Christopher Brown
@christopherbrown.bsky.social
Writer & lawyer. Author of A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS • Novels TROPIC OF KANSAS et al • urban nature newsletter FIELD NOTES • christopherbrown.com
Pinned
My new book A Natural History of Empty Lots is released today. I hope you like it—it distills 20 years of exploring the edgelands, working on rewilding projects, and trying to understand what such places teach us about our lives, history and future: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/chris...
Reposted by Christopher Brown
"Wilderness isn’t pristine and doesn’t exist somewhere
‘out there’ away and distinct from humans; it is a force
that is perpetually integrating, adapting, and thriving."
Chaney Hill reviews A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY
LOTS by Christopher Brown. @timberpress.bsky.social
‘out there’ away and distinct from humans; it is a force
that is perpetually integrating, adapting, and thriving."
Chaney Hill reviews A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY
LOTS by Christopher Brown. @timberpress.bsky.social
Resilience and Redemption in Austin’s Edgelands
A review of Christopher Brown’s “A Natural History of Empty Lots,” which records Brown’s exploration of the murky lines between “nature” and “civilization.…
southernreviewofbooks.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:03 PM
"Wilderness isn’t pristine and doesn’t exist somewhere
‘out there’ away and distinct from humans; it is a force
that is perpetually integrating, adapting, and thriving."
Chaney Hill reviews A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY
LOTS by Christopher Brown. @timberpress.bsky.social
‘out there’ away and distinct from humans; it is a force
that is perpetually integrating, adapting, and thriving."
Chaney Hill reviews A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY
LOTS by Christopher Brown. @timberpress.bsky.social
Reposted by Christopher Brown
For today’s #LayoverLibrary, I’m reading ‘A Natural History of Empty Lots’ by @christopherbrown.bsky.social. The book follows the author’s exploration of Austin’s urban wilds and advocates for their preservation in the face of irresponsible development.
November 5, 2025 at 3:41 PM
For today’s #LayoverLibrary, I’m reading ‘A Natural History of Empty Lots’ by @christopherbrown.bsky.social. The book follows the author’s exploration of Austin’s urban wilds and advocates for their preservation in the face of irresponsible development.
Waiting for take-out and reading the paper here in the Tropic of Kansas:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
November 4, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Waiting for take-out and reading the paper here in the Tropic of Kansas:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Wednesday evening I'll be teaching an online class for @writersleaguetexas.bsky.social on nature writing in the 21st century—as both genre in its own right and essential element for writers in any genre. It should be a lot of fun—details & sign-up here: writersleague.org/calendar/wri...
“Writing the Natural World: A 21st Century Reboot” with Christopher Brown
$59 for Members $119 for Non-Members For any writer in any genre, nature is a presence in the narrative, whether as the central focus or ambient background. Writing the natural world presents a tre…
writersleague.org
November 3, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Wednesday evening I'll be teaching an online class for @writersleaguetexas.bsky.social on nature writing in the 21st century—as both genre in its own right and essential element for writers in any genre. It should be a lot of fun—details & sign-up here: writersleague.org/calendar/wri...
Reposted by Christopher Brown
A beautiful Sunday morning read by @christopherbrown.bsky.social full of rain and fog fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/an-ofrenda...
An Ofrenda for the Killdeer
No. 187
fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:42 PM
A beautiful Sunday morning read by @christopherbrown.bsky.social full of rain and fog fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/an-ofrenda...
A walk in the forgotten wetland under the overpass, a father-daughter outing to an active shooter event, plus rain lilies, film photos, and a kitchen counter moth promising a Roger Dean dream, in this week's Halloween x Todos Santos Field Notes: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/an-ofrenda...
An Ofrenda for the Killdeer
No. 187
fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:39 PM
A walk in the forgotten wetland under the overpass, a father-daughter outing to an active shooter event, plus rain lilies, film photos, and a kitchen counter moth promising a Roger Dean dream, in this week's Halloween x Todos Santos Field Notes: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/an-ofrenda...
Got some film back
November 1, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Got some film back
Ambient kingfisher
saying thank you for the rain 🌦️🙏
saying thank you for the rain 🌦️🙏
October 26, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Ambient kingfisher
saying thank you for the rain 🌦️🙏
saying thank you for the rain 🌦️🙏
Reposted by Christopher Brown
enjoyed this (esp lengthy discursion on the American way of dealing with leaves), as i always do when i read Chris
Some Field Notes from the beginning of autumn in Texas, with leaf blower wars, cryptids, river clean-ups, and the politics of yard work: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/blow-force...
Blow Force, Burn Force, Chupacabra
No. 186
fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com
October 20, 2025 at 11:53 PM
enjoyed this (esp lengthy discursion on the American way of dealing with leaves), as i always do when i read Chris
Reposted by Christopher Brown
Hard to beat “seeking the hand-blistered zen of the rake.”
