The true Gen X reaction to being lauded as the "greatest generation" would be to narrow its eyes suspiciously and mutter "whatever" when asked about it (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/t...

undefeated

“Have Yourself A Merriam Little Christmas” Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.

Come read my take on writing groups. There are lots of people who would die for their writing group—I get it. Mazel Tov. But, some stuff to consider :) (I recommend one site it's not a writing group per se, but gr8: calledtowrite.mn.co by Jenna Avery) bit.ly/48wZqCb #writingcommunity #scriptsky

"Oh, have you written anything I've heard of?"

Everyone involved in this child’s kidnapping is going to hell.

Does anyone have suggestions for SF & F in which the main character is a full time wheelchair user? Literally asking this for a friend who uses a chair and wants to see themselves in a book.

This sad and infuriating and so stupid all at once. Shannon Hale’s books are so great!

this book banning shit is *infuriating* to me, not only as a writer and a human being, but as a parent. I do not give a tiny rat’s ass what you allow or don’t allow your own kids to read. but how fucking dare you decide what MY kid gets to have access to. parent your own kids, you loser weirdos!!!

Ooh! I just realized Friday is the next #Scriptchat! Mark your calendars. 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET. (First Friday of the month.) This time I’ll get my act together and actually have an adult beverage on hand to make it a true happy hour. Screenwriters, help spread the word? #scriptsky #scriptsky+

Many extremely poor laborers back in Marx’s day owned their own tools. The Uber driver does not own the fundamental thing they need in order to own the means of production, which in this case is the digital marketplace that allows them to access customers.

Oh this looks fabulous

Many of you are freaking out because you've done the math and it's going to be very hard to finish that manuscript by New Year's. That's okay. It really is. Targets are to help you get words on the page. No one will know or care that you finish days or weeks after your date. Just. Keep. Writing.

Lit agents get on this so I can read it!

Post production is extremely complex -- every final version of a show is comprised of multiple elements. VFX, sound, color. If you're doing a massive transfer/remaster like this, PAY PEOPLE who understand how post works to supervise. You can't just cut and paste.

Just over 2 weeks to send in the info for your script (film, TV, short, or webseries) to be included in The Maximum Z 2025 Script Showcase! All the details here - maximumz.blog/2025/11/21/i... #scriptsky+

Oopsie.

HBOMax has started showing a 'remastered' 4K Mad Men and they’ve messed things up so during Roger’s oyster vomit scene you can now see the crew men with the vomit hose on the right

Adding alt text to this because this is fucking amazing and everyone deserves to read it.

This piece hit hard for me, as it tracks with why my daughter stopped playing soccer at recess. The boys wouldn't let the girls play with them--only against them and with fewer players. But when girls scored anyway, some boys would cheat and play to hurt the girls, to the point where it wasn't fun.

This whole thread.

The AI BS seems to be higher and deeper already this week. Today I received an email from Beatrice, addressed to a JD Goland (NOT me), about MY script (also NOT A BOOK):

#scriptsky A very important read for us writers with projects that do get a chance to leave our desks. Just as relevant now as it was 10 years ago. industrialscripts.com/hierarchy-of...

Friday night, fuckers! #Scriptsky

Over on Whatever, I'm doing a series on movies I consider "Comfort Watches" - not the greatest movies of all time, necessarily, but some of the most rewatchable. I'm starting the series with easily the most rewatchable movie of 2025: K-Pop Demon Hunters! whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/01/t...

Ooh! I just realized Friday is the next #Scriptchat! Mark your calendars. 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET. (First Friday of the month.) This time I’ll get my act together and actually have an adult beverage on hand to make it a true happy hour. Screenwriters, help spread the word? #scriptsky #scriptsky+

Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to write under a man’s name?”

FYI as you head into the holiday season: Shopify is a Canadian company, but its CEO Tobi Lütke is Maple MAGA in both words & monetary support (under the guise of “free speech” & “open commerce”).

“Coat bath”

*not shopping at Target intensifies*

Zowie! Total number of scripts featured in the forthcoming Maximum Z 2025 Script Showcase: the big 5-0! Still time to add yours to the mix! Check it out: maximumz.blog/2025/11/21/i... #scriptsky+

The AI BS seems to be higher and deeper already this week. Today I received an email from Beatrice, addressed to a JD Goland (NOT me), about MY script (also NOT A BOOK):

Because the outlets they are selling through are insisting on the labeling regardless, as customers are returning product en masse due to containing unadvertised AI. Steam has held firm and video game companies are freaking out. The next step is skipping AI entirely in their product.

If you'd like some good news on AI, the last few weeks have seen execs across multiple industries strive to hide AI usage labeling on their products because, as many of us have said FOR YEARS, the audience that *doesn't* want AI is substantial and we will reject your product whole hog for using it.

Lots of studies showing a similar result: people who buy "plug-in hybrids" do not, as a rule, plug them in. They are mostly used & operated as gas cars. (My take is, EVs are improving so fast, PHEVs are gonna look like a silly kludge w/in 5 years or so, well within the lifetime of a car.)

Go get em, Costco!

It’s been six years since the first reported case of SARSCov2. It’s never too late to wear a mask. It’s never too late to clean the air. Every infection avoided or delayed is a win for long term health. We can drastically reduce transmission if everyone does their part.

Very well, just because the author promo'd it: 5 US Kindle copies of @suleikhasnyder.bsky.social's TIKKA CHANCE ON ME. JUST BECAUSE! #KindleBookGiveaway

So over commercials on streamers and ad-free costing so much. Also how do they not realize I would happily keep paying all of them 7.99 or whatever those nice low prices per month were FOREVER but now they’ve raised the rates to the point I’m buying 1-2 subscriptions per month and then canceling.

I’m old enough to remember cable channels having one or two movies they played endlessly on repeat. I saw Poltergeist at least 47 times (I mean, maybe) and I don’t even really like horror.

the car battery was dead because we hadn't driven in weeks. the domino's order was ready. the car was manual. the street was flat. we knew what to do. two younger gents walked up, saw my partner single-handedly trying to push the whole-ass car, and asked, perplexed, "what's the endgame here?"

they did help, once partner explained to these automatic-transmission-only folks what we were aiming to do. the pizza day was saved. we still ask each other "what's the endgame here?" at assorted moments

We set up a kidnapping mystery for our young kids. We spent over a week planning it out. We had typewritten clues, fingerprint evidence, false leads, the works. We had a walkie talkie hidden in the vest of a teddy bear, so my husband could make it speak during an interrogation scene we set up.

I'm flummoxed by the underground movement to rehab cancelled figures. There's a rumor that a studio head is planning to begin bringing cancelled people back. It's bananas. The industry has contracted, leaving writers, directors and actors scrambling for work and we're making space for sex criminals?

It is TIME. #scriptsky #scriptsky+

This is a production. 10/10 😭😭😭 THE LEAVES 🍂 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Holy hell. Meanwhile my high school senior is working so hard in AP Comp Lit, loving the class & reading & happy w/ the great teacher, forbidden from using AI, also working his tail off to write college essays. He’s going to get there and find this with his peers? That’s depressing as all hell.

I cannot understand this in any dimension of logic or reason. I just … can’t.