my bad, forgot to attach a cat pic...

Pretty much over Bluesky, thinking about starting a free Substack to, y'know, actually connect with other humans. Any #authors out there who've tried it: Pros? Cons? Success/horror stories? #WritingCommunity (such as it is)

in which MAGA gets schooled on the Streisand effect... wapo.st/3JAzLjz

Honored to share an @spj-norcal.bsky.social Excellence in Journalism award for investigative reporting with @peteraldhous.com for our @insideclimatenews.org Captured series, which shows how pesticide regulators serve industry over health. Congrats to the other winners! spjnorcal.org/2025/10/30/s...

This just in: an interview with myself about my new novel, Proles. Tough, but fair. Enjoy! #WritingCommunity (such as it is) www.barryjbergman.com/interviewwit...

John Smoltz is the Pete Hegseth of baseball announcing.

What are the odds he invites her to the White House, asks to fondle her 18-karat gold medal, and NEVER GIVES IT BACK? www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/t...

The post below got 63 likes and 3 reposts. Have I mentioned that my novel features a cat?

It's come to my attention that the #writingcommunity hashtag is good for exactly zero (0) likes, comments, and reposts on #BlueSky (research shows it's not just me) #cats

My comments with @lizagross.bsky.social @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/1209202...

Why JD Vance probably thinks he's a good person

simultaneously enchanted and repelled

delivery day

It's out... #writingcommunity

Totally agree. This story linking Malaria to Jeffrey Epstein MUST NOT be dissseminated any further. bit.ly/45lLBq0

Starting a GoFundMe campaign to airdrop copies of Slaughterhouse 5 into this arrogant prick's crucifix-shaped swimming pool. (Not my first choice of location, for the record.) Who's with me? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The world's blowing up, the country's on the brink, and Bluesky's all but useless for promoting books. And yet, I persist. Coming next week, like it or not...

2 weeks from today, barring an industrial accident... #booksky #writingcommunity #postingintothevoid

Assuming books are still legal in August... #booksky #writingcommunity

It looks like we have some new friends, which means it’s time to reintroduce ourselves. 🥳 Hi! We’re Bookshop.org, an alternative to Amazon for buying books online where every single purchase financially supports independent bookstores.

wonder if it's too late for me to start learning to play the spoons #badcareerchoices

My latest unscientific survey suggests that #writingcommunity, #amwriting, #amquerying, #books, and other such #author- related hashtags are the kiss of death for Bluesky posts. Watch this space for updates.

probably should have mentioned upfront that the main character has a #cat

Before I started writing for a living I worked for two years (and two months, but who's counting) in an Arizona copper smelter. And now this, coming soon from Serving House Books:

“He never published anyone because they would sell,” Ms. Martin, his wife, said. “He published them because he liked their work.”

The "hero" of PROLES, my upcoming NOVEL, works in this Important Industry in an era when AMERICA was ruled by a CORRUPT "Leader" named Nixon. Total coincidence! Enjoy!

Let it be known that owing to consistently anemic engagement on this platform, I hereby renounce all thoughts, hopes and dreams of ever becoming a social media influencer. Thank you for your attention to this matter. [gratuitous cat pic attached]

If my math is correct, the 10 most recent posts in my #writingcommunity timeline have a total of 6 likes. [gratuitous cat pic attached to boost engagement]

The Gulf of America

Happy to report that my upcoming 70,000-word novel, Proles, doesn't contain a single semi-colon. (Fans of em-dashes, OTOH--I know you're out there--will not be disappointed.)

US ECONOMY OBLITERATED!

Fiction lovers of every gender: Keep an eye out for my upcoming novel, Proles. THE FUTURE OF MEN IS IN YOUR HANDS

Reupping: It's getting closer (and hotter)

Haven't tried it yet myself but I have the distinct impression that social media is a lousy way to sell books. Thoughts? #booksky

Santa Monica

"We are staying here to liberate the city from ... this mayor" is how you announce a coup

totally normal

“Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy.. sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while.” --DJ $trump

My comments with @lizagross.bsky.social in @insideclimatenews.org on a recent paper in @plosclimate.org insideclimatenews.org/news/0406202...

Dissenting opinion: "Mountainhead" is NOT "savagely funny." It's not savage. And it's not funny. It's boring. And disappointing.

I assume from this that $trump was executed and replaced by a robot clone

Hey Blue Sky readers, writers, artists, & small biz lovers, please give some loving to this little ol' page for my press Serving House Books. It's a great community of writers & artists with a super catalogue of excellent titles! bsky.app/profile/serv...

With PBS caving to $trump, will watch the unexpurgated version on Kanopy, available via my local library (and probably yours) #DoNotObeyInAdvance

the party of *some* states' rights (some rights, some states)

Looks like I picked the wrong presidential term to celebrate the upcoming publication of my debut novel...

I assume from this that $trump paid Kid Rock and all the other "artists" who played at his rallies

Look, what's the problem? If you want to read books with these invented titles, just ask the chatbot to invent the matching manuscripts in the style of the respective authors. Then summarise them for you. Then write reviews for Goodreads. Meantime your physical body can be harvested for its organs.

I assume from this that $trump has cancer & is hiding it from the public

And then there were two: the lovely and talented bonded sibs Mookie (gray) and Cosmo

a moment of silence please for all the lives needlessly snuffed out by bartenders for having a few too many