Always an enjoyable read.
Always an enjoyable read.
Some Field Notes from the beginning of autumn in Texas, with leaf blower wars, cryptids, river clean-ups, and the politics of yard work: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/blow-force...
Blow Force, Burn Force, Chupacabra
No. 186
fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com
October 19, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Hard to beat “seeking the hand-blistered zen of the rake.”
Always an enjoyable read.
Always an enjoyable read.
Reposted by Christopher Brown
Went to a great @litquake.org program w/ Josh Jackson & his new book THE ENDURING WILD www.forgottenlandsproject.com/the-book. A clear-eyed take on the beauty & degradation of public lands. It pairs well with @christopherbrown.bsky.social ‘s work on urban wildlands, to my mind. Rays of light & hope.
Book | Explore Public Lands — Forgotten Lands Project
Discover 'The Enduring Wild,' a captivating journey through California's vast public lands by Josh Jackson. Pre-order now and receive a free set of postcards.
www.forgottenlandsproject.com
October 19, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Went to a great @litquake.org program w/ Josh Jackson & his new book THE ENDURING WILD www.forgottenlandsproject.com/the-book. A clear-eyed take on the beauty & degradation of public lands. It pairs well with @christopherbrown.bsky.social ‘s work on urban wildlands, to my mind. Rays of light & hope.
Some Field Notes from the beginning of autumn in Texas, with leaf blower wars, cryptids, river clean-ups, and the politics of yard work: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/blow-force...
Blow Force, Burn Force, Chupacabra
No. 186
fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com
October 19, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Some Field Notes from the beginning of autumn in Texas, with leaf blower wars, cryptids, river clean-ups, and the politics of yard work: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/blow-force...
Reposted by Christopher Brown
I found this a really illuminating thread on what demonstrations do and why they matter.
In social movement studies, we talk about how marches and protests expand the threshold of acceptable risk so that people take more and bigger social risks IN PUBLIC, EN MASSE. This is extremely important for the bourgeois white folks holding signs and building social rapport.
Not a shitpost: #NoKings is feel-good performative activism for comfortable mostly upper and upper middle class white folks and that’s good, actually. Millions of people in the streets protesting a fascist regime is good. It is good for the normie baseline to be massive displays of public dissent.
October 19, 2025 at 2:59 AM
I found this a really illuminating thread on what demonstrations do and why they matter.
Reposted by Christopher Brown
For his Texas Highways debut, @christopherbrown.bsky.social encounters spectral forces in Marfa.
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
Coming Face-to-Face With the Chupacabra
On a trip to see the Marfa Lights, another out-of-this-world encounter steals the show
texashighways.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:09 PM
For his Texas Highways debut, @christopherbrown.bsky.social encounters spectral forces in Marfa.
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
Reposted by Christopher Brown
“...the only rest stop in America that promises an experience of the paranormal along with a place to pee.”
About that time we went looking for ghost lights and found a different kind of specter—fun piece to get to write for Texas Highways: texashighways.com/culture/comi...
Coming Face-to-Face With the Chupacabra
On a trip to see the Marfa Lights, another out-of-this-world encounter steals the show
texashighways.com
October 15, 2025 at 5:52 AM
“...the only rest stop in America that promises an experience of the paranormal along with a place to pee.”
100% TRUE STORY!
Face-to-Face with the Chupacabra
by Chris Brown aka @christopherbrown.bsky.social
/ I was there
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
by Chris Brown aka @christopherbrown.bsky.social
/ I was there
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
Coming Face-to-Face With the Chupacabra
On a trip to see the Marfa Lights, another out-of-this-world encounter steals the show
texashighways.com
October 14, 2025 at 6:54 PM
100% TRUE STORY!
Reposted by Christopher Brown
Face-to-Face with the Chupacabra
by Chris Brown aka @christopherbrown.bsky.social
/ I was there
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
by Chris Brown aka @christopherbrown.bsky.social
/ I was there
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
Coming Face-to-Face With the Chupacabra
On a trip to see the Marfa Lights, another out-of-this-world encounter steals the show
texashighways.com
October 14, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Face-to-Face with the Chupacabra
by Chris Brown aka @christopherbrown.bsky.social
/ I was there
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
by Chris Brown aka @christopherbrown.bsky.social
/ I was there
texashighways.com/culture/comi...
About that time we went looking for ghost lights and found a different kind of specter—fun piece to get to write for Texas Highways: texashighways.com/culture/comi...
Coming Face-to-Face With the Chupacabra
On a trip to see the Marfa Lights, another out-of-this-world encounter steals the show
texashighways.com
October 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM
About that time we went looking for ghost lights and found a different kind of specter—fun piece to get to write for Texas Highways: texashighways.com/culture/comi...
