Jackson Allen's Blog, page 9

Critics Don’t Kill Stories – Stories Kill Stories

Some quick notes out of Sony via Linkedin – Critics don’t kill movies – movies kill movies. The narrative ABOUT a movie is just as important as the narrative OF the movie. Know what that means? It means that you and I – writers / authors / aspiring creatives that we are – need to pay attention. The narrative ABOUT our work is just as important as the narrative OF our work.

Here’s how we got here: Simon Pulman is a lawyer in New York specializing in media and entertainment law. Commenting on Sony’s response to the failures of Madame Web, he pulls out some important nuggets for all of us to learn from. Pulman doesn’t blame the critics – he blames ‘the story about Madame Web.’ “[E]arly in the life cycle of a high profile project (long before reviews are published), a narrative is created … Once that narrative is created, it can be very hard to change.’

This problem is bigger than Madame Web. “It is attributable to a bigger narrative … Sony keeps trying to force a cinematic universe on audiences that they don’t want … [T]his narrative was determined by audiences themselves … journalists were not the source.”

This isn’t ‘Bag on Sony Day’ – we’re simply using their experience to teach ourselves a valuable lesson. Critics don’t kill stories – stories kill stories. Feedback from your audience, people who experience your work, the story you hear them tell themselves. LISTEN TO THAT. The feedback you get is they story they’re telling themselves about YOU. Good, bad, or ugly. We must LISTEN TO THEM.

“But, but they hate me!” I can hear myself telling me. “They didn’t even look at the book!”

Yeah, I get it. It’s a lost of work to push past the vulnerability and shame and listen to people when your work doesn’t immediately resonate or resonates badly. Listening and being vulnerable are scary propositions, but absolutely necessary to the work of being a creative professional.

Let me address that point more clearly – hearing negative feedback provokes stressful, difficult feelings like vulnerability and shame. Here’s the good news – while it’s stressful to be vulnerable, but it’s also a form of courage. “Vulnerability is not winning or losing,” Bene Brown assures us. “It’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.”

Back to ‘critics don’t kill stories’ – managing that narrative around your project is a challenge for everybody. That means the playing field for stories is completely level. One person with a pen has just as much an opportunity to creative a narrative of work, and about their work, as a billion-dollar company. In fact, the little guys have it easier – let me explain.

Billion-dollar companies like Sony, Comcast Universal, Disney have THREE layers of story where we have only TWO. We’re out here telling the story OF our work, and the story ABOUT our work. They’re telling the story OF their work, the story ABOUT their work, and the story of WHY this one person should be in charge of the first two layers. That last layer is tricky – they’re accountable to the audiences AND their bosses.

That means it’s easy to say ‘Critics kill stories’ when the reality is you aren’t paying attention to your audience, or you’re letting the bosses dictate what they think the audiences want. If you followed Pulman’s advice, you’d know that you can’t manipulate your way into box office success. “There is little that a company can do to control it. However, we do know what companies cannot do: impose a mandate on audiences. It is now very difficult to tell audiences what they do or should want – and in fact, that’s more likely to be counterproductive because if an audience feels like it is being manipulated, it will push back hard.”

At the end of the day, each of us have our own box of crayons. “The best way to spin a positive narrative is to drop your own preconceptions, ideologies and agendas, listen to the market, and actually make your audience happy.” Hard to do that when you have quarterly profit margins, Wall Street analysts, and stock prices to maintain.

I hope this helps illustrate some background information on the nature of critics, stories, and what kills a project. It’s more complicated than we think – these moments of discovery help inform on what we need to pay attention to within our creative professional journey. Sometimes being the the Little Guy really is the best place to be.

The post Critics Don’t Kill Stories – Stories Kill Stories appeared first on Inkican.

Predatory Creatives – Literary Trade Show

Recent predatory literary trade show experiences bring us back to the idea of  ‘predatory creatives.’ For every author looking to strike it rich with their book, there’s three hucksters making bogus claims about influence, promotion, and audience engagement. Let this be a lesson to you.

