linkspam - Donald Media

February 11, 2026February 11, 2026

February Linkspam: Where is February going?

Happy almost Valentine’s Day!

Somehow I blinked, and it was Feb. 11 and I hadn’t sent out a newsletter yet. Who’s running this show? Those responsible will be sacked – oh yeah, that was me.

As you can tell by the seriously-delayed newsletter, the semester is rolling. Three of my four classes are working on a fiction project, which delights me no end, and most of the students are really active and engaged and they have such fun ideas. I could get used to this four-class schedule, folks. (So why is the newsletter so late? Um, I was eaten by a grue. It was very sad.)

As previously announced, I’m joining the Read Every Day in February Challenge for the American Cancer Society as my team kicks off our Relay for Life fundraiser. Of course, the joke is that I read every day anyway, so it’s not exactly a challenge! I’m on my sixth book of the year and counting, so click here to donate and support cancer research and patient services.

Publicity/Appearances

My appearance at Books & Brews at the Old Bakery Beer Co. in Alton, Ill. was postponed from Jan. 24 to Feb. 7 because SNOW. Like approximately everyone in the U.S., we got buried under an avalanche and they actually canceled classes for a day. My Memphis readers are now snickering, as I believe they were off two weeks and counting. Here, friends: have a snowball.

Coming up in February is Conflation, the first convention of the year for me and for the Literary Underworld. Conflation was hit with its own snowball: with three weeks to con, the blizzard froze the pipes at the host hotel and it was basically destroyed. The entire hotel is closed indefinitely; it’s not remotely habitable. The con organizers (who at Conflation are referred to as The Goddesses) managed to find a new hotel, negotiate a reasonable contract and get us all moved over there within ten days. People, I am in awe. And delighted that one of my favorite cons is going forward! If you’re in St. Louis, you should absolutely join us. I’ll be the one in the “I Heart the 80s” T-shirt (it’s a long story).

I’ve been asked to speak this time on the representation of journalists in film, which longtime readers will recall was my masters thesis. I haven’t spoken on this topic in a long time, so I guess it’s time to update. Generally when I’m asked to talk about this at cons, it’s in the form of advice for writers, on how to write journalist characters without getting us wildly wrong. These days, it’s a little more into cultivation theory, which like all media theories is pretty much blatantly obvious to anyone who’s been on the internet for 15 minutes. I’ll see if I can’t make it a little more interesting to the non-writer, non-academic crowd.

In the meantime, we are prepping for AWP, which is nerd prom for the literary/academic set. It’s about 10,000 writers, poets, professors, students and other word geeks, and we’re descending on Baltimore this year. This delights me for several reasons: I used to live in Baltimore and loved it, and my subsequent visits have been delightful. (I miss Berger cookies!) Jim gets to come with me (as “disability assistant,” which I am totally calling him all five days we are there) and he has never been to the eastern seaboard except for our Disney trips. Unlike me, he is a big seafood fan, so if anyone has Baltimore suggestions that are walking or Lyft-ing distance from the Inner Harbor, please drop me a note! In the meantime, I’ll be participating as vice president of the Adjunct Writers Caucus, and looking forward to our discussions.

Finally, I’m glad to share that contracts have been signed for Midsouthcon, ConCarolinas and Dragoncon, so my craaaazy schedule is now updated. March is going to be the hardest month, but it also has spring break, so we’ll call that even.

2026 calendar:

Books & Brews, Alton, Ill. Jan. 24
Conflation, St. Louis, Mo. Feb. 20-22
AWP, Baltimore, Md. March 4-7
Midsouthcon, Memphis, Tenn. March 20-22
ConCarolinas, Charlotte, N.C. May 29-31
Imaginarium, Louisville, Ky. July 17-19
Dragoncon, Atlanta, Ga. Sept. 3-7
Archon, Collinsville, Ill. Oct. 2-4
ContraKC, Kansas City, Mo. TBA

If you are interested in having me speak to your group or attend your convention or other event, contact kyates@donaldmedia.com.

Journalism

I’ve finally set up my Authory portfolio, which collects all my news articles. It’s pretty much the most recent stuff, since MuckRack inexplicably stopped collating my pieces and my first portfolio program went belly-up. I do not have luck with this, but let’s hope that Authory sticks around and keeps working! When I have some spare time (tee hee) I’ll upload some of my older articles.

• Illinois union leaders call out Trump’s selective funding freeze on childcare, family assistance (Labor Tribune)
• Alton Steel closes suddenly, laying off 253 workers (Labor Tribune)
• Law firm investigating whether Alton Steel violated WARN Act (Labor Tribune)
• New Illinois laws will impact workers, residents (Labor Tribune)
• Work continues at Workers’ Memorial as city repairs sinkhole (Labor Tribune)
• Illinois Congresswoman votes against ICE funding; AFL-CIO offers immigration response training (Labor Tribune)
• Counter-protester causes incident at MLK Day, anti-ICE demonstration (Labor Tribune)
• Local labor councils celebrate holidays, calling for unity (Labor Tribune)
• AFSCME signs up 50,000 cultural workers (Labor Tribune)

Note: Not all articles are available online, and some may be behind paywalls.

Fiction

Here’s where Blackfire Rising is currently shambling:

If you’d like a book signed and aren’t going to be in my general vicinity soon, order directly from me or Literary Underworld and indicate in your order that you’d like it signed. And if you love this book, please feel free to return to its Goodreads page and/or the bookseller of your choice to do a review! We love reviews, because we writers are needy insecure creatures.

Patreon/Blogs

• Happy birthday, Langston Hughes (Patreon)
• It starts small (Patreon)
• Cyborgs report to class (Patreon)
• Review: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (Patreon)
• Review: Dear Ms. (Patreon)
• Review: 50 Pies for 50 States by Stacey Mei Yan Fong (Patreon)
• Breaking out of the compartment (Medium)
• 2025 in review (Elizabeth Donald)
• Subtext Like White Elephants (Donald Media)

Check out the Patreon index here. It needs updating, but most of the entries are listed there by category.

Did you know that Patreon subscribers get a 10 percent discount from me and The Literary Underworld? For the latter, that applies to all books, not just mine! For a dollar a month, you really can’t beat it. Just be sure to remind us at the booth as we do not have the subscriber list memorized. If you’re not a subscriber, the base level is $1 a month! You should totally join.

Currently on the nightstand: Nothing! No, I am reading. But it’s currently The Short Stories of Langston Hughes, edited by Akiba Sullivan Harper, and it’s on the iPad so I can take it to work with me. I am also trying something new: audiobooks. Yes, I’ve tried them before, but I always got annoyed anytime someone tried to read anything to me. However, my schedule this semester has me spending approximately 8-10 hours a week in my car, so I’m listening to some books these days. I mean, LitHub turned their podcast into a monthly event, so a girl has to do something to stay awake… This week it’s Not That Bad: Dispatches From Rape Culture, an essay anthology edited by Roxane Gay and including Ally Sheedy and Gabrielle Union, among other writers less famous. It’s a hard listen, but definitely important.

Recently finished includes People Like Us by Jason Mott; Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng; and Graceful Burdens by Roxane Gay. I may just work through everything Roxane Gay has ever written this winter, as I want to be her when I grow up.

Photography

• Frozen ghosts (Patreon)

Almost all of the images in the galleries are available for purchase (except those licensed to clients), so if you see something you like that isn’t in the store, email kyates@donaldmedia.com and we’ll get you a quote. A few might not be available for purchase due to copyright issues.

And that’s it! Have a good (rest of) February, folks, and I’ll see you on the road!

November 5, 2025November 5, 2025

October-November Linkspam

October was a blast, or at least it must have been, because I hardly remember it! Somehow each year there’s a month that just sort of disappears in a melee of overbookedness, and it’s usually October. That’s why you’re getting two months’ worth of schtuff at once!

