"It was very dark inside the wolf." 😂
On Fighting Book Bans and Fascism.
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Hello, lovelies. How on earth are you doing?
The above quote from
’s Masterclass seems highly appropriate as we approach our second week of the ban.Imagine this: your book is branded as pornographic or in violation of your distributor's content policy, so it gets banned. You seek out another distributor who graciously gives you a nod of approval, only for your book to become entangled in an absurd labyrinth of ISBN databases, archaic EDI sales systems, and the unspeakable netherworld of intellectual property. It’s as if you’ve been swallowed whole by a monstrous beast of censorship that neither spits—nor shits—you out, leaving you caught in its gullet—like a jagged bone or (in terms more readily understood by business folk) a never-arriving wire transfer.
In this Kafkaesque scenario, your only recourse is to revert to the roots of indie publishing: think of yourself as a modern-day Lady Whistledown, racing in a horse-drawn carriage to back-alley printers for a modest run of books.
Picture a covert band of magical book fairies gathering in your kitchen, painstakingly addressing envelopes by hand, with occasional sprints to the Harvard post office, all so that the world might still glimpse the work your dear author poured six years into—a hilarious, life-changing book about women’s midlife sexual health, deemed too dangerous by some shortsighted, incel GOP idiot.
Yet, even amid this absurdity, there is hope. I’m reminded of the mythopoetic feminist tales of
and the enduring spirit of Red Riding Hood. Fairy tales, after all, are repositories of ancestral wisdom, teaching us not just to survive but to do so with integrity and a steadfast belief in life’s beauty—even when facing beasts that once ate our grannies and skinned our sisters. So while we wait for the gears of publishing to turn, please keep our fairies busy?
We also have some new merch from the Quickies universe in our shop now. Since we totally covet Lingua Franca sweaters, we’ve done our best to create one for those folks on a more tender budget. Soy candles and GenX caps are also in the mix. Expect to see a special pendant that will enable a Quickie just about anywhere… coming soon!
Marvelous Misc.
I am also sharing what little dopamine hits I can muster this week, despite my exhaustion, numbness, and incredulity at the state of the world. I believe it’s crucial to seek both hedonic joy and eudaimonic purpose—after all, who can say what the future holds? Find your pleasures, embrace your purpose, and let every moment count, FFS.
This one is from the dazzling Dr. Bartos. She is the source of all my funny these days. As a TV writer, I have definitely found myself in this place…
A Bouquet of Poetry
On a personal note, the poems I encountered this week were a real boost. A few years back, I wrapped up one of our final interviews for the LSE podcast with the incomparable Nikki Giovanni. Her wonderfully tangential, off-the-cuff ramblings were like Navy SEAL Training in “fuck it all” joy—a vivid reminder of someone who had fully bloomed into herself. As I read
’s Bouquet of Poetry, I couldn’t help but think of Nikki and the boundless spirit that continues to inspire us all.
Iris Apfel’s Estate Sale
Do you need jungle dessert plates or extra eyeglasses? They are all right here!
A Word I Will Never Learn to Spell
Erinnerungsgesetz, which is German for “memory law,” and is a legal provision governing the interpretation of historical events that showcases the legislator's or judicial preference for a certain narrative about the past. In the process, competing interpretations may be downplayed, sidelined, or even prohibited. Hm…
Courtesy of the phenomenal … How my ex and I used to argue, lol
Which is kind of why I thought we might make it!???
This Beautiful Man!
“I have chosen to live this way, to live near the sea without running water, to surround myself with simple beauty. My days have been emptied of all fanfare and complication.”
Read about his last gorgeous days on the Maine Coast.
These Joyous Clogs!
By way of
from Downtime, I had to have these dopamine garden clogs to tromp around Cambridge. Don’t they make you feel better—just looking at them?
A Book I am So in Love With…
Imagine an island that’s a secret, wild escape near the edge of the world—a tiny, windswept haven where the Salts have made their home. Dominic Salt and his three children are the keepers of Shearwater, a quirky outpost guarding the largest seed bank on earth. Life here is as isolated as it is beautiful, until one tempestuous night when the ocean gifts them a mysterious woman washed ashore.
Rowan, fierce yet fragile, becomes the unexpected spark in their weathered lives. As the worst storm in Shearwater’s memory howls overhead, Rowan’s presence starts to mend old wounds and kindle dreams of belonging and love—a future where vulnerability is embraced and secrets are shared under stormy skies.
But nothing is ever as simple as it seems on this isolated rock. Rowan harbors secrets of her own, and soon she stumbles upon sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, unraveling a tapestry of deceit spun by Dominic himself. With nature’s fury at their backs, they all must decide whether trust can blossom in the face of past tragedies and imminent danger.
Wild Dark Shore is a heady cocktail of breathtaking twists, untamed beauty, and passionate, ferocious love—a novel that captures the impossible choices we make to protect the ones we cherish, even as the world around us begins to crumble.
A Velvety-Voiced Songstress
I cannot say enough about her work and her work ethic. Go Bebe!
Charming…
According to MIT, injecting Tardigrade DNA into your bum may help you survive cancer radiation treatment. Little buggers. Ah, life. Here’s the full story.
OK, that’s what I’ve got this week! I hope all of you are doing much better in these surreal times. I cannot wait to catch up on all your posts.
Yours from the gaping maw - xoxo - gotham girl
PS - I am a human typo. Amnesty appreciated.
God it’s a wonder anyone makes it out alive, let alone with a book intact!
If Lady Whistledown could expose Regency-era scandals with a well-placed quill, surely we can outwit the bureaucratic overlords with some well-aimed stamps and a network of rogue book smugglers (a.k.a. the Harvard post office). If all else fails, we may have to pivot to the trusted medieval method of illuminated manuscripts, personally transcribed by candlelight and delivered via carrier pigeon. 😂
Darn, darn, darn this sucks so much about the book situation. Hopefully the challenge and stupid ban will add to the mystique and make it a runaway success in the end.
Thank for all these lovely offerings, I can’t wait to check them out.