Stop At The Tavern #5
Listen (3 min) | Announcements, featured notes, and recent posts
Welcome, fellow travelers.
Today’s stop will be a short one.
This month, one dilemma kept popping up, both in my life and the lives of those around me. It’s a problem faced by most of us: I want to take a break, but I don’t dare (this is different from being unable to take a break, which is another problem entirely).
Beneath this concern, several fears simmer:
It’s foolish to stop right when I need to be building an audience.
Having a rest will undermine all the hard work I’ve done.
If I step away, the algorithm will be displeased and won’t recommend my work.
I’m not going to repeat the modern proverb about self-care and airplane oxygen masks. I’ll take it for granted that you’re familiar.
But here’s an idea I’ve only recently encountered: if the algorithm were a person, it would be a narcissist.
A common narcissist’s tactic is ‘moving the goal posts.’ Just when you think you’re doing well, the narcissist will change the rules of the game, ensuring their own control and ruining any sense of achievement. This keeps you insecure and dependent on their approval. It also means you continue working to please them.
I hope that provides food for thought. Personally, I’ve found it gristly but nutritious.
Announcements
Going off the previous note, I’ll be taking a break from publishing for the month of June and returning Wednesday, July 2nd. I plan to take this time to organize my priorities, personal and professional.
When I return, I’ll have paid options available for my blog. Each tier will come with small tokens of my appreciation, but you’ll never be required to pay to read my work on Substack.
Featured Notes
Recent Posts
Fair Folk
“The ring o’ the fair folk, it crept up overnight. No one seen it before. And the little Webster lad, he made for it quick as anythin’. No surprise with his gold hair and blue eyes. Would’ve been the third child to go missin’ in a month if his mother hadn’t caught him.
Listen (20 min) | Short Story | Fantasy | Mild language
Willing To Pay
Leah Hudson stank of desperation. That’s what made her such fun.
Listen (8 min) | Short Story | Horror/Dark Literary Fiction | Disturbing imagery
Touching Grass
The wild becomes trite when we experience it on a screen. Photographs and videos of sunsets, flowers, and rivers are scrolled past, even though standing before them on our own two feet would render us speechless. One image of nature begins to look like another. If we’re far gone, we glance out our windows in the real world and think, “That’s a pretty pi…
Get outta here, go on, shoo! | Listen (4 min)
The Twin
Lyla smelled the patient’s unwashed body, like canned beans boiled too long.
Listen (14 min) | Short Story | Midwestern Gothic | Strong language, violence
This Month’s Reading – One Sentence Book Reviews
I’m afraid I wasn’t able to finish a book this month, something I hope to correct during my time off.
But, as always, I’d love to hear what you’re reading.
Thank you all for joining me on this stop at the tavern. See you next time.
Painting is Interior of a Tavern with a Blind Fiddler by Hendrik Leys (1815–1869)
It's certainly stressful to fear becoming irrelevant or rejected altogether by the 'almighty algorithm', smothering one's reach. You're right about it being quite a narcissist haha. xD
My personal philosophy is usually to ignore the algorithm and trust to the old fashioned method of hoping that our work reaches exactly the people it was meant to reach, via sharing around and word of mouth...! However, that doesn't mean it brings in a flood of people...just a small, joyous group that loves what I do. There just has to be better ways of reaching your audience than needing to constantly feed a hungry machine.....!
I hope your rest is wonderful and restorative. See you when you get back, Jennifer! This gives me time to go back and do a re-read of your previous stuff. :)
A wonderful roundup of what's going on and things to come. Inspires me to try something similar! And I'll be interested to see what you do with paid tiers.