Laura Garden

The people yearn for (democratic) socialism (this one will make you cry)

Had a wild experience yesterday: two bald eagles flew low over the farm several times, then had an aerial battle right over me, my son and my dog, resulting in them dropping a large catfish next to my dog.

More than seven million people protested on No Kings Day! Great turnout. Keep the momentum going.

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the everlasting is here! brags, tour dates, and meeting at the crossroads

hey!! my book is out today :)
buttondown.com/alixeharrow/...

Congratulations!

Story Share - Cranes, Canines, and Connection — Jacqui Lents - Storyteller In this episode of the Jacqui Just Chatter podcast, host Jacqui shares three heartwarming and inspiring stories submitted by talented women writers. The first story by Kristie Hayes chronicles her jou...

An essay I wrote about Australian wildlife is featured in a podcast this week!

Story Share - Cranes, Canines, and Connection — Jacqui Lents - Storyteller In this episode of the Jacqui Just Chatter podcast, host Jacqui shares three heartwarming and inspiring stories submitted by talented women writers. The first story by Kristie Hayes chronicles her jou...

Thank you Jacqui for including me on your podcast!

We spent the nor’easter at the beach, which might seem like a strange choice, but was relaxing. I love the beach in all weather, but rain is my favorite. The storm high tide moved the sand around, transforming the coast, making mountains between the jetties, and wind blew leaves out into the water.

We’ve been in a drought, pond low, river low, so rain is a welcome change. The big nor’easter this weekend brought in cozy hibernation vibes. Time to take down the winter clothes from the attic.

Later, we’ll dig up hundreds of dahlia tubers and put them in the cellar for winter, but not yet.

It’s nice to have a pause after the wild frenzy of flower picking last week.

Following the frost came days of rain—the first we’ve had in a long time.

We sold the fresh ones—dahlias, zinnias, etc—at the farmers market, our last of the year, and saved the dried flowers to make bouquets for winter. Now the house is full of dried bouquets every color of the rainbow, hanging from fireplaces and windows.

Last Thursday the first frost of the season came early. Before that we had a ninety degree day, and the temperature dropped sixty degrees, putting an end to the long summer. We rushed to pick as many flowers as we could before the freeze killed them.

This is delightful!

Impossible Flowers by tanaudel | Redbubble A tangled, impossible wandering of Australian wildflowers.

Impossible Australian wildflowers, on various things: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/5371...

Also on fabric and wallpaper: www.spoonflower.com/en/fabric/10...

This one goes out in honor of Jane Goodall for her work in conservation and moving science forward in the understanding of other species on this planet
🌊🌊

September Book Club Honeyeater by Kathleen Jennings

September being my birthday month, book club took a break from anti-fascism to read a “gothic nightmare full of buried secrets and shambling horrors”!

I loved this book.

September Book Club Honeyeater by Kathleen Jennings

On the farm, the flower gardens are peaking. Dahlias put out new pink, purple and orange blooms after the rain, and cosmos are starting to go by and turn brown.

Remember: If we allow ourselves to fall into fatalism, or wallow in disappointment, or become resigned to what is rather than what should be, we will lose the long game.

The greatest enemy of positive social change is cynicism about what can be changed.

We all need to be civil liberties advocates and defenders of our Constitutional rights.

Whether or not we retain the right to free speech depends on everyday people being willing to speak freely about the things we care about.

You have a voice. Use it.

That’s how censorship operates in the USA (and many places) government pressure is used to force people & groups to self-censor.

It’s a constant pattern:
The majority of censorship is self-censorship, but the majority of self-censorship is deliberately cultivated by an outside power. It’s the goal

Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel Trump’s most brazen attack on free speech yet.

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

Free-to-use Picture Resources for Writers You have options other than Generative AI to illustrate your work

Free-to-use Picture Resources for Writers
www.jordanacosta.co/p/free-to-us...

What's the literary equivalent of an EGOT?
Fiction, nonfiction and fantasy?
Or Poetry, nonfiction, and fiction?

Martin Cahill and Cassandra Khaw for Audition for the Fox

Yesterday feels like a dream, yet all the more special knowing it was real. If you weren’t able to join last night, I’ll be in conversation tonight with @casskhaw.bsky.social at 8pm EST, hosted by @loyaltybooks.bsky.social!

Link below, hope to see you in cyberspace!

loyaltybookstores.com/thefox

We're witnessing the most aggressive, fanatical crackdown on free speech in my lifetime. The speed and breadth of government censorship and private sector and nonprofit capitulation has been astonishing. As has the lack of urgency/silence from people who've long claimed to care about this stuff.

I’ve always believed that writers need to immerse themselves in the world, occupations, people, and places, in order to write about the world as it is, to create stories that enrich readers’ lives.

As George R. R. Martin says, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”

That is so exciting! Woo hoo!