THREAD: I got laid off from NYMag/Vulture after 14 years. The family lost 75% of income + medical. Now mzs.press bookstore, once a side project. is do-or-die for Judith & I. I feel weird telling you this because others are doing much worse. But if you could like or share this, we'd be so grateful!
Ear doctor: Don’t use Q-Tips
Me already imagining putting a screw driver I found in the driveway in my ear when I get home: I womt
If anyone is up for boosting, Bandcamp is holding a fundraiser for the Trans Continental Pipeline to help trans people escape from Kansas!
I wrote about the first national book banning bill, which effectively seeks to erase trans people. At the end I include a link to let your reps know that you oppose this bill and all it stands for. lithub.com/why-we-must-...
"Duskhollow Unbituaries" will be free to read later in the year, but you can read it (and all the other amazing stories in the issue) now if you subscribe to Augur!
Morning pep talk
Lakewood is one of my favorite modern horror novels. Can't wait for this.
If my girl @lillywachowski.bsky.social is steering something, you can bet it has the goods. Now, more than ever, we need a cinema by and for the queers.
at this point I believe imperialism is not just a systemic evil that must be destroyed at all costs, but an existential threat to all humanity. we can have empires or a future but not both.
a black and white typography edit that reads "i am making permanent choices because i want permanent changes." the text is in all caps and is printed over a opened case of tools. the image is textured with very small halftone dots
i ❣️ bodily autonomy
won't you celebrate with me by Lucille Clifton won't you celebrate with me what i have shaped into a kind of life? i had no model. born in babylon both nonwhite and woman what did i see to be except myself? i made it up here on this bridge between starshine and clay, my one hand holding tight my other hand; come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed.
Missed a week with my 8th graders due to the storm, so one last Black History Month poem as a bridge into Women's History Month.
This one is by Lucille Clifton, which has a line I think about often:
"come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed."
I went through and added up the total paid rents through our adopt-a-rent program, and it is 329 families for $463,217. All peer-to-peer, no fundraising. Just neighbors helping each other out.
If you want to adopt a family, and can afford to give $500 or more, signal me at asiniiwiikwe.72
It’s Women in Horror Month!!
In 2024 I was featured on @talestoterrify.bsky.social for this month with my story “Swirls and Eddies.” It was my first podcasted story. Link if you want to give it a listen: talestoterrify.com/episodes/634...
Every trans person in America is more courageous than its soldiers. Every person of colour who is forced to navigate life in a country that treats them with open hostility is more courageous. Everyone in Minneapolis and beyond, refusing to allow armed goons to destroy their communities, is braver.
Picture of Marjane Satrapi alongside a quote from her. The quote reads: The world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same... - Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-French graphic novelist
Thinking about this quote from Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi again.
With a little help from his Sinners co-star Miles Caton, the near-nonagenarian legend gives the Tiny Desk a history lesson in the blues. n.pr/4tPjN7o
Also minor spoilers, but the eventual love interest is a trans woman - ymmv but I thought for something set in the 90s it felt accurate re: how people conceptualized sex/gender while still viewing her, narratively, as a girl.
I really liked it, thought it did a good job of avoiding sensationalizing the Satanic Panic by keeping a close focus on how much it fucks up the narrator's life and how unglamorous it all was.
Have you read Rainbow Black?
Today we honor Paula D. Ashe!
www.uncomfortablydark.com/post/02-26-2...
IME, MSWLs do not matter beyond making sure the agent isn't a hard no on whatever your book is about. In fact, the more similar your book is to their MSWL, the more likely it is to get rejected. Better to look at sales data and records if you want to do a deep dive.
just want to add to this-- calling is VERY easy. I have not called a single rep that had a live person answering the phone. you dont have anything to be nervous about!~ you might feel it cathartic actually.
historically I am super super phone-averse but it's genuinely so easy and takes 2 minutes.
here's how things have been going lately. Thanks @mcsweeneys.net and Amanda Uhle and Rita Bullwinkel for giving me a chance to think out loud a little
as long as folks are enthusiastically donating to state level trans orgs today, figured I'd reup this list the @them.us team and I put together a few years back: www.them.us/story/orgs-f...
(some info may be outdated, but use this as a jumping-off point!)
I’d really like to see this particular fund- for the neighborhood where Renee Good was murdered and ICE goons abducted many- infused with funds.
🌻🌻🌻
MAKE AN EMERGENCY DONATION to Trans Continental Pipeline right now.
They are a Colorado based org that helps trans people relocate there and they are overwhelmed with requests. CO borders KS, and TCP has the infrastructure to help get people out.
GO DONATE.
tcpipeline.org
One for sorrow,
Two for mirth,
Three for a funeral,
Four for a birth,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret not to be told,
Eight for heaven,
Nine for hell,
Ten, beware: it's the devil himself.
(Have you read my story "One for Sorrow" yet?)
www.blanketgravitymag.com/oneforsorrow
Digital artwork based off Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: a headless rider clad in green and red rides a rearing horse. He is holding a large axe wedged in the ground with a crown hanging from it. There are decorative winding leaves coming from the armor and horse.
Thinking about THE GREEN KNIGHT recently
a digital collage with a pink, purple, green, yellow, and teal gradient overlaid on all the images. the images include a horse carrying a bucket, a cluster of mushrooms, a grub, a birds talon, a cicada, five spiders, two flower buds, a hand with an eye over the back of it, and a microscope slide of atoms. there is white text that reads "get weirder or die miserable." the background is black and there is a slightly grainy texture
get weirder 🫵
good evening chat
