@mixedmetaphors
He/him. Novelette, There Are Infinite Universes and All of Them Are Boring, published by ELJ Editions: https://elj-editions.com/there-are-infinite-universes-and-all-of-them-are-boring/ Editor-at-ease at @foofarawpress.bsky.social mixedmetaphors.net
Yes! This also bothers me about heist movies. There's always a moment where the entire op depends on a guard looking left instead of right, or glancing away from a monitor, or ignoring a broken camera, etc; something they have no control over. Months of planning all dependent on blind luck.
Tinker Tailor Swifter Spy
It's so good, isn't it?
This is so funny and so desperately lonely. Read it!!!
It's not their only ad that compares storage units (favorably) to dating!
A billboard for Manhattan Mini Storage that shows a tall woman looking aghast and disgusted at a short man--it's cheese from her face that she truly hates anyone under 6'3" and considers them unworthy of love or even basic consideration--with the slogan: "A storage unit has never lied about its height."
I'm always bothered by this billboard on the FDR in Manhattan, not only because it unnecessarily mocks short people, but also because it's wrong. Height is one of the very specific things storage unit places do in fact lie about.
After a night many many years ago where the hotel alarm clock woke me up at 4am, I now always check. In fact, I usually just unplug the whole clock. I don't need those blinding red numbers shining on me while I sleep.
New story of the week is up!
#weekendreading
Read at www.brownhoundpress.com/stories/sora...
I did!
To be fair, cutting a straight line on wrapping paper is extremely hard.
One of the questions I keep asking is related: if (a) tech companies are forcing AI into everything, saying it will make everyone more efficient, and (b) they claim to be using AI to do 30%+ of their own internal work as a kind of proof, then... why are their prices going up instead of down?
Yeah, hey, what about us chumps who already follow you?
In case it's unclear: this isn't sarcasm! It's the best possible use of space ships! In fact, if you enjoy possibly-going-to-kiss characters discussing free will in nominally sci-fi scenarios, check out my novelette: There Are Infinite Universes and All of Them Are Boring
bsky.app/profile/mixe...
I read Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear and what I truly love most about it is the extended mid-section where two will-they-or-won't-they characters stop to talk about the philosophy of identity and free will in the middle of a rapidly deteriorating science fiction scenario.
💙📚
This rare free edit will transform your story from the beautiful polished gem that you know it to be in your secret heart of hearts into an even-more-beautiful even-more-polished gem.
That ampersand looks like the kind of ligature-derived glyph an eldritch horror would use.
Public libraries to receive 32p and a stick of gum we found in the couch cushions.
No, I was honestly embarrassed about writing "ontological" instead of "epistemological." I wasn't actually going to delete my account of course, but I was definitely not doing a bit.
Okay, last time I was reviewing a book I did say epistemological. It was only this time that my brain swapped the terms. No longer deleting my account.
bsky.app/profile/mixe...
Oh no! I'm deleting my account!
I realize I've been using the word "ontological" a lot to describe the books I've read, but it's because I keep reading books that ruminate on the meaning of knowledge! It's definitely not because it was on my word-of-the-day calendar.
All of this is to say: I just finished reading Nick Harkaway's Angelmaker, which nails its intentional mix of pulp gangster/mystery action, radical character study, and a sustained subtext—ontological (and, let’s face it, textual)—about the dangers of knowing too much.
#booksky 💙📚
It can, honestly, feel almost ostentatious in its virtuosity... arpeggios for every character back to the beginning of their lives, somehow without ever slowing the text. A real lesson in character creation, though probably not the right call for most writers to chase that level of granular detail.
What I love about Nick Harkaway's books is how every character, no matter how minor, feels fully and semi-obessively drawn. Long, wonderfully-rendered backstories or baroque personality liturgies would feel like diversions in lesser hands. At some point you realize the diversions *are* the story.
Good book. After reading it my new JFK assassination conspiracy was that the entire real-world event was custom designed to be the perfect material for a Don DeLillo novel. If either all or none of it is true, it still reads exactly like a very specific Don DeLillo fever dream.
I can highly recommend engrossing yourself in this novella by the wonderful @mixedmetaphors.bsky.social 📚📘
The time has officially arrived! Our inaugural Mindlessly Massive March! Double the stories; triple the word count; 150 pages of goodness! Stories will be available on the web throughout the month, but you can pick up a copy in print or digitally now! foofaraw.press/mindlessly-m...
Praise for my novelette from the founder and editor of @foofarawpress.bsky.social:
"...this fantastic novella bringing together the wonderful dialog of My Dinner with Andre with the thought-provoking science fiction of Ted Chiang."
Hello everyone! My novelette, There Are Infinite Universes and All of Them Are Boring, is now available from the wonderful @emergejournal.bsky.social
It's a classic tale of "lab tech meets corporate analyst and they gaze into the boring abyss."
In print and ebook:
elj-editions.com/there-are-in...
Also... Sorry for making light of what seems like a possibly traumatic experience for you. Honestly don't know how else to respond to that kind of thing.