We watched Hasan Minhaj’s new Netflix special, THE KING’S JESTER, this weekend; spoilers follow. It makes for an interesting contrast with HOMECOMING KING. The overall structure is similar, an arc punctuated by digressions, and Minhaj is still very deft at circling the digressions back to the main arc in unexpected ways, usually embroidered with some… Continue reading King? Or jester?
Category: essays
“We all try to give gifts to the future,”
said Carol. “It doesn’t mean they’ll use them the way we envision, or even in ways we’d approve of. You have to give gifts lightly — that’s one of my values. I’m going to tell you something.” “You’ve been telling us things already,” said Phosphorus, I thought a bit sharply. “Something new. We haven’t talked… Continue reading “We all try to give gifts to the future,”
The Parable of Jani Lane
I mean who in the Year of Our Lord 2022 is going to disagree with a blog post that says “Reject the Algorithm” — but Nick Maggiuli still offers a nice read w/r/t the case for rejecting the algorithm. I mean it’s absolutely a return to the sort of “cream rises to the top” magical… Continue reading The Parable of Jani Lane
There are no objective metrics
Kristine Kathryn Rusch has a post up today on “How Writers Fail”; the topic is “competition.” Specifically, the thesis is that viewing yourself as competing with other writers will tend to provide excuses not to write, because there’s always a worse writer doing better than you. If you’re competing against someone less skilled and they… Continue reading There are no objective metrics
To every path its season
I’ve written before about how lifting is good practice for writing: It teaches you the value of consistency and incremental progress, it shows you how long it really doesn’t take to do more than you ever thought you could when you began. I’ve written a number of books, rarely on more than 1000 words a… Continue reading To every path its season
One free solution for landing pages in WordPress
For something that would seem to be of keen interest to a lot of people, the top Google results combining the word “landing page” with “WordPress” have a lot of noise. You get a bunch of best theme lists (e.g.), 95% of which are variations on a generic image with a CTA button scrolling down… Continue reading One free solution for landing pages in WordPress
[repost] “why does it matter if the best books have white protagonists?”
NB: This essay is reposted from my old blog. The original post was written when Una was almost 1. Now she’s 5, and I have another baby daughter. My opinions have not budged; and the American left’s internal crisis over “identity politics” would appear to lent them fresh relevance. # “When A Popular List Of 100… Continue reading [repost] “why does it matter if the best books have white protagonists?”
jack and the apples
Art first; context later. Jack was Adam John First the Third, As hale a lad as you’ve ever heard Run over the brook on a rotting log With an apple in his pocket and a loose-skinned dog; And V was Valentine Eve Vereen, As sharp a lady as you’ve ever seen Sew pockets in the… Continue reading jack and the apples
back cover copy
In case the featured image isn’t readable, here’s the text: In the domed city of Anvard, society is defined by an intricate network of clans: the stolid Medawar, the flamboyant Llaverac, and dozens more. Clan membership means status and security; the options for outcasts without the protection of a clan are few and grim. Rachel… Continue reading back cover copy
some nuts and bolts of an author website
It’s pretty common for people to talk about their writing process, but you don’t often hear how people build their websites. Maybe because a lot of the people with the big megaphones don’t do it themselves? (This isn’t a knock on people with big megaphones; if I had the cash to outsource, I would.) Anyway,… Continue reading some nuts and bolts of an author website