Comrades,
Yesterday, the inimitable Michael Estrin and I went inside the writers studio and discussed the craft, commerce, and chaos of this crazy little enterprise we call writing.
Michael talked about his writerly origin story, some of his formative early experiences—including a stint covering the adult entertainment industry—and how he stumbled into writing “slice of life” humor and ultimately launched his cult favorite newsletter, Situation Normal.
Subscribe stat.
We also discussed how Michael conjures distinctive writing “voices” for each of his projects—ghostwriting, fiction, humor—why he finds writing funny easier than writing serious, why he ironically considers lying in fiction the best path for revealing the truth IRL, and much, much more.
I had a blast talking with Michael and I encourage you all to check out our hella fun conversation.
Long Live the Kleptocracy
Elsewhere, I just launched a brand-new newsletter which I’ve lovingly titled Kleptocracy Korner.
The gist is this: My existing newsletter will continue to feature author interviews, personal essays, publishing updates, video podcasts, and the like, while Kleptocracy Korner will house my satirical takes on the financial, economic, and political news, plus the occasional piece of short-form satire. I’ve added dozens of old pieces to the archive—check them out to get a feel for what’s to come.
In terms of publishing frequency, my OG newsletter will adhere to a roughly once per month schedule, whereas Kleptocracy Korner should come out on a bi-weekly basis. Both newsletters will remain, as promised, free for the duration of my miserable life.
Note: I’m not going to import any old subscribers to Kleptocracy Korner, so if you want to imbibe all my future poison, you’ll need to sign up directly.
I’m very excited about this project and I hope you people are, too.
As always, stay frosty out there.
—Amran
P.S. Be smart; buy Leverage.
