Oooh.. I've Never Seen This Magritte Painting Before, But I Love It. This Would Make A Really Cool Tattoo.

This is beautiful

Sue Davis studios

Some sage advice that many people need to hear right now.

What happens when anxiety and depression takes over and you just can't write anything? I wanted to use lockdown to my advantage but I'm not well and I'm sad. Any advice?

Just know you aren't alone in this. I've written a fraction of what I should have written, over the last 4 months. The anxiety is real, there are many things to be anxious and depressed about.

So be kind to yourself. Set yourself small targets and goals. Be happy when you succeed, and forgive yourself when you fail.

Beautiful cover on a true classic

Book of the Day

“The Metamorphosis and Other Stories” by Franz Kafka

Gorgeous, have you ever seen a piece of artwork you wish you could walk into? This is one of those for me.

Uncharted Heaven by Lorenzo Lanfranconi

This was beautifully worded, well done

I have a really complex relationship with religion, but here’s something positive

Hey btw, if you're doing worldbuilding on something, and you're scared of writing ~unrealistic~ things into it out of fear that it'll sound lazy and ripped-out-of-your-ass, but you also don't want to do all the back-breaking research on coming up with depressingly boring, but practical and ~realistic~ solutions, have a rule:

Just give the thing two layers of explanation. One to explain the specific problem, and another one explaining the explanation. Have an example:

Plot hole 1: If the vampires can't stand daylight, why couldn't they just move around underground?

Solution 1: They can't go underground, the sewer system of the city is full of giant alligators who would eat them.

Well, that's a very quick and simple explanation, which sure opens up additional questions.

Plot hole 2: How and why the fuck are there alligators in the sewers? How do they survive, what do they eat down there when there's no vampires?

Solution 2: The nuns of the Underground Monastery feed and take care of them as a part of their sacred duties.

It takes exactly two layers to create an illusion that every question has an answer - that it's just turtles all the way down. And if you're lucky, you might even find that the second question's answer loops right back into the first one, filling up the plot hole entirely:

Plot hole 3: Who the fuck are the sewer nuns and what's their point and purpose?

Solution 3: The sewer nuns live underground in order to feed the alligators, in order to make sure that the vampires don't try to move around via the sewer system.

When you're just making things up, you don't need to have an answer for everything - just two layers is enough to create the illusion of infinite depth. Answer the question that looms behind the answer of the first question, and a normal reader won't bother to dig around for a 3rd question.

These are really cool and they give me a lot of conceptual story ideas.

Fantasy Cities by Florian Moncomble

🌈Happy Pride

Happy Pride Month 2022!!!

Faust the Crow loves you even more than she did last year!

Beautiful! I want it.

Fables from Aesop by James Reeves, 1961. Illustrated by Maurice Wilson

Sounds interesting

“All the Real Indians Died Off”: And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans (2016)  

“In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed generations. Tracing how these ideas evolved, and drawing from history, the authors disrupt long-held and enduring myths such as:

“Columbus Discovered America”

“Thanksgiving Proves the Indians Welcomed Pilgrims”

“Indians Were Savage and Warlike”

“Europeans Brought Civilization to Backward Indians”

“The United States Did Not Have a Policy of Genocide”

“Sports Mascots Honor Native Americans”

“Most Indians Are on Government Welfare”

“Indian Casinos Make Them All Rich”

“Indians Are Naturally Predisposed to Alcohol”

Each chapter deftly shows how these myths are rooted in the fears and prejudice of European settlers and in the larger political agendas of a settler state aimed at acquiring Indigenous land and tied to narratives of erasure and disappearance. Accessibly written and revelatory, “All the Real Indians Died Off” challenges readers to rethink what they have been taught about Native Americans and history.”

by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Dina Gilio-Whitaker

Get it here

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother, and has been active in the international Indigenous movement for more than four decades. She is the author or editor of eight other books, including An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, which was a recipient of the 2015 American Book Award. Dunbar-Ortiz lives in San Francisco.

Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) is an award-winning journalist and columnist at Indian Country Today Media Network. A writer and researcher in Indigenous studies, she is currently a research associate and associate scholar at the Center for World Indigenous Studies. She lives in San Clemente, CA.

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