome this week in fiction and in culture. kesemmel.substack.com/p/normalizin...

Honestly can't think of a more straightforward example of how men profit from the sexual degradation of women

The less I'm on social media the happier I am, and the better my relationships with other people, *real* people. Of course, that means I have almost zero engagement on this platform.

For my substack this week I wrote about 11 Bob Dylan songs that have deep artistic meaning for me. Call me a luddite if you will, but in the age of generative AI, I'm going to embrace great human-made art and cling to it. Click on the link to see the list. kesemmel.substack.com/p/11-great-b...

I saw an academic abstract published by Taylor & Francis today that acknowledged use of ChatGPT “to proofread and improve syntax.” In other words, to “sound vacuumed of personality and just like every other academic article.”

In Part II of my two-part essay on AI and the future of literature and storytelling, I write about a resource that's become devalued in our culture: empathy. Give it a read. If you like this, subscribe for more. shorturl.at/fChh7 @sfwp.bsky.social @susanschulman.bsky.social @ipgbook.bsky.social

The world we live in increasingly resembles an episode of “Black Mirror.”

I’m proud to be on this list. Specifically, The Book of Losman spotlights #tourettesyndrome. Though there’s no cure, Losman is willing to partake in a dubious trial in hopes of finding one. Things kind of go off the rails for him. It’s a comic novel with heart.

One of the tragedies of our time is that, instead of banding together as a human species to fight the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation (our biggest existential threats), we are fighting the system of governance that we thought we’d eradicated 80 years ago.

Very cool to find The Book of Losman on @clmporg.bsky.social's reading list for Disability Pride Month! Get The Book of Losman here: buff.ly/kYY19zZ @sfwp.bsky.social @susanschulman.bsky.social @ipgbook.bsky.social

Thank you @clmporg.bsky.social for including THE BOOK OF LOSMAN by @kesemmel.bsky.social in the reading list for Disability Pride Month! buff.ly/35ZMzAj Get THE BOOK OF LOSMAN right here: buff.ly/kYY19zZ @susanschulman.bsky.social @ipgbook.bsky.social

We are truly entering a dark period of American history, one marked by cruel violence, greed, and deliberate misinformation designed to infect the nation with the deadly pathogen of hate. The script is being written by vicious people now. Let’s hope the histories are written by other, better people.

Thank you, @morelle.house.gov. I just called your office to express just this hope. I’m happy you are my congressman.

If you don’t know who your House representative is, find out here. Then call them and tell them to oppose the Big Brutal Bill. www.house.gov/representati...

I was truly honored to be selected as the keynote speaker at last weekend's virtual #ticcon25. Writing the address took a couple late nights over the past few weeks, but it was so worth it. I'll post the full text on my substack this weekend, but's also here: touretteconference.org?fbclid=IwY2x...

ICYMI, @kesemmel.bsky.social‬ recently sat down with the Life of Books Podcast to discuss the Art of Literary Translation! buff.ly/ilGPRAO Listen to THE BOOK OF LOSMAN on #audible! buff.ly/PrL2Tyh @susanschulman.bsky.social‬

If you are looking for an audiobook this weekend, let me recommend my debut novel, The Book of Losman (@sfwp.bsky.social). It's available at @libro.fm. Tristran Wright is a wonderful (and 100% human) narrator. @dreamscape-media.bsky.social libro.fm/audiobooks/9...

New Substack! "Not a day goes by, and usually not any waking hour of any day, in which I do not feel some compulsion to loudly chuff air through my nose or mouth, jerk my head, blink, or twerk my neck like I’ve got Nikki Minaj’s fanny strapped to my shoulders." open.substack.com/pub/kesemmel...

Unfuckingbelievable. And yet it's trump so it is fucking believable.

Check out @taracampbell.bsky.social‬ and @kesemmel.bsky.social‬'s conversation on Speculative Fiction over on @jmwwjournal.bsky.social‬! t.co/hrX6YkyVJR Don't miss out on reading CITY OF DANCING GARGOYLES and THE BOOK OF LOSMAN! buff.ly/79Y1vQP @susanschulman.bsky.social‬

As a writer, I vacillate between believing everything I write is garbage and thinking everything I write probably is garbage. I try not to dwell on it either way.

