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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jul 31

Fellow authors, check out Eva Langston's terrific new podcast, "The Long Road to Publishing," in which she interviews longtime novelists about their careers.

I highly recommend the debut interview with the novelist Courtney Maum, and the next one with Julia Bartz:
shows.acast.com/.../epis.../...

shows.acast.com

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · May 10

Yes, I really enjoyed that one too.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Mar 24

SecDef is NOT a position where it's okay to be learning basic security practices on the job.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Feb 17

WaPo is dead to me.

Jeff Bezos probably thinks he doesn't have to care about the lost 250,000 subscribers, but I doubt that alienating your hometown readers is a long-term success strategy.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Feb 17

Finally. I’ve been waiting for this.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Feb 13

Actually, you did vote for it. You just thought it would hurt other people instead of you.

Oops.

Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Feb 13

Taking care of Mom has become like getting too near a black hole: the equations blow up, causality breaks down, time and space switch roles, nothing makes sense.

open.substack.com/pub/michaelc...

The Mystery of the Locked-in Cat

In which my mother becomes entropy's best friend.

open.substack.com

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 24

On Jan. 5th, 2020, Daniel Rodriguez texted his friends, "There will be blood." On Jan 6th, at the Capitol, he shocked a cop repeatedly in the neck with a stun gun. A jury found him guilty. Sentenced to 12 years. Trump just let Rodriguez go free. (Hat tip: @davidlitt)

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 22

Donald Trump just pardoned them. This is a clear signal that he views the rule of law with contempt and plans to pardon future acts of violence on his behalf.

We D.C. residents remember January 6th all too well. Remember this day. And remember the convicted felon who let the perpetrators go. (3/3)

Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 22

The damage cost $2.7 million to repair. For months afterward, the Capitol was surrounded by fences topped with razor wire.

The ringleaders were tried in a court of law, found guilty by a jury, and given sentences in the neighborhood of 20 years. That's how serious their crimes were. (2/3)

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 22

Let's just revisit the truth of January 6th, shall we?

This was not a peaceful political protest. This was a planned, coordinated, violent onslaught by Republican thugs.

Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards testified afterward, "I was slipping in people's blood." (1/3)

Capitol police officers looking through a shattered window.

Republican thugs fighting with Capitol police to breach the barriers.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 16

The point is that if the Authors Guild succeeds in litigating and/or making a deal with AI, you can then refuse to have your work used in future AI models, or opt for compensation.

Your other options are to (a) just keep complaining on the Internet or (b) sue the corporations yourself.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 16

I strongly disagree. When a client of mine wouldn't pay, the Authors Guild stepped in and successfully pressured him. They've reviewed my contracts and made good suggestions. Their Model Trade Contract is a superb resource. They've consistently litigated to protect authors' rights.

Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 16

You can affirm that, too. The site spells it all out.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 16

PSA for my author friends.

Check out CreatedByHumans.ai, a project to get AI companies to pay authors when LLMs ingest their books as training data.

They've partnered with the Authors Guild, which gives them a ton of credibility in my eyes. The AG exists to protect the rights of writers.

The AI Rights licensing platform for creators - Created by Humans

Take control of your works' AI Rights and get compensated for their use by AI companies.

CreatedByHumans.ai

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 10

In lieu of flowers, send pizzas to his funeral. #pizzagate

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 9

On a scale of 1 to 10, how corrupt does this sound?

"Alito spoke with Trump not long before Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to delay his sentencing following his conviction in New York in a case arising from hush money payments."

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Reposted by Michael Chorost

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · Jan 7

🚨🚨🚨🚨HOMEWORK🚨🚨🚨🚨
I think the Jack Smith draft report is finished. Write to Merrick Garland and ask him to release the Jack Smith report. You can do it here. Select “Messages to the Attorney General” from the drop down menu www.justice.gov/doj/webform/...

Your message to the Department of Justice

www.justice.gov

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Jan 6

I’m really looking forward to the big snowstorm in D.C. Supposed to be 6-12 inches. I love the quiet and the white, and the feeling of staying in while the world takes a pause.

Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Dec 12

Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Dec 10

Hi there RFK. I was born 5 years before the rubella vaccine in 1969. Cost: $10 per dose in 2024 dollars.

Cost of 2 cochlear implants: $100,000.

Plus 50 years of hearing aids + batteries, cochlear implant spare parts, and audiologist visits.

Not getting a vaccine can be pretty damn expensive.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Dec 6

Artists do need to protect their creative time. But for me, much of the satisfaction of writing is its entree into a community of ideas. Part of my "true purpose" is being in conversation with readers and writers, and that means juries, book tours, speaking gigs--all of which I love doing.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Dec 2

Looking to interview creative writers--poets, novelists, etc.--who use ChatGPT or other LLMs to aid their creative process. Not for text production (they're terrible at that) but for brainstorming, idea generation, and other high-level uses. Hit me up.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Nov 30

I was born in 1964, just before the rubella vaccine became available. My mother got rubella while she was pregnant with me, so I was born deaf. I've done very well with hearing aids and then cochlear implants, but it has not been easy. One short illness = lifelong consequences.

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Michael Chorost @michaelchorost.bsky.social · Nov 30

But gradually, through persistence and grit, everyone, including the aliens, learns to understand each other. It's an optimistic story of communication against all odds.

Now that it’s done, I’m about to look for a fiction agent. Fingers crossed. Wish me luck! (6/end)

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