July's Writing Practice and Book Give-away

Hello Reader,

What's distracting you from writing these days? Sunny weather and open trails calling you outdoors? Excessive heat draining your energy? Road trips or family gatherings? Protests? The siren call of a good book?

Whatever it is, today's post might help you make peace with the fact you're not writing as much as you'd hoped, if that's true for you. First, though, I have a book give-away you might enjoy.

The Book Drawing: Algospeak

The New York Times published an article recently with the word "Fibermaxxing" in the title. Curious about where this -maxxing usage comes from? Adam Aleksic has the answer. (Incel groups on Reddit, apparently!)

Aleksic is an etymologist and author of a new book Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language.

This one is hot off the presses — only appropriate for a book on the rapid change of language in the age of algorithms! It's a fascinating look at how recommendation algorithms are shaping language, not only online but increasingly offline as well.

I read a pre-release copy, and have posted a short review on Medium. (Here's a Friend link to read for free.)

If you'd like to enter the drawing, respond to this email by the end of Sunday, July 20, and let me know that you're interested.

In Praise of Procrastination

If you're feeling bad about procrastinating on your writing, remember that not all forms of procrastination are bad. Sometimes it's helpful. Check out this post.

That's all for now. Do the writing that matters to you and be kind to yourself and others. I'll be back in early August.

Anne

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PO Box 66285 Scotts Valley, CA 95067

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