Uh-oh. I need to be on my best behavior now.

Many solid takeaways here, one of which is -- for me personally, at least -- don't read anything from Sèphera Girón.

Chuck Wendig@chuckwendig.bsky.social · 5h ago

Professional writer organizations should not send out pro-AI propaganda in the form of tantrum-having "essays" to their members, and I don't think that's controversial.

I really don't want to wade into this but I do think the HWA needs to address this, like, now, if they don't want to deal with the backlash.

Holly Lyn Walrath@hollylynwalrath.bsky.social · 21h ago

There is a lengthy pro-AI screed in the latest HWA newsletter and it is . . . a mood.

Tennessee, as always, has the right idea.

The fact that the AI bros think this is such a gotcha question is hilarious. "Could you live without your daily dose of drain cleaner? If it disappeared tomorrow, could you get through your day without Drano, Liquid-Plumr, or any other caustic substance dissolving your GI tract?"

Charlie Stross@cstross.bsky.social · 12h ago

My answer is LOL ROFL (dickbrain) The terminally AI-pilled can't even *imagine* some people have *never* asked stochastic parrots to cheat at their job for them.

Daaaamn. “AI is the asbestos we're shovelling into the walls of our technological society. Our descendants will spend generations digging it out again, and the longer the bubble goes on without popping, the longer it will take to repair the damage." www.thenerve.news/p/cory-docto...

Cory Doctorow: The people who tell you ‘AI is changing everything’ are lying

It has become impossible to tell managers mesmerised by artificial intelligence that the tools are not, in fact, helpful. So employees just play along with the fiction to keep their jobs, writes our t...

thenerve.news

This movie remains a hell of a fun adventure, and the skeleton fight is a pinnacle achievement in practical effects.

Animation Obsessive@ani-obsessive.bsky.social · 2d ago

Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts are amazing even now. He animated the sequence by himself for more than four months -- without computers or even an easy way to check his work. We're looking into how he did it: animationobsessive.substack.com/p/how-ray-ha...

Having been in theater for more than half my life, I absolutely understand the motivation here, but sending threats to one's self to weasel out of a show is what one would call, in the parlance of the art form, "a strong choice."

Pixie Casey@pixiecasey.bsky.social · yesterday

in insane local news, the 26 year old director of a rocky horror production was arrested for sending threatening messages to himself in order to get the play shut down bc he didn’t want to deal with cast drama www.mynbc5.com/article/rock...

Weekly Update – August 4, 2026 Not a lot to say on the productivity front this week, so I'm going to throw a quick plug out and remind folks that I have a limited quantity of books on hand that you can buy directly from me, and I'll happily sign them, and personalize them if you'd like. Just go to…

Weekly Update – August 4, 2026

Not a lot to say on the productivity front this week, so I'm going to throw a quick plug out and remind folks that I have a limited quantity of books on hand that you can buy directly from me, and I'll happily sign them, and personalize them if you'd like. Just go to the Buy Now tab at the top of the page, make your purchases, and if you want a personalized inscription, give me your name and I'll take care of it.

innsmouthlook.com

Two new galaxy paintings. I like one of these better than the other, but the other is growing me. #art #watercolor

One of the best ways to identify a bad author is to try to initiate shop talk. If they seem like they type who pulls up the ladder of success rather than lowers more ladders, that's someone to avoid.

John Scalzi@scalzi.com · 2d ago

I saw something about this over on Threads and, uh, yeah, I'm not sure where that nonsense came from, you can't get us authors to shut up about what's going on with us and our industry, that gate's right off the hinges if you ask me

Massachusetts has a tax-free weekend coming up. A lot of places are pitching it as a great opportunity to stock up on school supplies. Which parents and teachers shouldn't have to do because schools should be better funded than, say, police departments, so they can give kids everything they need.

Because every few months it needs to be explained again. medium.com/a-thousand-l... #LibraryLife #BookSky #WritingCommunity #ReadingCommunity

How Using Public Libraries Supports Authors

The guilt-free way to get books for free

medium.com

A handful of cheap pens you would never use because they write like crap, but you keep them around in case you really need a pen and you can't find a good one.

'Box ✨@ionawonderbox.bsky.social · 2d ago

A random loose screw that fell out of something and you are not sure what.

Wikipedia remains one of the most useful things online. No subscription fees, no ads, no stupid pursuit of AI, all curated by relentless nerds. Maybe remember to throw them a few bucks every now and again.

