iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

every single inch matters when you have few of them!

010

childbearing only exists at the level of thinky thoughts, which is why I'm not continually behind on laundry and don't have to feed my children multiple times every single day.

040

never give in to big number

120

Imagine thinking that your ideas about how you relate to the society you live in, including your ability to control whether you or not you have children, is abstract. lol. lmao, really.

1140

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this quote since I first read it

2130

if they're not going to give us step stools 🤷‍♀️

000

I pretty regularly think that even if I were 6 inches taller, it wouldn't be enough. I feel like it's a world of giants, and I'm a hobbit.

000

HA! I'm 5'0" so I commiserate.

220

but then, they were out of arborio!! that was the truly tragic part.

I mostly just wanted to know if it would be worth it if I did. Because I absolutely have.

120

Also, the really sad part is that they didn't have the rice I wanted.

130

I was trying to decide if it was worth the indignity of climbing on the shelves or flagging down a tall person.

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 6h

It has been zero days since I failed the "am I a man or am I a Muppet?" test.

1160

Y'all, I sprained my ankle jumping up to see if there was any arborio rice on the top shelf at the grocery store. Lol

5160

no it is not! that's a quality control issue.

it's truly astonishing! and a little frightening.

000

one of the things that absolutely SHOCKED me about audiobooks is how late they're recorded, generally only a month or two before release.

360

Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

It's always exciting when you get pronunciation inquiries, and you know the narrators are recording your audiobook!!!

1171

Oooh! And you should read Minor Black Figures, if you haven't. There's lots in it that's relevant.

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I'm glad I'm not the only person who's noted this

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I haven't read enough Cusk to know for sure.

100

Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I definitely think this is true.

000

Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

And I taught Taylor's "Anne of Cleves" several times, but alas, I always liked it more than my students did.

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

One of the things I like most about social media is recommendations about smart things to read. (And really, this entire conversation is reminding me that I should talk about books more.)

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I had exactly the same trajectory. in fact, if I hadn't found those vigorous conversations online, I doubt I would've continued to read in the genre, and I certainly wouldn't have started writing it.

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I believe very sincerely that he's one of the best and most insightful critics of this moment. (and randomly, I'm currently reading his novel Minor Black Figures, which at least at present is reading as a single POV romance, though I'm not done and can't speak to the ending.)

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

but if someone hasn't read as widely in the genre, I can see how they would make the logical leap you're describing.

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

this is both astute and generous. it's just clear to me that you can have both because when I started reading romance in 2011, the books I gravitated towards were "progressive" (which is reductive, but you know what I mean) while having emotional heft.

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

yes, 100%. there is no reason why there can't be real stakes, real conflict, and real emotions in book that also embraces consent. acting otherwise is a canard.

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

(and I should say, there's lots to critique in the book, from the fat phobia, to the way it engages in racial discourse, to the portrayal of sex work, etc. but even its faults are discussable, IMHO.)

Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

and he does ultimately fix himself. to keep her, yes, but he takes on his own emotional labor.

Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

yes! and I have lots of other thoughts about how the packaging and discourse around these books divorces them from the history of the genre in a way that exacerbates those feelings. but it basically boils down to what do you mean this is modern romance when it feels so emotionally unsatisfying?

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

YES. all the elements, none of the emotional heft. that's it exactly.

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Emma Barry @authoremmabarry.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

he's the such an emblematic "look at this bozo in love" romance protagonist