What Is Subversive Literature? (RR Podcast #3) And it sure as hell isn't your mum's Mills & Boons romance books.

Episode 3 of Reader Republic is live. Today, I discuss what subversive literature is, and why people in power poop their pants over it.

markoneillgdp.substack.com/p/what-is-su...

The Silence Factory: What the Soviet Purges Did to Writers It changed the Russian literary landscape forever.

My latest on Reader Republic. Let me know what you think of it.

markoneillgdp.substack.com/p/soviet-pur...

It's cold so I stole the wife's hat. 😜

Er.....no thanks. I'll just keep using the noise cancelling headphones if it's all the same.

How Modern Censorship Silently Controls Your Mind. YouTube video by Glass Dagger Press & Mark O'Neill

In this week’s episode of #ReaderRepublic, we explore another form of #censorship, something arguably more insidious. This directly impacts book authors and other content creators, and severely limits what you can see, hear, and read.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E4X...

Good to know! Not sure how I'm going to get all of that into a spy thriller novel, but I guess a gay Spanish-speaking, weed-smoking radical campaigning for police accountability, with show inserts can be easily slotted in somehow.... ;-)

And what's with the shoe inserts?

Is Ron DeSantis still doing that book banning malarkey in Florida? I’m thinking of adding some triggers in my next book, so I can get “Banned In Florida!” on the cover.

What’s likely to set him off? A competent Democratic governor of Florida?

The Index Librorum Prohibitorum - The Vatican's 16th Century Naughty List Latin for “List of Books You’ll Burn In Hell For Reading.”

The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of books banned by the Catholic Church because they were “dangerous to faith or morals.”

But the Church didn’t fear books. It feared loss of control. Books were just the delivery system.

markoneillgdp.substack.com/p/the-index-...

Your Brain Doesn’t Just Love Stories. It Depends on Them. Being an author gives you potential superpowers

Your brain doesn’t like stories the way it likes chocolate. It needs them the way it needs oxygen. Humans are not rational creatures who enjoy a good story. We are storytelling machines that pretend to be rational.

markoneillgdp.substack.com/p/your-brain...

Today's clothes in the "stop looking like a caveman" project. Someone told me I look like a "gay James Bond." Someone else said "Guilty or not guilty?".

FFS. I'm going back to walking around naked.

I was adding my website content to #Quora, and it asked me where I was. Look at the option it gave me. FFS.

Why People Secretly Support Censorship They may not call it censorship, but it is - just under a name they can live with.

Here's the ugly truth about censorship and book banning. It's not only governments that do it. It's also done by ordinary people who don't like what they see and hear.

markoneillgdp.substack.com/p/why-people...

Underground Publishing: A History of Defiance & The Future of Resistance Every time authorities try to crush an idea, people always find ways to get it back into circulation. Welcome to underground publishing.

Most people assume underground publishing only appears under dictatorships.

But that assumption misses something important. Underground publishing doesn’t actually begin with censorship. It begins with distrust.

markoneill.org/underground-...

Reader Republic | Mark O'Neill | Substack Tearing down the gatekeepers of who gets to read what, one at a time. Click to read Reader Republic, by Mark O'Neill, a Substack publication.

Reader Republic is where I explore the the banned books, the controversial novels, and the moments when a piece of fiction frightened the people in charge. Throw in underground publishing and you will find yourself with a damn good read.

Subscribe!

markoneillgdp.substack.com

Jack Maddox Will Return In March With The Black Atlas Estimated reading time: 0 minutes I was starting to plan a new series soon, but suddenly I couldn't be bothered. All the work with setting up that "world"

I was starting to plan a new series soon, but suddenly I couldn’t be bothered. So instead of reinventing the wheel, I’ve decided to take an existing series and tweak it. Therefore Jack Maddox will return sometime in March.

markoneill.org/jack-maddox-...

Checked into an airport hotel in Frankfurt. To say it's a basic hotel would be putting it mildly. We just checked the menu - and breakfast is 28 Euros. Dinner tomorrow night is 200 Euros a head.

I think this hotel is living in its own alternate reality. We can get a croissant for a couple Euros.

I'm staying up on New Year's Eve this year... Not to see the new year in, but to make sure this one leaves.

@bsky.app - when will BlueSky get post scheduling? I like to batch-write my posts. No post scheduling is throwing a spanner into my automation!

10 Hours of Nick Offerman Quietly Drinking Single Malt Scotch by the Fire Just a handy way to keep your mind off of the sturm and drang of the US election today. If this doesn't quite do the trick, find some alternatives in the Relateds below. Related Content:

10 Hours of Nick Offerman Quietly Drinking Single Malt Scotch by the Fire www.openculture.com/2020/11/10-h...

Your annual reminder that Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. My main reasons:

— There are no real Christmas themes in the movie.

— It could take place anytime of year and the plot wouldn’t have been any different. A Christmas Story, for example, is centered around Ralphie’s gift.

I get the feeling the dog stuck his head in the egg nog. He looks pretty smashed! 😆

I'd like to wish all of my family, friends, work colleagues, and random dogs I met in the street, a very Merry Christmas.

May you get all the gifts you're after, and may you have too many Christmas cookies and booze.

After all, that's the true meaning of Christmas! 🎅

Watch The Diplomat | Netflix Official Site Amid an international crisis, a US diplomat contends with her high-profile new job as ambassador to the UK and her turbulent marriage to a political star.

If you're looking for something good to watch on #Netflix, I highly recommend "The Diplomat". Season 2 is just masterful. Brilliant acting, first-class story. And when Allison Janney turns up as the Vice-President....OH MY GOD. She deserves a Golden Globe.

www.netflix.com/de-en/title/...

Me yesterday with my wife in the town.

Wife: "Let's go this way. It's less busy there."
Me (what I hear): "Let's go this way. There's lesbians up there."

I'm really not a #Christmas person!

two cartoon characters from south park are sitting on a log with the words oh jesus above them ALT: two cartoon characters from south park are sitting on a log with the words oh jesus above them

You know you're getting old when your spouse gives you money and they tell you to go out and buy your own Christmas presents! No more Santa!

I've just invented the music genre "bagpipe jazz" and you're all going to find out what it sounds like unless my demands are met

Just watched a contestant on The Price is Right
- Bid $1420
- Win a trip to Colorado
- She's already from Colorado

Poetry

It's the time of the year when "Do They Know it's Christmas?" randomly pops up on the spotify holiday playlist and I'm shocked *once again* at how utterly tone deaf and condescending it is. I know I'm not breaking any new ground but MY GOD.

Helen Keller Writes a Letter to Nazi Students Before They Burn Her Book: “History Has Taught You Nothing If You Think You Can Kill Ideas” (1933) Helen Keller achieved notoriety not only as an individual success story, but also as a prolific essayist, activist, and fierce advocate for poor and marginalized people.

Helen Keller Writes a Letter to Nazi Students Before They Burn Her Book: “History Has Taught You Nothing If You Think You Can Kill Ideas” (1933)