F-yes to publishing Kimberly’s memoir!!!! It is so deserving. I “couldn’t put it down” even though that’s not a thing on Substack. I’m doing a huge happy dance 💃. Well done ensuring this story gets published. Woohoo!!! 🎉
Congrats on the first book for your pub company. How exciting! P.S. I bought an EE shirt! I can't wear it until the warmer months, but I'm looking forward to wearing it and saying, "Make fucking way, bitches!" I'm adding the "bitches" part even though the shirt doesn't say that.
Ha! I so would have added the "bitches" except we were limited by character count in "safe printable space"! Thank you for buying a shirt. We're just getting off the ground, but there are all these voices that *need* to be out there, that can be elevated and amplified... I know we can do it. :)
Hardle is Wordle but without revealing which letters are correct or their position. This changes strategy significantly. Rather than trying to guess the right letters early, it seems to help if you can eliminate letters early. I used words with as many unique vowels as possible looking to identify which vowels were out.
I also tried to include popular letters like "R" "S" and "T" in the early words, trying again to eliminate as many as I could.
Within three or four guesses, I'm now looking for a word with one or two of two vowels and that uses consonants from a pool of 10-12 options.
I was getting my hopes up that we were going to be treated to a "brilliant woman rescued by dashing firefighter" story. Oh well.
I'm likely going to skip "Baby Reindeer" and Martha but thank you for the trigger warning. As the child of a borderline mother, the title alone makes me very anxious.
Hardle is hard. It's even harder when you misinterpret one of the rules. I'll be waiting 6 hours for Hardle to unlock itself and give me another shot.
Congratulations on all the progress with Empress Editions and the publication date for "Unfixed." Going through an immense amount of life change right now. Hoping it isn't too long until I feel organized enough, or until I've dug myself out enough, to restart putting pen to paper (metaphorically).
Oh, sorry to disappoint! I was in no need of rescuing--just in AWE of the swift service! And yes, even after 30 years of therapy--I found Baby Reindeer a very challenging watch and don't recommend it for those with CPTSD. It's a doozy.
Hardle broke me! Lol. But I'll be sending 💪 and ❤️ for all the life changes--I certainly know them well. xo
I thought that battling a medical establishment that was openly hostile to my eventual diagnosis and treatment was the main act. Turns out, it's starting to feel like one aspect of stage setting amongst many.
Spent the last three days with my sister. On the flight home she texted that in 56 years, she's never before spent time with me where I was "simply beaming."
Baby Reindeer stayed with me for weeks. And Jessica Gunning was brilliant! It’s thrilling to see her recognized for her gut-punching portrayal of mental illness.
Tho I agree with you on the “progress is debatable.” The efforts to stay looking young were undeniable at the awards and I feel cringy inside as I celebrate their mid-life and beyond achievements yet still see faces frozen in their past. But still, huzzah. At least I wasn’t looking at men!
Exactly. At least I wasn't looking at men or a twenty-four-year-old influencer. And I can admit my vanity. I've had Botox before. I actually loved how rested it made me look. Unfortunately, I wasn't that way on the inside AT ALL. I was so bummed out and tired all the time. 😂 For now, I'll take the sleep and skip the toxins!
I haven’t tried it but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted! I think I stay away mainly because I’d likely be the .0001% patient with the horrible reaction and hound dog eye droop. :)
Great stuff in here, as always! I'm *tentatively* hopeful about Hollywood's current focus on "older" women. There are obviously many more women in writer's rooms and behind the camera now, but the industry has such an enormous history of sexism and ageism that it's hard to imagine that lasting change will be possible. People have tried to et me to wear those fucking Golden Goose sneakers for years but I'm always like NAH BRUH I'm too bougie to pay for shoes that come pre-dirtied!! I like a lot of Kiehl's cleansers, they work exactly as advertised.
