Me Time
I hope you're getting a break this week, no matter how you approach the holiday weekend. We will be in Ohio visiting my wife's mom and family, having our version of Thanksgiving dinner on Friday and Jenny's birthday celebration on Saturday.
Otherwise, I continue reading Advanced Review Copies and catching up on other books in my TBR pile. I highly recommend Milena McKay's newest, Reverence, and I'll soon be digging into Jen Lyon's and Haley Cass' new books. McKay's book is not just a romance, it's a historical look back at the damage and cruelty of the USSR and a briefer look at the US government's complete abdication in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. The author's notes at the end describe how these issues impacted her personally.
Oh, and by the way, go see Wicked. I know I'm not the first person to tell you that. But maybe I'm the first to recommend the film, A Real Pain, a dramady about two Jewish cousins' trip to Poland to visit the home of their grandmother, a Holocaust survivor.
Finally, this issue includes a lot of stuff about the move to Bluesky and how to navigate it, given how millions are making this move, dumping Musk (or "Musty" as Roxane Gay calls him), and there's a definite parallel migration among Sapphics. Hope this helps.
Sapphic Lit and Other Book Stuff
2024 Black Friday Deals for Writers - WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
We love finding ways to save you money because we all need to know how to stretch a dollar in this industry.
Investing in the right tools can help with success, so hopefully you can take advantage of some of these current and upcoming deals
My Gift Guide for Readers, Writers, and Other Loved Ones
Hope these 29 fun finds make your holiday giving a bit easier!
Stupid, Relentless, Reckless Hope and the Power of Ordinary People Organizing
“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an ax you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth's treasures and the grinding down of the poor and marginal... To hope is to give yourself to the future - and that commitment to the future is what makes the present inhabitable.” (Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark)
We Know People are Scared, but Here’s a Way to Turn Reading into Protest - I Heart SapphFic | Find Your Next Sapphic Fiction Read
we have a way you can turn your love of reading into a win for sapphic authors while sticking it to Amazon at the same time.
20 Dorothy Allison Quotes I Think About All The Time | Autostraddle
As writers, as revolutionaries, tell the truth, your truth in your own way. Do not buy into their system of censorship, imagining that if you drop this character or hide that emotion, you can slide through their blockades. Do not eat your heart out in the hope of pleasing them.
The Best Butch Heroines in Literature - Electric Literature
These characters have that masc edge, that knowing look, those competent hands and eager eyes which speak to butch
Four Things That Make Your Writing Boring (and how to fix them!) - WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
you’ll run the risk of missing the bigger picture—Is your writing interesting?
How to Hook Readers with Character Descriptions - WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
So we find ourselves asking, does the character’s looks really matter? Isn’t it what’s inside that counts?
Yes…and no.
Writing a Novel, Scene by Scene - WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
All I know is that I tried a gajillion “linear” beginning-to-end ways in my quest to get a book off the ground and finished and none of them worked. I could start a story, but I couldn’t seem to keep my focus and finish the darn thing. I tried many many fancy things: Fast Draft, the W-Plot, the Snowflake Method. They all helped me be a better writer, but none of them got me to “The End.”
The only thing I’ve found that can get this brain to the end of a story is to embrace my inner scene writer and let her lead the way.
News You Can Use
LGBTQ Women of Color Reflect on Kamala Harris' Loss and Donald Trump's Win
Six women share their immediate reactions to the election results and reflect on America, a country where a man has held the seat of president for 248 years since the nation was founded in 1776.
Sapphic Artists Are Speaking Out About the Pressures of the Lesbian Pop Renaissance | Them
having to ponder whether being open about their queerness will define or somehow limit their success can be taxing.
Joy Oladokun Is “Staking Claim” for Black Queer Musicians in Americana | Them
I’ve learned that creating change is a little less dancing and a little more boxing in the sense that sometimes you can’t pull a punch to make someone feel better. You just have to get to the heart of the matter.
