Kit Walker's Blog

This week I finished reading Andrew Joseph White’s You Weren’t Meant to Be Human, which according to its one-star reviews is “traumatizing,” “soooo triggering,” “pointlessly edgy,” and “disgusting.” I found it … fine. Kind of tame, actually. You Weren’t Meant to Be Human is a book constantly flinching away from itself, desperate to sell you on the horror of all the blood and gore and bugs and body horror built into its own premise but lacking the vivid sensory detail needed to make any of it land.

(Good horror writing and good erotic writing have a lot more in common than most people are willing to admit. All of you go read some Laird Barron right now.)

I’m not sure where the blame for this lies. White’s repertoire up to this point has been mostly young adult novels, and the book is definitely written in the standard YA style (heavy on character interactions and self-reflection, light on descriptive prose). It could be that White found the conventions of YA hard to shake, or it could be either he or the publisher were worried about alienating his existing audience.

The novel manages to stick the landing, though. I only wish the rest of it were as visceral and brutal as its ending.

And I guess that makes You Weren’t Meant to Be Human the opposite experience of Fever House, which had really colourful fun disgusting prose throughout but tripped and fell on its face at the finish line for the sake of trying to sell me a second book.

Serializing Now: “The Illusive Consultant”

“The Illusive Consultant” is now serializing on the Casefile of Jay Moriarty website! The first two chapters are available now, and subsequent chapters are being posted weekly on Mondays.

Read it Here

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This Week’s LinksArchitecture of return, escape (The British Museum)

Here, the floor plan of the British Museum is painted over a blue field. Pictograms of baskets, masks, woven hats, weapons, tools, and textiles reference the contested objects held in the museum’s collection, while a red line maps an escape route for these examples of Indigenous cultural production.

She Doesn’t Need to be a “Girlboss”

Oceans of ink has been spilled about what makes a good female character. No one can agree on how she should look and act.

‘Are they going to eat me alive?’: trail runners become prey in newest form of hunting

… increasing numbers of people are volunteering to be chased across the countryside by baying bloodhounds in what could soon be the only legal way to hunt with dogs in England and Wales, rather than pursuing animals or their scents.

Normal country.

You know how audio designers are all into black metal and drone music because they’ve listened to everything else and it all bores them now? I think that happened with me and fiction.

-K

As I’ve mentioned before, a large part of writing heist fiction involves a) getting people into rooms they’re not supposed to be in and b) ensuring this process is interesting to read about.

That second bit is the absolute bastard, because real-world security—especially physical security—is often a massive joke. Case in point: a recent security audit following last month’s Louvre heist has revealed the password for the museum’s video security system was, uh, “Louvre.”

I honestly don’t know how I’m supposed to write under these fucking conditions. If I tried to put that in a story, everyone who read it would call bullshit. To quote John Rogers, “there are no Moriartys because there really don’t have to be.”

New Novelette: “The Illusive Consultant”

Once again, Jay Moriarty and Sebastian Moran find themselves entangled with cat burglar John Clay. A notorious drug lord has hired Clay to steal a DNA sample from genetic testing company BasePairing, and Clay needs Moriarty’s help to pull off the job. With such a dangerous client, failure isn’t an option — and if things couldn’t get any worse, the world’s greatest consulting detective has just picked up their trail …

“The Illusive Consultant” is the ninth story in my series The Casefile of Jay Moriarty, a modern-day queer take on the iconic Sherlock Holmes villain, his partner Sebastian Moran, and the various crimes they commit together.

This one features the appearance of two characters you may have been waiting to see for some time.

Read it Here

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This Week’s LinksInternet Archive’s legal fights are over, but its founder mourns what was lost

At the heart of the Open Library lawsuit was publishers’ market for e-book licenses, which libraries complain provide only temporary access for a limited number of patrons and cost substantially more than the acquisition of physical books.

True Crime Is Rotting Our Brains

It’s easy and correct to condemn Fox News for increasing our grandparents’ blood pressure, keeping them in a perpetual state of fear about roving gangs of MS-13 coming to their gated communities, but we should also consider that other demographics might be susceptible to fear-stoking propaganda.

117 LUCAS STREET, Richmond Hill (Mill Pond), Ontario

Check out this completely normal house.

I considered whether it was a bit weird to release a book on Remembrance Day, but then I remembered that I spent the entirety of November 11, 2023 watching a marathon of every single Twilight movie at Tyneside Cinema. So I guess there are weirder things to do with the day.

-K

I’m switching web hosts! Following this issue of the newsletter, I’ll be migrating the whole thing over to my redesigned website at inferiorwit.com. If you’re currently subscribed via email, you don’t need to do anything. If you’re subscribed via RSS, you’ll want to change the feed url to https://inferiorwit.com/rss.

