I recently tried writing poetry; got rejected (I mean; what did I expect? lol) But a problem w/ poetry vs stories is it's kind of all or nothing. A story can have parts that can be improved (tighten the opening, boost characterization). But a poem is vibes: either works or it doesn't.

You shouldn't argue w/ criticism of a story (esp if an editor was nice enough to offer comments in the first place). BUT sometimes I'll wonder if the reader understood the plot/themes/tone, etc. Like, is it not a good vers of the story I wrote...or not a good vers of the story they assumed it was?

Honestly there is no surer sign that politicians like Mamdani actually have a shot at reversing the massive and growing plague of income inequality than the way the billionaire class is absolutely shitting its pants right now. Their fear gives me hope change is actually possible! More Mamdanis now!

Alright, what's your #comicsdna? The comics and books that were formative to you. At least four, more if you're nasty.

On the other site, an 18-year-old Zohran canvasser described the legendary Wallace Shawn as "the actor who plays Dr. Sturgis on Young Sheldon" which is honestly adorable

There've been a LOT of audio-adapts of Dracula in "recent" yrs but this Halloween👻 I listened to what I *think* are the 3 main vintage ones (and all squeezing it into 1 hr - later vers tend to be longer) 1938 Mercury Theatre on the Air (USA) 1949 Stage 49 (Canada) 1975 Afternoon Theatre (UK) 1/7

A story of mine has been rejected 24 times! On one hand maybe it's time to give up (tho I like it) 'cept a number of the rejections told me it had been: held for consideration; made final round; etc; one even said they liked it but it wouldn't read well for a podcast :( Bridesmaid ne'er a bride, eh?

Another fun Halloween listen

Outbreak of Fear An old BBC radio serial by R.G Wingfield; nice mix of small town police procedural and slowly mounting horror. Nice spooky listen. (Random Halloween radio/audio drama plug)

Sounds good to me.

Carl Kolchak: An Appreciation New post from me on a great collision of actor and character, and the films, shows and post-cancellation afterlife of one of the greats arowofopengraves.co.uk/2025/10/29/c...

The difference between an archetype and a cliché is whether or not you, personally, are bored with it. Likewise, the more stories that try to subvert/up-end a cliché the more the subversion becomes the new cliché and the original archetype because fresh and original :)

Funny thing about (waves hands helplessly) everything and the way RWers talk about "wokeism" is that I'm the whitest, straightest guy you'll meet...and 90% of things labelled "woke" (or "PC") I understood when I was, like, 8. It ain't hard! I assume credit my mom (more by example than lecture) 1/2

Another Philip K. Dick story that has lingered with me is a much more literary, character focused story: "Foster, You're Dead!"; the sci-fi element is minimal (pre-fab bomb shelters can be installed like Jacuzzis - I assume that was SF) but it's a profound look at Cold War/A Bomb paranoia

A story that comes to mind when people talk about "great" SF stories - and a story that either has influenced some of my writing OR I like because it reminds me of things I've tried (chicken/egg) is: (drumroll) "Service Call" by Philip K. Dick 1/5

When it comes to stories, I'm both hyper-critical and sort of lenient. In that: the idea of a 10/10 movie/book/story/etc is almost alien to me (everything has flaws, short-comings, etc., if you dig into it) but equally I can applaud the pluses in flawed or problematic works (moreso as I mellow lol)

Another random audiobook post (I've been getting more into audiobooks lately, after being more gunshy for yrs): Sleep While I Sing by L.R. Wright, an Alberg novel (the books behind the Murder in a Small Town TV series); read by a few actors doing diff chapters (depending on the POV character) 1/5

A couple of my long stories pub yrs ago (in print mags) I was proud. But limited places open to longform reprints (I sent one to EscapePod; it was rejected but the note said the liked it & held it longer than norm :) An SF/detective tale about a human detective tasked with solving a murder...1/2

Yesterday, I heard doctors speak who had recently been on the ground in Gaza with Doctors Without Borders. They shared videos and photos. It was…crushing. I can’t find the words to tell you how harrowing and devastating their testimony was. They, and their Palestinian colleagues, are heroes.

A problem with "short stories" as an Art form is I find they often focus on 1 or 2 aspects: character; political theme; twist ending; world building; plot; etc. Understandable as they must prioritize the space. But I sometimes like stories that do many of those at once; like you're reading a movie!

Describe a character in Greek mythology the way someone trying to defend a politician would. I’ll start. Oedipus: Like you’ve never had sex with someone and regretted it later

An example of my getting audiobooks based on actors: I listened to The Other Couple by Sarah J. Naughton mostly because it was read by Pippa Bennett-Warner, an actress I'm not even sure I've seen in much, but have heard a lot in radio/audiodrama and just has a lovely voice. (Warm & v'ry posh...1/2

There's probably fascinating studies and essays to be written about why (so far) there seems so little (mainstream) protest Art now compared to the 1960s. Was the 1960s just a unique conjunction of social/political/creative elements? Have the Arts been co-opted? Or is it there, just different?

A great many of the (wonderful) stories about Ireland's (wonderful) UBI plan for artists tend to bury if not duck completely the hard cold fact that it was funded largely by Google's billion-euro settlement of tax-evasion charges. TAX BILLIONAIRES RUN THEM DOWN LOOT THEM IT WORKS

Watching/reading a middling movie/book I can find myself mentally deconstructing it: what was the writer *trying* to do? How could this character arc have been strengthened? Etc. In other words: less, "this is bad" and more "how could this have been better?" Every ugly duckling is a potential swan

I can’t make a living writing any type of media but the people who can’t afford to pay me to write the media can still make billions a year selling the media they can’t afford to pay me to write.

