“The threat of games is not in telling us who we are, but in telling us how the systems around us operate, revealing their hypocrisies, our own complicities, and how we are in fact produced through that system.” - Of Floating Isles by Kawika Guillermo (p156) #booksky 🌎📚💙🌈📚💡

Very sick, but still at work, finishing up my newsletter. Some great recommendations in this one: a Palestinian novel and nonfiction about the US-Mexico border, plus a relaxing puzzle game, because we all deserve a break. Subscribe today to get it tomorrow! #Booksky 🌎📚💙 estrempler.com/newsletter

I originally wrote "Godsend" for CLOVES Literary, an online-only arm of Reservoir Road. Their niche was fiction and CNF under 500 words dealing with trauma, nostalgia, and difficult memories. "Godsend" handles church misconduct and abuse through the blinkered perspective of a teenage victim.

Thank you for giving “Godsend” a second chance at life! Finally available online again after several years in the dark, “Godsend” is an under 500 word micro fiction about a church misconduct investigation. Read it today in Bulb Culture Collective.

A little bit of outdoor chaos fluttering through a crowded coffee shop, perching on chairs and tables, feels like an oddly fitting intrusion into the final chapters of “All the Little Monsters,” @davidarobertson.bsky.social’s excellent memoir of mental health. 🌎💙📚

We'll have a table at the Baltimore Book Festival next weekend. Copies of Baltimore Review 2025 and print compilations from years past, games to play, and friendly BR editors who love to chat with readers and writers. If you're there, stop by and say hello! baltimorebookfest.com

We’re open for submissions! Seeking arts and culture writing on a wide range of subjects, by Red River Metis writers of all experience levels. Full guidelines at: www.liisprii.ca/submission-guidelines #metis #michif #indigenous #writingcommunity

In the grand tradition of introductions, we inaugurate Li Isprii with an interview with the interviewer, Li Isprii Creative Director Jeremy Allard. A deep and wide ranging conversation touching on editorial intent, beadwork, fashion, photojournalism, and mixology. www.liisprii.ca/magazine/202...

Our very first edition of “Metis Reads” features upcoming books by Conor Kerr and Katherena Vermette, two anthologies with Metis editors and contributors, and other titles of interest. Jump in and find a few great books available for pre-order! #Metis 🌎📚💙 www.liisprii.ca/magazine/202...

So excited to be providing editorial support on this new project headed up by my husband, Red River Metis beadwork artist and bar manager (and now Creative Director) Jeremy Allard. This launch is the culmination of so much thought, work, and process, and I am so incredibly proud!

Send us your micro-masterpieces! #litfic #writing

A delightfully unexpected book haul from @arsenalpulp.bsky.social, including three early pre-orders! 🥳 They’re shooting right up to the top of my TBR. 😁 #reading #bookhaul 🏳️‍🌈📚💙

We’re on Chill Subs! @chillsubs.bsky.social And we’re open for submissions! Seeking arts and culture writing on a wide range of subjects, by Red River Metis writers of all experience levels. #metis #michif #indigenous #writingcommunity #indigisky www.chillsubs.com/magazine/li-...

Today’s quiet reading spot in Banff. A book, a beer, a bit of lovely sunshine, overflowing flower boxes in the window. What more can you ask for? ✨ Today’s reading: The revised edition of Halfbreed by Maria Campbell, and Times Square Red, Times Square Blue by Samuel R Delaney 🌎📚💙🏳️‍🌈 #reading #books

"But I know now that going from place to place is just something exiles have to do. Whatever the reason, the earth is never steady beneath our feet." - Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa 🌎📚💙✒️📚

Get ready! We’ll be running a special micro call, September 1-14. Accepted work will appear in a micros category in our fall issue. #lit #writing #litmags #writingcommunity

I haven't posted by #Litmag starter pack in awhile. Find some you love and share this post. Sooner litmags see Bluesky as a viable option, sooner they leave X/Twitter. go.bsky.app/7cWNC2j

Are you in the New York area? Join @clairewzhang.bsky.social and our wonderful contributors for a reading party on August 22nd at The Living Gallery in Brooklyn! #lit #litfic #writingcommunity ✒️📚💙

#AlwaysReading 😜 Just grabbing a bite to eat in town between errands. Never a bad time to read. #books #reading 📚💙

I've got some excellent books lined up for this month's newsletter, diverse recommendations dealing with subjects like passing, disability, and the ways we come to understand the world around us. Delivered to your inbox bright and early on the 10th! #books 🌎📚💙✒️📚 estrempler.com/newsletter

“but when the British East India Company forces all 105 carats of it into the centre of the coronation crown Queen Elizabeth calls it merely heavy” Delving into health, disability, mental health, and trauma with “a fate worse than death” by Nisha Patel. #poetry ✒️📚

Now open for submissions and reading for our fall issue. Knock our socks off. baltimorereview.org

One of a million similar stories, but this account of the clearance of the entire island of Rum, off the north coast of Scotland struck me as a compelling example of the brutality that too often arrives with notions of "private property." Quote from "Love of Country" by Madeleine Bunting, p.142 📚💙

In “Root Lady,” Fay Sachpatzidis spins a dreamlike, non-fiction tale of mystic power and the fragile pull of belief. #litfic 🌎📚💙

I’ve been deep in the weeds this week on a project I can’t talk about yet, but I’m still here 👋 and I’ll be back chatting about books and writing as usual next week, when I finally have time to read again!

