Nostr notes by Marie Brennan

I also think of it as being akin to the thing I see in a lot of ...

2026-09-17T21:20:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…2ujw
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I also think of it as being akin to the thing I see in a lot of urban fantasy, where the protag is careening from one crisis to another without any downtime in between, until I wind up feeling tired rather than thrilled. And that's been going on for decades at this point.

I was saying just the other night that a lot of animated media, ...

2026-09-17T18:39:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…n52d
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I was saying just the other night that a lot of animated media, especially comedy -- including stuff for adults! -- just moves too fast for me to enjoy it. I need a moment to breathe, to let the beats sink in, before the next one is lobbed at my head.

And it all started with THE WRITER'S LITTLE BOOK OF NAMING, ...

2026-09-09T17:49:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…r8al
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And it all started with THE WRITER'S LITTLE BOOK OF NAMING, when I decided I wanted to go on a random bender of talking about the cultural side of what names mean and how we use them, and therefore how to create them for stories!

https://www.swantower.com/writing/the-writers-little-book-of-naming/

So far, the most popular has (not surprisingly) been the second, ...

2026-09-09T17:48:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…hlc7
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So far, the most popular has (not surprisingly) been the second, THE WRITER'S LITTLE BOOK OF PLATITUDES: in which I take on the old saws of standard writing advice and evaluate how to know when to follow them and when to chuck 'em out:

https://www.swantower.com/writing/the-writers-little-book-of-platitudes/

This is fourth in the series of Writer's Little Books, all ...

2026-09-09T17:48:36Z

In reply to nevent1q…25ed
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This is fourth in the series of Writer's Little Books, all 99-cent dives into focused topics. Third was the LITTLE BOOK OF RESEARCH, giving advice on how to hunt out the information you need for your stories:

https://www.swantower.com/writing/the-writers-little-book-of-research/

#ICYMI, THE WRITER'S LITTLE BOOK OF READINGS came out ...

2026-09-09T17:48:10Z

#ICYMI, THE WRITER'S LITTLE BOOK OF READINGS came out yesterday! 99 cents to level up your ability to read to an audience: aimed at fiction writers, but I think we all know some academics and presenters who could use improvement . . .

https://www.swantower.com/writing/the-writers-little-book-of-readings/

@npub17lq…0gkk and I are doing an #AMA today over at r/Fantasy! ...

2026-09-08T18:22:07Z

Alyc (npub17lq…0gkk) and I are doing an #AMA today over at r/Fantasy! Come ask us about THE EYE OF LEVIATHAN, the Rook and Rose trilogy, future books, RPGs, archaeology in Wales, or anything else!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1warf07/were_ma_carrick_aka_marie_brennan_and_alyc_helms/

The omnibus of my very first series is currently 25% off at Kobo! ...

2026-08-25T17:40:56Z

The omnibus of my very first series is currently 25% off at Kobo! (Discount applies at checkout; you won't see it on the book page.)

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-doppelganger-omnibus

Do you need two and a half minutes of six (?) sleepy grey kittens ...

2026-07-30T19:26:34Z

Do you need two and a half minutes of six (?) sleepy grey kittens attempting to tetris themselves into a basket, purring all the while? I think you do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM5hQ3Qtf-8

This is your periodic reminder that word of mouth moves more ...

2026-05-12T21:17:25Z

This is your periodic reminder that word of mouth moves more books than any formal advertising! I invite you to rec something you've recently enjoyed -- preference for the stuff that's *not* already extremely well-known and talked about everywhere.

"Pull yourself up by your bootstraps!" the entire point ...

2025-03-26T20:56:09Z

"Pull yourself up by your bootstraps!"

the entire point of that idiom was that you *can't*, it's straight-up impossible

"Just one bad apple"

. . . spoils the rest of the barrel; it's the *opposite* of an isolated problem

Any other idioms we've gotten completely backwards?

LISTEN UP KETTLES, A POT IS TALKING (actual sentence uttered in ...

2024-11-30T20:32:00Z

LISTEN UP KETTLES, A POT IS TALKING

(actual sentence uttered in my household today)

Recs for books whose main narrative engine is "let's ...

2024-10-16T20:41:04Z

Recs for books whose main narrative engine is "let's explore and learn about this place"? Along the lines of Rendevous With Rama (but ideally more recent than that).

Bookshop.org is offering free shipping today and tomorrow, as ...

2024-10-08T19:46:02Z

Bookshop.org is offering free shipping today and tomorrow, as Anti-Prime Day! Support independent bookstores and stick it to Bezos:

https://bookshop.org/

Having now tried this, can confirm: you DON'T need to cook ...

2024-09-25T19:03:56Z

Having now tried this, can confirm: you DON'T need to cook pasta in a huge volume of water and you DON'T need to keep the burner on the entire time it's cooking:

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-cook-pasta-salt-water-boiling-tips-the-food-lab

I'm #ISO a Spanish historian who can help me figure out: back ...

2024-09-16T07:58:04Z

I'm #ISO a Spanish historian who can help me figure out: back when students at the University of Salamanca elected professorial chairs, how were the votes cast? I know all about the chaos around the elections (voter intimidation, b/u/s/i/n/g/ burroing? in extra voters, etc.), but not the actual *voting method*.

Just got in touch with the guy who taught my summer course on SF ...

2024-08-26T22:12:39Z

Just got in touch with the guy who taught my summer course on SF short fiction when I was eleven. Folks, if you remember a teacher and their class fondly, let them know (if you can). Having been on both sides of that exchange, I can say with certainty that you will make their day.

If you visit a U.S. national park, consider giving back to the ...

2024-07-31T22:19:05Z

If you visit a U.S. national park, consider giving back to the indigenous people that land once belonged to (or still does):

https://lakotalaw.org/parks