Think you can't get sued for putting real people in your fiction? Think again.
On @medium I give 5 tips that may help you protect yourself, drawing on the wisdom of Authors Guild lawyers and my work as a fiction-writing teacher. Rule 1: No, you can't "just change names."
New article about boosted #fiction on @medium! Did you know that Medium has a list of examples of boosted stories, with details on why they were chosen for the #boost? Check them out!
Thanksgiving is the most popular holiday in America — even bigger than Christmas, if you can believe that. It is the one holiday in our calendar year that professes no religious connotation, contains no political charge, or nod to labor or the armed forces; it has no racial overtones, ideological bent, or any notable commercial component, which might be the most shocking reality of all.
They say that your 20s is where you need to define your entire life. Well, I'm a few years into my 30s and I can say with confidence that stuff doesn't matter so much. Defining one's life can happen at any point in time.
We all struggle with how to deal with the rise of fascism, especially when it’s supported by our friends, neighbors and even family. What follows is one proposal for how to think differently about how to enact lasting change, if not in them, at least in us.
The piece lays out our efforts to establish a night in March dedicated to Time Travel every year. A pleasurable and edifying read for Krononauts and ordinary beings everywhere.
This week on my #podcast, I read my recent #Medium column, "Microincentives and Enshittification," about the way that monopoly drives mediocrity, with Google's declining quality as Exhibit A:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
Once upon a time, I was a phenom. Like many before me, I was full of promise and eager to conquer the world. The youthful savant, outperforming older and more experienced players, carving a new path forward, the status quo be damned. The reward for commercial success has always been financial gain, so the mark of your impact could be directly derived from your bank statement.
I come from the weird year 1979. The trailing days of Generation X. On the cusp of the Reagan Revolution, before the wild 80s stock booms, before D.A.R.E. and the war on drugs, before MTV played music, and well before MTV stopped playing music.
I want to talk to people in my generation, and also to the younger people, and explain why it is important that we support Ukraine, and INCREASE support for Ukraine.
How nasty can the book publishing get? At @medium, I tell what a new blockbuster novel gets right--and wrong--about authors, editors, and publishers, especially when it comes to race and identity:
It's great to see a high level of awareness here of the evil that platforms such as #medium and #substack perpetuate, even as some still use them regardless.
My hope is that this will encourage those posting on such platforms to rethink, and realise that having arrived here from Twitter they are now repeating the mistake many of us made trusting centralised commercial performs which capture their value and uses it to monetize those who follow them.
I've started a substack! I'll be using it instead of Twitter threads to post about latest Covid situation, latest NHS stats etc.. easier to share here on Mastadon, but more importantly, ensures my content remains free!
Next week, I'll be posting about latest Covid situation but also a look back at all the data we used to have and common biases in Covid data !
If you've valued what I've been doing on social media, please do subscribe - it's free!
@chrischirp
I'm sorry to hear that and may unfollow.
#Medium, #substack etc are just the bait already turning to switch that captures your value and uses it to monetize those who follow you. I revile at this and their dark patterns so never click or share such links.
Much better to host your own blog or if not, use a fedi service.
Ukraine sees record high number of small, medium sized businesses registered (kyivindependent.com)
In the month of September, 35,587 new small and medium sized businesses were registered in Ukraine, a three-year-high, Opendatabot said on Oct. 11.