Tobias Carroll

THREAD: I got laid off from NYMag/Vulture after 14 years. The family lost 75% of income + medical. Now mzs.press bookstore, once a side project. is do-or-die for Judith & I. I feel weird telling you this because others are doing much worse. But if you could like or share this, we'd be so grateful!

This is excellent news right here!

AWP: Where we'll be in Baltimore Join us for two Zona Motel events (both on Saturday, 3/7), and where to find our brotherhood members at AWP in Baltimore.

Looking forward to today's pair of Zona Motel AWP events, for what it's worth. zonamotel.substack.com/p/awp-where-...

Google Play delivered issue 16 of The Power Fantasy into my account last night and...god damn. I didn't know that many other shoes could drop in the span of a single issue.

OK, had a genuinely heartwarming moment at AWP; willing to concede that nice things are sometimes possible.

I am once again tapping the "support independent, worker-owned, billionaire free news" sign. the most powerful people in the world should not be deciding whether or not we know about this sort of thing. putting Marisa's subscription link below

Table 527/529 because I’m a jerk with poor vision but good whiskey. Swing by!

Today at the #AWP26 bookfair, I'll be signing books at the @whiskeytit.com table (157/159) at 1! See you there?

Not yet, but hopefully soon.

What to Read Right Now, According to Cool Men This month's recommendations include a Pulitzer winner, a memoir set in Jamaica and “an extremely funny, incredibly dark novel about Philadelphia”

Wrote a bit about Sophia Giovannitti's "Working Girl: On Selling Art and Selling Sex" (on @versobooks.bsky.social) for this @insidehook.bsky.social roundup. www.insidehook.com/books/read-a...

Would never have guessed "Santeria" would still be a crowd favorite 30 years later. Related: I am still not a fan of "Santeria." Sorry, Sublime Hive.

The timing was surprising to me, since Dark Horse's deal with 3W3M seemed like a pretty big deal.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like SFF has been getting a steadily larger presence at AWP, and I'm glad to see it.

Exclusive cover reveal and excerpt of the latest from one of the coolest genre authors out there, @jchaplinsky.bsky.social!

John Langan's LOST IN THE DARK.

Steve-O got a ruptured testicle by letting one of his castmates jump on his crotch with a pogo stick and he is unquestionably more morally sophisticated than most of our sitting lawmakers

Watching "A Cure for Wellness" With Politics on the Brain Gore Verbinski's 2016 film is worth revisiting

Also in newsletter form for those who prefer their culture writing there. open.substack.com/pub/tobiasca...

Watching “A Cure for Wellness” With Politics on the Brain A few weeks ago I ventured out to a local multiplex and watched the Gore Verbinski-directed Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. I liked it a lot – possibly more than anyone else I know or have re…

And now it's out in the world. tobiascarroll.info/2026/03/05/w...

It's a little amazing how this season has gone from "hey, maybe Spurs will qualify for Europe" to "holy shit, this is a spiral that's going to be a cautionary tale for years to come." (Not, I should stress, the good kind of amazing.)

Baltimore AWP folks! Tonight! I'm reading at the Cheseapeake Theater Shakespeare Studio along with Cynthia Weiner, Erika Swyler, Amber Sparks, Hugh Sheehy, William Lessard, Jennifer Sears, Alex Behr, DW Arden, and Farooq Ahmed! Drinks downstairs beginning at 6, readings kick off at 7!

...and sometimes you sit down and realize you've just written 800+ words on why the 2016 movie A Cure for Wellness is a parable for US conservative politics in 2026.

(Will probably wind up on my blog later this week.)

because I keep forgetting to mention it: LITERALLY ANYONE can nominate books for this prize! yes! that means you! you have until march 31st!

I watched a bit of the Finnish LotR adaptation, and it's a very interesting choice to have Gollum played by a guy who seems to be channeling George "The Animal" Steele.

Kinda wondering if it's time to revisit Vikram Chandra's Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty now that AI coding has become more prevalent. www.graywolfpress.org/books/geek-s...

Really should've gotten a haircut before AWP. Might just wear a knit cap all conference.

Chotiner: And when you engraved "One Ring to rule them all" on the—
Sauron: I don't understand why everyone keeps taking that out of context.
Chotiner: Well, do you mean to rule us all?
Sauron: I'm here to talk about Gondor's illegal encroachment in Ithilien, Isaac.

One of my favorite parts of last night’s election results.

The only Democratic talking point should be: we don’t abandon anyone.

One of my favorite parts of reading Joe McPhee's recent memoir was the bit about McPhee and Pauline Oliveros collaborating with Pollack on a musical project. An unlikely convergence of genius, but I'm glad it happened.

wait WHAT

Been meaning to revisit that myself, for similar reasons.