Yeah, I'm not convinced of Hollywood's lasting shift... yet. There are still WAY too many dickheads in charge. Just Dunning-Kruger idiots who are far too stupid to understand they're not smart... It's painful. They miscorrect your grammar. 😱 And yes, Schmolden Goose, everything I own is already dirty from a lifetime of moving and children. There's a business for us! 😂
I have to recommend Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "An Unfinished Love Story" because I am totally in love with. as was she. of her deceased husband Dick Goodwin. OMG my perfect man and what a genius he was. This is a brilliant piece of history and the speeches behind JFK. Johnson, , Rfk, Jacckie O,written by Goodwin. I am glued to every word.
You are KILLING me with these new word games! (But I love them.) Congratulations on "Unfixed"! That's fantastic. "The dick pic of awards season" killed me!
Hardle is BRUTAL, right? Btw, I loved your piece on annoying your doctors. Doctors look at me nine surgeries in and just RUN out the door. I think they think I'm going to be such a pain in the ass, but now I tell them, "Look, you're pretty much getting the iPhone 17 version of my brain--so it's all good here!"
So brutal. At first glance I thought, isn't this just Wordle? Then...oh no...what kind of sadist is responsible for this? "The iPhone 17 version of my brain"--that's hilarious. Oh, I finished S2 of Bad Sisters the other night. So, so good. By the time I started S1, S2 was already out so I got to tear through them all. But now I'm going through serious Garvey withdrawal.
"The room" represents everything that is wrong with Hollywood. This is the place writers get to act out their stories because the "creative executives" and their minions are too lazy to read 90 triple spaced pages. Sadly, what Robert Altman parodied in the first scene of The Player--"It's Out of Africa meets Pretty Woman"--is now the norm. When I asked the Nepobaby creative executive about the 20 something screenwriter he hired to turn my book into a tv show, he replied, "You should see him in the room!" The 20 something writer put so much time and energy into "the room" that he failed to turn his pilot in on time, Neopbaby's option lapsed and I sold the option to someone else.
Oh, you've nailed it! And you are going to laugh, but I was at a lunch in October where the original producer of "The Player" said to me, "You should see him in the room!" about this new young writer who was going to be "the next big, fabulous thing" while I sat there feeling like a "never was" and the thing is nothing ever gets made, options always lapse, financing rarely comes together. It's always best to write your book, sell the option, and then run! Don't offer to adapt, it's just wicked painful!
I like writing comic books, I mean scripts. It is a nice vacation from the doom and gloom that is my daily bread. My book Thai Stick--12 years--6 option. I hold a blackbelt in, mostly, bad development deals. I did however have one great one. Jose Padilha optioned it after Nepobaby dropped the ball. Not only did he hire me, pay me well, then teach me how to write a screenplay, he also had me fiberglass real weed inside a surfboard. When we went to the "room" at Netflix to pitch the TV series to the great Ted Sarandos himself, we smashed that board open, pulled the pot out, and handed it to Ted. Afterwards we refused to take the pot with us. PS. My mom was one of the two women pitching in the beginning of The Player. She's 88 and just published another novel--Joan is a baller..
The famous screenwriter with us, a well known lion of "the room," was not forewarned about the weed board. He had a very difficult time composing himself afterwards and bowed out of the project shortly thereafter. Ted loved it though, bought the show, then our management company exercised a first look deal with another studio, brought in another boy wonder screenwriter and Jose and I walked. Many years later, Jose is producing the Thai Stick documentary that I am directing, we are still good friends, and we fear my baller mom who has forgotten more about Hollywood than we will ever know. Message me your address and I'll send her new book and photo evidence of meeting with Ted.
F-yes to publishing Kimberly’s memoir!!!! It is so deserving. I “couldn’t put it down” even though that’s not a thing on Substack. I’m doing a huge happy dance 💃. Well done ensuring this story gets published. Woohoo!!! 🎉
Thanks, Kim!!! And it will be a very different experience as a hardcover book... We have
some plans! 😉 ❤️
Awwww Kim, thank you!!! I couldn’t be more thrilled. Empress Editions is an unimaginably perfect fit.
Congrats on the first book for your pub company. How exciting! P.S. I bought an EE shirt! I can't wear it until the warmer months, but I'm looking forward to wearing it and saying, "Make fucking way, bitches!" I'm adding the "bitches" part even though the shirt doesn't say that.