Kelly Marie Tran Comes Out as Queer | Autostraddle
Kelly Marie Tran — who plays Rose Tico in the Star Wars movies — came out as queer in an interview with Vanity Fair about her upcoming role in the 2025 remake of Ang Lee’s queer romcom The Wedding Banquet, which will be directed by Fire Island director Andrew Ahn. “I haven’t said this publicly yet, but I’m a queer person,” Tran tells Vanity Fair.
Ellen DeGeneres Moves to UK, Lists Montecito Estate Post-Trump
Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi have moved to rural England, put their Montecito estate on the market and plan to never return to the United States, telling friends the election of Donald Trump was their primary motivation, a person close to the former TV host told TheWrap.
Billie Jean King took tennis equity to the top of sport. She never got comfortable there - The Athletic
King has been advocating for equality for women for more than a half-century now. There has been progress, but not nearly enough, she believes — in life as in tennis.
Sam Kerr and Kristie Mewis Are Going To Be Soccer Moms! | Autostraddle
“Mewis-Kerr baby coming 2025!” The photos include the couple kissing, holding up an ultrasound, and Kerr grinning at Mewis’ pregnancy bump. It’s all very wholesome and sweet! They’re on the road to becoming soccer moms in addition to soccer STARS!
In Chasing Chasing Amy, A Trans Documentarian Complicates the Film’s Legacy | Them
Subsequent readings of the film have characterized Alyssa as complex and sexually fluid; at the same time, the basic tropes of a lesbian “conversion” story were inarguably present. As some of the talking heads in Chasing Chasing Amy point out, whether Smith intended this takeaway or not, the film tacitly encouraged straight guys in love with self-professed lesbians to push ahead regardless.
The True Story Behind Sydney Sweeney and Katy O'Brian's Queer Boxer Movie
This morning, Sydney Sweeney dropped photos of herself on Instagram showing off a new mullet and muscles to announce her latest project: a biopic about iconic lesbian boxer Christy Martin.
‘Love Lies Bleeding’ Star Katy O’Brian Remembers the Moment She Realized She Was Queer | Them
But O’Brian’s “tipping point” came when she and a man went on a date to get mussels and realized, “I’m kind of more into this shellfish than I am into this guy.”
‘Outstanding’ doc brings overdue spotlight to lesbian activist Robin Tyler
She organized and produced the first three national marches on Washington for LGBTQ rights, including 1987’s “mock wedding” of hundreds of queer couples; she and her future wife (the late Diane Olsen) were the first couple to sue the state of California for the right to be married — leading to the seven-year legal battle that culminated in marriage equality. If you are currently in a same-sex marriage in the United States, you have her to thank.
What Is ‘Anatomy of Lies’, the Docuseries About Alleged Queer Grifter Elisabeth Finch? | Them
Anatomy of Lies details how Finch reportedly constructed a web of lies in order to land a writing job on the Shonda Rhimes series, used her co-workers’ life stories for plots in the show, and mined her now ex-wife’s traumatic past for content.
Helpful Tools
Want to quit X? Here's your guide to the alternatives
In the wake of the 2024 presidential election, many people are reconsidering how they follow the news.
How to Get Started With Bluesky, the Twitter/X Rival Everyone's Flocking to | Lifehacker
I'm here to help you get started with Bluesky.
Use Bluesky Directory to Find the Best Starter Packs of People to Follow | Lifehacker
Bluesky Directory is a repository of knowledge about the booming new social media service.
Yes, There Is a TweetDeck for Bluesky | Lifehacker
Tired of Bluesky's official site/app? There's a TweetDeck-like alternative, and that's just scratching the surface.
I Left X for Bluesky, and I Actually Like Social Media Again | Lifehacker
The upstart social media network feels a lot like the old Twitter, and it just might be the new one.
A Terrific Quote
Daily Inspiration | Inspiring Quotes
I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom.