If you’re reading this, you’ve probably read other things I’ve written, probably a novel called If We Were Villains, probably some stuff I’ve posted on socials or my website. If you liked my writing enough to follow this link, it seems probable you might like to see more. Probably? In any case, this is where most of my writing will live for the next couple of months, maybe longer. (If you’re worried this will take away from my time writing the next book, rest easy. Not so. In fact, you’ll hear a lot more about that process right here.)
If you’re just joining us, salutations. You can call me M. If you like words and the way I do them I hope you’ll stick around.
But let’s cut to the chase:
Why this?
If you’re not on Substack, are you even a writer? I kid, but an “online presence” is increasingly important for any artist looking to find and keep a toe-hold these days (this is the first of many unromantic truths about writing you will see here). I’m already on some platforms but none particularly conducive to writing more than a stray line or two, and shit! I’ve got a lot to say. I used to run a couple of blogs with a pretty healthy following where I talked about books as a person who’s worn a lot of hats in that business: I’ve been a bookseller, an editor, a “Community Business Development Manager,” and, of course, a writer.
A lot of people have asked if I would resurrect those blogs from the internet graveyard. This isn’t exactly that, but what I’d like to think of as an upgrade: Discursions will be regular ezine about books and publishing and whatever else might be worth writing and reading, while more formal announcements and updates will stay on my website (though I may share those here, too). No platform is perfect, but a lot of inkslingers I respect have done great things with Substack. So here we are. I’m throwing my hat in the ring.
Why now?
For a long time I’ve been trapped in a sadomasochistic relationship with my “day job” in academia, because (here’s another unromantic truth) it is almost impossible to make a living as a writer. Trouble is, it’s even harder to make a living as an academic. I finished my PhD in May and because there are no more degrees after that but no jobs either, I’m pivoting back to what was always the dream but got a little lost along the way: writing full time. I have no idea if this is going to work or how. I’m making it up as I go and I’m taking you with me—in more ways than one.
With the dissertation finished, I have time again to write other things and a lot of writing to catch up on. I am working feverishly on my next book, which is a species of road trip novel, which is not a coincidence because finishing the PhD also means I can finally cut ties with Washington, DC, where I have lived for six years and loathed just as long. (No shade to locals who love it; it just ain’t the city for me.) Rather than pay through the nose to stay in the Swamp, I’m selling or donating most of my stuff, throwing my dog in the car, and lighting out with no precise destination and no precise plans but to live what I’m writing by living on the road. I’ve spent a lot of my life in transit and by now roadside diners and hotel rooms feel like my natural habitat. Moreover, this is how I do research. I need to eat and breathe it. I want full immersion. I’m risking a lot, and taking the plunge.
But, what’s in it for you?
Why subscribe?
For starters, it’s free! I might consider paid subscription content down the line (it’s a gig economy for every working artist, Unromantic Truth #3) but that’s one of the many things I don’t know. What I do know is a lot about publishing that I didn’t know when I started out, because this business is notoriously opaque from the outside. As a fresh young debut novelist I did a few things right and a lot of things wrong and what I want to do here is put that experience to good use. Now’s your chance to learn from my mistakes—the ones in the past and the ones happening in real time as I try to write a new novel while living out of hotels and a 2012 Honda.
But this business I’m in is also an art. The business part is hard; the art part is harder. I’ve learned a lot about that, too. So while this is definitely a space to talk about the not-so-sexy stuff, like what a pre-empt is or how to pay for health insurance when you’re self-employed, it’s also a space to talk about craft. It’s a space to talk about building worlds and telling stories and falling in and out of love with your own imaginary friends. It’s a space to talk about making time to work, finding your flow state, muscling through the slumps. Because writing is, at its core, the act of describing the world, this is also a space for that. Experiencing everything the world has to offer, and finding a way to put it in words.
If all that sounds like your cup of black coffee, hello. Welcome. This space is for you.
Glad to hear you'll be writing in volume again soon & I look forward to reading it. Congrats on the PhD!
So glad I stumbled on this. I earned my PhD a few years ago, got a tenure-track professorship, and absolutely 100% and gladly threw it away after a few years because I figured out that I love writing fiction and academia stifled my voice in every way (not to mention the casual bullying of the non-tenured in my department). Yes to doing what you love, I’m there too, even if scary.