The Writer Is the Shirt Up Against the Wall of Publishing.

Everyone Hates Everyone. Add up all the rage people hang their hats and lives on, and in my case, personally, I learned a long time ago, you gotta ignore the bullshit. The only thing that surprised me was the extent to which most of these individuals are writers. The idea…

Tim Barrus, New York Times

Tim Barrus, New York Times

I do not mean to single out another writer. It’s not her fault that publishing deals fundamentally with not just a blacklist, but a set of blacklists that work like flawless machinery that could separate the good from the bad and the bad from the bad and the good from…

Tim Barrus, New York Times

I Was Fucking Him Then He Died So. Like. The dude under you just died. You have permission to leave Dodge. I would just go. The movies would have you rolling the body up in the dining room carpet. I hope you got paid. I would never look for a…

Tim Barrus: New York Times

I am autistic. I have Asperger’s. I am rarely appropriate. After being on Twitter for more than a decade watching thousands of Twitter scrolls scrolling, it’s a stim, and accomplishes what. Treachery is a blood worm. The body politik has been breached. There is no there there. If Twitter disappeared…

Tim Barrus: You Were A Beast Of Burden

i drag those memories across any stage that would have me and let me explain/ my bar stool, if you’re going to have a bar stool, but no bar, you can at least have one refreshing cocktail and I explain to you that I did not know who I was…

Tim Barrus: Rough Trade

Old age fits me like a wet dress. Writing is this bloodsoaked dragon with the tongue to lash you with. See that treeline up there. When you start running, we will all probably miss.

Tim Barrus: On Writing

People will tell you to hang in there. It’s not malevolent. It’s stupid, but not outright evil. It’s just sound coming from a mouth, signaling closure. I’m autistic. I do not get this stuff. What does it mean when their eyes look up into the sky. There is a message…

Tim Barrus: I Schlep Books In a Backpack

Book People. Keep your britches on. Perhaps books are not as important as we think. This would include me, too, as I keep punching at Publishing’s Asshole of Corruption. Favoritism. Power plays. Buba’s buddies. The stupid paradigm of the Author’s Tour. A slippery slope into the downfall of linguistics. What…

Tim Barrus, New York Times

This Is Not My Story To Tell I’m going to tell it anyway. Suprise. For writers (and delusional editors) telling stories is kinda what we do. A guy came into a bar. Ordinary. Now, let’s change the context. A guy came into a bar butt naked. Two words. Changes everything.…