Issue 47 The FutureX Podcast Starts with Representation
Exploring intersectionality in media with Dr. Nicole Haggard on The FutureX Podcast.
Issue 46 Power to the Indie Booksellers
Hello! I’m proud to announce that Surrender is available at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena. If you’re around Pasadena, stop by and get your own copy. Indie...
Issue 45 Erasing the Archive
Hello! I've always been a total nerd about my work setup. I have custom-made rubber stamps for my notebooks and treat pencils like cult objects. Most days I...
Issue 44 I was a guest on the Care More Be Better Podcast
Hello! I was a guest on the Care More Be Better podcast to talk about eco-anxiety and my book Surrender. The host Corinna Bellizzi and I spoke about facing...
Issue 43 Available Everywhere
Hello! My new science fiction novel Surrender is available everywhere now, listed by Bookshop.org, Book Depository, and Amazon. Wow. I will do an audiobook...
Issue 42 Why I’m Optimistic
The newsletter has turned into an essay this week. Let's get to it. Anyone who creates public work today is in a race for human attention. You may not have...
Issue 41 The Indie Way
Hello! A few years ago, when I started writing Surrender, I knew I was going to publish it independently, because I’d experienced “failure to launch,” with...
Issue 40 Your Performance Review Episode 10 — Commander Field
Hello! This is the tenth and last episode of Your Performance Review. Michel and Commander Field are reunited and reconstruct the failed lunar mission that...
Issue 39 Have a Wonderful Holiday Season
Hello! I’m writing this week to wish you a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous and healthy 2023. Having you on this newsletter list means a lot to me....
Issue 38 Your Performance Review Episode 09—The Maintenance Bot
Hello! Hey, sorry that this week’s episode is late. End of the year stuff just piled on, and I was also watching Twitter take a hard right turn. But we’re...
Issue 37 Episode 08 - Hillary and a rare photo
Hello! In this week's episode of Your Performance Review, Michel's once-secret inquiry into his past is no longer a secret. An investigator arrives to...
Issue 36 Your Performance Review Episode 07—The Administrator
Hello! In Episode 07 of Your Performance Review, Michel recalls his previous mission when the Planetary Administrator visits him. Listen to Episode 07 Michel...
Issue 35 Your Performance Review - Episode 06 - Kai
Your Performance Review Episode 06—Kai Hello! In Episode 06 of Your Performance Review, a troubled child comes to Michel for a review. Listen to Episode 06...
Issue 34 Your Performance Review Episode 05 - Chuck
Hello! In Episode 05 of Your Performance Review an interstellar commander remembers a heroic effort to save his life. Listen to Episode 05 Chuck is about to...
Issue 33 Your Performance Review – Episode 04 – D
Hello! Your Performance Review tells the story of a bot who listens to people’s problems and tries to help. Along the way, the bot tries to solve a problem...
Issue 32 Episode 03 – Pyotr - Making Bots Laugh is the Hardest Thing
Regretfully, I apologize in advance. We all spend too much time looking at screens, and yet here you are looking at a screen to read this. We need more human...
Issue 31 Your Performance Review - Episode 02
Hello! It’s time to premiere Episode 02 of Your Performance Review. In this episode, Molly is told to report to a performance reviewer because she is...
Issue 30 Your Performance Review Premieres
Your Performance Review Premieres Hello! Great news for you all today. I am ready to premiere Your Performance Review, an audio drama in ten episodes. It...
Issue 29 Auditioning for the Job
Auditioning for the Job Hello! I have three book cover tests ready for your opinion. I’ve been working with an excellent designer, Paul Palmer-Edwards, whom...
Issue 28 The 25th Hour
The 25th Hour Hello! Your Performance Review is a podcast from the future. It takes place in 2036 and has a mixed cast of humans and synthetic people. I’m...
Issue 27 Finishing Up and Starting Again
Hello! It’s been a while since you’ve received a newsletter from 500 Words. I’ve been working on things, work-work, fun-work, and also creative work, and...