The new website also allows me to archive more of my writing; if you’re into that, check out the fiction and nonfiction sections. Some of the longer stories are paywalled — you can sign up for a paid subscription for as little as $1 USD/month (or $10/year) to gain access.

(For those of you who enjoyed my previous, terrible website, rest assured it’s still online at inferiorwit.neocities.org.)

Preorder: “The Illusive Consultant”

Once again, Jay Moriarty and Sebastian Moran find themselves entangled with cat burglar John Clay. A notorious drug lord has hired Clay to steal a DNA sample from genetic testing company BasePairing, and Clay needs Moriarty’s help to pull off the job. With such a dangerous client, failure isn’t an option — and if things couldn’t get any worse, the world’s greatest consulting detective has just picked up their trail …

The ninth story in The Casefile of Jay Moriarty, titled “The Illusive Consultant,” comes out on November 11!

Preorder Here

Additionally, Ko-fi supporters who subscribe at the Early Access tier ($5 CAD/month) can download the book for free, right now.

Subscribe

This Week’s Linksa wholesome plane has hit the second cozy tower

Now, I don’t care that Rogue Duck is iterating on [Papers, Please]. What’s hooked me here is this original take they’re so excited about. Because Declare is more than a shameless clone: it has its own identity and it does have something to say. Nothing to Declare comes on stage following Papers, turns to the audience, and what it has to say is: “man, that guy was a downer, am I right?”

British newspaper spoke to the wrong de Blasio, not an ‘imposter’

The man at the heart of a high-stakes mix-up that rippled through global political journalism in the final days of the New York mayoral campaign was neither “falsely claiming” to be former Mayor Bill de Blasio — as the Times of London suggested — nor, as The New York Times wrote, a “de Blasio impersonator.”

He is, instead, a 59-year-old Long Island wine importer named Bill DeBlasio, who merely responded to an email from a journalist seeking his views on Democrat Zohran Mamdani’s policies.

Plastic Girl vs Dangerous Crow Boy – FAQs

Readers are asking questions, making theories, and creating the kind of chaotic brilliance only Tumblr can provide. So, instead of letting those questions float around unanswered in the void, I’ve gathered them here. Consider this the official FAQ for #DangerousCrowBoy, born out of reblogs, memes, and a deep collective obsession with dangerous crow boys.

#bookstagram update: aggregator accounts are messaging me asking for money in exchange for book promos. Can’t tell if this means I’m doing well or very badly.

-K

I'm switching web hosts! Following this issue of the newsletter, I'll be migrating the whole thing over to my redesigned website at inferiorwit.com. If you're currently subscribed via email, you don't need to do anything. If you're subscribed via RSS, you'll want to change the feed url to https://inferiorwit.com/rss.

The new website also allows me to archive more of my writing; if you're into that, check out the fiction and nonfiction sections. Some of the longer stories are paywalled — you can sign up for a paid subscription for as little as $1 USD/month (or $10/year) to gain access.

(For those of you who enjoyed my previous, terrible website, rest assured it's still online at inferiorwit.neocities.org.)

Preorder: "The Illusive Consultant"

One consequence of my cat’s brief escape into the wilds of Edmonton is that I’m now a member of my neighbourhood’s Facebook group. Following approximately six weeks of observation, I’ve concluded that many people living in quiet residential neighbourhoods are simultaneously terrified they’ll be the victim of a crime, but so astronomically bored that they’re actually kind of wishing it’ll happen. It’s been interesting to watch my neighbours react to just about anything as if it signifies impending criminal activity.

A lot of this might stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of what crime is and why it happens. I realize not everyone spends their days researching this sort of thing to write gay little books, but I think a great deal of societal anxiety might be alleviated if, in the minds of your average person, “crime” wasn’t a nebulous malevolent force so much as a social construct surrounding certain motivated human behaviours.

Then again a lot of people define “crime” as “kids doing something I don’t like” and/or “a homeless person existing,” so I guess in the end they’re doing it all to themselves.

Halloween Giveaway on itch.io

For the next week, three of my horror/dark fantasy books (“The Scent of Blood“, “Possession“, and “Move Fast and Break Things“) can be downloaded for free on itch.io! You can check out the whole bundle here; the giveaway runs until November 4.

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This Week’s LinksThe Material Basis for Cozy Horror

In the end, SFF settled on telling the same old stories of colonial murder and institutional politics except instead of having white cishet protagonists, its protagonists were non male, non-white, non-straight, and occasionally non-cis. They were still figureheads of murderous extractionist institutions, but the protagonists were diverse in themselves and so the books were presented as progressive.

Huge decline of working class people in the arts reflects fall in wider society

“We know there’s clearly a relationship between who makes decisions, particularly in commissioning, and the kinds of stories that get made,” [professor of cultural and creative industries Dave O’Brien] said. TV commissioners and publishers come from a “reasonably kind of cohesive, quite narrow, elite social background” and may have a narrower view about what is interesting. He cited the BBC’s lack of appeal among people who are younger and from less privileged backgrounds.