Forget all that for a moment – a first-class emergency has come to the streets of Eugene. I heard a loud screeching yesterday morning from the breakfast table and went to the door, thinking someone had run over a possum. No, it’s Rose Marie the Landlord – in full meltdown mode. Her nerves were frayed by the eye-watering neighborhood Christmas displays, and a local Bogan performing carpentry at two o’clock in the morning.

She wasn’t the only one. Captain Crack Sparrow’s corner was the scene of violent menace and automatic gunfire. Now, Eugene PD – reluctant to resolve the noise complaint or porch pirates, or  stolen cars – was only too happy to ticket her ancient K-Car for parking too long in the driveway. Guess how a functioning alcoholic with anger issues would respond to that type of provocation?

I consoled her with a cup of tea and returned to the matter at hand. Peace and joy often rely upon tenuous social contracts which, intellectual neighborhood dullards, are only too happy to exploit. So, too, are the hucksters of literary trade shows, only too happy to pluck the starry-eyed author pigeons for tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for some type of emotional validation for their creative enterprise.

Here’s how we got here. A blog post from Jane Friedman reminds us to Think Twice Before Paying to Exhibit at Industry Book Fairs. Digging deeper into this issue, you come to the realization that A) Many authors have tried B) Many authors have failed C) Literary Industry Trade Shows are more about milking small authors, than getting them published. There’s a right way and a wrong way to sell books at live events – you have to decide what will work best for you.

How do you decide what will work best? There’s an old adage I think will help you: The juice must be worth the squeeze. Making fresh orange juice is labor intensive, so you must decide if the delicious juice is worth the work. Literary trade shows serve a valuable purpose for the people for whom the juice *is* worth the squeeze. Just probably not you.

What Else Can I Try?

First and foremost – ignore the Predatory Creatives and Literary Trade Shows. Literary trade shows fall into the ‘predatory creative’ category in that, whatever creativity they have – they’re only applying it toward exploitation. You aren’t going to fix the problem, don’t bother trying.

What you should be asking is: ‘what else can I try?’ Be comforted in the fact that the path to success is non-linear. There are many ways to achievement, so failure is by no means fatal. You can try the Live Event thing if you’re up for it. If not, there are other options:

Writer ConferencesAuthor Advantage LiveComic conventions, Craft fairs, Themed events (sci-fi conventions), Mall events, Festivals, and Gaming conventions

Does the idea of all that interaction leaves you feeling depleted and exhausted? There’s an easy solution – Make up an event that works for you! I started GSBCW because that’s an interaction format that works for me and I’m so grateful for it. Keep your interaction system organic and sustainable – don’t push yourself so far out of your comfort zone that you can’t find your way back to default flow.

Rose Marie has no patience or insight on predatory creatives or literary trade shows. In fact, she was still upset when I spoke to her a few hours later.

“At least it wasn’t a shooting,” I advised, closing my door.

My last image of RM that day was her, flipping me a middle finger. In some ways it reminded me of my experiences with literary trade shows and predatory creatives. Sometimes, it’s best to keep your mouth shut.

The post Predatory Creatives – Literary Trade Show appeared first on Inkican.

Code Talkers: Unbreakable Encryption

The news that John Kinsel – one of the last Navajo Code Talkers who died in October – gives us a chance to talk about cybersecurity and unbreakable encryptions. From a technical standpoint, code talkers represented an unbreakable code for enemy communications and it required little or no preparation for operational use.

According to AZCentral, ‘Navajo Code Talkers were successful because they provided a fast, secure and error-free line of communication by telephone and radio during World War II in the Pacific. The 29 initial recruits developed an unbreakable code, and they were successfully trained to transmit the code under intense conditions.’ In fact, per Wikipedia: ‘The code remained classified until 1968. The Navajo code is the only spoken military code never to have been deciphered.’

