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ferngirl

@[email protected]

Poet. Book lover. Odd. Decidedly queer. Neurospicy. (she / her / Dr.) The Apidictor Tapes, The Knowledge Weapon.

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ferngirl , to bookstodon
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Hi there, @bookstodon , what are you reading these days? I'm half-way through Normal Rules don't Apply, Kate Atkinson, and it's really good! (a collection of interconnected short stories) Deliciously ominous, with unexplained deaths and weird job interview / date questions. "If you were a (sandwich / vegetable / disease), which would you be?"

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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Got an acceptance from a journal I've been sending work to for like a decade. Sharing this to encourage you to keep trying. @writingcommunity

ferngirl , to bookstodon
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Dear @bookstodon , I feel positively giddy. A just appeared on my street, and the joy this brings me - the anticipation (the shelves are still fairly empty) - is wonderful. I just went and added half a dozen books from my shelves.

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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A pleasure to have my spring poem "Iridology" featured on the Best American Poetry blog:

https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2024/03/the-new-york-school-diaspora-part-seventy-one-annette-boehm.html

@writingcommunity

ferngirl , to actuallyautistic
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Dear fellow neurodivergent peeps / @actuallyautistic , I'd like to look deeper into - I'd love your input.

If you can recommend any books / art / music by Autistic people, I'd love to hear about it.

If there already is a resource for Autistic culture, I'd love to know about it. If there isn't one, I'll consolidate what I find here & elsewhere on my website / blog.

Please share, comment, link - I want to learn!

ferngirl OP ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@actuallyautistic I'll start us off with this cool series of chapbooks by non-speaking autistic writers I learned about this week: https://www.unrestrictedinterest.com/reading
and by pointing out the 4 collections of poetry by autistic poets published by Milkweed Press: https://milkweed.org/multiverse
I haven't had a chance to read them yet, but would love to.

ferngirl OP ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@actuallyautistic ok wow thank you everyone for the responses - and feel free to keep them coming. I'm making a list, and will put it all together as a resource sometime in the near future. Also, if you're an Autistic writer / musician / artist don't be shy, you can share your name / book / site.

ferngirl OP ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@actuallyautistic I also recently read the graphic memoir / novel "Invisible Differences" by French author Julie Dachez. Written with lots of empathy.

Shanmonster , to actuallyautistic
@Shanmonster@c.im avatar

I was recently interviewed on writing and disability and neurodiversity. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/write-publish-and-shine/id1287257498?i=1000645290044 @actuallyautistic

ferngirl ,
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@Shanmonster @actuallyautistic She's nice, isn't she. I was on an episode last fall.

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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Good morning / day / evening @writingcommunity , here's a friendly nudge to send out your work. For instance, Petrichor is open for submissions: https://petrichormag.com/submit/ If you know of other places currently open, do share / add in comments / whatever works for you :)

ferngirl , to bookstodon
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Dear @bookstodon
I had a lovely thing happen to me last night. Someone contacted me to say how much they enjoyed a poem I had in Sinn und Form a year ago (!), and asked which collection it was from. It was a short message but it made my day. If you read something you really like, consider telling the person who wrote it.

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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Dear @writingcommunity I have to say I'm a bit giddy. I just sent out a new manuscript for the first time - and it's not my usual kind of work, it's collage poems. Fingers crossed.

ferngirl , to bookstodon
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If the ain't your jam, might I suggest a good book? Right now, I'm reading The Dictionary of Lost Words (by Pip Williams), and I'm really enjoying it.
@bookstodon what are you reading? Anything good?

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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First email of the year, for me, since Threepenny Review doesn't seem to send rejections anymore, is from Canadian journal Grain. @writingcommunity

ferngirl , to bookstodon
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This was my first read of the year, and it was really, really good!

Our Living Is Too Small: Garrett Ashley's Periphylla and Other Deep Ocean Attractions (book blog post) @bookstodon

https://outsideofacat.wordpress.com/2024/01/14/our-living-is-too-small-garrett-ashleys-periphylla-and-other-deep-ocean-attractions/

ferngirl , to bookstodon
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What's your first book of the new year?

I've decided to start with Periphylla, and Other Deep Ocean Attractions, by Garrett Ashley. It comes out this May, and if you're into short fiction, you may want to check it out / preorder:
https://www.press53.com/short-fiction/periphylla-and-other-deep-ocean-attractions

I'm 50 pages in and I am really, really enjoying this book.

@bookstodon

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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If you're looking to send some poems out into the world, Poetry South is open for submissions:
https://www.muw.edu/poetrysouth/submit/
@writingcommunity

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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Friendly new year's reminder that Threepenny Review has opened for submissions - it's the quickest way to get that first rejection of the year out of the way. It's become my own little new year's tradition to send to them on Jan 1st. @writingcommunity

ferngirl OP ,
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@writingcommunity Hm their email system seems to be not functioning quite right at the moment - the submission went through but so far no 'we received your submission' email.

ferngirl , to bookstodon
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My favorite 10 books read in 2023:

Strange Beasts of China (Yan Ge)
Lagoon (Nnedi Okorafor)
Sea of Tranquility (Emily StJohn Mandel)
Poet Warrior (Joy Harjo) (memoir)
Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus)
Sweet Bean Paste (Durian Sukegawa)
Perfect (Rachel Joyce)
Tenth of December (George Saunders) (short stories)
White Horse (Yan Ge)
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree (Nick Hornby) (nonfiction)

