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Books, Blogs, and Brain Clouds

Books, Blogs, and Brain Clouds No. 42 (Nov-Dec-Jan 25-26)

Published 1 day ago • 1 min read

See You In the Funny Pages

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I've decided to turn my stories about the Groundhogs of Linden Manor into a comic strip! Part of this comes my long-held love of the comic strip form, but it's also a desire to not have these stories languish as an unpublished children's book.

The first "chapter" - comprised of 7 strips - is called "Opposite Day" and it's ready to be shared with the world. Click the button below, and let me know what you think!

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Sailing, Takes Me Away...

Over on my music blog - 3 Minutes, 49 Seconds - I've started a new series of posts about Yacht Rock. The first two are up and ready for you to read.

New Year, New Beginner Books!

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2026 has already brought us two new additions to the line. I wrote about them on the new Beginner Books Encyclopedia Continued website.

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Spam in the Place Where You Live

Over the past few months I've been receiving e-mails purporting to be from high-profile authors - including Donna Tartt, Mark Waid, and Grady Hendrix - all wanting to connect about our "common love of storytelling." At the same time I've been getting solicitations from "curated book clubs" that want to spotlight one of my books. One included a link to their website, which was filled with book covers that were obviously created using AI. As with all scams, I assume the ultimate goal is money, but what a weirdly specific group of people to target and what a weirdly specific way to do it.

Hopefuls Song of the Month(s)

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Manias - "You Have to Wait" (2026)

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Jay Hurley, a Twin Cities songwriter with the bands Hovercraft, Shatterproof, and Landing Gear, was also a member of the original iteration of the Olympic Hopefuls, Camaro.

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After a long time away from releasing new music, he's back with the band Manias and more fuzzy pop rock. Check it out here!

What I'm Reading

I recently finished Opposable Thumbs, the story of Siskel and Ebert. I give it one thumb up; it was insightful, but a bit unfocused. I also read the engrossing YA novel Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier. Currently I'm in Oz, reading Gregory Maguire's Elphie: A Wicked Childhood.

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And Finally, a Brain Cloud

Peace, love, and thank you for reading.

paul.allen@gmail.com
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Paul V. Allen

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