I earn more writing novels than short stories — and you probably will too — For several years now, I’ve been earning the majority of my income by writing fiction under a variety of pen names you’ve never heard of. And it isn’t anything special about me. Thousands of authors you’ve never heard of are quietly making a full-time living creating fiction. True, thousands of…

My older rescue parrots tear my heart out with their cuteness — Have a look at my latest photograph of my two senior rescue parrots. If you want to melt your cold, stony heart into a little ball of soft warm mush, you don’t have to look any further than these two cuties. The models Boobear will be 27 in July. Nyota’s age is…

Then humblebrags how hard it is to keep the fingerprints cleaned off — Wealthy people spend money on the dumbest things. I am not the first person to notice this. I will not be the last. And yet you will forever find silly (or gaslighting) “financial advisors” telling you that the royal road to wealth is to save your money. Nobody saves their…

About that Brandon Sanderson business — Yesterday, I received an email blast from somebody I would normally respect, an indie publishing professional whose name you’d probably recognize. The subject line of the email contained the word, “professional.” The email itself contained a screed of an attack on another writer for being “unprofessional.” Sometimes the publishing industry…

Did you know these stones are “crypto” crystals? — You’ve got crystal magic in your pocket or perhaps tucked away into a drawer, and you don’t even know it. As I continue to compile photographs of my collection, I found this 2015 image that reminds me how various the world of crystals can be. At first sight, almost every…

The February bonus has landed — Two tiny but important bits of Kindle Vella bonus news: The February bonuses have been awarded, and the bonus pot size remains steady at $1 million dollars total distributed among all authors. 2. I will no longer be publishing monthly updates on the Vella bonus program to Medium. My subscribers…

An eagle’s treasure — We’ve all heard the legend of the dragon’s hoarded treasure. There was always some knight in shining armor willing to defeat the beast to grab the gold, bribe the king, and “win” (buy!) the hand of the princess. I don’t think we were supposed to notice that it was a…

Who knew eating horse pills could kill a guy? — On the morning of March 3, Danny Lemoi was posting in ALL CAPS about eating ivermectin horse paste to his Telegram channel. By the end of the day, the 50-year-old Rhode Island influencer was dead. (Obituary) That’s not funny, Amethyst. Why is the horse laughing? Because what d’ya think is…

This false fossil is one of Nature’s beautiful illusions — Green Moss Agate is an abundant and beautiful stone with a long history in magical lore. Some gemstones, like Amber, contain genuine fossil remains of once-living organisms trapped in their matrix. That isn’t true of Moss Agate. The so-called “mosses” trapped within the clear Agate are natural manganese or iron…