Last year my publisher closed and Deficient disappeared from the market. Today I’m revealing the new cover for its return.
Curious what you think!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Anyone interested in a free drop-in poetry class? 🌿✨
Starting today, Writers & Books is hosting Poetry Oasis with Kitty Jospe, a weekly, welcoming space to read, explore, and respond to poems. All are welcome!
🗓 Fridays, 12–1 pm
📍 Writers & Books in Rochester, NY
More info: wab.org/poetry-oasis/
Thoughts on Renée Good and the state violence we all witnessed.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Many people I know have described 2025 a “cluster****” or a “hellscape.”
I can’t really disagree. Here are a few personal reflections on this year of tumult.
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Thank you…this is so great to hear. W&B is a small but mighty team with such thoughtful and helpful people. I’m glad you noticed that!
GivingTuesday is here, and we at Writers & Books have already raised over $3000 for of youth writing programs and scholarships! Because of a match contribution, this is doubled to over $6000.
Please help support young writers on their creative journeys here: www.unitedwayrocflx.org/roc-the-day/...
Fresh start…everything is new! The city, the job, the rhythm. New beginnings shake things up, and they’re often overwhelming.
But reinvention isn’t about starting over from scratch. It’s about growing from the roots that were always there. 🌱
Read on for more!
open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Hope to see readers and writers at the Rochester Children and Teens Book Festival this weekend!
Will you be going? 📚
For those of us in the spirit of Novel November season…check out my recent article with Planetside on alternatives to NaNoWriMo.
Though I went for a DIY approach over the summer, I’m actually giving ProWritingAid’s Novel November a try now. I’m really enjoying it!
Thanks for sharing @sfwa.org !
Got the very random 1,667-word badge on day 2 of PorWritingAid’s Novel November!
Taking a mental health break and going for a hike while the sun is shining! 😎
Is anyone else giving Novel November a try?
Thank you! I’m going to give it my best! 🙏🏼
I’ve tired out ProWritingAid’s Novel November this month. Still getting used to it and joined for free…might be worth checking out as it kicked off today!
Decided to jump into ProWritingAid’s Novel November to get over the finish line with a novel! (4th and final book of a YA/speculative series with dystopian elements). I have about 50k words already…aiming to finish!
Anyone else doing NovNov? Any writing goals?
prowritingaid.com/novel-november
Thank you for reading! I am afraid I don’t have access to those resources either or where to find them sadly. Let me know if you have any luck!
NaNoWriMo’s over…now what?
I wrote about finding your writing flow after the NaNo era…and keeping the spark alive.
Thanks @sfwa.org !
www.sfwa.org/2025/10/30/f... #NaNoWriMo
After the US defended Israel at the UNGA yesterday, Israel has now attacked a peaceful flotilla carrying aid to Gaza. This is horrific and unacceptable.
Condemnations are insufficient. Israel must be sanctioned and prosecuted for breaches of international law.
Hands off the flotilla! 🇵🇸
Thank you so much! This is very helpful. 🙏🏼
This is absolutely sickening. My heart is with all of Palestine.
Feel like I am listening to an aged King Joffrey speaking at UNGA. Trump’s speech is delusional and unhinged.
Recognition of Palestinian statehood is welcome and long overdue. But the genocide must end. Halt all arms sales to Israel. Those responsible — including US officials across parties — must be named, held accountable, and prosecuted.
Thank you, Dianne!
Hey writers out there! As we get closer to November, I’m writing an article on alternatives to NaNoWriMo to help inspire novel writing. If you have come across any organized initiatives that are worth mentioning, please share your thoughts! I’ll also be writing about DIY approaches. 🙏🏼
One of my favorite shots of Lady Gaga at the Mayhem Ball while she performed Paparazzi. This is how you wear a cape. Legend!
No offense to the Swifties, but today is all about Lady Gaga’s Mayhem ball in NYC. Once a Little Monster, always a Little Monster. ✨🪩👹
We should not be paying a dime of our tax money to the genocidal terror state of Israel. This is common sense.
Sanction. Boycott. Divest. Prosecute.
And free the People of Palestine. 🇵🇸
Israel bombs a hospital.
Waits for rescuers and journalists to arrive.
Then bombs them too.
Never forget where our tax dollars are going: genocide, crimes against humanity.
This is how history will remember us — absolutely complicit.
Sanction, boycott, divest, prosecute.
#GazaGenocide #Gaza
Excited for “Oh, Mary!” And to see Jinkx Monsoon!
The question I keep hearing: what’s going on with Deficient? 👀 I spill the tea in my latest Substack.
Your comments are very much welcome!
👉 open.substack.com/pub/michaels...
Aid must enter Gaza immediately, and not through the sham GHF.
Leaders have failed. Call your reps anyway. Speak out. Demand action.
Silence is complicity. We cannot look away while Gaza starves.
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How did we allow famine in Gaza? This is monstrous.
The people of Gaza do not deserve this. No one does. It is calculated, vile, and criminal.
World “leaders” stood by. Israel is responsible. U.S. tax dollars enabled it. Our media gaslights us. I’m furious. You should be too.
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