Issue 26 A Glossary of Terms
A Glossary of Terms When we last left off in this newsletter, I was starting to read the notes from many thoughtful readers who dove into an early draft of...
Issue 25 The Beginning of 2022
Greetings! It has been raining in solid gray sheets of water for days here in Southern California, a rare event. Since I moved here, some 30 years ago, I’ve...
Issue 24 Surrender
After a couple of years of writing for six days a week, I finished writing my novel Surrender last Friday. There were times, when working on it, I would have...
Issue 23 Bonus Episode - Mission of the Lunar Sparrow
Hello! After nine episodes, Mission of the Lunar Sparrow is complete. (Already?) Feeling nostalgic after the run of the show, I took some time out from...
Issue 22 The Final Episode of Mission of the Lunar Sparrow
Hello! In the final episode of Mission of the Lunar Sparrow, Commander Field is on her way home against her will. Mission Control has taken over the ship....
Issue 21 Mission of the Lunar Sparrow Episode 8
Commander Field opens her heart on the lunar surface in a solo performance like no other - Episode 8 of Mission of the Lunar Sparrow.
Issue 20 Pump Up the Conflict for Episode 7
In Episode 7 of Mission of the Lunar Sparrow, Mission Control admits that admin has made a mistake about the mission and takes drastic action to remedy the...
Issue 19 Mission of the Lunar Sparrow Episode 6
Hello! Episode 6 of Mission of the Lunar Sparrow is ready for your listening pleasure. After this one, there are just three more. In this episode … Commander...
Issue 18 Mission of the Lunar Sparrow Episode 5
Greetings! Episode 5 of Mission of the Lunar Sparrow is live. When Commander Field steps outside her spacecraft there is a presence on the lunar surface...
Issue 17 Mission of the Lunar Sparrow Episode 4
Greetings! Episode 4 of Mission of the Lunar Sparrow drops today. Commander Field touches down on the lunar surface to find herself smack in the middle of a...
Issue 16 Mission of the Lunar Sparrow - Episode 3
In Episode 3 of Mission of the Lunar Sparrow, our story takes a turn. Up until now, Commander Field has maintained a cheerful and optimistic attitude about...
Issue 15 Mission of the Lunar Sparrow Episode 2
It’s time for Episode 2 of Mission of the Lunar Sparrow. When Commander Field learns that the U.S. Government's mining equipment is missing on the lunar...
Issue 14 It’s Launch Time for the Lunar Sparrow
Hello! The journey to the Moon begins today. Mission of the Lunar Sparrow, a brand new audio drama for FutureX, launches today with the first episode. Each...
Issue 13 The Mission Begins
Hi everyone, Mission of the Lunar Sparrow, a new short-form audio drama, will launch on 21 JULY. There will be a new episode posted every week. To get things...
Issue 12 Mission of the Lunar Sparrow
Hi everyone: Thanks for coming along with me on this writing journey. The feedback you all provided on the stories in the Computational Error series was...
Issue 11 Computational Error #10
Because of a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. Pardon the...
Issue 10 Computational Error #9
Because of a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. This is how I...
Issue 09 Computational Error #8
Because of a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. He watched the...
Issue 08 Computational Error #7
Because of a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. Sometimes I think I...
Issue 07 Computational Error #6
Because of a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. Dave was telling...
Issue 06 Computational Error #5
Because of a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. Telepathy is a...
Issue 05 Computational Error #4
Because of a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. Pardon the...
Issue 04 Computational Error #3
Due to a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. They met at 11 in the...
Issue 03 Computational Error #2
Because of a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. “Dave, tell me a...
Issue 02 Computational Error #1
Because of a computational error, the following story from the year 2050 has appeared on your device. We apologize for the inconvenience. My name is Alon6. I...
Issue 01 Welcome (back) to 500 Words
Greetings! 500 Words looks different because I'm moving it off Substack and on to another provider called Buttondown. I will post my reasoning in a blog...