Friday Chatter: Empathy
Tell me about a time when a book - or some other work of fiction in some other medium - helped increase your empathy or understanding of other people. Do you...
Fiction and Empathy
I’m continuing to (slowly) read Keith Oatley's "Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction" and I'm struck by his research into fiction and empathy....
Fiction and Empathy
I’m continuing to (slowly) read Keith Oatley's "Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction" and I'm struck by his research into fiction and empathy....
Friday Chatter: Socials
We all come to this Substack from different places; some of us have the pressures applied on social media that are commonly applied to authors, and some of...
Friday Chatter: Socials
We all come to this Substack from different places; some of us have the pressures applied on social media that are commonly applied to authors, and some of...
Three Uncomfortable Things About Twitter
I'm not leaving Twitter yet, partly because - with everything else going on in my writing life and personal life - I haven't been able to make time to sit...
Three Uncomfortable Things About Twitter
I'm not leaving Twitter yet, partly because - with everything else going on in my writing life and personal life - I haven't been able to make time to sit...
A post in support of CUPE
I'm going to uncharacteristically veer into politics this week because I'm so relieved about something that just happened here in Ontario. I've been...
A post in support of CUPE
I'm going to uncharacteristically veer into politics this week because I'm so relieved about something that just happened here in Ontario. I've been...
My House Is... Cute??
This will be a little tiny bit of a "woo" post - appropriately, I suppose, for the time of year. I've been writing here about my animistic conviction that my...
My House Is... Cute??
This will be a little tiny bit of a "woo" post - appropriately, I suppose, for the time of year. I've been writing here about my animistic conviction that my...
Friday Chatter: Apologies
This week’s post was about apologies. Tell me about a time when you saw a problem resolved well without a formal apology.
Friday Chatter: Apologies
This week’s post was about apologies. Tell me about a time when you saw a problem resolved well without a formal apology.
Sometimes you don't need to apologize.
Here’s a quick social skills lesson for folks who might not know it yet, or who might need the refresher. Sometimes people make mistakes and need to...
Sometimes you don't need to apologize.
Here’s a quick social skills lesson for folks who might not know it yet, or who might need the refresher. Sometimes people make mistakes and need to...
Friday Chatter: Google Glasses
Been a while since I had a new poem out, so let’s talk about this one. “Google Glasses” is less about Google as a corporation, and more about the urge to...
Friday Chatter: Google Glasses
Been a while since I had a new poem out, so let’s talk about this one. “Google Glasses” is less about Google as a corporation, and more about the urge to...
Autistic Book Party, Episode 75 and a half: Short Story Smorgasbord
Come on over to Wordpress for a very gay and trans lineup of short story recommendations, all of them by autistic authors - including Andi C. Buchanan,...
Autistic Book Party, Episode 75 and a half: Short Story Smorgasbord
Come on over to Wordpress for a very gay and trans lineup of short story recommendations, all of them by autistic authors - including Andi C. Buchanan,...
Calling Attention to What Needs Work
I keep promising to post more about my house and about animism, about viewing my house as a living thing, and to be honest I've felt a bit stuck. When I...
Calling Attention to What Needs Work
I keep promising to post more about my house and about animism, about viewing my house as a living thing, and to be honest I've felt a bit stuck. When I...
Friday Chatter: Emergence
“The whole being greater than the sum of its parts” is an idea I talk to my students about every year (no joke; it’s called “emergence”; it’s relevant to the...
Friday Chatter: Emergence
“The whole being greater than the sum of its parts” is an idea I talk to my students about every year (no joke; it’s called “emergence”; it’s relevant to the...
Autistic Book Party, Episode 75: Geometries of Belonging
Today’s book review is of RB Lemberg’s new Birdverse-themed short story collection, GEOMETRIES OF BELONGING. (A different entity from the short story of that...
Autistic Book Party, Episode 75: Geometries of Belonging
Today’s book review is of RB Lemberg’s new Birdverse-themed short story collection, GEOMETRIES OF BELONGING. (A different entity from the short story of that...
