New Year, New Look, New, Even Bigger Pill Organizer
What's changed, what's coming, and what you might have missed.
Hi, friends,
I hope you are not actively suffering today (a greeting I’ve borrowed from my dear friend and certified genius, Alissa Nutting.) I know it’s been a minute since my last dispatch, but I’m slowly emerging from my months-long hibernation after an exceptionally chaotic end to the year. And of course, the new year has already delivered a fresh batch of hells (fires, evacuations, poisonous air, and an inauguration that calls for more than impeachment—perhaps ‘vanquish’ is the word) with their throngs poised to pioneer the downfall of civilization.
Can we all agree?: NO MORE FRESH HELLS UNTIL THE OTHERS RIPEN!!!!!!!
Fortunately, after thirty-three years on this earth, I’ve learned that no weapon formed against me shall prosper! Nothing will stop me from seeking joy in the ordinary and spewing my tomfoolery across the internet. Even if that means migrating to different platforms, or despite everyone being scattered, I’m still here: on Bluesky, on Threads, in your home, reciting edible-inspired one-liners for your pleasure like a deranged cuckoo clock no one asked for.
I’m excited to usher in this new chapter of SOS. As you can see, my friend and artist extraordinaire, James Jeffers, updated the publication’s banner and logo to reflect my current era of curly hair. Along with the site’s new look, I’ve been busy with other writing and have a few updates to share, in case you missed them elsewhere!
Let’s get into it:
In January, Electric Literature published this essay I wrote, called “Why It’s Community Above All Else for Me,” which is really a love letter to all of you, far and wide, in the literary community.
I made my McSweeney’s debut (!!!!!) with a piece called ‘Welcome to Cybertruck Anger Management.’ Thank you to this iconic site for giving me the space to continue taking out my irrational anger on this metallic monstrosity.
I also announced that I’m joining the Brooklyn Book Festival as fiction co-chair, just in time for its 20th anniversary this year!
I was quoted in this TIME piece on how voice notes are like love notes by the one-of-a-kind writer and journalist, Rainesford Stauffer. (I was also so touched to see a little piece of my love story with
immortalized in this way.)
I’ve also got some events and learning opportunities with yours truly coming up, and I’m buzzing with so much excitement I could charge a fleet of electric vehicles!!!!!!!!
If you’re in Los Angeles for AWP, join us for an extra-special edition of Empty Trash, a reading where authors reach deep into the bowels of their “recently deleted” folders and share pieces that have been cut, unpublished, or otherwise killed.
Come watch these next-level literary luminaries give their dead darlings a second life on Thursday, March 27th at 7pm:
⭐️Alexander Chee⭐️
⭐️Celia Laskey⭐️
⭐️Denne Michele Norris⭐️
⭐️Diane Marie Brown⭐️
⭐️T Kira Madden⭐️
⭐️Jasmin Iolani⭐️
⭐️Tommy Pico⭐️
⭐️Kristen Arnett⭐️
⭐️Laura Warrell⭐️
⭐️Melissa Broder⭐️
⭐️Melissa Febos⭐️
⭐️Morgan Parker⭐️
⭐️Deesha Philyaw⭐️
⭐️Mahogany L. Browne⭐️
Books will be sold by our friends over at Chevalier’s. While the event is free, we ask that folks RSVP beforehand. Please note that we have currently sold out of tickets, but we will be adding more as we get closer to the date. In the meantime, anyone who wants to attend is more than welcome to come, but please note that we cannot guarantee entry, as we must stay within the venue’s capacity.
In celebration of Nora Lange’s debut novel, Us Fools, Alissa Nutting, Nicole Treska, and myself join Nora Lange for a magical group reading at Sunny’s Bookshop in Tarzana, CA.
RSVP for a free ticket here.
The Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference is a vibrant gathering that offers morning workshops in a wide range of genres. Afternoons are packed with craft seminars, panels, one-on-one consultations, and open mics; and every evening offers an opportunity to enjoy the camaraderie and connection that make this conference, in the words of one participant, “life-changing.”
The 2025 Conference will be held from July 31-August 2, 2025 in the town of Mendocino, California. Scholarship and Master Class applications are now open until Friday, February 28, 2025. General registration will open April 1, 2025.
For updates, sign up for their newsletter.
So, you have an idea for a book. Maybe you even already wrote it! Either way, you are ready for the next step. Does the thought of writing a book proposal for your nonfiction project make you want to light no fewer than fourteen lavender-scented candles and lie in the dark for three days straight? You’re not alone! But after having written three book proposals, I promise you it’s not as daunting as it seems.
In order to demystify this seemingly overwhelming task, I’m thrilled to offer the Book Proposal Generator. Beginning with an overview of the anatomy of the book proposal by looking at several different examples, this generator will be broken up into eight weekly sessions. Each week, we will be discussing and going over one element of the book proposal in detail. At the end of each session, students will be assigned to complete a draft of the section discussed, which is to be handed in the following Friday, no later than 8 p.m. Students will receive peer and instructor feedback in class the following day, after which the next section of the book proposal will discussed and assigned to complete for the following week. By the final session, each student will have a complete book proposal, and will be ready to take the next step on the path to publication.
Workshop Highlights:
Students will receive several different examples of proposals that have successfully sold to use as reference when working on their own.
Students will receive extensive individual feedback on their own proposals from course instructor that will be emailed to them each week.
Each student will leave this course with a complete book proposal, ready to take the next step on the path to publication.
Weekday writers can learn more and sign up here.
Weekend writers can learn more and sign up here.
My teaching philosophy is pretty simple: If you care about your story, someone else will, too. My job—and joy—is to help my students hone their craft by looking inward. Because only by looking inward can you learn to write about the way you move through the world. I'm not here to teach as much as I am to hold up a mirror and help you mine your reflection for the things you might not have noticed before or hadn't thought to consider in one way or another—all of the things that make up the fabric of your being, the things that should be radically honored both on and off the page.
This consultation will begin with an initial hour-long meeting and conversation about your work-in-progress. I want to hear about why you started writing your project, and where you imagine it going. I want to know why your project matters to you. We will also discuss any concerns or challenges you face, as well as what you want to achieve by the time you finish your final draft.
Following our conversation, I will then give line-by-line edits, along with detailed editorial notes on your work-in-progress. This can include a nonfiction manuscript, book proposal, book chapters, query letter, essay(s), article(s), work samples, or any other form of nonfiction prose.
Click here to learn more and sign up.
You can also stay up to date by visiting my website, which I spent over two days in a goddamn K-hole trying to edit. (I don’t want you to just clap; I want you to huck lil bags of Welch’s Fruit Snacks at me.)
I hope to see some of your gorgeous faces in the upcoming weeks, either in-person or online. In the meantime, I’m excited to work on some of the drafts I’ve started and can’t wait to publish here. I also hope I can encourage those of you who may be discovering my untoward homosexual propaganda to subscribe and follow along!
Until soon,
GM
You can follow my other unhinged missives by following me on Instagram, Threads, or Bluesky. Peruse my website for more work and to get in touch!
Yassss!!!