Adaptation

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

Charles Darwin said that. Or wrote it. I’m not sure. I don’t have time for research.

Recently, Elon Musk bought Twitter and the entire site–and the internet itself–is burning to the ground.

Did you know that?

No one’s really talking about it much, so maybe you missed it…

Anyway, it’s just a social media site, right? It’s not that big of a deal. Mountain out of a molehill shit, right?

Except it’s not. Not to those who have called it home for years.

Twitter has many communities that have been growing since its launch in 2006. That’s sixteen years, y’all. Twitter was just getting its driver’s license. Then a guy who runs a questionable car company fucked it all up.

Ironic.

Regardless, for 16 years, Twitter has been a place for Black people, Asians, Latinos, other people of color, indigenous communities, women, LGBTQIA, disabled people, writers and other creatives–tons of marginalized communities–to find…community.

It’s a big deal to those people. I’m 3 of the things above. It was nice to have a place where I could find other people like me and like-minded people. Even when the trolls ran rampant, it felt like a safe space. Because someone always had your back. It was the first valid and viable place I found to promote my work and sell books. It has given me tons of grief, but the positives have outweighed the negatives ten fold. I’ll miss it if it does eventually implode.

I’ll miss the friendships I’ve made that I keep up with daily. I’ll miss the art, photographs, writing snippets, jokes, flirting, silliness, and sense of community that little hell-site produced.

But here’s the thing…

Nothing survives if it can’t adapt. Meaning us. The people who made Twitter what it is. The consumers. The twits, the twats, the tweeps, the tweepers. We are what made Twitter great.

And now…we have to adapt. So we can survive.

I already knew, due to aspects of my personal life, that I was facing some tough decisions in the coming year, as far as my writing career goes. Every other wrench in the gears makes those decisions more complex and difficult. However, the first two-thirds of my life was an exercise in adapting and surviving. I simply have to go with what comes and do my best to work with it. Things fall apart, things don’t go as planned, and no matter your intentions when you set out on a journey, it doesn’t always go as planned.

Maybe Twitter will stick around and we can adapt to what it becomes. Or maybe it will suddenly stop working one day, shut down by the evil wax-faced overlord with more money than actual business sense. Who’s to say?

I’ve created accounts on Counter.Social, Tribel, and Tumblr in the meantime. I think Tumblr will be my official “home away from home” until something better comes along. Maybe Jack Dorsey will get BlueSky up and running and it will be a great Twitter alternative. Who’s to say?

Simply put, we can only adapt. We can only do what we can do until a more stable home is available for all of us.

Finding ways to keep getting our creations out there, staying in touch, keeping our communities strong and communicative, and organizing when we see an opportunity that is as good as Twitter once was, will help us to survive.

Granted, it’s either sink or swim, as we really have no choice but to adapt. However, I hope all of you keep swimming with me. And as we tread water and wait, I hope we all find an island together.

In the meantime, my temporary island will be mostly on Tumblr. Stop by. I plan to be as welcoming and entertaining as possible.

Having said all of this, we’ve decided to make some directional changes with Chase Connor Books. TRICKED: THE MEN OF BRIEFLY BUDDIES and JACOB MICHAELS IS… series are both ending prematurely.

I am going to look toward 2023 and beyond for what’s next in regard to Chase Connor Books. I’m sure TLFP will help me figure that out. Don’t take this as any indication that I plan to stop writing or leave the community. That’s definitely not my plan at all.

However, with everything going on, the year coming to a close, and personal life changes, it seems like a great time to restructure. It’s a great time to decide what I want to throw my passion behind, what I’m most excited about, and which stories readers will want to read most.

Anything still listed under the “Chase Connor Books” menu above will remain in publication and available to purchase/read or borrow through Kindle Unlimited. THATCHER GRAVES AND THE DEMON’S CURSE is still planned for a future release. Everything else…we will figure out.

But I think we’ve already begun coming up with great plans for the future…so stay tuned!

Tremendous Love & Thanks
Chase