Today marks the 190th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo. Rather than "forgetting the Alamo," as some authors have suggested, we should remember it as a "testament to the complexity of historical understanding." bit.ly/4aWFKdm

A favorite #birddivination I keep coming back to. As always, find it as a solo print and part of the deck of 100, along with the story and process behind them, at almanacofirds.org

NetGalley 11/30 five star review of The Last Woman: "...the love the main trio of girls felt for each other and the way they built lives around protecting themselves resonated with me. I can definitely see this book as a dramatic period piece film starring Saoirse Ronan…"

"In 2023 almost half of Americans didn’t finish a single book. Surveys show that a big loser is fiction. Perhaps this plague of illiteracy has played a role in the disappearance of truth and, with it, liberal democracy." George Packer bit.ly/49xZtQd

"We cannot deeply love anything without becoming vulnerable to loss. And we cannot become separate people, responsible people, connected people, reflective people without some losing and leaving and letting go." On necessary losses: www.themarginalian.org/2023/11/21/n...

We need an HHS Secretary who respects science and does not make policy based on conspiracy theories. Vaccines are safe and effective. Kennedy is threatening the health of our kids and all Americans. He must resign.

“We live only as long as someone remembers us. Only as long as someone cares.”

My novel manuscript and my scrap file are briefly exactly the same page count, which means I'm currently writing two words for every one that stays in.

Forgetting — those who have left us, and the parts of ourselves we have left behind — is a kind of death, but we can come back from it through memory and love, which twine the lifeline tethering us to everything that is beautiful and enduring. www.themarginalian.org/2024/11/21/t...

Another good review of my new novel, The Last Woman.... bit.ly/4122V0w

Here are some advance reviews of my novel The Last Woman from Goodreads.... bit.ly/47jMpNi

If your day could use a burst of delight, listen to David Byrne perform "One Fine Day" with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus: www.themarginalian.org/2020/05/14/o...

The man who had his doctor report that he’s 6’3”, 238 lbs fired the person in charge of reporting labor statistics.

We gotta do what we gotta do to fend off authoritarianism 🤷‍♂️

Monthly reminder: Many people have a book in them, but it takes a special kind of freak to leave the Land of Laziness, cross the Plains of Procrastination and Insecurity Mountain, find the Blade of No One Made You Do This, and use it to cut your chest open and yank that book out.

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

❤️

No doubt about it. It's an excellent stimulus to be more creative and to work towards more clarity.

#writingtip #writingtips #bravewrite #amwriting #writingcommunity inventingrealityediting.com/2...

So. which Stephen king book are we doing today, folks?

My novel The Last Woman now available for preorder from TCU Press and listed on NetGalley! tcupress.tcu.edu/9780875659343/

Speak Truth.....

“…attention—to others but also to architecture, landscape, vanished histories—becomes a way of belonging; without it, people are alienated from their environments and become disturbed.” A novel about trying to forget terror and the toll forgetting can take. bit.ly/44gdWh9

"The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time." I keep coming back to Mary Oliver's meditation on creativity www.themarginalian.org/2016/10/12/m...

Liberty and academic freedom are on the line here in TX… #AcademicChatter #skystorians 🗃️ www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/t...

Today the review for Starman After Midnight was published in Publishers Weekly Magazine (!!!) in their editorial Fiction section! My little novel-in-stories is featured next to books from the Big 5. Wish my parents were still alive to see this! When I told them in 1990 that I was majoring ... 1/2

Congrats to TCU author Catherine O'Connor for winning two Spur awards and to another TCU author, Patrick Dearen, for being a finalist this year as well as a previous winner. bit.ly/4clh7Gu

"What is the use of safety if it deprives you of everything else?" This is a great review of what sounds like a compelling novel.

We’re officially less than one month away from the release of my debut collection, THE LOWEST BASIN: ARIZONA STORIES, coming April 29th from @cowboyjamboree.bsky.social! (Screams)

Book conversation online. You can sign up for our Patreon, which has free and low cost options, to support @refusing2forget.bsky.social

Proud of Austin. The city is making plans to fill many of its vacancies with federal workers who have lost their jobs because of DOGE's draconian cuts. "We value public servants," said Austin's mayor. bit.ly/41xTPbs

“We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output. The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.” —Rick Rubin, THE CREATIVE ACT

If you would like to get out of Silicon Valley's pocket and stop letting algorithms decide what you see, give the Marginalian newsletter a try — an oasis of sanity, free, ad-free, algorithm-free, entirely human, made of feeling and time for 19 years running: www.themarginalian.org/newsletter/

Here's a billionaire actually doing some good: MacKenzie Scott. Her $19 billion in charitable giving has been ‘transformational’ for nonprofits. Such a bad ass! fortune.com/2025/02/18/s...

What are the connections between historical fiction and academic history? In what ways can historical fiction "fill in the gaps" of biographies and other historical works? Here are the views of Pulitzer winners Geraldine Brooks and Eric Foner. bit.ly/42zOB0X

Richard Wright had next to no encouragement when he wrote Native Son. "You can believe in yourself too. Who knows what impact the art you make today will have? Let someone else tabulate the price of eggs, while you spend your time focused on sharing your most exceptional gifts."

Two months till pub day!! ✨ My new novel, THE IMAGINED LIFE, will be out from @aaknopf.bsky.social on April 15! Preorder link in replies.

"The Founders’ concern was really two fears combined: fear of an unscrupulous leader and fear of an unreflective people....[T]hey also feared...extraordinarily rich Americans whose aims did not align with democracy." bit.ly/418we1P

This is a win. For now. This piece gives you a sense of the devastation these NIH cuts would cause. As Jim Acosta says, The Siege On America. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/u...