grotesque and irreligious

Here it is: My thoughts on Heated Rivalry's fantastic adaptation of romance genre storytelling - and why this is such a bizarrely rare phenomenon on TV.

highly endorse this episode on HR from one of my favorite podcasts.

it is a goddamn delight to have a deep dive from critics whose expertise sits at the intersection of genre romance, film and tv, professional hockey culture, *and* fandom culture!

Publishers Marketplace announcement: Author of SECRET LIVES OF COUNTRY GENTLEMEN KJ Charles's THINK, WRITE, EDIT, ROMANCE, a craft guide for romance writers that takes the genre seriously, moving beyond story beats and tropes, guiding authors from the blank page to a complete, professional manuscript, by a seasoned editor turned romance author with success in both traditional and indie publishing, to Allison Janice at Hay House, in a one-book deal, for publication in Fall 2026, by Courtney Miller-Callihan at Handspun Literary (world).

Some news from me!

one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.

E-mail Addresses That Would Be Really Annoying to Give Out Over the Phone by Michael Ward MikeUnderscore2004@yahoo.com MikeAtYahooDotCom@hotmail.com Mike_WardAllOneWord@yahoo.com AAAAAThatsSixAs@yahoo.com One1TheFirstJustTheNumberTheSecondSpelledOut@hotmail.com

pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written

I would never do the "Here comes the airplane" bit to feed my child. Embarrassing for us both. I would calmly explain the importance of adequate nutrition and they will yield to unimpeachable logic

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson: Calvin and Hobbes carry a sled through a field of fresh snow. 1. Calvin: Wow it really snowed last night! Isn’t it wonderful? 2. Hobbes: everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand-new! Calvin: a new year… a fresh, clean start! 3. Hobbes: it’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on! Calvin: a day full of possibilities! 4. Calvin: it’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy… 5. … let’s go exploring!

The very last Calvin and Hobbes strip was published 30 years ago today.

(daft punk One More Time voice) Auld Lang Syne

yuna (saying goodbye after learning ilya’s fucking her son and wanting to make him feel at home): and ilya, i just want to say, i’ve talked a lot of shit about you over the years, and … you should know i’m not sorry. about any of it
shane: MOM, GOD
ilya (through tears): thank you. that means a lot

late to the party, but The People's Joker is SO funny and clever and original. idk the international streaming situation, but in the UK you can rent it straight from the the distributor's website. watch.eventive.org/matchboxcine

All right, Booksky: it's my 2025 Books of the Year post! Get your book recs here.

Featuring lashings of romance and SFFH, a fair bit of murder, and some extremely specific history nerding, like you weren't expecting that.

Scene from OFFICE SPACE with Michael Bolton replying to Samir Nagheenanajar: “No way. Why should I change? He's the one who sucks.”

when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes

Sally Rooney putting her money where her mouth is (figuratively of course). Bravo.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

Tom Lehrer made all of his music 100% public domain so if seeing people sad about his death makes you want to check them out… it’s free. he wanted you to share them.

tomlehrersongs.com

Mynah Mag 5: Issue 5 of Singapore's Untold Stories Smart, surprising, deeply reported. Help make Mynah #5 a reality! | Check out 'Mynah Mag 5: Issue 5 of Singapore's Untold Stories' on Indiegogo.

pre-orders now open for the next issue of Mynah 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

www.indiegogo.com/projects/myn...

I'm glad Tom Lehrer got to spend over a year in a world without Henry Kissinger

Joint statement on Gaza from AFP, AP, BBC News and Reuters

I've never seen *anything* like this, either.

Joint statement from BBC, Reuters, AFP, AP about their journalists literally starving.