Beyond thrilled to announce I won the Baltimore Review flash fiction contest! baltimorereview.org/summer_2025/...

Good summer reading y'all, coming to you from the hard-working volunteers at Baltimore Review.

Some fantastic pieces in this issue! You really can’t go wrong, but some of my personal favorites are the gorgeous “Todos Tienen Su Final” by Sam Flatster, and the intricately constructed “A Cupful of Fish Food” by @maureentai.com. #litfic #writingcommunity #authors

Not a bad place to do a bit of evening editing ✨ #writing

Putting the finishing touches on this month’s newsletter. News and updates, plus diverse media recommendations. This month: a multilingual novel, a wlw movie, and a slice-of-life look at the lives of trans teens. Delivered to your inbox early on the 10th. #writing 🌎📚💙🏳️‍🌈 estrempler.com/newsletter

The word processor tries to convince me “adoptees” is a typo, while I remember a woman who told me indignantly you can’t adopt babies from Laos. Period. For a hot second I didn’t exist, or I was a liar. ~from "Cycles Like a Shapeless Child" by Bryan Thao Worra AGNI Online

Authors, no matter who asks (and some are apparently asking), you should never waive your “moral” rights. A publisher with a signed “moral rights waiver” could publish material offensive to you under your name, or credit your story to someone else. #writer #writingcommunity #amwriting

“We tried it all. We fought in your wars, we joined your churches, we spoke your language and gave up our lands and just tried to be friends, signed treaties. What else can we give you?” - Jim “Jake” Maloney, quoted in Truth and Conviction by L Jane McMillan 💙📚💡

Currently reading “Truth and Conviction” by L Jane McMillan. It’s a useful overview of Donald Marshall Jr’s life, the important court cases he fought, and the broader issue of justice and sovereignty that affect Mi’kmaw communities in Nova Scotia. Well researched and surprisingly intimate. 💙📚💬📚💡

Banff’s National Indigenous People’s Day event moved indoors due to rain, but folks showed up anyway. Caught a performance by hoop dancer Lakota Tootoosis and bought a few of Métis potter Corry Pepper’s pieces (proceeds from the pin go to the Downie & Wenjack Fund). Great way to spend an afternoon!

Grateful for rain drenching dry pines, for quiet corners, and cafés that continue to serve coffee after 6pm. Time to review some submissions. #writingcommunity

Spotted an excellent beaver on our evening walk! 😊

Another lovely, quiet evening out in Banff with a book ☕️🌺✨ #reading #books ✒️📚💙

Been a chaotic few weeks over here, but I’m back and hard at work on this month’s newsletter. Sign up now to get three unique recommendations in your inbox bright and early on the 10th! Always featuring diverse authors, interesting subjects, and excellent writing. 🏳️‍🌈📚🌎✒️📚💙 estrempler.com/newsletter

A beautiful evening view, a pint of good beer, and a good book ✨ #books #reading 📚💙

“…the trees fell away, and the prairie opened up. Grain silos bobbed, buoys on the horizon. Windbreaks like the anchored masts of distant ships dotted the land...one moment you were in the bush, and the next the land convinced you there was no such thing as bush.” - Hold Your Tongue ✒️📚💙🌎📚

Pro-tip: if you want to let an editor or publisher know about your newsletter or web fiction or whatever it is, the worst possible way you can do that is to subscribe them yourself to your Substack.

A fantastic first slam poetry night at ArtsPlace in Canmore. Heard from some wonderful, brand new, local poets, and crowned a writer of gorgeous verses about life, love, and Palestine our first ever winner! #poetry #slam #poets #writingcommunity

A reminder—in case you have some stunning work to share—that our current submission period ends May 31. After that, we'll be working on our summer issue (includes contest winners) and our annual print compilation. baltimorereview.org

Fabulous to hear from local artists Sol Chiniquay and Nic Latulippe as part of the Decolonizing the Narrative series at the Banff Centre this evening! They’re doing some cool stuff, including facilitating a film photography program together in Bow Valley high schools.

Rainy day, quiet patio, cake, coffee, and a good book. What more can you ask for? #writingcommunity #poetry ✒️📚💙☕️

"Have you, my darling ever wanted to understand the prairie in me like I want to understand the sea in you?" - Quote from Marilyn Dumont's poem "having said nothing, yet" in her 2001 collection "green girl dreams Mountains" #poem #poetry 🖋️📚💙

Patricia Westerhof’s “Canadian Guide to Creative Writing and Publishing” is everything I wish I’d had when I was first starting out. Professional advice on every stage of the process: writing, revision, queries, grants, queries, agents, and more. #writing ✒️📚💙 www.dundurn.com/books_/t2211...

No three-star shrugs, enthusiastic recommendations only! Each newsletter includes new picks from diverse authors across fiction, non-fiction, and a wild card category that keeps things interesting. Don’t miss out!

Through no particular planning, this month’s newsletter has turned into a celebration of Indigenous voices, featuring three excellent recommendations across fiction, non-fiction, and television. Sign up before May 10th to have them delivered straight to your inbox! 🌎📚💙 estrempler.com/newsletter