A serial entrepreneur I know summed it up best: sometimes you have to be too dumb to quit. They’re absolutely correct – the genius of bad ideas is that everyone is too smart to think of them. This isn’t just a historical curiosity – the code talkers’ unbreakable encryption made key victories possible in World War Two. Mesh people like us – technical curious, authentically empathetic – can take some key takeaways from the code talkers:

Being unique, authentic, different – all good thingsKnowing what’s real, knowing what you know – that matters to the right peopleLow tech solutions can beat high-tech problemsDon’t be afraid to be a weird nerd – the right amount of wrong is best

As a weird nerd – you may be wondering what your talents and abilities are good for. I hope you’ll take the experience of the Code Talkers and their unbreakable encryption as a powerful learning lesson. No one else can be you, go find what you do better than anyone else. I believe in you, and so does everyone on the Inkican Crew!

 

The post Code Talkers: Unbreakable Encryption appeared first on Inkican.

Hug the Cactus: Google and Corporate Media Influence

The influence of Corporate media, and Google will implode unless they can go hug the cactus. That’s my simple message as I prune out YouTube subscriptions, unfollow famous voices, and migrate over to Bluesky. Maybe you have, too.

But first, I have a new neighbor. He comes from Greece or Idaho – I haven’t gotten close enough to find out. Fox News blared from his TV sixteen hours a day, stopping only when I started making judicious use of the circuit breaker panel. Now he thinks TV speaker trips the breaker when the volume goes over 80dB – I hope he never figures out the truth. The noise made me want to set a wild ferret loose in his bedroom, but I don’t know how to pick locks.

“I miss the old days,” Rose Marie The Landlord said one sleepless night in late summer. “All you needed was three months’ rent and a good set of teeth.”

“Teeth?” Counting stars at three in the morning because of insomnia left me in no mood for deep technical explanations. “Why teeth?”

“If he takes care of his teeth, he takes care of everything else.” Rose Marie slurped at a stadium cup filled with Dr. Thunder and cheap vodka. “I hate him, but you can’t pick your tenants.”

Somehow my neighbor felt like Google – a neighbor you once welcomed, and now could only hope to tolerate. But now what?

As far as Google and Corporate Media influence is concerned – it’s over folks – let’s stop kidding ourselves. The influence of Google and Corporate Media encouraged consumption at the cost of cognizance. Now it’s reached a tipping point that can no longer be tolerated and I’m taking a well-deserved break. If you aren’t Google or Corporate Media and you’re tired of their influence, please feel welcomed to do the same. We need some time and distance for our own mental wellbeing.

That’s the first problem. Now here’s the second. Indie publishers like Giant Freakin Robot are shutting down under the deterioration of Google as a resource for new readers. Even the engineers can’t understand the LLM they’ve created, but they know the system prioritizes large brands and Old Money Media to keep Independent Publishers under control.

The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?

“Take out the trash!” Rose Marie The Landlord screeched from her back door. The guy next to me moved in last week, still expects daily maid service. I took his trash out once and I’ve been paying for it ever since.

“You filthy swine!” I pounded on the wall. “Your kind should be pelted with stones!”

He pounded back and I returned to my keyboard. One might descend into despair but my personal theory is that this is the beginning of the end for corporate media. Google isd fast-tracking itself into Intel levels of irrelevance, and other search options will be only too happy to take over.

In November, I talked a lot about keeping my world small and working on myself. At the same time, insights emerged about productive activities, voices to listen to. I tolerated the Corporate Media’s sheer deafening cacaphony of ‘listen to me / agree with me / don’t listen to them / don’t agree with them’ for years. Now their vulnerabilities cannot be ignored. They don’t know what’s going on, either. I can’t do this anymore, folks – It’s got to stop. I need to listen to silence for a while, silence might be good for you, too.

This comes from two different areas of concern – one is corporate media and the media / narrative complex they’ve constructed for themselves. The second is the ongoing issues with Google, Internet search traffic, and the threat presented to independent content publishers. Two different issues, but with the same negative outcome, and with the same cactus-hugging solution.

