I’m beginning to suspect that the U.S. might have a racism problem. My first hint was all of U.S. history.

The Sheep Detectives is utterly charming. Like so many Miller & Lord productions, it takes a ridiculous premise and executes it with sincerity and expert craft. Loved it far more than I expected.

To be fair, everyone knows the ancient Ithicans favored strong Bostonian accents. “This Circe lady is wicked hawt.”

Widow’s Bay casting director: Send me every character actor you have. Okay. Widow’s Bay casting director: I think you didn’t hear me. When I said every character actor I mean EVERY character actor. Anyway, I’m enjoying Widow’s Bay on Apple TV.

I was radicalized when I realized that prosperity unshared is theft.

One thing modern administration has shown is that if you think competency has reached its lowest point, it can always go lower. No. Lower than that. No. Even lower than that. Buffoonery has no rock bottom.

The robots are not your friend The robots will lie to you without hesitation The robots have been programmed to tell you how special you are, like a dancer at a strip club learns to call someone “cutie” Do not listen to the robots Do not listen to anyone who tells you the robots are inevitable

Common beginner writer mistake: Repeating yourself unnecessarily. “He was not a small man. He was huge. He was a big, big man.” Cool. Maybe just tell me once and assume I’ll get it. It’s easy enough to recognize once you see it, but we all do it when we start.

My short list of perfect movies: Galaxy Quest, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Enchanted, Kung Fu Panda.

OH HEY IN CASE YOU MISSED IT This weekend we revealed the cover for my upcoming book, THE OFF SEASON. It's about a small town with a big secret that's, well, not actually all that secret... I also found out it's already up for pre-order everywhere! Call your local bookstore or hit up Bookshop.org

While I’m late to the party and only finishing up Season 3, I can say that so far Barry might just be my favorite tv show ever. An absolute masterclass in writing, direction, and storytelling. I cannot overstate how much I love this show, much to my surprise.

I’ll be in Denison, TX this Saturday for a cozy event: Denison Litcon. Should be fun. Drop on by if you’re in the area

This may be controversial, but you can’t make me care about an incredibly well protected person not actually getting shot when that same person is uninterested in doing anything about innocent children actually getting shot in their schools.

Seen on Amazon for preorder. Feel free to wait for your preferred retailer, but still nice to finally see. a.co/d/0eHNe0ug

Perhaps my most controversial writing hot take is that 90% of the time, backstory is completely irrelevant and uninteresting. You don’t need to know it as a reader, and worrying about it as a writer except in broad strokes is mostly a waste of time.

I will die on the hill that "talent" is just when you love some mode of play enough that you play so much at it that you get a tiny better at it than your peers really early and adults start going "gosh, you're good at that" and that makes it even more fun, so you do it even more. And repeat.

If I was writing a satire of U.S. politics, this would be too on the nose.

I was mistaken about when Unbearable will be up for preorder, but should be sometime within the next few days.

As one of the few Nightmam stans, I endorse this full force

“Healthy people don’t die of these diseases. Therefore, anyone who died wasn’t healthy.” Awfully convenient to believe bullshit like this. I mean, why bother with medicine at all?

I’m now free to share the cover for Unbearable, my new novel from Baen due out later this year. Should be showing up on all the expected sites by tomorrow.

I write lean. It isn’t inherently a better way of writing, but it does demonstrate how much can be said without saying a lot in a story. For me, it will always be about emotion more than anything else, which is why I care less about the details that simply don’t matter.

Write the easiest bit first

I love that the One Piece live action adaptation doesn’t hesitate to look ridiculous. Clown pirate? Bright hair, absurd haircut? Impractical clothes? Sure, why not? It delights me to no end.

Hey. I was invited on this cool podcast about writing, including a very special surprise guest star m.youtube.com/watch?v=UcmQ...

It’s true that you don’t sell your soul all at once, but a piece at a time. But once you sell that first piece, the rest are easy.

In this episode of Jem, Rio assumes that Unicron is hitting on Jem when he attempts to devour earth and beats him up.

Champion and Professor Fido at the Earth’s Core (Adjacent) aleemartinez.com/2026/04/cham...

TRUE STORY -- I once worked on a movie about an LA lawyer who finds out she's been chosen to give (virgin) birth to the second coming of Christ. Hilarity ensues. Never got released, don't bother looking. ANYWAY... said lawyer already had three kids, so we needed lots of toys and tried to... 1/?

I still get a little thrill out of it, myself.

“You can’t blockade me! I’ll blockade myself!”

Elon Musk didn’t go to the moon. Jeff Bezos didn’t go to the moon. NASA went to the moon.

“A Jose Canseco bat? Tell me, you didn’t pay money for this.”

For no reason whatsoever now felt like a good time to remind you I wrote a book about the Moon. DEAD MOON is a fun, happy story about carefree people who love their job and their coworkers and nothing ever goes wrong and they all live happily ever after. Oh, there may also be a few zombies.

The Belated, Unceremonious Return of A. Lee Martinez aleemartinez.com/2026/04/the-...

My number one tip for understanding storytelling: There is no rational reason that a big robot made up of smaller robots is tougher than the individual robots that make it up. But there is every story reason why that big robot is indeed tougher. Understand this. Understand stories.

Call me a spoilsport but I despise April Fool’s Day.

It bugs me very much that Daniel Craig’s James Bond is so bad at his job. Which hardly seems topical to share at this point, but a big reason that I dislike those films.

They Will Kill You was a bloody, violent delight. Equal parts gruesome and absurd with a dash of heart amid all the surreal violence. Loved it.

While I don’t doubt that people are using AI in their writing, I would like to say that in my experience a lot of people already write like AI. As AI improves, that gap between AI and uninspired writing will decrease. Which is why I have a hard time identifying the difference between the two.

Man I didn't know you were just allowed to say "Can I be on your podcast" but! I have two books coming out this year! I can be on your podcast to talk about them! :D Qualifications: - I write books - I have a charming Canadian accent* *charm not guaranteed

I know nothing of the manga or anime, and also thoroughly enjoy the live-action show

Thank goodness the bootlicking unqualified person was replaced by another bootlicking unqualified candidate. The circle of life remains undisturbed.

Also, can we talk about Dan Mora's variant cover for JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERGALACTIC? How cool is this?!?!!!

This is also how storytelling works, and it’s why the story is always found in the edit, not the draft.

I mentioned No Holds Barred, a Hulk Hogan movie now streaming on Tubi yesterday. I can’t stress enough how weird it is on almost every level. It feels like something made by aliens. I absolutely love it.

No Holds Barred is on Tubi. We use the term “so bad it’s good” way too easily, but trust me. It applies in spades here. “What’s that smell?”

Say what you will about the entertainment industry but it’s a wonderful business that definitely deserves all the awards it gives itself.

President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, "There is no superior race, gentlemen" "There is no people chosen by God" "Neither in the United States nor Israel" "Ignorant far-right fundamentalists think this way" "The people chosen by God is all of humanity"