Before you reach out to me, please read Why I am a Bad Correspondent by the inimitable Neal Stephenson. Strike out “novelist” and insert “author.” In today’s multitasking age, I’m a single-threaded, single-processor person, running under a Big Giant Lock. And I’m poorly optimized. Having myself rebuilt by a modern compiler would probably do me a world of good, but that doesn’t seem to be an option.
I have enagaged in discussions with readers, many times. They usually follow a clear pattern. I’ve condensed this discussion into a FAQ, to save us both time and energy.
I answer general questions most readily via Mastodon or, if you must, Twitter. The length restrictions are actually helpful, as I cannot instinctively spend hours honing my response.
You can email me at mwl at mwl dot io. But I’m terrible at answering email.
Why?
- Every word I put in an email is a word that isn’t in a book.
- Every email I write consumes my most valued resources: time and attention.
- After spending all day working on computers and all evening writing books, the last thing I want to do is spend still more time in front of a blasted monitor.
- I don’t answer email from my own mother. Answering yours would hurt her feelings. You don’t want me to do that, do you? (You say she wouldn’t know. But she would. She would.)
Please do not be offended by my failure to answer mail. Not answering your email is not a sign that I think you suck. It’s a sign that I’m busy writing my next book.
You can find me on Mastodon. I have a Facebook page, but Facebook hides my posts, so I rarely use it. (My Twitter shut down shortly after Elon Musk bought the site.)
Or, you can try the contact form here. I only see the plain text; emoji get stripped before I see it. Be warned, I provide neither technical support nor consulting. The best advice I can give you is “try different configurations and see what happens.”