HEY! COMMENT AND INTRO DAY!!! Book ideas, Martha’s Vineyard ideas, the LAST PRIVTAE PRACTICE (😭), upcoming events….and more
Hello my loves.
Happy Wednesday and love from my kitchen in Woodstock, New York. I managed to shower!
IT’S
HEY COMMENT AND INTRO DAY!!!
I have a ton of shit to do and I’m at my desk on and off alllll day today and tomorrow, so HEY! COMMENT! I’M READING and responding!
There’s tons to talk about below…new book ideas, Martha’s Vineyard, but you can also just free-form it and say hi and tell me how you’re doing, or if you’re new, INTRODUCE YOURSELF!!! We’ve had a few hundred people become patrons in the last few days, so I’d love to see who you are, where you come from, and what life is like for you. Tell us everything. And….WELCOME!!! It’s nice here.
And:
a reminder to all the new and old folks….don’t be shy about talking to people. Comment on other peoples comments. Offer hugs and if its been solicited, advice. This is not facebook. We are all much safer here. SO TALK. We can do this.
Strangers aren’t scary here. Well, mostly. I think.
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NEW BOOK TIME.
Above is a picture of me in front of the weird lobby art of one of my publishers in New York City. I love weird lobby art. And I love feeling like I’m a writer again.
It’s been managemnet and publishing meetings galore, and if you missed my post on socials the other day, I asked the wider world about book ideas, and I’de love to bring the question here:
….
This is a serious question.
Let’s pretend I was about to write another non-fiction book.
You got to lock me in a (nice) basement and have me write the book of your choice. What would the book be about, and what would it be called?
…..
I’m here for it! I’m reading comments allllll day today, so hit me with whatever, THIS POST IS RAMBLING:)
Some of my favorites from IG and FB comments:
“The Art of Art-ing”, “Therapy with Strangers”, “It’s Just a Ride”, and “How to Escape a Basement”. 😂
Nice
But truly, hit me. It’s time we got back to writing, and the patreon here will be a huge part of how I create, publish and share any new books.
This will be the lab, the workshop, the place I come to ask for advice and questions, the place I gather and test material, and more improtantly, the place I come at the end of a hard writing day for a drink and a yarn.
I used to do that on twitter. Remember that?
Twitter has become a spam graveyard lately.
I think I have enough people here to have a decent conversation in realtime, no?
I even refuse to not call it twitter. That’s how sad I am.
HAVE WE WON?
Sorry Elon.
……….
Here’s me in the elevator of my publisher, feeling happy and so fucking ready to get back to work it ain’t funny.
I posted this – and the screenshot below – to socials with a little explanation of the patreon, as well.
Copying and pasting here for your enjoyment, and give yourselves all a pat on the fucking back:
WheeeeeEeeeEEEE I’m almost at 20,000 patrons for the first time!!!!! Lookit us.
About half of these folks are paying patrons and the other half are just along for the ride; they are “free members” who get all the free posts but not the locked content.
If you still don’t understand patreon and how it works, think of it like a subscribtion to an artist-as-magazine, or a contribution to your local museum or NPR station. You don’t have to tune into 100% of the content, and it would be almost weird if you did.
But you want this entity hosting and broadcasting content, because you trust them to make the right choices in content broadcasting. That’s what patronage is about. Not so much a store for stuff as a support for artists to make things unfettered by the strains of capitalism and sales.
I’ve funded albums, videos, podcasts, poems, charity projects, documentaries, and live-streamed countless concerts. Answered countless questions. Read hundreds of thousand of comments.
These people know me. But also, I know them. It’s a family.
I’m coming up on my 10th year on Patreon and I’ve gotta say, it’s completely changed my life. Not everybody understands it, not everybody likes it, and the beauty of it is…not everybody needs to.
I’ve also assembled almost 2,000 posts to my Patreon. I just did the math…that’s about a post every four days.
I think the longest I’ve gone without posting is about 9 days.
It’s been a non-stop story. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Today I put up a patron-only transcript of my talk from last weekend with bestselling author Elizabeth Lesser…from an event held in a venue that I funded in part with patron dollars.
Sometimes I can’t believe this is still actually working.
But most days I am just like: Yeah.