This is my favorite time of the year. I used to delight in Halloween and then jump impatiently to Christmas, but as I grow older, Thanksgiving is growing on me. Not the colonialism and problematic history of it, but the quietness of it. The leaves turning and falling to crunch under my feet. Baking things with cinnamon and brown sugar. Cool breezes in sunshiny days that have yet to turn bitter cold and hurt my face. Preparation to spend time with my family, to snuggle in for a winter’s nap. I’ve said several times that I always feel cheated never to have a big crowd to cook for at Thanksgiving. My husband, the seventh of ten children, says I am insane for this wish. Someday I hope to prove him wrong, and have an excuse for the good china.

However you celebrate, or don’t, I hope your November is filled with cinnamon and good cheer.

Publicity/Appearances

SPJ Boot Camp was next up when last we spoke, and once again we survived. Each year my co-chair Tammy Merrett and I have several panic attacks as we try to get students to sign up, preferably more than 48 hours before the event; acquire enough bagels and pizza and soda to keep everyone fed and hydrated; deal with the inevitable Disappearing Guest Speaker; and actually wrangle our way through the event. My topic this year was freelancing for fun and profit, which is always one of my favorite presentations.

Next up was Archon! This is always one of the highlights of our year, and this one might have been the one to beat for all time. We had something like seven or eight Underlords at the show, which always makes things more fun. We also had a plethora of minions working the booth – so many that I don’t think I worked a single shift! It was also our highest take ever for Archon, and maybe there’s a connection there… I should stay away from the booth more often! Seriously, we had an absolute blast, and our team was fantastic. As a bonus: I must have been in Activist Professor Mode when I filled out my form, because my panels were all about writing as resistance and how to fight book banning and why we need diverse literature and other such topics – a far cry from the usual “why vampires are sexy”! (They are, but I’m doing other things now.) Rawr!

I’m quoted in this piece about Archon from the Alton (Ill.) Telegraph. Me famous.

Our crew for Archon! Photo by Keith R.A. DeCandido. If you’re wondering, my T-shirt says “What a terrible era in which idiots govern the blind.” What. It’s Shakespeare.

Following that was MediaFest, which is a joint conference between the Society of Professional Journalists, College Media Association and Associated Collegiate Press. Taking place this year in Washington D.C., I attended on a fellowship from the SPJ Freelance Community and SPJ Foundation, and I am very grateful for the honor. It’s hard times for those of us in the news biz, but when is it not?

While there, my chapter (St. Louis Pro) was honored as the outstanding small chapter in Region 7, which encompasses four Midwestern states. I realized that I have now been president of St. Louis Pro for ten years, since no one will depose me despite my best efforts. Jokes aside, it is an honor and privilege to serve the journalism community of St. Louis in this way. Here is the lovely press release SPJ sent out about the fellowship.

Also, I was there for the DC No Kings rally, and got some fun pictures of the march. I’ve covered plenty of protests, of course – I am a journalist in St. Louis – but this was by far the biggest. I also was able to hit a couple of museums – not the ones I wanted, mind you, as the National Museum of African American History was closed for the shut down. But I was able to visit the Folger Shakespeare Library and see more than 80 First Folios of the Bard’s work, and also spent a lunch break at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. (Yeah, I’m a nerd. Raise your hand if you’re shocked.)

The day after I flew home: Leclaire Parkfest. Many of you know that I am a team captain for Relay for Life, which raises money for the American Cancer Society. Parkfest is our team’s kickoff for our annual fundraising, selling used books from St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church’s Book Fair to raise money for ACS. We had a great crew of volunteers and mostly lovely weather once the previous day’s rainstorms dried up, and got a healthy start to our fundraising for 2026.

There’s actually not much left for the year! Unfortunately I had to cancel my appearance at Contra in Kansas City next weekend due to a schedule conflict. Other than a quick weekend sojourn to Hannibal and Marceline Mo. – for fun, not signing anything – and a holiday signing in December, I’m done! I might even unpack.

Next year is booking quickly, however! I’m pleased to add a guest lecture at the Ethical Society of St. Louis in January, updating on the epidemic of book banning and literary censorship in the U.S. If you are interesting in having me speak to your group on this or other issues in my areas of expertise, contact my assistant at kyates@donaldmedia.com.

2025 calendar:

Books and Brews, Alton, Ill. Jan. 18
Conflation, St. Louis, Mo. Feb. 21-23
International Women’s Day, Second Life March 7-9 [POSTPONED]
Weird STL release party/signing, St. Louis, March 7
Writers of the Riverbend, Alton, Ill. March 8
Midsouthcon, Memphis, Tenn. March 21-23
AWP Los Angeles, March 26-30
Live author chat/book release, April 7
Afterwords Books, Edwardsville, Ill. April 26
Boozy Book Fair, St. Charles, Mo. May 10
Prairie Fox LitFest, Ottawa, Ill. May 17
Pagan Picnic, St. Louis, Mo. May 31
Books and Brunch, Alton, Ill. June 21
West County Barnes and Noble, St. Louis, Mo. June 28
Imaginarium, Louisville, Ky. July 18-20
VampChat, online, July 19
Nerd Market, Alton, Ill. Aug. 16 (CANCELED)
Dragoncon, Atlanta, Ga. Aug. 28-Sept. 2
Melting Pot, Granite City, Ill. Sept. 6
SPJ Boot Camp, Edwardsville, Ill. Sept. 20
Archon, Collinsville, Ill. Oct. 3-5
SPJ Conference, Washington, D.C. Oct. 15-18
Contra KC, Kansas City, Mo. TBA (canceled.)
Books, Booze and Baubles Fair, St. Charles, Mo. Dec. 13

2026 calendar:

“Barbarians at the Gate: Book Banning in the U.S.,” Ethical Society of St. Louis, Jan. 4
Conflation, St. Louis, Mo. Feb. 20-22
AWP, Baltimore, Md. March 4-7
Midsouthcon, Memphis, Tenn. March 20-22
SPJ Region 7 Conference, Milwaukee, Wis. April 10-11
ConCarolinas, Charlotte, N.C. May 29-31
Imaginarium, Louisville, Ky. July 17-19
Dragoncon, Atlanta, Ga. Sept. 3-7 (tent.)
Archon, Collinsville, Ill. Oct. 2-4

Journalism

I’m sorry to report that Feast Magazine was shut down by its owner, Lee Enterprises. This was a surprise to me and to the editor, and I was sad to lose my only food-writing client. Granted, I have more than enough work to keep me busy, but I’m going to miss those tasty assignments. This month’s journo list is light as much of the work came toward the end of the month, and some of them haven’t run yet.

• U.S. Steel to shut down production in Granite City (Labor Tribune)
• U.S. Steel reverses plan to scrap Granite City mill (Labor Tribune)
• Hoffman plan for fairer wages signed (Labor Tribune)

Note: Not all articles are available online, and some may be behind paywalls.

Fiction

One incomplete draft this month: Mirror, Mirror (Patreon)

Here’s where Blackfire Rising is currently shambling:

Patreon/Blogs

Skele-fun Halloween traditions (Patreon)
How to survive a horror movie: 2025 edition (Patreon – FREE)
Poem: Once I was a girl (Patreon)
Archon report! (Patreon and Elizabeth Donald)
Breaking out of the compartment (Patreon)
It’s Archon time! (Patreon)
Haunted house (Patreon)
Fellowship of the… freelancers (Patreon and Donald Media)
Just a temp (Patreon and Elizabeth Donald and Donald Media)
Dragoncon 2025! (Patreon)

Check out the Patreon index here. It needs updating, but most of the entries are listed there by category.

