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Mernie Buchanan
Mernie Buchanan

191 Followers

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Featured Book

The Incompetent Psychic
The Incompetent Psychic

How to—and how not to—navigate a freelance creative vocation. Despite faulty CosmicMessage functions, Mernie tries to hear the angels… and the dogs.

2020

·
Mernie Buchanan
Mernie Buchanan

Stories

May 21

The Challenge of Utopia in Science Fiction

Dystopias are easy. Like humor, Utopias aren’t. — Utopia is the happily ever after where most stories end because, well, the comfort of living in day to day bliss gets same old… which makes it clear why conflict is a storytelling essential. These 8 authors built ideal future worlds — societies where mutual cooperation evolved (or was forced)…

Solarpunk

9 min read

The Challenge of Utopia in Science Fiction
The Challenge of Utopia in Science Fiction
Solarpunk

9 min read


Apr 20

Murderbot, Beryl Markham & Transcending Chauvinistic Stereotypes

The uplifting shock of discovering and purging subconscious tropes — My little brother reads Tolstoy to relax. Although younger, my brother is no longer little. Blair is in his 60’s and six foot four, but old habits die hard. One old habit I’m forcing to change is the lazy way I visualize humans in novels. (I’m also too lazy to…

Inspirational Women

3 min read

Murderbot, Beryl Markham & Transcending Chauvinistic Stereotypes
Murderbot, Beryl Markham & Transcending Chauvinistic Stereotypes
Inspirational Women

3 min read


Mar 24

Don’t “Get” People to Do Anything
2.1K
29

Douglas Rushkoff

A sincere thank you for honoring (and reinforcing) your message with a small yet important detail.

A sincere thank you for honoring (and reinforcing) your message with a small yet important detail. I clicked your book link. An overwhelming number of authors link Buy from Bezos. Yours doesn't. You chose Bookshop.org, which brought up my local independent bookstore. I got my copy of 'Survival of the…

1 min read

1 min read


Mar 23

Knicker Knot: Accountants Control Our Food.

Shelf life sucks. — I once shopped at a ‘pick your own’ farm near Hana on Maui. We were given grocery baskets and a machete to tour a tropical food forest. The checkout counter was a large stump to hack apart fat sugarcanes to get to the juicy core. Biting into fresh sugarcane was…

Healthy Food Choices

3 min read

Knicker Knot: Accountants Control Our Food.
Knicker Knot: Accountants Control Our Food.
Healthy Food Choices

3 min read


Mar 3

She was not willing to lose the right to defend her copyright.

If You’re Using Images From Social Media, Pray You Don’t Go Viral
9K
113

Linda Caroll

This is the decision every creative person has to make to ward of pirates; do I fortify my ship…

This is the decision every creative person has to make to ward of pirates; do I fortify my ship with iron cladding and conscript lawyers to man the cannons, then wallow in defense mode? Ew. I chose to build a sleeker, quicker boat. I paint, I sketch, I write. I've…

1 min read

1 min read


Feb 3

Time Enough At Last
5.9K
69

Wil Wheaton

You just made me realize I've insulted myself for creative escapism more than everyone else has.

You just made me realize I've insulted myself for creative escapism more than everyone else has. I should stop that. I've made my living as a painter for forty years. Patrons who come back for more say, "Your work makes me happy." My joke reply is, "Oh good. Now I…

1 min read

1 min read


Dec 20, 2022

Elizabeth Gilbert was Red Flagged?

A worthy novel shows me what mastery really means. Listicles are my snacks now that I don’t look at facebook so often. Medium is a healthier scrolling alternative with escapist options to tear open the literary equivalent of a small bag of cheesy crunchies. This morning I was stalling going…

Book Review

3 min read

Elizabeth Gilbert was Red Flagged?
Elizabeth Gilbert was Red Flagged?
Book Review

3 min read


Oct 27, 2022

Married to my Muse. Let’s call him Doug.

A tricky relationship with my life’s purpose. — Where did my fickle muse go? I stare at a half-finished painting going nowhere. Several others very much like it are stacked against the wall. This painting started out promising, but had drifted in yet another mundane direction — like I’m trying to find a freeway on ramp, but keep…

Writers Block

3 min read

Married to my Muse. Let’s call him Doug.
Married to my Muse. Let’s call him Doug.
Writers Block

3 min read


Jul 8, 2022

The Book That Humbled Hemingway
1.2K
16

Eric Pierce

A 1983 copy of West With the Night is one of only a few books to survive almost 40 years of moving…

A 1983 copy of West With the Night is one of only a few books to survive almost 40 years of moving and purging many bookshelves. In my 20s Beryl inspired me to hurl myself into every adventure and danger be damned. In my 60s she gave me the confidence…

1 min read

1 min read


Mar 25, 2022

Here’s Why I Won’t Hang That Pervert’s Artwork On My Wall
2.7K
50

Daniella Gaskell

I'm a painter and absolutely agree—an artist's essence is not only embedded, but emits that energy.

I'm a painter and absolutely agree—an artist's essence is not only embedded, but emits that energy. I can 'dark night of the soul' in literature, but not on my walls. My favorite way to buy art is directly from artists I have made an effort to meet, talk with and…

1 min read

1 min read

Mernie Buchanan

Mernie Buchanan

191 Followers

Book Author

Mernie paints and writes in Woodstock NY. All images are her original art & photos, with more at www.mernie.com

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