The unbearable everywhereness of hustle culture
I’m writing this to you from the sunny (for now) patio of a rental cottage as far from civilization as it’s possible to get, and still be in Ireland. My...
Obligatory Tom Waits Reference Here!
Somehow it seems like Sunstack never sent this out? Sorry, folks, it was meant to go out Sunday the 4th, and I didn’t notice because I was at Worldcon! I...
A view from a high place
We're in Dublin briefly before heading off on a writing retreat in an undisclosed location (It’s Kerry) for a few days, where we plan to do nearly nothing...
Sort of an everything update
Hey, folks, It’s been kind of a zoo around here lately, and the only reason I’m finding the time to actually update this newsletter is because I hurt my...
I seem to have a WorldCon Schedule.
How weird is that? ?
Signed book sale!
Signed copies of my work (and anything in the store that's not already on sale!) are available through V. J. Books at a 50% discount for the month of August...
June and July Book Club! And horse update!
Whew, I have not done as much reading as I wanted to do, either on our travels or since I got home. I’m starting to get a little unstuck from fiction, at...
Author points
One of the most useful analogies I’ve come up with over the course of my career is something that arose out of an epiphany I had approximately 20 years ago,...
Booksigning at Odyssey Books Thursday July 21!
7 pm! South Hadley! Does what it says on the tin! Sign up here! https://www.odysseybks.com/event/elizabeth-bear-person
Fashion changes the way we see.
I am an 80s kid through and through. I mean, I was born in the 70s, but all of my awareness that there is a larger world out there basically starts with the...
The reader doesn't owe me anything.
I’ve been seeing opinions in the social medias lately from certain writers that I find a little puzzling and entitled. To wit, the idea that readers owe the...
Make room, make room
As some of you have doubtless noticed, I spent Pride month building a rec list of books containing LGBTQA rep on twitter. I’ve been using a specific set of...
My Favorite Bit and I will be at Pandemonium tomorrow!
Hey folks! Here’s the essay I wrote for Mary Robinette Kowal’s MY FAVORITE BIT feature on friendship and The Origin of Storms. Also, I will be doing my first...
The system is broken because it was built that way.
First off: Book Club will return next month, because I am traveling! Second, a little rant about civics: If it seems like it’s really hard to get anything...
THE ORIGIN OF STORMS! It's new book day! Here's a link!
Hey, folks! THE ORIGIN OF STORMS is out today. I’m sure by now everybody knows how vital first week sales are to a book’s prospects, so if you think you want...
T-1
THE ORIGIN OF STORMS comes out tomorrow! snarky talking pen big fight on a volcano walking cities wizards sciencing the shit out of things giant gentle metal...
We're calling it a "curated" book tour...
Hey everybody! In something that feels VERY weird, I will actually be doing a couple of in-person appearances next month to launch THE ORIGIN OF STORMS. (On-...
Being snobby about rice might make you a bad artist
Hey, folks, So as those of you who have been around for a while know, one of my hobbies is watching cooking videos on youtube. I’m kind of picky about it,...
THE ORIGIN OF STORMS ONE WEEK FROM TODAY
ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! The shattering conclusion to The Lotus Kingdoms trilogy, the culmination of the series begun with The Eternal Sky trilogy, THE ORIGIN OF...
A rising tide lifts all boats, but not everybody sees it that way.
I’m a little late to the party here (been traveling, helping run a convention, plague year, you know) but the recent flap about that one guy and his Hot Take...
What if there were enough for everybody?
Sounds like communism.
Hard-traveling heroes
Positive reinforcement, social media, and animal training.
Gamification might be bad, actually?
Hey, folks, So something I’ve been thinking about lately is gamification, and whether it’s actually a good idea. Streaks and Daily Habits and the habit...
Book Club, May 2022
Hey folks, Tomorrow we’re taking the horses to summer camp, where they will spend two months learning to tolt better and avoiding the heat in the mountains...
Content Warning: Gun Stuff (also I am mad, just like everybody else)
(This started life as a twitter thread; also putting it here for easier reading) You would think that if the gun lobby were arguing in good faith, the fact...