Did you know that Patreon subscribers get a 10 percent discount from me and The Literary Underworld? For the latter, that applies to all books, not just mine! For a dollar a month, you really can’t beat it. Just be sure to remind us at the booth as we do not have the subscriber list memorized. If you’re not a subscriber, the base level is $1 a month! You should totally join.

Currently on the nightstand: The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead, an amazing writer that always reminds me how much I have yet to learn. The nonfiction book is Glitch, a feminist ideology book I picked up at the women in the arts museum. Recently finished includes Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood; and Scream With Me by Eleanor Johnson, an examination of 1970s horror movies through a feminist lens. Riding around in the bag is Ursula K. LeGuin’s writing text, as I keep cribbing ideas from it for my students; and a recent acquisition, Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times by Azar Nafisi. Now if only I could find more time to actually read them…

Photography

Shoots included Washington D.C. and the No Kings march, of course. I also took plenty of shots at the Folger Shakespeare Library and National Museum of Women in the Arts, plus some pretty country roads, a haunted Halloween trail, Archon and more. All of it is pending on Patreon, when I get my act together!

Almost all of the images in the galleries are available for purchase, so if you see something you like that isn’t in the store, email kyates@donaldmedia.com and we’ll get you a quote. A few might not be available for purchase due to copyright issues.

That’s it for this month! See you in December! Remember, Elizabeth Donald books make an amazing holiday gift. *subtle

March 7, 2025March 7, 2025

BookNotes: No book for you, come back when you’re 26

In what might be the silliest idea yet to protect young people from acknowledging the existence of sex, Corpus Christi, Texas has created two separate sections of its library: One for teens, as in ages 13-18, and another for “young adults,” for books appropriate for ages 18-25.

That’s right. They are now restricting certain books for adult humans up to the age of 25. In a public library.

Many of the book-banning activists believe that these kinds of “leveled” cards are still censorship, as well as a significant liability: it takes the responsibility for curating a child’s reading away from the parents and places it on the library, which then can be held accountable in this idiotic age for what sneaks through. Heaven forfend parents be involved enough to know what their kids are reading.

But the ludicrousness of telling an adult of 25 that they are too young and naive to read a book about a family with two mommies, or that acknowledges the existence of sex, absolutely amazes me. Folks, by the time I was 25 years old I’d been through high school and college, gotten married, started my journalism career and had a baby. I knew what sex was, and had covered trials for stuff too gnarly to describe in the newspaper, much less a children’s book. What do you think you’re protecting me from?

In other news from the Worst Timeline:

Residents of Huntington Beach, Calif. will actually vote on book banning later this year. One of the measures repeals the “advisory board” that basically serves as the library’s censor, and the other decides the future of privatizing the libraries. (Me personally? Not a big fan of privatizing libraries, and I think there’s a whole column to be written on how that’s a Very Bad Thing.)
Book bans this week hit Rutherford County, Ten.; Radnor High School in Pennsylvania; Ohio, Indiana, Florida (always), Virginia, Wyoming, Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado and Utah. And Canada. What? Come on, Canada, we count on you to be the voice of sanity in this hemisphere!
Oh, about Utah? It’s got one of the strictest book-ban laws, which ban certain books statewide (so much for local control). This despite the fact that there are 42 public school districts but only two of those districts account for 80 percent of books banned. Also, it’s not just banning the books from being provided by the school. Students may not bring their own copies of really subversive material like Forever by Judy Blume into the building. Oh, and it doesn’t apply to private schools. Because reasons.
Missouri wants to allow parents to sue library board members if their children are able to access something they find offensive. That includes online electronic materials, which are managed by a third-party vendor, so they’d probably have to stop using those materials at all because the content curation wouldn’t be within the library’s control.
Turns out the people trying to cut off all funding to the Washoe County Library in Nevada was… wait for it… an anti-LGBTQ group.
The Pennfield Central School District in New York has been deluged with hundreds of messages that include racist, homophobic threats. This follows a meeting over a picture book they deemed explicit. The racists showed up in force, including one in a gorilla costume. Board meetings have had to be canceled due to the violent threats. Someone explain to me what the @#$! is going on? (Intended language censored so a guy in a gorilla suit doesn’t show up on my front porch.)
On the good news side, Authors Guild has created a free-access tracker for all the ongoing legislative nonsense and other attacks on free expression. They’re also suing Florida in court on the constitutionality of its book ban “don’t say gay” law.
And PEN America has issued an extensive “Cover to Cover” report on the books banned last year, with predictable findings: 36 percent featured authors or characters of color (even though children of color comprise more than 50 percent of U.S. schoolchildren), 24 percent LGBTQ people. When you limit it to graphic novels, the percentage goes up to 73 percent. Only 13 percent have “onscreen” depictions of sexual acts. About 85 percent are fiction. More than half are “young adult” as opposed to children’s or middle-grade books, and 32 percent are adult books. Nearly 30 percent are speculative fiction, second only to “realistic” books at 40 percent. About 43 percent depict abuse, mostly verbal with only 15 percent sexual. About 14 percent had religious content, ranging from The Purim Superhero to When You Trap a Tiger to, of course, the Bible.

And in the most unintentionally hilarious choice, Indiana is going after Dolly Parton. Specifically, her Imagination Library, which puts books in the hands of young children. The state of Indiana has now decided to stop supporting the program, to which it contributed $6 million per year, or 0.013 percent of the state budget. That serves about 60,000 Indiana children per year. Apparently more people have called their state legislators about this than any other budget cut this year.

Do not mess with Dolly.

February 6, 2025February 6, 2025

February 2025 Linkspam: Are ya feeling WEIRD?

You know what’s fun? Spending an hour writing your newsletter copy, only for a glitch to eat the whole thing. That kind of fits with how things are going these days, doesn’t it? Pretty WEIRD…

I know the world is burning down and reading your Facebook feed is enough to leave you hyperventilating into a paper bag, but… okay, there really isn’t a “but” there. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

Suffice to say that here at Donald Media Towers, the semester has begun without too much trauma, things are starting to pick up on the fiction front, and at the moment I am still breathing and ambulatory, which is about all that one can expect these days. Here’s to better news next month?

One thing already underway: I am participating in the easiest fundraiser ever. The American Cancer Society is hosting Read Every Day in February, and what do you know? I already read every day! I’ll be posting updates on ElizabethDonald.com, and you can donate to my fundraiser here.

Also note that I had a free article on the Patreon this week, as I have about twice as many free followers as paid on Patreon. You get SO much more content for only $1 a month, and I hope you’ll consider subscribing! Here’s the free photo essay: what’s with the gargoyles?

Publicity/Appearances

Usually I take January off for public appearances, for a tiny little breath of sanity before I start living out of a suitcase again. I broke precedent to add the Books and Brews Market in January, and it was probably the best one-day signing I’ve had in a decade. Many thanks to the Old Bakery Beer Co. in Alton, Ill. for hosting me and the other authors for a terrific day of bookselling and beer drinking.

Coming up this month is Conflation, which is always one of my favorite cons and cozy enough that it’s pretty much a family reunion. I’ve been asked to speak on the topic of book banning, which is not only very timely, but one of my favorite soapboxes. Following in March is Writers of the Riverbend, followed by Midsouthcon in Memphis and then AWP in Los Angeles, all in one month! So if I look a little frazzled by April, you know why. What time zone am I in anyway?

As you can see below, bookings for 2025 are starting to swarm. I am open to speaking engagements and conventions, but I book well in advance, so if you want me to come to your library, book club, literary festival or convention, contact kyates@donaldmedia.com.

