Medium is already great but here are 10 suggestions to make it even better — I’m an evangelist for Medium. Its genius subscription model (one payment supports all) will prevail over the individualistic approaches of Substack, Patreon, YouTube et al. You can read more about why I think this here: Why Medium beats Substack and Patreon hands-down It’s all in the monthly costachuka.medium.com But I also acknowledge in that piece that:

Chapters 1–10 — This is a novel in progress, being posted daily Monday to Friday, chapter by chapter and in occasional weekend omnibus collections. Here is the first such collection (Chapters 1 -10). Read the next 10 chapters: Chapters 11–20. The Adventures of Claud (without an e) — In Arigni ##1 There were…

It was all going so well, and then the pandemic… — My wife and I are watching Emily In Paris and I’m thinking to myself, I know this world, I’ve been among those types. Go back 10 years and I wouldn’t have been able to say that — the viewing experience would have been different. 10 years ago I still had…

The art of editing is like brass shining. It takes a dull, lifeless surface, marked with blemishes, and rubs it all up bright and clear. — When I was a boy I loved to sit at the kitchen table with a bottle of Brasso and various golden household objects in front of me. A couple of heart-shaped ashtrays, a domed tin that contained old keys and other mysterious bits and bobs, a pair of candlesticks, and…

Chapters 61–70 — This is a novel in progress, being posted chapter by chapter and in occasional weekend omnibus collections. Here is the seventh such collection (Chapters 51–60). If you haven’t been reading from the beginning, begin with the first 10 chapters: Chapters 1–10 #61 Jamie rang Yulia immediately after the meeting in…

But has another episode of knocking things flying — #69 Claud didn’t know how long he had been asleep. His eyes were still closed and he could hear two indistinct female voices. Probably someone from the parish W.I. updating his mother on the latest marital split. He reached out with his arms. That was odd. His bed wasn’t this…

She visits the island’s main tourist attraction and has an unpleasant cab ride en route. — #68 Amalia had taken a day off from doing field research. She had slept in late, missing breakfast, then spent the rest of the morning slathering on body butter and generally giving herself the personal spa treatment. The companion she had been on the island with the previous year had…

It is all a bit too much for him! — #67 Sharna clapped her hands. “Now…” She took a pen from a hip pocket, grabbed a cardboard drinks mat and began writing. “Yvonne would like to see you.” “She has mended the sunglasses?” Sharna clicked the pen and put it back in her pocket, standing up straight and offering Claud…

“Excuse me, I will need to ask. About the cherry. I am new here. My name is Yulia.” — #66 Giovanni was feeling out of sorts. No particular reason. Probably the left-overs in the kitchen he had eaten the night before. His Saturday shift was a long one. Starting mid-afternoon, instead of early evening. The vestibule was much busier than usual. If all these people were staying overnight the…