Mars
@marzfrommars.bsky.social
A Black and Queer Fantasy writer who spends waay too much time in her own head. She/Her.
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed disastrous cuts to our city's libraries while setting aside $5M for a ShotSpotter replacement. As library associate Sara Heymann told me, “Libraries embody everything we need to fight back against fascism.” My piece on what’s at stake and how to fight back:
You Can’t Fight Fascism While Defunding Libraries
“Libraries embody everything that we need right now to fight back against fascism," says Sara Heymann.
organizingmythoughts.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed disastrous cuts to our city's libraries while setting aside $5M for a ShotSpotter replacement. As library associate Sara Heymann told me, “Libraries embody everything we need to fight back against fascism.” My piece on what’s at stake and how to fight back:
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one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
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If you like an author's work, the best thing you can do is buy it. The second best thing you can do is ask your local library to buy it. Or, do both!
A reminder that the median book deal for a debut author in the UK is £7000, paid over 12-18 months. (from 2022 Society of Authors report). Some of your favourite writers are struggling. societyofauthors.org/2022/12/06/a....
A profession struggling to sustain itself - The Society of Authors
ALCS report on author incomes shows 60% drop in median incomes since 2006
societyofauthors.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
If you like an author's work, the best thing you can do is buy it. The second best thing you can do is ask your local library to buy it. Or, do both!
Reposted by Mars
Step 1: Sign up for a FREE library card at your local library today.
Step 2: Enter a world of possibilities.
Step 3: Share some of the library joy that is sure to come.
Step 2: Enter a world of possibilities.
Step 3: Share some of the library joy that is sure to come.
fry from futurama says " and it 's all thanks to the books at my local library .. "
ALT: fry from futurama says " and it 's all thanks to the books at my local library .. "
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Step 1: Sign up for a FREE library card at your local library today.
Step 2: Enter a world of possibilities.
Step 3: Share some of the library joy that is sure to come.
Step 2: Enter a world of possibilities.
Step 3: Share some of the library joy that is sure to come.
Reposted by Mars
“I asked ChatGPT” “I asked Claude” I asked this horseshoe crab and he said your ass wouldn’t have lasted two seconds in the Triassic
November 23, 2025 at 9:50 PM
“I asked ChatGPT” “I asked Claude” I asked this horseshoe crab and he said your ass wouldn’t have lasted two seconds in the Triassic
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Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.
This is who it was:
This is who it was:
November 21, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.
This is who it was:
This is who it was:
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I want A.I. to do my admin and laundry while I write and illustrate books. I don't want A.I. to write and illustrate books while I do my admin and laundry.
November 21, 2025 at 9:46 AM
I want A.I. to do my admin and laundry while I write and illustrate books. I don't want A.I. to write and illustrate books while I do my admin and laundry.
Reposted by Mars
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Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Reposted by Mars
Optimistic by Sounds of Blackness is a prayer.
November 9, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Optimistic by Sounds of Blackness is a prayer.
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It's a great cosmic joke that neurodivergence both runs in families and gets diagnosed based on parent reports. I was diagnosed at 30 because a man who has eaten potatoes every day for 57 years and a woman who collects loose buttons decided I was a perfectly normal child.
November 15, 2025 at 5:10 AM
It's a great cosmic joke that neurodivergence both runs in families and gets diagnosed based on parent reports. I was diagnosed at 30 because a man who has eaten potatoes every day for 57 years and a woman who collects loose buttons decided I was a perfectly normal child.
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Remember: "Don't let the bastards grind you down!"
November 15, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Remember: "Don't let the bastards grind you down!"
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"why is your name in a pedophiles phone?"
November 12, 2025 at 4:25 PM
"why is your name in a pedophiles phone?"
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There is something really wrong with people who need workers to be not just competent, but slavishly fake-happy. "Slavishly" used on purpose, bc that's where this grotesquerie comes from.
"Store employees are now required to smile if they are within 10 feet of a shopper.
They also must make eye contact with and wave to or greet the customer.
If they’re within four feet, the employee should ask how the customer’s day is going or if they need help."
🙄 Won't stop the boycott, y'all.
They also must make eye contact with and wave to or greet the customer.
If they’re within four feet, the employee should ask how the customer’s day is going or if they need help."
🙄 Won't stop the boycott, y'all.
Target is now requiring its employees to smile more
As the holiday season fast approaches, Target is urging its employees to add a little more “jolly” to their work routine.
www.wilx.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:12 PM
There is something really wrong with people who need workers to be not just competent, but slavishly fake-happy. "Slavishly" used on purpose, bc that's where this grotesquerie comes from.
