Sydnee

If I get this job I'm going to buy something incredibly impractical with my severance money.

Sinners Gives Us Vampires, Music, and a Moment of Indigenous Power We Can’t Ignore Set in 1932 Mississippi, Sinners is a haunting, atmospheric tale rooted in the music, spirituality, kinship, and resilience of Black Southern communities. But Coogler threads a deeper, more violent cu...

With #Sinners back in theaters today, thought I'd reshare the article I wrote about the Choctaw Vampire Hunters and why that moment didn't NEED to be centered more even tho we would all love to see more of their story.

redpopnews.com/sinners-give...

#redpopnews

In the dawn light, ladyfingers stretched toward the sky, glistening with what looked like dew.

It wasn't.

When I worked in WaPo Opinions in 2017-2018, senior editors specifically told junior editors not to factcheck Marc Thiessen and other MAGA columnists, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to publish anything by them at all, and “we need them for intellectual diversity.”

100% agree. I think things like the "sandwich method" have given people the impression that you only give (insincere) praise to dull the sting of the criticism.

but if you can't find *anything* to genuinely be excited about, what's the point of revising it?

The Book of Juju: Africana Spirituality for Healing, Liberation, and Self-Discovery Africana Spirituality for Healing, Liberation, and Self-Discovery

I read this book earlier this year and I liked it a lot: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

It's meant to be a 101 type guide, but I believe she also cites more extensive sources in the back

Feeding the Lakota The Pine Ridge Reservation is a food desert, and many of the Lakota people there struggle with food insecurity. Even when people on the rez can afford food, they often struggle to find healthy, fresh ...

Please help or boost if you're able! One Spirit Lakota is raising funds for the food pantry in anticipation of EBT cards possibly not getting filled for November due to the shutdown.

Funds go to feeding residents of Pine Ridge, which already has one of the worst food deserts in the country.

The first editorial letter I got on a pro sale, literally in 1999, and the most recent editorial letter last week, both contained points where the editor mentioned things they liked, things that were already working.

I bring this up AGAIN because positive critique is not "soft soap for weak n00bs."

flawless. if they're going to waste our time, traumatize them back

I actually tried to create a throwaway FB account to get around this, because not having a login was making it impossible to do fact-checking

then they froze the account b/c they needed to verify that I was a "real" person by having me scan a 360-degree video of my face 🫠

guess I'm screwed then

a close up of a man 's face with the words challenge accepted written on it Alt: a close up of a man's face with the words challenge accepted written on it

recruiter: there's no way to tell between AI slop and real writing!

you:

time dilation and how it would impact someone's respect (or disdain) for the fragility of life

That’s the other thing that baffles me about AI and creative writing, actually.

The work IS the joy for me. I don’t want to be able to snap my fingers and have a completed “product.” I want to be transformed by the process. I’m an author but I do this because I enjoy the rigor of being a writer.

cover of Howl: An Anthology from Women in Horror.

starred review of HOWL. "this searing anthology of horror fiction mixes the feminine with the feral as it explores lycanthropy, murder, and transcendence of flesh...In Zin E Rocklyn' 'Wolf Like Me' a woman in dire straits discover someone wild within the forest who may just prove to be her salvation—and the salvation of her unborn child..."

sooooooo, I'm in a new anthology releasing on November 4th and good news!

we got a starred review in Publisher's Weekly!

even better news? my story is highlighted!

pre-order HOWL: An Anthology from Women in Horror ASAP. you want this antho.

@sydmt.blacksky.app

See, I have been using my layoff time wisely. we will not talk about the fact that I'm also now on this website too much

omg I love the library. Why did I spend all that money on books I still haven't read

With that said...the vibes here are still a lot better than Twitter even before the takeover, and I'm glad that there's still things like Flights of Foundry that will help keep me connected to what's going on in SFF

If you want to support me: Hire me! I'm always available for copyediting. 📝

...but feel like social media creates way too much pressure to share personal aspects of my life that I'm not comfortable with revealing. Or to risk having posts break containment and now I'm getting death threats because you hate waffles.

So this account will probably stay vaguely inactive for now

I once thought that journalism was the way you make change while creating distance from your own identity and politics, but well, look how that worked out.

So I don't really know how to exist in an environment where I *have* to use my legal name for professional reasons...

I've been thinking a lot about what this moment demands of so-called "knowledge workers." Editors typically have prided ourselves on disappearing into the work so our clients can get all the shine.

But in a world obsessed with AI, this exact quality is making it easier to justify taking our jobs.

I'm almost at a 1,000 followers??? Holy crap. Where are you people coming from 😅

I feel guilty sometimes because I don't post on here nearly as much as I planned to, but it's also a very Weird moment to be existing publicly as someone visibly Black and queer.

Info for our Backer Goals! 50 Backers is unlocked and 100 now as well! With 150 backers below over a blurred version of OTHERSIDE banner art in purple, with a blurred floating fantastical head on the right. The backdrop for the two unlocked goals is now rainbow.

It hasn't even been 2 hours from the LAST post about reaching backer goals but WE'VE HIT 100 BACKERS!! THAT'S ANOTHER 1000 WORDS/ISSUE!!

We're also VERY close to reaching our base funding goal. As in LESS THAN $700 TO GET FUNDED!! Help us get there? 👀

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...

OK this TWEWY reference definitely sold it for me 👀

Panel and presentation went well... glad that this is a virtual conference because I messed up my back in dance class yesterday morning 🫠

Praise be to ice packs and muscle relaxers.

Being on this website too long makes my neck stiff...BUT! I do have news!

I'll be attending Flights of Foundry this week! I'll be moderating one panel and giving a presentation! Come join!

How to Edit Your Fiction for Length (Hour 6)

Leave My Escapism Alone, Damnit (Hour 51)

A consistently hilarious thing about bluesky discourse is that for some reason the stakes are always unreasonably high at all times. No one is chiseling anything into stone tablets here, no matter what someone says online you can always decide to give or not give your email to whoever you want

What makes Capital B different? Our stories cut through confusion, confront harmful myths, and shine a light on changemakers. That’s news our communities can use.
Help us raise $6,500: capitalbnews.fundjournalism.org/donate/?camp...

As you cancel streaming services, here is a casual reminder that only 16% of Americans read for pleasure anymore, and your local library has hundreds or thousands of books you haven't read.

They would love to see you stop by and renew your library card.

It's funny he said he didn't want ppl to compare it to Bebop and then...did that