Friday Chatter: Inspiration
In this week’s post we talked about the process of inspiration - both artistic and scientific. What’s a book or film that you feel does portray this process...
Friday Chatter: Inspiration
In this week’s post we talked about the process of inspiration - both artistic and scientific. What’s a book or film that you feel does portray this process...
Bolts of Inspiration
A small aside in "Such Stuff as Dreams" made me think of one little thing that always annoys me in spec fic. It's when an author wants their protagonist to...
Bolts of Inspiration
A small aside in "Such Stuff as Dreams" made me think of one little thing that always annoys me in spec fic. It's when an author wants their protagonist to...
Friday Chatter: Chaining
Not to be all “can you think of an example from your own life” (except, well, I am teaching on campus again this month and I am *very* “can you think of an...
Friday Chatter: Chaining
Not to be all “can you think of an example from your own life” (except, well, I am teaching on campus again this month and I am *very* “can you think of an...
Forward and Backward Chaining
I've been reading Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction by Keith Oatley, which is a bit dense but absolutely relevant to my interests and to the...
Forward and Backward Chaining
I've been reading Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction by Keith Oatley, which is a bit dense but absolutely relevant to my interests and to the...
Friday Chatter: Pacing
Yesterday’s panel at the Argo Bookshop was a great event, and it got me thinking (again) about neurodivergent writing styles and pacing. Might be a post...
Friday Chatter: Pacing
Yesterday’s panel at the Argo Bookshop was a great event, and it got me thinking (again) about neurodivergent writing styles and pacing. Might be a post...
Autistic Book Party, Episode 74: The Luminous Dead
Today’s review is quick but glowing (no pun intended) - Caitlin Starling’s sci-fi caving horror “The Luminous Dead.” Find out why it earned a Recommended-2...
Autistic Book Party, Episode 74: The Luminous Dead
Today’s review is quick but glowing (no pun intended) - Caitlin Starling’s sci-fi caving horror “The Luminous Dead.” Find out why it earned a Recommended-2...
Autistic Book Stats
A mutual on Twitter recently shared an experience they’d had in real life: in a discussion of neurodiversity in SFF, when asked to think of autistic...
Autistic Book Stats
A mutual on Twitter recently shared an experience they’d had in real life: in a discussion of neurodiversity in SFF, when asked to think of autistic...
THE OUTSIDE's query letter
Since I’ve handed in the copy edits to THE INFINITE - and since there’s been talk about the querying process going around on Twitter - I thought I’d share...
THE OUTSIDE's query letter
Since I’ve handed in the copy edits to THE INFINITE - and since there’s been talk about the querying process going around on Twitter - I thought I’d share...
Friday Chatter: Connections
In this week’s post we talked about how to tell the difference between a person or group that fulfils you and one where you’re just putting the time in...
Friday Chatter: Connections
In this week’s post we talked about how to tell the difference between a person or group that fulfils you and one where you’re just putting the time in...
Healthy Connections
As you go through your life you will meet people. There will be people and groups who drain your energy to be around, who you grit your teeth and force...
Healthy Connections
As you go through your life you will meet people. There will be people and groups who drain your energy to be around, who you grit your teeth and force...
Friday Chatter: Villains
This week’s Autistic Book Party talked about a comedic autistic supervillain. What are some of your favorite villains - autistic or otherwise? What do you...
Friday Chatter: Villains
This week’s Autistic Book Party talked about a comedic autistic supervillain. What are some of your favorite villains - autistic or otherwise? What do you...
Autistic Book Party, Episode 73: The Timematician
In today’s Autistic Book Party we’re talking about the unlikely way I was won over by “The Timematician,” a book where a colorful autistic supervillain ends...
Autistic Book Party, Episode 73: The Timematician
In today’s Autistic Book Party we’re talking about the unlikely way I was won over by “The Timematician,” a book where a colorful autistic supervillain ends...
Friday Chatter
What’s something you want to see more of in fiction that can’t be boiled down to a binary?