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Good literary translation requires understanding (language, culture, genre--on both sides of the translation) and an ability to write well. "AI" can't do that. There are no shortcuts. Treat your work and foreign language readers with the respect they deserve. You won't fool anyone with this.
Amazon has launched a new AI-driven translation service, Kindle Translate, for Kindle Direct Publishing authors 👇 #BookSky
Amazon launches AI translation service for indie authors
ebx.sh
November 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Good literary translation requires understanding (language, culture, genre--on both sides of the translation) and an ability to write well. "AI" can't do that. There are no shortcuts. Treat your work and foreign language readers with the respect they deserve. You won't fool anyone with this.
Reposted by Mars
Melínoe from Hades 2 🗡️
November 7, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Melínoe from Hades 2 🗡️
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Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
November 5, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
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"I have no responsibility for your disappoint" is my new life philosophy
October 29, 2025 at 10:49 AM
"I have no responsibility for your disappoint" is my new life philosophy
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If you’re a Bloomsbury author, I’d make sure they’re not using your work to train AI and maybe send a note about gross this is.
Nigel Newton, CEO of Bloomsbury, telling us why AI is good for publishing with this fun caveat: “We are programmed deep in our DNA to be comforted by the authority and the reliability of big brand names, & that applies more than ever to the names of big writers."
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
AI can help authors beat writer’s block, says Bloomsbury chief
Publisher last week reported jump in revenue in academic and professional arm thanks to AI licensing deal
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 11:57 AM
If you’re a Bloomsbury author, I’d make sure they’re not using your work to train AI and maybe send a note about gross this is.
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I don't think we understand just how bad the decline of the Internet is to knowledge.
3 years ago, I could perform a very basic search in any engine and get an absurd number of relevant links, research articles, etc.
Today, I can perform the same search and find absolutely nothing.
3 years ago, I could perform a very basic search in any engine and get an absurd number of relevant links, research articles, etc.
Today, I can perform the same search and find absolutely nothing.
October 26, 2025 at 1:26 AM
I don't think we understand just how bad the decline of the Internet is to knowledge.
3 years ago, I could perform a very basic search in any engine and get an absurd number of relevant links, research articles, etc.
Today, I can perform the same search and find absolutely nothing.
3 years ago, I could perform a very basic search in any engine and get an absurd number of relevant links, research articles, etc.
Today, I can perform the same search and find absolutely nothing.
Reposted by Mars
Why would a billionaire want a functioning paper? Functioning papers cover shit like “did you know this billionaire makes his workers pee into bottles instead of taking a break” and “you pay way more tax than a guy with ten yachts”
Lmao WaPo has fewer than 100K circulation now. It turns out “alienate your liberal subscriber base” is not a good strategy when the Republicans also hate you. www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...
The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay
Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.
www.forbes.com
October 14, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Why would a billionaire want a functioning paper? Functioning papers cover shit like “did you know this billionaire makes his workers pee into bottles instead of taking a break” and “you pay way more tax than a guy with ten yachts”
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I genuinely cannot express how vital it is that you train yourself to recognize AI-generated images and videos for your own good because none of this is going away and many, many people are counting on you to fall for their shit
October 11, 2025 at 2:46 PM
I genuinely cannot express how vital it is that you train yourself to recognize AI-generated images and videos for your own good because none of this is going away and many, many people are counting on you to fall for their shit
Reposted by Mars
October 7, 2025 at 7:21 PM
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It’s really hard to describe to people who are not artists how survival mode does *not* inspire creativity, as the myth would have us believe. It suppresses creativity as you try to limit every possible risk – and the opportunities that come with them.
It turns out building habits and stuff actually requires not being in survival mode, who knew?!
(Yeah yeah I did)
(Yeah yeah I did)
October 7, 2025 at 8:19 AM
It’s really hard to describe to people who are not artists how survival mode does *not* inspire creativity, as the myth would have us believe. It suppresses creativity as you try to limit every possible risk – and the opportunities that come with them.
Reposted by Mars
My friend and colleague Wesley Morris and I had a very sobering conversation about America since the 1619 Project published and how it feels to be falling back under the veil that W.E.B. Du Bois so mournfully wrote about. I hope you’ll listen to this episode of Cannonball @nytimes.com
September 20, 2025 at 1:27 PM
My friend and colleague Wesley Morris and I had a very sobering conversation about America since the 1619 Project published and how it feels to be falling back under the veil that W.E.B. Du Bois so mournfully wrote about. I hope you’ll listen to this episode of Cannonball @nytimes.com