2025 calendar:
• Books and Brews, Alton, Ill. Jan. 18
• Conflation, St. Louis, Mo. Feb. 21-23
• Writers of the Riverbend, Alton, Ill. March 8 (tent.)
• Midsouthcon, Memphis, Tenn. March 21-23
• AWP Los Angeles, March 26-30
• SPJ Regional Conference, Milwaukee, April 11-13 (tent.)
• ConCarolinas, Charlotte, N.C. May 30-June 1 (tent.)
• Imaginarium, Louisville, Ky. July 18-20
• Dragoncon, Atlanta, Ga. Aug. 28-Sept. 2
• Archon, Collinsville, Ill. Oct. 3-5
• SPJ Conference, Washington, D.C. Oct. 15-18 (tent.)

Journalism

• Nippon acquisition of U.S. Steel sent to Biden to decide (Labor Tribune)
• President Biden blocks sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon (Labor Tribune)
• Illinois completes minimum wage increase and other pro-worker laws taking effect (Labor Tribune)
• Illinois unions call for Day of Action on pensions (Labor Tribune)
• Daughter of union activist honored with MLK award (Labor Tribune)
• Illinois task force releases recommendations on warehouse safety (Labor Tribune)
• Hoffman pushes pro-Labor bills aimed at securing higher worker wages (Labor Tribune)
• Madison County Federation of Labor elects new board for 2025 (Labor Tribune)
• DNC national chair candidates make their case to Labor (Labor Tribune)
• Nippon, U.S. Steel file suit over blocked sale (Labor Tribune)
• Union bellringers raise $8,000 for Salvation Army (Labor Tribune)
• Madison County Federation of Labor, SWIL Labor Council celebrate holidays (Labor Tribune)

Note: Not all articles are available online, and some may be behind paywalls.
Fiction

I’m happy to announce that one of my creepy short stories is being reprinted in Weird STL, an anthology coming out later this month from the St. Louis Writers Guild. (You knew there was a reason for all the WEIRD, right?) This story has only appeared in River Bluff Review, and I’m looking forward to seeing it in print again. Hopefully by the next newsletter, I should have copies in hand and will be able to offer them on the online store and through Literary Underworld.

Elsewhere, work is proceeding on Blackfire Rising, and I think you guys are really going to enjoy returning to the Blackfire world. It certainly was a lot of fun for me, and I’m looking forward to my first release with Falstaff Books. More will be posted on the blog and social media once I have a cover. So far we seem to be on track to release at Midsouthcon, with preorders launching in advance.

Also, I participated in Authors Against Book Bans’ #UniteAgainstBookBans, reading a banned book in a bookstore. I wore my T-shirt that reads, “I survived reading banned books and all I got was smarter,” in a Barnes and Noble while reading Little Women.

Patreon/Medium/Blogs

Photography

Snow. Lots and lots of snow. What. I live in the Midwest, people. And my new commute has me driving through picturesque plains twice a week, so buckle in for snow, then spring fields, then amber waves of grain. This month’s pics are on Patreon at the links above, as well as a photo essay on a funky house in the town of my new employer.

Almost all of the images in the galleries are available for purchase, so if you see something you like that isn’t in the store, email kyates@donaldmedia.com and we’ll get you a quote. A few might not be available for purchase due to copyright issues.

Did you see this newsletter on my blog or Patreon and not in your inbox? Are you not subscribed to my monthly newsletter? For shame! You’re missing discounts and Photo of the Month and more! Sign up here, it’s free and I am way too disorganized to spam you.

January 4, 2025January 4, 2025

January 2025 Linkspam: Happy New Year!

Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. — Samuel Clemens

Remember when I said I greatly regretted taking on such a huge class overload for the fall? Well, it pretty much ate me for the last two months of 2024, and one of the things that fell through the cracks was this newsletter. So hello! I’m still alive, I survived the Semester of Too Many, and still wrote a few things (though not nearly enough!).

As I write this, the new year is only a couple of days old and I haven’t managed to screw up my spreadsheets yet. I am slated to begin teaching again in a week or two, but only six classes this time. I’ve added a new college to my lineup of coffee mugs: McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill. I’ll continue teaching at St. Louis Community College and at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo. While I won’t be back at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville this spring, I’m still on the list and hope to return in the future.

I like New Year. It’s not up there with Thanksgiving or Christmas and certainly not with Halloween, but the idea of a fresh start appeals to me. We clear out the detritus and excess of the holidays in favor of a clean start, with new goals and renewed sense of purpose. I say this as I sit at the Desk of Endless Tasks (tm Allan Gilbreath) heavily loaded with paperwork, but I plan to hammer through it and go about the business of getting life back in order and organized after the craziness of the last few months.

Hush, let me hold on to my delusions.

One of the things that marks the turn of the year for me is the annual Hanukwanyulemas gathering of my long-running writers’ group, the Eville Writers. We get together between Christmas and New Year to socialize without our laptops for once, and to check in on our Writers Resolutions. We get to read last year’s list, have a good little laugh, and then write new goals for the new year, with fresh intent and holding each other accountable.

My list this year pretty much looks like last year’s list, to my regret. I had a very ambitious list of projects, and with the unemployment circus, the fall semester marathon, an ugly car crash (everyone is fine) and assorted other personal nonsense, most of them did not get done. If I have a real resolution, it’s to stop rolling over project after project from year to year, assuming that I’ll get to it when I have time. You could roll that thing you always meant to do year to year forever, but eventually you run out of next times, folks.

As Mr. Eliot says in this month’s header: To make an end is to make a beginning. What can we do this year to make the world a little brighter, a little warmer, a little more beautiful? What can I do?

Let’s find out, shall we?

Publicity/Appearances

Whew! When we left off, Contra was pending in Kansas City on Oct. 25-27. I got to run my mouth about book banning and the First Amendment, and while the hotel was decidedly unfriendly with many problems, the wonderful people of ContraKC made it all work and we had a fantastic time. I also appeared at a spooky gathering of authors in Granite City, Ill. hosted by the Six Mile Regional Library District, and read a short segment on stage, just like my old theater days.

There was also a side trip to Chicago for a few days with the Husbeast, but that was to celebrate our tenth (!!!) anniversary. Of course, I also took photos, so that is a future post on Patreon waiting to happen. We live only four hours from Chicago and this was the first time we’d managed to get up there except for a weekend con mumblety years ago, and you know how it is: when we do a convention, we rarely manage to leave the hotel. It was great to see Chicago again, and I couldn’t help myself: I am now a member of the American Writers Museum, which you should totally visit when next you are in the Windy City. We also did a bungee trip to Kansas City for the Disney 100th Anniversary Exhibition, because of course we did, and that will also be pending on the Patreon.

Finally, I enjoyed the holiday author fair hosted by the Hayner Public Library in Alton, Ill. in December. Many thanks to the good library folks for organizing the signing, which was my second appearance at this annual event.

Added to the schedule: I’m delighted that the proposal for a caucus panel on adjunct teaching was accepted for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference for next spring. This will be my third AWP and my first as a presenter, and I am so glad to be able to participate, especially as an academic. It also means a trip to Los Angeles in March, which is always a fun time and a healthy dose of nostalgia for me, as many of my family lived there when I was young.

Also added: Books and Brews Market will take place 11:30-3:30 on Saturday, Jan. 18 at the Old Bakery Beer Co. in Alton, Ill. Authors and alcohol, what could possibly go wrong? I’m delighted to join this event and hope to see you there! I’m also delighted to announce that I’ve been accepted once again at Dragoncon, so I’m returning to the annual crazy once more.

As you can see below, bookings for 2025 are starting to swarm. I am open to speaking engagements and conventions, but I book well in advance, so if you want me to come to your library, book club, literary festival or convention, contact kyates@donaldmedia.com.

2025 calendar:
• Books and Brews, Alton, Ill. Jan. 18
• Conflation, St. Louis, Mo. Feb. 21-23
• Writers of the Riverbend, Alton, Ill. March 8 (tent.)
• Midsouthcon, Memphis, Tenn. March 21-23
• AWP Los Angeles, March 26-30
• SPJ Regional Conference, Milwaukee, April 11-13 (tent.)
• ConCarolinas, Charlotte, N.C. May 30-June 1 (tent.)
• Imaginarium, Louisville, Ky. July 18-20
• Archon, Collinsville, Ill. Oct. 3-5
• SPJ Conference, Washington, D.C. Oct. 15-18 (tent.)