Salty Cocktail Blogging
Scott and I have been watching this youtube channel called How To Drink, which is a lovely unintentional companion to one of my other favorite channels, How...
Twitch Interview on Saturday at 10 am EDT!
Does what it says on the tin! I'll be over here with Edward! https://www.twitch.tv/gryftkin
None dare call it fuckery.
In which America once again gaslights itself.
Discord reminder
Just a reminder that the discord server is live, and if you’re a subscriber you can access it here: https://discord.gg/mZM5c3FM (Please don’t forward this...
Grit appropriation
There’s an old song that goes, “I’m tired and I wanna go home. I’m tired and a I wanna go home.” Good gravy, I’m tired. I’m tired of the world, I’m tired of...
Don't need a book club to know which way the wind blows
Hey folks, What have you been reading in April? As for me, well, I read Homo Deus: A History Of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari, which has probably irritated...
It's me on a podcast, having too much fun!
Hey, please come join me with the great crew over at SOMEBODY WRITE THIS, where we will build a ghost story from a kit... with procedurally generated plot...
PTSD and a hairy dog belly.
Hey everybody, What with the twitter nonsense, and the way that algorithms bury everything I want to see (and make it nearly impossible for me to keep folks...
So I fell off a horse. Again. :D
We’re all fine, we’ve just been having many adventures in Horseland the past week or so. Trail riding season is upon us, and my piriformis isn’t used to this...
Discounted pre-orders on everything you want to read this year!
Hey, folks! From now until April 22nd EVERY TITLE available for pre-order on Barnes and Noble is 25% off, including THE ORIGIN OF STORMS! Remember that pre-...
Adventures in everything
Hey, folks, Things have been a little hectic around here for the past week or so, but in a good way mostly. Spring has finally sprung, and it's cool and...
Why are cats?
We have a little mudroom/storage shed on the back of our house that I use (among other things) to store bird seed. Our downstairs guest bedroom (currently...
$2.99 THE STONE IN THE SKULL ebook!
Does what it says on the box!
First they came for the book clubs.
Hey folks, It seems to be time to tell you what I managed to get read in March, which is currently acting more like February here in the glorious...
Meanwhile, over at the Discord, a book club for writers...
Hey, folks, As some (most?) of you probably know, one of the benefits for paid subscribers of this newsletter is access it a private Discord server, which is...
Horse stories make a triumphant return!
Hey, folks, Well, I'm riding again on a regular basis, much to everyone's relief, and so I've got horse-related things to tell you. Ormr is doing great, and...
The trick is not to keep moving the extra credit goalpost, I think you'll find.
I am coming around to the feeling that one of the worst things we do to ourselves is quantifying everything, and training ourselves to judge everything by...
Ego defense and American authoritarians
Hey, folks, I've been thinking a lot about American authoritarianism as we watch the situation unfold in Ukraine, breath held and fingers crossed for those...
Cancer stuff update
No real news, but boy between the tamoxifen and the post-radiation sequelae, I am learning a lot of stuff about thermal dysregulation. I feel like a have a...
Origin of Storms excerpt! And... good news, bad news.
The good news is the excerpt, obviously. :D Which you can read here. The other good news is that amazing cover art. The bad news is that due to S*pply Ch*in...
Nobody needs more punditry on Ukraine right now and I am not an expert anyway
I will say one thing, though, that DOES speak to my area of expertise: Volodymyr Zelenskyy is really, really, really good at narrative. I can see why he was...
February 2022 Book Club
Hey folks, A day late, but not a dollar short, I hope. The world is a scary place right now, and I spent yesterday in post-cancer doctor appointments. All...
Cheap Ebooks!
Well, it’s not horse_ebooks, but they are on sale! For US readers, my award-winning first novel, Hammered, is on sale for $1.99 in ebook. For the UK readers,...
Quiet out there. Too quiet.
Hey, folks, So my radiation burns have nearly healed (just a couple of small scabs left, three and a half weeks after finishing treatment, and no oozy...
So we're watching this TV show called "TRAPPED."
Hey, folks, Well, I’m healing, slowly. There is some skin or scar tissue that wasn’t there before, and I’m kind of hoping that by Friday or Monday I might...