I wrote an essay for BuzzFeed about how black trauma has gone from unseen to everywhere on the internet, and how the toll for white American enlightenment has become black mental health.
The Louisiana Democrats once dominated the state. But, they’ve gone to shit, and our state is ruled by a religious far-right Government.
How did we get here?
I wrote about the past, present, and future of the party for
@antigravitymag
I genuinely don’t get why the word “money” is a bad word to some writers. I love writing. I also love being able to pay my bills. The shit doesn’t have to be exclusive. Just my opinion.
@AJDelgado13
@RealGeorgeWash4
@kalihollowayftw
You can be hard working w/o trying to sound superior. Adding “it’s a source of laughter” and “real” Harvard degree alongside of comparing it to a community college in the way it’s stated would lead people to think you’re trying to sound superior. Therefore, elitist.
Y’all, my debut indie novel about a family of criminals in 1920s NOLA hit triple digit sales in 48 hours, even with Amazon bungling my opening day paperback sales.
I could cry right now. Lol
Louisiana folks: There’s a protest against the proposed book banning & anti-trans legislation next Saturday 4/15 @ 2pm to 4 pm!
Please show up if you can.
The proposed bills, as well as drafts of letters you can send to your State Rep., can be seen at
A Right-wing group has been stirring up shit around Louisiana, trying their best to take over library boards, leading to chaos at municipal meetings and causing moral panic in typically quiet towns. I covered it for
@antigravitymag
’s March issue.
@Brttnyblm
As someone with an office gig, id love for something this exciting to happen in my office.
I’m going steal someone’s chair now just to spice shit up.
Since 2015, there has been a 2,489% increase in anti-trans bills.
Why?
Because there’s a billion dollar shadow network trying to reshape our society.
And trans youth are the ones suffereing because of it.
Read my new story in
@antigravitymag
Writers: y'all ever had some feedback, that told you that an event in your story wasn't realistic, when it was in fact based on some shit that happened to you?
Ya boy made it to the Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy’s notable stories list😁
Happy to see “Brief Life Story of Lila”, published originally in the pages of
@fiyahlitmag
, listed with all of these other great stories and writers!
I'm delighted to share the TOC and Notable Stories for
@MarinerBooks
's BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY 2023, as selected by me and guest editor
@kuangrf
.
Series Page:
TOC:
Notables:
The Louisiana Democrats once dominated the state. But, they’ve gone to shit, and our state is ruled by a religious far-right Government.
How did we get here?
I wrote about the past, present, and future of the party for
@antigravitymag
@CamillaWrites
@GianniShamari
I publish short stories in various genres and I have a full novel coming out soon about a 1920s crime family of bootleggers 👋🏾👋🏾
My writing confidence oscillates between “I should never touch a laptop again” and “I’m dope as fuck how don’t I have a Pulitzer yet?”
There’s no middle ground.
I HATE DESCRIBING BUILDINGS IN PROSE😕 if it was up to me, my descriptions of buildings would just be something like “it was big. It was old. It was big and old”
I’m working on an essay for a local magazine about the book banning attempts across Louisiana, and all I’m gonna say is I’m BEGGING people to please pay attention to local politics. There’s dead ass a concerted effort across the country to subvert democracy via local boards.
Writers need to do better at hyping themselves up, for real. If you got a story or novel or whatever it published, post that shit. Post 4,5, 1000 times if you want. This shit is way too hard for you to NOT promote yourself and your work.
The Louisiana Democrats once dominated the state. But, they’ve gone to shit, and our state is ruled by a religious far-right Government.
How did we get here?
I wrote about the past, present, and future of the party for
@antigravitymag
Thank you to Tulane University for inviting me to speak alongside
@djolder
&
@BrittanyActs
about the transformative capabilities of speculative fiction!
I’ll be on a panel talking to college students next month at an expensive ass university. A place literally known as the Harvard of the south.
Them kids pay a mansion’s mortgage-worth of tuition, just to be lectured to by this dude👇🏾
This week we're letting readers know about The Pike Boys, the debut
#indie
#crimefiction
novel from
@DeeCherryWriter
, an author with loads of potential. Set in 1920s New Orleans, it's got booze heists, brothels, crime gangs, corruption and family drama.