So...continuing my thoughts on audiobook of The First Gentleman by Bill Clinton & James Patterson. Read by Aja Naomi King, James Fouhey, Will Collyer (Collier?), Saskia Maarleveld on diff chapters but also playing certain characters so dialogue scenes were almost like radio plays. 1/5

Had a thought about writing tricks/tropes while listening to the audiobook of The First Gentleman by Bill Clinton & James Patterson & __ (?? Isn't Patterson more a Brand these days?); for various reasons prob wouldn't have bought for the authors but I oft choose audiobooks like movies/TV:...1/8

Had a weird writing experience: I finished writing a story and I felt sad/depressed; I realized i I had become drawn into the characters, thinking of them as people I knew, friends. And now remembered they don't exist. Very weird. Not sure that's happened before. Not sure a good sign (mentally) lol

this also drives me insane, this idea that it is the most normal thing in the world for a young (white) man to have a nazi curious phase. it isn’t!

@rhondaparrish.bsky.social has edited some great anthologies over the years! This sounds like a no brainer to support. Do the thing!

My late brother penned a spooky/Halloween ballad/poem that, after his death, was put to music & recorded by Meaghan Smith (f: Sean McCann); great song and who doesn't like a ghost story set at a Nova Scotia lighthouse? 👻🏮 "The Legend of Murray's Light" www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhWO...

For Tolkien fans, a timely passage for No Kings Eve, from WH Auden’s review of Lord of the Rings.

Listened to the audbk of The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (vers: Sonia Soto) & read by the great David Warner (heard a great reading of Haunting of Hill House by him!); I can see why it was adapted for The Ninth Gate even as I can see why it it didn't work as a straight occult thriller. 1/2

I'm also thinking of time where I'll be watching a movie/TV with characters behaving in an archetypal way and I'll ask someone from that group if it reflects their experience. They'll say "No" but they assume *they* must be unusual But...maybe they aren't. Maybe the cliché is wrong lol

An example: High School. Read a story where a teen groused ALL HSs are the same w/ the jocks, sluts, etc. The ALL bugs me, the author imposing a definitive reality. HS dramas depict cliques: mean girls, bullies throwing nerds into lockers. I don't dispute that's an experience. But it wasn't mine.1/3

In the talk of room for diversity in fiction (ie: not white/West/male) there's a diversity I don't see addressed much. A diversity of experience/POV. How stories flatten lives into a single dominant archetype. And whether many of us are too scared to point it out (for fear of looking the freak)? 1/4

My late brother's spooky epic ballad (put to music n sung by Meaghan Smith ftr: Sean McCann) "Oak Island clasps her secret close, The Mary Celeste calls home Where Glooscap walks And Combers Know That he doesn't walk alone... www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhWO...

I wrote a poem (not my usual métier) and was gonna post it here for fun, because I lack confidence and doubt I could find a home for it in a mag or webzine (since, as noted: not usually a poem writer). But then thought: should I submit it somewhere? Dunno.

Continuing my impromptu look at the history – and mis-tory (see what I did there?) – of Superman. Previously I made the point that neither Superman's alienness (liberal, minority) or his rural upbringing (conservative, WASP) were relevant initially. 1/_

My late brother penned a spooky/Halloween ballad/poem that, after his death, was put to music & recorded by Meaghan Smith (f: Sean McCann); great song and who doesn't like a ghost story set at a Nova Scotia lighthouse? 👻🏮 "The Legend of Murray's Light" www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhWO...

There are a lot of writing-advice things which I (!) think are misused/misconstrued. One is the idea "character conflict makes good drama" which too often seems to lead to stories where characters constantly bicker & snipe and/or a character is the strawman A-hole. But *that's* not the point. 1/3

Finally had time to post a retrospective of Pale Grey Dot featuring at Word on the Street, Toronto's biggest literary festival. Come check it out, dear reader! dmiasek.com/2025/10/11/a...

Celebrity deaths as you age: 1. Who? 2. I've *heard* of them 3. Kind of thought they'd already died 4. Aw...I loved them as the grandpa in- 5. Oh, Man. Thought they'd live forever 6. Christ, no. It's another gut-punch - I...I'm losing my history * 7. I think the kids watched them 8. Who? * I'm at 6

every single tech idea is like “soon our robots will be capable of playing catch with your kid, freeing you up to spend more time working on your employers’ spreadsheets”

Do most people play around on social media (Bluesky, twitter, etc) when bored at work or something? 'Cause I've often noticed it gets quieter on the weekend (like strolling down a street Sunday morning). But maybe not, or maybe just a coincidence of who I follow.

The moment is ripe for a left wing populism (to counter RW populism) but in Canada there's this (charismatic) leadership vacuum. In the US they have AOC, Mamdani, etc. But who in Canada? Kinew (maybe)? Singh was a wash. In retrospect Trudeau now looks like Hodor, valiantly holding back the RW tide

I wasn't going to post this because I decided it was frivolous and pointless (and, honestly, I'm guessing some variation has been done a zillion times by others). Then I look at the headlines and get sad, & mad, & disgusted. So why not?

A major test of whether the CDN government has principles or wants to be Vichy France. Sadly, long history in CDN of a LOT of voices (not just the Right) who think CDN's primary policy is being BFF with the US (I recall a lot a hysterical editorials - in CDN! - when we didn't join the Gulf War)