Random Acts of Nuance

Good morning! Did you know that I actually record the audio for these posts? It’s really me, not a generic voice, so if you prefer listening over reading (or just want to hear my voice), you can click the Article Voiceover button above.

Some months I feel like writing you a beautiful short essay, and other months, I’m in a more casual mood, like Hey, we’re just grabbing a coffee and hanging out and talking about what’s been interesting lately.

Honestly, if there were some way to do a big get-together where we just relaxed together, I would do it! My vote is a moody Northern California beach where you can spend the morning walking on the sand in the fog, the afternoon writing or painting or reading or whatever you want, and the evening hanging out with other smart and interesting folk. But most people prefer to spend their money on conferences where they’re taught something or trips that have a schedule of activities, and I’m not really a cruise director-type, so I have not yet organized the chill California creative retreat of my dreams. ☺️

(If that kind of relaxing retreat is actually interesting to you, let me know in the comments or reply to this email so I can know if it’s something I ought to think about more seriously).

Anyhow, until I do plan that coastal hangout/getaway for us, you’ll have to settle for me in your inbox. Today, I wanted to share a few instances of nuance that made me curious and/or happy! (Why? I feel like society and culture have lost their appreciation for nuance, generally speaking, so when I see it, it gladdens my heart.)

A couple months ago, I took a position as an editor at the Center for AI Safety. Well, it wasn’t the right fit for me for a number of reasons which are too boring to delineate, but the tl;dr is that I resigned after three weeks. (Everyone there was smart and friendly and genuinely concerned about making the future good, and I wish them all the best.)

Anyway, one result of three weeks of immersion in AI Land was a strong desire to do some very human things. You know, stuff with my hands, like pruning rose bushes or making beaded bookmarks or even, gasp, push-ups. (Just kidding, I didn’t do any push-ups. I didn’t need to go that far to feel human).

But another thing that happened in that same time period was that I got a really lovely review of my upcoming book, Ideal Life, from Booklist (an important trade magazine in the publishing world).

What thrilled me most about the review is that they actually understood the nuance I was trying to explore about Silicon Valley, technology, and our responsibility to wield tech for the benefit of humanity:

While wary of the marriage of business and tech, Skye intentionally highlights potential benefits of the advanced technology itself, which accurately mirrors the complicated contemporary conversation surrounding AI.

That’s not the whole review, and Ideal Life is about a lot more than that, but that’s the a subplot that I thought people might just gloss over when they saw the book’s hot pink cover and decide to un-nuancingly categorize it as a ditzy beach read. (In other news, I am officially coining “un-nuancingly” as a word.)

Speaking of that hot pink cover and those beaded bookmarks made by my very human hands, the bookmarks are a limited edition pre-order gift with Fireside Books, my local indie bookstore (which is owned by a very sweet husband-and wife team). If you want a bookmark, I’ll leave instructions at the end of the newsletter on how to get one.

I usually avoid politics like the plague, but this detailed report caught my attention because it showed that the U.S. is not just red vs blue. Instead, it captured the complexity (and nuance!) of American opinion. It was a great reminder that we are all individuals and that we cannot (and should not) be lumped into just two buckets.

That said, I definitely felt the tug of wanting to find out where I fit in within these nine political typologies, and when I noticed that temptation, I made myself pull back. Tribalism is part of human nature and an innate survival instinct, but it’s also what has made us rather nasty to each other sometimes, be it politics or snarky book ratings or schoolyard mean girl antics. So if I note myself sliding into tribalism, I try to stop it. I’m not going to claim I always succeed, but I hope that at least being aware of it helps make me a slightly better person than if I didn’t.

Some may argue that there’s no nuance in the Game of Thrones world because it’s just battles and blood, but I personally think that the characters are quite nuanced because we follow them for so much of their lives and watch how they change as circumstances force them to adapt. I am particularly fascinated by the choices that women make when they are in power, because of the way motherhood and female friendship impact their life experiences and therefore, their decisions.

I haven’t read the Game of Thrones books (I know! I know! I’m sorry, I’m an author and I ought to do better, but… yeah, I’m just sorry). But I was a fan of the original show (other than that horrid last season and the finale, GAH!), and now I am very excited that season 3 of House of the Dragon is here.

Mornings (one chapter of a classic—or modern classic—every day at breakfast):

• Shogun by James Clavell (I read it as a teenager and am re-reading it now. Tom and I loved the TV adaptation and he just finished the books and wanted me to re-read it so we could discuss the show vs the books).

Evenings (phone off at 8:30pm!):

• Poppy Montgomery Gets Even by Gordon Jack

This newsletter is, and always will be, free. If you’d like to support my writing, several of my books are on Summer Sale right now!

• Today Only! (June 23): $1.99 ebook: The Hundred Loves of Juliet

• Month of June: $2.99 ebook The Incredible Kindness of Paper

Available for pre-order now at Fireside Books in Redwood City, CA. (Ideal Life releases on August 18th). Bookmarks are limited edition pre-order gifts and only available until they run out.

Please email your pre-order request to:

• I will personalize the book if you like, just include the name I should write in the book (e.g., “To Andrew”)

• Fireside Books will ship to you or you can pick up from the store if you’re local!

  • (note: Fireside Books is a small husband-wife run store, so they’re taking orders by email. They don’t have a website that takes orders—ordering from their Bookshop.org page will not ship an autographed copy or bookmark, since those orders go through Bookshop’s centralized distribution.)

• Saturday, August 22 at 6:30pm: Launch Party at Fireside Books in Redwood City, CA

• Sunday, August 23 at 5pm PT / 8pm ET: Virtual launch party (more details to come)

• Monday, August 24 at 11:30am: Lunch & Books at Towne Center Books in Livermore, CA