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I can’t keep a pair of pants looking presentable for more than 3 years. My body is well over 20 years old, way under 100, and it’s hit and miss with this damn thing.

And somehow the same book has been assisting writers for 100 years?

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So, if you saw my previous column on Surviving a Workshop, then you have already digested my thoughts on having thick skin, what advice to take, dealing with a consensus, jerks and haters, giving feedback as good as you get, and allowing yourself to create a rough draft without freaking out. That column was written back in 2017, so let’s see what I’ve learned since then, and what advanced advice I can give you here.

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It is no exaggeration to say America is currently in the throes of a policing crisis. Citizens are having their rights violated and being assaulted by the very officers that have sworn to protect and serve them. Tired of a police force that brutalizes innocents and murders citizens, people have taken to the streets in protest. Some of these initially peaceful demonstrations have, sadly, resulted in violence, but not by the protesters. The police have been the ones rioting and attacking people.

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Want to read some black authors? Good. World literature would be a fraction of what it is today without the contributions of black writers. In this short list you will find science fiction, romance, poetry, YA, horror, crime, literary fiction, and nonfiction. Dig it:

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Last month, HBO released a new teaser trailer for its upcoming series Lovecraft Country, set to premiere in August of this year. The show follows a young Black man, Atticus (Jonathan Majors), as he travels through Jim Crow America with his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), searching for his missing father.