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Matt Bell

@mdbell79.bsky.social

10K followers 1.2K following 5.2K posts

Writer, teacher. Out now: APPLESEED, a novel (2021, @marinerbooks). REFUSE TO BE DONE, a guide to novel revision (2022, @soho_press). He/him.

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · Sep 8

I just found out that REFUSE TO BE DONE is going into its 8th printing! I've heard so many stories from writers whose projects have been helped along by this little yellow book over the past three years. Nothing makes me happier!

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 15h

Ha! That would be fun too!

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 16h

Thanks for this!

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 16h

A packed room for my lecture on sentence acoustics and style! Such a great participatory crowd too. Made my day!

Jonathan Danielson @jonathanin2k.bsky.social · 18h

@mdbell79.bsky.social changing hearts and minds at Desert Nights, Rising Stars

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Reposted by Matt Bell

Alina Stefanescu @alinaetc.bsky.social · 23h

"Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing."

- Henry Miller

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 1d

She's so good.

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Reposted by Matt Bell

Dina L. Relles @dinalrelles.bsky.social · 2d

“…the beauty of things that are ending.” — Annie Ernaux, Getting Lost

He didn’t say he would call. (In spite of myself, I think of my mother, the last time I saw her, in April ‘86. I said, “See you Sunday,” and she did not reply.) However, he did ask me if I was going to Salon due livre, meaning that we wouldn’t see each other before then.

And yet, and yet, what tenderness, the last time. But that’s just it: the last planned meetings have the beauty of things that are ending.

What if I were never to see him again, as with Claude G in the past? That is like death. I fear the worst (he’s leaving France, ditching me, etc.)

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 1d

"Mr. Van de Ven cut her off. They were eating, for heaven's sake, weren't they? 'You may be,' she said, 'but I am drinking.'" —Christine Schutt, All Souls

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 1d

I love this book, love this writer. Go see @ambersparks.bsky.social on tour!

Amber Sparks @ambersparks.bsky.social · 1d

Going on tour next week! Come say hi please don’t make me read to myself and that one guy who’s actually got earbuds in

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Reposted by Matt Bell

Caroline Casey @cacasey.bsky.social · 1d

one thing I love about nobel day is seeing literature prevail over books

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 1d

Felt this in my bones, Caroline!

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 1d

He’s so good.

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 1d

Among other things, the Casio keyboard analogy in here is very, very good. (I had one of those keyboards too.)

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 1d

"AI art is an interesting technology, because despite its growing popularity, nobody seems to want it. Artists hate using it. Consumers hate consuming it. And yet it thrives, like an Arby's built inside a protected forest."

This The Oatmeal comic is well worth a read: theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 1d

"To not act on wonder was inexcusable." —Erika Swyler, WE LIVED ON THE HORIZON

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 1d

It’s so good.

Reposted by Matt Bell

Erika Swyler @erikaswyler.bsky.social · 2d

Why, hello. @bookshop.org has free shipping at the moment because whatever about that one site.
Wanna read what I'll be talking about at ASU on 10/22?
Wanna support my adventures while I research the next project?
👇
bookshop.org/p/books/we-l...

We Lived on the Horizon: A Novel

A Novel

bookshop.org

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Reposted by Matt Bell

Aubrey Hirsch @aubreyhirsch.bsky.social · 2d

🚨IT’S MY BOOK’S BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!!🚨 You can join me on zoom for a virtual launch event tonight at 8pm ET!

us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/1LXOngHxQIuz7ryxFNJGHA%23/registration

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 3d

“How much are we willing to delegate? How much of our autonomy are we prepared to renounce? My questions come down to this: Are we really willing to give up thinking, give up dreaming? How will we defend ourselves? Are we even capable of doing so anymore?” —Werner Herzog, THE FUTURE OF TRUTH

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 3d

Beautiful!

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 3d

That’s great to hear! Thank you!

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 3d

I don’t like it either!

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 3d

I wouldn’t believe I have to mute the word Bluesky on Bluesky, if I hadn’t already had the experience of muting Twitter on Twitter. Some fish love to talk about the water!

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 3d

We're so lucky to be reading you!

Reposted by Matt Bell

Erika Swyler @erikaswyler.bsky.social · 3d

If you'd like to listen to me talk about "writing against" and planning societies, you can!

This program is one of the most hopeful things I've seen come out of the last few years.

Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 3d

Erika Swyler is this semester's ASU Worldbuilding Initiative Distinguished Lecturer, visiting on 10/22 as part of our Humanities Week celebrations. (Over three consecutive days, I'm speaking with her, Jesmyn Ward, and Nnedi Okorafor. What luck!) Her talk is free online and in-person. Register below!

Fall 2025 Worldbuilding Distinguished Lecture with Erika Swyler | ASU Events

Arizona State University welcomes the nationally bestselling author of The Book of Speculation Erika Swyler as a guest in its Fall 2025 Distinguished Worldbuilding Initiative Lecture series. Swyler wi...

asuevents.asu.edu

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Matt Bell @mdbell79.bsky.social · 3d

Ha! I love it!