"People will turn to this genre to explore the biggest questions we face, searching for answers and ways to communicate our fears." Today at jmww, novelists Tara Campbell and K.E. Semmel sat down recently to consider speculative fiction. jmwwblog.wordpress.com/2025/05/26/s...

Up on @jmwwjournal.bsky.social today, this conversation between @taracampbell.bsky.social and me. We discuss the genre on a sliding scale, defining the broad boundaries authors have made using examples such as Lesley Nneka Arimah, Margaret Atwood, and more. jmwwblog.wordpress.com/2025/05/26/s...

Wonderful essay today in @literaryhub.bsky.social by Elizabeth Costello. "As in our own society, decisions about language reflect and create systems of social control. People in power aim to stay that way by choosing what is and isn’t named." lithub.com/gorilla-unde...

Wouldn't it be great if the Democratic Party could get their heads out of their asses and develop an actual strategy for giving working and middle-class folks a reason to believe there is an alternative to this absolute chaos?

The glamour of being a writer the night before a reading includes drinking alone in a crowded rooftop bar while reading a book.

I need a new audio book for a long car ride tomorrow, one read by a HUMAN. What #audiobooks are your favorites?

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling an overwhelming sense of grief at the destruction of everything that made our country great. Everything. And the lack of empathy in this regime is simply crushing.

On Sunday I'll be reading from THE BOOK OF LOSMAN as part of @sfwp.bsky.social's spring launch along with @samuelashworth.bsky.social @wendyjfox.bsky.social, @stepheneoannou.bsky.social, @adamalsirgany.bsky.social, Monica Prince, and Aina Hunter. Register here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

If you're in Ithaca tonight and want to learn the ins and outs of publishing a debut novel, come check out @roohichoudhry.bsky.social, @aggeliki.bsky.social, @jsavrankelly.bsky.social, and me at the SpringWrites Festival. This event will be at @buffalostreetbooks.bsky.social. Starts at 5:30.

Great turnout for @stepheneoannou.bsky.social launch for this book tonight here in Buffalo. Standing room only. @sfwp.bsky.social

There are just TWO WEEKS until our launch party at The Cordell in Bethesda, MD from 12-3pm EDT with readings by @samuelashworth.bsky.social, @poeticmoni.bsky.social, @stepheneoannou.bsky.social, @kesemmel.bsky.social, @adamalsirgany.bsky.social, Wendy J. Fox, & Aina Hunter! RSVP: buff.ly/fD5IIZX

It's not really #SundayFunday unless you're listening to THE BOOK OF LOSMAN by @kesemmel.bsky.social on #audible! buff.ly/2ZD4GFu

Join @kesemmel.bsky.social, Aggeliki Pelikidis, Jennifer Savran Kelly, and Roohi Choudhry next Friday for their event "What to Expect When You're Expecting (a Debut Novel)," hosted by Spring Writes, starting at 5:30 EDT! buff.ly/I47QJlD

On May 21, I will be reading from my debut novel, THE BOOK OF LOSMAN, with @carolynkorsmeyer.bsky.social and Elizabeth Costello at @hallwalls.bsky.social thanks to the great people at @talkingleavesbooks.bsky.social. 7:00 p.m. @regalhouse.bsky.social @sfwp.bsky.social

This seems like a good time to share this substack post I wrote about all this shit. kesemmel.substack.com/p/turning-ba...

One of the benefits of keeping a journal is discovering random notes you took years ago on possible future stories with zero context. Like this: "character names her dildo Long John Silver."

I published this essay exactly one year ago today. Huge thanks to @noahmichelson.bsky.social. Since then I've met a number of amazing people in the #tourettesyndrome community, and I've grown quite a bit for the better. I'm glad I finally told this story. www.huffpost.com/entry/touret...

New substack out. Give it a read and subscribe. "To make art is to have a creative, independent mind—and that’s no good to an authoritarian who wants to control your mind: what you think, what you say, what you write, what you draw, what you believe." open.substack.com/pub/kesemmel...