Journalism

So… I won a journalism award. The International Labor Press Association honored the St. Louis Labor Tribune with three national awards, and one of them went to me: best news analysis, second place. It was a piece looking at the significant gains labor has made in the last few years with more than 139,000 new members, and yet the union density in the American workforce remains relatively low compared to its historical numbers. Honestly, as a freelancer I rarely see my work submitted for awards, so it was a pleasant surprise to snag one, and for the acknowledgement of the work I’m getting to do at the Labor Tribune.

• Steelworkers: Nippon offers bribes to workers to support U.S. Steel purchase (Labor Tribune)
• Budzinski blasts proposed USPS changes (Labor Tribune)
• Higher education unions make the grade with Labor actions (Labor Tribune)
• Union leaders call on Congress to support Social Security Fairness Act (Labor Tribune)
• A hard Election Night for Democrats didn’t leave Illinois untouched (Labor Tribune)
• Battle of Virden revisited in Miners Day program (Labor Tribune)
• Senators ask hard questions about ‘golden parachutes’ tied to Nippon acquisition (Labor Tribune)
• Steve Nonn retires after 50 years of labor support and county leadership (Labor Tribune)
• Town hall focuses on fixing Illinois’ Tier 2 pensions (Labor Tribune)
• Steelworkers remain adamant against sale of U.S. Steel (Labor Tribune)
• Illinois sees highest union gains in a decade (Labor Tribune)

Note: Not all articles are available online, and some may be behind paywalls.

Fiction

All quiet on this as we are deep in edits for Blackfire Rising, which is coming in March from Falstaff Books! I’m really enjoying revisiting my Blackfire crew, especially Major Sara Harvey, who is ready to rise up and kick ass yet again. Look for a lot more on this as we get closer to release!

Patreon/Medium/Blogs

Did you know that Patreon subscribers not only get at least one free ebook a year, but you get a 10 percent discount from me and The Literary Underworld? For the latter, that applies to all books, not just mine! For a dollar a month, you really can’t beat it. Just be sure to remind us at the booth as we do not have the subscriber list memorized. If you’re not a subscriber, the base level is $1 a month! You should totally join.

I’m going to try to get more book and movie reviews up on the various sites, as I neglected that part for much of 2024 and I went hunting for my reviews that didn’t exist. I’m reading more of a mix of literary and creative nonfiction these days, but I’m still finding space for my critters that go chomp in the night. As I look at my Goodreads list, roughly half were nonfiction or literary fiction, which is a first for me.

Currently on the nightstand: Out There Screaming, a terrific anthology of Black horror fiction edited by Jordan Peele and starring such amazing writers as Maurice Broaddus, Dr. Chesya Burke, TananariveDue, N.K. Jemisin, Rebecca Roanhorse and others. So far I’m loving it. Recently finished were “When You Leave I Disappear,” a novella by David Niall Wilson; Black Ink: Literary Legends on the Peril, Power and Pleasure of Reading and Writing edited by Stephanie Stokes Oliver; The Untold Story of Books by Michael Castleman; and I did not finish The Last Juror by John Grisham, a rare miss for me.

• So long 2024, and good riddance (Donald Media)
• And that’s a wrap for 2024 (Patreon, with book/film reviews)
• Happy holidays, wonderful Patrons (Patreon)
• A parable from Petunia Pigthighs (Elizabeth Donald)
• Standing in the sky (Patreon)
• Spoiler alert (Patreon)
• Poem: Time to Work (Patreon)
• In which Elizabeth wins an award… (Donald Media)
• How to survive a horror movie: 2024 edition (Medium)
• Quote: Jarek Steele (Patreon)
• Review: My Trade is Mystery by Carl Phillips (Patreon)
• True or False (Patreon)
• St. Andrew’s to hold book fair (Edwardsville Intelligencer)

Note: Patreon entries are indexed going back to its launch in 2018. I wanted new Patrons to be able to easily find the work that they’ve missed, and hopefully seeing how much work is on the Patreon might encourage some good folks to subscribe. (Hint, hint.) Seriously, subscriptions start at $1 a month, and I truly believe some of the best work I’ve ever done is on the Patreon. Check out the index here.

Photography

Photo shoots ranged all over, from Miner’s Day and Election Night to shoots in Chicago and Kansas City. All of them pending at Patreon, once I get my act together! (Hush, you in the back.) The website is sorely in need of updating, and that will be happening soon. Ish.

Almost all of the images in the galleries are available for purchase, so if you see something you like that isn’t in the store, email kyates@donaldmedia.com and we’ll get you a quote. A few might not be available for purchase due to copyright issues.

Photograph of the Month

Some of the classic books that served as inspiration for Disney movies over the years, from the Disney 100 exhibition in Kansas City.

That’s it for this month’s newsletter! Let’s all get back to what passes for normal, shall we?

December 31, 2024December 31, 2024

So long 2024, and good riddance

Welcome to the final roundup of 2024, and it’s a mixed bag, to be sure. In a year where press freedom and the simple freedom to read met unprecedented setbacks, we should cling to whatever scraps of joy and hope we can find.

• PEN America reported that more than 10,000 titles were removed from libraries and schools this year, which is more than three times the number last year, and about 80 percent were in Florida and Iowa.

• Whee! A federal judge struck down the Arkansas law that would have sent librarians and booksellers to jail for recommending books to minors. Anyone could have objected to any book for any reason and criminal charges would be filed.

• Louisiana’s bill that would criminalize librarians joining the American Library Association did not pass, but several states and local governments have banned the organization, which would have seemed like the least controversial organization in America ten years ago. Kelly Jensen has a comprehensive roundup of pending legislation.

• Elizabeth, Colo. leaders have decided to ban … wait for it… books about race, gender and mental health, and are now being sued by the ACLU.

• Libraries in Crawford County, Ark. and Liberty Lakes, Wash. are now desperately trying to stay open because book-banners are going after their funding. If you don’t ban the books we want, we’ll shut you down! Totally not censorship.

• Current banning efforts are underway in Cincinnati, South Carolina, Michigan, Indiana, Oregon, Colorado, Missouri, Texas and others. The list is shorter than usual because, well, school is out.

• In non-banning news: LitHub detailed the 50 biggest literary stories of 2024, and while some of them are silly (Nicholas Sparks adding Splenda to potato salad, which frankly seems on point for him), others are barnburners. Romance Writers of America filed for bankruptcy. New York City Public Library survived its funding attack. Stanford fired its entire creative writing program over Zoom. Authors who got canceled included Joe Arden, Neil Gaiman, and posthumous Alice Munro for various misdeeds. An Olympic boxer sued J.K. Rowling for being a jerk. AI continued to destroy life as we know it.

LitHub also had one of its most popular articles of the year: Ursula K. Le Guin on how to become a writer. (Step one: write.)

• And incoming President Trump sued the Des Moines Register for reporting that a poll indicated he might lose Iowa, and also sued 60 Minutes for … interviewing Vice President Kamala Harris.

Obviously we’ve all had better years. So grab onto that little scrap of joy, even if it’s just a really spectacular cookie, and enjoy it while you can, folks. I’ll see you on the flip side.

October 10, 2024October 10, 2024

October 2024: This newsletter was not created by AI

It seems everywhere I go, I’m plagued with AI.

Cribbing term papers is not a new invention; since the first teacher scratched out the first assignment on a stone tablet, Krog and Ug were sneaking peeks at each other’s slate. But AI has taken avoiding the work of writing to a new, shiny level, and for the first time we are seeing fellow academics hopping on board with enthusiasm because no one wants to get caught behind the 8-ball like we all were with, um, practically everything involving the internet.

