Author: Emilya Naymark

A few days ago, a Google engineer had been put on leave for publicly saying the chatbot they’ve been developing is sentient. After months of testing it, which involved trying to see if it could turn murderous or hateful, he’d come to the conclusion that it was an independently “thinking” entity. With feelings. Although this is more a story about a very smart person who clearly needs to get out more and chat with real humans, it sent me down a rabbit hole of ethical, psychological and scientific questions.

This past weekend saw the presentation of ITW’s 2022 awards for books and stories published in 2021. I’ve read two of the winners and can wholeheartedly say they deserved every accolade.

So, in honor of award season, and if you’ve published or will publish anything in 2022, here’s a list of industry recognized awards you can submit your work to for next year. I mean, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Jaime Lynn Hendrick’s debut, Finding Tessa released last year to great success and greater reviews. I caught up with this extremely prolific author (how prolific? VERY), and asked her to share a little about her publishing journey and writing practice. The answers are delightful, intimidating, and inspiring.

What is your current guilty pleasure? 

Let’s assume we’re talking books or television :-). I’ve been bingeing season 2 of Bridgerton, which is very silly, predictable, and can best be described as a young lady’s wildly historically inaccurate fantasy of Regency-adjacent alternate universe. But every night, I look forward to watching it. I don’t even understand why I do. There are two “teenage” characters played by women in their thirties and some of the characters who are meant to be in their twenties look twice that old. I don’t care. 

It’s fluffy and relaxing. I don’t have to think too hard and I know nobody will be hurt too badly. There will be a happy ending, lots of pink and lavender dresses, and everyone is buff. 

And you?

Have you all heard of this? Amazon has a policy where customers can return an e-book, even after reading it, for a full refund. Readers, no fools they, are beginning to use Amazon as a lending library, at great cost to authors. Don’t like this? Neither do I! Well, there’s a petition you can sign.