This one is free!
I know it’s Friday, and these editions are supposed to be 1) paid and 2) focused on book updates, but I missed Wednesday because I was celebrating America (or, more accurately, recovering from celebrating America the day before) and also I’m not sure I have a ton more book updates at the moment!
Here goes a quick one anyway…
BOOK UPDATE
I submitted my manuscript, my editor edited it and also added comments and suggestions, I revised my manuscript in accordance with her suggestions and added and removed portions in accordance with her wisdom, and resubmitted it. Now the manuscript is being pored over by copy editors who, despite my insistence on being the authority on grammar and spelling (at least in my home, much to my wife and kids’ chagrin), will now go through and use their actual, legitimate, getting-paid-for-it authority to correct my grammar and spelling (much to my wife and kids’ delight).
I’ll keep you posted on next steps when I know what they are. But you’ll have to pay (a measly five bucks!) to keep getting them!
AMERICA, FUCK NO
Another reason I’m posting this today is because I want to talk a bit about my July 4th. Not in a “we had hot dogs and watched fireworks” way but in a “I posted something that made people mad on Instagram” way.
I shared an image of a tweet, which says: “Kind of a shame nowadays that when someone prominently displays an American flag in their bio, it's a pretty good bet that they're an asshole.”
Please note that I knew this would cause trouble. (I also knew it would also cause engagement!) Partially because plenty of people with American flag emojis in their bio follow me, but mostly because plenty of people can’t read.
I said nothing about actual, real-life American flags, I only mentioned emoji flags. I said nothing about America itself, I only referenced people who put the flag emoji in their social media bio. The point of my tweet is that a large portion of social media users who put the flag in their bio are aligned with a virulent strain of aggressive American nationalism that is largely associated with MAGA types, white Christian nationalists, intolerant conservatives, and narrow-minded ‘patriots’ who blindly follow power-hungry demagogues who appeal to the basest instincts and refuse to allow even the slightest bit of conversation about their country’s foibles.
Which, despite the right’s constant attempts to whitewash (pun intended) history and gatekeep education and filter the truth, are legion.
Some people questioned why I would post something “so divisive” on a day meant to celebrate America. I can only answer with the fact that there is nothing more American than speaking freely and questioning things. It’s not only our right, it’s our duty. And if you’re not only not at least a little embarrassed/terrified by what’s happening in our country right now but also are so insecure that you get angry and unfollow an Instagram account when it criticizes the country (by mentioning the constant mass shootings and the stripping away of women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights and affirmative action and the increased presence of religion in politics and the corruption of Supreme Court and the insane gerrymandering and disgusting hate speech, and etc., etc.,), then you have no credibility when you praise it.
Odds are, if you are putting your love of ‘Murica front and center on your social media profiles, you’re a little bit too proud of a country that hasn’t been doing all that much to be proud of lately. And if the things that have been going on do make you proud, then I couldn’t be happier that you stopped following me. #Sorrynotsorry
Also, it’s funny to make those people so mad. The irony of brainwashed cultists who refuse to entertain any kind of dissent or difference of opinion calling the rest of us sheep is too delightful to resist!
THREADS
Speaking of sheep, or maybe lemmings?, I’ve joined Threads, the slightly less problematic (so far) version of Twitter that is catching fire lately, mostly because it’s 100% Elon-free!
Check me out: https://www.threads.net/@dadandburied