Introduction (aka Why Read What I Have To Say?)
Hi there. I’m The Brat Queen. You can call me TBQ if you like. I have other names but that’s the one the internet knows me by. I’m a bi/pansexual, female (she/her) writer, teacher, gamer, crafter, pet owner, and history lover.
I’m also disabled. And I have lots of opinions. And I’m not shy about sharing them. (This is where the “Brat” part of my name tends to come into play.)
(Also my love of abusing parentheticals.)
(Hi!)
I started this whole newsletter/blog/Substack thing because – well frankly because I was abusing Twitter threads well beyond the point of recognition and possibly in violation of at least one or three Geneva conventions. But also because I have a lot of things to say: things about current events, about history, about health, about chronic illness, about being disabled, and about whatever bit of stupidity crossed my social media feed that made me get on my soapbox and go “Okay LOOK – “
For the record there tends to be a lot of overlap in all of those things. So if any or all of those topics are the kind of thing you like, you are in for a good time! Or hopefully an entertaining one. Or an interesting one. I mean I don’t know how “funny ha-ha” a story about repeated rejections of my official disability application while I worry about where I’m going to get money for pesky things like food and shelter is going to be for you. Maybe you find stories about filling out forms in a quest to prove you can’t work to be hilarious. I won’t judge.
Regardless if any of that is the sort of thing you’d like, this would be a point where you subscribe if you’d like to see more. Unless you’ve already subscribed in which case well done you. Way to anticipate!
Timing (aka Promises, Promises)
Schedule-wise I’m not sure yet how this will shake out. The truth of the matter is that having chronic illness and being disabled makes it hard for me to say. I’d love to swear that I’ll get exactly one letter out once a week every Thursday at 2pm Eastern on the dot. But in reality I have no idea when my health is going to cause some kind of a problem where I’ve spent Sunday-Wednesday of that same week curled up on my couch wishing for the sweet relief of death or at the very least an ice cream scoop to use to pull out medium to large chunks of my brain.
There’s also the flip side where I get chatty. So I might love to swear it’s only going to be one letter a week but if something catches my attention and ire I can’t promise I won’t be plonking that soapbox down on a random Saturday with an opening line of “So here’s the thing about rationing in World War II – “
(Don’t worry, you’ll hear me talk about rationing in World War II at some point. The hard part is getting me to stop.)
I imagine as time goes on I’ll have a better idea of the schedule of this. In the meanwhile I promise I won’t be spammy. I also promise to be very appreciative of your patience as we figure this schedule thing out together. I also promise to update as I learn more.
If that sounds good to you, sign up. We’re happy to have you. By which I mean me and my cat and my dog. There’s nobody else here. At least that I know of.
Cost (aka Do You Have To Pay For This Now Or Ever?)
This is free. I’m only even including this section because I looked at other people’s Substack intro letters and they brought up the question of price which made me think I should too. So let’s get this out of the way right now: there’s no cost.
If this somehow becomes wildly popular and people want to start giving cash… we’ll see? I’m in a weird situation money-wise where I could certainly use it but I’m limited in how much I can take.
So the issue of whether this ever goes to paid subscriptions is a problem for a future me who hopefully will have the actual ability to make those decisions because woo boy does current me not have that brainpower. If current me did current me would be working.
But just to give a lay of the landscape for anybody who wants or needs future assurances, the plan is to make sure nothing useful is behind a paywall. I’m never going to lock up something which would prevent a version of myself, which is to say someone on a tightly fixed income, from seeing this. I may have a lot of self-hatred but that’s not how I’m going to let it manifest. Sheesh.
If the day ever comes that a paid subscription is added to this, the paid benefits would be something extra. I have no idea what that extra would be. I’d probably have to ask for suggestions and look at what other people do. But it will definitely be extra. Some lagniappe to show appreciation for those who pay but without leaving those who can’t in the dust.
As with scheduling, I promise to communicate about any and all changes as they come. But if there is ever a paid version that will always be extra. Main stuff is free. If that works for you, sign on up!
I’m In! (aka What’s Next?)
If all of what I’ve said so far has you ready for more, then here’s what you do. First up, if you haven’t yet subscribe.
Next, if you think this is nifty and know of other people who might like it, you can share.
Finally, if you’re just starting out and waiting for new stuff, you can check out the archives. There you’ll find previous twitter threads of mine turned into handy dandy blog format, plus any other posts that I’ve made here on Substack.
After that… well it’ll depend on how quickly I can write things in spite of that earlier mentioned chronic illness and disability thing. But I’ll do my best!
Thanks!