Matthew Levay

December 5: 325 words, a few more than yesterday (which I forgot to record). Dogged progress.
#acadecawriteathon

Congrats, Nissa!

I suppose this exercise is going to reveal that I am a slow and steady daily writer, taking a half hour here or there to get things done. But I’ve found that it’s much better for me in the long run than waiting for big blocks of uninterrupted time, which rarely materialize.

December 3: chipping away, with 260 more words. Things are taking shape.

Writing is writing!

December 2: in the midst of a major grading day (one of many this month), I set aside time to carve out 230 more words. Like all daily writing it feels like exercise—difficult, even harried, but infinitely better than nothing. #acadecawriteathon

I’ve been told that people are (understandably) more interested in seeing the dog.

When I started teaching as a grad student, UW English explicitly trained composition TAs to call it a claim rather than a thesis, for what I suspect was precisely this reason.

Me, a white man wearing a blue hat, green coat, and scarf, awkwardly taking a selfie in front of hills, brush, and a small river. I have a few snowflakes on my coat.

Walking the dog as the first snowfall of the season finally arrives, listening to the Blue Note Monthly playlist, is my recommendation for how to start your day.

December 1: a painful but good 253 words produced, as part of an essay that has been defeating me for far too long. Progress. #acadecawriteathon

How did I not know this was coming out from NYR Comics? Immediately going on the “to buy” list.

My daily writing has taken a hit this semester, so this couldn’t have come at a better time. Thanks @annakornbluh.bsky.social!

I love everything about this one.

Great name

Two oddly non-functional outfits.

Pretty sure the maid is helping them remove their boots.

Thanks for sharing! Going to order this.

Yes, I should’ve mentioned Harris in the post.

We are all in the gutter: Starman at 30, part 1 - The Comics Journal Starman is 30 years old? Where did the time go? Good thing Alex Dueben is here to do a deep dive on this influential James Robinson/Tony Harris superhero series.

Highly recommended: this long piece by Alex Dueben on 30 years of James Robinson’s Starman. @comicsjournal.bsky.social

Important news: the deadline for the joint BAMS/MSA conference in Loughborough has been extended to December 29, 2025! You can review the CFP, and find links to the submission platform, here. www.moderniststudies.org/conference/M...

Live updates from Chez Levay.

Me too!

Thank you, Sean! And thanks for all your encouragement in that early stage!

Thanks, Nicholas! And congratulations on your latest as well!

This sale includes preorders, so you can order my book for 50% off through the end of the year! Preorder your summer 2026 reading!

I just want a literary life to be possible for my students, I earnestly do.

Editors have a really hard job, and the good ones can make something unreadable readable, and the great ones can make something unreadable into something good. But they're basically invisible, until someone tries to write without one.

Patricia Highsmith

The deadline for proposals for BAMS/ MSA in Loughborough is just TWO weeks away. It's going to be a great conference with lots of opportunities to socialize and the usual MSA panels, roundtables, workshops, seminars. If you can't join us in person, submit a proposal for an online panel/ roundtable.

Thanks for promoting this! I found a few great presses I hadn’t yet seen on Bluesky, so I appreciate the heads up.