ObscuraJournal 2/16/26

I created the save file for this month's newsletter. I still don't know what I'm going to write about. I have a few ideas, one of which was a scathing rebuttal concerning big publishers sliding into forcing writers to do promotion stuff via TikTok, Youtube, etc.—as if writers don't have enough on their plates already—but I nuked that idea because I'm the cohost of one of the longest running horror podcasts out there, so in a way I'm kind of influencer (I hate that term) in the industry.

(I don't want to be an influencer, I'm a writer. That said, of course I love talking to writers and creators about the craft of writing. I love horror, I love writing, I love our guests. So yeah ... I enjoy what I do outside of the writing part, and if it ever becomes unenjoyable, then I'll do something else. But I'm a writer, first and foremost.)

I don't like the idea of someone even suggesting publishers are making writers do TikTok videos. I know all too well how corporate execs love to trickle down things to the front facing employees to save a buck.

Why spend millions on TV ads for our new venture with _______ credit card company when we can pay our reps pennies to advertise for us?

Fuck that, and fuck you if you even remotely think that's a good idea.

Writers write. We're not actors, and most of us are terribly antisocial when it comes to making a fucking video to try to get clicks because some goofy analyst says x amount of clicks = x amount of sales. That kind of shit grinds my gears in the worst possible ways.

Anyway, Robert Duvall passed away today. He was 95 years old and one of the greatest there ever was.

peace&love