Michael Bourne

I just signed the @AuthorsGuild's Open Letter to Generative AI Leaders calling on them to compensate writers fairly for the use of copyrighted materials in their AI programs. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/auth…

My father died April 15. Here is an obit I wrote about his work as a scientist and his love for his family, particularly my mother, who was the love of his life. michaelbourne.substack.com/p/in-memory-of…

In our new print issue, @bournewriter breaks down the essentials of rights, restrictions, and deadlines when it comes to book contracts. Learn how to read the fine print of your contract: at.pw.org/MayJune2023

Check out my tax tips for writers in this month's Poets & Writers

#ICYMI: @PushcartPrize turns 50; @jvatner interviews @scryptkeeper of @LambdaLiterary; @bournewriter offers helpful tax tips for writers; @TyehimbaJess talks to @pswordwoman; and @JessKashiwabara covers the unique business model of @northfigbooks. at.pw.org/MarchApril2023

A librarian at the college where I teach stopped by class today and presented me with this, a copy of my first book that will go on the campus library shelves. I signed it and they're talking about having me do a book event. (You can see the BCIT Library barcode on the cover.)

I have no opinion whatever on Madonna's face. There, I said it.

@ambernoelle I think what you're really saying is there are no movies anymore. It takes a huge communal experience to create a movie star. In a world of unending content, the movie star is no longer possible or necessary.

@LisaMarchiano As an editing/grading tool, it's pretty damn great. Beats most of the educational software out there. It would drive me crazy to use it on my OWN drafts. Talk about inviting in the internal editor.

@CynthiaMHoffman To a 16-year-old, all the world's a bro, in my experience.

Do you have a teenager and does your teenager call you “bro”? 🤦🏻‍♀️

@PaulaJLafferty I only reread the good bits. Pumps me up for attacking the shitty parts.

Do you enjoy reading your own manuscript/book?

Anyone else read Atticus Lish's The War for Gloria? I found the book deeply unsettling. Good, but unsettling. You get the sense that Atticus Lish's head wouldn't be a happy place to live inside.

@MollyJongFast Better circulation & faster metabolism. Their bodies are literally running hotter than older people's are.

Why is it so hard to get teenage children to wear coats?

@Altameemi_t @Brink_Thinker Um, no. $8.87 in 1980 is worth $31.50 in 2022 after adjusting for inflation. The average wage has DROPPED 24.3% in real, inflation-adjusted terms. usinflationcalculator.com

@Brink_Thinker According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage in the US in 1980 was $8.87 (in 2020 dollars). In 2020, the average hourly wage was $23.86. So, in inflation-adjusted terms, wages have increased by approximately 170% since 1980.

Can I just say that revisions of a scene that is basically working (despite the bad writing) is the most satisfying of all writing tasks.

This is a travesty. They gutted the AP African American Studies courses. There's that old word, bowdlerize, named after the guy who "cleaned up" Shakespeare. That's what happened here. nytimes.com/2023/02/01/us/…

@GretaHayer Have you looked at indie presses? More and more debuts are coming from outside the Big Five. It worked for me. I tried and tried to find an agent for my debut novel Blithedale Canyon and then went with an indie. Great experience.

Feeling dramatic so I’ll say it—i don’t know what I’m doing wrong as a writer. I write a ton. I read even more. I have strong short story pubs. I have a great query letter & my readers say I’m “so close,” yet I’m STILL struggling to get an agent after YEARS. Why is this so hard?

@DaniTrussoni G-Man by Beverly Gage. New J. Edgar Hoover bio. The book makes the man make (some) sense. Harder to make sense of a country that put up with him for so long, tho.

Book report time: what was the best book you read this month and why? #BookTwitter #Readers

@jennifer_genest Well, I spent 18 years writing my first novel, Blithedale Canyon, so 13 first drafts is looking pretty efficient. (I was writing other things, too, but still.)

@bournewriter This is comforting. I should say it's the 13th...first draft.