The screenplay that wasn’t filmed

Alice Walker knew precisely what the film took from her, and she said it like an editor.

Aug 4 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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July 2026

Eighteen signatures

What Substack’s AI detector is for, and who has always been asked to prove it.

Jul 28 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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The empty chair

Evicting the white gaze is only half the work.

Jul 21 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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When the work gets murky, the inner editor gets loud

A New Moon says begin. A sky full of retrogrades says get your bearings first.

Jul 14 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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The edit below the edit

Real lines from a real manuscript, and the reasoning behind every change. This is what happens when I read your pages.

Jul 7 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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Come write with me this summer

A diagnostic for the stuck draft, with Mercury retrograde as the opening act.

Jul 3 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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June 2026

Everything’s coming through water now

Mercury retrograde in Cancer, and the writing that lives below language.

Jun 30 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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Juneteenth energy on the page

Summoning the courage of our ancestors, and the practice of writing free.

Jun 18 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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Why writers shrink their own dragons

What it costs the writer when the industry keeps acting surprised.

Jun 13 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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Black writers are writing in every genre. So why does the industry still act surprised?

Black writers have been in every genre since 1962. The publishing industry keeps acting like they just arrived.

Jun 3 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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May 2026

Why the morning ritual matters more than the morning pages

The practice you build before the writing starts. Fire, Air, Earth, Water and what each one asks of you at the desk.

May 12 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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April 2026

What the cards see that the edit can’t

What happens when a developmental editor stops looking at the pages and starts reading the writer — a look inside the Shadow & the Pen.

Apr 30 • High Priestess Lakeisha

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