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Marco Palmieri

@mxpalmieri.bsky.social
2K followers 167 following 178 posts

I help storytellers. Independent Developmental Editor. Knight Errant. Ronin. Previously: Realm Media • Tor Publishing Group • Simon & Schuster • DC Comics he/him mxpalmieri.com photography: www.instagram.com/the_megalopolitan

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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Today’s cafe playing “9 to 5” seems a bit on-the-nose, but I’ll allow it. #amediting
Looking over my laptop toward the front windows of the cafe I’m working in.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
This month marks my 30th year as an editor. The story goes on. #editor #writingcommunlty #amediting #freelance
Close up of Marco Palmieri, independent editor, smiling.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Everything is terrible, but this made my day. (Reproduced with the author’s permission and edited for confidentiality.) #freelance #editor #writingcommunity #amediting
Part 1 of a letter from a client:

Dear  Marco,

A few years ago, you helped me with two books: Soul Binder and Owen Greenley and the Cape of Leaves. I learned a great deal from your developmental edits.

You opened my eyes, especially to character agency. I have since then kept working on the projects, working with critique groups, and by some wild luck, I was mentored by [two top executives at a major film studio]. It’s been quite a journey.Part 2 of a letter from a client:

I also opened my own publishing company, and this May, I published Soul Binder. The second book in the series, Immortal Alchemy, will be released in September. Two other books are in the wings, one of which is Owen Greenley. All this has also led me to write screenplays and create book trailers with my son. It’s been great to work with him.

And here I am, grateful to you, Marco, because you helped me improve my craft. Your input was some of the most valuable in this effort.

With deep gratitude and best wishes,

Kit Danforth
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
Marquee sign outside a Brooklyn church reads, “Don’t oppress an immigrant. —Exodus 23.9”
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Felt weird. Might delete later.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Share a movie scene that lives rent-free in your head.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
With so many folks excited for Andor Season 2 kicking off in just a couple of days, this is your periodic reminder that writer-director Tony Gilroy's underrated Michael Clayton (2007; George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton) is a fucking masterpiece, and you should all watch it.
Still from Michael Clayton: George Clooney stares at a wall on which has been scrawled "Make believe it's not just madness."
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
bring me harry potter
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Asked for the reason behind this move, the Steward of Gondor said, “The halflings have been very unfair to us. Very unfair.”
A picture of Denethor from “The Return of the King,” framed by a TV new chyron that reads, “DENETHOR’S EXECUTIVE ORDER IMPOSES 300% TARIFF ON TOMATOES FROM THE SHIRE””
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
From Timothy Snyder, for The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"The American imperialism directed towards Denmark and Canada is not just morally wrong. It is strategically disastrous. The US has nothing to gain from it, and much to lose. There is nothing that Americans cannot get from Denmark or Canada through alliance. The very existence of the base at Pituffik shows that. Within the atmosphere of friendship that has prevailed the last 80 years, all of the mineral resources of Canada and Greenland can be traded for on good terms, or for that matter explored by American companies. The only way to put all of this easy access in doubt was to follow the course that Musk-Trump have chosen: trade wars with Canada and Europe, and the threat of actual wars and annexations. Musk and Trump are creating the bloodily moronic situation in which the US will have to fight wars to get the things that, just a few weeks ago, were there for the asking. And, of course, wars rarely turn out the way one expects.

Much effort is spent trying to extract a doctrine from all this. But there is none. It is just senselessness that benefits America’s enemies. Hans Christian Andersen told the unforgettable tale of the naked emperor. In Greenland, what we saw was American imperialism with no clothes. Naked and vain."
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Very late to the party, but last night I finished a month-long, first-time watch of The Americans, the cold war spy drama with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. Riveting stuff.
Black & white photo of Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Elizabeth and Philip from The Americans.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
“[Speculative Fiction] does not predict. It does the opposite of predicting. It contests. SF demands we always seek out alternatives, where we find something far better than fatalistic optimism: we find hope. Hope is the belief that if we make a change that betters our circumstances, that from our new vantage point we will espy a previously obscured next step that will bring us closer to a better future. Hope is how we’ll get through the polycrisis.”
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Without downloading any new pics, where are you mentally?
Sidewalk placard reads, “According to science, alcohol is a solution.”
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” ― George Orwell From Don Moynihan:
The representation of women or LGBTQ people or Hispanics or Asian Americans or Black people mattered because their stories had historically not been featured. Erasing them is not a return to some bygone era of color-blind merit, but of blindness to the contribution of anyone who did not fit Trump's whitewashed vision of America.

The Trump presidency is, as much as anything, a project of purging and erasing large parts of America, of people, ideas, capacities, and knowledge. Trump has also pledged to remove the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is an independent federal agency that supports libraries, archives and museums in America.

