Boop, beep, shhhhh...
Will there be snark? Probably. Will there be foul language? Almost definitely.
I remember exactly where I was when I first heard the boop beep shhhhh of a dial-up modem, followed by the swell of musical score-like dings as Windows loaded. It was the early 90s. Who knew these sounds were the harbinger of technological changes that would transform the entire world? Not me, that’s for sure. I loved having access to all that information, right at my fingertips, whenever I wanted it though. I never made it over to MySpace or entered an AOL chatroom. I blame it on being right on the cusp of being a Boomer and GenX (this is an ongoing argument I have with my kids and younger brother, but that’s another story).
In the 90s and early aughts, as social media was emerging, I was busy birthing, breastfeeding, and raising my babies. I didn’t have time or head space to even think about connecting with people online. Then in the early 2010s I had my first mid-life crisis, which came with a tattoo and a career change. In my role as a wide-eyed, newborn literary agent, I was blogging, Facebooking, and Tweeting. My blog was called The Blabbermouth Blog, and I freely gave out publishing advice, writing tips, and plenty of snark.
I had my first mid-life crisis, which came with a tattoo and a career change.
I’d been an early Facebook user, ending up with two profiles because there was so much personal stuff on that first one––bleary-eyed pictures of me and my college buddies having too much fun at Grateful Dead shows, embarrassing reminiscences with high school friends about shenanigans we’d gotten up to, and a very personal eulogy when my sweet dog died––so when I became a literary agent it felt weird to try to connect with writers there. I’d been an early Twitter user, too. In fact, so early I even got to use my own name! If you don’t know, “Linda Epstein” is like “Mary Smith,” only make it Jewish. I especially loved Twitter, and I was there for years building community, blabbing about publishing, posting my manuscript wish lists, finding clients, and yes, dishing out snark.
In 2018 I deleted both Facebook profiles in a fit of rage when Zuckerberg was in front of congress testifying about the Data Analytica scandal. I only ever miss it because I like to buy stuff on FB Marketplace. A couple of years ago I quit Twitter in another fit of rage when Elon bought and ruined it. I was out as soon as he posted that Tweet to his 114 million followers recommending voting in a Republican congress. Buh bye! I left my almost 10K followers, which was dumb because I loved connecting with people on that platform. I couldn’t help it though, I don’t like it when billionaire white men try to tell me what to do. I did stay on Instagram. Yeah, yeah, I know Instagram is owned by Meta, which is FB, which is Zuckerberg. What can I say? I used to drink ice cream sodas made with soft-serve Carvel and Diet Coke. I’m a walking contradiction. It’s called being human.
I’m a walking contradiction. It’s called being human.
So for the past few years I’ve made do with my Instagram accounts. Yep, one personal and one for work. If you’re my in-real-life friend you’re probably on my personal one already. Anyone else can find me there @lindaepsteinauthor. I occasionally dip my toes in the TikTok pool, but I feel too self-conscious and insecure to take a dive into the deep end over there.
And now here I am, on SubStack. I know I’m late to the party, but I like to think of it as fashionably late. It’s taken me a minute to figure out who my ideal reader is, who I want my audience to be, and what I want to talk about. Because there are a lot of things I could write about! This is what I came up with...
I will absolutely still freely dish about publishing! In the past dozen+ years I’ve not only been a literary agent, I also got my MFA, became a published author, started a freelance editing business, and have taught countless workshops online and in person on all aspects of writing. So I will definitely be writing a lot about writing, too.
I’m late to the party, but I like to think of it as fashionably late.
According to my (not at all extensive) internet research, I’m officially old now, so I’ll rant about that occasionally. And, after a lifetime of very enthusiastic ally-ship to the LGBTQ+ community, I joined the team, as the saying goes. Apparently I’m what’s called a “late in life lesbian,” although I just identify as queer because it doesn’t sit well with me that I might be erasing my lifetime of experiences with a single L word. So I’ll have a thing or two to write about queerness, too.
Sometimes I might share my creative writing, mostly fiction and poetry, and since I have a novel coming out in February of 2025 I’ll be sharing about it, as things unroll. But let’s not forget about Gert! My dog, Gertrude Gertstein, is the silliest, most energetic, doodliest member of my life, so don’t be surprised if she shows up here in my writing on occasion. She’s a very good girl.
Will there be snark? Probably. Will there be foul language? Almost definitely. But I’ve grown a lot since my blabbermouth blogging, FB posting, and Tweeting days. So there will be a lot more kindness and understanding than my early online persona showed. Feel free to get in touch if there are specific topics you’d like me to write about (but please, don’t pitch me). If you’d like to be a paid subscriber I’d appreciate the financial support of my writing. If you’d like to make a small one-time donation, that would be great, too. And if you can’t, or don’t want to do either of those things, that’s fine! I’m just glad to have you here!
Peace and love,
Linda
Want to support my writing with a one-time donation? You can!
Welcome Linda! I am fashionably late too. Since I dislike parties, I am very comfortable wearing that label. I just posted my second post–here on Substack–while murmuring under my breath, "I will NOT be spending too much time here".
Here you go! I look forward to coming on board soon.