Tyler James Russell

WHEN FIRE SPLITS THE SKY, spotted in the wild

@unsolicitedpress.bsky.social #literature #postapocalyptic #books #dissociativeidentitydisorder

I'll be MCing a Banned Books Night night TOMORROW at Mondragon Bookstore in Lewisburg at 7. Come out and read your favorite forbidden passages!

#bannedbooks #bannedbooks #literature #resist #readmore #readmorebooks

Fun living in a world where every new email — hell, every interaction online — is a Voight-Kampff test

Received an AI-generated email today complimenting the synopsis of a book that wasn’t mine, and offering scammy paid promotion. After firing back a maybe-sharp email, I received another AI-generated apology for the mistake. Just...sigh. The entire exchange felt like a Radiohead song.

Thinking about this one company that apparently read my terrible handwriting on a form, then shrugged and sent every single piece of mail to TYLOR RUSSEAU

The illogical fear of one day having to try and tackle Derrick Henry and then dying in front of my family and friends

Best seat in the (new) house!

Literary agent rejected my query 7 minutes after I submitted it. Thats gotta be a record. Ah well, onward!

#amquerying

We're all thinking it, but I'm not afraid to say it. PIZZA IS BETTER WHEN IT'S SQUARE

Closing in on the end of book 8 of #Malazan, reaffirming my belief that this is one of the most stunning-realized pieces of literature ever written, genre and time aside. Remember reading a review that said Erikson did for this fantasy world what Faulkner did for Yoknapatawpha and, honestly, yes.

One of my deepest beliefs is that here in the year 2025 is that ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING should be dishwasher safe

After finally watching KPop Demon Hunters with my kids, realizing how much I LOVE titles that just lay out the entire premise. Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. Snakes on a Plane. Swamplandia! Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (no notes on that one, title-wise).

My favorite, courtesy of my wife: JURASSIC PARK REDUX: The dinos make a human park. I envision this as a shot-for-shot remake, with dinosaur lookalikes playing the part of Dennis Nedry, John Hammond, etc. 4/

JURASS-OCALYPSE: A comet - dinos and humans alike are threatened with the end of all things (T-Rex looks at camera and says, with eyes, again??). If you really want to stretch it out, make it a 2-parter. Part 1 is DON'T LOOK UP and Part 2 is THE ROAD, but veloci-dad. 3/

JURASSIC WORLD WAR: That one guy DID make a dinosaur army, which gets into the wrong hands. An upstart warlord threatens global stability, various military factions and strike teams go in, including a group of dino-loyalists. But the dinos are on their own side 2/

Fun as it was, #JurassicWorldRebirth felt more like Jurassic World: Reheated Leftovers. Here are my pitches for reinvigorating the franchise: 1/

"A work reverts to a wild state overnight. As the work grows, it gets harder to control; it is a lion growing in strength. You must visit it every day and reassert your mastery over it. If you skip a day, you are, quite rightly, afraid to open the door to its room."

Moving, which meant the first few days this year I wasn't working on the book. Strange how rusty I feel picking it up again. I'm thinking of Annie Dillard's quote about a manuscript being like a growing lion. If you skip a day, she says, it's scary to open the door.

Not sure how I've gotten this far into my life without reading Michael Chabon. A failure I've happily now rectified.

Look, it's bad enough that generative AI is trying to rob us of our ability to sustain critical thought, but I will DIE before I let it take my precious em-dashes

This has been an emotional, bittersweet week, but right now I’m deeply thankful for so much, and my heart is very full.

Today officially marks my last day teaching at Lewisburg High School after 12 years. While I’m excited about new adventures, this place and the people have meant so much to me. Plus, how can teaching so many brilliant students be anything but an amazing job?

#wheeloftime won Cat and I over completely. Never got the criticism of straying from the novels when the novels are, objectively, pretty loosely paced. Really bummed Amazon’s decided to leave this story incomplete (and focus on the entirely unnecessary Rings instead)

Wasn’t sure what I’d think of #clairobscur, but have LOVED the first hour. The central narrative premise worked a lot better than I expected. Really looking forward to this now!

Not sure why I connected so strongly with the newest #LifeisStrange, a supernatural murder-mystery set in the Literature department of a small liberal arts college…

Haven’t watched the show, but man, #TheExpanse books are a blast. Close 3rd POV (my favorite), with some really generous, natural exposition. Explains everything without ever feeling like you’re getting an infodump. And comes across as totally easy, which means it was really hard

Deep in the editing trenches. I’ve gotten away from posting about stories/narratives I’m loving lately. So here comes a few…

THEY ARE DOING SANCTUARY MOON

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

Can't remember the last time a book physically affected me the way this one by @tananarivedue.bsky.social did. Absolutely unforgettable

I'm not at #AWP25 this week, but if you are, be sure to check out the @unsolicitedpress.bsky.social booth!