for you page :)

I'm slightly above average at a handful of things

Not good enough for brilliance but 

Too good to ignore

In an era where skills must be monetized 

But the effort of monetizing work is a hidden burden 

Lurking behind a hill, blotting out a sunset

I'm coming to hate my art

I can string bright glowing glass and sparkling stones 

With iridescent shells to make a necklace 

It's not good enough

I can knit fluffy soothing yarn or soft chenille or 

Perky daring colorful novelty fibers into

Improbably cosy sweaters 

It's not good enough

I weave descriptions and worlds from dust 

And imagined shadows into aching glory

It's not good enough

I can sing trembling lines of poetry and melody

from silence and stillness into colour

It's not good enough

To survive under capitalism 

What happened to the starry future skies 

We used to dream up,

With mechanized wonders and lives of leisure 

And brilliant new attractions and follies

Everything is either popular, for rich people, or carefully faked

I hate my art because

I'm not famous on tiktok

Because at some point art has started to feel like

Palliative care for the soul 

And regardless of skill 

I'm too ugly to go viral 

***

A writer and professional freelance editor, Michelle Browne lives in Lethbridge, AB with her partners-in-crime and their cats. She is currently working on the next books in her series, other people's manuscripts, knitting, jewelry-making, and drinking as much tea as humanly possible.

Find her all over the internet: *Website * Mailing list * Magpie Editing * Amazon * Tumblr * Mastodon *Facebook * Medium * Twitter  * OG Blog* Instagram * Paypal.me * Ko-fi

 

Breaking News: Over 250 Fans, A New Baby, And More!

Hello hello!

I want to thank all of you lovely people on Twitter and Facebook for your likes and follows. Over 1000 followers on Twitter and 250 Facebook fans! I feel pretty damn special. Accordingly, I am rewarding you with OH MY GAWD ALL THE UPDATES! Make sure you get out your calendars, planners, diaries, or stone tablets to mark down all this info.

Of course, when I say "a new baby" I mean my new book, The Loved, The Lost, The Dreaming. Based partly on nightmares I had in my childhood, it will be Book 1 of The Nightmare Cycle, with stories related to the main novel coming in a year or so. Normally I don't let this kind of thing slip in advance, but I just know you'll all be wanting more as soon as you get a taste. The beta readers are attacking it as we speak and it is going through the final edits stage. More info about this, of course, will be coming closer to the release! You're in for even more surprises.

Speaking of which, The Stolen: Two Short Stories has a new cover as well. I miss the old one, but OH MY GAWD LOOK AT THE SHINY:

Andrey helped with the formatting and the amazing Travis Luedke hunted down the haunting image render of a sunset on Io. 

 FREE BOOK ALERT!

Of course, the important thing is that The Stolen: TSS will be FREE on Friday and Saturday, so you should grab a copy! Here's the link to 'favourite'. Of course, you can still buy it now for a mere $0.99. This story and AtSWS will also be getting some sequel and connecting stories. That collection will be called The Meaning Wars and will continue where those two leave off.

Now that I've overwhelmed you all with teasers, I'm going to sign off. Remember--free book this weekend, Friday January 11th and Saturday January 12th! New book out this month, including feature-length novel!

*****

Thanks for dropping by the nest once again. Don't miss any of the good kind of crazy. Find me on Twitter, Facebook, and on Tumblr. I've got a few reviews to catch up on, more news coming, and even some fantastic interviews with fellow authors. Stay tuned and please share. This is your darling SciFiMagpie, over and out!