You Should DO ANYTHING To See This Movie + My 6 (😳) September Reads

As usual, life continues to get in the way of my cool and interesting hobbies, like writing this newsletter and reading, but I'm wrapping up September before November comes, technically, so not too ba...

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August Readings: UNHINGED "Protagonists" Doing Unhinged Things

August was a wild month for me--traveling, writing, working (a lot), vacationing (sort of), the school year starting back up and with it all of the activities. I know I sound like every other mom ever...

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How I protect my work from AI Witch Hunt allegations: “Pick Somebody Else"

Book World is all a’tizzy about AI Witch Hunting. And for good reason—a number of authors have seen their reputations attacked (best case) and book deals die (worst case) in response to allegations th...

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Why Buy the Cow When You Can Get the Milk for Free? + The 10 books I read in April

Most people don't read the fine print when their tech devices push "updates to terms and conditions." Including me. Who has the time? Not me. ACCEPT. ⏭️ Buuuut: I will read them if need calls. This i...

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ChatGPT will literally try to kill you. So walk away from Omelas with me.

Full disclosure: I'm mad. Real mad. So I'm going to talk about something really terrible, head's up. It regards a teenager and suicide, self-harm, and serious mental health issues. The whole thing ...

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Starting the Year with a BANG! - 10 books I read in January (one will surprise you)

Before we start with January's book reviews: I won't write this newsletter without acknowledging just how horrific the state of play in the United States is right now, and even since my last circular....

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The 16 Books That Rocked My World in 2025 + A really cool thing that happened to me

In 2025, I hit triple digits. I've never read more than I did last year. Here is a tidy summary for your consideration. Well. How aesthetically pleasing, dear. But, um, what does this mean? Taking ...

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Get Your Money! (GenAI Copyright Lawsuits Edition) + My 7 October Reads

A few months ago, one of the biggest criminal enterprises responsible for intellectual property theft—Anthropic, owner of the Generative AI program Claude—agreed to settle to the tune of billions of d...

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My Six-Week Convalescence From Social Media + Why you must read 'Katabasis' NOW

If you follow me on Instagram, you also know I'm in an abusive relationship with it. I just can't quit that darn app. I intend to use it in a very limited way, and that's to stay in touch with the wri...

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Have you found your weirdos yet? 🫶🏻 + My 9 August reads

About a year ago, I joined a two-hour writing class. It was a cold, grey Saturday afternoon, and I was praying that the class's 12-2 PM time block would result in a full nap for the youngest member of...

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My Time at the Iowa Writers' Workshop + 3 book reviews

Since the internet is terrifying, I withheld the location of my previously mentioned writing adventure, and I'm so excited now to share that I was accepted to (and attended) the first summer session a...

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CAUTION: This book DESTROYED me + 13 additional reads from April and May

I've read some absolute bangers in the last two months, so today I present to you a book list without much ranting. You're disappointed, I know, I'll make it up to you next time. The absolute 10/5 ba...

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Are you a book pervert too? + 3 AI cautionary tales that should scare you

The elder millennial in me is embarrassed that twice in a row now I've used rage bait from Threads as a topic for this newsletter. But it really is very egregious. You see, looks like I'm a book perv...

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You're Just Going to STEAL IT?! + 3 books I loved in April

It takes a lot for me to clutch my pearls. I'm almost 40, and the world is insane. But clutch my pearls I did when, this weekend on Threads, a user I follow (@mommacusses, who is hilarious, by the way...

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To Each His Own: Ratings In A Subjective World + 6 book reviews ranging from no rating to 5 stars

A very dear friend of mine apologized for not having read all Having Written's posts yet. She'd left a few of them flagged, and planned to work through, but hadn't caught up. So I realized: if this pe...

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March reads that left me shook (and the ones that didn't)

Bereft of inspiration for a witty topic, I figured since we're starting a new month, I'll share my March reading list with a quick review of each (9 total). They span a pretty wide range, so there's r...

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If you refuse to read this, I can't help you + 3 criminally underrated series

I never needed convincing that reading Fantasy was for me. If you're a hyperactive, knobby-kneed, glasses-wearing little girl with oceans-deep levels of anxiety, you're apt to sink into worlds full of...

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Why crying over my keyboard is worth it (I guess) + 3 great books you don't know about

Dorothy Parker had it right when she said: "I hate writing, I love having written." Truer words have never been spoken, at least for me. We've got some new folks here, so a quick reintroduction is ...

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You should read Horror + 5 books that scared the absolute crap out of me

When I mention I love Horror (whether in film or in books) to someone, they usually react in one of two ways: either with instant, joyous agreement, or they wave their hands, plug their ears, tell me ...

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