How Corporate Media Failed Us

First, corporate media and the media / narrative complex. As the pandemic raged in 2020, I started with good intentions. My natural diet of late night talk shows and news felt … calming … someone knew what was going on, they were putting our current events into context. You had to take what was said with a grain of salt, but they did seem to at least have a finger on the pulse of what was going on.

Four years later, where are we? Welp … the election happened and I’m not a political person, but I do watch the news and late-night TV, and no one can argue that the election was their ‘9/11 moment.’

For those of us who don’t remember, 9/11 was a slap in the face to America’s military / industrial complex. Briefly, a question had to be answered. How could these organizations with billions of dollars at their disposal fail to prevent the tragedy? Congruently, journalism considers itself ‘the Fourth Estate‘ – the media / narrative complex if you will. Leading voices considered the outcome of the election to be a tragedy (no joke, watch how they responded to everything before and after November 5th). They could not prevent their ‘tragic outcome,’ either. Where’s the accountability?

Anyway.

My neighbor moves past my door, swearing. I ignore his meaningless antics lest I become the subject of some ill-typed Nextdoor post. Who needs that drama when we’re ringside to the cozy dystopia of the 21st century?

I’m not here to be the media’s canary in the coalmine. They’re big, I’m little. One day, after it all comes crashing down, someone will pick through the rubble and say ‘Inkican called it.’ Hopefully I’ll be around to enjoy the vindication and validation.

Disrupt All Disruptors

All disruptors must be disrupted – for a world built on ‘challenging the status quo,’ Google and corporate media are incapable of challenging themselves. They used new technologies to build a ladder, then pulled the ladder up after themselves. If it didn’t work for traditional companies in the late 90s, Google, why do you think it’s going to work now? Crabs escaping the crab pot have built-in enemies – the other crabs – soon they all find themselves in the soup.

Want to escape this sad destiny? The answer is simple, even if it’s painful. Google and Corporate Media must …

Go Hug the Cactus

This metaphor of ‘hugging the cactus’ means different things to different people – my interpretation is simple: true growth means embracing painful truths. We’re only as sick as our secrets – pushing against reality turns us into two positively-charged magnets that can never click together. Hugging that cactus means agonizing acceptance – but it’s only in those seconds of self-sacrifice that people see who we really are and that we’re willing to do the right thing at deep personal cost.

Hugging the Cactus for Google is simple, but painful – it means a reckoning with itself and its culture. Hundreds of other big companies have tried it successfully and Google can, too. Perhaps it means a lot of leadership change, and golden parachutes. Or maybe not – maybe Google can disrupt the disruption archetype by NOT throwing institutional value away. They can re-establish themselves as leaders again by showing the world what it means to live with humility, and lessons learned.

Hugging the Cactus for Corporate Media is simple, but painful – Yes, Corp Media can re-invent itself after the failures of narrative and influence in 2024, too. Look fellas, everyone knows you screwed up. Why bother to hide it? Why ignore it? Doesn’t your position as ‘the 4th estate’ exist so you can give power to the afflicted, and afflict those in power? Well, afflict yourselves for a while. Figure out what went wrong – stop ignoring the hard conversations – realize that you’ve failed at the basic test of journalistic ethics ‘come work for us, again,‘ and reboot yourselves. You tried to do it without actually doing it – good for you – now go hug the cactus and REALLY do your job.

Or not.

My neighbor is an evil cabbage but no different than other Americans living their lives. Hollywood taught them that they’re all the heroes of their own story, making us either background characters or villains. There’s no stopping them, short of forcing them into a chair and making them watch Golden Girls episodes until they can paint a hundred sentences with an oil brush clamped in their teeth: ‘I am not the main character. I am not the main character. I am not the main character.’