Because this newsletter is again stupid late, I am fresh back from Archon, where I was on not one but two panels about AI and the creative arts, which also delved into AI and journalism and AI in academia and the Terminator is stalking me through the mall as we speak. Quite often I feel like the lone voice crying in the wilderness about the dangers of AI, not just in terms of its ethics but what it portends for critical thinking skills and the linguistic arts. But then I spend some time with fellow writers, the majority of whom walk on my side of the street.

I think I will be writing more about this as I move forward. It’s an odd feeling to be able to take a stand on divisive issues, after spending most of my professional life compartmentalizing my opinions to avoid the appearance of bias. But there are some subjects on which I can and should speak, including AI and book banning, which was the other topic on which I ran my mouth in Archon panels.

I wore my T-shirt that reads “I survived reading banned books and all I got was smarter.” I think I need an equivalent shirt for AI.

Publicity/Appearances

Of course, Archon is the big one this month, but it just ended! And it was a barrel of monkeys, folks. We had so much fun. We had seven Literary Underlords on site – almost eight, but one had a family emergency and couldn’t join us. Between the Underlords and our assorted Minions, the booth was well-staffed and did brisk business. In fact, it was the best-selling Archon we’ve had since I started keeping detailed records a decade ago.

Of course, we also brought the Literary Underworld Traveling Bar. “But wait, I thought you couldn’t get a hotel room??” Yes, as of a week before the event we didn’t have a room, but thanks to the intervention of Important People, we were able to get a room and bring the bar. We are very grateful to the concom and to the other room party people who made multiple efforts to help us out.

The Traveling Bar is always a popular feature, and our fans were asking about it at the booth from the moment we opened up shop on Friday afternoon. On Friday night, we opened our doors at 9 p,m, and I began serving drinks. My poor arm did not stop moving until 12:30, when I declared a five-minute union break and rested… so that I could get back to work and pour more drinks. One visitor said, “You’re the hardest-working person at Archon,” and this is demonstrably not true as the concom does far, far more work than me. But I appreciated the sentiment (and the tips).

Also: When I did the pre-con shopping for the very best in bottom-shelf Wal-mart liquor, I discovered this abomination:

I just took a picture of it because I thought it was funny. But 70-odd Facebook comments later, I dispatched The Man back to buy it (under his vehement protest) and stocked it on the bar.

They drank the whole bloody thing, folks. There was a succession of “dare you to” and lineups of people bolting shots with revolted expressions, but they drank it. Videos will be forthcoming when I catch up on my sleep (so, November?).

Also this past month: We hosted the Society of Professional Journalists Boot Camp, where I spoke on the practical application of the SPJ Code of Ethics and on freelancing for fun and profit. It was a highly successful Boot Camp with a great batch of young journos meeting with our terrific pros.

Coming up later in October: I’ll be speaking at The Bewitching Hours in Granite City, Ill. on Oct. 12, hosted by the Friends of Six-Mile Library. I’ll be doing a short reading and Q&A along with a handful of other spooooky authors, and we’ll all have our books for sale. I still haven’t figured out what I will read that is safe for all ages, as there possibly will be youngsters in the room and I do not wish to be responsible for their therapy bills.

(Now am I mystery, mayhem or mischief? Don’t answer that.)

Finally: Contra in Kansas City will be Oct. 25-27. I’m a tad nervous about this one as I am minion-less, and books are heavy. But Contra is always a great time, the people are friendly, and I get to run my mouth about book banning and the First Amendment. Rawr.

Added to the schedule: I’m delighted that the proposal for a caucus panel on adjunct teaching was accepted for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference for next spring. This will be my third AWP and my first as a presenter, and I am so glad to be able to participate. It also means a trip to Los Angeles in March, which is always a fun time and a healthy dose of nostalgia for me, as many of my family lived there when I was young.

As you can see, bookings for 2025 are starting to swarm. I am open to speaking engagements and conventions, but I book well in advance, so if you want me to come to your library, book club, literary festival or convention, contact kyates@donaldmedia.com.

2024 calendar:
• The Mill, Granite City, Ill. Oct. 12
• ContraKC, Kansas City, Mo. Oct. 25-27

2025 calendar:
• Writers of the Riverbend, Alton, Ill. Feb. 8 (tent.)
• Conflation, St. Louis, Mo. Feb. 21-23
• Midsouthcon, Memphis, Tenn. March 21-23
• AWP Los Angeles, March 26-30
• SPJ Regional Conference, Milwaukee, April 11-13 (tent.)
• ConCarolinas, Charlotte, N.C. May 30-June 1 (tent.)
• Imaginarium, Louisville, Ky. July 18-20

Journalism

This section is thinner while I’m in the teaching marathon, but it looks like spring will be lighter and I’ll be able to do more nonfiction after the new year.

• The Cookie Box brings family tradition to St. Charles County (Feast Magazine)
• Steelworkers remain adamant against U.S. Steel acquisition (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Illinois town halls to focus on reforming Tier 2 pensions (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Biden prepares to block Nippon acquisition of U.S. Steel (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Good times and high spirits at Wood River Labor Day parade (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Local leader honored for political activism (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Illinois eliminated grocery tax, but local city may bring it back (Belleville News-Democrat)

Note: Not all articles are available online, and some may be behind paywalls.

Fiction

We have a tentative release date for Blackfire Rising, which is the compendium of all the Blackfire stories to date and some new ones as we relaunch the series with Falstaff Books! I’m delighted to be part of the Falstaff Misfits, as our Fearless Leader likes to call us, and I am looking forward to inflicting Major Sara Harvey and her band of miscreants on new readers. Blackfire Rising compiles all the previously published novels, novellas and short stories in the series into one volume, including The Cold Ones, Blackfire, Yanaguana and more. Think of it as the author’s preferred edition, and I can’t wait for you to meet the new characters joining Sara on her misadventures. It looks like Blackfire Rising will hit the shelves in March, so more on this one as we confirm dates, get cover art and begin preorders!

The ebook for Dreadmire was a freebie for paid Patreon subscribers, and I recently found that some folks didn’t get their ebook. All Patreon subscribers should have received a message from me, but just in case: if you are a Patreon subscriber and didn’t get your ebook, message me ASAP and I’ll get it to you. Dreadmire is, of course, available on Amazon and Literary Underworld in ebook and dead-tree versions, the latter of which is especially apropos if you’ve read it.

I also have a limited supply of the 2024 St. Louis Writers Guild Member Anthology and the December 2023 edition of parABnormal Magazine, both of which have pieces by me, so snag them while you can!

Patreon/Medium/Blogs

Photography

News photography was mostly the Labor Day parade slated above, and the cosplay at Archon that will be featured on the Literary Underworld and Elizabeth Donald blogs when I get my act together.

Almost all of the images in the galleries are available for purchase, so if you see something you like that isn’t in the store, email kyates@donaldmedia.com and we’ll get you a quote. A few might not be available for purchase due to copyright issues.

September 12, 2024September 12, 2024

September Linkspam: It’s in the syllabus

Holy late newsletters, Batman! Remember when I told you folks that I was a tad overcommitted for the fall? I wasn’t kidding. I ended up with nine classes at three universities for the fall, and that’s at least three to four more classes than any sane person should try to teach and four to five more than a full-time professor would teach.

Thus I am now deeply embroiled in 12-14-hour days, seven days a week, spinning plates to keep up all my classes and do right by my students. I’m also still freelancing, running my volunteer programs and doing fiction in the wee hours, though they’ve kind of taken a back seat to this glut of work. I’m hopeful that next spring, I’ll be able to achieve a bit more equilibrium.

Also, buy stock in coffee.

