THE PHOTONIC EFFECT releases tomorrow! To tempt you into preordering, let's deep dive into the initial pitch of "Voyager x DS9 x Mass Effect" and how its influences all shake out on the characters and world. THREAD
(And the all-important preorder links!)
www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ph...
Me: *playing Starfield, mining resources in a cave, chilling*
No one:
No one:
Sam Coe: “Do you like caves? I like caves. Honestly, I might love caves. Is that weird?”
THE WAY I JUST SPIT A GRAPE I WAS JUST SNACKING ON 🤣🤣🤣
Almost forgot to post my accountability screenshot today BUT THESE 1,373 NEW WORDS EXIST
THE FIRST 10,000 WORDS OF THIS NEW BOOK I'M WRITING NOW EXIST 🎉
ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER THOUSAND WORDS
Now that I've finished the outline for my next book (9k words of an outline!) it's time to draft, full steam ahead. HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Nothing makes me feel more like an imposter as when I send one book off to copy edits and start drafting a new one. Suddenly I have NO IDEA how to write a book. What are words? How do stories work? Characters huh? Brain broken? SEND HELP
Also, it's VERY worth downloading the full image to see all the details. Made me tear up 🥹 www.nasa.gov/image-detail...
Earth, taken by the Artemis II
LOOK HOW PRETTY WE ARE!!! CAN WE PLEASE TAKE BETTER CARE OF US? PLEASE?????
This ended up being my absolute favorite part of my publishing journey so far, but I don’t want any authors to feel pressure to do this & I’m not saying you should. You may think 30 beta readers is overkill & that’s OK—to each their own. I’m just sharing my process in case it’s helpful or inspiring.
I got THIRTY BETA READERS for my debut self-published novel, and today I'm sharing a deep dive on how I recruited and ran this team with a 70% manuscript completion rate for my steamy psychological thriller 👇 substack.dianaurban.com/p/30-beta-re...
BUT WHAT IF THE ARTEMIS II CREW FINDS A MASS RELAY BEHIND THE MOON? WHAT THEN?
Punchbowl scam/fishing email with an envelope with text reading "You're Invited"
Just spreading the word because I just got this email. This is a very convincing scam/phishing attempt that will come directly from friends who already fell for it, and will try to get you to "sign in" to Gmail to accept the invitation. PLEASE BE CAREFUL.
I've read the book twice but I guess it's time to listen to the audiobook!!!
Okay so I adored Project Hail Mary but PLEASE TELL ME THEY PLAN ON RELEASING THE 3 HOUR 45 MINUTE CUT. I NEED MORE ROCKY. MORE MORE MORE.
To the scammers targeting audiobook narrators by pretending to be ME w/ a fake email: I hope your pillow is lava each night. I hope that chocolate starts to taste like metal, that the pipes in your walls make noises you can't locate, and that the sun's glare is always inconveniently in your vision.
Stephen Colbert retiring from being a talkshow host in this fascist hellscape, which he's done so much to resist, and writing the script for a Lord of the Rings movie, HIS ALL-TIME FAVORITE SERIES, is peak goals and so extra and I love this for him 😭
Me: *publishes four books with Big 5 publishers*
Also me:
Found someone! Woot!
Long shot but what the heck: Are there any experienced copyeditors out there with availability mid-April, early May who are ALSO authors and would like to barter? I offer book marketing coaching services on Reedsy and could send you my listing for deets if you're interested!
Congrats on the TV thing!! Yes healthcare would be lovely!!
No matter how many times people try to explain it to me, I don't understand how screenwriters can have a union and authors can't.
Today in the NASA gift shop at the Kennedy Space Center they were playing music from Mass Effect and I nerded out SO HARD.
Only a niche segment of Bluesky will appreciate this but that’s okay!!!
I think Pedro Pascal should be randomly dancing in the background of more things, just, in general. 🤣🤣
If Hillary Clinton is the one who takes down Trump over EMAILS it not only confirms to me that we're living in a simulation but also that the programmers have mapped out AN ENTIRE NARRATIVE ARC for us complete with foreshadowing and irony!!!
Art is the heart of humanity
Art is inspiration
Art is joy
Art is rejuvenation
Art is hope
Art is resistance
Stop telling artists and authors to stop doing our jobs. We are essential.
THE FIRST 3,600 WORDS OF THIS NEW BOOK I'M WRITING NOW EXIST
THE FIRST 1,300 WORDS OF THIS NEXT BOOK I'M WRITING NOW EXIST
Playing Animal Crossing again after five years is weirdly unsettling. Like oh RIGHT I found that fossil on March 25, 2020, when I was terrified I might drown in my own lungs, was horrifically low on toilet paper, and was disinfecting bags of Doritos from the grocery store lmao ✨memories✨
I always think my level of burnout and overwhelm will get better once I complete XYZ task or hit ABC milestone, but it NEVER FREAKING DOES. Why don't I learn? It's not about what's on my plate at any moment. It's my inability to say "no." It's social media. It's society's hustle culture. It's ACK.