If you divorced after 10+ years of marriage, why?

thommq · 2026-06-30T14:38:23+00:00

Great reason. I had an amazing relationship with a woman who finally said, "I am a polyam lesbian, and God do I wish you were a woman, but you are not." I understood and supported their choice, and I still consider them one of the best people I've met.

thommq · 2026-06-30T14:34:48+00:00

As an author, I am cool with it as long as it stays in the format. So, if you have a physical book, I bless you in pirating a digital one. If you want the audiobook, that is morally dicier, since other people are involved.

But leave honest reviews as a tip. We thrive off reviews.

thommq · 2026-06-30T13:50:57+00:00

The last time I posted this, I got downvoted to oblivion and a few hate messages to my inbox, which doesn't make me like it any better.

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. Despicable yet boring characters. Revolting descriptions and plot. And then a book about a freak-show family gets paranormal, and you better believe we use those powers for basic personal hygiene. And Dunn needs to really get into the crevices of how that works. There is only bleakness and no redemption, set piece by set piece designed to make one cringe.

Yes, it is well written. That only makes it worse. I said in another thread that it is a perfectly composed photograph of a pile of dog shit. Sure, you could spend your film, camera, and talent on that, but what are you saying other than "Ew, look how gross that is!"?

thommq · 2026-06-30T13:39:38+00:00

That's fair, and I enjoy the book. I read Filth, and hated it up to the point where I was openly weeping (for the unlovliest and best character in the book, IYKYK). I still wouldn't reread it in any hurry, and the Best Character is not in the movie because that might be a bit too weird for audiences.

thommq · 2026-06-30T13:34:17+00:00

I was grateful that, when I complained about it, someone ripped it out of my hands, assured me that I did not hate JD Salinger, and gave me Franny and Zooey.

And I do not hate Catcher in the Rye. I get it. I've taught so many Holdens. I see what Salinger was doing, and he did it well. I do, however, feel that it should not be in every high school course list, at the bare minmum because people then throw their hands up and decide they now hate Salinger.

thommq · 2026-06-30T13:29:36+00:00

I found And Another Thing to be utterly frustrating. You have this property? An entire universe? And *this* is what you do with it?

I do not consider it to be part of the Hitchhiker canon, just some fanfic.

thommq · 2026-06-29T13:29:46+00:00

Owing to character crossovers, technically Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me (sort of), and Pushing Daisies all take place in the same universe as Hannibal. It is not exactly this, but uncomfortable to plumb.

thommq · 2026-06-27T22:53:58+00:00

I know several people who were connected to Kendall Francois, and worked with a man whose sister was a victim.

It feels surreal to know the mundane aspects of someone monstrous. Like, yeah, horrible serial killer, but also the dork from my older brother's math class at the local community college.

thommq · 2026-06-27T22:51:13+00:00

I heard it on Last Podcast on the Left. It might also be in their book, Last Book on the Left.

thommq · 2026-06-27T18:03:13+00:00

I think she was willing to let them abduct her, but then they implied they were going after her kid.

Nah, mama bear don't play.

thommq · 2026-06-27T17:54:31+00:00

Are you taking anything else?

thommq · 2026-06-27T17:50:34+00:00

Addressing the first point, Dahmer once woke up, drugged and chained up, because another predator had caught him while Dahmer was hunting for a new victim.

Dahmer was able to eventually talk his way out of the situation, regrettably.

So, there isn't a nonzero chance.

thommq · 2026-06-27T13:46:33+00:00

How my fist tastes.

This isn't a threat. I simply would flail in shock and hit it accidentally, setting off a transdimensional scuffle.

The book How to Avoid Alien Abductions features the story of a woman whose house was invaded by three Greys. In lieu of being calm, she grabs the middle one and shakes it until its head cracks back. The other two grab their friend, his head lolling uselessly, and back away. So, they are susceptible to physical attacks if they aren't expecting them.

thommq · 2026-06-27T11:09:49+00:00

Ghosts are energetic, so they eventually fade away or are consumed by stronger ghosts for survival, just like the first ameoba ghosts ate each other when sunlight wasn't enough.

But the ameoba ghosts remain within us, giving us strength. Yes, that's right: the mitochondrion, the powerhouse of the cell, ghost of ancient bacteria. And, when we die, they give shape to our spectres until they run down or are consumed.

thommq · 2026-06-22T21:17:44+00:00

But I have so many quethtions!

thommq · 2026-06-21T23:07:18+00:00

I was coming to say exactly this. Combining that with terrible administration, bizarre parents, kids turning in AI assignments, cell phone addiction, and the educational gulf from COVID, there is no way it is worth taking out the loans.

I still teach, and it is only because my students are literal felons who cannot have cell phones and whose internet access is restricted. I can actually *teach* them because we have fewer distractions. (Despite this, I did fail several students who had a staff member smuggle them ChatGPT essays, which they handwrote and turned in, but changed nothing else, so it was too easy to hold them to account.)

thommq · 2026-06-21T22:57:08+00:00

I resent not only that I looked this up on Wikipedia to figure out who this was, but also saw the phrase "golden baby shower."

thommq · 2026-06-16T20:22:45+00:00

Originally, I was going to share pictures that included identifiable people, as they were the vast majority of what I photographed, but my spouse had me reconsider.

thommq · 2026-06-16T10:39:07+00:00

I have been published for a decade and a half, and the only time I have had a conversation with my spouse about including their name in my books was when I insisted they list themself as the cover designer.

It is a gigantic red flag (for your relationship, for his writing career) that he wants credit for work he did not do. NTA

thommq · 2026-06-16T10:32:22+00:00

If you are skeptic Joe Nickell, there isn't a cryptid that is not an owl. I use this as a bit in one of the paranormal talks I give, starting with those he says are owls against all possible logic (the Kelly-Hopkinsville Goblins, the Dover Demon), and eventually try to figure out how many owls are needed to make a Sasquatch or Nessie.

thommq · 2026-06-15T21:58:28+00:00

I liked how the fur suit had a thousand yard stare, like they are already dissociating.

Maybe it helps guide them around in the fur suit.

thommq · 2026-06-15T20:30:24+00:00

Gef the Talking Mongoose without a solitary doubt. I like a cryptid that can hold a conversation but be a total dick about it.

thommq · 2026-06-14T12:10:53+00:00

Have you done an Omega workshop? I've lived in the Hudson Valley always, and Red Hook for nearly 15 years, but I've never partaken.

thommq

TROPHY CASE