This fight over “should authors get paid for their work” debate boils down to this: many, MANY people do not see art as labor.
If art isn’t labor, then you don’t have to change your political views to justify piracy. Easy peasy!
Specifically, trans people.
The thing about so-called generative artificial intelligence is, the intelligence isn't artificial. It's real. It's OURS. The techbros stole our intelligence (our data, our thoughts, our stories, our art) and used the software to regurgitate it and spackle it together into digital particleboard.
A graphic describing a book on sale. Text says: Free on Amazon March 20-21. There are two icons. First is the Amazon #1 best seller flag. The other says: available in audio. Below this is the book cover, depicting two shirtless men standing together above a blue-washed background of the Smoky Mountains. The title is Splinter, and the author is E. Davies. The description reads: "A grumpy park ranger & a bad boy who needs his North Star..." At the bottom is the URL: getbook.at/Splinter
Need a little escapism? Grab my bestselling #mmromance “Splinter” free on Amazon, only until Friday! 💖 getbook.at/Splinter
#gayromancebooks #biromance #queerromance #lgbtqreads #authorsofbluesky
Thank you! Yes, my DMs should be open 😊
“If we claim to be men, we cannot experience oppression based on our unique position within patriarchy; if we insist on accurately naming our experiences, then we must erase our identities as men.”
Read more: open.substack.com/pub/edaviesa...
(Free, ofc—we don’t give these guys money.)
In the end, I gave up on trying to say enough to be useful while staying within the character limit. 😂
My rewritten and expanded essay “The Double Bind of Transmasculinity” is available here for free: open.substack.com/pub/edaviesa...
I’m seeking representation for the manuscript of The Desert as I continue work on it.
So, if you know any book agents who’d dream of pitching “Whipping Girl meets The Transgender Issue, with a strong transatlantic transmasc voice”… hook us up? 😘
Fun fact: this came about because I was trying to edit and repost the tweet thread that inspired The Desert here, but the character limit kept stumping me.
So I ran wild and probably added a thousand words. 😂
I’ve been working on my first nonfiction book.
“The Desert: The Exile of Transmasculinity” is about why/how we must be made invisible or impossible in the public imagination.
But we need transmasculine conversations toward liberation now, so I started a Substack.
Here’s the first post.
A mostly blank page with the words Strong and Free, from the English version of the Canadian national anthem ) Below the fold of this newspaper sheet , in smaller type, news and editorial references to the trade war
This is the first page of this morning’s edition of the Globe and Mail (arguably the English Canadian paper of record)
I don’t remember seeing anything like this before
Don't Hesitate, by Mary Oliver. If You suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate. Give in to it. It. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that's often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don't be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
My wife shared this today. She is the best.
#poetry
Get in good trouble, necessary trouble.
All applications for gender marker change are on hold while the State Department changes this policy.
Anyone who now submits an application for a change runs the risk of losing access to their passport and documents while their application is being processed.
I’d marry Rena Yehuda any day. And this is just the beginning. 😉 Someday soon, we’ll hold the weddings we’d dreamed of to celebrate with loved ones in Brooklyn and London.
In the meantime, we’re protecting the foundation of our relationship: our freedom, together alone together. 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
Our rings are family heirlooms made new by the promises we exchanged. A network of friends helped transform our complicated feelings into a beautiful ceremony by witnessing, officiating, and photographing the joy that—despite the circumstances forcing our hand—is all ours, ours, ours. 💍✨🥰
I flew out to New York City before the inauguration, and we got married above a Manhattan mini-storage building. 😁
The incoming US administration refuses to acknowledge our genders from day 1. Project 2025 takes aim at us from page 1. Neither the UK nor Canada is safe, either. We’re going to have to fight like hell to protect our lives, our creative careers, and each other.
Our love is a radical act of defiance in a rising tide of authoritarianism, but our rights are not a given. They’re Jewish, I’m disabled and deaf, and we’re both transfags through and through.
Rena Yehuda, dressed in a blue suit with a pale gold yarmulke, putting a ring on Ed’s finger; Ed has pink hair and is wearing in a white dress with pink and blue flowers. Both are smiling joyfully.
Holding hands, with everything else out of focus; Rena is wearing a gold wedding ring, and Ed is wearing a silver and ruby ring.
Two people kissing in front of a mini storage building with New York skyline and traffic in the background. Ed has pink hair and a blue puffer jacket over a white floral dress; Rena is in a blue suit with red leather jacket and earmuffs. Both are popping one foot behind them.
Ed and Rena sealing their marriage with a kiss; Ed has pink hair, glasses, and hearing aids, and is wearing a floral white dress. Rena is dressed in a blue suit with red shirt and pale gold yarmulke. The officiant, holding a guitar, is smiling in the background.
Introducing Rena Yehuda Newman… my husband. 💖
I can’t describe how proud and happy I am. The last few years have been the hardest of my life; Rena Yehuda has been my cornerstone.
Even after a decade of writing happy endings, I keep discovering what it means to love and be loved so well.
The looters I want to talk about are the ones who stole our safe and stable climate from us. Millennia of planetary harm for individuals' profit. They set the fires.
Reminds me of the time @edaviesauthor.bsky.social and I were writing in the same room and paused to mime so we could figure out scene blocking.
Ed was putting hands together to check sex positions.
I was holding an imaginary shotgun to sight along.
We write very different genres 😂
All the info on the pic is in the post, but the pic has an adorable selfie of Helen, Ed and Rena in front of a pale blue and pink sky with just the hint of a city skyline where the shore meets the sky.
CALLING ALL AMERICAN READERS!
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@edaviesauthor.bsky.social, his boyfriend Rena Yehuda Newman and I are squeezing in a quick US sign and ship event of signed paperbacks, zines and art!
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THE ORDER FORM CLOSES ON SATURDAY! So don't delay!
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forms.gle/xr7kDeWk1vXn...
Day 4: Teapigs sachet, “liquorice & peppermint”
Uh oh. I only willingly consume peppermint at 2am in the hospital when I’m a gas giant. And I grew up with Red Dye Number Twizzler, then was shocked by black liquorice (as Europe calls it, liquorice). Placed my bets and hopes on red…
This was sweet, mellow, delightful. Would actually buy. What???
Day 3: Teapigs sachet, “jasmine pearls”
This one took some faffing to let the water cool, but it was worth it.
Various tea shops have pitched (overpriced) floral visions of these pearls blossoming brightly in my cup. Does the pitch still work on me? Yes. Is this a solid green tea? Also yes. Pleasing, but not joyous.
Day 2: Teapigs sachet, “super fruit”
This smells healthy, yet relaxing.
Strange if you’ve missed several days and are drinking multiple cups in a row, like being thrown headlong from Christmas Eve into a Mediterranean summer break.
But also not unpleasant—a little sour, which keeps it from being cloying.
Day 1: Teapigs sachet, “spiced winter red tea”
Teapigs advent calendar (from @poopraven.bsky.social) plus writing deadlines equals…
I can’t believe I’m pretending to review tea on the internet. #writerlife
Anyway, we started strong! Real punchy winter smell, but without tasting like the garnish from the office Christmas party punch bowl.
Did you know that @edaviesauthor.bsky.social & I are doing a UK Sign & Ship! Order paperbacks in time for Xmas!
Did you also know that I’m offering TWO paperback exclusives that you can’t get from Amazon? One of them has limited stock, so once they’re gone, THEY’RE GONE!
forms.gle/7vW8Fpe5e25X...