Ha! I so would have added the "bitches" except we were limited by character count in "safe printable space"! Thank you for buying a shirt. We're just getting off the ground, but there are all these voices that *need* to be out there, that can be elevated and amplified... I know we can do it. :)
Hardle
1/9/2025 | 5/10
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 0️⃣0️⃣
⬛🟩⬛🟨⬛ 1️⃣1️⃣
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 0️⃣4️⃣
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 0️⃣4️⃣
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 0️⃣5️⃣
Play #hardle on hardle.org
I can't even begin??? Enduring this should be your superpower...
Hardle is Wordle but without revealing which letters are correct or their position. This changes strategy significantly. Rather than trying to guess the right letters early, it seems to help if you can eliminate letters early. I used words with as many unique vowels as possible looking to identify which vowels were out.
I also tried to include popular letters like "R" "S" and "T" in the early words, trying again to eliminate as many as I could.
Within three or four guesses, I'm now looking for a word with one or two of two vowels and that uses consonants from a pool of 10-12 options.
Hope this helps.
A bit of beginner's lucky didn't hurt.
I was getting my hopes up that we were going to be treated to a "brilliant woman rescued by dashing firefighter" story. Oh well.
I'm likely going to skip "Baby Reindeer" and Martha but thank you for the trigger warning. As the child of a borderline mother, the title alone makes me very anxious.
Hardle is hard. It's even harder when you misinterpret one of the rules. I'll be waiting 6 hours for Hardle to unlock itself and give me another shot.
Congratulations on all the progress with Empress Editions and the publication date for "Unfixed." Going through an immense amount of life change right now. Hoping it isn't too long until I feel organized enough, or until I've dug myself out enough, to restart putting pen to paper (metaphorically).
Oh, sorry to disappoint! I was in no need of rescuing--just in AWE of the swift service! And yes, even after 30 years of therapy--I found Baby Reindeer a very challenging watch and don't recommend it for those with CPTSD. It's a doozy.
Hardle broke me! Lol. But I'll be sending 💪 and ❤️ for all the life changes--I certainly know them well. xo
💪 and ❤️ are always appreciated.
I thought that battling a medical establishment that was openly hostile to my eventual diagnosis and treatment was the main act. Turns out, it's starting to feel like one aspect of stage setting amongst many.
Spent the last three days with my sister. On the flight home she texted that in 56 years, she's never before spent time with me where I was "simply beaming."
Baby Reindeer stayed with me for weeks. And Jessica Gunning was brilliant! It’s thrilling to see her recognized for her gut-punching portrayal of mental illness.
Tho I agree with you on the “progress is debatable.” The efforts to stay looking young were undeniable at the awards and I feel cringy inside as I celebrate their mid-life and beyond achievements yet still see faces frozen in their past. But still, huzzah. At least I wasn’t looking at men!
Exactly. At least I wasn't looking at men or a twenty-four-year-old influencer. And I can admit my vanity. I've had Botox before. I actually loved how rested it made me look. Unfortunately, I wasn't that way on the inside AT ALL. I was so bummed out and tired all the time. 😂 For now, I'll take the sleep and skip the toxins!
I haven’t tried it but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted! I think I stay away mainly because I’d likely be the .0001% patient with the horrible reaction and hound dog eye droop. :)
Glad you are safe, Alisa! Unfun to be awoken in such a way. And congrats on all the good stuff happening. xo
It was surprising--I have SUCH respect for firefighters! But all good! xo
Great stuff in here, as always! I'm *tentatively* hopeful about Hollywood's current focus on "older" women. There are obviously many more women in writer's rooms and behind the camera now, but the industry has such an enormous history of sexism and ageism that it's hard to imagine that lasting change will be possible. People have tried to et me to wear those fucking Golden Goose sneakers for years but I'm always like NAH BRUH I'm too bougie to pay for shoes that come pre-dirtied!! I like a lot of Kiehl's cleansers, they work exactly as advertised.