Reposted by Christopher Brown
Returning these library books today, great couple of weeks of reading just completed
@christopherbrown.bsky.social
@kashana.blacksky.app
@elongreen.bsky.social
@christopherbrown.bsky.social
@kashana.blacksky.app
@elongreen.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Returning these library books today, great couple of weeks of reading just completed
@christopherbrown.bsky.social
@kashana.blacksky.app
@elongreen.bsky.social
@christopherbrown.bsky.social
@kashana.blacksky.app
@elongreen.bsky.social
Reposted by Christopher Brown
Great stuff! But a bird never flew on one wing. 🙂Another wonderful interview with Chris... for the Sustainability Agenda with sound by Cat Byrne, Clapton edgelands (i), gathered in the Lea Valley, Clapton, London, during November 2024. www.thesustainabilityagenda.com/podcast/epis...
Episode 200: Exploring the Austin edgelands: Christopher Brown discusses his latest book, A Natural History of Empty Lots. - The Sustainability Agenda
In this thought-provoking episode, Christopher Brown—lawyer, novelist, and urban naturalist— takes us on a journey through the landscape around his home in Austin, Texas, the edgelands where the city ...
www.thesustainabilityagenda.com
October 8, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Great stuff! But a bird never flew on one wing. 🙂Another wonderful interview with Chris... for the Sustainability Agenda with sound by Cat Byrne, Clapton edgelands (i), gathered in the Lea Valley, Clapton, London, during November 2024. www.thesustainabilityagenda.com/podcast/epis...
Reposted by Christopher Brown
Here's the conversation we had about A Natural History of Empty Lots when it was first released: plutopia.io/christopher-...
Christopher Brown: A Natural History of Empty Lots - Plutopia News Network
Christopher Brown discusses his latest book, "A Natural History of Empty Lots," which blends nature writing, memoir, and nonfiction.
plutopia.io
October 8, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Here's the conversation we had about A Natural History of Empty Lots when it was first released: plutopia.io/christopher-...
The paperback edition of A Natural History of Empty Lots is out today from Timber Press @hachetteus.bsky.social! Thanks to all the readers who have picked up the hardcover and ebook over the past year (or listened to the audiobook) and spread the word 🙏📖💚
October 7, 2025 at 11:42 AM
The paperback edition of A Natural History of Empty Lots is out today from Timber Press @hachetteus.bsky.social! Thanks to all the readers who have picked up the hardcover and ebook over the past year (or listened to the audiobook) and spread the word 🙏📖💚
Reposted by Christopher Brown
Two books, How To Love A Forest by @howtoloveaforest.bsky.social and A Natural History of Empty Lots by @christopherbrown.bsky.social, examine our place and responsibility in a changing world.
Here’s my review of the two of them: transfer-orbit.ghost.io/forests-tree...
Here’s my review of the two of them: transfer-orbit.ghost.io/forests-tree...
October 6, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Two books, How To Love A Forest by @howtoloveaforest.bsky.social and A Natural History of Empty Lots by @christopherbrown.bsky.social, examine our place and responsibility in a changing world.
Here’s my review of the two of them: transfer-orbit.ghost.io/forests-tree...
Here’s my review of the two of them: transfer-orbit.ghost.io/forests-tree...
Reposted by Christopher Brown
Coming to Tachyon 30th Anniversary shindig this Sun Oct 5 12-5 #SanFrancisco Public Library main branch?
You can hobnob with most of the staff & authors Peter S. Beagle, @joerlansdale.bsky.social, @samtasticbooks.com, and others!
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
buff.ly/6Wbvy1u
#sfpl #tachyon30
You can hobnob with most of the staff & authors Peter S. Beagle, @joerlansdale.bsky.social, @samtasticbooks.com, and others!
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
buff.ly/6Wbvy1u
#sfpl #tachyon30
October 2, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Coming to Tachyon 30th Anniversary shindig this Sun Oct 5 12-5 #SanFrancisco Public Library main branch?
You can hobnob with most of the staff & authors Peter S. Beagle, @joerlansdale.bsky.social, @samtasticbooks.com, and others!
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
buff.ly/6Wbvy1u
#sfpl #tachyon30
You can hobnob with most of the staff & authors Peter S. Beagle, @joerlansdale.bsky.social, @samtasticbooks.com, and others!
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!
buff.ly/6Wbvy1u
#sfpl #tachyon30
Reposted by Christopher Brown
Very much liked this book —
Austin folks: please join us Tuesday night at Alienated Majesty Books for the paperback release of A Natural History of Empty Lots (and a month-long celebration of this amazing bookstore's second birthday): alienatedmajestybooks.com/events/34023...
Paperback Release & Eco-Panel: A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS by Christopher Brown | Alienated Majesty Books
Home of the leastsellers in Austin, Texas. Small presses, poetry, comics, translated works, and titles you can't find elsewhere.
alienatedmajestybooks.com
October 3, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Very much liked this book —