Look, true growth means embracing painful truths. Hugging the cactus means getting cozy with chagrin. You can force that kind of growth to a point, but you can’t mandate it – lest you find yourself running a modern day Re-Education Camp.

As a guy who has to hug the cactus on the regular, I can tell you that the discomfort doesn’t last but the discernment does. When it comes to Corporate Media, Google, and influence – the choice is up to them.

The post Hug the Cactus: Google and Corporate Media Influence appeared first on Inkican.

What Did I Learn from Global Silent Book Club Week?

Global Silent Book Club Week (GSBCW) is now complete for 2024 – what did I learn from running a global, virtual event for introverted people like me? Here are some lessons learned and thoughts on future plans.

The Amazing Moments

First and foremost – preparing for GSBCW forced me to get out of my comfort zone, meet new people, and present new ideas. Some aspects worked better than others, but the fact that I tried means a lot to me in my healing journey. Along the way, GSBCW produced some beautiful opportunities for connection – here are some of them:

    

As an introverted person, it was so rewarding to connect with people I’d otherwise never get to talk to. Silent Reading felt like an organic, holistic way for me to meet my community where they are, without burning myself out.

Running a Global Event Takes Work

What did I have to create in order for GSBCW to work? Events don’t happen magically on their own – if you build it, they will come. To make it work I built the new web presence, created social media campaigns (Example One, Example Two, Example Three), reached out to different influencers, set up Discord, created safety guidelines so that parents would feel safe with their kids, connected with authors to let them promote their free work, answered questions, managed haters, and created artwork. All told, I’d estimate around 60-80 hours of work went into making this event live and breathe. I’ll have to do it all over again when we have the next one.

When Are We Doing GSBCW Again?

I’m not sure – this is an open discussion – happy to schedule something again in a month, a quarter, or a year away. Let me know your thoughts on Bluesky or Mastodon.

Nothing Works As Planned

Unlike Hollywood movie montages where linear success happens in a five-minute montage, real projects are more like herding cats. Whether it’s web development, manufacturing icons in Photoshop, getting authors to get materials to you – everything is harder than you thought they’d be. Then there are haters, people going out their way to misunderstand or mischaracterize your intentions. Managing haters is a skill unto itself and I needed all my previous experience to make GSBCW work. And yet …

It’s Still Worth It

I’m exhausted but happy. Global Silent Book Club Week connected me to people I’d otherwise never get to talk to. Instant, unfettered companionship. Those peaceful Silent Reading hours felt cozy, home-like, and for a brief period – we all felt like we belonged.

GSBCW is going to happen again – the when / where / how is all that needs to be decided. You can participate in the discussion on Discord, Bluesky or Mastodon. We’ll see you down the road.

Archive

 

The post What Did I Learn from Global Silent Book Club Week? appeared first on Inkican.

Sci-Friday #215 – They Found That X-Files Song

Happy Black Friday – great news, they found that X-Files Song! ‘Staring at the Stars’ has been one of those ‘obscure media mysteries’ that Internet sleuths love to solve. It’s been located and is now on Youtube for you to enjoy. Take a listen:

I can hear a little ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ in there – it’s not the BEST SONG YOU’VE EVER HEARD, but it’s interesting. Here’s more info on ‘Staring at the Stars’ from Wikipedia:

“Staring at the Stars” is a country song written and recorded by Dan Marfisi and Glenn Jordan that was used in “Dreamland II“, which was the fifth episode of the sixth season of the science fiction TV show The X-Files. The episode first aired on December 6, 1998. The song was featured as background music during a scene set in a local bar. “Staring at the Stars” became the subject of a years-long search by fans of the TV show as it was not mentioned in the end credits or in other sources such as the episode’s IMDb page and had not been commercially released. The name of the song and the identities of its composers were finally discovered following a thread on X, formerly Twitter, from Lauren Ancona which went viral on December 5, 2023 (over 21 million views as of 1 January 2024). 