I can't imagine why Sony has no interest in continuing to make bad movies no one wants based on second-tier characters that lose all meaning without the protagonist they were created for.

Nerdist@nerdist.bsky.social · 2d ago

Sony Pictures chairman confirms there are no Sony-Marvel Universe movies in active development.

the concept of willingly growing boobs and losing muscle mass and facing mass abuse by the general public just to *checks notes* beat other women at a sport for significantly less pay and recognition than the average male professional golfer

Minneapolis is better in summer@nicksb.bsky.social · 2d ago

🙄. If Scottie Scheffler held a press conference tomorrow and said my whole life has been a lie, I’ve started HRT and I’m going to compete in LPGA tournaments from now on, that is transparently absurd. And defending his (or her) “right” to do it is insane.

Some instances of people trying to downplay how they used AI in a work remind me of this guy I saw one weekend about a decade ago. He'd been handing out cards to families wherever a kid was performing, like mine who had been playing violin at a farmer's market...

My entire week is basically a countdown to Sunday, when Veronica and I are going to visit the Used Book Superstore in Burlington, MA, which is a used book shop that takes up an entire former supermarket, where we will likely spend a significant amount of money.

Every now and then someone takes a run at me along the lines of "I don't understand why you, a scifi writer, don't appreciate 'AI'," and I'm all, motherfucker, it's *because* I'm a science fiction writer I have the positions I have, how many times do we have to fucking yell "torment nexus," my dude

I'm going to start pushing this now. The first book in my #YA #superhero series, Action Figures (Secret Origins), is going to be free for the #Kindle from August 17 - 21, so if you've always wanted to check it out, that's your time to strike! Cover art: @patricialupien.bsky.social a.co/d/064EuMdi

Anatomy of a Vampire — Pals! We’re Kickstarting a gorgeous ANATOMY OF MONSTERS book now. Jump in and join the awesomeness! —> www.kickstarter.com/projects/sma...

Also a reminder that bullshit transphobic panic damages cis women and children as well.

Gillian Branstetter@gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 2d ago

An initiative on the ballot in Washington state in November would require all athletes seeking to play girl's sports from kindergarten to high school to undergo "genetic screening, a testosterone-levels test, or an examination of their reproductive anatomy" before they can play

Today's gAI slop cover two-fer. 1: Openly admits to using AI for the cover and first-run editing, which makes the writing itself suspect. 2: Detail overload gives it away, and then he has the gall to ask for people to support him as an indie creative when he can't see fit to do the same.

There's a primary race in my Congressional district, some new guy taking on an entrenched Dem who was first elected the same year I graduated high school. The incumbent, Richard Neal, is pretty progressive all things considered, but I'm really tired of people staying in office until they die.

One of the best romances of the 20th century

@pmamtraveller.bsky.social · 3d ago

Morticia and Gomez Addams

I've seen a similar trend in action-adventure novels written by right-wing dudebros, warning readers that the book isn't "woke" but is full of guns and violence. These are the same guys who think they'd thrive in a post-apocalyptic world and could take a chimpanzee in a fistfight.

Sascha Stronach🏳️‍⚧️, The Sunforge out now@understatesmen.bsky.social · 3d ago

I really hate this trend in horror novels to go Trigger Warning: this book is NASTY and SCARY and NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED. If you're not ready BACK AWAY NOW. idk man maybe a trigger warning should warn people about triggers instead of stroking your ego

I literally know more people who called bullshit on the historical inaccuracies of 300 than on the historical inaccuracies of The Odyssey, and I'm friends with a LOT of history nerds.

So, if you recall the case where the district judge recently said that Lynne Freeman had zero chance of success on the merits? Well, Lynne Freeman has filed an 84 page appeal to the Second Circuit.

Courtney Milan@courtneymilan.com · last wk.

You may recall the case where Lynne Freeman sued Tracy Wolff for writing a YA set in Alaska where the male lead was hot and broody, just like in Freeman's book. This litigation went on for three years before a judge finally read both books and said there was zero infringement.

No lie, I own the restored edition on Blu-ray. It's astonishing in its badness.

mogadon@mogadontrenchcoat.bsky.social · 3d ago

i'm still in the mood for another 'm' flick, there are just so damn many of them. choice paralysis is stopping from choosing a new one, so i'm gonna revisit one i haven't seen this millennium. #nowwatching manos: the hands of fate (1966), one of the best worst movies ever.