@TheNolaChick
Doesn’t make for a good work place when everybody is fucking each other lol one of my last jobs had a branch that operated like that, and things did not go well.
Freelance journalism is gonna drive me to drinking.
Current project requires me to read a 40-year old book that teaches Christian parents how to destabilize public schools.
I’m working on a project that deals with the not-so secret network of Christian Nationalist orgs pushing book banning & anti-LGBTQ laws… and I ain’t gonna write a whole thread, but it cost the network ~$540 million dollars for the Far-right take over of the Supreme Court. 🙃
Libraries don’t have the money or resources to fight against book bans so it’s easy for scam PACs to send an email to a million people while pretending to ‘protect children’ just to ask for donations.
It’s the most profitable scam in politics.
Years ago I learned the story of a talented Black engineer who moved to Russia in the 1930s in order to escape the racism of America. The Communist Party didn’t allow him to leave for 44 years.
I wrote about him.
The story is up live in
@politico
now!
I'm gonna keep reposting this on the TL until all of twitter sees my baby's hand.
Like that's a whole ass hand.
That me and my wife created.
Like WHAT?
Serious question for the black writers that follow me: how tf are y’all getting any writing done? I ain’t pick up a pencil or done any typing in 5 days
Why are so many writers squeamish about self promotion? You just did the hardest thing in the world; created something where there was once nothing. Show it off. Good, bad, average, whatever. No one can support your work if no one knows about it. 🤷🏾♂️
#WritingCommunity
#amblogging
Well this is just mean spirited for absolutely no reason. It’s ok to keep shit to yourself and let people celebrate their version of success however they want.
Citizens of Louisiana!
Want to help fight the attack on our libraries with the click of a button?
Go to the link in previous tweet to tell our legislators to not bring bill HB 168 into committee.
The letter is already filled out for you. You just have to hit send.
Simple!
Y'all, Carlson knows he can't get the
#library
director bill passed in its original committee (WE DID THAT), so now he wants to TRY AGAIN!
Please call/email the Speaker & the chair of the Education committee, asking them NOT to recommit HB 168!
#lalege
A group has been going around Louisiana trying their damndest to take over library boards, leading to chaos at municipal meetings and causing moral panic in typically quiet towns. I covered it for
@antigravitymag
’s March issue.
NOLA folks can find copies around the city.
1/2
AWARDS ELIGIBILITY POST! I'd like to throw two stories in the ring for awards season:
Reap what you sow - published by
@hexagonmagazine
&
Town full of broken tin men - published by
@apexmag
David Duke won two-thirds of the white vote in Louisiana’s 1990 Gubernatorial race. Lol it took Bush and Reagan endorsing his opponent (plus record Black turnout) to beat him
When I was a kid The Order were robbing banks and armored cars to try and make The Turner Diaries happen in real life. When Alan Berg spoke out against white supremacy on his radio show, they murdered him. This was kind of a big deal, man. It was on the news and stuff.
This “school choice” debate in my state is pissing me off. Lol
If you’re a Louisiana public school teacher hit my DMs I got questions for a story I’m working on for
@antigravitymag
What's up
#WritingCommunity
#amwritingfiction
I just started my "writing" twitter today. This is a thread of a few of my short stories that I have published so far!
The Pike Boys is based in 1920s NOLA, & centers on a gang, founded by the Pike Brothers, who operate the most popular brothel in NOLA. It follows their attempts to navigate the criminal underworld w/ their psyches, and family, intact.
Order now!
Let's get this to quadruple digit sales👀
Go 'head to & choose a retailer.
Don't want to support Bezo's attempts to shoot another dick-rocket into space? Order a signed copy from
@BlueCypressBook
; contact info:
team
@bluecypressbooks
.com
504.352.0096
This week, I’ve completed and submitted four stories (one a novellete), started working on an op-ed, and have written about 3.5K words for my next novel.
I’m proud that I’ve gotten to the point that magazines are soliciting me to write for them.
Also, I’m proud I’ve learned to write in different genres/mediums of writing: narrative non-fiction; short stories; novels; essays; reported pieces; etc. It has made getting gigs easier.
