What a great piece Naomi. Thank you for the shout-out and thrilled to see you get this much-deserved recognition. Couldn't have happened to a better Substacker!
People often say they're "humbled" to be recognized by prizes, The New Yorker, etc., This has always struck me as false, bordering on silly. A person isn't humbled to be elevated, they're enlarged!
But this piece is the closest I've ever seen to it being true. You are being honest about the process for yourself and the structure for us all, and also generous toward others. And that's a hard thing to do when the process has finally extended a hand.
This recognition from TNYer is the result of a ton of writing, reading, and labor that you've undertaken in a new ecosystem that doesn't have a clear pathway. It's not an anointing like we've both seen people get for reasons of imagined hope for the unknown ingenue, before they've even written a full book.
Thank you for the shout-out. I'm glad our cynicisms have had a decade now to flourish and find actual shapes.
Congrats on the New Yorker piece and great idea on the award.
I love the community that is building on Substack around literature and was thrilled to stumble on it. What I'd really love to see from the 'Substack Literati' and wider community is an ecosystem built up that allows for the discovery and building of new writers and new talent. Like you said, no one wants to trash a little-known, little-read debut novel but obviously feedback and critique are a big part of the learning and maturation process. Probably not a full-blown 'Substack MFA' but some forum or mechanism for folks that are establishing themselves to refine their work.
"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." -- Stephen Jay Gould
Also the theme of the Frederik Pohl/C. M. Kornbluth story "Mute Inglorious Tam", about a peasant working in the fields in the Middle Ages and dreaming fantastic stories.
Nicely done Naomi, and congratulations on the review. Yeah, it's bankrupt, etc., etc., but hey, the New Yorker! With regard to Substack and your own work, I think there are two sort of different things to think about. One is community, as you say. Does Substack provide a context that fosters good writing, understanding "good" in established ways, e.g., good novel, would have been a good novel if published anytime before Substack, etc. The second issue, which I think bears on your own work, is the work itself. Does Substack fosters distinct voices, styles, etc. I just finished your Martian immigrant story, which I liked. Sounded very you, but also, maybe, rather Substack? Although blending in my head a bit. Anyway, congratulations, and keep up the good work!
Congrats Naomi! I remember our conversation about publishing a few months ago and the way you just put that we’re actually surrounded by talent, the current systems that be just reward mediocrity, pretty much just healed my entire relationship with the media-entertainment industrial complex.
I have to admit that I meant to read "Money Matters" when it first came out but decided to wait until it was finished, and then sort of forgot. But I read it yesterday, and it was wonderful. (Even sitting in a hospital waiting room reading on my phone!)
I think your tales are excellent and really original. And the omniscient voice -- well, as you know I love Victorian writers like Trollope, and they used an omniscient voice with plenty of authorial interjections, and I've always felt that that's a great way to tell a story that is really neglected these days. So keep using it!
Also, I want to recommend to all your readers to try your early SF stories, especially "Empty Planets", which is just brilliant, and hasn't, to my mind, gotten the attention it deserves. (If anyone cares, here is my list of the best SF short stories since 1989 (and some other categories): https://rrhorton.blogspot.com/2024/11/sf-hall-of-fame-1989-2018.html)
What a great piece Naomi. Thank you for the shout-out and thrilled to see you get this much-deserved recognition. Couldn't have happened to a better Substacker!
Thank you =]
People often say they're "humbled" to be recognized by prizes, The New Yorker, etc., This has always struck me as false, bordering on silly. A person isn't humbled to be elevated, they're enlarged!
But this piece is the closest I've ever seen to it being true. You are being honest about the process for yourself and the structure for us all, and also generous toward others. And that's a hard thing to do when the process has finally extended a hand.
This recognition from TNYer is the result of a ton of writing, reading, and labor that you've undertaken in a new ecosystem that doesn't have a clear pathway. It's not an anointing like we've both seen people get for reasons of imagined hope for the unknown ingenue, before they've even written a full book.
Thank you for the shout-out. I'm glad our cynicisms have had a decade now to flourish and find actual shapes.
Thanks for this comment. I mean I am sure we will talk about this off-line TOO many times over the coming months.
Lol we surely will!!
" I am a very good writer. "
You are, and I'm glad you said it out loud instead of the false-humility stance.
And congrats - the mention was well-deserved. This essay was a great read, too.
Thank you =]
Congrats on the New Yorker piece and great idea on the award.
I love the community that is building on Substack around literature and was thrilled to stumble on it. What I'd really love to see from the 'Substack Literati' and wider community is an ecosystem built up that allows for the discovery and building of new writers and new talent. Like you said, no one wants to trash a little-known, little-read debut novel but obviously feedback and critique are a big part of the learning and maturation process. Probably not a full-blown 'Substack MFA' but some forum or mechanism for folks that are establishing themselves to refine their work.
That's a good idea! I know Chuck Palahniuk runs something like that, but I haven't paid that much attention to how it works
"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." -- Stephen Jay Gould
Also the theme of the Frederik Pohl/C. M. Kornbluth story "Mute Inglorious Tam", about a peasant working in the fields in the Middle Ages and dreaming fantastic stories.
Never heard of that one. C.M. is so good. Underrated writer. (Or maybe just not rated at all anymore)
Nicely done Naomi, and congratulations on the review. Yeah, it's bankrupt, etc., etc., but hey, the New Yorker! With regard to Substack and your own work, I think there are two sort of different things to think about. One is community, as you say. Does Substack provide a context that fosters good writing, understanding "good" in established ways, e.g., good novel, would have been a good novel if published anytime before Substack, etc. The second issue, which I think bears on your own work, is the work itself. Does Substack fosters distinct voices, styles, etc. I just finished your Martian immigrant story, which I liked. Sounded very you, but also, maybe, rather Substack? Although blending in my head a bit. Anyway, congratulations, and keep up the good work!
Thanks, I think =]
Compliments and observations!
Congrats!! Now waiting patiently for this article to result in The God of Longing getting published so I can read it
That is definitely the hope!
Congrats Naomi! I remember our conversation about publishing a few months ago and the way you just put that we’re actually surrounded by talent, the current systems that be just reward mediocrity, pretty much just healed my entire relationship with the media-entertainment industrial complex.
Thank you! I am glad that this is something I say quite frequently apparently =]
That's incredible exposure, congratulations!
Thank you! And you actually read the novella when it came out, as I recall. An early fan. It meant a lot to me
Great piece! And good idea for an award.
FLOORED. Congrats!!!!!
Lovely! Congratulations.
W
congrats!
Congratulations. And what a wonderful way to pass it forward. Thank you on behalf of the rest of us.
I have to admit that I meant to read "Money Matters" when it first came out but decided to wait until it was finished, and then sort of forgot. But I read it yesterday, and it was wonderful. (Even sitting in a hospital waiting room reading on my phone!)
I think your tales are excellent and really original. And the omniscient voice -- well, as you know I love Victorian writers like Trollope, and they used an omniscient voice with plenty of authorial interjections, and I've always felt that that's a great way to tell a story that is really neglected these days. So keep using it!
Also, I want to recommend to all your readers to try your early SF stories, especially "Empty Planets", which is just brilliant, and hasn't, to my mind, gotten the attention it deserves. (If anyone cares, here is my list of the best SF short stories since 1989 (and some other categories): https://rrhorton.blogspot.com/2024/11/sf-hall-of-fame-1989-2018.html)
YES, a Naomi deep cut! I've honestly given up trying to explain to people that I used to write sci-fi stories. But I definitely did!