Publicity/Appearances

The big event was Dragoncon, which was a blast and chronicled on the Patreon. The most popular cosplays were Beetlejuice and Deadpool/Wolverine, but there were still plenty of Barbies, a startling number of Indiana Jones and even Olympics cosplay, which I found hysterical. The nonchalant shooting Olympian was the most popular among those, and kudos to the guy who used a banana instead of a fake gun.

(The Jedi Musketeers)

My panels included “Igniting the Horror Muse,” where horror authors reveal how we get in the right mindset to scare you pantsless; an urban-fantasy panel on vampire fun; “The Adventure Begins,” a writing craft panel on developing ideas and getting started; “101 Fascinating Ways to Kill Off a Character” (no idea how I ended up on that one… *halo*); another horror panel, this time focused on craft; a panel on writing from myths and legends; and of course a reading and a signing. The reading was unintentionally hilarious as I had about five people and then in the last five minutes, this huge legion of people came in. No, they were not there to hear the end of “Azrael“; I was apparently the warmup act for John Scalzi. Dangit.

Coming up: We have still been unable to snag a hotel room for Archon. A dozen attempts and pleas to the management and the convention have been unsuccessful. (We know there is construction going on, there’s no blame, to be clear. According to the hotel management, the room block sold out in two hours.) We will be there and the Literary Underworld will have our usual booth, so drop by there if you’d like to see us. Alas, no room party with the Traveling Bar unless a miracle happens.

Also pending: The Society of Professional Journalists Boot Camp, where I’ll be presenting on the SPJ Code of Ethics. That’ll happen on Sept. 21, and it’s always a highlight of the year for St. Louis SPJ.

Added to the schedule: I’ll be speaking at The Bewitching Hours in Granite City, Ill. on Oct. 12, hosted by the Friends of Six-Mile Library. I’ll be doing a short reading and Q&A along with a handful of other spooooky authors, and we’ll all have our books for sale. Now I have to think of something to read that is safe for all ages… something about bunnies and unicorns…

(Now am I mystery, mayhem or mischief? Don’t answer that.)

Also note that Contra in Kansas City has changed weekends and hotels. This actually makes it slightly more convenient for me, as I have a lot going on in early November. Follow their Facebook page for further details.

As you can see, bookings for 2025 are starting to fill. I am open to speaking engagements and conventions, but I book well in advance, so if you want me to come speak, contact kyates@donaldmedia.com.

2024 calendar:
• SPJ Boot Camp, Edwardsville, Ill. Sept. 21
• Archon, Collinsville, Ill. Oct. 4-6
• The Mill, Granite City, Ill. Oct. 12
• ContraKC, Kansas City, Mo. Oct. 25-27

2025 calendar:
• Conflation, St. Louis, Mo. Feb. 21-23
• Midsouthcon, Memphis, Tenn. March 21-23
• AWP Los Angeles, March 26-30 (tent.)
• ConCarolinas, Charlotte, N.C. May 30-June 1 (tent.)
• Imaginarium, Louisville, Ky. July 18-20

Journalism

Note that after this month, this section may get thinner while I’m in the teaching marathon.

• Illinois town may reinstate grocery tax (Highland News-Leader)
• Highland customers may see sewer rate increase (Highland News-Leader)
• Korte Rec Center under construction (Highland News-Leader)
• Four students win scholarships from SOAR (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Boil order in effect in Highland (Highland News-Leader)
• New Illinois law requires timely processing of grievances (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Illinois representatives introduce MINES Act (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Skilled trades summer camp trains high school potentials (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• SIUE Staff Senate offers scholarships for union families (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Steelworker legend David Dowling remembered (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Tech training coming to Red Bud (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Union calls out Western Illinois University for “reckless” layoffs (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Illinois and Missouri have vastly different approaches to child labor (St. Louis Labor Tribune)

Note: Not all articles are available online, and some may be behind paywalls.

Blogs

• BookNotes: Anything gay is labeled (Donald Media)
• Dragoncon schedule announced (Donald Media and Elizabeth Donald)

Fiction

Dreadmire is live and roaming the earth! Click the image to buy the book, and if you’re interested in a free sample from my dark romp through the swamp, click here!

It’s also available on Amazon, of course.

The ebook for Dreadmire was a freebie for paid Patreon subscribers, and I recently found that some folks didn’t get their ebook. All Patreon subscribers should have received a message from me, but just in case: if you are a Patreon subscriber and didn’t get your ebook, message me ASAP and I’ll get it to you.

I also have a limited supply of the 2024 St. Louis Writers Guild Member Anthology and the December edition of parABnormal Magazine, both of which have pieces by me, so snag them while you can!

• “Run Rabbit Run,” a short story on Patreon
• “Azrael,” a short story on Patreon

I will have something else to announce shortly, but until it’s confirmed, mum’s the word. #vaguenewslettering #isthataword #itisnow #hashtagsoutofcontrol

Patreon/Medium

Photography

This month’s photography was mostly cosplay at Dragoncon! It was quite a challenge to catch people with a cell phone camera while driving a scooter, as chronicled on Patreon.

Almost all of the images in the galleries are available for purchase, so if you see something you like that isn’t in the store, email kyates@donaldmedia.com and we’ll get you a quote. A few might not be available for purchase due to copyright issues.

That’s it for this month! Tune in next time, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

August 31, 2024August 31, 2024

This week in books: Anything gay is labeled

I wish I could just sail through Dragoncon reveling in the mass creative energy and joyful nerdery on display in Atlanta this weekend, as 100,000 people celebrate the art and artists that bring joy to their lives.

But that joy isn’t coming to Christian County, Mo. this week. Any book with LGBTQ+ content will be labeled with a warning, as will books with violence and sexual content. Apparently the simple fact of being gay qualifies as equal to pornography or violence in Christian County.

And yes, being labeled qualifies as censorship, as Book Riot details this month. With labeling comes “anyone under 18 can’t access this,” and so on. The argument for book banning in schools has often been, “it’s not banned when you can go get it in the library.” Even more obtuse is “it’s not banned, you can go buy it at a bookstore or Amazon.” Setting aside the number of extremists pushing for booksellers to be prosecuted for selling suspicious books, that also keeps a large swath of literature in the hands of the wealthier American. If you’re poor and want to read Sula, you’re out of luck.

Greenville County S.C. is killing the school book fairs because they can’t figure out how to censor them properly and the public library is moving all books that mention transgender to the adult section. Katy, Texas has banned all books about gender fluidity from school libraries. Fort Bend, Texas has granted the superintendent unilateral authority to ban books. Dubuque, Iowa has banned 50 more books, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

Rutherford County, Tenn. has a list of challenges to consider this week, including some of the usual suspects. Their proposed bans are Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Skin and Bones by Sherry Shahan, and Queen of Shadows and Tower of Dawn by Sara J. Maas. At least they’re determined to actually read the books before they ban them, unlike the ones relying on AI and a list compiled by far-right activists to decide their “local standards.” Also considering bans are Oshkosh Public Schools in Wisconsin and the Arkansas State Library Board.

St. Joseph, Mo. opted not to ban The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and the banners are big mad. El Paso, Colo. students now have to have parents opt in to letting them use the library at all. Moms for Liberty (yeah, they’re still here) is suing Clyde-Savannah Central School district for not banning books they don’t like.

Ketchikan Public Schools in Alaska have banned What Girls Are Made Of, another Alaska library board member literally said “burn it” when opting to remove Identical by Ellen Hopkins from the library, and an Oklahoma teacher lost her teaching license for giving students a QR code to allow them to borrow banned books from the Brooklyn Public Library. And the Baltimore city school board ended its meeting when a so-called “book-banning pastor” from North Carolina showed up to speak.

