Todd Robert Petersen
@toddpetersen.bsky.social
PICNIC IN THE RUINS from Counterpoint Press. Pater Familias. Novelist. Professor of Creative Writing and Film. Repped by: Sobel/Weber.
New Christmas lights are up outside, and my wife is trying to cast a spell to plunge to world into darkness so she can see what they look like right away.
November 29, 2025 at 11:22 PM
New Christmas lights are up outside, and my wife is trying to cast a spell to plunge to world into darkness so she can see what they look like right away.
I really like non-traditional Christmas music. Here's one of my favorites: JINGLE ALL THE WAY by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. music.apple.com/us/album/jin...
Jingle All the Way by Béla Fleck & The Flecktones on Apple Music
Album · 2008 · 16 Songs
music.apple.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:55 PM
I really like non-traditional Christmas music. Here's one of my favorites: JINGLE ALL THE WAY by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. music.apple.com/us/album/jin...
"Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits is such a beautiful song.
November 28, 2025 at 12:36 AM
"Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits is such a beautiful song.
Some Barthes for Thanksgiving.
November 27, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Some Barthes for Thanksgiving.
Y'all. Today is Jimi Hendrix AND Bruce Lee's birthday. Born two years apart.
November 27, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Y'all. Today is Jimi Hendrix AND Bruce Lee's birthday. Born two years apart.
Thanksgiving is so often a great big mashup of a cooking show where everyone has to make a variation of the same meal in order not be voted off plus the seven fishes episode of The Bear.
November 27, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Thanksgiving is so often a great big mashup of a cooking show where everyone has to make a variation of the same meal in order not be voted off plus the seven fishes episode of The Bear.
Something happened yesterday that is prompting me to start a new short story called "Roxy Music at the Discount Store."
November 27, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Something happened yesterday that is prompting me to start a new short story called "Roxy Music at the Discount Store."
Bikes plus first aid kits on display. What are you telling us Walmart?
November 26, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Bikes plus first aid kits on display. What are you telling us Walmart?
Just got back from the grocery store and all those people standing in line at the check-out know the truth about prices.
November 26, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Just got back from the grocery store and all those people standing in line at the check-out know the truth about prices.
I just got a new high score in that video game called "fit everything into the refrigerator."
November 25, 2025 at 4:11 PM
I just got a new high score in that video game called "fit everything into the refrigerator."
Going downstairs to start Pluribus.
November 25, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Going downstairs to start Pluribus.
Today a car mechanic told me he fixes more new cars than old ones. Then he paused and said, "That pretty much sums up the state of things."
November 25, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Today a car mechanic told me he fixes more new cars than old ones. Then he paused and said, "That pretty much sums up the state of things."
Dinner music for tonight's homemade cream of mushroom soup and sourdough bread. Paul Desmond's EASY LIVING.
November 25, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Dinner music for tonight's homemade cream of mushroom soup and sourdough bread. Paul Desmond's EASY LIVING.
14yo is lying in bed tonight singing "We'll Meet Again" by Vera Lynn to himself. Not sure how he sourced it (maybe Joe Henry) but the kid is a bonafide cool dude.
November 24, 2025 at 4:10 AM
14yo is lying in bed tonight singing "We'll Meet Again" by Vera Lynn to himself. Not sure how he sourced it (maybe Joe Henry) but the kid is a bonafide cool dude.
Evening tunes: Grant Green's NIGERIA. My wife keeps shouting from the next room how much she loves it.
November 24, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Evening tunes: Grant Green's NIGERIA. My wife keeps shouting from the next room how much she loves it.
I have taken one of Amber's workshops before, and she's great. Every now and then I use a workshop to renew my own writing and teaching. This one looks fabulous.
Friends! I am teaching a workshop in December that I am so excited about! I’ve been writing and writing about domestic fabulism forever, but I’ve never actually fashioned a workshop around it before. I think this is going to be so much fun - I hope you’ll join!
No Place Like Home: Writing Domestic Fabulism with Amber Sparks
Learn to write domestic fabulism with author Amber Sparks. Transform ordinary home and family stories with fantastical elements in this online seminar.
writingworkshops.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I have taken one of Amber's workshops before, and she's great. Every now and then I use a workshop to renew my own writing and teaching. This one looks fabulous.
Ask Chat GPT to give 450 words about the wan husks. Then you'll know.
November 20, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Ask Chat GPT to give 450 words about the wan husks. Then you'll know.
Son's car is in the shop. That makes 4 car repair situations since the start of October. Four!
a man in a red jacket is dancing in a hallway next to a shelf of film reels .
Alt: Jack Nicholson in the Shining knocking a bunch of rings off a counter in the back kitchen.
media.tenor.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Son's car is in the shop. That makes 4 car repair situations since the start of October. Four!
My wife and I finished The Lowdown on Saturday, and we've been basically talking about it ever since.
November 17, 2025 at 5:11 AM
My wife and I finished The Lowdown on Saturday, and we've been basically talking about it ever since.
Around this house we call AI a Thneed, and we are confident in that assessment.
November 16, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Around this house we call AI a Thneed, and we are confident in that assessment.
I was up late last night listening to my middle son talk about the mid-side stereo miking of tube amps. Ten years ago it was Minecraft. Life is sometimes wonderful.
November 14, 2025 at 4:05 PM
I was up late last night listening to my middle son talk about the mid-side stereo miking of tube amps. Ten years ago it was Minecraft. Life is sometimes wonderful.
🎵 Out on the road today
I saw a Donald Trump sticker
On a green Outback.
A little voice inside my head said,
“Don't look back, you can never look back”
I saw a Donald Trump sticker
On a green Outback.
A little voice inside my head said,
“Don't look back, you can never look back”
November 14, 2025 at 12:00 AM
🎵 Out on the road today
I saw a Donald Trump sticker
On a green Outback.
A little voice inside my head said,
“Don't look back, you can never look back”
I saw a Donald Trump sticker
On a green Outback.
A little voice inside my head said,
“Don't look back, you can never look back”
Erika is 100% correct. It is good to keep talking about what we love.
Reminder: A lot of great books published this year during absolutely bonkers news & world event times. That squashes people talking about them. Keep buying books please, keep borrowing them from libraries, and for the love of all that's good, talk about them. Post about them. 📚
November 13, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Erika is 100% correct. It is good to keep talking about what we love.
I'm about to step into the coolest writing project of all time. Film at eleven.
November 13, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I'm about to step into the coolest writing project of all time. Film at eleven.
Trying to work in the midst of this news cycle is like trying to fold clothes in the driveway during a blizzard.
November 12, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Trying to work in the midst of this news cycle is like trying to fold clothes in the driveway during a blizzard.