A presidential campaign built on the Big Lie, and incorporating lots of little lies, is intolerant of images, voices or evidence at odds with its worldview. It has only one vision of America in mind, much of it fanciful, and so it will erase anyone not part of that narrative.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
From Don Moynihan: donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whitewashi...
Except from article at link: The word "diversity" itself, and "fairness" are too dangerous to survive, painted over to avoid offending the new administration. (“Leadership", "compassion" and "integrity" are also no longer welcome at the FBI).
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Post by Amanda Hu: "Friendly reminder that anti-intellectualism is an authoritarian tactic that is used to control a population by robbing people of the tools to understand and solve problems, foster innovation and build up communities. Education gives people power to improve their conditions."
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
From the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, published in 1949.
Quote from Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell: “Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you. It was always at night -- the arrests invariably happened at night.”
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
From Adam Serwer: “This is what is important: It does not matter if you approve of Khalil's views. It does not matter it you support the Israelis or the Palestinians. It does not matter if you are a liberal or a conservative. It does not even matter if you voted for Trump or Kamala Harris. If the state can deprive an individual of his freedom just because of his politics, which is what appears to have happened here, then no one is safe. You may believe that Khalil does not deserve free speech or due process. But if he does not have them, then neither do you.
Neither do I.”
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
Musk, Trump, and Vance standing together.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Another week of dystopian hellscape, another comfort-food Friday.
Homemade brown rice with chicken and mixed vegetables.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Think you'll need a developmental edit or editorial assessment next year? Plan ahead! I'm currently booking for 2026! I have 29 years of professional experience in genre storytelling. Honest, direct, easygoing, upbeat, encouraging. mxpalmieri.com #amediting #freelance #editor #writingcommunity
Banner for my web site, mxpalmieri.com: Editor of Imaginary Worlds—genre fiction, audio dramas, narrative games, and more.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Reminder that this is happening tomorrow, Friday the 28th. And related to my last post, find yourself an indie bookseller and buy a banned book.
Poster promoting the Feb 28 Economic Boycott. If you have to make purchases, seek out small businesses only. Pay cash.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Meme by God account on FB: “All billionaires must explain what they got done each week for society or have their wealth seized.”
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
From D. L. Mayfield:
Writer D. L. Mayfield’s advice for resisting fascism.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Drop a picture of yourself and turn it B&W
B&W selfie.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Terrify them.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Smokey dying because I haven’t fed him yet.
My cat faking his own demise from imagined starvation.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
These words were used in 2011 by self-described Nazi, terrorist, and convicted mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik.
Trump post from 15 Feb, 2025: “He who saves the Country does not violate any Law.”
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Comfort-food Sunday.
A plate of baked salmon, roasted potato spears, and a salad of multicolored and halved grape tomatoes.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Self-enrichment is their goal. Hurting people is just a bonus. www.npr.org/2025/02/13/g...
Clip from NPR piece about Trump administration  plan to spend $400m on armored Teslas.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
From Qasim Rashid: www.qasimrashid.com/p/ag-bondi-t...
Quote from Qasim Rashid piece on Trump administration assault on DEIA
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Happy Superb Owl Sunday to all who celebrate.
Painting of an owl wearing a monocle and a fancy hat.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Worst. Restroom. Ever.
Art nouveau sign that reads, “Please Don’t Do Cocaine in the Bathroom.”
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Comfort-food Friday.
A plate of homemade pork-rib tips, with a side of string beans, sun-dried tomatoes, and toasted almond slivers.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Excerpt from New York Times opinion piece by Jamelle Bouie.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
From Ahmed Baba: www.ahmedbaba.news/p/elon-musks...
Quote from Ahmed Baba about Trump & Musk attack on the federal government.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
From Heather Cox Richardson:
Quote by Heather Cox Richardson
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Saturday afternoon slant.
Slanted angle on the back of Manhattan apartment buildings, show fire escape shadows.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Make comfort food. It’s been that kind of day.
A plate of homemade meatloaf and a simple salad.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
The Legion of Doom
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Make comfort food. We earned it.
A plate of tacos
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Just watched “Basquiat.” Great film about ‘80s NYC artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Unbelievable cast, led by Jeffrey Wright and David Bowie! (See the key art below for the rest. Not listed: Willem DeFoe, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell) Wright is amazing in the title role, and Bowie is Andy Warhol!
Poster art for the 1996 movie Basquiat, showing actor Jeffrey Wright in the title role.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Rough week so far, but today I’m back on my bullshit.
New headshot
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
Dance to your own music. #subwayart
NYC subway mosaic art of two people dancing.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
“You’ll be visited by three spirits.” The spirits:
Laszlo, Nadja, and Nandor from What We Do In The Shadows.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
When you realize Bernard designed the Silo.
Two shots of Tim Robbins side-by-side: as Norville from The Hudsucker Proxy, and as Bernard from Silo.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
In the bleak midwinter #solstice
A denuded tree at night with the moon in the background.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Well, Merry Christmas to me! I just landed enough editing jobs to get me to the end of 2025! My calendar has never filled up as fast as it has in the last month. But there’s still room to squeeze in a few more projects, so if anyone needs a dev editor in the coming year, book me soon!
Marco in front of his laptop, a mug of coffee at his elbow.
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Marco Palmieri @mxpalmieri.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Sad to learn about the passing of writer Dave McIntee. He was best known for his Doctor Who work, but he also had a passion for Star Trek, and 17 years ago I published a short story he wrote for the 20th Anniversary Next Gen anthology. He was a good guy and fun to work with. Safe journey, Dave.
Book cover of The Sky's the Limit, the 20th anniversary Star Trek: The Next Generation shoprt story anthology.
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