Mailing List Cleanup - Amal El-Mohtar

(This is part of an open ended series of posts where I write down random things I feel are sharable from the years of mailing lists I’ve not caught up on…)

Today it is Amal El-Mohtar’s newsletter (subscription on her site) and it looks like I last declared bankruptcy on it in January 2023.

I first came across her via Writing Excuses. This Is How You Lose the Time War is a fantastic book, but I was cemented as a fan during her deep dive into poetry on season 16 of Writing Excuses. I still don’t think I enjoy poetry, but I’m now certainly am open to the idea of appreciating it… No, seriously, go listen to the episodes. They are 16.11 - 16.18.

(Oh, and having read almost 3 years of the newsletter in one sitting, she has great hair.)

• Her keynote on birds is wonderful and has all sorts of gems. Also, I know I’m a pantser when it comes to conference talks (which is why I’ll never get asked to do a keynote), but good grief its humbling when you see a professional writer write a speech.
• Is It Unusual To See American Robins In The Middle Of Winter?
• I loves me a Deluxe Edition. Do I need ‘This Is How You Lose the Time War’ in /another/ format? Well, no…