Writers! Brag about yourselves for a minute.
QT this with something from your own stuff that makes you proud. A theme? A skill? An excerpt? It's up to you.
This week we're letting readers know about The Pike Boys, the debut
#indie
#crimefiction
novel from
@DeeCherryWriter
, an author with loads of potential. Set in 1920s New Orleans, it's got booze heists, brothels, crime gangs, corruption and family drama.
In 1973 NOLA, a Black mass shooter named Mark Essex got into a shootout with law enforcement, as onlookers cheered him on. For
@antigravitymag
, I wrote about the political & social conditions driving those cheers, & how desperation leads to extremism.
So, this is it. The most personal story I ever wrote. It’s about racial identity and not being afraid to tell your own story:
Big s/o to
@ellenduffer
and the
@pshares
team for the guidance 😁
I’ll be on a panel talking to college students next month at an expensive ass university. A place literally known as the Harvard of the south.
Them kids pay a mansion’s mortgage-worth of tuition, just to be lectured to by this dude👇🏾
Man look... my book just got mentioned as being as good as the works of Dennis Lehane and Mario Puzo (author of the Godfather). There's absolutely nothing that could mess up my mood today 😂
Every anniversary she called to him & he met her at a bar. He loved to breathe her in & let nostalgia fill his nostrils. But the feelings were
#ephemeral
. He clutched his new 3 year AA chip to remind himself she had no power over him. He slid the whiskey away and left.
#vss365
@MrHWM
Liu’s collections are dope, but Nathan Ballingrud’s two collections are my favorite. North American Lake Monsters is more literary horror grounded in reality, but the other is full-on horror world building.
Also, Sam J Miller’s Boys, beasts, and men is great.
My worst nightmare=
Me: I’m a writer
Person: *stares skeptically* oh yea? Then what’s the difference between effect and affect?
Me: 😐😐😐
#WritingComminuty
#writingcommunity
Y’all, never be afraid to tell a creator you admire how much you like their work.
Pursuing a career in the arts is hard, and can be isolating for some, so some positive reinforcement is always welcomed 👌🏾
Just a reminder that one of the easiest (and free!) ways to support an author is by requesting their book for your local library!!
It’s actually a very easy process😁
Y’all… I made the 2022 Locus Magazine recommended reading list. That’s NUTS.
Shoutout the reviewers, and especially shoutout to
@fiyahlitmag
for giving my story a platform ✊🏾🔥
Reap what you sow is a sci-fi story, based in a world where organs are grown by farmers. But, just like in the real world, big corporations are decimating Synth-organ farmers, especially black-owned farms.Farmer John had the only black-owned synth-organ farm left in the country.
@seywarddarby
On any other day, as a 20-something, I’d probably be offended by that take but after peeping the discourse over that The Cut essay yesterday… I get it😂
Since I've gotten an influx of new followers from my last nonfiction story, I figured I'd just remind everyone my debut novel is out, where ever you buy books👀
The Pike Boys is based in 1920s NOLA, & centers on a gang, founded by the Pike Brothers, who operate the most popular brothel in NOLA. It follows their attempts to navigate the criminal underworld w/ their psyches, and family, intact.
Order now!
Engagement > follower count.
#writingcommunity
you can have 200k followers but if no one is engaging with your content or reading/buying your books it doesn’t mean sh*t.
I swear if I had as much money as Jk R*wling and J*mes Patterson y’all would never hear from me. All they gotta do is be rich and just shut the fuck up, but can’t 😫
I know writers are supposed to be meek and humble and whatnot but I’m so fucking proud of myself, dude. Like y’all do not understand how much I busted my ass promoting this book.
When I was young, I thought that George Orwell & all those other speculative fiction writers of yesteryear were on the nutty side. But the more I pay attention to politics, the more I start to think they might have been the most sane people of their generation 😐
Doing 6 months of self-promo of my book damn near broke me lol like... I just want to write bruh.
I love talking about writing, and can do it for hours, but the act of trying to break through some invisible, algorithm wall to be seen fucking SUCKS.
I wrote about the soul-sucking labor of self-promotion and "audience building" that basically every artist/journalist/creative worker has to do now ... unless they are very lucky