@bookstodon

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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Happy everything, @writingcommunity ! Let's make a thread of journals currently open for submissions, so we can end the year on a hopeful note!

ferngirl OP ,
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@writingcommunity open for submissions to the end of the month: Channel.
Looking for fiction, poetry, essays, in English or Irish.
https://channelmag.org/submissions/

ferngirl OP ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@writingcommunity Also open for submissions is the Bennington Review. They welcome poetry, fiction, non-fiction, film writing, translations.
https://www.benningtonreview.org/submit

ferngirl OP ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@writingcommunity UK-based MsLexia is open, too - themes for 2024: cats (by Mar 11) and red (by Jun 10), either poetry or short fiction.
https://mslexia.co.uk/submit-your-work/poetry/#submission-form

ferngirl OP ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@writingcommunity Ninth Letter is also open for submissions: https://ninthletter.com/submit/ and no submission fee during December. Sweet!

ferngirl OP ,
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@writingcommunity lots more opportunities can be found, updated for the start of every month, at Erika Dreifus' Practicing Writer: https://erikadreifus.substack.com

ferngirl OP ,
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@writingcommunity Another fine journal to send to: South Dakota Review, open now until April. https://southdakotareview.submittable.com/submit

ferngirl OP ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@writingcommunity aaand, last one for today, Rattle is also open for submissions. https://rattle.submittable.com/submit

lastrobot , to bookstondon
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Anyone read this? Thoughts? Worth buying?
The Stasi Poetry Circle by Philip Oltermann
Waterstone's blurb: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-stasi-poetry-circle/philip-oltermann/9780571331192

@bookstondon

ferngirl ,
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@lastrobot @bookstondon .... so is this nonfiction? I'd totally read it if it is. Sounds promising.

ferngirl , to bookstodon
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Wow, I just finished Tenth of December, a short story collection by George Saunders, and it's a wild ride. These stories are amazing.

What are you reading?

@bookstodon

ferngirl OP ,
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@miki_lou @educaremom @bookstodon two recommendations of the same book - that's gotta be a sign :)

Schnuckster , to bookstodon
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As it happens, the next book on my pile is by Benjamin Zephaniah, but I'm taking ages on my current one, so who knows when I'll read it. @bookstodon 📖

ferngirl ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@Schnuckster @bookstodon thank goodness the books at least are going nowhere

autism101 , to actuallyautistic
@autism101@mstdn.social avatar

Why do you need a label?

"Because there is comfort in knowing you are a normal zebra, not a strange horse. Because you can't find community with other zebras if you don't know you belong. And because it is impossible for a zebra to be happy or healthy spending its life feeling like a failed horse.”

q: @omgimautisticaf

Learning the “why” didn’t change me, but finding a community of others like me who I can share things with and learn from has been helpful.

@actuallyautistic

ferngirl ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@autism101 @actuallyautistic yes. Just yes. Thank you.

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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hey there @writingcommunity can you recommend any good intro to writing / short CNF?

ferngirl OP ,
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

@alicemcalicepants @writingcommunity thanks, going to check that out. :)

ferngirl , (edited ) to writingcommunity
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Let me add my second book of poems to the - you can hear (and see) me read the title poem here (TW: eye contact):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAaWzQbPzOQ

and check out the book here:
https://www.spdbooks.org/Products/9780898234060/the-apidictor-tapes.aspx

@writingcommunity

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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So I was a guest on a the other day... The episode is up and can be found here: https://rachelthompson.co/podcast/81/

In it, I read my poem "Credits: Dead Girl #3" and we talk about writing and publishing. Also mental health.
TBH I'm a little scared of listening to it, because I really don't like the sound of my own voice.
@writingcommunity

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
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That little moment of joy when you look over the TOC proof a journal sent you and see you'll be in the same issue as someone whose work you love :) @writingcommunity

ferngirl , to writingcommunity
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

well... I sent out some poetry submissions today. If you haven't sent out anything in a while, feel free to take this as a nudge. :) @writingcommunity If you're wondering what places are open, I can recommend Erica Dreifus' lists: https://erikadreifus.substack.com/p/the-practicing-writer-20-september-36d (paying markets, no charge to submit)

ferngirl , to bookstodon
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

Psyched! (2): The Art of Enduring Oneself (Bordt)

A write-up of a Jesuit philospher's take on freedom & emotion. Pretty cool stuff IMHO. And no, there's no theology here. At all.

https://outsideofacat.wordpress.com/2023/09/17/psyched-2-the-art-of-enduring-oneself-bordt/

@bookstodon

ferngirl , to bookstodon
@ferngirl@det.social avatar

Hey , have you come across any books with misleading and / or bad blurbs? Please share!
I just finished Wole Soyinka's "Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth" and.. that book has a misleading blurb with a big spoiler. Wish I hadn't read the blurb. (Good book, though. More on that later.)
@writingcommunity @bookstodon

ferngirl OP ,
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@TheEdinburghBookshop @writingcommunity @bookstodon oh dang, yes, the "reminds me of" brand of blurbing... that can really kill a book's vibe.

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