Kitten photo by Allan Amato
…….
NEXT WEBCAST. HEADS UP…
Okay next….
I’m working on a good time for the next webcast/Q&A for $10+ folks…it’ll probably be in early July, around the 8th/9th/10th, so vaguely save those dates and rest assured I’ll give you plenty of warning there.
Last time we did 11:11 EST and I’m thinking we might wanna do evening, since the poor Australians and Kiwis get fucked, and maybe early eve so the UK and Europe can tune in.
I’ll send a separate post about this to the $10 folks when I get a second.
………..
Now……
WHO’S ON MARTHA’S VINEYARD?….or wants to flee there for a concrete reason??
Can I just say that in the lighthouse department….this island has it made.
Gay Head Lighthouse not only has the sexiest name, but fuck:
If there’s even a few of you, or a few of you who can get there, I’ll try to ninja!!! Maybe at the lighthouse?
First Lighthouse Ninja Gig ever???
I haven’t announced it to socials yet, but I’m going to be doing this benefit on Martha’s Vineyard in about a month….
This is gonna be SUCH A BLAST, and I was invited to do this by my friend Geraldine Brooks, who’s an incredible writer (and who is generously housing me and my posse of kidlets and friends), she’ll also be on stage for this HOOT.
The venue, the Tabernacle, is a gorgeous outdoor pavilion on Martha’s Vineyard…
….and you can get to the Island by ferry from the mainland of Massachusetts (or New York), but BOOK FERRY IN ADVANCE if you’re coming by car!! They sell out fast! There’s also a lotta passenger ferries (and you can fly!)
The songwriters are all going to play “in the round”, meaning we’ll sit in a circle on the stage and take turns playing songs for one another and the audience, and ALL the money goes to benefit for affordable housing for the Martha’s Vineyard’s elderly and disabled
The tickets are $25-300 and here:
If you’ve never heard Willy Mason play…he’s phenomenal.
Here’s one of his tracks, Oxygen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvZIiiIMwbg
LET ME KNOW IF YOU’RE COMING!!! And let me know if you’re gonna be on the vineyard so we can plan some hijinx!!
Extra points for anyone with young kiddos…I’m bringing Ash!!!
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OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS and some PATRON NEWS….
This Sunday, May 26th, is the LAST PRIVATE PRACTICE / SOLO AMANDA SHOW at Graveside Variety. I know many of you are coming (SEE YOU SOON)….
I am gonna play a bunch of new stuff I’ve been working on for the new record with the Dolls.
It’s VERY SCARY BUT VERY FUN!!!
Foetal songs are foetal.
It’s 100% sold out, BUT we are working on getting a little crew in to film a special set of new songs that I’ll send just to the patreon….
Deal?
Deal.
I like it. This is why we have the patreon, people.
For such moments of LIFE.
………….
THE VERY LAST DAY OF GRAVESIDE is JUNE 1st, and I’m hosting one of my faveoite authors, Leslie Jamison, in what I hope will be a historic chat.
We ARE filming that one for the patreon….evenif we can’t get a pro crew in, we’ll iphone that shit.
Tickets are $25 and there’s only about a dozen left, get them HERE:
……..
REMINDER…..
THERE ARE STILL TICKETS FOR SELECT NIGHTS for THE DRESDEN DOLLS…MY BANNNND….
Here we are in Atlanta in March…photographed by Perry Julian for Atlanta Magazine (more here)…
June 7 & 8 – UNION TRANSFER – PHILADELPHIA, PA
June 14 (SOLD OUT!!) & 15 – 9:30 CLUB – WASHINGTON DC
October 26 (SOLD OUT!!) & 27 (ALMSOT SOLD OUT!!) – BEARSVILLE THEATER – WOODSTOCK, NY
It’s all on sale now at DresdenDolls.com
November dates for New England in a town that once had a Mollasses Distaster coming soon. Make sure you’re on the band mailing list. 🙂 That’s here, and that’s the only way to access the ticket link when it goes live.
AND….STAY TUNED FOR PATRON GATHERING NEWS ABOUT PIHLLY AND DC!!!
I’m working on it.
……….
See you down in the comments.
I’m readin’ and respondin’ all day and tomorrow.
Hit me with your best shot
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