A new (AI-free) logo, a bonus book, and more!

As we approach our first anniversary on Substack, some exciting updates.

By Lisa Brunette

Maybe you’ve noticed: We’ve updated our logo.

Neither Anthony nor I designed this new one, and that’s why it doesn’t suck. OK, maybe that’s harsh. But can you deny how super pro the new one is? That’s because we hired my sister, Amy Barr, who incidentally sponsored our spring giveaway, to design it. In addition to her work as a PaperPie brand sponsor, she has nearly 30 years’ experience as a graphic designer, and it shows. Thank you, Amy!

By the way, Substack offers the option to choose to let their AI generate a logo for you. We decided to pay a living, breathing human artist for her work and expertise instead, as we just can’t get behind the move to replace human creators with AI. But after the fact, I decided to see what the AI would generate. I think we can all agree that Amy crushed the AI on this one, blech.

Is it me, or is AI art just… inherently unsettling?

Another change: If you tune in via our podcasts, you might have noticed an increase in quality this week, and that’s due to some new equipment, yay!

About that free book

I’m participating in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale (Summer for all of you up here in the Northern Hemisphere, and winter for you folks down under.)

As part of the sale, I’m offering Broom of Anger, my book of poetry, 100 percent free on ebook. You don’t need a coupon code or anything else; just go to this link and download the book for free to your device, now until July 31, 2023.

“Broom of Anger” references how one might wrestle with anger’s consuming nature, turning it into a force for good, as in the Zora Neale Hurston quote that inspired it: “Grab the broom of anger and drive off the beast of fear.” I thought our Brunette Gardens audience might like the collection because at the crux of this attempt to wrestle with anger is nature. That’s always been a healing balm for me, as I suspect it is for many of you readers.

Here’s a sample from the book:

What’s Left

We are scaling the summit

of a snowy volcano.

I marvel at turquoise frozen glacier

up above treeline, where marmots romp,

gnawing mountain meadow lupine.

Then I realize we are surveyors.

My bosses are looking for a place to dump

all that human garbage:

Fast-food wrappers, dead PCs, dirty diapers.

They think their work important.

I am supposed to be one of them.

But I leave the party in the snow, not knowing where to go,

and lose myself in what’s left of the wilderness.

In addition to the free ebook for all, we’re also holding a drawing for a free paperback copy for one paid subscriber as of July 14 at 7 am CDT, a bonus giveaway for the summer season. (We’ll have another one a bit later.)

Of course, if you don’t want to read poetry on an e-reader or wait for the giveaway, you can get a paperback copy of Broom of Anger via Amazon. I will be your best friend if you do. I’m not kidding. I don’t currently have a best friend, so it could totally happen.

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Thank you for helping get the word out about Brunette Gardens. We couldn’t do any of this without you.