Val Neil

Chattel slavery was so bad that when we tell you how bad it in fact was most of y'all shut down and tell us we're making it up and pass laws against us ever telling you how bad it was again because your brains literally cannot handle how bad it in fact was.

"None Of These Books Are Obscene": Judge Strikes Down Much of Florida's Book Ban Bill In a major win for intellectual freedom, a judge rules against Florida law that led to removing hundreds of books from school libraries.

“None Of These Books Are Obscene”: Judge Strikes Down Much of Florida’s Book Ban Bill

This is a big win for intellectual freedom and will have big implications in other ongoing lawsuits and future laws aiming to ban books.

bookriot.com/penguin-rand...

Buy audiobooks & support Pro Visions Libro.fm makes it possible for you to buy audiobooks directly through Pro Visions.

Also please check out Libro FM. It works on a credit system but you can designate a local bookstore to support whenever you buy a title. libro.fm

Sign the Petition Convince Audible to revise it's New Royalty Model

There’s a petition to change the proposed royalty system. Please take a moment to sign. 3/
chng.it/PmJBjnddyP

YouTube video by Daniel Greene Audible Is Broken

Here is his longer, more in-depth video with a petition. It’s a complicated situation, but basically they’re creating a special pool of authors that’s going to leach royalties away from titles you buy individually with credits. 2/

youtu.be/xhTmMv_s578?...

YouTube video by Daniel Greene The Audible Situation Got Much Worse

Audible is attempting to screw authors again with their new royalty model. @danielgreene.bsky.social is trying to shed light on this. If you listen to audiobooks and care about supporting you favorite authors, please watch. 1/

youtu.be/9H0ivgubPtI?...

Happy 2 years Baldur's Gate 3~🫶

These pics are nothing. I’ve seen branches with moss hanging off the end like a giant green q-tip. Most seen while driving when I couldn’t take pics

Moss on something (tree?) I can’t remember. It’s fluffy

Moss on rocks. Cut log in background

Moss on rock

Moss on tree

Visiting Oregon and I’m low key obsessed with how much moss y’all have

This very pregnant lady refuses to lay. Very ROTUND brown jumping spider, Phidippus johnsoni. Facing camera while standing on a black tube hide.

Two dart frogs Dendrobates tinctorus I’m petsitting. They are yellow and dark blue (almost black). One has it’s tongue shot out at a fruit fly. They are standing on a green 3d printed feeding tray.

Two baby bold jumpers, Phidippus audax, facing off on a green plant.

Two book shelves converted to hold jumping spider containers. Each shelf has grow lights and several planted terrariums.

I’m Val Neil, autistic author of dark fantasy featuring neurodiverse protagonists. I have two books and I’m working on the 3rd. I also raise jumping spiders. Have about 30 not including babies. Pic in comment so I don’t jumpscare anyone.

A photo of an open journal spread. One the left side, there is a partially-colored coloring page of a dragon reading a book while sitting in a huge pile of books, with a few little dragons squeezed in. The page is titled “This year’s book hoard” with 2025 written under it. One stack of books is colored in. The right side of the spread shows a log sheet, titled “Book log 2025.” It’s got various entries filled in. There are colored pencils, paint pens, and a few books around the spread.

Mid-year reading checkpoint 📖💜

[ #booksky #reading #cuteart ]

YouTube video by Your Daily Dose Of Simpsons The Simpsons - I Can't It's a Geo

This makes a Geo seem a lot cooler than what Ned Flanders taught me youtu.be/VbQ8TFRDfU0?...

Oooh I like that cover!

Image of library book display labeled:

“It's A Warning Not An Instruction Manual.”

Books on display:
• On Tyranny
• Twenty Lessons From
The 21st Century
• 1984
• A Handmaids Tale
• Diary of Anne Frank
• Parable of The Sower
• Fahrenheit 451
• Animal Farm
• Brave New World

~TAiLS of a Bookworm

If you are also worried about tariffs and supply chain shortages, and have the financial means to prepare, here is what I have stocked up on and plan to buy soon, plus what I would get if I had kids, a car or a larger home, based on reporting I've read or done myself in the last several months (🧵):

chicken wearing a pair of jordans. her name is Hype Moments And Aura

That's awful! So sorry you had to deal with that.

eight leatherbound books all titled "FERNS" volumes 1 through 8

Everyone in the past was neurotypical, which is how we got things like this single-author, eight-volume encyclopedia of ferns

Publishing/Marketing slides valneil.com/wp-content/u...

Annnnnd I just realized that's the wrong lecture. Never uploaded the second one. 🤦‍♀️ It's been awhile. The one I linked is more about craft and only covers publishing at the 1:34 mark. I'll upload the slides for the other one and link.

You're welcome!

Just a note on 50books. It's a great resource but you're expected to use the search function and not ask beginner questions you can easily find. They also have a most of their conventions posted on youtube for free.

YouTube video by Val Neil From Writing to Publishing: Avoid Common Mistakes, Improve your Craft, and Get Your Book Published

Author resource list valneil.com/wp-content/u...
There is a TON of information available but it can be hard to know where to look at first. This is my curated list.

The class youtu.be/KaVuwXIJMPg

Slides valneil.com/wp-content/u...

How much time do you have? 😆
#1 DON'T PAY ANYONE TO PUBLISH THE BOOK. Publishers pay you, not the other way around. You DO pay for individual services you need (cover, editing).
I taught a class on this for a local college. I'll link video and slides. Most is stuff I'd wish I'd known.

Chicken 🐔 Banana 🍌 TikTok video by The Old Gays

Stuck in my head thanks to this www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8jEdUpM/

Accidentally trolled my husband. Told Alexa to play a song that's been stuck in my head. It started, then immediately stopped. Weird, but ok.

A minute later, hubs calls.

"What the hell did you 𝘥𝘰?!"

He was jamming and it had switched over to Spotify in his car. The song? Chicken Banana.

A peregrine falcon holding a pelicans beak, background is modified for contrast

Holy shit I fucking got it. I've been awake since 4:03am, I drove 95 miles, got here at 7:10am, and at 4:29pm one of the peregrine falcons attacked TWO pelicans and made contact on THREE attempts. 17 useful frames.

Here's a fast edit on my phone.

Let's fucking go and log off! 🪶