Hope this little moment sparks joy for you. I needed the distraction, My dreams are bad enough – last night Stephen Colbert yelled at me because, as a famous author, I wasn’t doing enough to ‘have something to talk about when I come on his show.’ Never mind that I’d never be on his show.

So that’s the news for this Sci-Friday: they found that X-Files Song. Makes me feel better as I stay indoors and stand well clear of the checkout line at Wal-Mart – no need to let myself in for that violent madness.

The post Sci-Friday #215 – They Found That X-Files Song appeared first on Inkican.

Notes from Eugene – #GSBCW – 11/24/2024

Some Notes from Eugene while we wait for Global Silent Book Club Week (#GSBCW) to start. Eugene might be a beautiful place full of ugly people, sometimes the ugly people get their due as evinced by the saga of Ian on Olive. A neighborhood rapscallion decided that ‘hacking the system’ meant defrauding a lowly Doordash driver, and Internet Vigilante Justice ensued. Among the more hysterical examples of revenge, a core truth emerges that’s worth discussion about whether you’re Ian, a Doordash driver, a Eugenian, on neither.

I’m still learning how to communicate my pain and struggles so that people understand them. Since we’re all living in a semi-cozy dystopia, maybe you are, too. Hitting the right notes to inspire empathy without atrocity is a riddle I’m working to solve. Noteworthy is the need to remember that not everyone will get it. You can be the most pitiful person on the planet, and some people will simply piss on you. That’s not a reflection of you, that’s a reflection on them.

Snakes Look Like Love

Sad thing is, many trauma-broken people can’t connect the dots to reach that conclusion. There’s a reason therapists tell them: ‘some people get bit by a snake and seek medical attention – you’d get bitten by a snake and die standing there trying to get the snake to understand that it hurt you.’ Abuse and dysfunction damage the normal models of safety and protection and because snakes looks like love to you, you can unwittingly find yourself seeking shelter in a snake pit.

Or not.

Perhaps we can teach ourselves to avoid snakes in the future. Maybe we can give ourselves permission to say ‘no, bad snake!’ and move elsewhere. The key point learned from Ian on Olive is that, the right people will help. Our lives get better when we’re surrounded by people who look for reasons to check in, not excuses to check out. The Ian on Olive debacle was resolved by a number of people who looked for reasons to check in and care about their neighbor – A great lesson for all of us.

How Do We Fix This?

How do you know who’s going to look for reasons to check in versus excuses to check out? That takes time and experience. You have to learn to trust your gut. I’m starting to adopt the ‘one and done’ philosophy simply out of survival. ‘I don’t understand but I’d like to’ is a million miles from ‘Why should I help? What’s in it from me?’ Helpers, people like Jim Henson or Bob Ross or Kimberly Bryant, don’t have to be lured into compassion and empathy.

Give yourself permission if you request empathy and compassion and the other person keeps making excuses for why they can’t help. Take it from this recovering Trauma Kid: if you know it’s gonna be bad but they don’t believe you unless you articulate exactly ‘how’ it’s gonna be bad, just walk away – they aren’t going to help you because they’re looking for excuses to check out, not reasons to check in.

Thank you for waiting for an update from me – I’ve been head-down on the details for making Global Silent Book Club Week into a living, breathing, and safe virtual event. To wrap these notes from Eugene up, I remind you that #GSBCW is an experiment in human connection and altruism. I can’t solve the world, but I can sit with you, and you’re welcome to sit with me. Even if you’re Ian – yes, even Ian deserves a chance to experience human connection as a means of reconciliation. As long as he behaves himself.

Come Read With Us

The post Notes from Eugene – #GSBCW – 11/24/2024 appeared first on Inkican.

GSBCW – Global Silent Book Club Week Starts on Sunday

Global Silent Book Club Week (#GSBCW) encourages people of all ages to gather and read quietly together. Join us and read silently for an hour – we’ve got a virtual reading nook set up for you on Discord. Great for the families looking for a wholesome activity to share during Fall Break.

