Rewatched I, TANYA. Absolutely brilliant film. Great character study. Complete indictment of professional skating, the media, and our national obsession with loving and hating public figures.

A character named Detective Marino just showed up in my WIP. Should I make him the tallest guy around @sobelobooks.bsky.social ?

Happy #NationalPencilDay!!!!! I love these Blackwings!!! (I wrote an entire book by hand, Blackwing on Rhodia paper.)

Okay. Just saw I’ll have access to the recording for a week. Can now stop guzzling coffee.

Ha! Only just realized I gotta stay up past 10pm tonight for @sgj.bsky.social Must start drinking coffee now.

Congrats to Mike Lombardo and everybody involved in the filming of DEAD FORMAT. Mike’s a great writer, and I can’t wait to see this film when it’s all done.

Watching Funny Farm for the first time in years. I’d forgotten how great Madolyn Smith is. Perfection.

One of the reasons CHRISTINE is a favorite: “And I think I understood then that what really scares people about growing up is that you stop trying on the life-mask and start trying on another one. If being a kid is about learning how to live, then being a grown-up is about learning how to die.”

Immense congrats to my buddy and fellow educator @robertottone.bsky.social on his new book @clashbooks.bsky.social It sounds so good, I’m starting it tonight!

Way to be scared of nothing, Idaho. Absolutely pathetic.

Had a blast talking slashers, writing, and whether or not Phil Connors in Groundhog Day really changed or was simply grooming Rita @katsilvaauthor.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vob...

Scientists Filmed a Whale Birth. The Surprise: Mom Had Many Helpers. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/c... "social reciprocity" = an idea so primitive we humans couldn't possibly imagine such an existence.

What a wonderful conversation (and a stellar reading!). @thekingcast.bsky.social @brezwrites.bsky.social @ericvespe.bsky.social @wilwheaton.net podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

I’m a big fan of this podcast. @finalgirlspodcast.bsky.social always has insightful, nuanced discussions. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

It’s going to be a screaming good time!!!

Excellent conversation. Three great writers talking their craft. @claymcleod.bsky.social @ericlarocca.com podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

Terrifying. youtu.be/xkPbV3IRe4Y?...

Hot take: this is a good movie. I really enjoy it.

Tomorrow!!!!

Another great book from a great author and a good person. Also, the Q&A in Palahniuk’s Substack felt especially apt for me today: “For anyone reading this who is struggling to get your work out there and break through, please do not give up.”

Got a rejection today that made me fall into the typical “writer’s despair,” but as I was reorganizing books, I opened @jeffstrand.bsky.social ‘s book on the writing life and saw this.

Next up on WINTERVIEWS... I'm excited to get to talk to @authordileo.bsky.social all about slasher horror! We'll be leaping into the topic on Thursday March 26th at 8 PM EST, so make sure you add it to your calendar to join us then! www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vob...

Found among my father’s books. A little night reading by way of Jack Martin (AKA Dennis Etchison).

@brianmcwriter.bsky.social is a great writer, but after listening to this discussion, I know he’s also a good person. It’s all about the love, the readers, and the joy. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Later this week, join me and @katsilvaauthor.bsky.social to talk about Slasher Horror! www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vob...

LOVED this conversation between Jason Alexander and @katsilvaauthor.bsky.social His openness about being in a cult, his joy when discussing psychological horror, and his all around coolness is a true delight. I got to get my hands on his work. www.youtube.com/live/xG4NkJc...

Here’s the link: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... @talkscaredpod.bsky.social @robertottone.bsky.social

Re-listened to this “discursive” episode, and it’s as wonderful as I remembered. Hey @talkscaredpod.bsky.social doesn’t @robertottone.bsky.social have a new book publishing later this year? Maybe time for another conversation…

Love this. Human-made art. (Thanks @austinkleon.bsky.social for sharing in this week’s newsletter.) youtu.be/qBOAHKaD1kM

If it is AI, shame on the author. If it isn’t, this is unfortunate. Meanwhile, I’m writing longhand my work-in-progress.

The go-to thought-terminating propaganda line “Adapt or die” regarding AI is pure nonsense. It’s a fear tactic, an either-or-fallacy, and a desperate attempt to trick everyone into surrendering their autonomy.

Looking forward to these!

Finished BUNNY @monaawadma.bsky.social this morning. Really good stuff. Loved the entrenched interiority of the point of view.

Excellent episode. Great discussion.

Yet another great discussion @finalgirlspodcast.bsky.social. I really enjoyed THE SUBSTANCE. It’s a brilliant twist on the Hagsploitation genre (e.g. films like What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), and this episode makes some wonderful points I hadn’t considered. (1/2)

Just discovered the In Madness podcast. Seems like cool guys. Loved this conversation with @sgj.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

The Bad News: Trump doesn't have to face the voters again, so he can do whatever he wants. The Good News: In 1039 days he's gone for good.

@blacktopkid.bsky.social This is my student Makai. He’s a writer in my creative writing class. He was feeling uninspired, so I gave him a certain werewolf story. He devoured it. He said, “I’ve never read anything this cool before.” Also, as you see by his expression, he thought it was scary too.

Book submitted for approval . . .

Very cool! Gonna snag a streaming ticket. townhallseattle.org/event/stephe...

As usual, loved this episode @finalgirlspodcast.bsky.social I saw IT FOLLOWS in the theater all those years ago, and I just rewatched it in December. A really brilliant film. The discussion here is nuanced, thoughtful, and really engaging. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

When asked why horror, I reply: Horror doesn’t look away. Horror says what we’re afraid to. Horror helps us make sense of the senseless.

To fully annotate my teaching copy (I hope) of THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER @sgj.bsky.social, I read along with the audio and today I listened to the final 4 hours, and man, this story hits harder and bites deeper on every reread. Absolute masterpiece. I hope to get it approved for my 11H curriculum.

Beware, indeed.

Writing something with edges sharp enough every reader will bleed. #5amwritersclub

FINAL PASS this weekend and then it’s off to print. I haven’t talked about this one too much but will start writing about it on my Substack. It’s the darkest book I’ve written to date, darker than Children of Chicago, but it’s one I’m most proud of. 🖤✨ www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803654...

It’s been six years since the worldwide shut down, and it’s #FridaytheThirteenth again, so that means it’s time to get slashing. Only 12.99 for 8 movies. See you on the other (bloody) side. (Especially you, @sgj.bsky.social)

Reading the brilliant intro to this collection stopped me dead this morning when I saw that @stephenking.bsky.social was 45 when he wrote it. Stopped me, of course, because I am 45 right now. A crazy thought for the 13-year-old me who first read these stories. Ripley’s Believe It or Not, indeed.

Happy #Fridaythe13th. Slash it up today.

On the left, Tabes, 12, who we raised from birth and bottle fed and who survived being hit by a car, losing vision in one eye; and on the right, Starling, 1, who had to have a back leg removed because of a genetic defect in a lymph node. They’re friends. #Cats