Tragic Magic

A new internet home for my writing

I’ve been wanting to do this for years

I’ve been on Instagram since 2010 and actively posting there since 2014. From time to time I found myself moved to post at length there, about a book or writer, an album or song or musical artist, a film/tv show or screenwriter, a comic book or cartoonist, a place or moment or dish or garment or building, a toy or cultural artifact, a departed friend or relative, that shaped my mind, my art, my outlook, my way of moving through life.

Character limits and content pirates

I’ve loved writing those longer posts, but I’ve often felt cramped by the limitations of the space available, and resentful, as a professional writer since 1987, of a medium that, though appealing in its range and distribution, exploited my unpaid labor. But for a long time I’ve been too caught up in other projects to make the leap, with both feet, into the world of Substack.

The same, only more.

If you’ve followed me on Instagram, you’ll find me writing here, at greater length and with more flexibility, on the same kinds of subjects—those mentioned above—though with an expanded focus, here, on aspects of writing—fiction and screenwriting, primarily—reflecting my long practice and experience, and the pocketful or two of wisdom I’ve managed to accumulate over the time I’ve been at “my craft or sullen art.”

“What do I get?” — Pete Shelley

If you subscribe, you’ll find me posting new content two to three times a week. Some of that will be free, and some will not. I also plan to migrate my daily-ish image + caption and tweet-like posting over to my Substack “Notes” feed. I’m also looking to experiment with the new—to me—kind of posting that Substack offers: video commentary, interviews, music programming.

Check it out!

Subscribe, and see what you think. I promise to put in the time and energy to make it worth your time and, I hope, your money, too.

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