Patron post is up for all tiers! In this, I talk nonfiction, SFF literary goings-on, indie publishing updates, promo work, newsletter wins, and some patron-only benefits. Thanks, as ever, for everyone's support. It's been a wild ride of a year! Super hoping that February's reboot leads to good things in the months ahead. 🤞 https://www.patreon.com/posts/whats-going-on-79008829

Good gravy, the difference between good- and bad-faith discourse.

#SFF has a really tough nut to crack re: AI-generated stories flooding the best paying year-round slush pile in the business.

I proposed creating a delay window for subs through forum IDs that could then be blocked if the user sub'd an AI story.

But I've met with *so* many vague claims of this blocking out "the poor"--as if our industry actually gives a rat's behind about the poor! It's *just* to score virtue-signalling points.

I was going to go for a run to rebuild energy and stamina but now it's raining and all I want to do is walk around in the wet, soak up vibes, and write poetry about the sorry state of the world.

- The ML Clark story, 20/02/2023

I truly hate that my mental health is such that I'm often unable to focus as much as I want to on how much this world needs us. Self-criticism is a waste of energy - and I know that, when I'm not downcycling. Gratitude for what we have, and what we are, allows us to be better present with the work of building abundance for all.

Today I'm grateful for everyone else rolling up their sleeves and digging in.

You know who you are. 💪💛

#Humanism
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/20/thousands-dead-millions-displaced-the-earthquake-fallout-in-turkey-and-syria

🤞 Sent off that essay. Lots of other writing to finish today - & it's always a rejection until it's an acceptance - but hot dog am I pleased with the growth of my voice in that one. I sorely hope I can sustain it in further nonfiction pitches - after my podcast, fiction, & book-prep for the week are through.

(This year I really hope I can publish more widely. Money even just to recoup January's losses would be nice!)

Also, if I finish a script in time... maybe another 5k before classes?! 👀💪

Oh, my heart, my heart.

What are we going to do with this whole busted world of ours--and all the people simply trying to get by in it?

"Climate migrants escaping to Dhaka find that their new home is also sinking // In Bangladesh, the refuge for thousands of migrants is also in need of rescue."

https://scroll.in/article/1042988/climate-migrants-escaping-to-dhaka-find-that-their-new-home-is-also-sinking

Morning, CoSo! Happy Monday. 💫

Today's #Newsletter draws on a lifetime's experience with literary censorship to contextualize the latest crisis this weekend, over announced changes to Roald Dahl's texts.

You know how Marshall McLuhan said the medium is the message?

Better said these days - the outrage is the point.

Watch carefully for how these debates reduce our range of options - and ask yourself whom or what they serve.

Is it "us"?

#Books #Literature #Publishing

https://mlclark.substack.com/p/neoliberalism-neofascism-and-other

I will never get over how rad it is that the most famous humanist politician in Colombia keeps publishing books tying public policy into literary analysis and its histories. The last such piece used Aldous Huxley to explore pandemic-era humanist policy; this one uses Stefan Zweig to reflect on the madness of war. No fear of education alienating readers / voters here!

Can you *imagine* US or even Canadian politicians getting away with this level of literary "elitism"? 😅

#Colombia

I had a plan in mind for today's newsletter, but the latest kerfuffle in the literary world gave me a whole new idea, so... I'm going out for a walk and then I'll redraft around this new concept soon.

I promise, it'll be a way of thinking about this currently trending issue you won't have read before. 👍🏻 Happy Sunday, all!

Organizational gurus!

(Of which CoSo has many. 👌)

I'm trying to figure out the best way to represent my portfolio of nonfiction essays on my own website. Topical grouping? Just highlight the strongest recent pieces? Mass chronological listing? Basic linktree?

Anyone have a model they like/use and would recommend? (Many thanks!)

Morning CoSo! Happy Sunday. 🤗 Please remember to choose your transformational experiences well today!

https://youtu.be/uloT8V6Skgk

You take good care of your full health and wellness, okay, CoSo?

It matters so much, as do you. Try not to feel bad, ever, for putting self-care first.

The world is filled with arbitrary expectations for achievement, failure, dreaming... but we're all just fragile little critters with a brief window to do anything at all.

We'll make good choices. We'll make rotten ones. Things will fall apart around us either way.

But we're *here*.
And what a strange, wonderful gift that will always be.

I've been dreaming more vividly these past few days - back to full storylines, reading in-dream, and remembering intricate details upon waking.

I feel like a crashed ship with systems the rescue crew is just now switching on again, and repairing.

Coming out of a bipolar downcycle always leaves me thankful to be alive and astonished by all that was lost while despairing.

It's good to be getting up and running again. (Ha. Literally, tonight!) Not all systems are go - but they're getting there.

There is a teenager's birthday party in the common area in my building complex, so... while the reggaeton is blasting (#Colombia), I'll be watching an episode of TV. Then back to work. But I simply cannot write while listening to music with lyrics - or even instrumental versions of songs to which I know the lyrics! - so if you ever needed to know my Kryptonite, you're welcome: this is it.

🙃 We writers are a weird breed, no?

#WritingCommunity #WritersOfCoSo
#AmWriting (eventually)

Aw yeah. 💪 My knees won't be talking to me tomorrow, but after a month out of proper workouts, stressed and sedentary, I pulled off 5k at an average of 9:40 min/mile - which isn't great, but also not the worst starting point from which to rebuild. Taking the win!

Have some hardworking ants to celebrate with me. 🎉 🐜 (I will always stop to watch the ants.)

#CoSoNature #BugFriends #Insects

And... now to deal with the other half of recovery. 💪

My energy levels have been *awful* while helping César with his familial/medical crises - but for that same, super stressed out reason, I also haven't had a good rigorous run in over a month.

Going to step out now and try not to return until I've run 5k (however much walking I need to do between spurts to get the body moving again), & keep healing for the rest of the month with better exercise & sleep.

Good evening & better health CoSo! 💫

All right, loves.

This is my first #BookTube, in which I talk about Then Raise the Dead Man High, read from the text, go into a deep dive about feedback and the complexity of writing in another cultural context, and do Q&A.

It's been a rough year & honestly, I'm just glad to get back to literary topics again.

NB: There's *some* echo - still adjusting audio as I go - but no highway sounds. Enjoy, & thanks for watching if you do!

#Indie #IndiePublishing
#Writing #Promo

https://youtu.be/bMac8osnLiI