As a two-time member of the layoff club, it pains me to remind everyone to regularly PDF your work and if possible, export a backend archive somewhere personal

Thank goodness I hadn't met my irony quotient yet today.

I still am. And I don't care if anyone ribs me about it. I'm avoiding this plague exactly like the plague. People who aren't just perplex me.

Heat!

The Republicans picked a candidate to run for the vacated Santo seat. She's a Democrat. www.nytimes.com/2023/12/14/n...

Oh man, I was the mop with which the floor was wiped. Hopefully better next week!

I edit Book Riot's nonfiction newsletter, True Story. I'm looking to feature more new releases by university, indie, and small presses. If you have a ‘24 nonfiction titles that you think I might be interested in covering, please send the info my way!

He's a dilly!

I'm in for $100

Mug check! My Powell's Books mug is an old reliable. I've had it since I lived in Oregon! My great curse to anyone: May you be locked in Powell's overnight without your reading glasses!

435 in today's Slate Quiz. Two were lucky guesses! slate.com/news-and-pol...

Mx. PIx and I hope you will be distracted by watching for incoming birds.

Holy smokes! I just finished Prom Mom by @lauralippman.bsky.social and (as usual with LL books), must not read anything else for three days while I recover from reading this. There are not enough stars to rate it correctly. Haven't read it? DO SO. www.harpercollins.com/products/pro...

Turn out I've been stealing books from the Brooklyn Public Library. I am a scofflaw about many things (walking between subway cars!) stealing from the library is a bridge too far. Turns out when I "checked out" a book, I scanned the wrong bar code. Fortunately I did return all of them.

since there are more people on here now: I am the book content editor for Tor.com and I'm looking for 2024 sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and genre-bending speculative books! If you're a writer or a publicist with an SFF book out next year, please share the link/info here! (or email me)

One of these flew over my house in Oregon once. HUGE wingspand and shadow. My first thought was oh my god pterodactyl! The Audubon Society lady was kind enough not to laugh in my ear and said, since I lived on the river, it was probably a Great Blue Heron.

When someone starts their query with "I'm so excite to query you" or "I'm thrilled to offer you my new book" the only thing it does is make me snarl. It's a query, not an two for one offer from Sharkbucks.

My heart is breaking at this. I'm sure yours is too.

well, I won't need to schedule a cardiac test. My heart had a jolt today that proved it's still ticking. Came up out of the subway after hittingthe PO, and there was a fire truck in front of my apartment. (fortunately there was no fire in my building or any other. I wasn't sure why FDNY was there)

my new go-to phrase.

I'm heartbroken to hear that John Nichols has died. I had the great honor and joy of working with him on publicity for his book An Elegy for September. He was simply a wonderful man. www.nytimes.com/2023/12/02/b...

Honest to godiva, I may be too much of a wuss to read it, but I am sure as hell going to buy it.

"They drown me when my uncle dies" is one HELLUVA first line.

First real sign of winter: blew a fuse when I plugged in my iron at the same time I was running a little space heater.

Honestly, the only way I can see to cut my spending on books is to quit subscribing to @roncharles.bsky.social newsletter. His latest temptation: www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-324-06...

Wow, I surprised myself this week! I scored 415 in today's Slate Quiz. Think you can beat me? - slate.com/news-and-pol...

I'm glad you know you are a total savage. You probably make your cats eat on the floor.

The Bitter Past by Bruce Borgos in the Audible deal of the day! $2.99! Narrated by James Babson, this is a terrific crime novel set in Nevada's high desert. www.audible.com/pd/The-Bitte...

I blame @roncharles.bsky.social for much of my reading delights. Among Friends arrived today. 8.5pounds of gorgeous book about publishing.

These people who engrave their art in letters and lines and notes of fire across our hearts.

I was rather annoyed my mail service center had not cashed my check paying for my mailbox. I was quite prepared to huff and puff when I went in to get packages today. Checked MY mailbox, and there was the check. I'd addressed it to myself. I quickly unruffled my feathers, and unhuffed my puff!

"A good writer gets better only by learning to cut, to remove the ornamental, the descriptive, the narrative, and especially the deeply felt and meaningful. What remains? The story remains." David Mamet, born on this day in 1947

"we're not done looking at it yet!"

Bonus post on the blog today: jetreidliterary.blogspot.com

Some heart holes take longer to heal than others.

I kinda love the color of that card.

One more thing (of many!) that I liked about The Astoria Bookshop was they had Lakota America on the front table. It's a seminal work on American History; it changed how I looked at the settlement (there are other words too) of the west. Dense, essential reading.

NYC/Astoria, Queens fiends! I've just come from the Astoria Bookshop (1 block off the N-train) and holy moly what a GREAT store. I found two books I'd been looking for, and one author new to me that I can't wait to gobble up! You'd be nuts to not stop by.

My week of cat sitting has commenced! Mx. Pix and I are planning a rousting round of tv-watching and laser pen chasing. I'll chase the laser dot as soon as they learn to hold the pen!

It's so frustrating when I have to pass on a book that I really like, because I liked it as a reader and not as an editor or an agent. There is a huge difference between a book I can see potential in, and a book that I can help reach its potential.

Shellacked on this week's quiz. I scored 385 in today's Slate Quiz. slate.com/news-and-pol...

“The last time I felt like I had my finger on the pulse of pop culture I was about 9 years old and had just successfully argued with my mother to let me eat dinner while watching Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. It’s all bee downhill from there.” wwrdeepdives.substac...

1. Slingshot 2. Hammer 3. Firearm My sympathies here. One of the businesses that backs up on our courtyard has some sort of malfunctioning compressor. The noise is just godawful.

I have seen a moose in person (Banff, Canada) and of course I got out of the car to get closer (yes there were signs saying DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR) and those things are NOT SMALL.

I REALLY want to know why he wanted to set his apartment on fire. I mean, I know why I want to set *mine* on fire...

"All my life, surrounded by strangers, strangers I never knew, strangers I've known all my life. Now I was surrounded by strangers I’d just met. I grinned that them, nodding and smiling." wwrnotebook.substack...

We're just lucky not to be banned from Old Town Bar.

"Does it matter how it ends if it can't end well." from "The Dream Won't Come True" by Kathy Fagan (Poetry magazine Nov 2023). this line really resonated with me this morning

"M-W has not responded to requests for comment" They're too busy trying to figure what to do with an EIGHT FOOT HIGH PLASTIC MAYO BOTTLE! Honestly, if I were the groundskeeper there, I'd quit on the spot.

I LOVE this poem with every fibre of my being.