Sans intervention immédiate, les derniers reporters de Gaza vont mourir 21 juillet 2025 L'AFP travaille avec une pigiste texte, trois photographes et six pigistes vidéo dans la Bande de Gaza depuis le départ de ses journalistes staff courant 2024. Avec quelques autres, ils sont aujourd'hui les seuls à rapporter ce qu'il se passe dans la Bande de Gaza. La presse internationale est interdite d'entrer dans ce territoire depuis près de deux ans. Nous refusons de les voir mourir. L'un deux, Bashar, collabore pour l'AFP depuis 2010, d'abord comme fixeur, ensuite comme photographe pigiste, et depuis 2024 comme principal photographe. Samedi 19 juillet, il est parvenu à poster un message sur Facebook: « Je n'ai plus la force de travailler pour les médias. Mon corps est maigre et je ne peux plus travailler ». Bashar, 30 ans, travaille et vit dans des conditions égales à celles de tous les Gazaouis, allant d'un camp de réfugiés à un autre camp au gré des bombardements israéliens. Depuis plus d'un an il vit dans le dénuement le plus total et travaille en prenant d'énormes risques pour sa vie. L'hygiène est pour lui un problème majeur, avec des périodes de maladies intestinales sévères. Bashar vit depuis février dans les ruines de sa maison de Gaza City avec sa mère, ses quatre frères et sœurs et la famille d'un de ses frères. Leur maison est vide de tout aménagement et confort, à part quelques coussins. Dimanche matin, il a rapporté que son frère aîné était « tombé, à cause de la faim ». Même si ces journalistes reçoivent un salaire mensuel de l'AFP, il n'y a rien à acheter ou alors à des prix totalement exorbitants. Le système bancaire a disparu, et ceux qui pratiquent le change entre les comptes bancaires en ligne et l'argent liquide prennent une commission de près de 40%. L'AFP n'a plus la possibilité d'avoir un véhicule et encore moins de l'essence pour permettre à ses journalistes de se déplacer pour leurs reportages. Circuler en voiture équivaut de toutes les façons à pre…

🚨BREAKING: The last journalists working for AFP in Gaza have said they can no longer work for the news agency.

They are out of energy and they are starving to death.

I have never seen a statement from a news organisation like it.

🧵

One of the most extraordinary live performers I've ever seen - generous, electric, scalding, tender. Thank you, Andrea Gibson. 49 is far too young: coloradosun.com/2025/07/14/a...

It's true. One of the reasons I'm an author is because I read a trad-pubbed fantasy novel from the 80s when I was a teenager which was so mediocre that I went "Shit, if this can get printed..." and never quite gave up on that, even though it took me a while to make a proper go of it.

Second favourite @tkingfisher.com quote this evening: "Things done badly are an enormous inspiration."

"it is honestly shocking how rarely the single most important fact has been stated: at some point, senior figures in Unbound’s management structure decided they had the authority to take money raised by authors [ ] and money owed to authors [ ] and spend it".

Yes. Absolute press fail.

Smut!
Give me smut and nothing but!
A dirty novel I can't shut
If it's uncut
And unsubt-
-tle.

I’ve said it before and will say it again: this is the best mystery novel I’ve ever read

A Readers Say graphic for Copper Script with quotes: Joel is an incorrigible gremlin and I absolutely adore him; Aaron is a tall glass of trauma with a steel backbone and an admirable moral compass. A tense page turner with a dazzlingly romantic ending, and one of the best couple dynamics I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a while. A refreshing blend of historical accuracy mixed with wit, humor, a well-crafted and thought out plot, and compelling leads I devoured this book like it was my job and enjoyed every second of it. You will absolutely want to eat a curry afterwards.

Copper Script is out today! Get your morally conflicted policeman / chaos graphologist romance here.

All e platforms books2read.com/u/4NE2KG
Gumroad kjcharles.gumroad.com/l/copperscript
Out in pb too, audio on its way.

A cover for All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles. In full 1970s Gothic style, down to the curly 70s font in yellow and the blue/green colour palette. It shows a scary house on the moors with looming turrets and evil lighting, and two men running from it. The front one is extremely dishevelled with messy hair and skew-wiff tie. The back one is ginger, neater. Both clearly afraid. the tagline is 'Love. Hate. Secrets. It's in the blood.'

Drumroll please...

I am very pleased to share the cover of ALL OF US MURDERERS, coming Oct 2025 from @sourcebooks.bsky.social @poisonedpen.bsky.social, with utterly stunning cover art by Marcela Bolívar @tropicalgloom.bsky.social!

Low-Risk Flier On bureaucracy, and confronting my inner fascist

I wrote about my recent experience being pulled aside and questioned in the Detroit airport, my history of being "additionally screened" while traveling, getting my Global Entry, and how bureaucracy puts me in perilous contact with my inner fascist johnpaulbrammer.substack.com/p/low-risk-f...

White and purple lilac, and a hard-boiled egg.

#GNUTerryPratchett #Glorious25thOfMay

feeling optimistic about the future prospects of “the primordial scream” in music. thinking it will be a great era for “the primordial scream”

And here it is: the gorgeous cover of #AStockingFullofSpies! Illustrated by @janbiel.bsky.social and published by @puffinbooksuk.bsky.social on 11th September this year! Pre-order from @waterstones.bsky.social now … www.waterstones.com/book/the-min...