Want to dig a bit deeper, stretch a bit wider, discover unique insights in your reading? So do I! That's why we literary nomads explore beyond the comfortable beach read. Subscribe for podcasts and video, fiction and poetry, essays and online courses, unexpected freebies, and ways to lever your literacy into activism! For students of all ages, educators of all kinds, and just plain out litterateurs!
On Creatures, Colonialism, and Welcome Comments
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10 Aug 2026 Reader, Two Opportunities!First, fairly soon after Frictional Reading goes to press, I will be publishing my first work of original fiction and short prose, a book yet to be named. Most of this new anthology is written, having filled in various spaces of writing time for me over the past few years. In general, its themes also revolve around structure (as Unwoven does), but in a more meta-textual sense. Its fiction and near-fiction works poke at and test various elements of reading we often take for grants. And from time to time, I hope to offer pieces of this book up to my newsletter readers in early draft form for their feedback. Should the piece be included in the book? And with what recommended changes? Each piece I offer will come with a few brief guideline questions for feedback. (I won't be asking for anything time-consuming like line-edits at this point!) In return, I will offer various incentives and bonuses for your time, including free signed copies of the final book when it appears, likely in late 2027. (I'll work these out and announce them here soon!) But my first offered draft is ready for feedback! It's called "Eight Endings In Search of (Dis)Solution," an experimental fiction piece of about 9000 words (25-35 minutes reading). If you are interested in receiving a copy and offering feedback on this early draft, let me know: and a big thank-you in advance!
13 Days of Halloween 2026When the Halloween USA stores appear again, I know it's time to start thinking about this year's 13 Days theme. So far, I've taken on fiction and film around themes like "Original Horror," "Non-Western Horror," "Horror Decades," and "Books to Film." So what about this year? I've got several themes in mind but I'm open to others, so long as I get it settled before August is out: a lot of reading (and watching!) ahead! A few I'm considering:
Want to weigh in with theme choices, your own ideas, or suggested books and film titles? I'd love to hear from you!
“The horror of the thing was that it was all true; it was no dream of a fevered brain, but a cold and actual fact." Arthur Machen, The White People
Literary Nomads: Building FantasiesBarely a tourist destination exists without some form of "simulation" or artifice, a re-creation of authenticity. From the fiberglass facades of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to the compaction of territory into historical replica museums, the industry works hard to offer us the "absolute fake:" a version of reality that is indistinguishable, even a synonym, for reality. In other words, the simulation and the authentic become equivalent. And what's more, we "suspend our disbelief" in entering these environments, willing to claim that whatever we traveled to was the "most authentic" we've met. This episode draws upon theorists like Umberto Eco and Jean Baudrillard to help us scratch our collective heads. In seeking a comfortable travel experience, we've given up something else, to the hazards and grief of nearly all involved. Episodes ahead:
Calendar: Mid-August SweltersAnd the US holiday season goes quiet. . . .
Blackhawk: The Re-Discovery of America - Chapter 7: The Deluge of Settler ColonialismIt's hard to over-emphasize how powerful, widespread, and far-reaching were the consequences for the unleashing of settlements across the native Inland Sea and beyond. The American economy struggled, European immigrants sought property to guarantee their rights, and the federal government was under-resourced to manage any treaty obligations. The result was a vast market for land claims, grey and black market, often scams, which decimated the environments and communities of the indigenous nations. Worse still, alongside it, came a genuine consciousness of settler whiteness, not merely as a skin color, but as a political identity, one which would lay the foundations for the history that follows.
Early Book RecommendationLook by Solmaz Sharif (2016) As I write this, I've only read the first 30 pages of Iranian-American Sharif's first book of poetry. Already, I'm blown away by the ambition of her work and what it's producing. To be sure, this is a poetry book around war, specifically the recent era of post-9/11 Middle East wars in Iraq and elsewhere. But it is also about the experience of living with cultural, familial, and human ties to those beneath its presence. I am startled over and over about the humble quiet of the humanity Sharif finds. But most of all? It's a poetry book built upon and around a literal military dictionary, a massive American glossary of Pentagon terms. Each poem pivots upon, employs, and subverts the meanings of military jargon in a political space where war works to render humanity meaningless. It's a battle of narrative power. And Sharif is winning. And yes, this was a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN Open Book award. Deservedly. “his eyes SENSITIVE when he passes advice to me, like I’m his SEQUEL, like we’re all a SERIAL caught on Iranian satellite TV. When you tell someone of, he calls it SERVICING. When I stand on his feet, I call it SHADOWING.
“Daily I sit
with the language
they’ve made
of our language
to NEUTRALIZE
the CAPABILITY of LOW DOLLAR VALUE ITEMs
like you.
You are what is referred to as
a “CASUALTY.””
“It matters what you call a thing.”
Leave it to John Carpenter to . . . create a horror graphic novel with a partnering heavy rock album. It's called Cathedral, and I haven't read or listened yet, but it's just one of the latest examples of hybrid media creations out there. Carpenter has always been a bit of a chameleon of production: mostly known as a film director/producer (The Thing, Halloween, The Fog, [the far underappreciated] Prince of Darkness), his resume is vast, and the number of film scores he's written outnumber his films. What does Cathedral promise? I'll let you decide!
Replacing my primary computer which does all the heavy lifting. You may see a few items here and there delayed by a day or three in the coming two weeks while I set everything up again! What have you been working on? Or, dare I ask, what are your fall plans? How can I help you reach them?
Steve What's Still Ahead?
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Waywords Studio
Want to dig a bit deeper, stretch a bit wider, discover unique insights in your reading? So do I! That's why we literary nomads explore beyond the comfortable beach read. Subscribe for podcasts and video, fiction and poetry, essays and online courses, unexpected freebies, and ways to lever your literacy into activism! For students of all ages, educators of all kinds, and just plain out litterateurs!