The ALLi sorting hat

Every so often I listen to the Alliance of Independent Authors’ podcasts. Tonight’s listen is the October 2 episode of the Creative Self-Publishing podcast, “How to Build Your Publishing Team,” wherein Orna Ross and Howard Lovy profile three types of author-publisher: The lean publisher, who focuses on frequency, volume, ranking, and low cost; The engagement… Continue reading The ALLi sorting hat

You told me, Sleep. I’ll wake you in the morning.

I know you’re supposed to put hiatus messages before the hiatus rather than after; this way makes you look unprofessional, not very put together at all. So, you know, fair play to me for transparency. Anyway, NONA THE NINTH has destroyed my sleep schedule for the last week. I finished it Friday while literally falling… Continue reading You told me, Sleep. I’ll wake you in the morning.

Why streaming doesn’t pay

I know Cory Doctorow has loomed large over this blog in its resurrected form, but anyone distributing art and music through platforms like Amazon and Spotify should at least think hard about the analyses of those platforms he and Rebecca Giblin present in CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM. I’m not an Audible member and don’t want to sign… Continue reading Why streaming doesn’t pay

What are neurophysiologists doing?

I had something else lined up for today, but it’s humbling and fun to be cited (“cited”) 12 years later for a 2010 comment on a methodological issue in cognitive neuroscience that’s apparently still polarizing researchers today. (Marc is a former labmate, of course; no one ever said #networking wasn’t a thing in science, or… Continue reading What are neurophysiologists doing?

We now return to

High levels of self-awareness re: fine motor endurance.

It’s the day after Labor Day, when kid cameos are on everyone’s Instagram feed. Because I fundamentally believe the human condition is that of a word-soaked meat sponge plus incidentals, I’ll share my son’s homework assignment instead. I cannot get over this kid. The first day of school was soaked with rain, but three kids… Continue reading We now return to

A pause

Clouds over the parking lot, Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, Trenton. (Not shown: The parking lot. You should thank me.) I’m on vacation until Labor Day. I know this thing hasn’t been around long enough to become appointment reading for anybody, but I’ll declare a pause if only as an implicit declaration of intent to… Continue reading A pause

Pearl

Pearl, by Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Gaydos. I ended up choosing an image that highlights the art rather than the writing — in an alternate universe, this post has a two-page spread where the Endo twins go back and forth about Rumor Endo’s idée fixe of a “porn mall.” If your library system offers… Continue reading Pearl

Life, finding a way

Rogue tomato plants by the compost, August 2022. I assume these will get eaten by a deer or, in the limit, killed by autumn before they produce anything. But it’s nice to see a random bit of life take root where nobody meant it to.

The rule of three

“So how are your new roly-poly friends?” he asked. “And the skittery ones?” “Very technologically advanced. They like small babies, and Dinar’s jam, and taking apart gas giants to use as construction material.” A HALF-BUILT GARDEN, by Ruthanna Emrys Cory Doctorow has a great review of this book at Pluralistic; the one thing I’d call… Continue reading The rule of three