Yeah, I'm not convinced of Hollywood's lasting shift... yet. There are still WAY too many dickheads in charge. Just Dunning-Kruger idiots who are far too stupid to understand they're not smart... It's painful. They miscorrect your grammar. 😱 And yes, Schmolden Goose, everything I own is already dirty from a lifetime of moving and children. There's a business for us! 😂
BTW Pamela Anderson finally looks soft and pretty.
I have to recommend Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "An Unfinished Love Story" because I am totally in love with. as was she. of her deceased husband Dick Goodwin. OMG my perfect man and what a genius he was. This is a brilliant piece of history and the speeches behind JFK. Johnson, , Rfk, Jacckie O,written by Goodwin. I am glued to every word.
I am a HUGE fan of Doris Kearns Goodwin! Thanks for this awesome recommendation!
That question is brilliant and wise! When we blame a loved one for a problem it’s usually about you— the one blaming.
I did not watch the GG’s. Glad to hear mid life women were celebrated. 🥰🙏
So wise. 🥰
You are KILLING me with these new word games! (But I love them.) Congratulations on "Unfixed"! That's fantastic. "The dick pic of awards season" killed me!
Hardle is BRUTAL, right? Btw, I loved your piece on annoying your doctors. Doctors look at me nine surgeries in and just RUN out the door. I think they think I'm going to be such a pain in the ass, but now I tell them, "Look, you're pretty much getting the iPhone 17 version of my brain--so it's all good here!"
So brutal. At first glance I thought, isn't this just Wordle? Then...oh no...what kind of sadist is responsible for this? "The iPhone 17 version of my brain"--that's hilarious. Oh, I finished S2 of Bad Sisters the other night. So, so good. By the time I started S1, S2 was already out so I got to tear through them all. But now I'm going through serious Garvey withdrawal.
"The room" represents everything that is wrong with Hollywood. This is the place writers get to act out their stories because the "creative executives" and their minions are too lazy to read 90 triple spaced pages. Sadly, what Robert Altman parodied in the first scene of The Player--"It's Out of Africa meets Pretty Woman"--is now the norm. When I asked the Nepobaby creative executive about the 20 something screenwriter he hired to turn my book into a tv show, he replied, "You should see him in the room!" The 20 something writer put so much time and energy into "the room" that he failed to turn his pilot in on time, Neopbaby's option lapsed and I sold the option to someone else.
Oh, you've nailed it! And you are going to laugh, but I was at a lunch in October where the original producer of "The Player" said to me, "You should see him in the room!" about this new young writer who was going to be "the next big, fabulous thing" while I sat there feeling like a "never was" and the thing is nothing ever gets made, options always lapse, financing rarely comes together. It's always best to write your book, sell the option, and then run! Don't offer to adapt, it's just wicked painful!
I like writing comic books, I mean scripts. It is a nice vacation from the doom and gloom that is my daily bread. My book Thai Stick--12 years--6 option. I hold a blackbelt in, mostly, bad development deals. I did however have one great one. Jose Padilha optioned it after Nepobaby dropped the ball. Not only did he hire me, pay me well, then teach me how to write a screenplay, he also had me fiberglass real weed inside a surfboard. When we went to the "room" at Netflix to pitch the TV series to the great Ted Sarandos himself, we smashed that board open, pulled the pot out, and handed it to Ted. Afterwards we refused to take the pot with us. PS. My mom was one of the two women pitching in the beginning of The Player. She's 88 and just published another novel--Joan is a baller..
OMFG on so many levels... lol! Joan IS a baller and what a story about Jose and Ted!
The famous screenwriter with us, a well known lion of "the room," was not forewarned about the weed board. He had a very difficult time composing himself afterwards and bowed out of the project shortly thereafter. Ted loved it though, bought the show, then our management company exercised a first look deal with another studio, brought in another boy wonder screenwriter and Jose and I walked. Many years later, Jose is producing the Thai Stick documentary that I am directing, we are still good friends, and we fear my baller mom who has forgotten more about Hollywood than we will ever know. Message me your address and I'll send her new book and photo evidence of meeting with Ted.
https://petermaguire.substack.com/p/julio-robalo-opens-the-door-to-his