Ireland is implementing basic income for artists. Could Canada do something similar?

“From a financial point of view, it’s hugely beneficial,” Elinor O’Donovan said. “But beyond that, I think there’s something intangible that the arts offer to culture and society at large that is harder to measure, but I think it’s still extremely valuable.”

I would like to point out to all my friends and enemies in Seattle that I’ve been a very well-behaved hereditary Blue Jays fan.

-K

One consequence of my cat's brief escape into the wilds of Edmonton is that I'm now a member of my neighbourhood's Facebook group. Following approximately six weeks of observation, I've concluded that many people living in quiet residential neighbourhoods are simultaneously terrified they'll be the victim of a crime, but so astronomically bored that they're actually kind of wishing it'll happen. It's been interesting to watch my neighbours react to just about anything as if it signifies impending criminal activity.

A lot of this might stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of what crime is and why it happens. I realize not everyone spends their days researching this sort of thing to write gay little books, but I think a great deal of societal anxiety might be alleviated if, in the minds of your average person, "crime" wasn't a nebulous malevolent force so much as a social construct surrounding certain motivated human behaviours.

Then again a lot of people define "crime" as "kids doing something I don't like" and/or "a homeless person existing," so I guess in the end they're doing it all to themselves.

Halloween Giveaway on itch.io

For the next week, three of my horror/dark fantasy books ("The Scent of Blood", "Possession", and "Move Fast and Break Things") can be downloaded for free on itch.io! You can check out the whole bundle here; the giveaway runs until November 4.

This Week's Links

The Material Basis for Cozy Horror

In the end, SFF settled on telling the same old stories of colonial murder and institutional politics except instead of having white cishet protagonists, its protagonists were non male, non-white, non-straight, and occasionally non-cis. They were still figureheads of murderous extractionist institutions, but the protagonists were diverse in themselves and so the books were presented as progressive.

Huge decline of working class people in the arts reflects fall in wider society

"We know there’s clearly a relationship between who makes decisions, particularly in commissioning, and the kinds of stories that get made," [professor of cultural and creative industries Dave O’Brien] said. TV commissioners and publishers come from a "reasonably kind of cohesive, quite narrow, elite social background" and may have a narrower view about what is interesting. He cited the BBC’s lack of appeal among people who are younger and from less privileged backgrounds.

Ireland is implementing basic income for artists. Could Canada do something similar?

"From a financial point of view, it's hugely beneficial," Elinor O'Donovan said. "But beyond that, I think there’s something intangible that the arts offer to culture and society at large that is harder to measure, but I think it's still extremely valuable."

I would like to point out to all my friends and enemies in Seattle that I've been a very well-behaved hereditary Blue Jays fan.

-K

Checking in briefly to report that, unlike John Denver, I did not die in a plane crash.

I’m mostly settled now in Edmonton; so is the cat, although she briefly escaped into the great outdoors where, thankfully, she managed to evade getting eaten by coyotes. (They have those here.)

Writing has been on a bit of a hiatus while I took care of all the moving stuff, but I’m now back on track with the next Casefile of Jay Moriarty story. Watch this space.

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This Week’s LinksQueer developers speak out as adult games remain in limbo following payment processor showdown at Steam and itch.io

Right now, it’s 100 percent acceptable to make a game where you kill people graphically, but it’s not to make games about your experiences with sexual abuse/violence/trauma. People are using the spectre of sexual violence to silence people from talking about their own lives.

A New Video Game Allows You to Repatriate African Artifacts by Looting Western Museums

Earlier this month at the annual Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, Nyamakop unveiled its latest project, Relooted, a side-scrolling puzzle platformer—think early Tomb Raider or Prince of Persia games—where players join a crew of Robin Hood-esque thieves staging elaborate heists to take back stolen artifacts from Western museums, and repatriate them to the peoples from whom they were taken.

Jellyfish swarm forces French nuclear plant to shut

A French nuclear plant temporarily shut down on Monday due to a “massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish” in its filters, its operator said.

I’m also back on Instagram for the sake of keeping up with my Newcastle friends, plus a halfhearted attempt at the #bookstagram thing. We’ll see how that goes.

-K

Checking in briefly to report that, unlike John Denver, I did not die in a plane crash.

I'm mostly settled now in Edmonton; so is the cat, although she briefly escaped into the great outdoors where, thankfully, she managed to evade getting eaten by coyotes. (They have those here.)

Writing has been on a bit of a hiatus while I took care of all the moving stuff, but I'm now back on track with the next Casefile of Jay Moriarty story. Watch this space.