But the winner this month is the library in Monroe County, Ga., which is moving all LGBTQ books to the adult section, so you have to be 18 or older to read the picture book Heather Has Two Mommies.

What makes them special? They shared this gem from a local op-ed: “On what planet could you say that LGBT books in the kids’ area are ‘neutral,’ or morally equal to Christian books? I mean, if you put LGBT books in the youth section, you’re necessarily, by definition, an anti-Christian library. No serious believer in the Bible would ever allow such.”

Now, they didn’t write it, but they shared it. This, by the way, is a PUBLIC library. Not a school. The op-ed comes from the Monroe County Reporter, and was literally titled “Some books need burning.” I could not get the whole text, since I’d have to sign up for the Monroe County Reporter and I am not in that headspace, thanks. Book Riot’s Literary Activism newsletter handled that so I don’t have to.

Extra credit goes to Virginia state Sen. Chris Head, who is “deeply troubled” by some books in the Botetourt County Library – not school, public. He subscribes to the “it’s not banned if you can buy it online” school, and is deeply troubled by a book about menstruation. Horrors!

Finally, no roundup would be complete without Florida. Many thanks to Book Riot for finding this gem: “A woman complained to Brevard Public Schools that a graphic novel’s depiction of a gay relationship could cause compulsive masturbation in middle schoolers.” The book, by the way, was found not to violate Florida’s statutes but was banned anyway.

And New College of Florida decided to dump every book from the newly-disbanded Gender and Diversity Center into a dumpster. Everything from Jewish folk tales to a history text on same-sex unions in pre-modern Europe went into the trash.

This is only a selection of book-censorship items crossing my inbox this week, and that’s just the stuff I see. Imagine how much more is out there that I missed, or that Book Riot missed, or that didn’t get wider news coverage because the drumbeat is so constant now. I want to run through the halls shouting, “They’re coming for the books!” But I’m not sure anyone would look up.

June 7, 2024June 7, 2024

June 2024 Linkspam

With the spring conferences done and the summer tour looming, it’s been kind of quiet here in the Tower. I’ve enjoyed this uncharacteristic spell of Not Traveling, being able to settle in and bake things and write things and… cough my lungs out?

Stupid bronchitis. This is why we can’t have nice things.

Fortunately that’s over with, though my singing voice is still a bit more Froggy the Gremlin than I care for. Summer has begun here in sunny Illinois, with the song of cicadas and the mugginess of a swamp. It could just be that I have swamps on the brain, as the anniversary release of Dreadmire will take place on June 18. Check the Fiction section below for more details, but if you planned to pre-order a signed copy, do so this week! I really love the cover and my book designer, Kody Boye, did such a fantastic job on this special edition. I hope you like it as much as I do! You’ll never look at mosquitoes the same way again…

Meanwhile, I am happy to report that my Relay for Life team has exceeded our goal of raising $3,000 for the American Cancer Society. Our local Relay celebration will take place this coming weekend, and we are looking forward to celebrating another year of birthdays for our cancer survivors. Click here if you would like to donate to my campaign. Together we can beat the Beast.

Publicity/Appearances

Unfortunately I had to cancel my appearance on May 9 to discuss the evils of A.I. in news and publishing, thanks to the bronchitis. Rest assured that when I’m not sick, I will happily rant away about how A.I. is threatening democracy and the ability of writers to make a living.

Coming up this month is a return to the Collinsville Public Library, which is always one of my favorite locations. When I was a young reporter working for the Belleville News-Democrat, the Collinsville Library was just up the street a few blocks from my newsroom. There were many lunch breaks I spent in its quiet, cool lower level writing penny dreadfuls, and indeed some of my early novels were begun in that library. Thus it’s always a pleasant nostalgia to participate in their author and artist fairs. I’ll also be speaking to the National Federation of Professional Women this month, discussing opportunities and pitfalls in publishing.

I am hopeful to be able to set up an event or two in late June, as I will be traveling to Georgia and back and what is travel for if not to sell books? The details are still being worked out, so keep an eye on my Facebook and website. Meanwhile, I’m chagrined to find that the Edwardsville Book Festival, Archon, and AuthorCon St. Louis are all happening the same bloody weekend in October! I have not yet managed to perfect cloning myself, so we’ll see how that sorts itself out.

2024 calendar:
• Collinsville Author and Artist Fair, Collinsville, Ill. June 15
• National Federation of Professional Women, St. Louis, Mo. June 20-22
• CAFE at Spine Books, St. Louis, Mo. July 7
• TechWrite STL, St. Louis, Mo. July 10
• St. Louis Writers Guild, St. Louis, Mo. July 13
• Imaginarium, Louisville, Ky. July 19-21
• Plethora of Pens, Glen Carbon Public Library, Aug. 5
• Dragoncon, Atlanta, Ga. Sept. 5-9
• Archon, Collinsville, Ill. Oct. 4-6

Journalism
I was happy to add new client Hearst Corp. to my roster this month with my first byline in the Edwardsville Intelligencer, which is kind of funny since I’ve been living in and covering Edwardsville for nearly a quarter century. This means I officially do some level of work for all three major news chains in our area: Hearst, Lee, and McClatchy. One more and I get bingo!

• U.S. Steel merger postponed to December as USW accuses Nippon of empty promises (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Illinois takes action on worker safety (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Will new bill help towns rehire laid-off paramedics? (Highland News-Leader)
• Highland reopens Silver Lake after “oil” scare (Highland News-Leader)
• Highland closes Silver Lake for apparent oil spill (Highland News-Leader)
• Illinois passes bill banning ‘captive audience’ meetings (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Highland residents worried about lead in water should test (Highland News-Leader)
• Monroe County Democrats focus on redefining patriotism (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Foodie Bistro combines soul food traditions with high-end flair (Feast Magazine)
• Madison County remembers workers killed on the job (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Edwardsville kids earn bikes by reading (Edwardsville Intelligencer)
• City Hall reopens after a year of flood repairs (Highland News-Leader)
• New fallen officers memorial proposed in Madison County (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Labor council seeks nominations for Labor Awards (St. Louis Labor Tribune)
• Celebration of Mother Jones set for May Day (St. Louis Labor Tribune)

Note: Not all articles are available online, and some may be behind paywalls.

Blogs
• The PRESS Act (St. Louis SPJ)
• We will miss the RFT (St. Louis SPJ)
• In which I run my mouth on someone else’s blog (Elizabeth Donald and Patreon)
• Adult writers, child readers? (Bad Girls Good Guys)

Fiction
A reminder that preorders are about to close for the re-release of Dreadmire in its 15th anniversary edition! Read here to find out more. And if you’re interested in a free sample from my dark romp through the swamp, click here!

I also have received a limited supply of the 2024 St. Louis Writers Guild Member Anthology and the December edition of parABnormal Magazine, both of which have pieces by me, so snag them while you can!

Patreon/Medium
• Nevermore (Medium)
• Words that lead us into mystery (Medium)
• Review: The First Omen (Patreon)
• Review: The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Adichie (Patreon)
• Poem: Once I was a girl (Patreon)
• Panic, caffeine and spite (Patreon)

Note: Patreon entries are indexed going back to its launch in 2018. I wanted new Patrons to be able to easily find the work that they’ve missed, and hopefully seeing how much work is on the Patreon might encourage some good folks to subscribe. (Hint, hint.) Seriously, subscriptions start at $1 a month, and I truly believe some of the best work I’ve ever done is on the Patreon. Check out the index here.

Photography
As has been the last few months, most of my shoots have been on assignment for my freelance clients. But I do occasionally get to go see pretty things…

• Sculpture roll: Laumeier Sculpture Park (Patreon)

Almost all of the images in the galleries are available for purchase, so if you see something you like that isn’t in the store, email kyates@donaldmedia.com and we’ll get you a quote. A few might not be available for purchase due to copyright issues.

Photograph of the Month