Sea of Tranquility (2022) by Emily St. John Mandel. Best sci-fi novel I've read in I can't recall how long. Outstanding. Mention it here because it involves a writer and extended hyper-realistic sequences of book signing tours. Time traveling, Vancouver Island, lunar colonies, pandemic (not in our time), Oklahoma. By a writer who has certainly done book tours herself, having written a couple earlier well-regarded novels. I may get to those one day.
Andrew Morgan
What about the people out there who are getting eaten?
That has long been my question.
I was in a grocery checkout line an hour or so ago and see there's a new *^&%!zine sharing the racks with Lady's Home Journal and all those type publications. This new one is titled, ADHD.
Alex Morton They've finally discovered one of the root causes for autism and it' s connected to RNA. Here's the article https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10515-6
E. Writer Autism and ADHD are very real neuro-divergences, but I'm specifically referring to people who "claim" they have those neuro-divergences without a clinical diagnosis, which makes it harder for people who do have those illnesses.
Alex Morton They remind me of those who fear gluten, though they don't suffer from cystic fibrosis.
E. Writer Do you mean celiac disease not cystic fibrosis? I haven't had gluten in 7 years lol. But I was having severe stomach issues from it. Some people won't eat gluten because they feel it causes bloating and weight gain.
Alex Morton You're right. Celiac disease, though there is a connection between celiac and cystic fibrosis.
Soichiro Honda, CEO of Honda back in the 70s, said, "When Congress passes new emission standards, we hire 50 more engineers and GM hires 50 more lawyers."
--from a comment I happened across on Youtube.
Way more than I knew abt China, very interesting. Raises questions it doesn't answer, but frames plenty to consider.
E. Writer I saw only part of the heading, "How to make a book" at first. Interestingly, I can make hardcover books at home. I have one of those bookmaking kits. I first saw one in Meghan Markle's Netflix Christmas show. For the video content, I typically disregard those videos and sites offering tips on how to have a bestseller because they are usually fake or involve manipulating Amazon's algorithms, or manipulating something. The best way to have a bestseller is knowing when to market and how to write a great book.
Roy Scarbrough I like repairing old books. I have a kit for that. Some glue. Some needles. Some special thread. Old books are sewn in signatures. That's several two page leafs to be sewn together at the fold. That's a signatures. The signatures are then bound with more thread across the spine.
E. Writer Yes, the kit I have comes with sewing materials. It's a cool set.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/style/ucf-commencement-ai-booed-gloria-caulfield.html
Commencement speech from hell, delivered to new graduates of Communication and Media. SNL should do a cold open on this. In fact, SNL should do a whole show about AI, comparing bits written by AI and by staff.
Some of you go-getters might find this inspirational. 18 mins.
Start-up Youtube vlog, getting started.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/opinion/french-publishing-grasset-olivier-nora.html
I guess this means, 100 years later, I'm too late to join the Lost Generation.
"hyperbole to sell licenses"
I can see how understanding just what this new tool is (and isn't) and how (and how not) to use it will be transformative.
E. Writer I will have to check it out one day. I've read a lot of great sci-fi by writers i know that are among my favorites but thos will sound silly, but one of the best science fiction novels I've read is Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover. The novelization of the Star Wars movie. Beautiful job he did with the writing.
SJ Blues I am intrigued