This Week's Links

Queer developers speak out as adult games remain in limbo following payment processor showdown at Steam and itch.io

Right now, it's 100 percent acceptable to make a game where you kill people graphically, but it's not to make games about your experiences with sexual abuse/violence/trauma. People are using the spectre of sexual violence to silence people from talking about their own lives.

A New Video Game Allows You to Repatriate African Artifacts by Looting Western Museums

Earlier this month at the annual Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, Nyamakop unveiled its latest project, Relooted, a side-scrolling puzzle platformer—think early Tomb Raider or Prince of Persia games—where players join a crew of Robin Hood-esque thieves staging elaborate heists to take back stolen artifacts from Western museums, and repatriate them to the peoples from whom they were taken.

Jellyfish swarm forces French nuclear plant to shut

A French nuclear plant temporarily shut down on Monday due to a "massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish" in its filters, its operator said.

I'm also back on Instagram for the sake of keeping up with my Newcastle friends, plus a halfhearted attempt at the #bookstagram thing. We'll see how that goes.

-K

Moving still underway; this time next week, I’ll be on a plane back to Canada. Overall, the prospect of leaving the UK has been less heartbreaking than I expected—but then again, it’s been increasingly apparent to me over the past year or so that this is not a country that believes in the things I believe in.

One example: in Edmonton there’s a yearly event called the Heritage Festival, where all the city’s cultural communities come together and set up pavilions showcasing their cuisine, art, and history. You can get in for free, eat some excellent Ecuadorian food, then walk ten feet and watch a Métis sword dance. It’s one of the best weekends of the year.

In Britain, prevailing political sentiment holds that everyone involved in this proceeding should be either punished or ejected from the country for “refusing to assimilate.”

New Flash Fiction: “Discipline”

Sebastian’s Saturday night had effectively started with him naked on his knees at the foot of his own bed, hands held behind his back because Jay had ordered him to keep them there.

If you happen to be one of my parents, maybe skip this story. It takes place a month or two after “Sebastian Moran Gut-Punches a Pimp,” and you can read it for free here!

Podcast Appearance: I Will Fight You

The latest episode of I Will Fight You is about the movie Devil (2010), which absolutely should have been called Hellevator.

You can listen to the episode here, or wherever podcasts are found.

Subscribe

This Week’s Links‘Vicious compliance’: Alberta premier decries Edmonton Public Schools’ banned book list

Long story short: the Alberta government orders schools to remove LGBT books from their libraries using the dogwhistle “explicit sexual content,” and the school board in my hometown sarcastically responds by compiling a list of 200 books that match this definition—including The Handmaid’s Tale, The Color Purple, and Jaws. Needless to say, the government isn’t happy about this.

Buy an invite to a wedding

Invitin is a French startup that allows couples to sell seats at their weddings to help finance their event.

Pigeonetics

A browser-based game about genetics and pigeons.

The Trans-Atlantic Cat Transport Subsidization Fund is still accepting donations! If you’d like to help out, drop by my Ko-fi.

-K

Moving still underway; this time next week, I'll be on a plane back to Canada. Overall, the prospect of leaving the UK has been less heartbreaking than I expected—but then again, it's been increasingly apparent to me over the past year or so that this is not a country that believes in the things I believe in.

One example: in Edmonton there's a yearly event called the Heritage Festival, where all the city's cultural communities come together and set up pavilions showcasing their cuisine, art, and history. You can get in for free, eat some excellent Ecuadorian food, then walk ten feet and watch a Métis sword dance. It's one of the best weekends of the year.

In Britain, prevailing political sentiment holds that everyone involved in this proceeding should be either punished or ejected from the country for "refusing to assimilate."

New Flash Fiction: "Discipline"

Sebastian’s Saturday night had effectively started with him naked on his knees at the foot of his own bed, hands held behind his back because Jay had ordered him to keep them there.

If you happen to be one of my parents, maybe skip this story. It takes place a month or two after "Sebastian Moran Gut-Punches a Pimp," and you can read it for free here!

Podcast Appearance: I Will Fight You

The latest episode of I Will Fight You is about the movie Devil (2010), which absolutely should have been called Hellevator.

You can listen to the episode here, or wherever podcasts are found.

This Week's Links

'Vicious compliance': Alberta premier decries Edmonton Public Schools' banned book list

Long story short: the Alberta government orders schools to remove LGBT books from their libraries using the dogwhistle "explicit sexual content," and the school board in my hometown sarcastically responds by compiling a list of 200 books that match this definition—including The Handmaid's Tale, The Color Purple, and Jaws. Needless to say, the government isn't happy about this.

Buy an invite to a wedding

Invitin is a French startup that allows couples to sell seats at their weddings to help finance their event.

Pigeonetics

A browser-based game about genetics and pigeons.

The Trans-Atlantic Cat Transport Subsidization Fund is still accepting donations! If you'd like to help out, click the "Buy me a coffee" button below.

-K