7 Hot Takes About Star Trek
Hey everybody, happy Star Trek day! I'm just barely recovered from COVID now and haven't had time to write a new newsletter, so please enjoy this repost of a...
The Internet Is About to Get a Lot Worse
We've all watched in horror as red states have banned books in schools and libraries. We've seen teachers fired merely for reading a book about gender...
One Thing (Almost) Every Aspiring Writer Needs
I'm regularly asked what advice I have for newbie writers, and I usually say stuff about trying to find community by joining a writing group, going to...
Stuff I Love Right Now
I usually include a recommendation at the end of every newsletter for a piece of music, a book or a TV show/movie. I haven't been doing that lately, because...
If you see me on Twitter, it's not me
Thank you to everyone who just subscribed to my newsletter! I really appreciate it, and I promise that I will be putting out new posts at least once a week...
The Year of the Woman... and What Happened Next
Hey y'all... sorry I haven't published a new newsletter in a couple weeks. I'm desperately trying to get my new adult novel to my editor before I fly to...
The Vital Lesson Superhero Movies Should Learn From Deadpool
As you read this, The Flash is in theaters, and it's somewhat underperforming, with an opening weekend on par with Black Adam. As I said on Mastodon a while...
"Churn" Might Actually Be a Good Thing for Streaming Services
If you've been reading a lot of coverage of the Streaming Wars [TM] lately, you've probably been hearing about the problem of "churn." Churn, we're told, is...
Revision is the Process of Going from General to Specific
Here's another half-baked essay about revision — since I'm in the middle of revising a novel right now! (If you missed it, last week's essay was also all...
Revision can be fun. No, really.
Revising a work of fiction is pure agony. This is one of the main tenets of the writer credo (or maybe just a huge meme among writers.) And yeah, it...
Some (Probably) Worthless Thoughts About Content Moderation
Here's an incredibly crappy fable: Once there was a young person of great distinction who wore the most scintillating pair of kaleidoscopic pants. We'll call...
10 Hot Takes About Star Wars
Hey, everyone. I'm reupping a piece I wrote for Star Wars Day back in 2021, because I figure most of y'all never saw it. I hope the Force is treating you...
What People Have Been Saying So Far About Promises Stronger Than Darkness!
It's been a few weeks since Promises Stronger Than Darkness came out, and I have been so chuffed about the response to this one so far. I've never written a...
What the Universal Translator Tells Us About Exploring Other Cultures
Science fiction is full of miraculous technology. You've got instantaneous teleportation across great distances, time travel, faster-than-light starships,...
Here's What I'll Do If You Buy My New Book!
Hello everyone! My novel Promises Stronger Than Darkness comes out tomorrow. It's the last, and I think the most fun, volume in my young adult trilogy that...
EVERYTHING You Need to Know Before Promises Stronger Than Darkness!
There's just one week left before the release of Promises Stronger Than Darkness, the final book in my young adult trilogy, which I've been calling...
Don't Say Characters Lack "Agency." Here's Something Talk About Instead.
There's one common term that I was pretty careful not to use in my writing advice book, Never Say You Can't Survive: "agency." As in, "characters in a story...
Here are Some of My Favorite Trans/Non-Binary Books!
Some amazing folks, led by author Sim Kern, are launching a Trans Rights Readathon starting today, to raise money for trans organizations. I meant to tweet...
The First Article I Ever Wrote About Trans Issues
I've written countless articles and essays about trans people over the past twenty or so years, including some recent ones in Teen Vogue, the San Francisco...
Writing Comic Books is HARD. Here's Why
I've heard prose authors say stuff like, "I wish I could just write comics. You just have to write some dialogue and sketch out some action, and the artist...