youseeatortoise

cstross, 2 months ago to random

Tory MP calls for "all wild animals" to be culled:

“Because if they don’t their health deteriorates. They don’t have any predators in today’s world. Foxes, deer, badgers. We don’t want to wipe them out, we just simply want them controlled.

“This is just pure common sense.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/richard-drax-beavers-badgers-cull-b2506916.html

(I think we could sensibly start by culling the implausibly-named Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, MP. )

youseeatortoise, 2 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub
5. Where do you see the future of publishing in ten years' time?

The AI bubble bursts, taking most of the creative industries with it. Besides the Big Three, which will gobble up much of the remaining market, there will be some space for micro and small presses to put out books that the rest of us want to read. Indie will dominate but only a handful of authors in a sea of dreck. Most books will be free and not worth that price.

youseeatortoise, 2 months ago to writing

Do you have a book or short story out that you'd like to promote? My writing collective, Night Beats, interviews authors every Tuesday. It's easy to participate. Just follow the directions on our site. https://nightbeatseu.ca/author-interviews/ #writing #WordWeavers #PennedPossibilities #WritersCoffeeClub

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub Feb 25 - How do you feel about Amazon's influence on books and publishing?

When I was growing up, we had to read dystopian fiction in high school about ubiquitous surveillance and government censorship so that we'd know how terrible Communism was and how lucky we were to live under capitalism. None of these dystopias went nearly as far as to have neo-Nazis policing warehouses while 80-year-old workers living in RVs had to pee in a bottle.

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

#WordWeavers 2/22 - Does reading your own words bring you joy?

Yes, but only long after I've written them. We're talking months. Oh, turns out I wrote a good turn of phrase there! I don't remember doing it.

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

#WordWeavers 17: What's the most embarrassing thing your MC has done?

One time, Ian was walking to Parliament through a far-right protest with Gaby when one of the protesters shouted racial slurs at her. He threw a Brown Note and made them all shit their pants, and of course a few dozen people were filming it at the time. The hashtag "AltRightFullOfShit" was trending for weeks. (Prompt didn't specify that it had to be embarrassing for him.)

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

#writerscoffeeclub 16 Feb - If you've read a series, was there a weak book in the series? What made it weak?

I sometimes find that series don't quite stick the landing, but right now I'm struggling to think of a good example. Besides ASoIaF, which is just derailed in general by too many subplots.

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

#WordWeavers 2/13: What's your favorite thing about your writing space?

I have a beautiful poster that I commissioned of my cats by the phenomenally talented Nathan Nun. (https://nathannun.ca/) It hangs above my desk along with another poster by him and it gives me joy every time I see it.

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

#PennedPossibilities 221 - Which of the four seasons suits your MC best?

The Sleep of Reason-verse has superseasons (extreme hot summers and extreme cold winters that are barely survivable) so...people try to survive in spring and fall the best they can. If I had to align characters to metaphorical seasons:
Maya: Spring
Jonah: Summer
Ian: Fall
Blythe: Winter

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 7/8: Which words do you overuse?

Anyone having to read my 130K monstrosities might argue "all of them."

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

Please help
@martennorr make history TikToks and survive. He's the illustrator for the Sad Bastard Cookbook, but ironically, Amazon's decision to take our book down means that he has to cut down on luxuries like food. Support us sad bastards (me and @zillanovikov as well) at: https://traumbooks.itch.io/the-sad-bastard-cookbook

https://www.tiktok.com/@flowerprinceart/video/7332923176906689835

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

Clarkesworld is absolutely 🔥 today, with "The Enceladus South Pole Base Named after V.I. Lenin" by Zohar Jacobs (which I had the privilege of reading in draft) and "Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole" by Isabel J. Kim, which is possibly the best short story title I have ever heard.
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/jacobs_02_24/
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_02_24/