Learn More and Read With Us Starting on SundayAnyone who loves to read in silence with someone else!  This started out as a viral post on Imgur and now it’s real.  Come read with us in comfortable silence for an hour every day. Global Silent Book Club Week is celebrated during the last week of November. For 2024, the dates are from November 24-30, 2024 – with Silent Reading from 3-4PM PST.This is also a great opportunity for authors with available giveaways to meet new readers. Message me directly – I’d love to include your stories in my promotions.Global Silent Book Club Week (#GSBCW) is a gathering where participants read their own books in silence, creating a peaceful atmosphere that encourages personal reflection and enjoyment of literature. There are no assigned readings or discussions, allowing individuals to choose what they want to read. The format typically includes an optional social hour followed by a designated silent reading period.Spread the word and we’ll see you on Sunday – can’t wait to kick back with my favorite book with you.

The post GSBCW – Global Silent Book Club Week Starts on Sunday appeared first on Inkican.

Conspiraco – Scifi Dystopia Audio Short Story

Happy to say Conspiraco – my Scifi, Dystopia, Thriller Short Story – is now an audio short story. Hooray! I wrote Conspiraco several years ago and am surprised how well people connect to the emotions and tension. And then – best of all – 2024 decided to *become* a dystopia so thanks folks, for all the free marketing! (j/k – I’m sad, too)

Take a load off your mind for a few minutes. Things could always be worse and we show you how in Conspiraco – listen to the audio short for free here:

In Conspiraco, we follow a day in the life of the thegovernment agency that creates conspiracy theories to keep society stable. The story follows employees of the Conspiracy Department as they wrestle with the ethics of their work, balancing their belief in protecting society against the knowledge that they’re manipulating public perception. Explore themes of power, control, and the nature of belief, questioning how far authorities should go to maintain order through misinformation. This thought-provoking narrative will challenge you to consider the line between protection and oppression in governance, while also critiquing modern conspiracy culture and examining how stories shape our understanding of reality.

You’ll love Conspiraco. One thing I really enjoyed about this new scifi dystopia audio short?  Jeremiah’s voice acting – seriously, come for the story but stay for the storytelling. He’s a champ at articulating the tension in the room, creating new characters, and pacing the exposition. I’m in awe of his talent and he grows it every time we work on a new project – Total champ.

Support the work – buy a copy of Conspiraco at the Emergency Reality Shelter. More stories soon!

Write on!

The post Conspiraco – Scifi Dystopia Audio Short Story appeared first on Inkican.

New Ways to Contact Me – BlueSky and Business Cards

Happy Tuesday – interesting updates from the Inkican desk include Bluesky and new business cards. Check out the business card below – feedback welcome – and then I’ll tell you what’s going on with Bluesky:

The business card came out of feedback from somebody who suggested I have some on hand. I wanted something dual-function as a way to introduce myself, and something I could deploy as an emergency kindness kit. Thoughts and feedback welcome – now let me tell you about Bluesky.

The decision to join Bluesky started – as usual – with Imugr somewhere in the vacinity. A discussion about Twitter and Nazis led to the suggestion that ‘Mastodon wasn’t the future.’ I thought to myself – ‘hey, let’s do some A/B testing and see which works better’ and created an account. You can now talk to me on Bluesky here.

I’m still firmly of the belief that the Fediverse is our future, but I’m not gonna get all weird about it. Kbin was supposed to be our future, so was Fedia – we all know how that ended. If people are engaging on Bluesky (and behaving themselves … not selling it off to a billionaire crackhead) then, fine.

That’s not all – I’m working on something else for the last part of November. It’s called Global Silent Book Club Week and it might be a fun way for everyone to read silently together. More details here and here.

So now we have a new way to contact me, BlueSky, and some fresh business cards for my future use if I ever happen to need them. May your Tuesday also be pleasant, meaningful and full of interesting conversations.

Write on!

The post New Ways to Contact Me – BlueSky and Business Cards appeared first on Inkican.