RuthAnne

Yay writing news!

“I can multitask, I can have it all,” I say to myself as my child unknowingly rubs a giant mound of Playdoh over a cheese-grater in the next room.

In this Ohio diner, it was a tradition: eggs and waffles, big cup of Folgers, then open the old text message app to read about the administration's secret plans to bomb Yemen. But now the woke mob wants to take all of that away.

"if we can't train AI on copyrighted works, then it'll never get to the point where we can make tons of money off of it" ok? how is that anyone else's problem? If I can't rob a bank, then I won't have $20 million tomorrow. Should I be allowed to rob a bank then?

if your business doesn't work without stealing it's not a business

I'm genuinely too poor to understand how one ends up with $1.2 million in credit card debt

I am really happy for the people who see their neurodivergence as a superpower, but there are a lot of people for whom it is a genuine disability and I hope we don’t lose sight of that amid the sparkly-fun-neurospicy-meme culture

I feel seen and I don’t like it.

Your goal should never be perfection or elimination of flaw.

Your goal should be tailored to you and what you want to do well, understanding that for you to achieve that, you will have to let the ideal of perfection go.

There’s a life lesson here.

Anyone who has worked in retail probably knows there is an ideal level of “shrink” (product loss through damage/theft) where you experience max profit. At that level, you accept some loss is inevitable & your team is more focused on customer service/shopping experience.

This Sunday, in doing a low- cost workshop on nonfiction proposals! I would appreciate shares!

Passage from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: "‘Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world."

Gonzo's delivery of the single greatest line in film history is made infinitely better once you realise it is an EXACT rendering of Charles Dickens' own emphasis in the original story.

It’s good to see the government recognizing the fae as the threat they are

I feel like I could get into a Miracle on 34th Street situation* if I really applied myself.

*-single mom who finds true love by subjecting Santa Claus to a bitter court case

To be absolutely clear: RFK framing vaccines as the "cause" of Autism is eugenics. First and foremost its wrong by every scientific standard. But also theres an implication that we need to "cure" or prevent Autism. Neurodivergence is not a bad thing.

Why the heck not.

👀

Look. As a professional freelance editor, my rent is paid when people book editing services.

But I strongly encourage all writers to join a writing group, find critique partners and beta readers for free. So many people will help you find your way.

Don’t pay me unless you need me.

Annual reminder:

Die Hard is about using impossibly limited resources to defend a tower from foreign invaders.

Die Hard is a Hanukkah movie.

I will never not love this modern advent artwork by Everett Patterson:

Agreed, and I’d add that “smart” is often in the eye of the beholder and you’re creating this world, so. Make them a genius at whatever thing you want.

At least until Mardi Gras. It just feels right. Let the liturgical calendar guide us regardless of actual religion.

That is brilliant though…

I feel like individuals love children and then people plural couldn’t care less about them. Big agree on it being disturbing.

🥺😭

It sure is. I wonder all the time why I like doing this…

Sounds like you’re a real writer 🥰

Show me the person who no longer talks to their lovely, supportive, thoughtful relative just because of one thing. Show me that person, Think Piecers.

Seriously. Every single person I know who has taken a step back from family has about a dozen reasons why they did, so whenever someone is like, “My kid/sibling just can’t get over who I voted for!”, I just look at them like, “Oh. I see. You’re one of those.”

4 Christmas movies to get to know me by

For all the holiday discourse over folks going low- or no-contact with family over politics, not a lot of people acknowledging that **no one** takes such a dramatic step over a single thing.