This week on Substack, I revisited the essay I wrote, but didn't publish, in the midst of last year's fires. You can read it at open.substack.com/pub/katexmac...

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Disclaimer that the first minute of this episode includes Patti Harrison's Annette Bening impersonation...

This season will have a special segment each episode where I dive into one of my most niche internet interests, and AC just indulges me...

This was an absurdly fun episode to record...

I can't hear any of the music from Phantom without thinking of that little elephant shrew video

I have to say, this may have been the most fun I've had recording an episode of FFR...

Rewatching even a single episode of the most Obama-era cultural artifact is a psychologically challenging exercise.

(This episode was recorded before the Creative Arts Emmys were held, so we didn't yet know that Julianne Nicholson would, in fact, win an Emmy for playing Dance Mom on Hacks.)

I had so much fun talking about ~the self-destruction of masculinity~ for this episode! I can't wait until I get the chance to watch ALL THAT JAZZ on the big screen some day.

Finished another revision on my novel and submitted to SmoochPit. Now, back at work on something I haven't looked at in over three months. Going from editing one day to drafting the next is so strange!

For the first full ep of our new "Musical Mayhem" season, we watched (or rewatched) GUYS AND DOLLS. The gender dynamics in this movie feel like they'd be right at home in today's "trad wife" resurgence... Listen at patreon.com/posts/137177....

ICYMI: #FemFreqRadio is returning for a new season! In addition to the Musical Mayhem main feed episodes, Patreon supporters get weekly bonuses, like our latest chat about #FantasticFour and this year's summer blockbusters. Subscribe and listen at www.patreon.com/posts/ffr-bo...

WAY too many things postponed the recording of this new season of #FemFreqRadio, but I'm so glad to be back podcasting again after all these months!

As part of my library volunteering, I wrote a book for adult literacy learners through the CA State Library. They're not cheap, because they're made to be durable for use by tutors at the branches, but if you want one, you can scroll through and pick up a copy here: www.mixbook.com/photo-books/...

With everything LA has gone through in the last few months (and couple of years), let's celebrate the hatching of: TEN CALIFORNIA CONDORS!!!!!!!!! Congrats to the team at the Los Angeles Zoo!!!

In preparation for next week’s parade/demonstration, tanks are being moved into Washington, DC today. Unprecedented. (Photo from a colleague in DC)

I don't *love* this bit of website traffic...

I was having a great daydream about being rich and having a backyard with a pizza oven and having people over to make pizzas, and then I remembered that my dad won't be there (at the fictional pizza party), and then I started to cry. This was like, fantasy to grief sads in under 60 seconds.

The comment period for this ends in 3 DAYS. Please leave a comment telling them EVERYONE should be able to get covid boosters. www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...

There is no literary world. There is, however, this interconnected mass of people who made similarly poor choices to pursue their dreams and are now pitching the emotional damage as art

Excited to be Currant Jam & Gelée zine's taste maker for the month of May. Check out the spotlight at www.instagram.com/p/DJcWRTtRH1F

#AmQuerying update... got my first R&R request from an agent today! It doesn't seem like a huge lift, so I'm definitely going to give it a try. It would involve a drastic change to the opening chapters, which of course throws me into a tailspin thinking about all the other queries out there. Nerves!

A #QuestPit peek at one of my WIPs… I've been deep in research on my historical romance, but currently #AmWriting a novelization of this pilot inspired by my own career shift from Hollywood to the zoo! ANIMAL INSTINCTS: this rom-com is much simpler and more grounded than my previous novel! #W #A #R

For #QuestPit I'm sharing part of the Agent's Guide for PAINTED FLOWERS NEVER DIE, plus an excerpt from @theblcklst.bsky.social's professional manuscript evaluation, which described the novel as having "strong commercial appeal." I #AmQuerying this book club-ready spec fic w/ romance. #Q #A #S #R

Trying to watch Taskmaster for the first time, bc Zouks... (idgi)

Her self-titled CD was so important to me when I was growing up. The song "The Jig Is Up" transported me through time when I listened to it. 💔

I just love sequels!

Recommend NORTH OF NORTH on Netflix for a sweet new sitcom!

I'm excited to share that in just a few weeks, I'll be participating in the Yale Writers' Workshop! This will be my first writing intensive, and I can't wait!

I am managing to work on my submission to a literary magazine while wearing ear plugs about ten feet away from where my family is catching up on the latest episode of TLOU; please clap. (I've already watched)

I started the road trip, but after getting just out of city limits, I had to turn around and head home to repack my bags. Started drafting a bit too early, and now digging deeper into research before I start writing again. #CRPBees #CampRevPit

Day 1 of #CampRevPit and I'm a member of the Bumblebee cabin! #CRPBees 🐝 It's been tough to draft my WIP while querying my 1st novel, so lately I've been in research mode instead of writing as I was before. So, to send my opening pages and early-stage query letter for feedback feels productive!

Nobody zoom in too close on my #PosterPit submission tomorrow unless you want to see the CLUNKIEST photo editing

PAINTED FLOWERS NEVER DIE is a transporting story about fame and grief and art and the feeling of being alive! @posterpit.bsky.social #PosterPitQ #AmQuerying #A #PosterPit technically book club speculative fiction with romantic elements but let's say #R #SF #C for hashtag reasons

Nobody zoom in too close on my #PosterPit submission tomorrow unless you want to see the CLUNKIEST photo editing

Since people have been asking: AI use is NOT acceptable in our event. On pitch day, if your poster is made with AI, we will block you and not repost any of your pitches.

I'm only open to queries the 1st - 7th of each months. When I reopen in May I would like to receive all the nonfiction. What you might think I mean is "a lot of nonfiction." But what I really mean is, "all of it." #parksandrec #ronswanson #mswl

It's #WorldArtDay! Any agents whose #MSWL includes a deeply realized setting ~within~ the art world? 🎨 #AmQuerying

Needing to focus on Carly Watters' wise words while I #AmQuerying... "Ambition Over Anxiety"

I've started THREE new novels and am just trying to decide which one to focus on first! I #AmQuerying the novel I submitted to #RevPit, and continue to work on my screenwriting.

Mostly a pantser. I'll write a paragraph or two to sketch the story, but can't determine plot points until the characters tell me about themselves. I just started STORY GENIUS by Lisa Cron, and hope it'll help me get better at organizing before drafting, so that the next novel is easier to write!

Ok, so I'm a day late and not really following the assignment, but the novel I #AmQuerying, PAINTED FLOWERS NEVER DIE, is threaded through with art from top to bottom! Music, dance, and film, sure, but the settings are painting after painting. Here are some of the pieces that inspired key scenes…

Good drag name: Mandy Thursday

how are those fucken headlights LEGAL

Decided to copy that one girl's idea and tally a "tip jar" for my rejections. Then, when I get an agent, I'll apply the amount towards my celebration! $1 per query rejection; $5 per rejection on the full manuscript. Here's hoping for… dinner for two at In-N-Out? lol #AmQuerying

Doctor Odyssey doing an in-scene PSA for the Covid booster HELL yeah

I'm allergic and thus, not a pet person. But there is a furry fellow that factors heavily into the manuscript I #AmQuerying, PAINTED FLOWERS NEVER DIE…

Me for the past few months: nah, I'm not submitting anything to AFF Me today: spends hours on a quick pass of a comedy pilot for the Adult Swim fellowship... 🤞🏼🤞🏼 See you all in Austin again?