Finished copies of
#OldBabes
have landed! Stories featuring Nell & Tig, George Orwell, beloved cats, a confused snail, and an alien tasked with retelling human fairy tales. Find out more:
@ChattoBooks
@PenguinRandomUK
My goodness, some of you are good at misreading! To be clear: when HandmaidsTale came out in 85, there was disbelief. I thought a religious-right takeover was possible in the US, and was Crazy Margaret. Premature, but unfortunately too close. That doesn’t make me happy.
Yes indeed to those who asked: I’m writing a sequel to The
#HandmaidsTale
.
#TheTestaments
is set 15 years after Offred’s final scene and is narrated by three female characters. It will be published in Sept 2019. More details:
Some science here: "When Sex and Gender Collide."
#TransGenderWomen
Biology doesn't deal in sealed Either/Or compartments.
We're all part of a flowing Bell curve. Respect that! Rejoice in Nature's infinite variety!
That is why I did not put anything into
#TheHandmaidsTale
that had not happened somewhere... including the snatching of children from their parents. Believable? Alas yes.
To be also clear, there are no overtly
#LBGTQ
+ people in Gilead society in The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) because the regime has killed and suppressed them. As has happened and is happening in many times & places.
It’s an old playbook. Create chaos, remove validity from gov’t, create a demand for
#authoritarian
order, step in; OR force gov’t itself to use muscle, then yell Tyrant. Bingo, democracy doesn’t work! Enemies of it win.
#blockades
I shouldn’t have, but I did. That’s Alex
@FaneProductions
killing himself laughing. I didn’t run over anyone (this time).
#wellington
N Z: filled with temptations!
"Handmaids Tale" protesters marching in formation down Tel Aviv's Kaplan Street this afternoon, looking exactly like they do in the miniseries. Chilling.
Congratulations to
@StephenKing
on the 50th anniversary publication of Carrie, his breakthrough novel. Moi has an Introduction in it -- longer than the one in the NY Times.... (It's got Jungian analysis, tho not by me, just sayin' ....)
OK Twitterpals, as I crouch in my burrow, what would you like the most? a) comforting book reccos b) plague book reccos c) poetry book reccos d) stupid/weird/mundane things I have done to pass the time, which would have passed anyway...
Because it's in the world. (It's not just women who are controlled in the book.. it's everyone except those at the top. Gilead is a theocratic totalitariansim, not simply a Men-have-power Women-do-not world. Lower status men are told when and who marry, eg.)
My crazy English teacher is making us write essays on
#TheHandmaidsTale
tale where we are supposed to answer why
@MargaretAtwood
put the theme of power and control in the book. We do not have telepathy with
@MargaretAtwood
so I guess twitter is a close second... Helpppp!!!🥴
Thank you. A division between women's rights and human rights is a false dichotomy. One of my sources for
#TheHandmaidsTale
was Argentina under the Generals. So many women were killed and their babies stolen.
Prohibited from entering
#Russia
, books banned in
#USA
… gee, this 83 year old granny (me)must be some threat! >:>{ Will it be the
#polonium
tea or what?
Here comes
@HandmaidsOnHulu
#handmaidstale
Season 4: April 28! No I haven't seen it yet! I too will be surprised! (Where can I get one of these botanical specimens?)
Yes, I’m giving some thought to the
#texas
rat-out-your-neighbour-for-bounty-hunter-cash, bear-false-witness-with-impunity, mess-up-your-ex-with-a-false-accusation, state-owns-your-body Thoughtcrime Law. Clog up the justice system, will it? A tv plot there?
If this account of the bill is true, it’s Lettres de Cachet all over again. The possibilities for revenge false accusations + thoughtcrime stuff are sooo inviting! Trudeau’s Orwellian online harms bill
This is unacceptable. If you've read
@MargaretAtwood
's Handmaid's Tale, you know that even in fiction, this is the hallmark or a society that has gone off the rails. If you don't vote for any other reason, vote for candidates who commit to fixing this stain.
That is very sweet! Thank you! But I am tough like old pickled ox and have the immune system of a meercat, plus I stuff my nose with rose petals and hit too-close strangers with ski poles, so I should be ok unless I fall down in the bathtub. >:>}
I’ll tell you what I’m worried about. I’m worried about
@MargaretAtwood
. Seriously. I do not want this virus to get
@MargaretAtwood
. (I’ll bring you groceries if that would keep you indoors.)
Note that not a single “administrator” has taken a pay cut.
#Universities
have to teach. It’s what they are for. They are not “for” administering without any
#teachers
. Many have become topheavy with administrators, who just keep administering themselves more money and cutting…
Twitter pals, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. Trigger thumb (self-inflicted physical injury) plus US Election obsessive anxiety (self-inflicted psychological injury) have slowed me down... ):>(
Congratulations to
@StephenKing
on publication of The Institute. “What fresh hell is this?” (Dorothy Parker.) Would YOU kidnap and torture children if you were told it was in aid of protecting your world? Well? Would you?
@HodderBooks
I read
@MargaretAtwood
in High school and remember being amazed at finally seeing representation of the darker, psychological side of female interactions. It's something you rarely see in YA or beyond one token villain or stereotypical clique.
Interesting to see which politicians and would-be Prime Ministers are now openly against the rule of law. Of course if they achieve power it will be a different story. Always is. French Rev anyone?
Happy 4th of July, American friends.
May you soon become your best selves. Liberty and justice for ALL sounds pretty good. Make it so, then live well and prosper!
Taking a break from being Supreme Being Goddess, omniscient, omnipotent, and responsible for all ills. Sorry I have failed the world so far on gender equality. Maybe stop trying? Will be back later. (Next incarnation maybe.)
You dodged a bullet or two, USA. It was close. I was almost at the point of getting the cocoa ready, for when you swam across the river...
@HandmaidsOnHulu
Time for real Xians to stand up!
@Sojourners
Who better to narrate
#TheHandmaidsTale
than Elisabeth Moss? I’m delighted she agreed to read the UK edition for
@vintagebooks
. It’s powerful, haunting and authentic – I have been so lucky to have had her interpreting Offred. It’s out today – more info:
So many congratulations, Team
@HandmaidsonHulu
-- What a terrific Writing Room by the way! So much of what you do is unseen.. It has been an all-out group effort from Day One.
#GoldenGlobes2018
Yes. The
#ontario
government should undo the whole broken-promise
#greenbelt
land grab and start over, this time openly and with proper
#firstnations
consultation. Only way for
#ford
to get his tender bits out of the nutcracker.
The ugly Greenbelt saga just got uglier.
"The two damning reports point to so many irregularities in the Greenbelt saga that Mr. Clark’s continued presence in cabinet should raise serious questions about Mr. Ford’s judgment."
"The reports’ combined findings also mean the…