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to random

The Sad Bastard Cookbook hardcopy remains off Amazon, sadly. We continue to gently nudge the robots in charge of our livelihoods in the hopes that they reinstate it. In the meantime though, our buddy Rysz at tRaum books has put up a PWYC donation button for the ebook version on itch.io. We still want the ebook to be free to anyone who wants it, but if you were wondering how you can support our bastardry in the meantime, here's a way.
https://traumbooks.itch.io/the-sad-bastard-cookbook

mariyadelano, 3 months ago to Futurology

HELP: looking for sources on fascist aesthetics. Why fascists (Nazi Germany, other fascist countries, and current fascist movements) like minimalism, Ancient Greek and Roman sculpture and architecture, and “elegant” beauty.

And why they banned the kinds of art they banned.

(PLEASE BOOST FOR REACH)

#research #AskFedi #AskMastodon #history #art #artHistory

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to writing

The Sad Bastard Cookbook remains in Amazon purgatory. Did you know that there are no humans in the KDP review department?

In the meantime, our illustrator @martennorr relies on royalties for a good portion of his income, and every day we can't sell means a major loss for him. If you need an illustrator or cover designer, why not check him out for a commission? https://martennorr.com/illustration/ #writing

youseeatortoise, 3 months ago to writing

#PennedPossibilities #writing 206 — Does your MC often reflect on their own actions? Do they ever think about the past, and what they could have done differently?

A lot of Ian's characterization is built around the idea that he spent around 20 years only being able to think about the future(s), to the degree that looking back was impossible. And now that, at least in his eyes, he has more past than future, it's time for a reckoning.

youseeatortoise, 4 months ago to random

#writerscoffeeclub Jan 23: Who do you publish through or aim to publish with? How's it going?

The Sleep of Reason trilogy is/will be published through BumblePuppy Press. The Sad Bastard Cookbook is self-published (which means that I have to directly deal with Amazon problems, on the PHONE like it's the 1990s). Short stories are with various writers groups and small presses. My aim is eventually mid-level press. I hate marketing and want better distro than I get.

youseeatortoise, 4 months ago to random

I want to thank everyone here so much for the outpouring of support that @zillanovikov , @martennorr and I have received in response to Amazon taking down the Sad Bastard Cookbook. Several different people and bots are now reviewing our case, and we hope it will be back up soon.
Just wanted to share the fantastic email that Zilla received from a massive company worth over a trillion dollars. I hope y'all enjoy it as much as we did.

18+ youseeatortoise, 4 months ago to random

Help us Sad Bastards!

Amazon in all its wisdom has taken down the Sad Bastard Cookbook. They won't tell us why. They won't tell us how to fix whatever tripped the algorithm. They won't seem to let us appeal. Reaching a human at Amazon is a Kafkaesque experience that we haven't yet managed to do.

Not only does this affect our ability to distribute it free to depressed, disabled, and broke folks, but the paperback is a big source of income for us. Anyone fought the 'Zon and won? Help!

Cover for The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don't Die by Zilla Novikov and Rachel A. Rosen, illustrated by Marten Norr. The cover shows a fancy dinner with roses but there's a kleenex box, dry ramen, and a plastic knife.

youseeatortoise, 4 months ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 18—Does your work feature on BookTok? How do you feel about the platform?

If I wanted to be a video influencer, I'd have been born young, conventionally attractive, blond, and perky. As it is I'd rather be known for my words, which are primarily geared at adults.

youseeatortoise, 4 months ago to random

#PennedPossibilities 195 How does your MC view people in general?

Loves humanity, hates most actual humans. You could say he's an antisocial socialist.

youseeatortoise, 4 months ago to random

#PennedPossibilities 192
List a few themes within novels that will always pull you in whether you're reading or writing them

Left-wing politics. Deconstruction of genre tropes. Spying and treachery. Queer longing. Heterosexual-but-queer-coded longing. Sci-fi or fantasy tropes as a mirror to our own world. Messy characters. Unlikeable or unreliable protagonists. Climate change and crisis. Living in the ruins.