August was a wild month for me--traveling, writing, working (a lot), vacationing (sort of), the school year starting back up and with it all of the activities. I know I sound like every other mom ever...

Book World is all a’tizzy about AI Witch Hunting. And for good reason—a number of authors have seen their reputations attacked (best case) and book deals die (worst case) in response to allegations th...

Most people don't read the fine print when their tech devices push "updates to terms and conditions." Including me. Who has the time? Not me. ACCEPT. ⏭️ Buuuut: I will read them if need calls. This i...

Full disclosure: I'm mad. Real mad. So I'm going to talk about something really terrible, head's up. It regards a teenager and suicide, self-harm, and serious mental health issues. The whole thing ...

Before we start with January's book reviews: I won't write this newsletter without acknowledging just how horrific the state of play in the United States is right now, and even since my last circular....

In 2025, I hit triple digits. I've never read more than I did last year. Here is a tidy summary for your consideration. Well. How aesthetically pleasing, dear. But, um, what does this mean? Taking ...

A few months ago, one of the biggest criminal enterprises responsible for intellectual property theft—Anthropic, owner of the Generative AI program Claude—agreed to settle to the tune of billions of d...

If you follow me on Instagram, you also know I'm in an abusive relationship with it. I just can't quit that darn app. I intend to use it in a very limited way, and that's to stay in touch with the wri...

About a year ago, I joined a two-hour writing class. It was a cold, grey Saturday afternoon, and I was praying that the class's 12-2 PM time block would result in a full nap for the youngest member of...

Since the internet is terrifying, I withheld the location of my previously mentioned writing adventure, and I'm so excited now to share that I was accepted to (and attended) the first summer session a...

I've read some absolute bangers in the last two months, so today I present to you a book list without much ranting. You're disappointed, I know, I'll make it up to you next time. The absolute 10/5 ba...

The elder millennial in me is embarrassed that twice in a row now I've used rage bait from Threads as a topic for this newsletter. But it really is very egregious. You see, looks like I'm a book perv...

It takes a lot for me to clutch my pearls. I'm almost 40, and the world is insane. But clutch my pearls I did when, this weekend on Threads, a user I follow (@mommacusses, who is hilarious, by the way...

A very dear friend of mine apologized for not having read all Having Written's posts yet. She'd left a few of them flagged, and planned to work through, but hadn't caught up. So I realized: if this pe...

Bereft of inspiration for a witty topic, I figured since we're starting a new month, I'll share my March reading list with a quick review of each (9 total). They span a pretty wide range, so there's r...

I never needed convincing that reading Fantasy was for me. If you're a hyperactive, knobby-kneed, glasses-wearing little girl with oceans-deep levels of anxiety, you're apt to sink into worlds full of...

Dorothy Parker had it right when she said: "I hate writing, I love having written." Truer words have never been spoken, at least for me. We've got some new folks here, so a quick reintroduction is ...

When I mention I love Horror (whether in film or in books) to someone, they usually react in one of two ways: either with instant, joyous agreement, or they wave their hands, plug their ears, tell me ...

When I mention I love Horror (whether in film or in books) to someone, they usually react in one of two ways: either with instant, joyous agreement, or they wave their hands, plug their ears, tell me ...

Few things on this Earth drive me to action and rage like hearing a book has been banned. I'm sure the web of psychological reasons for this would take digging up Freud himself to answer, but in any c...

I just finished 'Victorian Psycho' by Virginia Feito and 'The Haunting of Hill House' (on audiobook) by Shirley Jackson—one was WONDERFUL, one was pretty good. I'll share which book is which in a futu...

AI doesn’t have a soul. It can write pretty words, but it’s not a human digging just a little deeper, mining their life to make art from experience.

Friends! Remember me? Charlotte Chambers, mom, lawyer, person with a reading addiction—took down 95 books in 2024, and I've already got 15 in 2025 under my belt. I'm surprised, and also not, that eng...

Hi! I’m Charlotte Chambers—mom, lawyer, and unhinged, escapist reading nut. I read 95 books in 2024, and boy did they run the gamut: from good to bad, the hardest science fiction to the hyper-realisti...