Thirteen sleeps until Halloween...

Good catch... Looks like if you want those filters to apply to ALL search results, you'll need to toggle this off. bsky.app/profile/pitt...

Ben Plume@pittbaster.bsky.social · 2d ago

Tip I discovered while doing this - you may also want to toggle off the “deep search only” button, which is on by default.

All you Libby users borrowing digital books and audiobooks through your library cards, you can set your preferences to human authors and artists ONLY. Click the middle button at the bottom, then "Content Controls" under Settings. You'll find "AI Contributions" there. Click in to it to make changes.

I wrote for 5 hours today, which resulted in 163 maybe-useable new words, and actually, THAT'S GREAT, and not an unusual daily word count for me near the start of a draft. (If you're a 2K words/day drafter, that's great too. I work slowly and tinker constantly as I go. To each her own process.)

Got up before the sun to lead three more writing workshops in Ocean City, NJ. These creative 7th graders went deep on character, surprised themselves and me with their insights and ideas, and met every twist and challenge I threw their way. Also, today was hat day.

Making me feel like a slacker for not having voted yet, a full four weeks before the election. (Listen, poring over the local paper to weed out the scariest school board candidates takes time.)

Joe@electionsjoe.bsky.social · 2w ago

Current TOTAL New Jersey Mail Vote Returns: 🟦 Dem: 67.2% (-0.7%) 🟥 GOP: 19.4% (+0.4%) 🟨 IND: 13.4% (+0.3%) 2025 FINAL Mail Vote Returns: 🟦Dem: 61.2% 🟥GOP: 20.2% 🟨IND: 18.5%

Spent a wonderful day leading writing workshops with curious and creative 5th graders in Ocean City, New Jersey. It was 100% worth waking up at 4:42am to get there.

Doing a little photo shoot...

Sad to see that the Poetry Center at PCCC seems to have discontinued the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People. Winning that award (in 2021 for LOVE, SOPHIA ON THE MOON and in 2024 for WISHING SEASON) meant so much to me as an author, and I always checked their lists for under-the-radar gems.

Somehow skeeting this correct take 11 months ago did not cause it to happen?

Anica Mrose Rissi@anicarissi.bsky.social · last yr.

Hot take: I think publishers that are incorporating AI into their business practices should not be eligible for the Anthropic settlement payout, and instead the full share for those titles should go to the authors.

Hello, spooky season 👻🕸🖤 bookshop.org/p/books/hide...

Hide and Don't Seek: And Other Very Scary Stories (book trailer)

YouTube video by Anica Mrose Rissi

youtube.com

Make some good (or bad!!) art with your own brain today just bc you can ❤️

Ok, you may not be thinking about holiday shopping but we sure are & shopping early is very helpful to small businesses. Sooooo, tell us about someone you're buying a book for this holiday season & we'll give you a recommendation!

Office buddy looking extra sweet today

Anecdotally: spouse and I got our covid shots (moderna) on Tuesday, and neither of us had any side effects. Post-vax chicken dance to prevent sore arms ftw

It's Thinking Thursday, delete your robots

This issue also includes a writing prompt; a process prompt; a quote about research, time, and choice (plus book and documentary recs); stunning cover cosplay photos; and a Tarot reading to capture the energy you might carry with you through this season and into the next stage of your project.

Issue 5: Research

A quarterly conversation about process and craft with authors Anna-Marie McLemore, Emily X.R. Pan, Anica Mrose Rissi, Sara Ryan, and Nova Ren Suma.

thisistheeavesdrop.com

In Issue 5 of The Eavesdrop, A-M McLemore, @exrpan.bsky.social, @ryansara.bsky.social, @novarensuma.bsky.social, and I are discussing RESEARCH: the rabbit holes down which we fall (deliberately & not), what we find there and how we use it, and signs it might be time to climb out & return to the page

Issue 5: Research

A quarterly conversation about process and craft with authors Anna-Marie McLemore, Emily X.R. Pan, Anica Mrose Rissi, Sara Ryan, and Nova Ren Suma.

thisistheeavesdrop.com

I always love our Eavesdrop conversations, and this issue, focused on RESEARCH, is most especially my jam! Read & subscribe for free!

Anica Mrose Rissi@anicarissi.bsky.social · 4w ago

In Issue 5 of The Eavesdrop, A-M McLemore, @exrpan.bsky.social, @ryansara.bsky.social, @novarensuma.bsky.social, and I are discussing RESEARCH: the rabbit holes down which we fall (deliberately & not), what we find there and how we use it, and signs it might be time to climb out & return to the page

In Issue 5 of The Eavesdrop, A-M McLemore, @exrpan.bsky.social, @ryansara.bsky.social, @novarensuma.bsky.social, and I are discussing RESEARCH: the rabbit holes down which we fall (deliberately & not), what we find there and how we use it, and signs it might be time to climb out & return to the page

Issue 5: Research

A quarterly conversation about process and craft with authors Anna-Marie McLemore, Emily X.R. Pan, Anica Mrose Rissi, Sara Ryan, and Nova Ren Suma.

thisistheeavesdrop.com

Writing to the music of his deep, gusty snores

A book packager I wrote for (and do not own any portion of the copyright for the work produced) notified authors that they’d be providing a percentage of any settlement to authors “in recognition of their work” so it’s not all bleak in settlement world!

Meanwhile, in Maine:

It’s about time we had a reckoning with the need so many writers feel to over-explain everything aspect of their stories, even in non Weird genres. Readers don’t need to be babied. Let us figure things out. Leave room for interpretation. Over-explanation makes writing worse.

jonny@misterbloat.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Weird fiction seems to be having a moment but without lots of the people trying to write it actually grasping what it is. I keep reading stories where there’s clearly an attempt at vaguely gesturing towards ‘the Weird’ but they just cant help over-explaining everything. Truly frustrating stuff.

Nothing, just balancing a hippo bowl on my head while cosplaying as Mr. Stricter from THE TEACHER'S PET for back-to-school book promo. You?

Her voice, her lyrics, her heart, her wit, but also her AMBITION and how openly and unabashedly she shared that with us too. A gift.

one time i was in the elevator going to my own event, next to a woman holding a stack of my books. i was like "we're going to the same place 😏" and she said "i'm so not a fan, but signed copies get more on ebay" and i said "i'm so sorry for what's about to happen"

John Scalzi@scalzi.com · 2mo ago

I go on book tour and very often I go to the venue where the event will be and there is a helpful person near the door asking if I am there for the event. I then have to tell them that I am, in fact, the event. So, no, I don't assume anyone knows who I am, even on tour. And that is perfectly fine.

Been scrolling Bsky for a full seven minutes and it hasn't added a single word to my draft. RUDE.

In my first NYC apt, the landlady let herself in once a month to retrieve our rent, which she wanted paid in cash left in the "secret compartment" of a calendar hung under the kitchen sink (I guess to hide it from anyone else letting herself into our apartment that day?)

the beggars out of here getter@milesklee.bsky.social · 2mo ago

left a rent check in the mailbox for my landlord as usual and some asshole stole it so i wrote him another. should have canceled the first, duh, but forgot. today i see someone did try to forge the stolen check but my landlord cashed his first so the fraudulent one bounced lmao god bless

I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful