As you know, we didn’t have a newsletter last week. I mean, I had stuff to share and things I wanted to talk about, but I was also dealing with final grades for the course I was teaching at SNHU, trying to turn in my Locus reviews for the next issue, pitching some books to other venues, dealing with the mayhem of spending the first three weeks of June on the road (North Carolina, Puerto Rico, and then Pittsburgh), and, last but definitely not least, working on a really cool thing for a big magazine that I can’t talk about yet. Yeah, by the time I realized I had to work on Sunday’s newsletter…it was Wednesday night. Hah.
Anyway, moving on! Today I want to talk about some books first. I tend to read many books simultaneously. It’s usually 10 or 12, but it can be more at any point in time. I’ve been reading some outstanding stuff lately and wanted to drop a short list of recommendations. If you like great fiction, get these:
Lone Women by Victor LaValle
The Beast You Are by Paul Tremblay (comes out soon!)
Dark Matter Presents Monstrous Futures, edited by Alex Woodroe
The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni
Mother Howl by Craig Clevenger
Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede
Reading is entertainment and escapism, sure, but I think it’s also much more than that. If you’re a writer, for example, it can be many things, including going to class and something that pushes you to become a better writer. Take the first two books on the list. I—ahem—won a Stoker two weeks ago, which you’d think should’ve done something for my confidence. I don’t think it did, and reading LaValle and Tremblay at the same time is constantly reminding me of how much work there’s still left to do. I love that. Now let’s talk about some stuff I don’t love as much…
Well, that’s a lie. I love Twitter. I really do. Sure, it’s a cesspool full of asshole and a place where I get a lot of hate and many racists, but it’s also a superb tool that’s help me make friends, meet a lot of cool people, discover hundreds of authors, get three anthologies off the ground, sell books, etc. It can be a dark, awful place, but it can also be a wonderful place full of friendly people you can support. Folks are worries because it seems to be crashing and burning. Again. I hope it doesn’t. In fact, I still have hope that it will get better at some point. Until that happens, or until it actually ceases to exist, you can still find me there, talking about books, movies, politics, and sharing stuff that made me smile. Anyway, the meme at the top is one I made a while ago, and that dude keeps giving me reasons to share it. Sigh.
LIFE
Thinking about the newsletter on Wednesday was weird. I’m usually good at keeping things…well, I was going to say organized, but that’d be a lie. I suck at organizing things. That said, I understand and thrive in chaos, and that means I usually managed to get things done when they’re supposed to be done. Last week was a stark reminder that sometimes life gets so hectic that we lose track of time. That’s dangerous because every single day is a step we take closer to death (hey, hope you have an awesome day!) and thus we should get the most out of each day we spend on top of the ground. Do some cool shit today. You deserve it.
I’ve been watching some documentaries lately. I’ll save that for next week. Stay awesome and thanks for reading.
Substack Notes has a lot of Twitteresque potential. If you can convince the best of your Twitter followers to come over here- especially those who have something to offer in the writing/art/ newsletter world- we can build something special. I'm about to pitch Malerman that he should establish a presence here.